decoupaged shoes

This is something I've wanted to try for quite awhile.  I was at my friends house the other night and somehow it came up again and reminded me that I should go for it!  My family had a family photo shoot last night and the colors we wore were a variety of blues and this lime green.  I was wearing jean, white, and gray and "needed" some cool shoes.  So,  this is the outcome of about an hours worth of work.  I grabbed my paint brush and glue, scissors and fabric and came up with this!  I was surprised at how easy this actually was to do.  Whenever I am decoupaging I always use lots of glue (mod podge, decoupage, or my secret: a mixture of elmer's glue and water!  shhhh...) and get it all over my fingers.  Seriously, I do recommend using a lot of glue and using the brush to apply the mixture onto both surfaces but then using your fingers to do the sticking and rub out any bubbles/ air pockets that might be there.  For the shoes I pretty much saturated the fabric while I went along.  I made sure there was a straight edge around the edge of the sole, but otherwise I just glued and cut as I went along.  I've been asked for some sort of tutorial, but there's really nothing to it.  Don't be afraid to try!  That's my advice.  These shoes were $1.98 two years ago at Goodwill and I enjoying them over the past 2 years, and now they're "new" again when covered with this vintage fabric I scored at a yard sale.  If you have any questions I'll try to answer them in the comments.  Oh, a friend did wonder how they would hold up.  I wouldn't be afraid to wear these in the rain, but I probably won't go puddle jumping in them. :)  The glue dries hard and clear. They are stiff and durable feeling to me.  You can apply several coats of decoupage over the outside if you want to seal them.

wipes container

handmade Christmas

Here's something anyone with a glue gun and a few buttons can make.  This is a cork board I got a yard sale for 10 cents.  I painted the frame and cut a piece of brown craft paper to fit over the cork.  Ribbon, sticks, and buttons do the rest of the work.  

Advent Calendar

I finally made the advent calendar I've been planning for 3 years!  Please don't get too excited.  This certainly does NOT look like it's been worked on for 3 years, it's just that I finally made the time to do it.  I had several ideas in mind, but here's what I finally chose to do:

I painted a canvas dark brown and then cut out 25 tags (these are actually the tags I use for the Calico Barn so I already had them made).  Then I put brads through each hole to hold the tags onto the canvas (pins stuck into a framed cork board would be nice too).  I bought these brads at the $1 spot at Target.

Some of the numbers are hand written, but most are just stickers from my scrap-booking stuff.  On some of the brads I hung little things.  On the backs of each tag I'll write something special for our family to do together each night this month.  

Now, practically speaking we're not going to be able to have a perfect little family warm and fuzzy holiday- spirited, cookie- baking, craft- making, cocoa- sipping, carol- singing, story- reading, movie- watching, popcorn- stringing night every one of these 25 days, but we'll have fun trying!  This was fun and EASY to make.  If you don't have an advent calendar I recommend making one and by all means don't wait 3 years to do it!  :)

Another map for Jo's room

This project is SLOW going! I've had stuff out for 2 weeks. I could be totally consumed it and work for hours everyday- FUN, but that's just not possible. So, yesterday I decoupaged this map onto a 11"x13" canvas I had picked up for 50 cents at a yard sale this summer. I painted the edges brown. I like the antiqued look of this map. I didn't think it looked good in a frame. I really like it on the canvas though!

Jonas' room- a work in progress...

This is a sampling of the things I'm working on right now for my son's room. I've painted a lot of different frames red (paint left from our living room). I found a large picture book of maps at Barnes and Noble for only $12.00! It's so big that I'll be using it for years. There are some really great maps in it. The colors are just right.

I DON'T want the cutesy scrapbook look, but I think this will be alright in a collage I'm working on.
The frame below is a piece of art from that major country-style era. It had little patchwork hearts in it, but Africa covered it up nicely! I love the frame.

I wanted to hang a larger map in a unique way so I just glued it to one of my stash of $2.00 windows that's in the garage. Yes, a glue stick worked perfectly!


I'll post more as it comes together. With my regular day to day responsibilities that might take quite some time!

License Plate Sign

Jonas' bedroom is dark blue on the bottom half of the wall and a tan color on the top half. Jason is in the process of putting together several old WWII model airplanes to hang in there. I'm looking for just the right map to hang on one of the walls. When I saw these license plate letters I knew I needed them for Jo's room! I cut a piece of wood to the right length and then cut out a section of a map to put on the wood. I used some decopauge to stick the map to the wood.













Next, I hot glued the letters on. And this is how it turned out! Jonas was a big help and is very proud of his name sign!