How To: Nautical Flag Cupcake Toppers

Over the weekend I hosted a nautical baby shower for my friend Michelle. 

 I wanted to try my hand at making some cupcake toppers and I decided that little flags would be perfect.

Here's what you'll need:

scrapbook paper

glue stick

wooden bbq skewers

wire cutters

scissors

ruler {optional}

yummy cupcakes

::To start I cut the pointy end off of each skewer using wire cutters.  Then I cut my wooden skewers in half so I could get two cupcake toppers out of each skewer.  That made each stick about 4 1/2 inches long which is a good height for a cupcake topper.

::Take your scrapbook paper and cut it into strips.  My paper was red, white and blue striped but I just wanted to use the navy and white portion.  I just cut away the red and was left with a good width.  Mine were roughly about two inches long and just under an inch wide.

:: Now take your glue stick and apply glue to the backside of your paper strip.  Also I put some glue on the top portion of the skewer where the paper was going to go to make sure the paper was tight around the stick.  

::Fold your paper over and line up the ends to form your flag.  Try to press the paper tight next to the wood stick and hold for just a few seconds.

::You can leave your flag as is or you can cut a small "v" out of the end with scissors.

::Now top your cupcakes with your flag toppers and Enjoy!!

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Friday Favorites {some fun tutorials!!}

fun with plaster and doilies @ Songbird

grassy eggs @ Fly Through our Window

fancy crepe paper fringe @ The Gaines Gang

paper birds @ No Money Mama

vintage pom-pom pillow @ A Pretty Cool Life

fork plant tag holder @ Make*happy

appliqueing with used dryer sheets @ V and Co.

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silver leaf lamp + tutorial

Last week I found a silver leaf candidate at the thrift store.  Meet Mr. Lamp!  I have seriously been looking for a decent lamp at Goodwill for only a year now.  I loved the shape and lines of this guy so I took him home with me.

And I turned him into this!!

In case anyone is interested I thought I would share how I transformed my lamp using silver leaf. 

To prep my lamp I wrapped a small piece of tin foil around the top part of the lamp.  I also wrapped up the majority of the cord in foil and then use two small strips of painters tape to cover the rest of the cord where it attached to the lamp.  I wasn't planning on painting my lamp but decided at the last minute to give it a quick once over with some white satin spray paint that I had on hand. I knew that it was possible for some of the underneath color to show through some of the small cracks in the silver leaf and I decided I would rather have white underneath just in case.

Next I used a small foam brush to coat my lamp with metal leaf adhesive size.  The size will go from milky looking to clear when it becomes tacky. The packaging said it takes about 20-60 minutes before it is ready but I found that 20 minutes was the magic number.  I made the rookie mistake of applying the size all over the lamp.  If the object you are silver leafing has any curves or very much detailing I would highly suggest you apply the size to small sections at a time.  It was definitely better for me to apply the size and silver leaf to one area of my lamp and then repeat the process working down the base of my lamp.

The silver leaf that was available at my local craft store came attached to a tissue-like paper.  I cut my silver leaf into strips and small squares since I knew I wouldn't be able to attach a whole piece of silver leaf at once.  I took the silver leaf and placed it on my lamp shiny side down and pressed lightly with a cloth on the tissue paper backing to ensure that the silver leaf attached.  Then I gently peeled back the paper.  At this point you may have some little pieces of silver leaf sticking up so take a soft cloth or a piece of velvet and dust away the excess leaf.

Once I had most of my lamp covered in silver leaf I had to go back through and touch up any spots where the silver leaf didn't adhere.  I just re-applied the size to the spots that were bare and started the process over again.  I wasn't going for a super smooth and polished look so I just covered as much of the lamp as I could and didn't worry about little imperfections.

I liked how my lamp looked after I had applied the silver leaf but it was looking a little too shiny for my taste.  I decided to use some stain I had on hand {Miniwax English Chestnut} to slightly antique my lamp.  Using a small foam brush I applied stain to a small section of the lamp at a time and then I quickly wiped it of with a dry cloth.  Does this sound familiar?  This was the same process I used on the frame of my yard sale mirror a few months ago.

I don't know if you can tell from the picture but now the lamp is looking a little less like tin foil after the stain application.  The stain really helped to tone down the shine factor and it also settled into some of the cracks in the silver leaf giving my lamp a little character!

Once I was happy with the finish on my lamp I applied two coats of metal leaf sealer.  Since we move every few years I thought it would be a good idea to seal my lamp to ensure that none of the silver leaf comes off. 

I had so much fun trying my hand at silver leaf and I absolutely love how my lamp turned out!  I think I will definitely be using metal leaf for some more projects in the future.

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How to: Boxwood Topiary

Ok since several of you asked I thought I would go ahead and post a little tutorial on how you can make your own boxwood topiary.

You could:

a. Keep your eyes peeled at your local thrift store for a topiary in need of a makeover or
b. run like the wind to your local craft store to pick up some supplies and start from scratch

Supplies you will need:

• Floral foam ball {You could also use a styrofoam ball but they are more $$ and you would need to paint it green}

• a stick from your yard

• faux boxwood plant {I bought two plants at Hobby Lobby and used about one and a half}  

• cute pot or planter

• floral foam for inside your container {I picked mine up at the Dollar Tree!}

• moss {you could use reindeer moss, spanish moss, etc.}

• hot glue gun

Ok, let's get started!!  Put some floral foam down into the bottom of your container.  I had my foam stop just shy of the rim of my pot.

Now take your stick {cut to desired length} and push it into the center of your foam.  Take your stick back out of the hole you just made and put a few drops of hot glue down into your hole.  Quickly put your stick back into the hole in your foam and hold in place until the glue is set.  For good measure you can also put a little bit of hot glue around the stick at the top of the foam to make sure that the stick is really secure.

Take your foam ball and push it down onto the top of your stick.  You will be left with a foam ball lollipop!

Take your boxwood plant and cut off little pieces about this size {see picture below}.  You need a little bit off stem so you can push it down into the floral foam enough for it to stay.  You could cut longer pieces depending how far out of the foam you want your stem to stick out/up.

Now start poking your little stems one by one into your foam ball. Warning: this part does take a while to do!

Pack those little stems in as tightly as you can so that when you are finished you won't be able to see the ball underneath.

And pretty soon you will have something that is starting to resemble a topiary.  YAY!!

Now take your moss out of the bag and pull it apart into little chunks.  Put some hot glue on the top of the floral foam you have in your container and very carefully press your moss down onto the glue.

I used the tip of a knife to very gently press the moss where I wanted it to go.  Keep gluing down little pieces of moss until you can't see any floral foam anymore.  I used the least amount of moss that I could manage because I didn't want it to stick up out of the pot that much.  {Sorry I didn't take any pictures of this part because I figured it would be pretty self explanatory.}

You can tie a little ribbon onto your stick or just leave it as is.  And there you have it.  Your very own boxwood topiary!!  Ok, actually that one is mine.

I spent about $11 on my thrift store topiary makeover which isn't too bad considering my ballard designs inspiration topiary retails for $50-$65.

{p.s. If anyone has any questions you can email me at talesandtrials@gmail.com or leave your question in the comment section.}

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{brass to beautiful}

remember the brass tray i recently purchased at goodwill?  you know, the one hubs wasn't in love with?

once i decided i wanted to put it in our bedroom i went in search of some spray paint.  i actually had a hard time deciding on a color.  i considered using heirloom white but in the end i went with this krylon hammered metallic silver paint.

but first i gave my tray a once over with some primer spraypaint.  {i would suggest using a primer when you are painting something metal}

i thought the tray looked 800 times better with primer than in it's original brass state.  don't you?

following the directions on the can i painted a couple of light coats of paint on my tray.  you are supposed to use short strokes to acheive a hammered finish but i wasn't really concerned about making it look perfect.

plus i knew i would have things setting on my tray so i knew the finish on the inside of the tray wouldn't really show that much.

 now i just need some non-silver accessories for my new silver tray.  looks like i could use another trip to the thrift store.  ha!!

want to see what other people have done with spraypaint and brass?  check out the centsational girl and sutton grace to see some more brass transformations.

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{burlap peace banner}

over the last several months i have been so inspired by all of the fun and festive holiday banners/garlands that people have been making{out there in the blogsphere}.  this weekend i decided to try my hand at making my own banner.

i wanted something to hang above our nativity that would compliment it but not detract from it at all.  i finally settled on a simple "peace" banner.

i would have loved to spell out "peace on earth" or  "glory to God in the highest" but...............

i didn't think i had quite enough room on my mirror for more than one word let alone a whole sentence. ha!

on to the making of the banner.

i had some burlap let over from another project so i started with that. i took my trusty old black sharpie and my ruler and measured/traced out 4inx4in squares.  i then cut my squares out very carefully by cutting just inside my black lines.

next i printed out some letters using word so i could make my own stencil of sorts.  i ended up using american typewriter for my font and the font size was 200.  once i had my letters i took one of my burlap squares and laid it directly over my first letter.  fortunately, burlap is pretty see through so i was able to see my black letter underneatch enough to trace the oustide of the letter onto the top of the burlap.  i used my black sharpie for all of my tracing.  once i was satisfied with each letter i filled in the inside of the letter with my sharpie.

i was by no means going for a polished and perfect look.  think more along the lines of simple and rustic.   remember i didn't want my banner to compete with my nativity.  some of the squares frayed a little around the edges as i was working on the letters but i think it just adds a little more charm to my banner!

the two things i did have to purchase for this project were some jute and some miniature clothespins.  {fyi: michael's has just the right size of clothespins.  i tried hob lob first but their pin options were way to big} i think total i spent about $2.50 on my supplies.

to hang my banner i fastened the end of my jute to the back of my mirror with a thumbtack on each side. i then clipped my letters to my jute string starting with my middle letter working my way outwards.

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halloween wreath

I have always wanted to have a wreath for our front door but have never bought one because the cute ones are always seem to be really expensive.  So last week I decided to try my hand at making my own wreath. I had so much fun I ended up making two, a halloween and a fall wreath.

My inspiration for one of the wreaths came from this wreath. [scroll down to the second page} I loved the black and white check fabric but decided to go with some fabric I already had on hand.  I bought a 12" floral ring at Michael's for $1.99  that looked just like this.

Then I started cutting my fabric into strips.  And then I cut some more strips.  And then I cut even more strips.

And then I took a break from cutting and started actually attaching them to my wreath form.  Loop your strips of fabric around the wreath and tie in a knot. I double knotted mine for good measure and to make my ends a little shorter.

As you tie on your fabric strips push the fabric close together so that you can't see any of the wreath form.   At first it might seem like it will take you an eternity to attach all your fabric strips. Keep going!

It didn't take me as long as I thought it would. I completed most of my wreath while I attended Jim and Pam's wedding watched The Office last week.

Pretty soon your wreath will start to look like this.  You can "fluff" the ends of your strips as you go and cut any that seem to stick out to far.

And before you know it your wreath will be complete and ready to hang on your door.  I got some orange  ribbon and hung my wreath by that.  I had some ribbon leftover so I added a little bow to the top.

{pretend my bow isn't crooked in this picture! ha!!}

I'm loving my new halloween wreath!  And hubby loves that I only spent $3.00 on it.  :)

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