Crafts

Champagne Glass Charms

| mel@apeaceofcreativity.com

If you are anything like me, at parties you lose your glass.  Sometimes, I spend a good 2-3 minutes circling the room looking for my drink, so thank goodness for charms! I know this one is mine!

I found these beautiful plastic champagne glasses for the sprinkle I was helping to throw for my sister-in-law but did not have enough wine charms for all of them. I wanted to reuse them so permanent marker was not an option. That’s when I decided to make my own.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase using the links below.

You will need:

  • Scrapbook paper (cardstock thickness)
  • Circle cutter or paper punch
  • Wine glass charm rings (these are not the ones I bought but are similar)
  • Pearl seed beads
  • Scrapbooking letters

Using the letters, I personalized each circle with the guest’s first initial.  These letters added some extra glitz with the sparkles.

If you have two people with the same first initial, I added a small cursive last initial. If you have two with the same first and last initial, you can always add a distinguishing feature like a small star or sticker embellishment. After stringing the charm hoops with the seed pearls, I punched a hole at the top of each of the circles and attached the hoops.

Annnnnnnnd, that’s it! Perfect for the Balloons & Bubbly theme.

Did you see the Balloon Photo Wall for the Balloons & Bubbly Sprinkle? See the rest of the party HERE!

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Yarn & Gold Hoops

| A Peace of Creativity

I am always looking for things to hang on the walls but sometimes a room already has too many frames or mirrors.  The spot I was looking for needed something more organic with texture.  When I saw the DIY Yarn Wall Art by Harlow & Thistle, I knew I had to give it a try.  You can find the full tutorial here.

You will need:

  • Metal hoops
  • Yarn (in coordinating colors and textures)
  • Butcher’s twine
  • A good pair of fabric scissors to trim the bottoms
  • THAT’S IT!

I actually found these gold hoops from the craft store first, but picking out yarn textures and colors took me forever!  There are so many shades of grey, khaki and white, finding the three that go together was challenging. The khaki and cream are pretty standard but I love love love the silvery grey bulky yarn I found.  I love the texture and that it has a slight sheen to it.

Cut the pieces of yarn in 4 foot strips, and two at a time, looped them over the ring with the knot portion facing forward.

After deciding how far you want to go along the bottom of the ring, start on the second loop with the next color. I did the same with the khaki: 4 foot strips, bunched in twos and then looped over the ring, knot facing forward.

For the smallest ring, I wanted to try macrame. I used a tutorial by Parlor. Her illustrations made the process way easier than I expected. Next time, I would like to try it with string meant for macrame as the yarn was quite stretchy and the fibers did not give the knots the definition it needed.

I used cotton butcher’s twine to wrap all of the rings together and create a hanging loop as the yarn would not hold up all of that weight. To finish, trim the ends into whatever shape you choose! I also knotted the bottoms of the grey yarn as they were starting to unravel.

I love this because it was really easy and something different to add to your wall space! Every part can be customized to fit the look and feel of your home.

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Crepe Paper Tassels

| A Peace of Creativity

I love banners and pennants and garland and bunting for party decor. The tissue paper tassels are adorable, but to me, they are a pain in the butt! Sometimes it’s worth it, but having to cut strips of the tissue over and over again can drive a person insane. If you feel the same as I do, I would highly suggest trying these crepe paper tassels!

You will need:

  • Crepe Paper Rolls
  • Scissors
  • Tape
  • String

  1. I cut three (or more!) 4 foot strips of the crepe paper but depending on how long you want your tassel to be, you would simply have to double that amount.
  2. After gathering them together, find the middle and twist until you can make a loop.
  3. Wrap tape around the bottom of the loop.
  4. Cut the strips in half. (or more!)
  5. You’re done!


For the tassels inside, I used 3 strips of crepe paper, but for outside I used 6. Depending on how full you want them to be, you can increase the number of strips.

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I loved seeing them move in the breeze and they really added a lot to the patio. The best part, how much time was saved!

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See more from A “Press Here” Birthday Party.
Have you tried these? If so, I would love to hear from you!

Inspired Peace

How adorable are these crepe paper tassels for a Hawaiian inspired first birthday party!

 

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Scrabble Art

| A Peace of Creativity

Looking for a really simple, easy but meaningful gift for the grandparents? When my husband was a kid, his family used to play Scrabble all of the time. I had seen large scrabble tiles used for wall collages saying words like “FAMILY” or “HOME”. I wanted to do a pared down version using all of the grandkids’ names.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase using the links below.

You will need:

  • Strong adhesive (glue gun, E6000, etc…)
  • Scrabble letters (Tally up how many of each letter you will need so you know how many sets to buy.)
  • Shadow box frame preferably with matting
  • Printed or colored paper for the background (enough sheets for a redo if needed, see below)

Lay out your “scrabble board” on your background paper with the mat board so you know where to center them. I took one of the letters I knew I probably would not use (Q) and drew a heart with a black sharpie on back.

One thing I always think about when using the grandkids or kids names is what happens when you know your family is still growing? That’s why this project is so perfect, because of how simple it is, it would be easy to pull off the letters and make a new one for additional names!

Edited:

We have a new addition to the family, my niece, Kelsie! We were able to find a spot for her without moving too many names around.

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Birthday Banner

| A Peace of Creativity

Before I had the twins, I knew that my craft making time would be severely limited if not non-existent. As impossible as it seemed, I had to find time to do what I loved. It would keep me sane in all the kiddo madness.

It was my niece’s first birthday and I really wanted to help but I had to keep my expectations realistic. I offered to make the birthday banner in a similar style as the one I made for my nephew’s first birthday.

For more detailed instructions, see here!

Believe it or not, I have a handful of projects that are just waiting to be posted.  Thanks for sticking it out with me and I promise to get them up as soon as I can!

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GUEST PEACE: Cloud Quilt

| A Peace of Creativity

I find myself pinning a lot of cute quilts on Pinterest that I envision myself making. I have absolutely no idea how to quilt though and I’m not too keen on the idea of taking a quilting class or doing research. When I saw a cute cloud appliqué quilt that I really wanted to make for my friends baby, I decided to just give it a go by cheating.

I picked out some pretty material patterns that I thought were complimentary and white cotton with little white spots for the quilt. The pattern pieces were the little remnant samples form Joann’s so they were really cheap.

I printed a cloud template from the Internet and began cutting out clouds. I quickly realized however, that the material would fray. I went back to JoAnn’s and found some fusible fleece to iron on to the back of the material so it wouldn’t fray. I picked the fleece because it offered some padding to make the clouds stand out.

Once I cut out all the clouds I pinned them onto the white cotton material and hand sewed them in place.

Following that I cut out rain drops with the remaining material and sewed them on under a contrasting color cloud. I used an embroidery hoop to help with this. This hand sewing process took a lot of time and my poor fingers got tired. I know there’s a clever little trick with the sewing machine to sew on small appliqué like this, I just didn’t know what it was and additionally, doing it by hand meant I could park myself on the couch, in front of the TV while I did it. Once I finished sewing on the clouds and raindrops I matched up the batting and back piece of cotton for the quilt. Now here’s where all proficient quilters will shake their heads in disapproval. To create the “quilt” effect I just sewed across with the sewing machine and created squares. I started in the middle and worked out so that it would be even and it was definitely tricky to keep in a straight line. There were a few instances where the material got caught up as the machine met a section that had already been sewed in the opposite direction but all in all it turn out fine. Finally I added on the trim to finish it off.
With a couple of left over clouds, I embroidered “For Aria, with Love” and sewed them on the back of the quilt.

It didn’t turn out perfect but hopefully that adds to the charm of this homemade project. I shipped it off all the way to my good friend Melissa in Singapore for her beautiful baby girl, Aria. I hope Aria has hours of fun tummy-time on this fun little “quilt”.

IMG_7534Samantha is from England but has been in the U.S. for almost 8 years. She has been an amateur knitter most of her life after her grandmother taught her at an early age. She loves crafting but struggles to complete projects. She has recently started making what she calls “cheat-quilts” – sewing quilts without using any correct technique. Samantha loves making gifts for friends kids and any time she completes a project she is very happy. She says that the best part about crafting is the relaxation it provides so she never takes any project too seriously.

See Samantha’s other Guest Peace: A Fun Christmas Jumper!

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Paper Umbrella Wreath

| A Peace of Creativity

A very special 3 year old’s birthday is coming up soon and prep has begun! If you have seen Pixar’s Inside Out, then you have seen the short, Lava. My kiddo fell instantly in (should I say it?) “lava!”  Haha!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase using the links below.

Thanks to the Family Chic blog, I made my version of her paper umbrella wreath for the front door. All I used was a foam wreath and those cheap, little, paper cocktail umbrellas.

After opening them up, all you do is push them through the foam.  I learned about half way through though that it was much easier to push them through when I broke off the ends of the toothpick to make them a little shorter.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was and how good the finished product looked!  Get all the supplies here!



Guest Peace: Geometric Cork

| A Peace of Creativity

When I moved into my new office a year ago, I wanted to make it mine in a way I hadn’t done in my last office, but as often happens, I was overwhelmed with such a blank slate. I wanted a way to incorporate photos of family and friends in a way that was suitable for a professional office, that didn’t include a lot of picture frames (talk about too many choices…), and that kept the photos in a place that I could enjoy them. So many of my colleagues have photos in their offices that are only visible to their visitors. I wanted these to be for me when I need a little pick-me-up or to help me escape to some of my favorite places and past vacations.
My plans often came to back to corkboard, but it didn’t seem polished enough or appropriate for the office…a little too college dorm room. Roaming the aisles of Target one night, I was struck with the inspiration to add some geometric designs, fancy push pins, and GOLD paint. All of my supplies were purchased at Target and the whole project easily came in under $20 and took me just one evening to complete. The corkboard even came with adhesive to easily hang them on the wall.  I used painters tape to mark off random designs on each piece of corkboard, playing around with different angles and amounts of space.

 I painted with the eggshell paint first, allowing about 15 minutes to dry in between coats. Since the cork soaks up paint, it took about three or four coats to get the coverage I wanted.

 After the eggshell portions were dry, I removed the tape and applied new tape in different directions to mark off where I wanted the gold portions to be. Again, three or four coats of paint were needed.

  
I almost didn’t want to cover them with pictures once I hung them, but I love that I can see all my photos when I look up from my computer screen.

 It’s so easy to change them out when I feel like it without worrying about the photos needing to fit in a certain frame or be a certain size, and since all of my photos these days are just inexpensive online prints of iPhone photos, I have a never-ending supply of new material.

393197_10100930939217166_496989639_nLAUREN AND I HAVE BEEN BEST FRIENDS FOR OVER 20 YEARS AND SHE IS MY “GO TO” PERSON FOR ANY AND ALL THINGS CRAFTY. HER TECHNICAL MIND MIXED WITH A LOVE OF DESIGN MAKES FOR A BEAUTIFUL AND EASY EXECUTION OF WHATEVER SHE DECIDES TO CREATE.

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Wedding Artwork

| A Peace of Creativity

It’s February and the month of LOVE.  To express my love affair with metallics, each post this month will be a GOLD project!

We have a good collection of decor photos from our wedding taken by Karen Nakamura. I love that they show the thought and work we put into that day as well as the feel and ambiance of our venue. When we moved into our home from our condo, we switched to white wood pieces instead of dark. Instead of getting rid of this frame, I decided to paint it.

  I found this paint at the local craft store and although I have never used it before, I absolutely love the color. It is more of a champagne gold than yellow gold and it has super tiny sparkles, just enough to make it elegant and dynamic without being too cheesy. I admit that I am not a fan of sanding. I did not sand this frame and instead just put the paint right on. It took about 3-4 coats to cover the black, but a little black still shows through which gives it a really interesting texture. I did gloss it, which took it from home craft project to something you could find in the store.

  The frame hangs nicely in our master bath. You can see how different the color looks depending on the lighting and time of day.

Finding artwork for your home is one of the most challenging parts of decorating. I am always saying how I prefer things with meaning, things you already have access to, and things that bring such good vibes and memories to your home. What’s better than to use photos from your wedding or any happy occasion that you love to remember.

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Agate Coasters

| A Peace of Creativity

At Christmas I wanted to give my work team something fun and useful with a little dash of glamour.  The school colors where we work are purple and gold and I remembered that awesome little tub of hypnotizing gold paint Desiree from Heirloom Paper introduced me to.  I also remembered the beautiful agate coasters she had at her home during her crafting night and how she painted them with the awesome gold paint.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase using the links below.

I found these purple agate coasters and they came four to a set which was perfect for our four member team.

Using a thin paintbrush, I painted just the edges of the agate coaster to give them each a little pop.  The best thing about this paint is how much of a shine it gives you and how close to metal it actually looks. To increase the shine factor, you can even add a coat of clear gloss.

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The set came with four little, self adhesive, plastic bumpers to put on each coaster.

Adding the gold paint really upped the “fancy” factor on these.  Thank you Desiree for inspiring this project!