Fabulous DIY Projects for Spring

3 April, 2013 5:36 pm / Leave a Comment / My So Called Crafty Life

I am so excited that Spring is finally here! We have had unusually chilly weather for this time of year here in NC. I can see the trees and the flowers are starting to bloom and there is a little spring color popping up everywhere. I have been really inspired by some of the many beautiful spring diy projects floating around the web. Here are a few that I would LOVE to try:

Check out these beautiful Spring Time Coasters from Maize Hutton Here

Check out this fantastic Spring Paper Flower Wreath from Hello Lucky Here

Check out these adorable Personalized Name Art from Parenting.com Here

Check out this sweet Fabric Scrap Banner from I Heart Naptime Here

Check out this fabulous Bluebird Brooch from All About You Here

Check out these awesome DIY Burlap Place Setting Holders from Debbiedoo’s Here

And Check out this fun Moss Monogram from Eight By Five Here

Don’t you just love them all! I really need to learn to crochet! I hope you all enjoy looking through these fabulous blogs! To see more fun spring DIY inspiration check out my DIY Ideas I Love board on Pinterest Here. I wish you all have a fantastic spring! Relax and enjoy the weather!

Happy Crafting!

stumbleupon Fabulous DIY Projects for Spring

Posted in: Craft Round Ups / Tagged: art, bird, bluebird, burlap, crafts, crochet, custom, cute, diy, easy, flowers, fun, monogram, moss, name, paper, round up, spring, spring diy, wreath

DIY Sharpie Art

7 March, 2013 7:53 pm / 6 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

I have been an avid user of sharpies for some time now. When I was in highschool my friends and I used to doodle on each others jeans or sneakers. It is one of my favorite craft items. I absolutely LOVE the new(er) Sharpie Paint markers too. I have used them on ceramics during the holidays and had a lot of fun with them! I recently saw this fantastic canvas on Pinterest. I loved it so much I was inspired to make a knock off version for my house. I am not skilled at painting, so I decided to rely on my sharpie paint markers.

Here’s What You Need:

*Sharpie Paint Markers or regular sharpies- Largest Size

*Canvas in the size you like

*Stencil- optional

*T- Square or ruler

Here is the inspiration from Pinterest:

5347694 DIY Sharpie Art

Instructions:

This craft really could not be simpler. You just draw on your canvas. You can use a stencil to get decorative accents like the birds on the branch. To use the stencil I positioned it and stuck it to my canvas with double stick tape. Draw inside the lines of the stencil and then color in the design after you remove the stencil. I did my stenciled parts before I started the handwriting. To keep your handwriting pretty straight you need to use a t square or a ruler as a guide. My canvas was slightly warped, so my wording is not perfectly straight. You just write away. The thing that makes it so personal is that it is imperfect. I used song lyrics from “Blackbird” one of my favorite Beatles songs. I did my smaller canvas with ” i love you.” Once your canvas is customized, frame it, hang it on the wall, or display it on your favorite shelf or book-case.

I am pretty darn happy with how my canvasses turned out! I am rather messy, and my handwriting can be somewhat atrocious at times, so this looks fantastic for me. I love how fast and easy these are! The best thing is that you can get as creative or simple as you like. This is a really inexpensive craft as well. A.C. Moore always has great coupons or sales, so you can usually get a large canvas for less than $10. My bird canvas was 24×30 and only cost me a little over $8. This would be a great craft for older children as well( you know, the one’s old enough to not color the walls). You could even do these as a craft for a party. So fun! And they would make fun, personalized gifts! I hope I have inspired some of you to give this one a try! You’ll totally love it!

Happy Crafting!

Posted in: Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: art, bird, canvas, cheap, crafts, diy, easy, easy art, fast, frugal, fun, gift, handmade, inexpensive, kids, lovely, markers, sharpie, stencil, sweet

Coming Soon to Sweet Sophie Blue

18 July, 2012 7:18 pm / 2 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

I have some new bears and bunnies I am getting ready to add to my Etsy shop, Sweet Sophie Blue. I also am very excited to introduce chicks and birdies! I will be adding them all over the next week or so. Keep your eye out on the shop to see them all!

stumbleupon Coming Soon to Sweet Sophie Blue

Posted in: Crafting, Sweet Sophie Blue / Tagged: bears, bird, plush bird, plushie, plushies, softie, stuffed animals, sweet sophie blue, teddy bear, toy chicken

14 Days of Love- Love Birds

2 February, 2012 5:57 pm / 2 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Supplies:

*Wood Beads

*Pipe Cleaners (regular and extra fuzzy)

*Acrylic paint to match the color of the birds body

*Fine tip sharpie or other fine tip pen

*Colored jewelry wire

*Thin ribbon or string

*Hot glue gun and hot glue

*Wire snips

Step 1: Paint the wooden bead to match the color of the pipe cleaner you are using for the bird’s body. I found it helpful to string the beads through a pipe cleaner to paint.

Step 2: Place pipe cleaner with painted beads on it on top of two tin cans to dry

Step 3: Shape the pipe cleaner for the body of the bird. Start with a little straight bit to use for gluing the head on later, then shape into a kinda crecent shape, and wrap end around the neck.

Step 4: Start to wrap pipe cleaner around the form of the body starting at the neck and continue down to the end leaving a tiny end up to wrap the tail around.

Step 5: Make the tail, twist the fuzzy pipe cleaner for the tail around the but end. Make a small loop for the top, wrap around, then make a larger loop for the bottom, and finish by wrapping around the base one or two times and then snip off excess with wire cutters.

Step 6: Make legs. Snip off a long bit of wire. Make two loop bends for the feet. Push other end of the wire through the body and bend wire to make other foot. Snip off excess.

Step 7: Draw the eyes on the bird’s head with an extra fine tip sharpie.

Step 8: Cut a small piece of wire for the beak. Bend wire in half and insert into the hole on the beak end of the wooden bead.

Step 9: Glue all the pieces together with hot glue. Put glue down into hole in bead and insert head to body and beak to head. Pull up on legs and put some glue at top and squish legs into place. Now, tie bow on boy’s neck and make a bow and glue on girl’s head. And Voila! You are fini!

These birds make a sweet valentines decoration. You could display them on a shelf or they would be really cute to top your valentine’s cake. Enjoy!