Sunday, December 16, 2012

DIY Instant Wall Art- 2

Hello and welcome to view my Instant Wall Art-2....
I call it so because a few days back, I uploaded a post on Instant Wall art- Shoebox Lid Upcycling.....You can see the post by clicking here.
I made this wall art in a similar fashion using a shoe box lid and a scrapbook paper.

Instant Wall Art- Shoe box Lid Upcycling
This is the shoe box Lid I used for this wall art....

Shoe box Lid
This wall art is little different by accident!!! Funny Story :)....
Let me tell you.....
The scrapbook paper comes in a specific size and it fit my earlier shoebox lid perfectly....
However, this lid belonged to my beloved hubby's shoebox......it was a huge box!!!
It had to be....These were the shoes!!!!



So imagine my despair when the paper kept falling short from all sides......
After racking my brains for quite some time, I still couldn't make it fit.....I thought of using two pieces of scrapbook paper, but I wasn't feeling very happy about the idea...... But, I was not ready to give up.....
And then, out of nowhere an idea struck!!!
I decided to give the frame a boxed look.....( a box for a box....lol)......
I cut the paper in a way that it fit on the box, leaving an uniform border all around.....

Scrapbooking Paper

Then I painted the border with black color.......
See how it looks here......


When the color dried completely, I glued the paper on to the box lid........
It turned out like this!!!

Shoe box Upcycling
Here's how it looks on the wall :)
The black border gives it a look of certain depth, which is what I like about this wall art....

Instant Wall Art

The beauty of this wall art is in its uniform design.....which gives me the flexibility to hang it any way I like.....It looks good horizontally, and equally good vertically!!! Ain't that awesome???It is, right???



I used scrapbook paper here, but you can use any gift wrapping paper with a uniform design too!!!
Hope you liked this......
You can also view my earlier Post on DIY Instant Wall Art here.....
I will be posting more stuff soon, so do keep coming back.....
Thanks for visiting and comment below to let me know you were here.....



Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Blog Makeover

Hi....
I have changed......
I had an overnight makeover and I am more dynamic now.....
I guess the 12/12/12 fever caught on me too.....
As you know, this is the last time we are seeing this date!!!
So, Whats changed about me???
You can now 'like' or 'tweet' each post now.....
The 'followers' , 'page views' and other columns have compactly sneaked to
the right of the post and they slide out when you move your cursor there.....
The comment box is now more friendly too.
And, you know what? You can even change the way you view 
me now, by clicking on the 'Sidebar' (left upper corner) and changing it 
to any other view that you like e.g.. mosaic, magazine etc.
Have fun exploring the beauty of my posts through these views.
Hope you like my new look....
Let me know what you think of it....
Thanks for visiting and come back soon for more...
:)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

DIY Instant Wall Art- Shoe Box Lid Upcycling

Hi....
Good to see you.....
This is an Instant Wall Art that I made......
They say, "Necessity is the mother of Invention".....
Wow, thats so true!!!!
I had guests coming over to our house in which we moved recently.....
So, my house isn't done sprucing up (read putting artwork) yet :)
And, I did not have time to go buy any.....so I made this!!!!!
This wall art is made from an old shoebox lid, I had lying around....
So, its a shoe box upcycling of sorts!!!

Instant Wall Art

Here's what I did....
I dusted up the cardboard box lid and then cut a scrapbook paper according to the box's 
dimensions.....
The picture shows the paper cut to size....


Shoebox Lid Upcycling

Then I glued the paper to the box using regular PVA glue......
I had to take care to align the edges properly......
I let the lid dry for around 30 minutes.......

Shoebox Upcycling

After the paper dried, I colored the edges of the lid black......
The black color gives the lid a solid framed look.....
You can see it for yourself here......


Shoebox Lid Wall Art

This is how the artwork looks on the wall.....
Cool....isn't it....
Very easy to make and much easier on the pocket too ;)

Instant Wall Art
Hope you found it interesting......
You can also visit my post on DIY Instant Wall Art-2 here.....
Let me know through your comments.....
Thanks for visiting and come back soon for more!!!


Friday, November 30, 2012

DIY Rose Branches

Roses are a crafters favorite!!!!
And I am no exception to that....
I made this Rose Branch Decorative Piece at a very low price :)
Let me tell you how.....

Rose Branches

I collected some branches that fell from a tree outside my house.....
The photo shows only two but there were some more....

Branches

I chose the best of the branches and got out my ammunition.....a spray can!!



I spray painted the branches gold.......ohh I love shiny, blingy stuff!!!
I loved the way they turned out :)

Gold Painted branches

When the branches were drying, I made some paper roses of different sizes....
Here they are!!!


Paper Roses

You can use ready artificial / silk flowers like these too....



I stuck the roses randomly on the branches with a hot glue gun....



Then, I took a glass vase and filled it with glass fillers for the base.....



Finally, I arranged the branches together in the vase....
This is how the final product looks....
It gives a very chic look to the house at a very minimal cost....

Chic Decor

This is a close up of a rose stuck on the branch.....

Rose

Some more snaps that I took are here.....
Hope you enjoyed....

Rose Branches


Also check out my tutorial for DIY Flower Light here.....
Thanks for visiting and do come back for more!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

DIY Quick Rock Paperweight

Hi....
How often are you frazzled by the papers flying all over from your desk...right?
I am one of them.....My kid gets all these flyers from school which pile up on the table....
They kept getting knocked, and were falling all over the place.....That is when I felt the urgent need for a paperweight.....Thus, my Quick Rock Paperweight was born ;)
What best to hold down papers than a fairly good sized rock???
Ya, right!! ....So, I took a medium sized rock from my storage and painted it white.....
I was pondering over what design to paint when I saw one of my son's tattoos lying around....I liked this butterfly instantly :) 
When the color on the rock was dry, I applied the tattoo to the rock and left it to dry for a couple of minutes....
When it dried it looked like this:

Quick Rock Paperweight

Finally, I gave it a coat of sealer to lock in the tattoo....
It looks cool on my desk now....I love this project of mine...
Though it was instant, it turned out to be a beauty.....
I sometimes, also use it as a part of table decor..

Paperweight

I hope you liked it.....
Please comment to let me know you came by....
Thanks for visiting :)


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Diwali Decorations

Diwali was celebrated last week, and we had lots of fun at home.....
Celebrating Diwali in US is a different experience altogether, but we tried to bring in
the spirit home, at our level best....
And, what is Diwali without its decorations???
Let me show you what I did....
Traditionally, clay lamps filled with oil line the doors and windows during the festival...
The picture below is a "Diya" ( Lamp) hand painted by me on our glass door....
This is how the painted surface looks.....its the inside!!

Diya Painting on the Door

And, this is how it looks to a person watching it from outside :)

Diya Painting

Marigold "Toran" ( string garland) is also traditionally put on the main entrance 
with 5 mango leaves in the centre....
You know how impossible it is to find one such 'Toran' in US :(
So, I decided to paint one instead.....
This is how it looks from inside......

Marigold Toran Painting

And, this is the outside view......

Hand Painted Toran

This is how the whole combo looks on the door......

Diwali Decoration

What is Diwali without some diyas right???
I had a terracotta plate with me which I painted golden....
Then I placed a LED candle on it....
Thus I made my American Diya :))
The main reason for making this one was my 5 year old whose 'active' presence made it impossible for me to light any real diyas !!
But the effect was so nice!!!

Decorative Diya

This is another assembly.....
The base is metal with rhinestones which I had bought from India......
Just painted the top of a LED candle and put it in the base to make this Diya....

Fancy Diya

One more type of assembly is the one I made below...
I have placed hand painted terra-cotta diyas in a row with LED candles on top.....
I know there are too many diyas.....but 'Diwali' literally means 'Row of Lights'.....


This is a floating diya handmade by me.....
It has a metal centre and is decorated with green and red festive colored rhinestones.....
Its usually used with a votive.....
I gifted this to a friend for Diwali....

Floating Diya


Hope you enjoyed viewing my decoration and diyas......
Happy Diwali to you and your family....
Comment below if you liked the decorations and Thanks for visiting :)

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

DIY Halloween Pumpkin Decoration

Hi and welcome to my post on Halloween Pumpkin Decoration....
My son had to take a decorated pumpkin in his school....
So we made this pumpkin....
However, Hurricane Sandy ruined our plans and our poor pumpkin had to stay home :(


Halloween Pumpkin Decoration

For making this, we chose a foam pumpkin instead of a real one as it was easy for my son to handle...
My son decided to go with a skull face for pumpkin.....so, I painted a skull.....
My son also wanted the scary triangle eyes for the skull....
According to him, the skull looks more spooky with these eyes!!
Then we glued a rubber bat, rat and a spider for a more spooky appearance....
Last but not the least, we carved the bottom and fixed a LED candle to give our pumpkin an eerie flickering glow!!!



My son was pretty excited with the final outcome and he couldn't wait to show it to his fellow kindergarteners!!!!
Hope you liked it too....
If you do, be sure leave a comment below and 'like' my blog.
You would also like my post on Halloween Decorations here.....
Thanks for visiting :)

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Painting- Blossom Branch

Hello and welcome to my blog.....
This is the latest painting I made....
I call it the " Blossom Branch"....
This is an Acrylic on canvas.....
The canvas size I have used is 16x 20 inches....
I find this painting simple yet eye-catching.....
I was pretty pleased with the outcome.....

Canvas Painting 16x 20

Here's the close-up for you.......

Blossom Branch

And Here's how it looks on the wall.....


This is a farther perspective......


 If you liked this painting, do comment below.....
This one is available for Sale....
Kindly contact on the e-mail address mentioned above.....
Thanks for visiting and come back again!!!



Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Halloween Decoration

Hi....
More in the spirit of Halloween, I will tell you what else I made.....
The picture below is a huge spiderweb I painted on my glass door.....
I made a white web and then drew some black spiders all over the web.....
It covers almost half of my door....

Painted Spiderweb

What is Halloween without some spooky ghosts???
So I painted them too on the lower half of my door....

Painted Ghosts

Then I added to the decor with a window decal of a skull and hands....
I also placed a scarecrow and a skull outside the door...
Finally, I draped the stair railings with some spiderweb.....
This is how my finished Halloween Decor looks.....

Halloween Decoration

My son just loved it.....
If you like it too, do comment to let me know.....
Happy Halloween!!!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

DIY Halloween Welcome Sign


Hi......
I know, this post is coming after a looong time.....
But now its Halloween :)) and I am so excited!!!
To welcome Halloween, I made this "Welcome Sign" as a start to mark the decorations...

Halloween Welcome Sign

 I started with the leaves first....
I cut green handmade paper in the following manner......



Then I folded over the paper cutting, in the centre......
Also, I curled the long curvy strips to resemble the tendrils......
Then I scored the leaves from the back to show the veins......
It looked like in the picture below......



I kept this aside and started with the pumpkin.....
I cut a pumpkin shape from orange handmade paper....


Then I scored it from behind to show the ridges......
It looked something like this......


 I colored the pumpkin shape to resemble a real pumpkin......



After I was done coloring, I attached the stem part to the top of the pumpkin with glue.....



But, it was not over yet......
I painted the word 'WELCOME' along the centre of the pumpkin.....



After it all dried up, I glued a thin floral wire on the stem to hang......
The fruit of my labor ;) hangs on my door welcoming one and all.....


I am all geared up for Halloween, and will keep you posted on my further decorations.....
Please do comment to let me know of your opinion........
Thanks for visiting and Happy Halloween!!!