Altering Frames... A Tutorial!

I LOVE to alter things. I have tins, boxes, bags- all saved in case I need to make something special in a pinch!

Well, here is another thing I found I can alter! FRAMES!

I bought an ADORABLE set from ScrapbookSteals a while back called Alphabet Soup. I bought it with the intent of letting G play with the flash cards & to use to decorate items in her soon to be "big girl" room (a HUGE post on that soon!).

I got to work yesterday and decided to show you how you can make your own adorable art work for your kids' rooms! :)

I took a frame that we had gotten as a gift before G was born:

And got out all my paper and supplies:

I then emptied the frame and covered the entire thing with Mod Podge:

I've never used Mod Podge before, so this was a new trial for me. Looks like I have to do a lot of projects... a little bit goes a LONG way!!

I laid out my 12x12 paper and made sure I was lining the frame up straight with the paper design. Luckily, I choose a paper that had a back side pattern that ran the same way so I could make sure it was just right.

After that, I took scissors and made sure I cut all the way up the sides to the edges in a diagonal fashion.

Like this:

Then, I trimmed the extra paper- just make sure you leave enough to wrap all the way to the backside of the frame.

Next up, I poked a hole in the center of the frame and cut that in diagonals too.

As you can tell, it doesnt have to be perfect! I applied more Mod Podge to the inside edges and worked the paper up. It was squirting out, but not sticking all that well. So, I brought out the trusty ole Fabri-Tac. I am in love with that stuff. Really. It works for me everytime! ;)

After that, I used my bone folder to really crease the paper inside the edges and trimmed the excess. You can also use the edge of scissors to cut the extra. ;)

I then worked my way around all the edges, tucking in and gluing pieces.

Next, I cut a piece of scrapbook paper and embellished it to match her room. I made sure it fit properly with the glass and inserted it. We love owls!

It wasn't exactly right... so I went and got out some distressing ink and a sponge:

I worked it around the outside and inside picture edges.

You can see where a little mod podge squirted out on the upper right hand side. Oh well, gives it more character :)

I don't know what you think, but I LOVE it!!

:)

{A Ribbon Wreath} My FIRST tutorial!!

Fun and fancy party ideas are EVERYWHERE!! For years I have clogged up saved lots of ideas on my favorites bar and planned to do them... I never did. Call me a slacker, if you must. ;) I had good intentions, but I became too busy or would find some GREATER idea before I could use the original one. Well, one of my many resolutions this year was to actually DO some of the projects I'd saved! I started with a cupcake liner wreath, which turned out SO cute. And, I must give thanks to the Tatertots & Jello Blog for sharing these fantabulous ideas with me!

Without further ado, here is how YOU can make your own adorable RIBBON WREATH!! I decided I wanted to do this for my daughter's second birthday... "It's Fun to BEE Two!" :)

What you need:
Foam wreath
LOTS of ribbon- I suggest 9-12 differet kinds (grosgrain or similar works best) and I kept all mine 7/8' wide and smaller, except for the ribbon I used to wrap the wreath, that was 1.5'
Hot glue gun and/or fabric glue
Scissors

** I ordered and bought ALL of my ribbon from Ribbons and Bows Oh My! They carry an AWESOME selection and sell most ribbons in 5 yard lengths, which is just about how much you will need of EACH color/design you use for this project! Their prices are spectacular, too. **

Get out all of your ribbon:

Okay... Start with a foam wreath.

 Pick your base color for your wreath. I applied a small dab of glue on the back side of the wreath and began wrapping all around tightly. At the end I glued it done and held it tight until it dried. I cut off a little bit of excess that overlapped and this is what it looks like when you're done wrapping.

 Next: Cut all of your ribbon into about 4.5" pieces... I measured the first one from each color and then just eyeballed it after that.

 Now, if you have a sewing machine, you can use the tutorial that Tatertots & Jello posted, but I don't, so this was more time consuming, but still gets the same result!

I lined up 5 ribbon pieces at a time, then took my glue gun and made a ribbon down the ends. You want to leave some space at the ends, because thats how you will attach them to your foam wreath!

Then, fold over the pieces, you'll have to work pretty quickly if you do 5 at a time, and attach it to the other side, like so (please note how- a) fat and b) hairy- my hands are. This is why I don't do tutorials. I have MAN hands!! Don't judge :P)

This is how they look when done. Sometimes they kind of attach to each other with the glue, just rip them all apart.

 This is how they should look at the ends:

 I just tossed them in a box to the side until I had all my colors done. I used 9 total.

Begin working in small sections, I put the glue on the wreath, then took my ribbon, opened the ends and pressed down to attach...

Keep going in little groups all over. Then, go back and fill in.

Here is my finished wreath!! I just took a long piece of two ribbons and tied them at the top to hang. And, I attached a bee embellishment my mom gave me to tie in the Bee theme!

I didn't even end up using all of what I cut, but I also could have filled in a lot more. This pic shows the center, I didn't even go inside much to fill. I could have if I wanted to but I have 18 billion other BEE projects to do was happy with the result I had already!!

So, what do you think?? If you make one, PLEASE let me know! Post a pic on my FB page, or leave me a comment to YOUR blog here!!