Family Tree

This is a project that my sister and I did over the summer, and unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the finished product because, well, oversight.

The project was creating a family tree, and not just one of those where you have paper and a tree and you fill in names. We wanted it to look fancy and be wall-hangable. My mom & sister had spent a lot of time researching and figuring out the family history, all the way back to Constable Andrew Everest, who came to Maine from England in the 1640s. So for my mom's birthday (in June), we decided to make the family tree.

We went through a lot of thought about what kind of materials to use that wouldn't make it look like some homegrown craft project. We eventually settled on using a foamboard as the base, covering it with some brown fabric, and printing out each individual's name on thick brown scrapbook paper and mounting that on one of 3 different types of scrapbook paper, depending on what generation the individual belonged to. The lines connecting the names would be made out of round silver cord for the horizontal lines and smaller silver cord for the vertical ones. Here's what it ended up looking like:

The names set out (and hot glued on) before the lines connecting the various family relationships were added. The 3 different types of scrapbook paper depicting the different generations can be seen here (matte brown paper, brown paper with raised decoration, and red paper with velvet). 

In the midst of adding the silver cord. The thicker cord stretched across each generation of kids, and the thinner cord connected the parent pair and each kid to the thick cord.

This is the last picture I took of the project still in progress. I promise it did get finished... I guess I'll have to take a picture the next time I go to Dallas. I have to say that it turned out WAY better than I was anticipating. It actually didn't look like some craft project, and will look pretty snazzy when it eventually gets framed. Plus my mom loved it :)

T-1

this one's a two-fer (back and front)

magazine cutouts + construction paper + mod podge

1 day until Valentine's Day

T-2

magazine cutouts + construction paper

2 days until Valentine's Day

T-3

magazine cutouts + stickers + construction paper

3 days until Valentine's Day

T-4

Magazine cutouts + scrapbook paper + construction paper

4 days until Valentine's Day

T-5

 heart sticker + construction paper + scrapbook paper + sewn by machine

magazine cutout + construction paper + scrapbook paper

5 days until Valentine's Day

T-6

 Magazine cutout + scrapbook paper cutout + construction paper

Magazine cutouts + heart stickers + silver Sharpie + construction paper

6 days until Valentine's Day

Get Ready...

For the annual

Valentine's Day Countdown!


It's that time again... the time of cooing doves and swooning women. Also, the time when I make a bunch of Valentine's Day cards and use them as excuses to make daily blog posts. Without further ado...

Magazine cutouts + scrapbook paper + silver Sharpie pen + construction paper

Magazine cutouts + construction paper + stitched by machine

7 days until Valentine's Day

We Need A Little Christmas

Last December, Daniel and I took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. The place was all decked out for Christmas, and it was really fun to walk around and see all the decorations, which were handmade out of all natural materials--tree branches, fruit, flowers, etc. Here are some examples:

While we were there, we attended a wreath-making workshop at the historical museum. This year, we decided to try to put our untested wreath-making skills to use.

Daniel gathered the necessities:
- a couple of fake wreaths, needed for their wire frames
- several bunches of different tree cuttings from the local garden center
- florist wire
- florist tape
- a bag of cinnamon pieces and pinecones
- assorted fruit

I supplied some pliers/wirecutters, and we were off.
The first step was removing the fake wreaths from their wire frames. Then, we attached individual branches to the wire frames using the florist wire, and then added on the final decorative touches at the end. The process is easier to see using pictures:

Scout inspects the back of the fake wreath. The wire frame seen here provided the frame for our wreaths.

Some of the clippings. We used red cedar and fir for the wreaths' bodies.

My wreath in the beginning. It looks best if you start at one point on the wreath and go around all the way in the same direction. This hides the ends of your branches.

Using florist wire to attach a branch to the metal frame.

My wreath once I got all the red cedar branches on!

Then I attached some of these small decorative branches with the yellow tips.

I also added on a few fir branches.

And finally, some pinecones and cinnamon stick bits, all attached with the wire.

The final product!!!

Here it is hanging up outside!

Daniel's wreath - he used fir for the body and then added on apples, oranges, and some little red faux cranberry-ish balls, as well as little pinecones on the piece hanging down. Again, everything attached with wire. He used the green florist tape to wrap the ends of the branches so they would be better disguised. Looks great!


We were actually quite skeptical of the whole process before starting out. At one point early on, Daniel whispered to me, "I have no idea what I'm doing." Well, I didn't either. I think the real key is getting enough of a base built up so it looks beefy and hides the frame and the individual ends of all the branches. This can be time-consuming, though, since you're basically building the wreath one branch at a time. I think the entire process probably took us about 4-5 hours, spread over two nights. We are quite pleased with ourselves! It's going to be a new yearly Christmas tradition. Stay tuned to see what we do with all the leftovers.

Continuing tale of a bookshelf

I have had this plain Jane bookshelf since sometime in high school. In fact, I think I'm being charitable by calling it "plain Jane." It's particle board covered in wood veneer with a super cheap cardboard backing. My junior year of college, I was moving into an off-campus apartment and I wanted to bring the bookshelf with me. I decided I couldn't take the veneer anymore and painted it.

The first paint job was a total disaster. I went to the store with a very vague concept of what color scheme I wanted, and ended up leaving with cans of orange, yellow, and pink paint. Just visualize the atrocity... I stopped halfway through because it looked so bad. The next colors I ended up with were inspired by my mother's bathroom rug, and this is what the bookshelf has looked like for the past 4.5 years:

With most of the shelves removed. You get the general idea.

Well, after these bold colors for so long, I decided it was time for a change. I'd been wanting to cover the back of the bookshelf with fabric for a while, and I had the perfect fabric to use thanks to my lovely former roomie Marlane.

The first step was wiping the whole thing down and then painting it white. I decided to use a small hand roller instead of a brush, which turned out to be both faster and left zero brush marks, which have plagued me in the past.

Once the bookshelf & shelves were totally covered (it took several coats...) and had dried, it was time to cover the back. I had mulled over several different ways of attaching the fabric to the back, but decided cutting foamboard to size and covering that would be the easiest route.

I bought three large pieces of foamboard (and only needed 2, but Office Depot doesn't sell them in 2-packs) and cut them to size after measuring the back of the shelf. I had to cut 2 separate pieces to cover the back because the middle shelf isn't removable, for obvious structural reasons. Once the pieces were cut and tested to make sure they fit, it was time to cover them with the fabric.

I cut the fabric to size and then hot glued the edges around the back. I know a lot of other tutorials for this type of project recommend using a staple gun to attach the fabric, but seriously, it's not going to undergo a lot of stress or movement and hot glue is so much easier.

After the boards were covered in fabric, I just pushed them into the bookshelf against the back, and voila! It was so easy and I think it looks great!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

It's finally here! Go tell someone you love them!

 

 

"Flowers No. 3 & 4"

 

Thus ends the "Flowers" sequence. Thank you for your patience.

Valentine's Month #2

Another creation for your viewing pleasure:

Happy Valentine's Month!

I don't have any more rug progress to report, but here is a little snippet of Valentine's love for you, handcrafted by me in a 9-hour Valentine's-Day-card-making session of Olympic proportions: