Chronicles of a Crafter

Perfect Frame

2011-07-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

The most recent cake i made was for my "grandmother" Rose. She has been bowling since way before i was born so when we heard her 80th birthday was gonna be a huge bash i instantly wanted to make her cake! Initially my idea was to do a bowling lane with a ball and pins but sometimes cake is unpredictable in the oven and you have to make due with how it comes out.

In order to make this cake i used my sphere cake pan and my 12" pan. When filling the sphere cake pan i did not put enough batter in it so i adjusted my cake theme. Originally i was going to cut the 12" pan to look like a lane but since my ball idea did not come to fruition i decided to use it to cut bowling pins. To do this i used the tip of a knife to outline pins and when they looked like pins i used the knife to cut them out. The finished pieces looked like this:

Now this isnt where i expected this cake to look like but with a little creativity you can turn anything into something wonderful.

Covering the bowling balls
I was told her ball (the one shes been using for decades) was red so i did my best to dye the fondant red. When you add red food coloring to white fondant its hard to get to the right shade but i finished with a burgundy pink. The first step to covering the cake is frosting it then rolling the fondant over the cake and smoothing it out then removing the extras.

frosted with buttercream

Rolled fondant (bad flash)

Trimmed

Covering the bowling pins

Each pin was shaped differently so they had to be covered one at a time. The process is the same as the above.

iced as smooth as possible so they are no lumps

rolled in oblong shapes to cover pin

All three pins covered and smoothed

Decoration

Now this is when you take a simple looking cake and jazz it up and make it look nice. Placement was pretty easily determined. The space between the pins looked just right for the bowling balls so here is what that looked like.

Add some finger holes and pin stripes, Happy 80th Birthday, and a rose and you have your self a cake.

The last addition was a perfect frame. I know not many people have done this but i thought shes had a great life and deserves it. The cake was a huge hit! Even some of her bowling friends where there and loved it.

This Cake Cracked Me Up!

2011-04-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

Once again this is something i should have took more picture of but oh well. To make my easter egg caked i used two types of pans and a new technique i taught myself after reading it on cakecentral.com. I bought wilton's sphere cake pans which are about 6 inches in diameter and when they cooked they are two half circles. Heres a picture of the pans


These would be the top and bottom of the egg

I filled the spheres with a yellow cake mix and for the middle i used a 6in by 2 in cake pan to make the middle. Now i only had one 6x2 pan so i used a technique called "collaring" to make the cake as thick as i needed it with one pan. I used chocolate cake for this part. I wanted the cake to be about 4 or 5 inches tall so you used parchment paper to great a "collar" for the cake to expand into as it cooks. To do this you take the paper and out line the pan onto the paper with an extra inch for siding. Once you cut out the circle you cut in one inch tabs all the way around so that it sits flat in the bottom of you pan and the tabs fit together on the side. You use butter to secure it like glue. Next you take another piece that is long enough to stand tall all the way around the pan, making it taller. When the cake cooks it fills up through the paper and stays in your round shape. I know its hard to image with out a picture to see but trust me it works.

Now as i mentioned in my last post, if you dont put good supports into the cake, it will bulge and collapse. Now this could have also been because my bottom later was round and not a dense cake but while i was stacking i doweled and used cardboard cake boards and it still managed to collapse so i went with just using a middle and one half of the sphere for the top. Instead i took the rest of the cake and make it look like dirt for the egg to sit on as if it was in a easter egg hunt.

I covered the egg part in buttercream then white fondant for the shell. Now the concept for this cake was that a little chicky was popping out of the shell and the egg was cracking. For this i colored buttercream yellow for this chickys feathers. After the fondant had set up in the fridge, i used a star tip to pipe the chickys feathers onto the shell. I did them all over so it looked like he had popped out several places. Next i took some piping gel and colored it black to look like cracks in the eggs. I also used the gel to write "Happy Easter 2011" on the back. For the chickys wings i cut fondant out with a heart shaped cookie cutter and covered it in the yellow butter cream like his other feathers. With the left over buttercream i colored it green for the grass. I used a leaf tip to string out the buttercream so it looked grass like. I cut out some fondant shaped like tulips to add more decoration. For this i used a tulip shaped cookie cutter then i used water and food coloring to hand paint them, which i did for his feet as well. Lastly for his beak i free formed it with fondant and painted it the same was as the tulips and used googley eyes for his face.

Everyone loved the cake! They definitely got the yoke i was trying to shell and it cracked everyone up.

Elmo Extravaganza!

2011-04-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

For my old college roommate's daughter's 1st Birthday, i made her an elmo cake! The first thing i worked on is the elmo cake topper. I watched a video on youtube that i cant remember who put it up about how to make elmo (or bear shaped creatures) out of fondant.

Step one: Coloring him to the shade of elmo, which is a deeper red.
Step two: Molding his body, arms, head, and legs.
Step three: Piecing him together so he doesnt look deformed. The best thing to use to hold his head to his body since the head is heavier than the arms and legs is to use skewers. For his arms and legs toothpicks work well.
Step four: Making him look furry. The video i watched suggested using cake scissors but thats didnt work well for the look i wanted so i tried several piping tips until i found that a small star tip works best to give him a furry look.

Step five: Adding his eyes. I just took tiny amounts of fondant and dyed them to the colors i needed and shaped them till they looked like him.

How cute is he! i loved how he looked like a baby considering shes one 1!

Now i should have taken more pictures but my hands get so gooey that i often forget. The next things i worked on was trim decorations which were made of little rolled balls. I stuck with the elmo theme and kept them green, red, yellow, and blue. My other main decoration were star cut outs. Now all these were simple to make. Just section fondant and color with wilton food coloring paste till you like the colors. For the stars i used a star cookie cutter. I also used wiltons alphabet cookie cutters to cut out "Happy Birthday".

All the decorations can be attacked with a little bit of piped butterceam. Good thing i took extra because i got the E and I mixed up in her name : / oops

The hardest part about a cake this big (3 tiers, 2 layers to each) is that you have to stack them properly other wise you'll get bulging like you notice on my yellow layer (which wasnt to bad) or it could collapse, which ill discuss for my easter cake later. For stacking each later you have to put dowel supports in each cake and each layer separate by a cake cardboard round. With good spacing and strong wood, it will stay standing. I also hammered one all the way threw all layers to add extra stability.

Heres the final product.

As an added bonus i made a "smash cake" for her to play with. A smash cake is a little cake for the child to get messy with. I used the giant cupcake scilacone cupcake mold and covered it with butter cream and matching decorations.

Isnt she adorable!

Happy Bootday!

2011-02-23T21:04:00.000-08:00

lWelcome Back fellow crafters!

This post will teach you how to make a cake shaped like a boot! Oh wait! There is no cake involved! This cake is made out of Rice Crispy Treats!

Here is a little back story on the reasoning for this cake. My "Aunt" Liz is having her birthday this weekend. Liz works for Georgetown law. Now im not 100% clear on what it is she does but it involved construction, architecture, and design. Being the only woman (even the boss lady) she owns and wears a pair of Pink Timberlands to stand out! I thought this would be the perfect cake to make for her but they already had ordered a cake. Mom then told Rose (my "grandma") about my idea and fell in love. They both knew this is something Liz would love to see! So we decided i could do it anyways!

Now i watch Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Ultimate Cake-off, and Food Network Challenge so i thought this was plenty of training to get the job done! Id seen cakes carved out of Rice Crispy Treats so i figured why not try it my self! Here in comes the project!

What you will need:
1 Bag (16oz) Rice Crispy Cereal: I used generic because im broke but you can choose whatever brand you would prefer. I dont think it makes a difference because i dont think anyone is gonna be eating this cake since there will be a real one at the party.
1 Bag (16oz) Marshmallows: Once again brand isnt that important but i use Jet-Puff since Great Value (walmart's brand) didnt have a 16 oz bag.
2 tbsp Butter: I use stick butter because its easy to measure out and melts down quicker than a spread.

Depending on the shape of your cake you can use whatever pan you want. Because i knew i was making a boot i wanted to use something that will eliminate half the trouble for me so i cut the top off a 2 liter soda bottle (plus the bottom kinda looks like a heel of a boot) for the tall part of the boot and a round pan to mold the rest.

Step one: On low heat melt down butter. If the pan is too hot it will burn the butter and marshmallows.

Step two: Add marshmallows. Make sure to stir continuous so that the bottom doesn't burn. Stir till all mallows are melted.

Step three: Remove from stove. Add rice crispys! Stir mixture together until its mixed well.

Step four: CAUTION!!! The mixture will be hot so be careful! Coat the pan you are adding the mixture to with vegetable shortening to avoid having trouble getting it out once its harden up.

Let mixture cool for about 2 hours

Use a knife to cut the bottle off. Be careful not to cut your self! It will be slippery from the shortening.

I thought it was to tall so i cut it up. The next few pictures are that process.

Now i have a starting point. This makes the Ankle part and heel part of the boot.

I cut the round next to start on the foot part of the boot.

The next few pieces are free hand cut based on which piece was gonna fit with which.

This piece serves as the bottom of the boot. I used it as a starting point to build up on. It was cut from the middle part of the circle pan.

I then took the rounded edges from the circle pan and lined them up on the base of the boot. I used spare pieces of treats to help mold the pieces together and make it as symmetrical as possible.

Here you will notice i added a lip to the top of the boot to serve as a cuff and i carved an arch into the bottom to look like a real boot.

To cover this cake with fondant i covered the rice crispy boot in butter cream frosting. I already had butter cream left over from a cake i made previously so i used that. Its chocolate mocha flavored.

This serves several purposes. First being that it acts as an adhesive for the fondant. Next it acts as a hole filler. Since the treat is holey the butter cream fills in those little gaps so that when you add the fondant it lays smooth. Its important to try and cover it as smooth as possible. Refrigerate until harden and then you can cover it with your fondant.

I made my own fondant to cover it. You can see how to do that here. For this project i colored my fondant different shades of purple because Purple is Liz's favorite color. Piecing this cake together takes different techniques so do what works best for you. Here is a brief description of how i did it.

Step one: The inside of the boot. I tried to color the fondant black but its hard to get it the fondant that dark so i used the food coloring and water to paint it.

Step two. The cuff of the boot. This will also act as a place to adhere the ankle piece of the boot.

Step three: The foot of the boot.

Step four: The ankle of the boot. Used water as an aid to adhere this to the cuff and foot of the boot.

Step five: The laces details. I used a marker lid to cut of the circles of the shoe laces and added them to the boot. I also rolled out "shoe string" and laced up the boot. Again using water as an aid to adhere it to the boot.

Step six: The heel details. I rolled out the heel and added it to the bottom of the boot. Again using water as an aid to adhere it to the boot. I used my shell tip fondant/gumpaste tool to indent the grooves in the heel.

Step seven: The stitching detail. I used my quilt roller tip fondant/gumpaste tool to add stitching. This not only lets it look like a real boot, but i used it where i pieced together the different pieces of fondant to hid the imperfections.

And Now you have a Boot!

How to make Marshmellow Fondant!

2011-02-23T20:08:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow crafters! I know its been a while since ive blogged but ive been busy with my new hobby:

CAKE DECORATING!!!

In this post i will walk you through how to make your own fondant to cover cakes to decorate on!

I found the recipe on Cakecentral.com and Wilton.com and went from their inspiration.

Ingredients:
1 Bag Marshmallows (16oz): Depending on the size of the mallows the bags come in either small (10oz) and large (16oz) puffs. Both websites recommend using a high quality marshmallow, I used Jet-Puffed Large Marshmallows (16oz)
2lbs Confectioner Sugar: Or for us plain folk: Powder Sugar. Now both the websites i mentioned above say that 2lbs is close to 8 cups. Depending on the process it can take anywhere from 6-9 cups.
2-5 tbsp water: for convection in the microwave
2 tbsp Flavoring: for this i used CLEAR Vanilla extract, if you want your fondant to stay white use clear!
1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening: Give or take, you could need more or less. This is used to coat your tools to avoid sticking and to package and store.

Directions:
Step one: Coat your bowl with shortening! DONT FORGET THIS!!!! You will need two bowls. One microwave safe and one large enough to knead the mixture in. Coat these thoroughly to avoid problems and sticking.

Step two: Add marshmallows into microwave safe dish (already coated in shortening) and add 2tbsp water into the dish. Heat approx. 60 seconds then stir. Its smart to coat your spoon in shortening as well. After stirring heat for 30 seconds more then stir. The websites recommend this interval until melted which they estimate 2 1/2 minutes. I heated mine till it was smooth and it looked like one giant mallow.

Tip: You can add the vanilla in before you start folding in the powder sugar or you can wait till you need water. Make sure you add 2 tbsps so that the fondant has good flavor!

Step three: Take 1/2 (4 cups) powder sugar and place in your other bowl (already coated in shortening). Add mallow mixture in and fold together. For the next 3-5 cups add one at a time and fold. If you add to much powder sugar at a time it will puff up on you and make a mess! Once the mallow has cooled i just used my hands but its VERY IMPORTANT TO COAT YOUR HANDS WITH SHORTENING!!!!! It wont help 100% but it helps way more than if you dont. Its simpler just to work your way up. The way to tell if your getting close to the right consistency is if it looks like a kneaded loaf.

Tip: If it starts to dry out between cup additions add a half tablespoon of water. I say half because if you add to much at a time it gets to wet!

Step four: Once kneaded and all cups have been added take out and place on a well coated mat or counter top to continue kneading until it looks right and is pliable with out being too dry or tearing when played with.

Step five: You'll notice in the above picture the fondant is really shiny. This is because i coated it with shortening for storing and setting up. Once you coat the outside wrap the loaf in plastic wrap. Make sure you get the most air out as possible. Once wrapped up store in a plastic bag.

Now you have fondant!
Both the above websites suggest that if you only need one color then add the coloring before you mix the mallow and powder sugar. If you want many different colors, color as you work!

For the colors i choose look forward to my next blog!

Sugar Flowers

2011-01-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

Now if your anything like me, watching the food network channel is one of my favorite things to do. More than that anything related to cake making : Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Ultimate Cake-Off, etc. Id love to make half the stuff they do to decorate cakes. So i tried!

For Christmas i got some great silicone baking sheets and it reminded me of what i saw on several TV episodes. I looked up some recipes for poured sugar and i went for it. Here is a step by step account of how to make sugar flowers. Keep in mind the sugar gets EXTREMELY HOT!!! TAKE CAUTION!! and of course practice makes perfect.

Step One: In a pot over medium to high heat add 1 1/4 cup sugar and about 1/4 cup water, more if needed. I found directions at http://www.ehow.com/how_5651999_make-pulled-sugar.html but for the most part i flew of the hinge. After the sugar starts to boil add in your choice of food coloring. No need to stir the boiling will do it for you.

Use a candy thermometer to determine temperature. Heat the Sugar to exactly 298 degrees F otherwise if its undercooked it will recrystallize and if over cooked burn. This took me 4 tries to get to the right temp but dont give up.

Step Two: Once the sugar as reached 298 degrees F remove from heat and pour on to silicone baking sheet.

Make sure to wear rubber gloves. The sugar is EXTREMELY HOT!!! and you will even feel the heat through the gloves but will help shield some of the heat. I dont know what experts use to handle hot sugar but i found them to work well.

Step Three: The sugar will continue to cool every second it is off the heat so you must work quickly in order to get the sugar to a pliable material. The best way to start this is use your fingers to roll in the edges of the sugar into the center. This should be worked around the circle until the material is now in a ball shape.

The consistency should be similar to playing with gum. It till stick to its self but pull apart. I would caution waiting at least a minute or two before attempting this step to avoid burning yourself.

Step Four: Once pliable you will be able to pull the sugar, much like taffy. From this point you can take pieces of the of the sugar and mold them into the shape you are looking for.

This picture was taken from a previous attempt when i actually pulled the sugar but this is what the sugar looks like when burnt and pulled.

Step Five: Pull sugar pieces into the shape of your petals. In this case i was making a sugar poinsettia flower.

While it may not be perfect i think i did a pretty good job! For the stamen in the middle of the flower i dipped the sugar balls into sprinkles to add the yellow effect.

The task is a long one. Dont give up and be patience while attempting this. After you finish you can try and have a little fun. We tried to blow sugar in to shapes. Now i didnt know what the experts used to do this. From the shows ive watched i assume some type of plastic tubing but in our case i used a baster. I took the pump off and attempted it that way.

Quick Tip: Video

2010-09-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago i told you about a quick tip in getting the wrappers of crayons. Here is a video i made to help in understanding the process better and to get a visual. Be kind it took me at least 8 tries to get it to sound good.

From Blank Canvas to a Piece of Art

2010-09-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

Now lets be honest. Art today is pricey. But if you want to spruce up your apartment/house on a budget all you need is a blank canvas. Well, and some paint and inspiration!

Like i've mentioned in previous posts all you need is a idea and you can turn it into anything. One day while shopping at my favorite local arts and craft store (Ben Franklin) i noticed canvas was on sale. Ask any art student and they will tell you this is the pricey fundamental piece for a work of art so when its on sale might as well stock up. So thats what i did. I purchased 4 8x10 pieces and 1 2 1/2"x 3 1/2 " piece. Mind you i bought them over a year ago and it wasnt until i moved again that i finally did something with them. Originally i was going to use them as art for a head board since my bed doesnt have one but when i moved something more crafty came to mind (that will come in a later post).

Back on topic. The small pieces were an early project. For some odd reason i had bought some foam stamps but never used them or gifted them for anything. I thought...these would be cute for decoration..only if it was more apartment friendly. So what did i do....I traced the words on to those handy pieces of canvas and made them cute! With a little puff paint and cute hand writing you can accomplish a lot. Here is the final Project with the inspiration below.

With a little change in color and decorative background swirls, dots, and hearts, i think they turned out adorable. Now i just need to figure out where to put them. Im thinking my room but i already have lots of stuff there so maybe kitchen. Who knows. By the way, theres only three because i messed up on the Dream one on the first try..got a little to artsy fartsy for my own good and it went over board. Always nice to have a back up!

Now for the larger piece. My best friend and I were moving in together and i thought this was perfect to decorate our bare white walls with. First i had spent about 3 hours outlining a beautiful script of our names, filling it in with paint, and fixing the edges. Then when the blackboard project came along, i forgot to move it and some paint spilled on it :( Thats my fault of course...you should always use a drop cloth!!

Anyways...seeing how the blackboard paint was black i threw some black paint on it and painted it all black. Seeing as our living room colors are black, white, and yellow, this was the first place to start. Now it sat like that for at least 2 weeks until i was bored and picked it up. Took some white puff paint and went to town. For some reason i really enjoy painting swirls. They are fun and can look really elegant. I offset the drawings to give it a more art perspective. Let dry and then time to figure out the final piece. We wanted to write a cute saying on one of our walls but could never come up with something. I goggled "home quote" and found one i instantly fell in love with. Find it and the final project below:

"A house is made with walls and beams; A home is made with love and dreams" - Unknown

Another Tip! I didnt have yellow puff paint that matched what i had been using for other projects around the house so i took the exact color i had been using and mixed in with a white puff paint. Came out the same if not better and gets the job done!

I showed dana and she loved it. Simple way to take a blank canvas and turn it into a piece of art!

Glitter, Puff Paint, Ribbon, Oh My!

2010-09-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

During my transition from college life to real life, I've also been trying to find my place in my sorority life. I was extremely involved as a collegian and i wouldn't expect less of me as an alumnae. Recruitment happen to be coming up and since crafting has been one of the few things to keep me sane post school, i decided to see what i could do to help out.

Now for those who never gone through formal recruitment or heard of it, ill break it down a little. At my university, Fraternity and Sorority life is not like you see in movies or hear about in the south. We don't have houses so our recruitment process takes place in out student commons. On Bid Day (the last day, when women choose where they will join) all chapters are in one room. Now instead of clapping and yelling each time a women "walks", we use noise makers to show our excitement. Each organization has a different noise maker so when a woman chooses your chapter you shake your noise maker and so on for each org. Our first year we used Tic Tacs, Second Year was kinda like a paddle ball with two beads that you spun to make noise, and this year i was handed empty medicine bottles wrapped in red felt.

Heres what they looked like when i got them:

Now my job, in the words of Tim Gunn, was to Make it work! So i went to my local craft store (Ben Franklin), A sorority woman's favorite place to shop and searched for the answers. I ended up buying some black and white glitter, black and white decorative ribbon, and finding some red and black confetti stars, and puff paint at home in my craft drawer.

The First step was to make them not look like medicine bottles. I made a simple wash of mainly glue with some very little water to attach glitter to the tops. I combined the white and black glitter in a small bowl and sprinkled in the confetti starts. Next you take a paint brush and paint the glue onto the tops. Then you sprinkle the glitter on.

Note: When using glitter make sure you put something under it (Newspaper as you see here) this eliminates the hard process of cleaning it up because it sticks everywhere!!

Close Up of Finished Lids

After i let them all dry i took cute sayings like "Bid Day 2010", "Alpha Omicron Pi", "Rho Beta", "Exceed the Expectation", and wrote them on the side of the lids. Similar sayings relating to our history, chapter, and ideals were written with puff paint on the velvet. The 4 different types of ribbon i got (on sale might i add) was used to add bows and more decoration. Attach ribbon with hot glue for the added touch. Here of some of the final products.

Obviously you can tell that red, black, and white are the colors we use. Cardinal is our true color. The panda is our "unofficial" mascot. You can also see my attempt at a ruby (our jewel) on one.

I wish i would have taken more pictures of the ones that were my individual favorites. I wanted them to be cute but also reminders of what we stand for. My ultimate favorite said "Character, Dignity, Scholarship, and College Loyalty" which you will find in the object of our Fraternity and then in a close second was the one with our founders names.

Its my hopes that as they shake them in excitement to except these new women into our sisterhood that they are reminded of our mission. If they pass them out to our new members i hope as they learn and grow with in the chapter they will see these sayings, names, and people again, and build memories upon that. Once finished decorating and all paint and hot glue is dried, add you noise makers (in this case beans were the loudest) and you have your perfect Bid Day Noise Maker!

Quick Tip

2010-09-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

Have some old crayons that you dont know what to do with? Taking forever to peal the wrappers off?

Once you have a project in mind the process is quite simple!

Take an exacto blade and run it vertically down the wrapper and it will open right up! No more messing your nails up!

Now if you need something to do with the crayons, Check out the Crayola Crayon Maker. Melt you old crayons into new crayons and color away!

Reminder: Please don't let children use sharp objects! Parental Supervision advised when using knifes and hot ovens.

The Chalk Board Project

2010-09-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

Walking though the craft department at Walmart (if you can call it that) i stumbled upon blackboard paint. This paint is unlike ordinary paint. It can be applied to many surfaces and once dry you can actually write on it with chalk. Ive wanted to do something with it since the day i saw it, i just never had the canvass to let my creativity take over.

It wasn't until i moved into my new apartment when i found the perfect canvass bring this craft to fruition! The lucky spot was a small wall in my breakfast nook that needed something to make all the white walls a little less blah!

The first part of my artistic process is to come up with the idea (already established) and then figure out how i am going to make it come true. The second part (my favorite!) is going to your local craft store or hardware store to look for materials. Now i couldn't just paint a big blob on the wall and let it be it, i wanted to create something to encompass the paint so that it was chalkboardesque'. A Frame. Where was i going to find a frame big enough (and in my budget) to do the job. I searched craigslist for old art work with nice frames but none of them met my imagination. Next i looked in art stores. Custom framing is extremely expensive so that was out the question and none of the frames the stores had were the right size.

This is when i determined i would have to build a custom frame myself. Now I've worked with wood before but nothing on this scale so i waited for my dad, Phil, to come to town. I figured he loves home depot so this would be great bonding for us, plus he knows how to cut angles with a saw. I also brought along my mom, Mama Donna, who shares my creative process. So off to home depot we went with my idea in mind. I didn't want to create the frame with just boring wood. I wanted something with a little flare so we went to the lumber section and found the crown molding.

There is something you should know about me. I am indecisive. I mean VERY indecisive. We probably spent just 30-45 minutes staring at the different molding before i narrowed it down to a few i liked. The piece i wanted was perfect but to thin and the the other one to pricey. What was i gonna do..? Then Phil came to the rescue. Being artsy in his own way (more manly crafting), he suggest i buy a plain piece of wood and layer the two pieces so that together it would be perfect in thickness. Phil helped cut the wood and off we went to start the my third favorite part (the crafting!).

After selecting the wood and buying the supplies to mount and paint i had only spent 20 dollars. Pretty inexpensive chalkboard if you ask me. The next process would be to paint the wood. The color pallet we have in the apartment is mainly white with black and yellow accents (the couch) so i wanted to draw in the yellow with out having a piss colored frame on the wall. I couldn't paint it white because it would blend in with the wall and I couldn't paint black because it would blend in with the chalkboard paint. So i ended up going with yellow and black. Now the wood i bought was what i would call "engraved" with pretty swirls (my selling point) so i wanted to do an antique finish so that they would stand out.

To antique all you need to do is paint your base color that you want to show through and then paint over with your second color lightly while wiping away extra paint to give an old world look. Here is what the decorative wood looked liked while painting.

Then you paint the second piece which ever color you choose (i choose yellow to break up the black of the chalkboard and the frame.

Next you use brads to nail them together to get the finished frame look.

Next you line them up on the wall and use a level to make sure its all even. Outline the inside of the frame and paint the wall using the chalkboard paint. I used 2 coats, but read the directions on the container and follow suite. The edges don't need to be perfect because the frame will cover them.

Next you nail the sides over the edges of the board and get your finished frame.

Now you may notice i under measured a little on the top (i just haven't had the time to get more paint) but this is what the final project looks like. Buy chalk and an eraser and let the fun begin!

I love this project because not only was it fun but it allows my friends to leave messages when they visit. A few weeks after while watching home and garden, they used the paint to decorate a space. Now im not saying i am a trend setter, because there is no way HGTV got the idea from me HAHA but i definitely see this catching on soon.

Go out and buy some paint (under 5 dollars at Walmart) and paint something fun!

My new project

2010-09-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

So much like everyone else in the word, i have caved and have gotten a blog...

I have wanted to write a blog for so long but i felt like most things i would write about that would be considered interesting would be highly inappropriate to post on the internet. SO..... i was left wonder what i could possibly write about that would satisfy not only myself but the readers out there?

It wasn't until recently that i figured it out. Unbeknown to her, Ryan the Girl inspired me. Her blog is amazing! If you haven't clicked the link to read her posts yet, what are you waiting for. Fellow Blogger Ryan, also a friend of mine, saw on my facebook that i was starting a new project and expressed her interest..Thus the blog was born!

I thought if one person could be interested in my Crafting adventure, there must be more!

I started crafting probably close to 6...not really getting into it until i was 10 or so but my mother and i always bonded over arts and crafts. Even my brother is artsy fartsy. Started with gimp (you know that rubber-like string you braid and twist to make all kinds of stuff) and peeler beads (the tiny plastic tubey things that you set on a peg board and melt together to make an image/design) and grew into more complicated challenges. Clay, Stamping, and the all time favorite Scrap-booking were soon to follow. I even dabbled in stained glass for a bit. In high school it was jewelry. While in college, it was anything wood that could be painted. You name it, i could paint it and make it adorable: Paddles, Jewelry Boxes, Picture Frames, even just wood letters and putting them another piece of painted wood. Now, out of college, i am more into home decor (ill go more into this in later).

Now that you have the basics of how both the blog and crafting came into my life, but i hope you come back and read more about the chronicles of my crafting life, past, present, and future!