Felt Fall Leaf Art

When you can cook eggs on the sidewalk, you know Summer is definitely here.

It can get miserable, especially during the early afternoon hours, so for those 

of you who like to beat the heat by crafting indoors in a nice and cool room, 

this is a great project!  Not only is it fun and easy, it's also a promise that 

nippy Autumn days are right around the corner... 

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Supplies Needed

6 inch Embroidery Hoop

Leaf print out or stencil

Sharpie

*Felt

*Embroidery floss 

Needle

Fabric Scissors

Burlap 

*Buttons (optional) 

*Choose any color you want!

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Let's get started!

Step 1. If you chose to print out a leaf shape like me, go ahead and cut out your leaf.  Trace the shape onto your felt and cut it out.

 

 

 

Step 2. Put your burlap into your embroidery hoop.  Make sure it's taut!

 

Step 3. Start stitching your leaf shape onto your burlap with the embroidery floss.  This is where you really get to see how your color choices work out!  As you can see, I used very bright and warm Fall colors.

 

  

 

Step 5.  This step is really optional, but I stitched on some colorful buttons in contrasting colors.  This is just to add a "cutesy" touch.

 

That's all she wrote!  

Again: EXPERIMENT.  

Try testing out different color combinations and embellishments.

Layer different colors of leaves on your burlap!  Stitch a border around your design or even add some wording!  

Have fun!

Erika @ PC

Beach-themed Centerpiece

"Life's a beach and I'm just playing in the sand!"

 

For those of you ocean-lovers who live by this saying, this project is

a great piece of décor or centerpiece for your upcoming special event!  Whether it's a birthday party, grad party, anniversary or wedding, this idea

will be a "shore" pleaser for all those beach-bums at heart.

(And yes, I did just type that.)

 

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~ Here's what you'll need! ~

 

1. Glass Vase

2. 4 inch Wooden Letter

3. Sand

4. Rope or Twine

5. Paint

6. Glitter Paste

7.  Floral Wire

8. Painter's Tape

9. Shells & Starfish (optional)

 

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Let's get started!

 

Step 1.  Paint your wooden letter in your desired paint color.  I chose

Delta Americana's Coastal Waters, which is a nice mix between teal and turquoise. Paint a layer of glitter paste onto your wooden letter.  I chose a light blue paste by BoBunny.

 

 

 

Step 2.  Wrap a piece of rope around my vase and fill it with some sand.  I think black sand would be and interesting contrast as well.  Feel free to add some shells, rocks or starfish to "embellish".

 

 

 

 

Step 3. Twist your floral wire into a coral shape, then

Wrap the shape in some blue painter's tape to give your "coral skeleton" some body.  I then brushed on a thick layer of the same BoBunny glitter paste to add more depth and dimension to the blue of the tape.

 

Step 6. Lastly, place your "coral" piece into your vase and the wooden letter right in front.

Now you're done!

 

 

 

I hope everyone has fun recreating and personalizing this idea.  Add some firefly or tea lights, change up the colors or embellish your letter with jewels!

The possibilities are endless.

As always, have fun and see you next week!

 

Erika @ PC



Frosted Turquoise Hawaii Sign

You know those days where you are just itching to get out of the house to search for inspiration?

That's me every single time I have a day off!  Hop into the car and head out to the mall, the library,

the park...  Anywhere that will get your creative juices flowing!

I visited a little shop with some very beachy vibes last week and found a Hawaii sign that I loved the look of and tried to recreate it today.

~ Here's what you'll need! ~

 1. 8-inch wooden letters

2. Ceramcoat or Delta Americana Acrylic Paint

3. Gel Wood Stain

4. Mod Podge

5. Crystal Glitter

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 Let's get started!

 

The first thing to do is take your base color and brush it on! 

I mixed up a nice light turquoise color using Delta Americana's Coastal Waters and Ceramcoat's white.  Let this coat dry completely.

  

Next, I used the Delta Gel Wood Stain in the color Walnut.  It's a nice dark brown that will bring a nice contrast to the turquoise. 

 

 

 Then brush on a thin coat of Mod Podge and sprinkle on that magical crystal glitter!  

 

 After the Mod Podge is dry and you have that nice layer of shiny crystal dust on it, feel free to embellish it!  Want a beach theme?  Add some shells, starfish or a rope border!  Something a little more elegant?  Maybe a few rhinestones or flowers.  As for me, I took a few frosted rocks from a 

vase filler pack and hammered them to get smaller pieces.  I then hot glued them on for a "dew" look. 

That's all she wrote!  It's a really simple rainy-day project that's great for a cool

piece of home decor.  (Plus, the kids would LOVE painting their monograms...)

I hope everyone has an awesome week!

Erika @ PC

Mermaid Scale Frame

Get ready for a whole lot of purple!

Instead of the usual teal and pink combination that we usually associate with 

the mermaid, I'm putting another enchanting hue in the spotlight.

Over the past few months, mermaids have been EVERYWHERE.

(We even have a mermaid birthday party as this month's Pinspiration Station theme

at our Pearl City Store!)  So, what I've decided to make this week was a

 mermaid-themed gift that was simple to make, 

and REALLY affordable.  It's also a great summer project to do with your kids.

This project, my fellow crafters, is a Mermaid Scale Frame!

 

 

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 Let's get started!

***  Supplies Needed  ***

SPC Wooden Frame

4 inch Wooden Letter

Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint*

1 inch Flat Acrylic Paintbrush

Hot Glue Gun or Wood Glue

Paint Pen*

*use color(s) desired

 The colors I used for my frame were multiple shades of purple, teal and white.

The exact names are Passion Purple, Lavender, GP Purple, White and Coastal Waters.

(The last color mentioned was actually a Delta Americana acrylic paint, which basically just dries to

a Satin finish instead of matte like Ceramcoat.)

I made a scalloped, "scale" pattern starting from the bottom of my frame.  

Every time I painted the next layer of scales up, I made sure to overlap the previous one. 

This is where you can have fun with the colors.  Even if you have only four or five colors,

you can mix them up to make new shades or even add depth to your scales.  For example,

I blended a little of the dark GP Purple into the lighter Passion purple shade to get a nice shadow effect.  After letting your scales dry, you can even add some detail by dotting on dark paint over the light-colored scales and vice versa.  

 

I then painted the wooden letter and added pearl detailing using a BoBunny Pearl Pen.

This is basically a puffy paint for hard crafts and scrapbooking.  It works on wood, paper and clay

and dries to a pearlized finish.  After this, I glued the 'M' to the top right corner of my frame!

To personalize it even more, you can even write the name of your friend, mom, sister or whoever the 

receiver of this amazing gift is on your frame with a paint pen.  I used a black fine tip Montana marker.  That wraps up this project!  As always, don't hesitate to change it up and make it your own.

Have fun with it and enjoy!

See you all next week!

Erika @ PC

Anchor Wood Panel Art

Afternoon, Crafters!

Today I have a "Pin-spired" nautical-themed piece of art that can be re-created with just three items! Seriously!  It's an easy and fast gift for that ocean-loving friend or for yourself to use as some

really cool beach décor.

 

 

The only things you will need to make this is paint, a 9x12 inch wood panel and some jute rope.

You're going to need two or three colors of paint to create that ombre effect on your wood panel.  Darkest blue will go at the bottom, then you keep mixing in more and more white to tint that color as you move toward the top of the panel. 

Next, paint on an anchor in pure white, being sure to leave a little space at the top and bottom of it.  Hot glue a few strips of our new Studio G jute rope on to the top and bottom for some accenting texture and there you have it!

 

This is, again, a very fast and minimalistic piece of nautical art that can be "spruced up" and personalized quite easily.  Write a friend's or loved one's name on it.  Mod Podge some sequins onto the anchor.  Glue some shells or starfish on it. 

Create your own masterpiece!

 

 

Have fun!

Erika @ PC

Golden Easter Egg Hunt!

Hello, Crafters!

   Join us at the Pearl City Ben Franklin for our 

annual Golden Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday!  

From 10 to 4  pm, children between the ages of 5 and 12 

can come in and search for the special egg.  

If they do, they win a treat!  

  Watch out!  This little critter is fast and will move

 around the store to find new hiding spots. Be quick and have fun!

                                                                     

  Happy Easter!

Erika @ PC

Distress Stain Postcard

Hi, Everyone!

 

Today, I'm going to show you how to do a really simple technique that involves the elusive Distress Stain inks that we have in our scrapbooking sections.  They're a product that something that kind gets looked over often and I wanted to start bringing them back into the "Crafter's Spotlight". 

I'll start off small.  5 x 7 inch to be exact.

 

I chose stains in Frayed Burlap, Stormy Sky and Weathered Wool.  I also have a .08 tip Micron pen for some hand-lettering. 

 

 

 I taped down a 5 x 7" watercolor postcard to my table with masking tape to keep the paper from bowing too much.  I put a wash down just to get the paper wet.  This is just so that the distress stains, which are water-based and can therefore be handled like watercolors, will flow freely without forming a harsh edge when dry.  Just make sure that your brush is sopping wet before doing so.  I then brushed on a little bit of Frayed Burlap. 

 

 

What I wanted to achieve was a somewhat tie-died look.  Soft edges and colorful patches that sort of "bloom" on your paper.  So, use a lot, but not too much water.  You'll see amazing colors flow out of each ink and they will just get more amazing as they dry like this little patch of Stormy Sky. So cool!

After the paper was completely dry, I added a little saying in Micron pen at the bottom right hand corner.  And that's all she wrote!  This is a very versatile technique that's great mixed media scrapbookers and watercolor artists.  It's a beginner technique that is great for making quick postcards to send to family overseas.  And as always, a quirky saying will make it 100 times more personal and cute.

 

Have fun!

Erika @ PC

Because Mermaid Reasons...

Hey, Everyone!

Today I have another project using one of our unfinished wood products.  Wait!  Don't skip my post just yet!  *lol*  I promise this one is an awesome one.  This DIY is super easy and adorable.  Trust me.  Mermaids are involved.  Well, reasons to be a mermaid to be more accurate.

I painted this sign using DecoArt's Chalky finish in Serene and Treasure as well as Ceramcoat acrylic paint in Pthalo Blue. 

I painted a base coat in the minty blue Serene color, layered on some deep Pthalo blue and teal-colord Treasure chalky finish, then distressed the wood as a finishing touch with more Serene. I then used a Montana acrylic marker in Gleaming Pink and a white Deco pen for the wording, which I was inspired to write based on a hilarious Twitter post. 

 To embellish I tied a few bows on the wire in complimenting colors, but you could also use rhinestones, shells and even twine to create designs onto the wood itself.

Instead, I doodled a few clam shells around the wording.  It turned out so cute and cheeky.  If you ever get the chance to read the actual post, do it.  It is amazingly funny and... you will also see why I couldn't put the entire quote word for word on this sign. *Haha*  

But Hey!  It still turned out awesome, right?

This is a simple and fun sign to make as a gift for that mermaid-lover in your life.  

Or that one who wants to be a mermaid.  Because... Mermaids!

 Or sirens... There's two kinds of people in this world. :)

Have fun!

Erika@PC

Key Hanger

Hi, Everyone!

    So this year we got in these intricate wooden frames.  Really beautiful to look at but hard to decide what to do with them! Because they're pretty light and flat, they can be used as wither borders or can even be used as a table number holder for a wedding centerpiece like Bethany from Enchanted Lake showed us in the previous post!  Today, I decided to use the two designs we have available to create a decorative hook for your foyer or room.  These are really convenient for keeping track of your keys, dog leashes and totes as well.

 

 

For this project, I decided to use bright warm colors.  Poppy orange, teal, gold and yellow. 

The main plaque was painted a vibrant orange and distressed with Ceramcoat's Metallic 14k gold paint.  This gold is the most true to color that I have ever seen in an acrylic paint.  Try it, and you won't be disappointed! The frames were painted yellow and teal.  I spray-painted a couple of command hooks with gold shimmer paint and distressed them with the deep black cherry tone. 

After everything was painted, I put everything together with E6000.  Of course, you could add some rhinestones or other kind of embellishments as well, but I decided to keep it simple and let the colors speak for themselves.

 

After everything is dry, you can hang it up in your craft area or foyer, prop it on your work desk or even in your home office.  It's really convenient for keeping your belongings accessible and out in the open for you to grab and go.  And it looks great too.lol

 

Have fun!

Erika @ P

Hand-Painted Signs

Hey, everyone!  

.So, the weekend is here and if you're still trying to satisfy that craft craving you've been having there is still an awesome selection of wooden signs in all shapes and sizes waiting for you at all of our Ben Franklin Crafts locations!  This past week, we've been cranking out some samples for you guys to check out.  I chose a few wooden signs because I've just had a hankering for painting this past week.  Being surrounded by all these unfinished wood products just does this to you I guess.lol  

All I had to do was let the creative juices flow.  These palettes were only $3.99!  I couldn't pass up the opportunity because there's just so many ways to go with these.  Landscapes, Quirky signs, Sassy Alpaca in sunglasses, pineapples...  The possibilities are endless.

All you needed was a variety of brushes, a few Delta Ceramcoat and Satin Americana acrylic paint colors and some decorative ribbon!  Below, I even made a Spring/Easter-themed piece using one of the mini signs.  These are $1.99 each, and they already come with the hooks attached so that you could hang them up.  Not to mention there is a variety of shapes to choose from: scalloped rectangles, arrows and ovals like this little guy here.

 This small sign can be adorable as a little Easter gift or just as seasonal decor for your home. 

 This is also a great activity to do with kids.   

Three colors, and a pom pom.  How simple is that?

As always, have fun!

Erika @PC

Beaded Heart Charm

Hey, crafters!   Valentine's Day is right around the corner and we're all

 looking for small gifts to make for our friends and families.  If you're looking for something 

to make that is unique and straight from the heart, how about a cute handmade keychain?  

We will be having a special demo tomorrow for a Beaded Heart Charm!  It's going to be from 12:30 to 1 pm at the Pearl City location. 

This demo is completely free and our beading instructor, Gayle, will be happy to answer any questions you may have, so come check us out!

Don't forget you can also cruise around the store for some ideas on last-minute Valentine's cards, scrapbook pages and various other crafts.

See you tomorrow!

Erika @ PC

Chewie Valentine

Hi, Crafters!

Can you guys believe that Valentine's Day is two weeks away?  So fast!

We've all been getting into the Love Day spirit at our stores; writing love notes on the tile floors with acrylic markers, painting up some of our new wood palettes in rosy colors and 

Mod Podging some Valentine's scrapbook paper onto our new Snippets chipboard heart shapes!  Today, I'll show you how to make a really cute and simple Valentine inspired by our favorite Wookie.

Supplies Needed

Snippets Heart Lock & Key Chipboard set

Brown Eyelash Yarn 

Black Paint

Light Green Paint 

Brown and Silver Cardstock Scraps

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun

All you need to do is hot glue an end of yarn to the bottom of the heart-shaped chipboard and wrap continuously until the entire heart is covered in yarn.  A few dabs of hot glue here and there while wrapping will help keep things secure.  Once that's done, cut a 1/2" x 3 1/2" strip out of the brown paper and hot glue small squares of silver paper onto it.  Hot glue it onto the Chewie heart.  After this, you can leave it as it is, or make a little Lightsaber out of the key.  I chose to make mine green like Yoda's, but you can always make it blue, red, purple or red as well.

That's all there is to it!

Have fun and see you all next week!

Erika@PC

New Year's Invitations!

Good day, Crafters!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas last week.  A belated Mele Kalikimaka from all of us here at HouseMart Ben Franklin Crafts!  It's almost 2016 and we all know it's never too early to get ready for the next big holiday.  So, today I will be showing you how to make some beautiful invitations for your New Year's party.  I'm someone who loves the gold, white and black combo for the "Golden Hour" theme, so today I will be showing you how to make a fun and sparkly invitation using a beautiful gold star vellum paper that we carry.

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Supplies Needed
WeRMemory Envelope Punch Board
Scissors 
Fiskar's Paper Trimmer
Black Fine Point DecoColor Paint Marker
Double-Stick Tape
Medium Vellum Paper
Vellum Paper with Gold Stars

*Nope, that's not gold confetti!  

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Let's get started!

First, you're going to refer to the sizing chart on your punch board.  It goes by the 
size of your card, so after you find that, you will see what size you need to make your paper square from your 12x12 inch piece of star vellum paper.  After cutting it down to size, follow the instructions on your board to cut out your envelope.  Be sure that your paper is face down so that your scoring will allow the flaps to fold inward!

Next, cut out two pieces of double-sided tape and stick them onto the shorter inner flaps like so and tape them down!

After that, you're going to get started on the hand-lettering!  I chose a fun and casual script style so that it would match the simple elegance of the scattered cold stars.  Because this is vellum, you could draw your design on another piece of paper, put it underneath your vellum and then trace over it.  But here I decided to wing it.lol  I went over my lettering another time to make sure that it was bold and opaque.

Let your lettering dry and you're finished!

There is so many things you can do with vellum when it comes to invitations and letters.
You could use plain medium vellum paper to make an envelope and put not only your invitation inside, but some colorful confetti or sequins inside as well!  It's a fun way to add sparkle and pizzazz!  A bold and bright font on the front would match that perfectly!

As always, have fun and see you all in 2016!
Erika @ PC

Letter Felt Plush

Hey everyone! 

I've been itching to make some felt plushies.  Then I thought:

What would be a fast, personalized and adorable last minute gift?

Alphabet plushies!  You could sew up the letters of your friends or

 family members'

initials or even their whole name!

 

All you need are a few things.

Felt

DMC Embroidery Floss

Ribbon (3 in.)

Fabric Scissors

Sewing Needle

Paper

Pencil

Polyfill stuffing (not pictured)

Pins

Sharpie (optional)

 

 

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Let's get started!

 

First, you're going to sketch out your template on your paper.  You want to make sure your

letter is at least one inch all around because you're going to need room for stuffing.

Cut your pattern out.

 

 

I'm going to show you to different ways of cutting your pattern out on your felt.

The first way is pinning the template onto your felt and cutting around it.  For letters with negative space in the middle like this 'D', 'A's or even more complex ones like 'G' or 'W' where you need to cut around awkward corners and angles, this might be difficult.  The second is the good old tracing method, where you trace the template onto your felt with a Sharpie.  Some people have different preferences, but choose whichever is easiest for your letter.

 

 

 

Cut out two pieces and pin them together.  Then, you're going to start sewing! 

 

 

If you have a letter with an opening, try sewing up that part first so that your felt pieces are held together and the edges line up as you continue sewing.  Your pins are there to help you out at the beginning, but you're going to need them out so that you can stuff your letter later!

 

I'm going to be using the basic blanket stitch for a decorative border.

To do this stitch, stick your needle through your felt from underneath your piece about 1/8th of an inch from the edge. 

 

Then, pull your thread through and put the needle downward into the loop of working thread that is forming at the back of your piece.  Make sure that the thread coming out of the top with your needle is "underneath" your needle as you do this. 

 

 

Continue pulling slowly.  The thread from the loop will now form the outer edging of your piece once you pull it snugly against the side of your felt pieces.  Making sure that your stitches are also 1/8th of an inch apart, continue until you reach the end. 

 

 

Once you've finished the inside, start on the outer edge of your letter.

 

 

I stitched about two inches and them started stuffing.  Use a little polyfil at a time I used my pencil as an awl and it did the job really well. :)  I basically stuffed as I stitched.  Every inch or so I put a small wad of polyfil in.

 

 

I sewed the ribbon in at the top as a loop with a basic Hemming stitch.

 

To finish your stitch off, stick your needle into the inner end of your first stitch and pull it out through a random spot in your plush.  Pull it through.  Cut the thread as close to the felt as possible and make sure the end is hidden within the two felt pieces. 

 

 

Finito!  Your letter plushie is done!

 

 

These are easily customizable!  Go to town with the embellishments!  If you have the skills, you

could totally embroider some designs on your felt before sewing your plush together.  Add some beads to your blanket stitch.  Experiment with different color combinations!  These are really fun to make as a last minute gift or even as ornaments for your tree.  Make a plush 'JOY' to hang on a garland of lights!  Make a 'MERRY' in red felt with green embroidery thread to hang on your mantle.

The possibilities are endless!

 

As always, have fun!

Erika