Spring Has Sprung

After my fall foliage wreath turned out so well, I took a stab at making an ornament wreath (using the instructions Eddie Ross so kindly provided) for Christmas. I used shatter-proof ornaments in blue and silver tones. It turned out ok. (Hmmm...I thought I had taken a picture of it before I put it into storage, but evidently I did not. Poo.)

Following Christmas, I replaced the ornament wreath with the pretty wreaths my sister made me for Christmas:
My mom insists on sending $5-10 for every "Candy" holiday (Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter). Since I'm making a concerted effort not to indulge in as much sugar-based-candy, I decided to use the money she sent me for Easter by purchasing insane-crafting-habits-based-candy. I had seen this Spring Wreath tutorial a few weeks ago, and thought it was so adorably cute. I had left over foam wreaths (8" and 12") from a failed Christmas wreath, and some pretty vintage flower ribbon, so all I needed to purchase was the Fun Fir.
The tutorial was very helpful, but it neglected to mention the seriously sore muscles from all the wrapping it takes to completely cover the wreath with "fun" fir. Like, wow. I made a few minor tweaks. First, with the flowers, I first threaded a metallic seed bead on the straight pin before I stabbed the flower as a little extra special touch. Also, because the wreath was going to be hung outside, I dredged each straight pin (with seed bead and flower already on) through some crafting glue before I stuck them to the wreath. And to ensure that the ribbon I used to connect the two wreaths together/to the door hook would stay put, I studded the entire circumference of the ribbon with seed beaded straight pins. All in all, it was a simple wreath to make, but I think it has a huge impact. It's cheery and whimsicle, and it makes me smile everytime I leave/enter the house, which ain't a bad thing!Click to see a few more shots of the wreath.

Coaster Piracy

I like pretty things, and when I see them for sale, I think "I could make that myself SO much cheaper!" so then I take a picture of it and go home with the intention of recreating it. Piracy? Perhaps. But I have no intentions of selling anything and they're all for personal use, so I'm a Private Pirate (not the be confused with a Privates Pirate, which is a whole 'nother kettle of fish). (Where does that phrase come from, anyway???? Bizarro!) So when I was at the Norton Simon Museum, celebrating the day of my birth last month, I saw the CUTEST coaster and wanted to recreate it at home. Isn't it cute?
As a wedding favour, my sister made the cutest hand-stamped coasters for each guest. She used beige ceramic tiles, a custom rubber stamp and enamel/ceramics paint to personalize each coaster with the little birdie motif that earmarked her wedding paraphernalia. They were a brilliant idea, and I use mine every weekday for my coffee mug at work. Jumping off her idea of painting tiles/stones, I made a grave marker for my friend Carrie's kitty that passed away last summer. So when I saw the pretty coaster (which turns out to actually be a paper weight--which I suppose explains the $20 price tag and the fact that there was just one in the package), I thought I could use the same paint to make my own pretty coaster. So I bought some 4"x4" travertine and marble tiles at Lowes for $5 per box of 10, and filled out my Plaid brand FolkArt Outdoor Paint spectrum, Google-Image searched "Flowers" for inspiration and got to work.

First I painted a Rembrandt Tulip with subtle pink/magenta variegations on the petals. The paint, though labeled OPAQUE, is rather thin and transparent, and required several coats to actually be opague.
This calla lily required about 6 coats of stark white before I could fill in the shading. Turned out well, I think.
And finally I painted a poppy, because poppies are pretty and cheerful and lend themselves to quite thin and transparent paint mediums, since they're petals tend to be quite thin and transparents anyway.
The paint is supposed to set in 48 hours. The stamped birdie on the coaster my sister made has held up pretty well for the past two years, so hopefully my coaster set will, as well. I think they make quite a lovely set, all in all.
Click for more/larger.

Those silly brits!