"Floating" Letter Altered Frames

Welcome to the first stop on Kreative Kaboodles Holiday Hop! If you've come to my blog first, be sure to head back to Kreative Kaboodles and read the instructions.

My easy holiday gift idea is for the home. This incredibly versatile project can be made for any season, with any word, to match anyone's home decor! I chose a winter theme, as you can see here. Here's what you need to make this particular set:

3 4x6 wooden frames with metal tabs, no backs

1 sheet patterened paper

clear liquid adhesive such as Diamond Glaze

foam paintbrush

course-grit sandpaper (I used 60-grit)

embellishments, chalks, loose glitter

1. Distress your frames a bit with the sandpaper. Wipe the frames free of dust & debris with a lightly dampened cloth. Embellish your frames as desired. I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Chips altered with Diamond Glaze, chalks, and loose glitter. Set your frames aside to dry.

2. Using your die-cut machine, cut your letters from the patterned paper. Depending on your font, you may need to play with the height of your letters. I used my Cricut "Storybook" cartridge at 5".

3. Clean your glass, making sure the side you're adhering your letters to is free of any debris or fingerprints. A microfiber optical cloth works great for this. Don't worry about the other side for now, you can clean it later.

4. With your foam paintbrush, spread a THIN layer of Diamond Glaze (you don't want there to be any seepage) to the back of the first letter. Quickly place the letter in the center of a pane of glass. Brayer over the glass to make sure there are no air bubbles under the letter. I don't have a brayer, so I used a rolling pin. Repeat with the remaining letters & glass.

5. Clean both sides of each glass pane. If your frames are dry, add the glass to the frames, using the metal tabs in the frames to hold the glass in place.

This project cost me $6! I found the frames at Joann's for $2 a piece, everything else I already had in my stash. A fun project you can easily customize to suit the taste of your lucky recipient!

Next in the hop is Chris! Go HERE to see the beautiful project she has in store for you!

Today's Post

Can be found HERE.

Have a great day!

It's never too early....

Thinking about Christmas yet? It's not all that far away and I am getting the bug to get my Christmas crafting started. The perfect opportunity came when I got Nikki Sivils' "North Pole Nights" papers. These cookie cutter ornaments are quite easy to make. All you need are some plastic cookie cutters, paper and your choice of embellishments. Just trace the cookie cutters, cut the paper to fit and adhere it to the rim. I used ZipDry because it dries so quickly. I used coordinating ribbons to wrap around the outside (ScrappyTape made it a snap) and some Stickles on the outside rim. I found that the Stickles chipped off the plastic very easily once it dried (note to self -- don't use Stickles on plastic) so I sealed it with Glossy Accents. A little embellishing inside and I was done! I finished them all (set of six) in a couple of hours. These will make a great gift or serve well in an ornament exchange. Of course, my six-year-old has already laid claim to this particular set... we'd already have our tree in the living room if she had her way! I told her we have to at least get Halloween out of the way first. She was ok with that. Barely. ;)

I got PINK

Our very creative and ever-generous Gerrianne decided to have a "color-kit" challenge, free (yes, free... shipping and everything!) to those of us who were present at kaboodling (a member's chatty get-together online) one evening at Kit 'n Kaboodles. We all picked our favorite color and she sent everyone product based on that color. I received a Kaisercraft mini "Beyond the Page" book, Kaisercraft acrylic paint in Dusty Pink, Kaisercraft wooden butterflies, Imaginisce bling, a chipboard oval and an acrylic tag. There were no rules, "just create!", she said. So I did. I added a little paper and some leather flowers from my own stash, and here's what I ended up with:

The book itself is only 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 .... I really had to think about what I wanted to do with it. As soon as I gave up the idea of thinking I had to put photos in it, it came together pretty easily! My oldest daughter, who is six, has exactly the right number of letters in her name to make each page representative of one letter (not counting front and back covers, of course), so I wanted to make something for her showing all the traits I believe she possesses. I added lots of Stickles -- but what's new -- and had fun with my new Tim Holtz Rock Candy Crackle Paint. I still have a couple final touches to add -- for example the "N" page is supposed to be "Natural Beauty", just haven't decided how to add the extra word. Overall I love how it turned out!

And you should see some of the other projects!! I was totally amazed at the creativity of the others that are posted so far. They should all be added by the 10th, you should stop by Knk and see some beautiful work by some talented crafters.