Mother's Day Card with Detachable Flower Brooch

Mother's Day is coming up, and you know what that means - breakfast in bed, massages, no dishes to clean, and an afternoon of sewing all to myself without someone whining for a snack! At least, that's what I want for Mother's Day. That and a cover stitch machine. A girl can dream, right?

This month's Michael's Makers post is all about celebrations, and I chose to celebrate Mothers. Mother's Day is a wonderful time to give special recognition to the women in our lives with love and appreciation for all that they do, and traditionally that involves giving Mother's Day cards, so I wanted to come up with a card that is more than it seems.

I'm actually not at all a card person at all. I never buy them. I appreciate the gesture, but I personally don't like to buy something that I know will get thrown away almost immediately. This card is different though - it has a detachable brooch that Mom can wear! I love that I am able to give a card that says all the wonderful things I want to say to my Mom, but has the bonus of something she can wear to show my love too.

SUPPLIES: cardstock in 2 colors (one for the card and one for the rose), vellum paper, jewelry pin, foam adhesive craft circles, paper trimmer, scissors, hot glue, craft glue.

Making The Rose:

ONE: first, use a bowl or something else circular to trace and cut out a circle from your pink card stock.
TWO: you can draw a swirl on your circle or just freehand it like I did. Start on the outer edge and cut a swirl until you reach the middle.
THREE: leave a little circle in the middle of your rose (we will use this to apply glue to hold your rose in place later.)
FOUR: here's what your rose should look like so far!

FIVE: starting at the outside edge, begin to tightly roll your rose.
SIX: keep rolling...
SEVEN: when you reach the center of your rose, it should look like this.
EIGHT: poke your pin through the center of your rose as shown.
NINE: cut a small circle from your card stock and apply it over the base of your pin. Secure with hot glue over the flat part of your pin.
TEN: allow your rose to uncoil slightly. Put a generous amount of hot glue at the center of your rose to secure in place.

Assembling the Card:

ONE: cut a piece of vellum to size. I made mine as long as my card, but left a couple of inches at the top and bottom.
TWO: secure the vellum to your card using crafting glue (don't go crazy with the glue or you will get lots of wrinkles! Trust me on that one ;) Allow your card to dry.

THREE: poke a hole through the top layer of your card using another pin (or something similar) where your rose will go. 
FOUR: insert your rose through your card and secure on the inside with the back of your pin.



FIVE: cut out your M's (I used my Silhouette Cameo for this, but you can buy or cut your letters by hand.) Place your foam adhesive dots on the back of your letter.
SIX: peel off the backing and attach your M's on either side of your rose.

SEVEN: finally, I tied a piece of ribbon in a bow and hot glued it to the front to complete the card.

Now fill your card with lots of love about Mom...

...and on top of your sweet words in your handmade card, Mom will have a detachable brooch that she can wear with pride on Mother's Day! That's my kind of card.

I hope you enjoy! The rose is so easy to make, you could even get the kids into it and make a card for Grandma. Happy Mother's Day!

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DIY Make Up Brush Stand #MichaelsMakers

Happy New Year!  Shannon here.  It's good to be back after 2 months hiatus!  Michaels challenged us this month to start the new year off with a project we've been wanting to do for a long time, but never found the time or motivation to do... PLUS, they wanted us to get organized!  2 things I love combining - crafting and organizing!

Now, I have a problem.  It's called a beauty addiction.  I full admit it's slightly out of control.  I have a ridiculous amount of make up brushes, eyeliners, lip liners, really anything beauty-centric.  I managed to hit VIB Rouge at Sephora this past year AND premier status at Ulta.  I know.  It's crazy.

For this project, I thought it would be the perfect time to create this adorable make up brush organizer I've been dying to make.  I keep seeing these itty bitty stumps at Michaels and was just waiting and waiting and waiting for the right time to make something out of them.

All you need is a block of wood, a tree stump, a fat branch, whatever.... and a drill.  The specific wood I used I purchased at Michaels, but unfortunately could not find it on the website to link to. I decided to get a little more technical and use a circle stencil to drill exact circle sizes for my brushes. Easiest way to go, though, is just using a generic size that will fit most brushes and pencils.

See! A ridiculous amount of brushes!!!

 

Part 2 of this challenge was organizing our craft space to start this new year off right.  I am so incredibly embarrassed to be showing this... but hey, there's something to be said for vulnerability and courage, right??  I feel like Monica from friends and her dirty little secret closet.  BUT NOT ANYMORE!  Check out the before and after... thanks to Michaels and their incredibly sturdy storage boxes.  

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DIY Wood Burned Picture Frame

I've been wanting to try wood burning for the longest time. Every so often, I like to try new crafting methods to see what I can make, and this one was at the top of my to-do list. This month, Michael's challenged us to make a handmade gift for a friend or family member, so I took that as a sign that I needed a wood burner stat, so I picked up a wood picture frame and wood burner and sat down to make something (hopefully) awesome for my parents.

As someone who hasn't drawn anything more than a stick figure since high school, I was a little intimidated by the thought of permanently burning something into a piece of wood that my parents would have to look at forever (or at least when we visit and they have to dig it out of the closet.) After trying out a few simple designs on a piece of scrap wood though, I was hooked. It was way easier than I expected and the result was a really fun chevron-burned frame that I know my parents will love!



Moral of the story? If you're scared of wood burning, don't be. I can barely draw a stick figure, but I still managed to make this awesome frame without burning a finger - and that in itself is a Christmas miracle.

So let's make a wood burned frame!

SUPPLIES: a wood burning tool, unfinished wooden picture frame, photo, wood stain or paint (I used watered down acrylic paint by Martha Stewart), pencil, ruler, scrap wood -optional but highly recommended if you've never tried wood burning before, sealant.

If you've never tried wood burning, I recommend getting a piece of scrap wood and practicing first instead of jumping in and hoping for the best. You'll learn that different woods burn differently, and you can change the look and texture of the lines by bearing down on the wood burning pen differently. Practice until you're comfortable!

ONE: for a similar chevron design like I did, use your pencil and ruler to draw lines on your frame. I didn't make them symmetrical. I was going for a rough, sketchy look.

TWO: following the directions on your wood burning pen, heat it up and use a steady hand to trace over your drawn lines.
THREE: after your main lines are burned, draw chevron lines with your pencil and ruler

FOUR: trace over your remaining lines with your wood burning pen.

FIVE: stain with wood stain or, as I did, water down some paint and paint on with a paintbrush. Let dry.

SIX: after your paint has dried, seal with preferred sealant (I used a spray on matte sealant.)

After my frame was finished, I went to Target and had an 8x10 of my family printed up and put it in the frame. I can't get over Connor's face...the kid does NOT like having his picture taken! We actually had to have a pep talk about smiling for his school pictures this year, not that it helped any.

For the finishing touches, I picked up some bell ornaments, wood Christmas tags, and red twine from Michael's to wrap up my handmade gift.

I wrapped it simply in kraft paper, and tied the twine around it with the ornaments attached. For a special touch, I decided to also wood burn the tag. The pack came with 12, so I'm excited to make more for the other gifts I'm wrapping.



PS, wood burning curves is not easy :)

And that's it! A beautiful handmade gift that I know will get a LOT of use at my parents' house, especially as the grand kids grow over the years.

I hope you enjoyed my handmade gift and wrapping! Check out the other amazing handmade gifts from the Michael's Makers below to get you inspired for the holidays.

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#MichaelsMakers Dream Tree Challenge Part 2

So let's talk Christmas décor inspiration.  What inspires your Christmas décor?  This year I wanted to do something woodsy, rustic, log cabin-ish.  I'm so incredibly happy with the way the tree turned out!  It feels so cozy when it's all lit up, wrapped in flannel and flanked in fur. 

To get this feel, we used the flannel ribbon and burlap ribbon from Michaels.  I made the pine cone garland last year (link below).  We focused mostly on natural materials for the ornaments, but threw in some glitzy gold stuff here and there.

If you saw our video in the last tree post, you saw our idea of using a paper mache deer head for the tree top was an utter failure, and we ended up using a stick star that I already had.  It fit in so perfectly with the theme!

      If you haven’t seen our Dream Trees yet, stop by The Glue String to see all 30 – they will blow you away!

You can help spread some holiday cheer by sharing a photo of my dream tree or any trees that inspire you this year on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, tag your friend, use the hashtag #TagATree and encourage them to do the same!

Michaels has a variety of Make it Merry projects for you and your family to work on this season!

Below are some of our Christmas DIYs from last year.. check em out and get inspired!

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#MichaelsMakers Dream Tree Challenge

Hello!! So we decided to do something a little different this month.. we did a VIDEO!  What??? Let me tell you guys, it was a blast!  We had so much fun.  We managed to squeeze 8 hours of shopping and decorating into 11 MINUTES.  Check out our video... Follow us as we shop for Christmas at Michael's, watch as we show you our haul and tell you our plans, then be amused as we attempt to decorate with children running around, my cat climbing the Christmas tree, and ideas not going quite as planned.  Most importantly, get INSPIRED and get in the Christmas Spirit!  When you finish the video, let us know what you think!  Should we keep up with doing videos?  Do you guys like it?  I feel they're slightly more personal because you guys get to see us... how we are for real.  Bottom line, we're goofy.  There's no way around it. 

Also, make sure to change the setting to HD.. much better quality video!  Click the little gear in the bottom right of the video window.

Stop by Michaels’ blog, The Glue String, to see the full Dream Tree Challenge and all of the fabulous trees that were created this year by the Michaels Makers.  Head into Michaels Nov. 2 through Nov. 8 for the Make It Merry Tree Event  – 50% off all trees 6 ft. or taller!!! To kick off the holiday season, make sure and check out of Michaels’ Make it Merry  inspiration book or all kinds of holiday tips and projects.

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