DIY Patterned and Laminated Recipe Cards

Posted on December 19, 2013 by jewelsathome

I recently posted about the hand-painted Bamboo Cooking Utensils we are giving the boys’ teachers this year. To make the gifts even more personalized, I am including recipe cards with the boys’ favorite recipes.

Each of the boys chose a recipe from our home that he loves. I originally asked them to write out the recipes on cards, but it turned out that it was hard to fit the recipes onto the cards, so I ended up typing the recipes, but I included their hand-written titles. I also added this cute mixing bowl clipart.

I fit four recipes onto a 8.5″x11″ template, and I printed them out on heavy cardstock.

To decorate and laminate the cards, I used a patterned contact paper (Marise Charcoal by Laura Ashley) on the back and a clear contact paper on the front. I laid the full sheets of recipes onto the contact paper before cutting them out, and it went pretty smoothly (literally and figuratively).

Finally, I punched a hole in the corner of each set of cards and used a ribbon to tie them onto the spoons.

Reminder: here are the painted kitchen utensils. I love how they look, though my tip would be to not paint as far up the handle, so the utensils can be used for all kinds of cooking and prep.

And here are our finished gifts: painted utensils with our personalized recipe cards attached.

It can’t be said often enough how hard-working and dedicated our teachers are. We played Santa and ran around the boys’ schools giving these out today, and I hope that our gifts show our teachers how much we appreciate all they do. And as I mentioned, before, I’m glad this year’s gifts were a lot lighter to carry around school than last year’s pancake and hot chocolate mixes in glass jars! I’m bringing a wagon if I do those again next year!

“Jewels”

Reindeer Antler Silhouette Art

Posted on December 15, 2013 by jewelsathome

This Christmas, I was inspired to create a white and woodsy theme to our decorations. And since I’ve put a lot of time into new projects for the season, I wanted to make some that would work all winter, and not just for the holidays.

I’ve been eyeing the paper mache animal heads at West Elm, Anthropologie, and other favorite stores, and I almost took the leap, but I ended up creating this project on my own, and I am so happy with how it turned out. It feels extra satisfying to know I created this piece of art from things around the house!

The base for this painting is some thin sheets of plywood that were actually leftover packing material from some chairs I bought. The wood seemed too good to just throw out, and I knew I would find a great project for it! I had thought of making some beachy signs for my dad’s place, but that will have to wait.

To draw the antlers, I looked at images for inspiration and then sketched it out. I didn’t want to have it look too neat, and I decided to do just the antlers, though I love a lot of the reindeer head silhouettes, too. I used those to make some reindeer pillow covers for the season. I painted in the gray with a finer brush and filled in the white background. Both colors were leftover house paints. I painted thin enough layers that you can make out some of the wood grain below, and I think the finished art strikes a nice balance of rustic and sleek, whimsical and elegant.

Here’s a close-up of the antler silhouette painting:

And here’s how it looks over the fireplace in our family room. I think it adds a cozy modern lodge feel for the chilly winter nights.

Last night was our annual holiday party, and I had put the finishing touches on this painting just that morning. Seeing our guests sitting around the fire definitely captured the cozy feeling I was hoping for!

I’m looking forward to enjoying this painting through Christmas and into the new year!

“Jewels”

Faux Birch Branches

Posted on December 11, 2013 by jewelsathome

They say, there’s a fine line between genius and insanity… I think I got a deeper understanding of this when I took on this faux birch branch project.

I saw these a year or two ago in a department store, and I’m not sure what possessed me, but I decided to make them for our house. It’s the kind of fantastic paper creation you might see at Anthropologie, which always has the best art in their store displays… It makes me want to buy a cute sweater… Now! But I digress.

I’m working on creating outdoorsy and white-themed Christmas decorations this year, like these felt poinsettia ornaments and homemade clay ornaments. I had several large cardboard tubes left over from buying fabric, and I got inspired to transform them into a little homemade forest. I have to say that I was super-excited when I started, and by the end, I was going blind from visions of decoupaged tissue paper, but I think it was worth it in the end.

Materials:

Cardboard tubes. The “trunks” are made from large tubes for rolling fabric. The “branches” are smaller tubes, including toilet paper and paper towel rolls.
Brown paper
White tissue paper
Mod Podge or glue for decoupage
Embroidery floss in black and gray
Patience

To get started, created the shapes of the trees. I used brown paper and Mod Podge to join some long tubes together, so that the lengths would vary. I also used the same technique to add branches to some of the trunks (pictured below).

Next, I started creating the look of birch bark, inspired by instructions on making fake birch bark over at Kitsch Designs. The first step is to cut the tissue paper into strips – I made a variety ranging from about two to four inches wide. Then, paint some Mod Podge on the cardboard and wrap strips of tissue paper around the tube (pictured below). I overlapped the paper in places and left gaps in other places, to give a textured look to the branches.

It looks cool when you tear the wet paper and get a rough edge like this!

Keep adding layers of paper, overlapping them, so the “bark” is textured and natural-looking (right two pictures below). I estimate I used a total of about 4 layers. On the top one or two layers, add some short strips of embroidery floss (left picture below). I cut this into different lengths and also separated some into strands, so there was a lot of variety. The floss stuck well to the paper using the Mod Podge.

I “planted” the finished birch branches in a pot wrapped in fabric in our font hall. I think it would look great with the addition of some greenery and/or ornaments, so I’ll fiddle with that a bit more, but so far, I’m excited with these wintery additions to our foyer.

After the hours that went into this project, I’ll be keeping these faux birch branches around. I haven’t decided if I’ll keep them long for next Christmas or maybe cut them short to display in the fireplace. Let me know what you think!

“Jewels”

Dip-Painted Wooden Kitchen Utensils

Posted on November 17, 2013 by jewelsathome

I’m sure you’ve noticed that dip painting is very popular these days. I’m not sure that I like the look on everything, but some of those dip-painting projects do look really great. For holiday gifts this year, I decided to make some fun dip-painted kitchen utensils. I’m going to add some recipe cards hand-written by the kids to make special gifts to give their teachers.

And a while back, I used a reverse dip-painted look when I repainted a mid-century nightstand for the boys’ room.

To make your own painted utensils, you’ll need:

Wooden or bamboo utensils. These Oceanstar Bamboo Cooking Utensils worked very well, with their flat finish and a broad handle to show off the paint.
Paint – I used leftover house paint from a variety of projects
Polyurethane to protect the painted finish
Paint brush and sandpaper for touch-ups

With three kids, there are a lot of teachers in our lives, so I set up a dip painting center in our backyard.

I dipped the handles of the utensils in a variety of paint leftover from other projects. For some, I partially dipped in a second color. Finally, I added two coats of clear polyurethane. Between coats, I laid the utensils with the painted edge hanging off of the work table. The cardboard under the table caught any drips. I did use a brush and sandpaper to touch up occasionally, but for the most part, the paint went on quite smoothly and easily.

One small modification that I would recommend is to not paint too far up on the handle. The way I did it would be fine for stirring things in a pan, but hubby, who cooks a lot more than I do, pointed out that the painted handles would be harder to use when stirring a big pot of soup or stew.

DIY dip-painted wooden kitchen utensils | Jewels at Home

I started with one color of paint on the handles of the utensils.

For some of the utensils, I added a second color of paint. So many options!

Dip-painted wooden kitchen utensils | Jewels at Home

These are the utensils from our kitchen. Hubby pointed out that it would be better to have painted just the very tips of the handles, so the paint doesn’t get into big pots of soup, etc.. I guess I owe him some new utensils for Christmas.

You can mix and match colors and patterns to make great-looking sets to give as gifts.

To make our gifts more personalized, I asked each boy to pick a favorite recipe and write it out by hand. I’m going to copy the recipes and tie them to the handle of the utensils with ribbon. I love all the variations, and I hope each of our teachers will find a choice that’s perfect for her or him.

Teachers’ gifts. Dip-painted wooden utensils with your child’s favorite recipes on cards.

I’m looking forward to sharing our gifts with the wonderful teachers in our lives, and I’m also glad these wooden utensils will be a lot lighter to carry around school than last year’s pancake and hot chocolate mixes in glass jars!

“Jewels”

Seeing Silver for the Holidays

Posted on November 16, 2013 by jewelsathome

I love decorating for Christmas and the winter holidays. There’s something about all that sparkle and warmth at the darkest time of the year that just lifts my spirits. I have a lot of traditional red and green decorations with a more natural feel, because our last house was an old Craftsman, and that theme fit it well, but in recent years, I decided to shift towards bright and silver! I set out to do this while reusing as much as possible. You can see how it turned out in last year’s 2012 Christmas house tour, and in this post, I’ll give details on how to add silver and shine to your holidays without breaking the bank.

I bought very few new decorations, but I used a few simple elements to transform things we already had:

Silver spray paint. Rustoleum metallic spray paint in “chrome,” and Krylon “bright silver” which I already had.
Silver craft paint. I used this to touch up some decorations and ornaments we had and add some sparkle.
Silver ribbon – Michael’s had an array of ribbons at 60% off when I was there, and I had some in my craft closet as well.
Silver bells – also on sale at Michael’s

Paint it!

I’ve had these “PEACE” and “JOY stocking holders for many years now. They were a lovely antique bronze finish that got refreshed with a spray primer and a few coats of Rustoleum chrome paint. It has a very bright and reflective finish that looks like real metal.

Tips on adding the glow of silver to Christmas decorations you already have. {Jewels at Home}

I painted these stocking hangers with metallic paint for a shiny new look.

I also painted these mercury glass look-alike ornaments in silver.

Two easy steps to get a faux mercury glass look on your old ornaments.

And finally, I painted some pine cones with the Krylon bright silver paint and used the on their own, as vase filler, and on wreaths.

Spray some pinecones in silver paint to brighten up your holiday decor.

Wrap it in ribbon!

I had three wreaths in traditional greens and reds. This pomegranate and magnolia wreath from Restoration Hardware got a new look with some simple silver ribbon wound around it and used for hanging.

For my oversized wreath with pinecones and berries, some silver bells and ribbon gave a whole new look.

My third wreath was this plain wreath that wore a burgundy velvet bow for more than a decade, and now it’s ready for the next decade with new ribbon and pinecones painted in silver.

;

I did splurge (as much as one does at Target) on this silver beauty for our front door. It sets the silvery tone right when you enter our house!

And here’s what some more silver ribbon and bells did for this tabletop tree:

Wishing you a bright and merry holiday season!

“Jewels”

Decorate Aprons – Gifts for Dad

Posted on June 16, 2013 by jewelsathome

As I have mentioned before, Steve’s birthday and Father’s day are very close to each other, and most years, he gets a combined Happy-Father’s-Birthday-Day celebration. Last year, we went low-frills when I helped the kids make some creative cards for dad.

This year, we’re making some practical gifts with a personal touch – paint your own mugs and aprons. We did the mugs last weekend, while Steve was out for a long run, and they are cute!

Next up: aprons for our amateur Iron Chef.

To make the aprons, I used:

Uchida Fabric Markers (I also used these for the kids to decorate their own quilt blocks)
Plain aprons in Khaki, which I thought would hide stains better than white but still allow the colors to show up well.

I prewashed the aprons to shrink them and remove some of the sheen to help the colors stay. I then ironed them and pinned them on cardboard, to make it easier to draw. I made two templates: a “tie” apron and a “medal” apron, the latter because Steve ran the San Francisco Marathon on Father’s Day this year!

Then, we each added out own embellishments, and I love how unique the creations turned out to be.

Happy Father’s Day to a loving, patient, and inspiring guy! We love you!

“Jewels”

Decorate Ceramic Mugs – Gifts for Dad

Posted on June 2, 2013 by jewelsathome

Steve’s birthday and Father’s day always fall within the same week, and I am sad to confess that he tends to get short-changed with a combined Happy-Father’s-Birthday-Day celebration. Add to the scheduling issues the fact that we are often traveling around that time of year, and sometimes the best I can do is help the kids make some creative cards for dad.

This year, I am planning ahead just a little more, and we have two separate (gasp!) projects to make. Of course, I love doing something handmade, especially from the kids. But I also wanted to make sure that our gifts were practical and I think our projects- mugs and aprons – are perfect!

This morning, the boys and I decorated some coffee cups for Father’s Day – or his birthday – I haven’t decided which is which. This is a fitting gift, because a) Steve’s ability to function as a human being is closely tied to caffeine and b) we keep breaking our cups, so we need more. Not glamorous, but true.

Being an avid fan of Pinterest, I have of course seen the posts about decorating mugs with Sharpies. On closer reading of reviews, however, this might not be as durable as I ideally want. I did, however, find recommendations for these Pebeo Vitrea 160 Glossy Markers. They are meant for glass but also work on ceramics. The colors are very bright, and the markers are easy to use. The one thing I would mention is that these are really paint pens, meaning the paint can splatter, so wear a smock or something you don’t mind getting a few spots on. (Yes, I speak from experience. My cream-colored blouse was an unlucky wardrobe choice, but fortunately the spots are very small.)

We each decorated one of these White Ceramic Mugs and wrote our names and the date on the bottom.

I’ll be baking these to set the color when Steve is at work one day, and I look forward to surprising him with them in a couple of weeks!

“Jewels”

Living Room Tour

Posted on March 26, 2013 by jewelsathome

After some peeks into the small spaces in our house – the powder room, the nursery, the laundry, the master bath – I’m glad I can show you our living room. It’s actually only one half of the original living room – we are using the other half of this enormous room as our dining room, and we turned the separate dining room into a family room.

I am not sure quite how to describe the style – it’s a little bit contemporary but classic. It has Chinese elements, but more of a Regency Chinoiserie feel than traditional Chinese. Is this the Asian fusion of the decorating world? Anyway, I love the cool soothing blues and grays warmed up with some green. It satisfies my desire for a grown-up space but is still a very comfortable spot to hang out.

Not much more explanation needed, so I’ll get to the pictures. I’ve included links to the many DIY projects in this room.

A view of the living room side of our living-dining room, from the foyer.

The bamboo brush paintings are by my mom. I sewed the living room pillows and repainted the vintage marble-top coffee table.

This picture was from the Holiday House Tour:

I love this elegant old Chinese chair that I picked up at the flea market. It’s sitting by the window, next to a craigslist-find chest that I painted in teal.

Here’s another sunny view of our living room. I love that it has so many windows.

Living room tour. Classic contemporary space with Asian elements. {Jewels at Home}

To the left of the piano is an antique wooden window screen that I painted, and on top is a repurposed shoe box, decorated with paper.

These nesting tables are from a consignment store, and the silver box is a rummage sale find that I painted in silver.

This vignette on top of a bookshelf includes some art from a favorite calendar, an antique Korean vase given to us by Steve’s parents, and a little Japanese dish I picked up years ago while shopping with my mom and sister.

The bookshelf on the other side of the window has a similarly sentimental display – art from a calendar and from an old friend, a small blue and white Chinese vase from my grandmother’s house, and some candle sticks I found in thrift store.

Thanks for visiting!

“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”