Creative Dawn

Here is another post about letters.  This is a foam D that I got at Joann Fabrics for .25.  It was originally hot pink but it seemed too bright so painting it white was the solution.  The letter is smaller so there were not a lot of options for embellishment.  Thumb tacks were the perfect solution for decoration and also very economical at .82 a package.  This probably took me all of five minutes to complete, it's simple but nice.  Once all of the 365 posts are complete, I plan on posting some pictures of the displays around my home of many of these projects.  When this blog was started there were a lot of plain white walls, now they are adorned with custom art.  I don't know if this was mentioned in a past post but the blog will continue, just not on a daily basis.  It's been fun, but some days it gets a bit tiring.  This has been a great accomplishment and a challenge for me.  Until tomorrow! :)

Hello!  Some days when I wake up there are no ideas at all for this blog then it happens, out of the blue inspiration strikes.  I found this book with sock animals in it.  Not like a sock monkey, but cute unique animals.  The one I chose to make today is a zebra.  In the book it was made from black and white socks, but I used green, red and white socks instead, it's what I had.  My creation turned out looking different from the one in the book, but the author said that there is no right or wrong.  In the end if you like it that is all that matters.  That is great advice!  Go with it and whatever works for you will be right.  There are a few more ideas from that book I need to try so look for those soon.  Have a great day and be creative!

This was an idea from a craft book that I got some time ago.  The pencils were from the dollar bins at Target and cost $2 for all of them.  The colors were bright and fun, perfect for this project.  The frame is from Michael's and was a $1.  I left frame unpainted because it was getting covered up anyways.  Using a wire cutter, I scored the pencils in the middle and then broke them in half.  The part that drove my husband crazy was when it came time to sharpen all of them using an electric sharpener.  The pencils were hot glued in place and lined up towards the center of the frame.  This would also be a fun thing for kids to do using regular glue.  I wouldn't want to have them burn their fingers using a glue gun.  Have a great day and don't forget to live life creatively!

Every creative endeavor is not always successful.  I have had this idea for a while and have been trying to figure out how to do it.  I wanted to make a lampshade with playing cards.  There was finally a lampshade that seemed to be perfect but after I made this, it didn't work out as well as I would have wanted.  My post today was in theory a good idea, but the final product wasn't great.   I used packing tape to hold the cards together and used jewelry jump rings to attach them to the top of the shade.  It doesn't hang right and is a bit odd right now.  What that means is there will at sometime in the future be another post with a successful card lampshade. It's like experimenting in science, you try different combinations and have varying results until you get it right.

This is an extremely fast project.  I always have baskets around my home, they make it easy to transport things, are great for storage and are wonderful for gifts.  Throughout the year you can get baskets to suit your holiday needs.  Some have painted on designs and others are shaped for specific holidays but just because it has a theme does not mean that you can't use it year round.  This basket was part of a Christmas gift that I received and it is a great size.  It is actually the perfect size for dinner rolls for a large group.  I used it for Easter this weekend for that purpose.  This basket was very easily transformed into a general design.  The first step was to paint over the snowmen with a cream paint, two coats was perfect to cover them up.  Once it was dry I hot glued the ribbon around the top and there you have it.  You could even add a bit more interest by painting a small design on where you covered the original decoration...

It took a while to collect enough can tabs for this frame, but it was worth the wait!  This is an idea that I cannot take credit for.  One of my college friends posted a picture of a vase that she made out of the tabs and I thought that a frame would look good too.  The frame is just basic and was 1.49 at the Goodwill.  Grey seemed like the best color to paint it to go with the can tabs.  After that, I just started hot gluing them on in rows.  The frame still needs a picture, but for right now it looks good without anything in it.  There still are some tabs left so I am going to keep collecting them and see what idea may 'POP' into my head.  Sorry, couldn't resist!  There are so many possibilities for items that you can recycle.  It is really fun to create something out of what others may throw away.  My great aunt Marcie was a creative whiz, she made the most unique things.  I still remember as a kid going to her h...

Hello!  Today I have a simple idea for you.  I got this set of candle holders around Christmas time for $5.00.  Originally they were going to be a gift, but I couldn't decide who to give them to.  They sat collecting dust on a table until today.  Sometimes a light bulb goes off in your head and a creative project is born.  I grabbed my bin of yarn and started wrapping the candle holders.  I used a bit of glue to secure the ends and also throughout the project.  There was plenty of yarn to wrap all three the same, but a variety of colors sounded appealing to me.  This is definitely a craft that anyone could do.  These candle holders were made for the larger pillar candle but because of the size you could also use them as plate stands or you could display any number of objects on top.  I have mentioned this in the past, just because something is made for a certain purpose doesn't mean that that is all you can use it for.  That's...

Today, my brain was buzzing with creativity but I didn't know at first what to do.  This happens sometimes after completing a larger project.  My creative mind wants to continue on its path, but there isn't always an item that is for sure first on my list.  I wandered around the house trying to figure out what to do.  Suddenly, the idea jumped into my head when I walked in the living room...the lamp! On January 27th, I posted a red lamp with a confetti design.  Today, I added on a lampshade.  It was something that was laying around, it just needed a bit of embellishment.  While digging through my crafting supplies an idea came to me.  Yarn was the perfect material for this project.  I decided on three fun colors and went to work.  Using a large sharp needle I threaded the yarn and started to add the decoration.  The small knotted pieces of yarn run along the ribbing of the lampshade and measure about two inches apart....

I was just relaxing and watching TV the other day when an idea struck me.  It was partially inspired by that awesome craft book from the library, but my final project is much much cooler!  The book had used puzzle pieces to make jewelry.  I thought that the idea itself was good, but the end result was too cheesy for my taste.  I still had left over pieces from a past project, the Peter Maxx frame and puzzle.  Since his artwork is so colorful the pieces were perfect.  I grabbed the jewelry findings that I had and went to work.  It was really easy and didn't take very long at all.  I poked holes into the parts that I liked and used jump rings to attach the pieces together.  The chain was from a necklace that I haven't worn in a while.  With the star design and the fun bright colors it really makes for cool jewelry.  Now to find a place to wear it. 

    As of right now I have pretty much zero money.  I am starting to scour my home for things to do.  I don't usually like to get too personal, but I currently do not have a job and don't qualify for unemployment.  Believe me, I am looking.  So, I am asking if anyone is out there, let me know if you have any items that you would like to give new life to.  I will continue to create things every day no matter what even if I have to paint the kitchen sink.  OK, enough with the sob story and on to today's creative endeavour.  This frame is 18 x 24 and was something that I got a while ago at the Goodwill for 1.49.  It was plain white and the artwork was old and dated.  Purple was the color chosen to repaint the frame.  Now for the really challenging part, I don't have any paper that large, but I wanted to do a cool drawing.  What I ended up doing was taping a few pieces of paper together for my base design, it didn't ha...

Earlier today, I made note of the project from yesterday falling off of the wall.  After I set it on my table another idea came to mind from the mishap.  Place mats or table centerpiece for theme gatherings would also work for the Cd cases.  It took six Cd's to make this and you wouldn't even have to use empty cases, just temporarily remove the front booklet or info sheet and replace with the appropriate theme for the day.  They are assembled with duct tape, so it can be removed after the event is over.  I did a few mock ups as examples.  Valentines Day is approaching so I cut out some hearts from felt and paper and slid the designs into the covers.  I also save Christmas cards, you never know what you can use them for so after finding the pictures that I liked, they were cut to size for the place mat.  The last one is an old calender of MC Escher pictures that I had kept because I love his art.  The ideas are endless!  Spring or F...

  I am particularly proud of this idea.  I got this at a thrift store for 1.40, it is a display for souvenir thimbles.  After looking at it and trying to figure something out, an idea struck me.  If I lay it flat, it would make an awesome trivet.  A coat of light blue paint was all it needed to start with.  What if I did a mosaic top?  I have an old set of dishes that have been toted around and stuck in the back of a cupboard because I really wanted to do something with them.  Well, here is that something.  After wrapping the plates in a towel, I hit them with a hammer to break them into smaller pieces, then glued them to the display and once it was set, smeared on some grout and there you have it!  A great mosaic trivet, perfect for casseroles or cookie trays.  There still are some dishes left, so maybe they will pop up in another future project.