Inkling: pressed flowers and plant updates

I posted about pressed leaves last week and wanted to share with you the second batch of pressed flowers that I made.

Patience paid off and these little flowers pressed really nicely.

I glued them onto these little hang tags and will use them as gift tags.

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Since we’re on the subject of plants, I felt now would be a good time to update you on my previous plant posts. The little propagation experiment didn't work. None of the cuttings sprouted any roots. Maybe next time, I'll stick to an avocado pit or a potato. Those always seem to grow roots.

Also - and this one is hard to admit but my little zen garden terrarium is far from zen. The little elfin thyme plant shriveled up and died. I’m not sure if I over watered it or mortally injured it in during the transplanting. I plan to make a new one soon.

Happily, my succulents are still thriving.

Thankfully, it’s hard to kill a succulent plant.

Upcycling: a super simple vase

This pretty vase started as a vitamin bottle. I liked the shape so I scrubbed off the label and decided to turn it into a vase.

I decided to use an old security envelope for the paper wrap.

For this project I used Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the bottle. I’ve never used Mod Podge before and all I can say is “Mod Podge…where have you been all my life?”  This stuff is great.

I added a little matching collar to cover the top of the bottle and let it all dry.

I’m so glad that taking those vitamins was for a good cause.

Inkling: vintage fabric labels

Following my Vintage Favorites post, I was inspired to create something using some of my vintage fabrics. I saw this Vintage Fabric Deco Tapes post on Pugly Pixel and wanted to create some of my own. Pugly Pixel created the tapes to be used as graphics in design programs. Since I don’t know how to do that, I created labels.

I first scanned my fabrics and then cropped each fabric photo so that it would fit into a label template in Word. I plopped each image into the template.

To customize the label, you can add a text box in Word and add type over your fabric image. Then, I printed on inkjet mailing labels and voila!  

The labels can be used for just about anything.

Thank you Pugly Pixel for the fabric tape inspiration

and

Today's Creative Blog .

Etcetera: fall leaf centerpiece

If you’re ready to give up summer and start putting out fall décor, this centerpiece will definitely make an autumn statement.

To make this centerpiece, you’ll need:

Fall leaves (natural or silk)
Oasis
Pot or planter
Optional: floral picks, twine to embellish your pot, glue gun, tacky glue

For my centerpiece, I wrapped the terra cotta pot that I used in sisal twine. Starting at the top, I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue and wrapped the twine around and around until I reached the bottom. I don’t have any pictures of this part of the process because my hands were covered in glue!

1. My leaves didn’t come with stems or picks so I hot glued them to pieces of wire. I used about 5 leaves per wire and sort of fanned them out.
2. Start sticking the wires into the oasis going around in a circle until the pot is completely filled.
3. You need a lot of leaves to get an abundant, full effect. 
4. Once you’ve filled your pot with leaves, you can fluff them or rearrange them until you’re satisfied.

All done and...

time for a nap!

The Inspiration Board: falling for fall

It’s time to get serious about chestnut brown, moss green and pumpkin orange. Summer flowers can be replaced with acorns, gourds and twigs. And cool summer drinks and fresh fruit will become hot cocoa, apple cider and pumpkin bread. I love autumn and all the colors, sights and smells that come with this season.

For added inspiration, I created a fall inspiration board. The images are a mix of magazine clippings and images found online. I mounted them on cut up grocery bags and used my vintage button tacks to pin them to my board.

Happy Friday! Hope you have an amazing weekend.

Inkling: window envelope gift cards

I’ve found one good thing about junk mail and bills. You can reuse the window envelopes to make a cute craft.

To make these little gift cards, cut a window into a piece of cardstock.
Cut out the window portion from your junk mail window envelope and fold in half.

Add colorful paper punches. For mine I added the letter printouts “BFF” and “I heart U” for some extra cuteness. Glue the edges of the window closed and glue onto the back side of your card window. Cover the backside of the window with another piece of paper so that when you open the card you don’t see the window.

Micro hole punch the top corner and add a string.

And “I heart U” for visiting my blog!

Inkling: pressed leaves

I received this flower press kit as a gift years ago and I never used it. But now I can’t stop pressing leaves and flowers.

It takes a little while to press and dry the flowers - so for this post, I’m showing my first batch of fern leaves.

You place the leaves between pressing paper which absorbs the moisture from the plant. You can do several layers at one time. Once you have your plants between the pressing papers, you cover the top and bottom with pressing board and place into the press. My press uses straps which you tighten.

I checked the fern leaves periodically and they were flat and dry in about one week. I used spray mount to adhere the leaves to the cards.

Here they are – pressed, dried and ready to use.

I currently have flowers in the press and will post about those once they’re ready. This project requires a little patience while your flowers are pressing. It’s a good skill for me to learn…the patience part – not the pressing.

Etceteras: fuzzy yarn sheep

These fuzzy yarn sheep make me smile. This is actually a child’s craft that I modified. The original project calls for clothes pin legs and chunky yarn. Here’s how I made my sheep.


Cut out a cardboard sheep body.
Add a face out of black card stock.

Glue on twigs for legs. I taped mine before the glue dried so they would stay in position and the sheep could stand up.

Add a small amount of fiber fill.

Wrap fuzzy yarn around the body like you’re making a yarn ball. Tie off the end and tuck the knot into the body.

Cut out ears and tuck into the yarn with a dab of glue.
You can add a loop of string and use them as holiday ornaments or year-round décor.

Mine are grazing on my office window sill which makes me happy.

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This project has been entered in the CSI Project of the Year Challenge

Good Taste: raspberry peach sangria

Whenever I need to make a beverage for a gathering I turn to this standby…raspberry peach sangria. It’s easy to make, light and refreshing and really pretty.

All you need are peaches, raspberries and oranges.

And white wine, peach schnapps, pineapple juice and Sprite or 7-up.

Slice the oranges and peaches, mix it all up and serve. I like to use a punchbowl or large jar with a ladle so that there’s fruit in each serving.

You can easily turn this into a non-alcoholic beverage by omitting the wine and peach schnapps and using more Sprite or 7-up.

I think everything looks prettier when raspberries are involved.

The recipe is in the goodie bag tab.