DIY Paper Art – Heart and Butterfly Silhouettes

Posted on March 21, 2013 by jewelsathome

Just every once in a while, I plan a project, and then I actually do it! Yes, really! I recently collected some fun ideas for art projects involving paper, and now I’m excited to unveil my own paper creations.

I have a great weakness for pretty prints on paper and fabric, and these easy projects were a great way to display them and create inspiration in my craft studio.

Art Hearts

I was feeling girly when I collected these pink and red papers – a mix of scrapbook paper, origami paper, scraps from card, and even some paper I made myself! (second row, center) – and cut out rows of matching hearts. Very easy – I made a heart template out of scrap paper and then traced and cut out this collection. I glued them onto a plain background and popped them into this frame I already had. I had also thought of folding the hearts and making them three dimensional, but I’m happy with how this turned out.

Butterfly Collection

No butterflies were harmed in the production of this pretty display piece. While I have fallen in love with pink and red only recently (some kind of reaction to having three boys), I’ve long had a love for the color blue – in fact, my dad still talks about how much I love blue (do your parents also remember you exactly as you were twenty years ago?).

Anyway, unlike all the identical hearts, I wanted to make each butterfly unique. Again, I love the mix of papers many of which have stories behind them – an old stationery set, some wrapping paper, and more paper that I hand made (second row, left). These are mixed with some more scrapbook and origami papers for a soothing and pretty work of art.

And now, there is finally something to adorn the blank wall in my “studio.” Along with my new paper art, I framed a section of the hydrangea wrapping paper that I used for my desk accessories and added some botanical prints from a calendar.

I love how putting something up on the walls makes a space feel like home!

“Jewels”

Ninjago Party – Part 2: Activities

Posted on March 12, 2013 by jewelsathome

This past weekend, we put together a fun Ninjago-themed party for our seven year old’s birthday. I already posted pictures and ideas for the decorations, food, and party favors, and here are some details on the activities that kept our army of Lego ninjas busy!

Sword fighting against Ninjago enemies

I bought these foam swords at Hallowe’en for L’s ninja costume. They come as a mixed set of pirate and knight/ ninja swords. The pirate ones could easily be altered to look like the ninja swords by trimming the handles, but my kids didn’t seem to be particular about it. Our kids have played with the swords quite a lot in the past few months, and I’ve been impressed by how durable the they are and also how it seems pretty much impossible to hurt someone or break something with them (and I’m sure our good fortune will end with that statement…). Despite the fact that no physical harm has ever been inflicted, the swords have been the cause of some arguments and whining, neither of which I felt were suitable for a party, so I decided to direct the boys’ energy toward targets other than each other.

Luckily, I had just been to Ikea to pick up a couple of things, so I had two large cardboard boxes to turn into training dummies for the party. The Skulkin skeletons and the Serpentine are the main enemies of the Ninjago (I learned a lot to put together this party!), so I made one of each out of plain newsprint and glued them onto the boxes, adding some embellishment with markers. They’re each about five feet tall!

Sword fighting targets for a Ninjago birthday party activity. Many more ideas from Jewels at Home.

Skulkin and Serpentine sword fighting targets for a Ninjago birthday party activity.

We set up the targets outside and let the kids take turns trying to knock them down. We quickly learned that we needed to draw a chalk line to delineate a “safe zone” for the kids waiting their turn, after the birthday boy got whacked by his older brother, who was aiming for General Skales. No harm done, but as I said, some – thankfully brief – tears and argument.

This activity was really beloved by our Ninjago guests. In retrospect, their war cries should probably have been saved for later in the party, as we may have woken some of our neighbors, but it was all in good fun.

Stick the ninja star on the Ninjago

For this activity, I made a bunch of these origami ninja stars and put 3M clear mounting squares on the back.

Origami ninja stars. Ninjago birthday party activity and party favors. {Jewels at Home}

Origami ninja stars for Ninjago birthday party activity and party favors.

I made a giant poster of Ninjago Lloyd ZX. It was very easy to print this image across multiple pages using a downloadable program called Poster Razor, and then I taped the pages together and and placed the outline of a ninja star in Lloyd’s hand. I laminated the front of the poster with clear contact paper, so the ninja stars could stick without damaging the poster.

Stick the ninja star on Ninjago Lloyd.

Not all the kids wanted to play this game, but those who did played over and over! We had to experiment with a few blindfolds and locations for the poster, as we had some very sneaky ninjas!

Each Ninjago guest got to take one of these little stars home, too.

Ninjago Skeleton Bowling

Lego actually makes a Skeleton Bowling set, so I took this idea and decided to make a life-sized version.

I was able to borrow this Little Tikes Totsports Bowling Set from our neighbor. I then printed two Ninjago skeletons side by side across regular sheets of paper and wrapped and taped the paper around the bowling pins.

DIY life-sized Ninjago skeleton bowling game.

I have to admit that the bowling game did not get a lot of attention at the party, although I suppose I can understand that the opportunity to whack things with swords was a bit distracting. Our toddler did have a lot of fun playing bowling the next day, though, as you can see. I think the kid has a future in pro bowling.

Finally, let’s not forget the Lego itself! While we may grumble about how commercialized it has become since our childhood, I still think Lego is one of the best toys. Our kids can be occupied for hours making their own creations. Not surprisingly, the boys spent a lot of the party just hanging out with this classic toy. Looking for Lego sets for your kids or gifts? I have found great Ninjago and other Lego toys at big discounts on Zulily.com!

Lego Ninjago birthday party.

Well that’s the round-up of activities and fun at our Lego Ninjago birthday party. Don’t forget to check out the previous post for details on the decorations, food, and party favors.

“Jewels”

Ninjago Birthday Party – Part 1

Posted on March 11, 2013 by jewelsathome

Pulling off a birthday party is like an athletic event (or at least I imagine it to be, not actually being athletic) – I work like crazy and then crash afterward. It’s always worth it to give our boys a day to remember. Here’s the first post on our seven year old’s Ninjago birthday party. I put details on the party activities in a separate post.

Ninjago birthday decorations

I still like the feel of a paper invitation, like the ones I made for our firefighter birthday party, but sometimes the convenience of an online invitation is hard to resist. Luckily, evite has this Lego-themed invitation, and I added a Ninjago drawing by our birthday boy, to complete the look.

Ninjago birthday party blog post with decorations, food, and activities, from Jewels at Home.

Customize an online invitation for your Ninjago birthday party.

For decorating the house, I hung our reusable birthday banners, customized with pictures of green Ninjago Lloyd ZX. I had in mind to do balloons with stuck-on Ninjago eyes, but I ran out of time!

Ninjago birthday party blog post with customized decorations and tons of ideas. {Jewels at Home}

Customized Ninjago birthday banner.

I printed signs for the activities using Bonsai font and mounted them on green scrapbook paper. Each child got a Ninjago eyes T-shirt to wear when he arrived. This was their main party favor, and the shirts were a hit! It was really fun to see all the little Ninjagos running around the house together!

I failed to capture the partying kids in any decent poses – they were moving too fast! but here’s the birthday boy’s little brother sporting his custom shirt. You don’t need to make your own shirts to have great Ninjago accessories. I have definitely picked up a lot of Ninjago and other Lego shirts and toys at great prices on Zulily.com!

Ninjago birthday food ideas

As you can see from the sign in this picture, I had wanted to arrange fruit into a Serpentine, one of the Ninjago enemies, but due to limitations of daylight savings time, I just piled the fruit on a plate, and it was all gone in an instant anyway – I told you those Ninjago are fast!

For lunch, we had a variety of Japanese and Japanese-inspired fare, including California rolls and avocado rolls from the local supermarket, homemade Spam musubi by Steve, and plenty of gyoza dumplings, which were the kids’ favorite.

Ninjago birthday party ideas, including decorations, food, and activities. {Jewels at Home}

Ninjago birthdy party food: gyoza, musubi, and rolls.

Instead of a cake, I made sushi using Rice Krispies. These Rice Krispy treat sushi are decorated with fruit roll-up for the “nori” and Swedish fish and fruit gummies for garnish. They were a lot of fun to make, though time-consuming. If you do it, I definitely recommend making a half batch at a time, as the Rice Krispy treats kept hardening before I could shape them all, and I ended up with several leftover globs.

Rice Krispy Treat sushi made from Rice Krispies cereal and candy. More ideas for a Ninjago birthday party at Jewels at Home.

Rice Krispy Treat sushi made from Rice Krispies cereal, fruit roll-up, Swedish fish, and other treats. So cute!

Tons of ideas for a Ninjago birthday party, complete with decorations, activities and food, from Jewels at Home.

Happy birthday boy at his Ninjago-themed party!

Ninjago Birthday Activities

These were a blast, and you can read all the details in this post!

Happy birthday to our dear son! I am glad it was such a fun day.

“Jewels”

DIY Ninjago Eyes T-shirts

Posted on February 13, 2013 by jewelsathome

Our Lego Ninjago birthday party is coming up, and I’m making t-shirts for all the kids as party favors.

I tried two different ideas for the shirts. First, I made stenciled ninja silhouettes for the older boys. Details on where I got the blank shirts and created the stencils are in that post.

Use contact paper and fabric paint to stencil your own T-shirts.

And for the younger kids, here’s how the cute Ninjago eyes T-shirts turned out:

Instructions for DIY Ninjago eyes T-shirts:

Create a template for the eyes and trace it onto contact paper. Cut out the template, including the eyebrows and eyes. I used a circle cutter – you could also use a large circle punch – for the eyes. You can print this image and enlarge or shrink it as needed:

Stick the contact paper onto yellow fabric, trace around the outside with a pencil and use black fabric paint and a stencil brush to paint the eyes and eyebrows.
When the paint dries, iron it on both sides to heat set the paint.

Iron Heat’n Bond Ultra Hold Iron-On Adhesive onto the back of yellow fabric.
Peel the backing paper off and iron the yellow fabric on to the T-shirt.
I used black puffy paint to outline the fabric, which also seals the edges to help prevent peeling and fraying.
Your design will last longer if you wash the shirt inside out.

Here are some close-ups of red Ninjago Kai and blue Ninjago Jay:

Besides red for Kai, and blue for Jay, I also made heather gray (because I’m not crazy enough to make a white T-shirt for a little boy) for Zane, black for Cole, and green for Lloyd Garmadon, the birthday boy!

Hope you’ll try some of these ideas and make shirts for your own little guys!

You can also always find great sales on Ninjago and other Lego shirts, games, and toys at Zulily.com!

“Jewels”

Vintage Find: Marble-topped Coffee Table

Posted on February 4, 2013 by jewelsathome

I think you know by now that I love a great vintage find – what a great way to add character to your home, save money, and keep things out of the landfill.

My latest treasure is a marble-topped coffee table I found on Craigslist. I looked for a few weeks before finding something the right size and style for our space. This table has just enough curves and details to show its history – the seller said, it was his grandmother’s from the 1950s – without being overly ornate or fussy.

A quick paint job in glossy black gave the base of the table an elegant new look, and there was a small chip in the marble top that I repaired.

I think our living room is finally complete, so I will post some more pictures of the space soon!

“Jewels”

DIY Stenciled Silhouette T-shirts

Posted on February 1, 2013 by jewelsathome

Honestly, I don’t get tired of planning the boys’ birthday parties. This is different than saying I don’t get tired executing my own plans, which I do, but the ideas are so endless and inspiring, so I hang in there, and their happy faces are always the best reward!

This year, L wants a Ninjago birthday. I have to say that Lego’s marketing strategy is truly brilliant – combine Lego, a fantastic toy, with every possible boyish fad – Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates, Lord of the Rings, and Ninjas! It’s irresistible, as the clutter in the boys’ room will attest.

I’ve mentioned that I try to do a larger and reusable treat in place of a goody bag of small items. This time, I wanted to make the boys Ninjago T-shirts.

You can actually find T-shirts for sale for a reasonable price, if you keep your party small, but 1) I wanted long-sleeved shirts, since our weather is temperate year-round and 2) I think everything is more fun when you make it yourself!

I got the shirts at BlankShirts.com. I’m not affiliated with them or anything – I just figured I’d share my research in looking for inexpensive blank shirts. You can get short-sleeved shirts for as little as $2. I got these long-sleeved ones for about $8. I’ve also found some on clearance at Lands End for as little as $5, but you won’t get the same range of colors there.

I’m trying two different ideas for the shirts:

stenciled ninja silhouettes for the older boys
ironed-on and painted Ninjago eyes for the younger ones

Here are the instructions for the stenciled T-shirts. I’m really thrilled with how well they turned out, and it was quite easy! I’ll post the Ninjago eyes when they’re done.

Choose a ninja silhouette from the Internet and enlarge it.
Tape the printed silhouette over some contact paper and cut it out with a craft knife. I was able to do two layers at once, to make two stencils. (top row of pictures below)
Stick the contact paper stencil in place on the shirt, with a piece of cardboard inside the shirt. (bottom left picture below)
Use a stencil brush or sponge to apply black fabric paint. Remember to use small amounts of paint at a time and “pounce” up and down, so paint doesn’t bleed under your stencil.
Remove the stencil. I was able to reuse it a few times.

Once the paint is dry, heat set the stencil with a hot iron. I used a thin press cloth on the front and then also ironed it from the inside. (pictured below)
Your pattern will last longer if you wash it inside out.

Yay! The pattern on these came out very crisp and looks great. I’m already thinking of other patterns to try!

More ninja-themed T-shirts coming up soon!

“Jewels”

Favorite Paper Art Ideas

Posted on January 30, 2013 by jewelsathome

I’m just about ready to create some art for my craft studio walls, and I’m collecting some of my favorite inspirations here. I love these simple ways to showcase gorgeous papers and fabric prints, and I can’t wait to try them!

From Mondo Cherry, check out this trio of ideas:

stacked butterfly silhouettes mounted on a book page
circles wrapped in a range of pretty fabric prints
three-dimensional retro flower cut-outs

Go to Mondo Cherry

These butterflies cut from vintage books are decoupaged onto a piece of painted wood and sold by Gathered Together on Etsy. I love the inclusion of some sheet music!

Go to Gathered Together on Etsy

Sarah and Bendrix on Etsy have many charming variations on this hearts collage.

Go to Sarah and Bendrix on Etsy

Bombus on Etsy has a range of art made from maps. Here are some of my favorites:

Here’s another beautiful butterfly collage by Mallory Christensen on Pinterest.

I hope I’ll be posting my own creations here soon!

“Jewels”

Ultimate Pretzel Almond Bark

Posted on January 29, 2013 by jewelsathome

Warning: this stuff is addictive!

One day, Steve brought home some chocolate- and caramel- coated saltines, and I couldn’t stop eating until the the bag was gone!

When I saw recipes for caramel and chocolate pretzel bark, I knew it was going to be the perfect sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy treat. I based my recipe on the Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark from Mama Says What and I added almonds and some subtle spices to give it an extra rich taste.

ULTIMATE Almond Pretzel Bark recipe with a secret ingredient!

Ingredients:

8 oz mini pretzel twists
1 1/2 cups roasted salted almonds
16 oz semi-sweet dark chocolate chips or 16 oz bar baking chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (my secret ingredient for a little kick!)

Instructions

preheat the oven to 350F
line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
layer pretzels and almonds on the foil (pictured below, top right)
in a pot on the stove, melt butter and stir in brown sugar. Bring to boil and keep stirring until smooth and thick.
Pour caramel over the pretzels and almonds (pictured below, middle left)
bake in oven for five minutes
sprinkle cinnamon and cayenne evenly over the mixture
add chocolate on top and bake for another couple of minutes to melt
use a spatula to smooth out the chocolate (pictured below, middle right)
cool for 10 minutes at room temperature and move to the freezer for at least two hours
break into small chunks

ULTIMATE Almond Pretzel Bark recipe with a secret ingredient for extra kick! {Jewels at Home}

Easy steps for making the ULTIMATE Almond Pretzel Bark recipe with a secret ingredient for extra kick!

For maximum freshness, store the bark in a container in the freezer. Mine is in the chest freezer in our basement, and I would like to say that I burn enough calories going up and down the stairs to justify this treat, but that’s probably wishful thinking…

“Jewels”

Fabric-covered Magnet Board

Posted on January 21, 2013 by jewelsathome

It’s long overdue for me to spruce up my craft studio. It’s packed with piles of paper, fabric, and half-done projects, and I know that if I could just establish more order, I’d be able to get a lot more done. Not to mention, this space is also our guest room, and it’s a bit embarrassing to have visitors bunk up in the mess!

So, in my efforts to spruce up my craft space, I decided to cover some large magnet boards in fabric. The boards are from Ikea – SPONTAN. I got them many years back, but I am sure there is something similar available currently. For the fabric, I chose this large floral print that has the bright blues and greens I want to use in this room.

Here’s the step-by-step for this easy project.

Cut a piece of fabric about 1.5 inches bigger than your board in each direction. If you want to add some interest – or you don’t have enough of your fabric, or both! – you can join multiple pieces together. Iron it thoroughly. (pictured below)

Easy steps to create a beautiful fabric-covered magnet board. {Jewels at Home}

Easy steps to create a beautiful fabric-covered magnet board. Cut your fabric a little larger than the board you want to cover. I mixed two fabrics.

Coat the face of the magnet board with spray adhesive and lay your fabric on top, smoothing out the wrinkles. Use a glue stick to wrap the fabric around the sides and back of the board. (pictured below)

Use spray adhesive to mount your fabric on the board and a glue stick to wrap the fabric around the sides and back.

I added some ribbon as a finishing touch and ta-da!

Mix fabrics and ribbons to create a beautiful one-of-a-kind bulletin board.

DIY fabric-covered bulletin boards are a piece of art in this home office.

These feel like works of art in themselves, but they’re also great for organizing pins and supplies and displaying ideas and keepsakes. I turned a lot of sentimental objects – gifts from the kids and my friends – into magnets, so I get to see and use them every day.

Glue a magnet to the back of a sentimental object, so you can see and use it every day.

Here’s hoping these fabric-covered display boards kick start beautification of the rest of the studio! Also pictured are the Queen Anne chairs I painted and reupholstered and the DIY pencil tins upcycled from food cans.

“Jewels”

New Style for an Old Boiled Wool Coat (Version 1)

Posted on January 21, 2013 by jewelsathome

It has been a while since I found my mom’s old boiled wool jackets and brought them home. I’m so happy I finally got around to reworking the first one into something more tailored and contemporary, so I can wear this sentimental coat every day.

Do you have an old coat you can’t bear to part with? Depending on your coat’s original design, you can alter it using these ideas, from simple to intricate:

Take in the side seams
Take in the back seam
add a gather or dart at the back waist
Take in the sleeve seams
Add darts or seaming in back and/ or front
Take apart and rework individual pieces

My original jackets are made by Geiger from Austria, bought about 20 years ago, and they’re very big and boxy. I have no idea how my mom carried off this look, as she was very petite, but in any case, the coats were ready for major alterations. I used a whole arsenal of tricks to create a new style on this first project, as you’ll see.

How to take in the sides of a boxy coat:

If you want to make a subtle change, you can take in the side seams without touching the sleeves, but for a radical change like mine, you’ll need to take off the sleeves, so you can take in the sides all the way from top to bottom. After prepping your coat by removing the sleeves or lining as needed, turn it inside out and put it on. Use pins or safety pins to shape the side seams the way you want them. You can flip it back right side out to see how it looks and adjust as needed (pictured below on left).

After pinning a shape you like, use some tailor’s chalk and a ruler to mark a new seam line and see along that line. (pictured below on right)

Try it on to check the fit and when you’re satisfied, trim the excess fabric.

Steps to altering a boxy old coat: taking in the side seams.

How to take in the back of a boxy coat:

Similar to taking in the sides, prepare your coat by removing the lining if needed, turn it inside out and put it on. Use pins or safety pins to shape the back seam the way you like. You can flip it back right side out to see how it looks and adjust as needed (pictured below on left).

After pinning a shape you like, use some tailor’s chalk and a ruler to mark a new seam line and see along that line. (pictured below on right)

Try it on to check the fit and when you’re satisfied, trim the excess fabric.

How to alter an oversized jacket: taking in the back seam.

Adding a dart or gather to an oversized coat:

If you just need to add a little shape to the back of your coat, you can add a simple dart or gather. Because my original coat was so boxy, I did this in addition to taking in the back seam. Looking at the back seam, fold in a small amount from each side. Use pins or safety pins to hold down the fold and try it on. Adjust as needed and then sew in place. I sewed this part by hand, so the stitches wouldn’t show.

Steps to updating a boxy old jacket: adding a gather to the back.

How to take slim the sleeves of a boxy coat:

After I had already removed the sleeves of my coat and taken in the side seams, I measured the new sleeve holes by marking the top of the sleeve (top left picture below) and pinning it to the shoulder of the jacket and pinning the entire sleeve in place, so I could see how much needed to be removed from the bottom seam (top right picture below). Using that measurement, I trimmed the sleeves at the bottom seam to match the new smaller arm holes. I used tailor’s chalk and a ruler to slim the sleeves an even amount all the way down (bottom picture below).

Updating an oversized jacket: taking in the sleeves.

After these steps, I had a jacket with a much better fit.

Step by step tutorial to altering an oversized and boxy jacket. {Jewels at Home}

Results of altering an oversized and boxy jacket.

Adding contemporary style to an old coat:

I could have stopped at this point and had a comfortable fitted coat, but it felt so plain, and I wanted this to be a piece of clothing I’d love, so I decided to remove the old notched collar and use the lining material from the coat to make a larger collar. Finally, I added some more buttons, and I had a look that is completely new and I’d be happy to wear every day.

I’m so pleased with my “new” coat, that is filled with memories of my mom, and I’m looking forward to tinkering with the next one to create another cozy memory to wear.

“Jewels”