A Pinterest Crafty Christmas

So... I joined the masses in early December and signed up on Pinterest.  I instantly found so many amazing ideas- recipes, outfit combinations, crafts, decor.  I didn't become one of those people who pins tons of awesome things and never tries them.  I've made many new recipes, some we liked and some we totally didn't.  I tried new ideas with my clothes, loved all of those!  Here is the problem though- I liked some of the craft ideas so much that I decided (3 weeks before Christmas) to make some Christmas presents.  Yes, we somehow waited until the last minute to get presents for people, not doing that again.  With working full-time at a crazy (awesome) busy job, an early Gimple Christmas, and trying to finish up the inside remodeling left over from doing siding, it didn't leave much time for my crafty presents.  I made a few trips to Michaels and Walmart, borrowed some stuff from our art teacher at school (Thanks, Jeannie!), and got to work.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out and may have to make something for my own home!

The first one, for Greg and Kim, is made from three 5"x7" canvases.  I printed the two pictures of Nathanael on tissue paper on a regular printer, then used mod podge to attach them to the canvas.  The tissue paper allows the canvas texture to show through.  You can learn how to do this at sarasprojects on blogspot.  I'm not the type of blogger who takes great pictures of all the steps and then tells you all how to do it, but she did a great job!  I can't be bothered with all the extra pictures and time it would take to do that!   I hung all three on a ribbon with a suspender at the top as a hanger.  Thanks to my Mom for helping me with this project!

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My second project is a larger wall hanging- I used a 2'x1' canvas that I put fabric over, used my Cricut to make the letters out of contact paper and stuck down, then painted over.  When you pull of the contact paper letters, the fabric comes through.  I thought the gold dots would disappear with the paint, but they still are showing which is a neat surprise.  You can learn how to do this idea at the brassy apple blog.  Except she says to use spray paint- THAT TOTALLY DIDN'T WORK!  So I used craft paint instead, worked like a charm!

I used the same techniques to make this last project for my sister-in-law.  It says "God bless this home" in Romanian.  Again, the fabric shows through the paint a little which is cool.  I did mod podge over the top of all these projects to seal them better.  I put the last layer on this one the very morning we left to drive to Shaffer Christmas, it was still sticky as we drove.  Nice timing, huh.

Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, they all look much better in person.  I can't wait to start my next Pinterest project, just have to decide which one comes next!