Painted Wooden Bowl Fail

I have a habit of seeing something for sale and thinking to myself, “I’m not going to buy that. I’m going to make it.” Point in case: dot bowls from The Bocket Store  spotted by Erin at Host-It Notes while perusing the Renegade Craft Fair. Sarah Bocket’s bowls are stunning. Mine are wrinkled. I should have shelled out the change for one of hers.

However, I think I’ve fixed the problem, so if you want to try your hand at painting some bowls, you will need:

a wooden bowl, thoroughly scrubbed and dried

sand paper

a damp cloth

masking tape

primer

paint

paint brushes

sealer

Sand the bowl really well. Sand it some more. Wipe off the dust with a damp cloth and let it dry.

Tape off the part of the bowl you don’t want painted. I used a kazillion little pieces of tape to go around the lip of the bowl. I’m sure there’s an easier way to do it, though. Maybe using contact paper and just cutting a bowl-sized circle out of it and sticking it onto the rim?

See how the bowl is still a little glossy? I should have sanded it more.

Ok, prime and paint the bowl, letting it dry between coats. I didn’t prime mine, which according to my friend, the painter, was my big mistake.

It’s helps to paint little stuff like this in a box. Then there isn’t paint flying all over your garage or driveway.

Paint on the dots by dipping a small paint brush straight down into your paint (I used acrylic) and barely touching the tip of the brush to the bowl.

Before I sprayed on the sealer (which I have used many times before with the same exact paint and without any problems) the paint looked perfect and smooth. I let the bowls dry over night and then hosed them down with sealer. The paint immediately wrinkled. I wanted to cry. Apparently this was mistake number 2 (3?). The previously mentioned painter friend said I should have let them dry longer. They seemed completely dry but it was raining out side and chilly so I probably should have given them some more time. Ugh.

 

I’m using them anyway, but I’m bitter about it. If you decide to paint some bowls let me know how it goes. Or if you have any tips for keeping paint from wrinkling, I would love to hear them.

DIY Pink and Orange Brunch Reception

My mom got married over spring break to the love of her life. After a concise but personal ceremony, we headed over to the community center in their little town for a brunch reception. The community center was built in the 40’s and was a skating rink in its previous life.

Elderly ladies were popping by throughout our preparations to check out our progress. It’s amazing to think about all of the events this little building has witnessed.

The theme of the reception was loosely, “spring brunch”. We made a kazillion poofs out of tissue paper and tulle.

This little lady was the poof queen. She made poofs tirelessly long after we were completely sick of it.

The poofs were strung from fishing line back and forth across the room.

My mom made buntings out of sparkly scrapbook paper and strung them on thin strips of tulle. We hung them with hook and loop Command hooks.

The tables were topped with vases of white roses, a bright fabric runner and boxes of chocolates.

My mom’s friend made the chocolates and packaged them up in individual boxes for guests to take as favors.

I made labels for all of the food.

We used yellow metal tubs to hold all of the goods on the mimosa and Bloody Mary bar.

For the younger guests, we topped the table with sand buckets overflowing with toys and craft supplies. We also set up a bowling lane in the back corner of the room. The kids LOVED it and were fully entertained so their parents could relax a bit.

The star of the reception, besides the bride of course, was the photo booth. The guests could choose from all sorts of silly props including chalkboard thought bubbles. These served as a guest book as everyone could write their well wishes on the bubbles.

Yes, even a palm tree. All of the high class toys were purchase from Oriental Trading Company.

A Bit of Spring: Flowers from Paper Cups

I’ve been sick all week with a sinus infection. But this morning when I woke up my fever had broken and the sun was shining (a rarity in Oregon this time of year). I dug myself out of my pile of blankets and dirty tissues and made some cheerful flowers.

I had some paper cups in bright pink, red and orange.

First, I cut each cup from the opening to the base in 1/2” intervals.

Then I cut the rolled edges off of each strip.

Next, I punched a hole in the end of each strip.

Once all of the “flowers” were prepared, I made the centers out of yellow cardstock. I folded a 1 1/2” strip of cardstock in half length-wise and cut tiny strips, starting on the fold and cutting towards the open side. Then I cut the cardstock into 1” sections and rolled them into a tube. I secured each tube with a little dab of glue.

To assemble the flowers, I poked a hole in the bottom of the cup and slid a straw through, securing it with a little hot glue.

Then I threaded each petal onto the straw and stuck them down with a dot of glue.

I slid the cardstock tube over the straw, glued it down and spread out the little strips.

Aren’t they cheerful?

Love Collage

In my craft room I have a bunch of bookshelves (that are about 10 trips to Powell’s City of Books too full). In the summer the plants from my classroom sit on top of them but all winter they’ve been bare. I bought a bunch of frames last time I was at Ikea to make a rotating gallery of sorts. For the first “installment” I made a collage out of National Geographic magazines. Note: Do not yank pages out of the classroom magazines in front of 35 6th graders as they will loudly chide you for doing what you have repeatedly told them not to do.

I tore out a stack of pages that fit in with the color scheme that I was going for. Ok, I really just tore out the pages with the prettiest pictures.

Then I tore some pages with just text into strips for the background. I used my Cricut to cut out the deer, tree and letters and then I free handed the hearts, clouds, leaves, etc.

I laid everything out and then glued it on.

I popped it into the frame and that’s it. Easy.

The picture on the left is just scrapbook paper. The print in the middle is from the in flight magazine from Vueling. I snagged it on the flight from Barcelona to Granada. It is full of beautiful photographs and illustrations. Aren’t these guys cute?