Decoupaged vintage ornaments

Hi everyone!

Christmas is almost here and I am so excited! These days I had such a great time crafting the last decorations, while listening to Christmas songs, and today I finally completed my tree adding some final ornaments.

The steps I used to complete these little creations are the ones of sphere 1 that you can find here, but this time, instead of buying decorative paper with the manufacturer’s graphics, I had my own designs printed (yayyy!!!!)

It was such a long time I wanted to do it! Each time I visited Graphics Fairy’s website, I was amazed by the gorgeous vintage images she was posting and I kept imagining them decorating my tree. A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to stop dreaming and start doing!

First of all, I downloaded 3 beautiful graphics: a cute elf girl, a sweet cat and a lovely dog. I then I cut, resized them, and modified saturation and brightness in order to unify the designs. I also added a common background and small decorative leaves in front of every image, before cropping them in the shape of a circle, so that they would fit on my Christmas plexiglass baubles.

I was able to get everything printed by Calambour, a company located here in Milan that produces mulberry paper. Personally, I really like the job they did: images are crisp, the result professional, and people at their office very helpful, so I will ask them again if I will need more printing. If you wish to print by yourself however, you could use regular paper or try the steps of this tutorial to print on mulberry paper with your inkjet printer.

And here are my beauties! I love how I was finally able to get those gorgeous graphics on my tree…everything turned out just as I wanted (and I am happy, happy, happyyyyy!!!).

I wish you a lovely day and joyful holidays!

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Romantic decoupaged candle dish

Hi everyone!

Today’s creation’s story begins a couple of weeks ago, when walked into one of my favourite shops to get a candle for the vintage candle holder I had just created. I didn’t go there on purpose, so I didn’t have with me the exact measurements of the piece, but I still decided to buy the candle that looked closer to what I needed.

I once again proved that using memory to guess the right size is something I should never do, since apparently, my failure is not limited to my boyfriend’s t-shirts (2 wrong size gifts in a row). When I got home, I indeed realized that the candle was at least twice the size I needed.

I was already planning to return it, when, a couple of days later I found in a thrift store a dish in which it would fit perfectly (I, of course, found out about the fit later, since when I bought it I just thought it was a nice piece to decorate. I guess I would have otherwise got one that was either way too large or definitely too small).

It was a square, very simple and cheap white porcelain plate, but I believed it had potential. When I got home I started working on it. So I will now stop with the chatting and start sharing the instructions on how to make your own!

Materials:

• Porcelain dish
• Mulberry paper (for background; I used Calambour PAU 36
• Decoupage paper (flowers; I used Calambour CAL 95)
• Primer
• Decoupage glue (or Mod Podge)
• Acrylic sealer (clear)
• Acrylic paints (I used brown, cream and gold)
• Brushes, scissors…
• Optional: masking tape

First of all, I decided which area I wanted to embellish and delimitated it using masking tape. This is not mandatory, but it helped me moving around more straight lines. Knowing how clumsy I can be, I left the center of the dish empty, so that if any wax accidentally spills on the plate, it will not ruin the decoration.

You then need to cover with primer the surface you want to work on, so that the paint will stick to it. Once this coat is dry, you can sponge some acrylics in order to create background texture. I made 2 coats, the first with cream only and the second one mixing some 50% brown, 40% cream and 10% gold paints (see picture2).

After everything dried, I used diluted decoupage glue to attach the mulberry paper (previously cut by tearing the perimeter of the 4 stripes making up the sides of the decoration). I then removed the masking tape and defined the internal and external perimeter tracing lines with gold acrylic paint.

To add some extra interest, I cut out 2 flowers from the regular decoupage sheet and glued them on top (in order to get better adherence, you should dampen the designs before applying the glue). To protect the decoration, I covered everything with 2 coats of sealer.

I wasn’t 100% happy with the effect yet, as the different elements were not perfectly blended together. I then decided to take a couple of extra steps: first of all, I thinned some brown paint, until it got a watercolor consistency and applied it in circular motion with a sponge. This helped unifying the colors. I then added 3 coats of sealer, and used very thin sand paper on the flowers in order to get a more even surface…

And voilà! Here is my final creation! I think I will use it as centerpiece for Christmas dinner. I hope you like it!

Have a lovely day, and come back soon!

My Favourite parties: The Charm of Home - Dwellings - Between Naps on the Porch - Stone Gable - Coastal Charm - A Stroll Thru Life - Home Stories A2Z - Cozy Little House - French Country Cottage - Romantic home - The shabby nest

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Decoupaged Christmas ornaments

Hi everyone! 

Today I want to show you some Christmas ornaments I have been making lately, using decoupage mulberry paper. I love the versatility of this technique: you can get a totally different look just by changing the image and some other small details.

To create these spheres you will need:

• Plexiglass spheres (glass ones are good as well, I use plexiglass because they can be opened in half, so you can be attaching the paper on the inside, as I did for the ornaments in picture 6 and 7)
• Decoupage glue (I think Mod Podge would be ok)
• Mulberry paper with Christmas prints
• Clear acrylic sealer 
• Decorations (ribbons, pine cones, berries, flowers...) 
• For sphere in pictures 1 to 5 ONLY, you will also need plain mulberry paper (without any prints, I used a cream color) 
• For sphere in pictures 6 and 7 ONLY, you will also need: glass primer, fake snow paste

Here you can see a tutorial (my very first tutorial, yayyy!!! :-) for creating your own ornaments. It is in Italian, but just below the box, I wrote full instructions in English :-).

Sphere 1 (pictures 1 to 5):

First of all, I tore some plain mulberry paper, in order to get small pieces with uneven borders. I then used decoupage glue to stick them to the sphere until the entire surface was covered.

Once dry, I glued an image printed on mulberry paper (which I got from a Calambour decoupage sheet I found on Nom de Plume website). I then let the sphere dry and added a coat of acrylic sealer.

To further embellish the creation, I used hot glue to attach some ribbons, bows and flowers (you can find instructions on how to make the crocheted flower here).

Sphere 2 (pictures 6-7):

First of all, I used decoupage glue to attach some decorated mulberry paper, but this time I worked on the inside of the sphere: I opened the ball and attached the decoration on the two separate halves, keeping the printed side facing the plexiglass surface (I used images that would cover all the space, but you can cut some smaller prints and eventually add an extra layer of plain paper on top).

I then let the sphere dry and added a coat of acrylic sealer. I later painted the surface with cream acrylics, in order to make the design more opaque, so that the colors would be more brilliant.

After closing the ornament, I covered the borders with glass primer and brushed some white snow paste, before sealing everything with clear acrylic sealer.

To further embellish the creation, I used hot glue to attach some ribbons, bows and pine cones. 

Here are some pictures of my tree ornaments. I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. Have fun and come back soon!

Featured on:

My favorite parties: The Shabby Creek Cottage - Dwellings - From my front porch to yours - The Charm of Home - Between Naps on the Porch - Green Willow Pond - Ivy and Elephants - Coastal Charm - A Stroll Thru Life - Cozy Little House - Stone Gable - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Knick of Time - No Minimalist Here - The Brambleberry Cottage - Common Ground - French Country Cottage - Its so Very Cheri - Rain on a Tin Roof - The Dedicated House

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Old wine glass or new candle holder?

Old wine glass or new candle holder? This is this Christmas dilemma… 

Today I want to share with you a new, quite clever creation. I admit it, the idea is not mine (ouch!), but I was inspired by Pinterest (see the original pin here). All you have to do is get a wine glass and flip it to make a candle holder. How simple and smart is that?

When I first saw it I was so impressed, that I literally ran to look for an odd, old wine glass and started working, personalizing the idea with crackle effect, decoupage paper, felt and burlap… Do you want to try too? Just follow the step-by-step instructions below and you can make your own original center piece for your Christmas table…enjoy! 

You will need:

• A wine glass
• A flat cardboard or plastic circle (I used a plexiglass sphere’s separator)
• Glass Primer
• Background acrylic paint (I used a gold color)
• Foreground acrylic paint (I used ivory)
• Crackle medium
• A Christmas image (I got mine from Calambour paper RP73)
• Decoupage glue (Mod Podge should be ok)
• Clear sealer
• Liquid bitumen (or any other medium that will give an antique look to the piece)
• Decorations (flowers, berries, ribbons…)

First of all, you will have to brush the outside of the glass and the top of the circle with (in order): glass primer, gold acrylic paint (2 coats work better than 1, see image 2 below), crackle medium, ivory paint (1 coat only, the second coat would not crack!), letting, of course the products dry between coats.

Next, I applied the decoupage image, using the appropriate glue and I let it dry, before covering everything with a clear acrylic sealer. I then centered and glued (using a hot glue gun) the glass to the circle. With a sponge I applied a very thin layer of liquid bitumen to the surface and, when it dried, I added some ribbons and flowers as decorations (you can see how to make the felted poinsettias in the beautiful tutorial here ...and maybe,  you will end up also making the stocking, as I did).  

And here is my final creation! I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. For any questions, just leave a comment below.

Come back soon, and have a wonderful, creative day!

Featured on:

My favorite parties: Under the Table and Dreaming -  Between Naps on the Porch - Dwellings - Creatively living - I should be mopping the floor - The Stories of A2Z -  Coastal Charm - A Stroll thru Life - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia – Stone Gable - Cozy little house - Knick of time - Savvy Southern Style - From my front porch to yours
- The charm of home - Ivy and elephants - Green Willow pond - The Brambleberry Cottage - No Minimalist Here - Common Ground - French Country Cottage - Rain on a tin Roof - The dedicated house - It's so very Cheri - My Romantic Home

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

A little angel

Hi everyone! 

Today’s post contains two beautiful things: a new creation and some joyful news! 

These small flying heralds were indeed inspired by the birth of a real little angel in my neighbors’ house. 

I created one of the small characters as presents for the new mother with wide ribbons sewn in circles to make the skirt and the cape. I then took a wooden sphere, painted eyes, nose and attached fake hair to create the head. 

When color and glue dried, I added a body made with chenille stems and some small wooden beads as hands and feet. Last but not least, the final touches: a ribbon bow as wings and a small present in the angel’s hands. 

Below, you can also see a more colorful version, in which the herald is a cute bee. 

Enjoy the gallery and come back soon!

 

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Christmas in Copenhagen

Hi everyone!

Today I want to share with you the beauty of Copenhagen during Christmas time! Holiday decorations have been in the shops for weeks now; the center of the city has been decorated for the upcoming celebrations, with the renowned Stroget (the shopping street) displaying hearts and beautiful shopping windows; Tivoli park has opened for the winter season; Nisser (the little gnomes with red pointed hats) are everywhere in shops and snow has been falling for some days during the beginning of the month. It is extremely difficult to chose which experience has shown me the best of the city during this last month, but for sure I have some I would recommend to anyone visiting Copenhagen in December (and I have pictures to prove it :-) ).

First of all, the most famous activity: visiting the charming Christmas market in Tivoli. For the occasion, the park is open and decorated. A small village is built with every house containing a little shop where you can find decorations, candies, wool clothes and much more; the entire park is filled with trees, sparkling lights, lovely hearts and white snowflakes and you can even see Santa’s sleigh, next to real reindeers! It is like being in a dream and your 5-years-old-inner-child would never let you leave (personal experience :-) )!
 

Visiting the center of the city, with its beautiful decorations and elegant shopping windows is also an invaluable experience. Doing it during a snowstorm can prove a bit challenging, but extremely rewarding :-) (personal experience, again!).

  

One less obvious but unforgettable walk is the one through Frederiksberg have. This beautiful and large park is a bit away from the center , but when snow is falling, it is one of the most relaxing and deeply beautiful places I have ever visited during my stay in Denmark. It might be just because I love nature, but the soft, sleek, white snow on the ground and trees, the iced lakes, small rivers and incredible silence made it definitely look amazing!

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)