Mosaic painting

Hi, there!  This seems to be the winter that doesn't want to end.  A lot of us are still stuck with snow covering every inch of outdoors, or weather so cold that our skin will freeze off if we try to go outside.  We thought we'd post another craft that we can do indoors with the little ones to try to take their minds off being stuck indoors for yet another day or two, or ten.  I saw this on Pinterest about a month ago, and I thought, "I seriously need to find a tutorial for this!  These look so amazing!"  I looked for a couple of tutorials, and I think I was using the wrong buzz words because nothing popped up that even looked like what I wanted. SO, I winged it, and we're off on another crafting adventure here in our house, complete with paint and glitter!  For this project, you will need:

• A canvas surface...I got mine in a two pack at Hobby Lobby
• Some paints...I just went and picked out some pretty acrylic colors in the paint area
• Glitter
• Some brushes
• Painter's tape or masking tape

For this project, I decided not to do any special shape or anything.  I just sort of created some shapes on the canvas using the tape.  There wasn't really any rhyme or reason to how the tape ended up on the canvas.  I just sort of stuck it on there.

Then, I basically set the kids loose.  I squirted the paint onto some foil and let them kind of mix the paints or dab their brushes into the paints and put them on the canvas however they wanted.  For this part, my son really liked to mix the paints so some of his blocks ended up brown...Okay...a lot of them ended up brown....so I changed out his foil and did a little bit of each color.  I had to wash the brushes fairly often on this one so that they didn't end up with a swirl of brown all over the canvas.  The whole concept of separate brushes was fairly lost on my 3 and 4 year old children.  In the picture below, you can see where I had planned so awesomely that I ran out of blue painter's tape so I had to finish out my son's canvas with yellow masking tape.  This is routine around here that I will not plan through a project completely so...yeah, that's just how we roll.

You can actually see here where the colors have started to become brown on my son's canvas....

Once these were completely covered in paint, I let the kids pick two colors of glitter, and I helped them sprinkle glitter over the canvas.  Now for this part, some of the paint had already dried a little on parts so I actually used a little spray adhesive on it to get more of the glitter to stick.  You could probably add a little more paint to the dry areas to help that along before adding glitter if you don't have spray adhesive.  On my son's, he had actually painted over part of the tape, and I thought that actually looked kind of cool...

While these dried, I plopped the kids in the bath and washed the paint and glitter off them so the next few pictures will be of them in their PJs.  We believe in dressing up for pictures around here so they picked their favorite sleepy time gear for these photos.  By the time that we were done with arguments over who got to have a shower or a bath, which soap each child wanted, and which towel we wanted...enough time had passed that the paintings were dry enough to pull the tape off.  This was probably their favorite part since they were allowed to destroy something with my blessing...

This process took a few minutes to hunt for the pieces of tape and pull them off.  My son kept yelling that he had found "another surprise!" as he pulled the pieces of tape off.  The end masterpiece ended up being a pretty mosaic that looks really awesome!

The kids were pretty proud of their art, and they are now in search of where in the house they want us to hang their masterpieces! Total cost of supplies: about $15, total time invested: about 1 1/2 hours, total clean up time: about 20-30 minutes minutes, pride in a job well done: well...a picture is worth a thousand words...

All in all this was a really easy project to put together.  I hope that this tutorial made sense, and that I didn't confuse you too much!  If you end up doing this project, we'd love to hear about how they turned out and please let me know if you have any questions about anything that I did on here!  Thanks so much for stopping by and Blessings! 

Written by  Kim of Nini and Ash

Fabric Silhouettes

This week's tutorial is something I found on the Martha Stewart website.  I was expecting to see a video how-to but only saw the written instructions.  So with that, I decided to take the steps and use my own photos to show how to make a painted fabric silhouette.  Martha's instructions are found here.

Here are the items that you need:

-A template for the silhouette you would like to use.  I used Martha's wren, but you could use anything you'd like, or even freehand your own.

-canvas, size of your choice.
-paint
-paint brush
-fabric enough to fit wrapped around to the back side of the canvas.
-staple gun
-tape
-pencil
-scissors
-mod podge

To begin I tried cutting some corners from Martha's directions because I was extremely tight on time.  I was trying to get this project done while my baby napped.  I was not successful but that was because my baby doesn't like to nap in his bed so he realized he was alone shortly after I put him in bed.

I decided to lightly cover the canvas with the Mod Podge and then place the fabric on it and around the back.  I used a piece of twill fabric that I had leftover in my scrap pile.  I skipped using a staple gun because I was lazy.  I do suggest for long term quality of this that you make sure the fabric is secured with more than just the Mod Podge.  You must also make sure that the fabric gets stretched from opposite corners and that you don't have any wrinkles in the fabric. 

Once my fabric seemed secure and stretched properly I put another thin layer of Mod Podge all over the fabric to help keep it secured and also create a slightly glossy look. I then cut out the center of my template and placed the paper on top of the fabric.  Once it is where you would like it to be I recommend taping the paper in place along the sides.  I did not tape mine and knew the consequences if the paper moved. (You may trace your stencil onto the fabric, or just leave the paper on and paint over it).   I think I have heard that you can sometimes wipe paint off with a washcloth if you make a mistake as long as you have the layer of Mod Podge on the fabric.  I didn't need to test this theory and hopefully you won't have to either.

Next I started to paint.  I began dabbing the paint on the legs and feet first since they were the smallest area and I didn't want to mess up.  I was careful not to put too much paint on at once either.  I just kept dabbing on more paint as needed. 

Once the outline was finished then I filled in the middle.  I also decided to make mine a little more colorful and add some vignette to the corners. 

There are so many things you could add to the canvas to make it unique.  I would love to go back and add some metallic paint on top of the corners, or even glue on a little quote.  So for now I have put my little artwork on a shelf in my sewing room.  This whole project took me less than an hour to do and I know I will be making more for other areas of my house.  Never would have thought I could decorate so easily and inexpensively.

Hope you liked this week's tutorial.  Stop by next week for something new.
Written by Robin of My Little Lady and Gentleman

Understanding fabric print names 101

So, you have the outfit picked out, and you’re picturing it in your head.  It’s this amazing masterpiece of fabric and thread, and your sweet darling is going to look so wonderful in it that you cannot wait to get your package in the mail.  Then, you hear *ping* and the message, “so what exactly did you mean by the checkered material but not really?  Also, I’m afraid I don’t have anything with conversation bubble looking print.  I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean by that.  Do you know what the print might be called or do you have photos of them so I can see what you have in mind?”  What?!?  I understand that perfectly!  How can she not know what I’m talking about!  How the heck do I know what it’s called?!?!  It’s checkered but not really…that’s all I  know.  Now what?

Well, hopefully, we’re going to be able to give you a little bit of a guide on what some of the more popular fabric prints are called and what they look like.  The list of different types of print out there is very extensive, and I seriously could go on for days talking about the different types that are out there.  Here are just a handful of the more popular prints to get you started!

Let's just jump right in.  So, argyle…usually, the first thing that comes to mind when we hear argyle is socks, but really, it can be used in all sorts of places.  I’ve seen it on sweaters, pants, bags...Basically, argyle is a pattern of different colored diamonds on a plain background.  Most common uses for it are socks and sweaters, but more and more, it has been popping up in different places.  

Argyle vest from My Little Lady and Gentleman

Next up, we have the ever popular, chevron.  My husband calls these the zig zags, and every time he does, I roll my eyes and tell him, “They’re called chevrons…”  Now, he’s not entirely incorrect.  They are in fact zig zag lines, but if you ask for zig zags when talking about fabric, beware that you can get a wide array of print types.  Chevrons are a specific type of print, and I really do think he now calls them zig zags just to push my buttons.  These are a wide “v” that are joined together to form zig zags that actually look similar to military chevron insignia stripes.  These can be paired with all types of prints to make some pretty unique combinations, and they come in an almost endless array of color combinations.  

Corduroy dress in rainbow chevron from Shades of Pink Boutique

Now, we've all seen houndstooth before whether we realize it or not.  If you've ever seen a Roll Tide fan in gametime garb, chances are something in that outfit was the signature black and white houndstooth.  This print is so versatile and can be seen in pretty much anything from dresses to shoes, bags to coats, and hats to pants. The history of houndstooth isn't exactly clear, but most information credits the origin of it to Scotland. The name of the print comes from the fact that the print itself looks like dogs teeth.  In fact, you might even hear this pattern called dogstooth.  Traditionally, the print is black and white, but you can also find it in other colors.

Houndtooth and crimson capri set from Nini and Ash

This next one comes in all types of colors and patterns, but they all have one element in common.  They all have these "conversation bubble" type patterns interspersed in the print.  They might have other elements in them as well but those bubbles are always a part of the print.  This next print type is paisley.  Paisley fabric is characterized by curved, feather shaped figures and was first manufactured in the town of Paisley, Scotland in the early 19th century (http://www.quiltersmuse.com/Paisley-A-Brief-History.html)  .

Paisley dress from Made by Jovanna

Damask has seen something of a rise in popularity, and traditional damask is often a silk material that is reversible and used on drapes or upholstery.  However, when talking about prints, these are distinctive as they are typically two colors.  The main background color and a main design color.  The design is a large swirl of leafy or feathery prints over the background.  These are also available in different color combinations.

Damask and pink poshkini from Haute and Posh Designs

Another print that features an intricate and distinctive design that repeats across the fabric is a French origination called toile.  This print is typically a scenic or floral theme set on a light background.  You will also find this one called toile du jouy in some places.

example of blue and white toile fabric from Fabric.com

For those that like something a little different, batiks have a tie dyed appearance.  These are really neat because the design is actually on both sides of the fabric so there isn't really a front or back side to the fabric. The tie dyed design is actually achieved using wax to cover the parts that the creator doesn't want to color in. Once it's dyed, the wax is melted off using heat, leaving the design in the fabric with the dye around it.  This part can then be dyed or left as is.

example of batik fabric from Fabric.com

These next two aren't as widely known as the others, but they've been gaining some popularity lately so I thought I would go ahead and throw them on here in case you see these somewhere and want to use them in in outfit that you order at some point.  The first of these is called quatrefoil (pronouned ka-ter-foil).  It was originally derived from Christianity.  You will often see this in architecture, and it looks like a rounded cross or a clover.

Quaterfoil shirt from Bomberry's Boutique

The final print that we have up is called ogee.  It's reminiscent of the onion domes on the Russian Orthodox churches, but they look like bubbles with a point at the bottom and the top.  You can find these in a number of variations and colors.

T-shirt dress with ogee skirt trim from Ava Bella Boutique

Okay, so I know this was kind of a long winded post, and I really hope that I haven't lost you by now. These were just a handful of the types of prints that are out there with a short description of what they look like and a tidbit or two about them.  If you would like to know more about fabrics, there are a ton of resources out there.  A really good one that I found while I was doing some research came from Artlandia (http://www.artlandia.com/wonderland/glossary/).  I hope that this was helpful in some way and that you will be able to use this information if you ever get that little ping on your computer with a question asking you if you know the name of that print you're looking for!  Thanks so much and Blessings for stopping by!

Written by Kim of  Nini and Ash