Lace Earrings DIY

I am so into easy-peasy DIYs right now.  As I try to balance my time with kids, housework, my business, socializing... life in general (!) I find that crafts or really anything creative gets pushed to the side.  I enjoy crafting with my kiddos but it feels good to make something that I want to make.  That's why the fast and easy projects are my jam.  I only need a handful of minutes and I get that sense of accomplishment that carries me into the next craft time.

Earrings have been a favorite of mine lately; maybe because my kids are finally at the age where they aren't tugging on my earrings all the time in fascination.  I've created several super cool earrings lately like these motherhood earrings (from shrinky dinks) and I even let my son make these rainbow earrings (instagram).  I received a bag full of lace scraps from a church friend and as I sifted through them the ideas rushed into my head.  The first of course-earrings.

[I was unable to edit any photos for this post so please be respectful and make sure you link back to my blog or social media if you share my content.  Thank you!]


These were my 3 favorites (I think I'll turn the others into bracelets!

[Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to products I used in making this project. Purchasing through these links earns me a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thank you for supporting my blog.]

All you need to make this project is:

- small pieces of lace
- Mod Podge
- earring hooks

How to make it (in minutes!)

Step 1: Lay out your lace. 

Step 2: Cover your lace with Mod Podge.

Step 3: If the Mod Podge is filling any holes in the lace, use a pin or other small object to open the space back up.  Do this while the Mod Podge is still wet.

Step 4: When it's dried, take your jewelry hook and attach them together!  It's so easy. Don't you love it?

Don't you just love the delicate lace look?  And it's more durable with the Mod Podge. Win- Win!

It even dresses up a solid tee!

And here's something really cool:  This would be an AMAZING little DIY for your wedding.  Find a lace that matches the feel of your dress or if you have to alter your dress, save a spare piece and whip up identical matching earrings!  I made these earrings in 2019 and this is my wedding dress from 2012 and I swear that flower looks almost the same!  Isn't that fun?

(For those wondering, I try my wedding dress on again every year on our anniversary so that's how I have a photo of me in my dress!  It was a happy coincidence with these earrings.)

Imagine the possibilities! Costing only pennies to make and only a few minutes of your time- what's holding you back from making these now?  I'd love to see your creations, so please comment or tag me on Instagram @CutCraftCreate.

Canning Lid Ornaments

Happy weekend everyone.  To quickly update you on my ever-changing life:  I have a new job that is still in the field of social work but is Monday-Friday 8-5 (you know... a normal job!)  That being said, I am- for the first time since being married- really getting to enjoy my evenings and weekends with my husband and extended family.  This also means that I am going to start adding new blog posts on Saturdays, since it is a consistent day that I have off.  I also have an injured puppy right now (he tore the bottom layer of his paw pad off- ouch!) that is going stir crazy being stuck in the house with me.  I am hoping that this post makes sense, because my mind is on him right now.  So, if something sounds a little off, have mercy on me today.  Thanks!

Now, on to the post...

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend an Ornament Exchange Party.  I've never been to one before but I would totally recommend having one- it was so much fun!  My old college roommate (of 3 years) was hosting it.  The only requirement was to bring an ornament.  At the party, we played a sort of "white elephant" gift exchange so that everyone wound up with a different ornament than they came with.  Being a crafty person (you all understand) I couldn't just go buy one... I needed to make one.  Here is what I came up with:

If you've been here before, you might recall that I use mason jars for EVERYTHING.  Seriously, I have enough for a small army yet keep acquiring more.  I can't complain though, they are so useful! 


Making ornaments from canning lids is not an original idea, I do hope however that you can draw some inspiration from my three very different designs:  Classic Christmas, Pretty in Pink and Rustic Treasure.

{Classic Christmas}
Since I had no idea who these ornaments would be going to, I didn't want to make a set of rustic ornaments (my personal favorite style in about everything) and them be a die-hard classic Christmas person. So, I made both.

All I did was attach some blue paper to the flat part of the lid with glue.  The snowman is a sticker and the snow balls at the bottom are sticky "lumpy bumpys".  I finished off the design by hot gluing sparkly gems around the snowman.  Looking back, I would have used a finer point glue applicator because the hot glue made a mess!

Meanwhile, I painted the rim of the lid with white paint.  For that snowy affect, take a sponge brush and dab it onto the surface of the rim.  Don't worry if a little bit of the metal color shows through, that is what helps it achieve that look!

Once everything was dry, I stuck the flat part of the lid as far into the rim as I could, flipped it over and glued around the edges to keep it in place.  Sorry I don't have a picture of this.  I wrote "Ornament Exchange 2013" with a Sharpie on the lid but you can cover it with another piece of paper or leave it blank as well.  It's the back, so no one will see it when it is hanging.

Tie a piece of ribbon around the rim of the lid and allow room to make a loop so that it can hang on a tree.  All done!  Now you have a classic Christmas ornament.

{Pretty in Pink}
Since my friend Christine was hosting the party, I wanted to give her an ornament to help her remember her first ornament party. She loves pink, pearls and all things dainty and pretty. It's no wonder we are friends. I stuck with the canning lid theme but made hers a little more... girly!

 
This was basically made the same way as the last ornament with paper at the base.  However, here I added a chipboard flower (outlined in colored pencil) a "C" tag (for Christine) with a heart shaped brad and a piece of lace across it all.  Just as I have many mason jars left over from my wedding, that lace was a part of it as well- it was on our invitations! 

Please note: If you use a brad, attach it to the paper prior to gluing it to the lid.  It can be done afterwards, but it will be more difficult to puncture a hole in the metal.

The rim was pained the same way as the snowman ornament and it was finished off with a sparkly pink ribbon.  Perfect for my lovely friend.

{Rustic Treasure}
Now on to my favorite one. I love the rustic feel of this ornament and am thrilled to have been able to tie the "Christmas" theme into it!

 
Just like the others, it was started with a base paper and embellishments were added on top of it.  I LOVE paper that has words written all over it and this musical themed one fit perfectly into my idea of Christmas.  How many of you imagine singing classic Christmas songs from an old hymnal or from a yellowed piece of sheet music as a critical part of your Christmas celebrations?  I know I do.

After this, I added some thicker kraft paper and covered it with glitter.  I find this is easiest to do with spray adhesive and a sealant (after the glitter is on).  I thought the glitter would dress up the ornament a bit.

It was finished off with a "2" and a "5" (December 25... get it?) from the same punched letter set that I used for Christine's "C".  Lastly, I added some of my special wedding lace and the design was done.

I did not paint the rim because I thought it fit the look better without it.  Attach it the same way as the others and finish this one off with some thin jute twine.



{That's it!}
Ornaments are not one of my craft specialties but I had a blast making these! I had even more fun attending the party and getting to spend that time with some people that mean the world to me.

I took my mom along...

...and got to catch up with one of my best friends in the world...

I couldn't have asked for more!

{Your Turn!}
Which design is your favorite? Do you have any tips or tricks for those of us just dabbling into ornament making? For those of you who can create amazing ornaments without a second thought, I am in awe of you. I think I lucked out this time!

Happy Crafting,
Kelsie Ann 

DIY Hard Shell Travel Case

Happy Thursday!  I know I say this every week, but boy do the days fly by!  At least the weather is nice... or at least it is where I live.  Anywho- today I want to share with you a project I have been meaning to get working on for quite some time now.

Let me explain:  In high school and college, I spent a low enough amount of money that I could keep track of all my spending in my head and by frequently checking online.  Well, now that I am married, it is harder to keep track of all the money going in, going out, from his card, from mine- it's a lot!  My husband keeps track of expenses using a computer tool, but we have to keep receipts to enter them in manually.  So... for the first time in my life I have to save my receipts.

Thus far, I haven't been doing so well.  Because of that, I decided to take my own spin on the travel baby wipe cases and make myself something to hold receipts as soon as I get into the car.  Clever, right?  I (and my husband) are hoping it works.

{I love how "adult" it looks- no baby wipes here}

{How to Make it}

Gather your materials and a hot glue gun.  From start to finish this took me less than 20 minutes!

I wont go into too much detail, since this basic idea can be found on "how to decorate baby wipe cases" tutorials.  I will however; give you a few hints on things I learned along the way that might help.

First, cut 2 pieces of fabric slightly larger than the case front and back.  Proceed to glue them directly to the case.

This is where mine is different:  Most of the tutorials you see have a piece of ribbon running along the edge to hide the end of the fabric.  I did not want that look, so I made my fabric long enough to fold into the inside of the case.  Before doing this, make sure your fabric is thin enough that the case will close!

{I let the fabric pieces overlap where the front and back meet *just a little* so that no plastic could be seen}

Second,  Finish gluing down all of the edges.  After I had already glued mine on, I wished that I had given myself more fabric to work around the closure clasps.

Third,  Attach any ribbons, buttons or other embellishments that you desire.  As I have mentioned a time or two: I love lace!  So, that is what I used.  It is entirely up to you.

Finish it off by cutting any loose threads or in my case, actually cutting the fabric off of the clasps.  I tested to see that it would close (because of thickness) but did not check the clasp part- oops!  Oh well, it was an easy fix.

{That's it!}

Really.  Quick and easy and really cute (at least, I think so!)  I am using mine to hold receipts so that they don't get lost in my purse, the bag or my backseat but you can use it for anything!  For some really neat ideas check out a post from Tip Junkie.  She has 12 awesome ideas including my favorite, a travel earring case!  I guess these cases aren't just for babies anymore.

P.S.  Are you loving the fabric I used?  Check out this post to see another project I did using fabrics from the same set.  I can't get enough of them!

Happy Crafting,
Kelsie Ann

LINK LOVE!  Linked up to: Every Day is an Occasion

Stay Warm & Stay in Style

Happy Monday!  Is it just me or does anyone else feel like the weeks are flying by?  Can you believe that we are halfway through October already?  Although I am sort of a wuss when it comes to cold weather, I welcome the fall and winter with open arms!  I love everything about the crisp air, changing leaves and yes, in time... the snow.  It's all magnificent. 

What is just as exciting is finding cute "cold weather clothes" to sport during this time.  Today I am going to show you how to turn Dollar Store Gloves into stylish and affordable wear for the upcoming seasons.

{Classic Lace Gloves}

I am a sucker for the "classics":  Classic books, classic clothing, everything!  In my teenage years I bought a typewriter just because I loved the nostalgia of it so much.  The classic thing I think I love most?  Lace. (You should have seen my wedding dress!)  It is so delicate and beautiful that it makes whatever it touches look so... classy.

Materials:

Really, that's it.  Lightly glue the back of the lace pieces to the gloves, let dry and enjoy!

{Vintage Inspired Gloves}

You could have probably guessed this by now, but I love vintage buttons, broaches and pins!  My mom and I love going to garage sales, flea markets and the like to dig through piles of "junk" in order to find a few {real} vintage pieces.  We may have been known to buy sets of earrings just to take off the back and use them for something else. What's great is that now, vintage is IN!  That means that stores are selling pieces that look vintage but you can buy them in bulk. 

Materials:

 {I almost used pieces we had from an old pair of earrings until I found these buttons- aren't they just wonderful?  I love that shape}

How to do it:

{It should be a crime for this to be so easy}

{Red Nosed Reindeer Gloves}

I know I jumped straight to Christmas with this one, but you need to be prepared for wintertime too!  My favorite Christmas movies are It's a Wonderful Life and of course the 1964 Claymation Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer.  So, instead of trying to make gloves with a tiny George Bailey on them, I opted for our favorite Red Nosed Reindeer.

Materials:

  {For the vinyl shape, I used "patterned baby deer" from the Silhouette store made by Alaa' K.  I removed the inside design for this craft}

How to do it:

 Simply follow iron-on instructions that came with your vinyl.  For the nose, I suggest gluing it down first (with fabric glue) and then stitching it on snugly.  That way, his nose wont fall off!

{Your Turn!}

I would love to see the designs that you came up with to keep warm and stay stylish this cold weather season.  And, as always I love to hear any feedback that you might have on my projects, the blog or anything!

Happy Crafting,
Kelsie Ann

Link Love!  Linked up to: Every Day is an Occasion and D.L Art

Fun With Flowers {Congratulations Cards}

Oh, it is that time of year... flowers bloom, a soft breeze blows through the trees and yes, people get married.  I love this season.  I would attend every wedding that I passed- whether I knew the couple or not- if I didn't think I would be dubbed the "crazy lady" in town.  Really, I don't need food and I will bring my own chair; I would be no bother at all.  I would be happy just to experience this occasion.

This summer of love has been especially dear to me.  My husband and I tied the knot in June and since then we have had two separate friends get engaged!  How exciting this summer has been!  In the spirit of the season I have made a few "congratulations" cards to send to our newly engaged friends:

I remember feeling such joy every time a new card came in the mail for us.  There is something about friends and family taking time out of their day to send you well wishes that gets me every time.

Want to know how I made them?

I'll start with the yellow dotted one:

{1} I used my Silhouette to cut out a basic card shape in the white (actually speckled) paper.
{2} Next, I cut a rectangle out of the yellow dotted paper to fit just inside the border of the white paper- also with my Silhouette.
{3} I printed the words "Congratulations" onto the yellow paper with my regular printer. 
{4}Then, I attached a shortened piece of lace onto the yellow card using spray adhesive.

{5} After that, I wrapped a piece of twine around the card twice, having the ends meet in the back and letting it set just at the top of the lace.
{6} I then attached the yellow paper onto the card.  Doing in this way makes sure that the ends of twine are not visible from the inside of the card.
{7} Now, here was the really fun part, making the flower!  I got the idea from the Silhouette Blog
 and I had to give it a try.  For instructions, see the link.
{8} After allowing the flower time to dry, I attached it to the card (using spray adhesive) and used a pen to push down the glued spots without crushing my flower!

{Can you believe that flat flower became this 3-D beauty?  Me neither!}

That's it!  Want to know my favorite part (no, it wasn't the flower)

This card was made using several pieces that we had in our wedding.  The speckled white paper was used in our invitations as well as in our favors and the yellow paper was used for our favor boxes.  The lace was on our invitations; the flower paper (which says "I love you" over and over again) was used on some of our guest cards; and the twine, well it was used everywhere! 

I LOVE that so many pieces from our wedding is being passed on to help celebrate a friend's upcoming wedding.  Maybe I am just sappy like that.

Onto the blue and purple card:

I was inspired by something "peacock" on the internet and decided to construct my card in those colors.

For the shape of the card and the flowers I used the same technique as before. These flowers however, came from a thicker textured type of cardstock than the last card did:

Because they were a heavier material, they required more "wetting" and started to bleed and fray as I folded them.  It turned out great though and the only difference was that these flowers look more like fabric than paper!

{Have I mentioned how in love I am with this flower making technique?}

This time I printed the "Congratulations" straight onto the speckled white paper.

Then I used some DMC thread (that's right... it is not just for needlework!) and wrapped it around the card three times.  Instead of tying it in the back however I made a bow on the front that looks like a couple of little leaves.  When the card is opened up, the string can be seen- but it's not tied back there so it still looks nice and crisp!

Lastly, I attached my flowers in the same way that I did the first card.

Aren't these flowers so lovely?

I cannot wait to make more of these flowers and if that means more engagement cards for friends then even better!  Okay, okay no pressure- I'll make a few birthday cards too.

What about you?

Besides on cards, how else would you use these flowers?  I can't wait to hear everyone's ideas and I am sure my house will be covered with these in no time at all!

Notice: If you have tried to comment on previous posts and were unable, the problem has been fixed.  Please feel welcome to share your thoughts with me and I am sorry for the prior trouble.

Sending my Love,
Kelsie Ann   


Link Love! This post is linked up to: Every Day is an Occasion

Wedding Invitation Revealed!

As I've said before, when I find time to craft nowadays it is mostly dedicated to making all the wedding creations I have committed myself to do.  The first "biggies" on my list were the wedding invitations.  Remember my last post with the tiny square numbered carstock pieces?  You guessed it- they were part of the invitation:

I took 2 square pieces of cardstock and sandwiched a piece of twine (LOVE twine!) in between them, putting simple knots in between each set.  The hearts on the end were a thicker cardstock that we bought in bulk on ebay.  I attached the end of the string inside of the envelope so that it could not pull entirely out. 

That envelope was made using the Silhouette, but I changed the front to a point instead of a rounded shape like the original had.  The "True Love Lasts Forever" was a stamp.

Want to see the whole invitation now?The theme for the wedding is a sort of mix between rustic and vintage.  That's why you can find both styles incorporated into these invitations:

The front is made of that rustic carstock that I love so much.  We printed out the saying with a regular printer then cut out the shape with the Silhouette.  In the square, we took a sandspeck paper and attached a vinyl (yep, that's vinyl) tree shape to it.  Then the smaller square was just attached to the back of the rustic paper.  We took twine (told you I loved it) and wrapped it around that section before attaching it to the whole invitation.

The inside has two parts:  The left side has a piece of lace running across the top.  If you plan to attach thick lace like this to a paper, I highly suggest using spray adhesive.  It works better than anything out there and will save you hours of frustration.  Below that is my envelope with the pull out dates.  This is one of my FAVORITE parts and I've had so many friends and family say how cute and fun it was to pull that out!  Time well spent.
On the right side is our information.  Excuse all the whited out lines, I am extra paranoid about people being able to access our information, so besides my own name, I've covered it all.  Anyways, the wording is printed on the same sandspeck paper we used for the front square and then is covered with a swirled design velum (easier to see in the above picture).  Again, I would suggest using spray adhesive.  We found that other glues (especially if only done around the edges) made the wording more difficult to read because it was not pressed firmly against the other.

My other FAVORITE part was the envelope.  We took pictures of me and Tyler, put them together, and printed them out on regular paper.  We then cut it to our desired shape and glued them inside of our envelopes.  This idea also works for the triangular shaped envelopes, we just used this shape because they could be ordered in the same sandspeck material that we used in the invitaiton.  This was also a big crowd pleaser!

Our RSVP card is made of the same carstock as the front of the invitation and was simply printed out on a regular printer.  Hint: Ask your local post office for the dimensions and weight of a "postcard".  Attaching a postcard stamp to the back of this card makes for a quick and easy way for your guests to respond.

The last little card was just for information; such as registry info and a link to our wedding website which has further details on alternative rain locations, hotels, and directions.  This was just printed normally onto the sandspeck paper.

And that, my friends is what our wedding invitations looked like.  It was a lot of hard work getting all the "little things" ready and put together, but I am really pleased with the end product.  With a little time and a lot of love, handmade wedding invitations can be something that your guests will appreciate and will let them know how special they are to you (and it's fun for you to make too!)

MATERIALS:

I hope you have enjoyed this post and have gotten a few ideas for your own projects (wedding or not).  Have any of you handmade your own wedding invitations?  What about similar items, like birthday or anniversary cards?  If so, I'd love to see them, feel more than welcome to share!

Sending my Love,

Kelsie Ann