Jeweled Letter

As with many projects, this one started out as something different.  I wanted to make something unique for my grandmother's birthday.   I had planned to take this letter and put flowers on it, but when I realized my flowers were too big, I knew I was going to have to improvise.  Luckily, I remembered I had a huge bag of beads leftover from my mom.  I used them to decorate the letter and it ended up looking pretty awesome and being super easy.

I started out by spray painting the letter gold, because that's a color I had and I knew I wouldn't be using it for anything else. 

 

I don't know if it was the type of paint or what, but it didn't take any time to dry.  Once the paint did dry, I got out my clear glue and started gluing down beads.  I put a small dab of glue, threw some beads on top, and then added some more glue, and so on.  The smallest beads worked best.  I used a lot of 'seed' beads.  

 

All I did was just keep gluing and placing beads on top. I wanted a colorful look so I didn't do any pattern or even separate out the colors.

 

Once I covered the whole letter, I went back and filled in some bare spots.  I let it sit for a night, then the next day went back over a couple holes.  I then took the clear glue and put a small layer over the whole thing to 'lock' it all in.  I had a few drips over the sides, which I tried to clean up quickly because it ends up making a mark. 

 

I thought it turned out really pretty. It was a quick and easy project.  I'm thinking about making some for my house.  Maybe my initials or something.  I'm also playing around with the idea of doing more of a pattern, but that will require me to sort through my huge gallon bag of beads....not something I think I'll have the patience for right now.  :)

 

Polka-Dot Ribbon Wreath

Oh goodness, I have fallen into a crafting rut but hopefully this new wreath project has pulled me out of the depths.  It is so easy to get into the habit of just looking on Pinterest and not doing.  As I put away my spring decorations, I realized I really needed a new wreath...it had been too long since I had made one.  I've seen a ton of cute wreaths on Pinterest and it is hard to find one you like enough to take the time to make.  I found a cute wreath and the caption said it was a fabric wreath, but when I clicked on the picture to learn how to make it, I found out the blog where the picture came from was not a working link (grrr!).  But I studied the picture and realized the fabric looked like it had ribbon mixed it.  As I was standing in the isle at Hobby Lobby, I figured I'd just get ribbon- so much easier and cheaper than fabric I think. 

The ribbon was 50% off (yay!) and I already had a wreath at home.  I had bought the wreath around Halloween at Target for $3- it's great because it's a half circle- flat on the back so it will lay flat against the door.  I ended up using only five rolls of ribbon.  I picked out the pink polka dot ribbon first, then found the multicolored polka dot ribbon, and luckily found 3 other colors of polka dot ribbon that just matched!

 

I wasn't sure what length to cut, so I guessed. :) I don't think any two pieces were the same length.  All the pieces were right around a foot long though.  I tied double knots, and tried to stagger them so the orange wreath wouldn't show through.  I didn't use the multicolored ribbon as much as the solid color and I think it makes it look better.   I love a good craft project that allows me to sit on the couch and only took around 30 minutes.  I had a hard time not making a pattern since I'm so obsessive compulsive at times.  I do really like the unorganized look of it surprisingly.  

 

After making this wreath I really want to do another one.  It was super easy and would be a great project for kids because as long as you can tie a knot you can do it.  

I thought that adding a big bow or an initial would be cute.  I'd like to try making one using a variety of one shade of color (like all pinks).  

A fun afternoon project for sure.

:)

Enjoy- Miranda