How to Mod Podge Crackle a Dress Form

DIY Crackle Dress form @savedbyloves

Hallo there! My name is Amy – from the blogs Mod Podge Rocks, DIY Candy, and Washi Tape Crafts. Yep, I have three blogs. You could say I really love crafts – and also being busy, apparently. I guess that’s just how I roll! This is a tutorial I haven’t share yet, and am thrilled to show you today. Awhile back I made this initial wall art you see above, and at the same time I made the dress form in the photo. Here’s a closer look:

Dress form detail

The tutorial for the easy initial wall art is on Mod Podge Rocks, but I never shared any steps for the dress form. That is what I’m doing today! It uses Mod Podge Crackle Medium, which gives projects a fine eggshell crackle in one step. Here’s how I made it.

 

  • Paper mache dress form
  • Wood candlestick
  • Mod Podge Gloss
  • Mod Podge Crackle Medium
  • Fabric – you can use scraps
  • Acrylic paint – white and two other coordinating colors for the crackle portion – I used light green and dark green
  • Craft glue
  • Embellishments – I used a key on gold thread
  • Scissors
  • Paintbrush
  • Old cloth
  • Flow medium (optional)

Step One

Paint your wood candlestick with your lighter acrylic paint color – in my case, light green. Let dry.

Step Two

Paint your dress form white. This isn’t essential if your fabric is thick . . . but if it’s cotton like mine, the Mod Podge can make it a little transparent and dull down the color. So I always basecoat white because it just takes a few extra minutes.

Mod Podge Home Decor

Paint Mod Podge on your fabric and let it dry. This makes it easy to cut without fraying.

Step Four

Decoupage your fabric pieces to your dress form. Continue overlapping . . .

Step Five

until the whole thing is covered! You might have to trim and/or dart some pieces by cutting slits in the middle toward the top. It takes a minute, but you’ll get it. Set your dress form aside and let it dry.

Mod Podge Crackle Medium

Carefully read the instructions on the package of your Mod Podge Crackle Medium. I know it’s tempting to just re-open the package and begin, but with crackle medium, you need to read to make sure you understand. This is just one step, so it’s not that hard.

Step Seven

Brush the crackle medium onto your candlestick in a medium layer. Don’t keep brushing over and over the same area – just brush it on and try not to overlap. Let it dry.

Step Eight

This step is optional. If your darker paint color is a little thick, adding flow medium to it will help. The reason is because you are going to use a cloth to wipe it off in the next step, so you want the paint to be less viscous (more liquid and not as thick).

Step Nine

Brush the darker color over the lighter color and watch the crackle! Wipe off the excess (not hard, just gently wipe away the extra). Keep in mind it’s a fine eggshell crackle . . . so you can see it, but it’s not going to be huge divots. I personally love the effect!

Once you’re done, glue the dress form to the candlestick and add any embellishments (like my little necklace) to finish. Then display.

DIY Crackle Dress form @savedbyloves

Decoupaging dress forms is so fun! Give it a try. For more great ideas, come visit me on Pinterest . . . I also have a Mod Podge Rocks newsletter and DIY Candy newsletter that you should sign up for to get weekly inspiration. Thanks to Johnnie for having me and I’ll see you next time!

50 Plus Awesome Accent Walls

50 Plus Amazing DIY Accent Wall IdeasWhen we moved into our new house, we went neutral with the walls as we painted. My thought was to save the boldness for accents. Well, now it is time for some accent walls. I gathered some of my favorites creative accent wall ideas on a budget to share with you. If I missed yours, leave me the link in the comments below. There are some great ideas on the cheap, and several easily removable temporary ideas. I hope you are inspired to liven your favorite space with some stencils, planks, stripes, panels or something else new!


50 Plus Amazing DIY Accent Wall Ideas FB

Found Object to Upcycled Lighting

DIY Upcycled Light from @savedbylovesI say “found object” because I am 98.9% unsure what it is. I went through a phase where I scooped up anything that I could picture as a light fixture or hanging pendant lamp and that was cheap. This one I was particularly excited about since I got it for $5 and it was just waiting to house a lightbulb. I finally got around to making it happen as the final step in our laundry room renovation. At the thrift shop where I purchased it, I was told it is an old cow milk filter. Don’t worry, I cleaned it well before mounting it on my ceiling!

Old Cow Milk Filter to Light Fixture

Found object lighting

Here it was to start. I cleaned it with baby wipes and sprayed Mod Podge matte finish on it to seal it.

Update old lighting

I removed this brass fixture that I was dying to replace. It dangled there until my husband got home from work since I had no idea what I was doing and didn’t feel like being electrocuted.

How to update lighting

This milk filter was perfect to wire and hang because of all the holes. We just removed the socket from the old fixture and thread the wires through the top of the filter.

DIY Found Object Light FixtureWe used screws with washers to reattach to the ceiling and that was it!

Upcycled Lighting

We love it! So unique and such an improvement from the brass.  Oh yeah, and it cost $5, let’s not forget!

Visit our 50+ DIY Lighting Ideas for more inspiration!

 

Easy Cheap Hardware Update

How to Update Brassy Hardware With Spray Paint @savedbylovesOne of the first things I knew I wanted to change when we moved into our house was the brass hardware: knobs, hinges and light fixtures. I pictured that happening immediately, but the reality of how much time it takes to renovate kicked in, and I am just now getting to the hardware! I wanted to share with you a quick, cheap and easy way to get the finish you want on your hardware without having to buy all new pieces. The stuff is expensive, so buy a can of spray paint instead and invest a little time! This one change makes a huge difference in the look of your decor.

DIY Mudroom Storage Bench

I finally got addressing the hardware as we finished up the laundry room you have heard me going on about around here lately. It was so perfect… new floor, new built-in mudroom bench, striped walls and laundry room printables.  Then there were the shiny brass hinges, locks and knobs. I couldn’t take it.

How to Spray Paint Door Knobs and Hinges

The solution was a $7 can of spray paint and a little time. I just removed the doors and took off the hinges and knobs, cleaned them with soap and water, dried them completely and sprayed them with Rust-Oleum Metallic Paint & Primer in One – Oil Rubbed Bronze. I let them dry overnight just to be safe, and put everything back the way it was, new and improved!

I gave you a sneak peek at the mudroom bench. You will be getting a detailed how to quite soon!

In case you missed the Free Laundry Room Printables, click here or the photo:

Three Free Laundry Room Printables @savedbyloves

Free Vintage Laundry Room Printables


Three Free Laundry Room Printables @savedbyloves

We recently renovated our laundry room, top to bottom. I will be sharing all the juicy details with you in upcoming posts, but today is all about free laundry room printables, from me to you! I created these in photoshop, using these free graphics from my favorite vintage graphics source, The Graphics Fairy: Washer and Iron, Clothespin.

Free DIY Laundry Room Printables @savedbyloves

I pulled them into Photoshop and added an old book page background I scanned in from a stack of books I inherited recently. The font I used to ad the text is “Century”. Super easy to create, I made them in 11×14 to go with the black frames I had on hand, but feel free to resize them to meet your needs. Download the freebies by clicking the text under each thumbnail below to pull up the full res version, then print, or save to a flash drive to take to your local printer. I had mine done at Office Depot on cardstock for less than $3 total! Not bad for some adorable laundry room art.

Wash Laundry Room Printable

WASH PRINTABLE

Dry Laundry Room Printable

DRY PRINTABLE

Press Laundry Room Printable

PRESS PRINTABLE

Enjoy and stay tuned for the mudroom bench reveal and tutorial!

Laduree Hot Chocolate Recipe Knock Off

Laduree Hot Chocolate Recipe Knock Off @savedbyloves

If you read anything about traveling to Paris, Ladurée hot chocolate and macarons are bound to be mentioned. We heard about the place first on Rick Steve’s audio Paris app, in one of his many interviews with Parisians.  Then pretty much everyone we talked to about “must see places” in Paris recommended we go there for chocolat chaud (hot chocolate).

Laduree Paris

Well we went there, and I must say, the hot chocolate was smooth and divine.

chocolat chaud paris Recipe

I came home, and much like with the french onion soup recipe I shared yesterday, I had to try to recreate the experience here in Indiana! After some time with Google, I found this Parisian Hot Chocolate Recipe. I followed it to the letter, using Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips from the local Wal Mart. To grind them, I used my blender on “grind”. I also blended the mixture after adding the chocolate in the same blender on “Liquefy” for 1 minute.

Best Hot Chocolate Recipe

It was so much like the real thing! The next 10 minutes consisted of “mmmm….” and that’s about it. I have made it twice more since then, and it is a huge hit in our house. I won’t make hot chocolate any other way now.  If you can’t make it to Laduree, this is the next best option! Enjoy.

Upcycled Sweater Christmas Ornaments

I am so happy to be here today sharing a tutorial for these Cozy Christmas Ornaments made from old sweaters. That ugly Christmas sweater you have? I bet it would make beautiful ornaments! This is an easy ornament to DIY, and you can make quite a few ornaments from one sweater, so let’s get started.

Upcycled Sweater Ornaments DIY from @savedbyloves @craftsncoffee

Fair-Isle-Sweater-Orn

You are going to need 3” balls of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam (you could go larger or smaller, too); an old sweater or two; scissors; a sharp pencil; needle & thread; thick, white craft glue; and ribbon for hanging the ornaments.

Sweater-Ornament-Supplies

To start, mark the center top and bottom of your foam ball with a pencil. Then insert your pencil at each point to make a 5/8” hole.

Insert-Pencil

Cut a piece of sweater fabric, measuring about 4” – 5” high and 8” long. If you’re using a patterned sweater, be sure to plan where you cut to best highlight the pattern. Test fit your fabric piece around the ball to be sure it fits – the size of the fabric you’ll need may vary depending on the stretchiness of your sweater.

Fold your fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch a ¼” seam. Turn right side out. Slip the ball into the center of your tube.

Upcycled Sweater Christmas Handmade Ornaments

Place a dab of white craft glue in the hole at the top and using a sharp tool such as a pencil, firmly push the cut edges of the fabric tube into the hole. Try to space the fabric folds evenly around the ball. Repeat at the bottom of the ball.

Tuck-in-sweater

Knot together the ends of a 6” – 8” length of ribbon, and push the knot down into the hole at the top. If you like, add a bow and jingle bell, or any other decorations, to the top of the ball. Let the glue dry before you hang your ornaments.

Red-Orns-on-Tree

Red-Argyle-Orn

I want to give a shout out to designer Kathleen George for helping out with these Sweater Ornaments. I have a few more ideas for repurposing old shirts to make ornaments in the Christmas Ornament series “Mad for Plaid & Paisley” over on Crafts ‘n Coffee. Please come by and check them out!

Repurpose-shirts-for-orname

Thank you so much for having me today, Johnnie. It’s a thrill to guest post here! I wish you, your family, and all of your readers a wonderful Christmas season!

Want more Repurposed Sweater Ideas? Check out our 50+ Ways to Upcycle Sweaters!

Happy crafting.

Sharon

Repurposed Toy Car Box to Sewing Notions Storage

Hello! I’m Steph and I blog at The Silly Pearl. I’m mom to 7 year old twin girls and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.I love to repurpose containers into storage for my craft room. So I’m excited to show you what I made today here on Saved By Love Creations: I took a plastic toy car storage box (don’t worry, it’s not vintage!) and created a storage box for my collection of vintage trims that I’m always collecting from the thrift store. Thanks so much Johnnie for having me on your blog today to share my tutorial!

Repurposed Toy Car Box Storage to Sewing Notion Storage by The Silly Pearl

My girls do have a collection of cars themselves, but most are larger and wouldn’t fit into the compartments of the box. So I thought I could use it for myself in the craft room, to house all the little lengths of rick rack, seam binding, lace, and bias tape currently tangled in a box.

Repurposed Toy Car Box Storage to Sewing Notion Storage - Before

First step is to remove the label on the front and spray paint the entire box, inside and out. Choose a spray paint that bonds to plastic. Use a primer as well. Do several thin coats, allowing time to dry in between. Be sure to follow the drying time recommendations on the spray cans, particularly in between the primer and the color. I chose a turquoise color that I have a lot in my craft room.

repurposed_car_box_1

Once the paint is dry and you’ve allowed it to cure, you can start applying the scrapbook paper. An 8×12 inch piece of scrapbook paper fit perfectly on the front (I used my Xyron 9-inch Creative Station to apply adhesive to my scrapbook paper). Then I framed the paper with some red rick rack using my Xyron 1.5-inch sticker maker.

repurposed_car_box_2

Inside the lid, I created a pocket by folding an 8×12 inch piece of paper in half. I applied adhesive to just one of the folded sides and pressed that to the bottom half of the lid so that the other half of the paper unfolds out towards the bottom. Then I applied adhesive to another 8×12 inch piece of paper and pressed it to the inside of the first piece.

repurposed_car_box_3

Then I applied some double-stick tape to the edges of that unfolded half and pressed down the edges over that 2nd piece of paper. To allow some give for the pocket, I adhered the pocket at a slight angle on both sides.

repurposed_car_box_4

I grabbed some clothespins and wooden spools and wrapped my trims around them. For narrower trims, I used the wood spools, securing the ends with a little bit of washi tape. For wider trims, or for trims where I had a longer length, I used clothespins. Just make sure the clothespins and wood spools you use aren’t too wide or tall for the compartments. I was able to stack two of these one-inch spools into one compartment.

repurposed_car_box_5On the outside, I used a piece of cardboard that one of my trims came in, and with some letter stamps and more trims (of course), I created a label and adhered it to the front. All done!

repurposed_car_box_6

Inside, I stored some vintage trims that are still in their packaging. Plus, I added some trim along the edges of the pocket papers.

Repurposed Toy Car Box Storage to Sewing Notion Storage - Inside

Before and After!

Repurposed Toy Car Box Storage to Sewing Notion Storage - Before and After

Hope you’ll come on by my blog for more craft tutorials and check out my craft room ideas as well. Also, find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you again Johnnie for having me here on your blog today! –Steph @ The Silly Pearl

Upcycle a Table Runner into DIY Pillows

Hi Everyone, It’s Becky from Patchwork Posse. Home of fun sewing projects, quilt alongs, and a lot of chit chat!
A few years back I had picked up a table runner that I had loved. It didn’t fit anywhere, but I couldn’t let it go and brought it home. It was super long and on one side it had the striped fabric and the other it had a swirl design.

After sitting in my cupboard for way longer than I want to admit, I decided it was time to do something with it. The once table runner became two matching bolster pillows.

Table Runner to Pillows DIY Upcycle @savedbyloves

Materials Needed:

table runner that is double sided and can be ‘pulled’ apart– meaning the layers aren’t fused together.

pillow form the size you need or polyfil stuffing

tablerunnerpillow10

Table Runner to Pillow Tutorial~

1) Lay your pillow form on top of your table runner and figure out where you need to trim the table runner. You will need to remember to add a bit for your seam allowance.

tablerunnerpillow2

2) Stuff your pillow inside the inside of the table runner

tablerunnerpillow3

3) Fold the ends under 1/4″-1/2″ and pin in place. Hand stitch the opening closed

tablerunnerpillow4

You are done!

Now, if you are like me, I didn’t really want the pillow form to be trapped inside. So, I came up with a second closure solution. A foldover end. And, because the pillow is double sided, you are able to showcase the fabric design from the back and contrast with the front fabric.

tablerunnerpillow9

Quick how to for the folded end pillow~

1) Cut a piece of fabric measuring 6″ –this size you can custom for your pillow. This is the size I decided to do. Feel free to make it larger if you’d like

2) Fold over one edge and sew in place– you’re making a hem here

tablerunnerpillow5

3) Open the pillow ends just a bit and pin your foldover piece to the right side of the SAME fabric (remember that after you are done, it will be folded over to the opposite side)

tablerunnerpillow6

4) Sew across this edge– make sure you don’t catch the other piece with your needle when you are stitching it!

5) Turn the foldover piece to the front, mess with the corners so they lay flat and pin in place along the side

tablerunnerpillow7

6) Sew directly on top of the original seams on the sides– if you don’t have visible seams you can either stitch it still, or hand stitch along the edges to secure

tablerunnerpillow8

7) Stuff pillow inside and fold the flap over in place

tablerunnerpillow11

I seriously love these pillows! The reversible option with them. The removeable pillow form. The extra little detail of co-ordinating designs on top of each other with the flap. Yes, the pom pom ends were already there– double bonus!

Now I am looking at table runners in a whole new light! Can’t believe this wasn’t figured out before…and how much time this saves in making them!

For more easy sewing projects, stop by my blog or facebook.

DIY Upcycled Cookie Sheet Memo Board

Easy Upcycle Cookie into Copper Patina Magnet Board @savedbyloves @petscribbles

Hi everyone! I’m Laura from Pet
Scribbles
, and I’m thrilled to be guest posting for Johnnie
today!

I’ve got a fun DIY project to share: a copper patina magnet
board from an upcycled cookie sheet!

After seeing so many cookie sheet makeovers on Pinterest, I began
collecting some of our older ones. I also bought this new round one at
the dollar store:

Copper Patina Magnet Board

As regular readers of my blog know, I love the look of copper and
patina. I’ve made over quite a few pieces using this technique, from
glass
vases
made to look like copper pipes to large wooden planter boxes made to look
like metal. In each DIY, the steps are the same but the patina effect is
always different – just like real patina on aging copper.

Step One: Apply one coat of Modern Masters Copper Reactive
Metallic Paint to both sides of the cookie sheet.
Let dry.

For many surfaces, I use the Metal Effects Primer (also by Modern
Masters) as the first coat. On metal, it isn’t necessary as the first
step. However, as you’ll see in the image below, the first coat of paint
did go on a bit more streaky than I would have liked. (Using a primer
always provides some tooth for any subsequent coats of paint to adhere to.)

Copper Patina Magnet Board

Step Two: Apply a second coat of the copper paint to the back
side of the cookie sheet only.
Let dry.

Isn’t the paint gorgeous? There’s real metallic particles in the paint,
which is what reacts with the patina solution that will be added in the
next steps.

Copper Patina Magnet Board

Step Three: Apply a new coat of the copper metallic paint to the
front of the cookie sheet, then immediately spray the patina solution
onto the cookie sheet right over the wet paint.
The patina
solution comes in blue and green. I used the green shade:

Copper Patina Magnet Board

Using a sea sponge, I then played around pouncing the solution on the
cookie sheet, just making random patterns. It isn’t necessary to do
this, but it sure is fun!

Copper Patina Magnet Board

Step Four: Add a bit more of the copper paint, if
desired.
After everything dried overnight, I used the same sea
sponge and pounced a bit more copper paint here and there onto the front
of the cookie sheet. There’s no right or wrong way to do this, just play
with the look until you love it.

Here’s a close-up of the gorgeous patina finish:

Copper Patina Magnet Board

Step Five: Drill two holes into the cookie sheet. These
holes will be where you thread your ribbon through, to make the hanger
for your magnet board.

Copper Patina Magnet Board

Step Six: Cut two pieces of thin velvet ribbon (or a ribbon of
your choice), which will become small bows on the front of the magnet
board.
Cut two longer pieces of the same ribbon, which will be
used to create the hanger. (I didn’t measure my pieces, instead I just
eyeballed it.)

Copper Patina Magnet Board

Step Seven: Create the velvet ribbon hanger. Make a
loop with the smaller piece of ribbon (A), then thread
it (B) through the drilled hole, with both ends coming
through to the front. (C) Turn the tray over and slide
one end of the longer ribbon through the loop of the smaller piece.
(D) Tie the longer piece onto that loop with a simple knot.

Repeat this step for the other drilled hole.

Copper Patina Magnet Board

Step Eight: Pull the ends of the smaller pieces of ribbon all
the way through the drilled holes.
(They will be stopped by the
knots underneath that you made in Step Seven.

Step Nine: Tie the ends of each ribbon together with a simple
knot, then trim the edges to a length you like.
I trimmed mine
so each looks like a very basic bow shape and covers the holes
completely. (See image below.)

Step Ten: Tie the long ends together and make a large, floppy
bow.
Hang up on the wall and enjoy!

Copper Patina Magnet Board

Since it’s Christmas time, I decorated my magnet board with some of my
favorite vintage Christmas postcards. (I also made the glitter marble
magnets, and you can find that tutorial here.)

Copper Patina Magnet Board

I added a sprig of a faux pine branch too.

upcycled-cookie-sheet-memo-board

And when the Christmas season is over, my magnet board will be ready to
take on the new year and hopefully keep us more organized! (Unless I
decide to decorate it with more vintage postcards!)

Copper Patina Magnet Board

I’ve been a long-time admirer of Johnnie. Whether she’s crafting
bracelets or building furniture, her creativity knows no bounds!

Thanks Johnnie for having me guest post today, and thank you Saved By
Love readers too!

Happy crafting!

~Laura

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