Every child is an artist - Picasso

I’ve been working on an art wall for a little while now and wanted to add this [prefect] quote by Picasso.

First, pick out a board or canvas you want the quote on. I used a chunk of particle board I had laying around, but you can easily use a canvas or even some cardstock for this project. Let your little artist paint away. I love the sporadic, crazy painting that he did over the letters. It’s perfect for the art wall & for the quote!

We used Crayola washable paints, but obviously any paint will do (as long as you trust your kiddo with it!)

My first thought was Pink lettering. Didn’t like it.

Instead I went with white vinyl. MUCH better!

OR…! You can just order one of these sweet little wood blocks with the same quote -

Available at Remembories (pick your own color)!

Both make for a great addition to our art wall, I’m using the one my little B painted. I still have a few finishing touches to add to the wall, but it’s almost done!

DIY Leather bracelets {2 styles}

I have had a few leather bracelets pinned on Pinterest for a while now. I don’t like to just be a ‘pinner’ & let them sit on my boards forever, but instead I actually try to check things off my pinned list! Now I can finally check off a couple of my pinned jewelry ideas! In particular, these two pins – bracelet with sterling silver accents & quotable leather bracelet (on etsy for a hefty price!). Here are my versions of the two styles:

I started out with some really great quality flat leather lace, in two different colors (for my two different bracelets), both 5mm wide – Blackberry & Cognac (I love the black edges on both).

So first I’ll start with a {HOW TO} on my “DIY quotable leather bracelet” --->

As I already mentioned, I started with the Cognac flat leather lace (5mm), and I also had some E-600, and sterling silver findings (the metal quote part comes later).

I measured my wrist (how big I wanted the bracelet, also accounting for the findings) & measured the leather accordingly, then cut two pieces at that length.

These end caps are 10mm wide, so the two pieces of 5mm wide leather fit perfectly inside.

I put some E-6000 inside, then squeezed the leather in & let it sit until dry.

**be sure when you put the leather in the end caps that you twist the leather, at least once (or as many times as you want). Then you can wear this bracelet with or without the metal quote, and it still looks awesome.

 

You could stop there with the bracelet, or you can keep going & add the twisted metal quote! The bracelet I was inspired by used a piece of pure aluminum, which I didn’t have access to. So instead I used what I had available – recycled car metal! Maybe not as shiny & “pure” as the aluminum, but I get points for recycling, right ;) plus, it’s free! I also used a sledge hammer & some metal stamps.

Can I just say that this is a lot harder than it looks to make the twisted quote part of this bracelet. Mine did not turn out nearly as beautiful as the pinned etsy shop listing, and I need A LOT more practice with my letter stamping! Props to whoever it is that makes the original bracelet!!

I cut out a 3/8” wide by about 4” piece (I didn’t know how long I needed it!) of car metal & grinded then sanded down the edges until it was smooth. Then I stamped the lettering. Again, I need A LOT more practice! Oh well!!

I went the easy route to make my lettering stand out – a sharpie and an alcohol wipe. (scribble over the lettering to make it all black inside, then wipe away the excess with an alcohol wipe).

Then I started twisting it. Harder than it looks! Or maybe this car metal just isn’t easy to work with. I don’t know.

I slid it over the end of the bracelet (by the way, you might want to make the twisted metal before you make the bracelet, then you can just slide it over the leather, not the findings!). Once it was on the bracelet, I kept squeezing it with my jewelry pliers until it fit a little more snug. It isn’t nearly as pretty and smooth as my inspiration, but it will do [for me].

And the finish product (see the uneven twisting?! UGH)

 

Now on to my  {HOW TO} for bracelet #2, “DIY leather wrapped bracelet with sterling silver accents” --->

For this bracelet, I used the Blackberry flat leather lace (about 3 meters x 5mm), sterling silver beads (they looked the “silver” part!), bead thread, needle, and findings. Aside from the leather, I got all of these items at Joanns, but I will say that I much prefer the findings that I used on the bracelet above. 

This bracelet was time consuming and, to be honest, the beading was a pain! Each section of 10 beads needed a new piece of bead thread, so there was a lot of tying knots & threading needles. Maybe there is an easier way to do this part, but that is what I did.  

 

There were a lot of sections of the beading, because I used the whole 3 ft (about) length for this bracelet. In the end it was worth it! I didn’t measure in between the sections of beading because I wanted it to look more sporadic and random, but they were spaced at about 1.5 – 2.25” apart.

[I used the best findings I could find for this project, but again I’m not super excited about them. I’d definitely recommend square end caps that fit exactly. These do work, just not as awesome as the ones I used above.]

The finished product, [and I’m totally in love with it!]

If you have any comments, tips, or questions, please share. I’m not an expert, but personally I think these turned out pretty awesome (and I didn’t have to spend $45+ for them, like on etsy). I love DIY!!

**MORE DIY JEWELRY PROJECTS**

‘Show Love’ – wedding gift

My littlest brother got married not too long ago and I decided to make them something custom and really personalized. I’m a huge fan of personalized décor, so why not force it on everyone else, particularly my family ;)

I made this same sort of sign for my bedroom and just copied it for my bro & new sister-in-law, but of course I used their picture instead of ours!

My previous post about this “Show Love” quote goes into more detail about why I really like this William Shakespeare quote. I know everyone has their own thoughts & opinions about W.S., so maybe my brother thought it was weird when I handed it to him and he read it for the first time (I could tell by the look on his confused face). But as his older sister, I know better and he WILL like it (enter wicked step-sister laugh).

The sign in my room is just vinyl directly on the wall. We own our house and I know we will be here for a while yet. My brother, on the other hand, is still in college and will be moving many {many, many, and many more} times, I’m sure. I did. I didn’t know how to stay put when I was a college student. I was in a new place every year I went back after summer. Heck, I didn’t even stay at the same school longer than 2 years.

I digress.

I used some wood that Grant milled and went through the process of creating their picture. I used Power Point & Silhouette studio for this process. I took one of their engagement pictures, edited it down (like my other post describes in more detail) and traced their figures. It took a while, but it didn’t take as long as weeding!

I cut it out in vinyl to use as a stencil, so I had to weed all the little pieces of their picture (which was a P.A.I.N.). Then I placed in on the nicely sanded & routered board, stained it and finished it with a clear coat.

I love using stain on natural wood because you can still see the grain through it. I’m a huge fan of natural wood. I grew up working on projects with my dad in the garage and shop, so natural wood will always remind me of him. Stain on the wood usually makes the grain pop, which is another favorite of mine.

Someday my brother will appreciate this (if he doesn’t already).

‘Show Love’ quote

I have to thank Deanna whose blog I was looking at when I found this quote on her side bar. I love it! I’m not much of a poetry/history fan, so I definitely had never heard this one before. But I must say, it is perfect for our marriage.

My love language is service and Grant’s is touch (read The 5 Love Languages). We both have to SHOW each other love in order for the other person to feel loved. Again, this quote is perfect for our marriage and is a really good reminder for us.

I designed the quote and layout in the Silhouette Studio and designed it around our kissy picture (By the way, sorry about the repeated kiss picture. Hopefully you don’t gag!)

First, we took a kissy picture. We actually took these pictures before I had even found the quote or decided on this project. We were taking pictures for another project I have in mind (which is going to be awesome)! This one just happened to be perfect for this quote. This picture was taken using the self-timer and a solid background.

Then, I removed the background so it was just us, nothing else in the picture.

I don’t have any of the fancy photo editing programs, so what I use is POWER POINT. It has a ‘remove background’ function (top left) under the format picture tab. I actually use this function a lot, particularly when I want to cut a picture with my Silhouette. Removing the background just makes it that much easier.

  

I saved that image as a picture and then imported it into the Silhouette Studio. It was easy to take that picture, trace it, and have the Silhouette cut it for me.

When it comes to vinyl, the hardest part for me is peeling (weeding) it. It either takes me way too long or I end up messing it up or ripping it or something to that effect. I managed to do it okay this time, but it still took way too long. Also, I need to remember to use a level rather than my eyeball to make things straight. I end up never getting things on the wall straight. So, don’t look too close!

I put it above out mirror in our bedroom, so I know at least I’ll be looking at it on a regular basis! Gotta remember to SHOW my love!

 

Vinyl details:
*font – Carpenter Script, 149.5 pt
*LOVE font - Mardian Demo, 261 pt
*vinyl – GreenStar Matte Black, 070M