Music Sheet Photo Backdrops

I think I have a serious obsession with frames. When I see any crafts or decorations on the internet that involve frames, I seriously want to drop everything I’m doing and get out my craft totes!

Last week, I stumbled upon a pretty neat idea involving frames and old book pages. I also love books and any sort of book-ish crafts, so it definitely caught my eye on multiple levels. Here’s what it looks like:

A few days later, on my weekly stop in the local Goodwill, I found a few frames and made my way to the book section. I wanted to go for the older, worn out pages look rather than the bright white pages of more current publications, but for some reason I had no luck. Usually Goodwill is filled with junky old books, but luckily something else caught my eye:

My apologies for the terrible picture, but you get the point. Instead of book pages, I decided to get this sheet music and tweak my original plan. On the way home, I stopped to grab a can of black spray paint so I could get started.

Here’s a few of the frames I purchased. My first step in the process was removing the back and glass. I would recommend labeling or ordering them in some form or fashion because when it came time to put them back together, it took me awhile to figure out which back went with which frame. Oops!

Here is my favorite of the frames I purchased. Apparently Mrs. Bullock wasn’t very proud of her “teacher of the year” status. Either that, or Mia Swims was just a terrible student.

Moving on. Next in the process was spray painting. I took the frames outside, placed them on some newspaper, and got my spray on. I was particularly excited because (for the first time ever!) I did an entire spray paint job without covering my fingers in paint. While they dried, I made my way to the computer to print out some letters. I would have rather used black cardstock, but unfortunately I had every color on earth besides black, so printed letters had to suffice. I will likely go back and use some cardstock and make some new inserts for my frames, but for a first try, I think I did okay.

I took the printed pages and carefully cut out each of the letters. My scissor skills are on a third to fourth grade level, so I made sure to really take my time on this step. Next, I placed one of the pieces of glass onto the music sheets and traced around it. Each frame was a little bit different, but the glass was all the same size. I also practiced my scissor skills and cut these out as well. After all the cutting, I used a glue stick to paste a letter on each of the backdrops. Here’s how they turned out:

Four letters later, I was done, and it was time to frame them! I don’t think anyone needs any additional information on the process of placing a picture into a frame. Fairly self-explanatory; unless of course, you have trouble figuring out which back goes with which frame. Fail!

I’m not exactly sure where I’m going to put these, but here are a couple pictures of the final outcome. I think they look pretty decent!

Overall, I was pleased with the outcome, but I am hoping to make some cardstock letters to replace these. Now it’s time to figure out where I should hang these!

What have you CREATED to decorate your home?

Creations For A Cause

Matt and I are extremely blessed in the friendship area and have some of the funniest, most awesome people on the planet in our lives. Two of our favorite people ever are Zach and Jessi Brown! They have three boys all age 6 and under. We adore the boys and have really enjoyed watching them grow up!

Meet the Browns– and no, I’m not talking about that terrible tv show:

Zach and Jessi have always wanted a baby girl and have recently decided to transition into a family of 6 by beginning the process of adoption. We are thrilled for them and cannot wait to watch another one of their children grow!

The boys are excited too and are already making up names for their baby sister. They’ve also decided to help their mom and dad raise funds for adoption fees by following in Zach’s footsteps and creating art.

Currently there are 4 paintings by the boys available for auction on Ebay and instead of trying to describe them, I’ll just let you check them out for yourself:

“Baby Girl” by Rhett (above) is a 4×4 acrylic (and guitar pick) painting on canvas. It is available for auction here!

“New Baby” by Reece (above) is a 4×4 acrylic painting on canvas and is available for auction here!

“Baby Sister” by Ryan (above) is an 8×10 acrylic on canvas. This painting is available for auction and you can bid on it here!

“Little Sister” by Ryan is a 4×4 acrylic painting on canvas that is available for auctionhere!

As you can see, these are some artistic little boys! With a little less than 5 days left on the auction, please take a second and check these paintings out! The boys are so excited to be welcoming a baby girl into their family and you can help!

Also be sure to check out Zachary Brown Art to see Zach’s own work. Some of his paintings are available for purchase and I know you want to add a little abstract spice to your bare walls…

Have you ever CREATED something to help others?

Boutonniere Disaster

Trying to go DIY style for your wedding can be a great, fulfilling way to save some cash, but it can also be the worst, most frustrating decision ever. So far in my planning process, I have experienced both of these feelings. Trying to get ahead on some little things for the wedding, I decided to go ahead and try to make my boutonnieres for the guys. Because I planned on using feathers instead of flowers, I was able to go ahead and do them without having to wait until the day before the wedding.

Although I planned on making a few changes color wise, what I had in mind was something along the lines of this:

Umm, yeah right! I actually thought something like this was completely plausible and headed over to Michael’s to get materials. I grabbed some “wirey jewel things” that do not actually have a name and few different styles and colors of ribbon. Because I already planned on incorporating peacock feathers into a few other wedding decorations, I already had several packs of them (several, as in, I bought 100 feathers because I knew I was bound to mess up on something!). Now I was ready to get started!

The “wirey jewel things” were exactly what I wanted and came six to a pack, but they were all wound up together and needed to be separated to start the project. I struggled with them for about half an hour (no joke) and finally got them untangled:

Let the disaster begin! Because the feathers were so flimsy and the “wirey jewel things” were so sturdy, we found it nearly impossible to attach them together in the position that we wanted. We tried every material possible to make these things look decent: hot glue, wooden skewers for grilling, floral tape, regular tape, tie wraps, and the list goes on. Here are a few examples of the ridiculousness that occurred:

Frustrated beyond belief, I decided to quit. I know, I know, quitters never win and winners never quit, but I was so irritated that I could not breathe. Why was this so difficult and how did someone make the boutonniere in the picture so perfect?

Days later, I turned to one of my best friends and bridesmaid, Courtney, and asked for some help. She’s a Martha Stewart of sorts and also a fourth grade teacher, so she definitely has the patience that I severely lack.

I grabbed all the materials and made my way over to her house to try this out one more time. Being as pessimistic as possible, I poured all the stuff out on her table and told her, “good luck!”

After a couple hours of frustration, she was right in my boat. How could this be so hard when it looks so easy? But her optimism rubbed off on me and we started making some progress. After many, seriously, MANY attempts to figure it out, we found out a few things: the skewers actually worked to keep the feather stable, the thin green ribbon looks better than the thick, and double-sided scotch tape is your best friend.

We finally got it down and they were starting to look great! The only problem was that they started to look great after about 3 hours of frustration and we had to make fifteen of them, haha! We made an assembly line to make things a little faster and busted all fifteen out in less than 2 hours. It may have taken two attempts and several hours, but we finally made my DIY project happen!

Here’s an example of our end result. The ribbon is actually a dark, eggplant color, but the camera makes it look maroon:

So, what do you think? I LOVE them and the hard work that went into them makes me appreciate them even more. Each one is a slight bit little different, but that’s what I love about it- they are unique, just like each one of the feathers.

Hopefully my next peacock feather DIY project will not be as frustrating as these little guys. I plan on making some hairpieces for my bridesmaids that look something like this:

If you love me, you’ll cross your fingers and say a little prayer that this project goes quickly and smoothly! I think it will

What are you CREATING this weekend?

The Greatest Song Ever Written!

Have you ever gathered up things around your house and made them into something new? As someone who enjoys crafts, I do this all the time. But have I ever gathered up lines into a song and made a new one? Definitely not. Mainly because I have no musical abilities at all.

A girl I went to high school with did just that. To show the flaws in pop music and how a majority of popular songs use the same chord progression, Beth took 40+ popular pop songs and combined them into "The Greatest Song Ever Written."

Check it out:

This takes creativity to a new level, and in just 2 weeks, she has gained over 200,000 views on YouTube. I hope you enjoyed it!

Creation comes in many forms. What have YOU created recently?

Fun Photo Prop!

While reading one of my favorite blogs, Offbeat Bride, I saw this awesome craft that I HAD to make as a prop for my upcoming engagement pictures. I will show you a picture of the outcome of the project then explain how it all went down:

It turned out absolutely perfect and just as I had hoped, but it definitely took a little creativity, as I did not have access to all the neat things that Whitney from Offbeat Bride had when making hers.

Here’s What You Need:
- Foam Poster Board (Mine was 1/2″ thick)
- A Pencil
- Utility Knives (I used a box cutter & a small Xacto knife)
- A *new* black Sharpie
- A decent amount of time

Step One: The Design

While others have used methods involving projectors and transparencies, I simply didn’t have the access to one, so I made up my own plan. I chose my word and opened up a new Microsoft Word document. When inserting “Word Art” you have the option of changing the font. I found a cute cursive font, made each letter take up an entire page, and I printed them out.

Step Two: The Transfer

How to go about moving the letters from the paper to the board was a decision that took a little brainstorming. At first, I planned on cutting out each letter and tracing it on to the board, but my terrible scissor skills made me resist this thought.

I decided to place the paper on top of the board in the exact place I wanted the letter, and pressing down hard on the pencil, I followed the lines so that an imprint of the letter would appear on the board after removing the Word document. After this is done, lightly trace the letter with your pencil. Try your hardest to resist erasing- it leaves terrible smudges!

These are the printed out letters. Be sure when tracing that you do not trace the part where the letter should connect with the following letter (the far right vertical line of these two letters)

Step Three: Outlining The Letters

In order to create the black part of the whole project, you need to add some thin lines around the entire word (See top photo about for the the “black part” is).

I decided to not have a real “method” for this and just took my time hand doing it. I took my pencil and lightly drew about a 1/2″ border around the entire thing, including the inside of the “o” and “e”. This part requires a little patience, but it’s totally worth it in the end because this is the part that make the prop so awesome!

Sorry this picture is terrible, but avoiding the glare on white foam board was nearly impossible. This just shows the light border I added around each letter.

Step Four: Cutting It Out

Because I was using out nice, wood dining room table, I decided to use a cutting board designed for crafts before I began the process. I encourage you to do the same in order to protect whatever surface you are cutting on.

Cutting out the project is a tedious task. Using the box cutter for the longer, straight edges and the Xacto blade for the rest, I began to cut out my design. Sound obvious, but be sure to cut OUTSIDE of the border- I almost made a couple mistakes that would have ruined the entire thing.

The foam board tends to bunch up on the inside very often, so you are going to need to repeat your cuts on each line several times. Make sure you’re cutting all the way through the bottom layer.

At this point, I was almost done; just had to do finish a few of the harder spots to cut out. It’s starting to come together! YAY!

Step Five: Coloring Your Border

On the recommendation from Offbeat Bride, I got out my nice paint and a few brushes and planned on painting the boarder. I seriously do not recommend this, even for someone like me who can actually paint in the line.

I found it to look really streaky and it would have taken forever. But to each is own; do what YOU think looks best.

If you go the marker route, as I did, make sure that you’re using a new one. Everyone knows how terrible a dull black Sharpie looks. Maybe even keep an extra one on hand if your word is longer than mine. Now all that’s left is to color in the lines and guess what? You’ve just created an adorable photo prop!

Step Six: Go Out And Play!!

Photos courtesy of our incredible friends and photographers, Cason and Lauren Slaughter, over at C. West Productions. Sorry that I don’t have any color examples; clearly have a love for black and white

Be sure to check out Offbeat Bride’s other methods of creating this prop here before deciding which method works best for your project!

What’s the next project on YOUR list?

Project Live Love

A little over a month ago, I posted about the tornadoes that heavily affected several Metro Atlanta communities. What I mentioned in that post was things that are constantly being created are ways to help. While I wasn’t able to do very much during the tornado situation, I had an opportunity to be a part of something incredible on Saturday: Project Live Love!

Saturday morning, after a large cup of coffee, two of our close friends, my fiance, and I hopped in the car and headed downtown for the event. We pulled in the parking lot a little early, but there were plenty of other people there early and as excited as we were! We got in line to hand in our registration forms and find out which project we would get to be apart of. There were several projects occurring that day, and rather than type them out, I’ll just show you:

We ended up in Group 4 and we were pumped up! We changed into our Live Love t-shirts, had a brief meeting with everyone who was part of the project, then broke up into our individual groups. The 12 of us drove a few minutes down the road to the Atlanta Community Food Bank where we would be sorting, inspecting, and packing food in order to help families in need have food on the table. And what an honor it was to do this!

We watched a short video and learned a lot of things about the food bank. ACFB provides food to over 700 nonprofit agencies in close to 40 Metro Atlanta and North Georgia counties every month. Each year, the ACFB distributes over 20 million… yes, million… pounds of food to help the needy. It is was incredible to see how it all works.

We went into the GIANT warehouse and unpacked pallets and pallets of food, making sure to check that the donated food was unspoiled and not out of date. We worked for a few hours doing this and did not even put a dent in the amount of food that this place had to sort through. ACFB heavily relies on volunteers and I would definitely recommend this organization for anyone looking to give back to their community.

Here is a picture of our awesome group:

For anyone interested in being involved with upcoming LIVE LOVE events, there are a few ways you can help. The next event, which will have similar projects to this past event, will be taking place on January 7th and can be registered for online on their website. Another awesome project they have started is called THREE-OH-WE-GO! and will begin this winter. When the temperature in Atlanta goes below freezing, the Live Love crew will head downtown offering blankets, hot chocolate, and hand warmers to people on the streets. Each year, 20+ people die in Atlanta from sleeping outside in the cold and this year, Live Love wants to make this statistic change by doing love!

Everyday, more and more opportunities to help those in need are being created in our communities! How will YOU help?

The World's Hottest Bottle Opener!

Brent and Mark Gregory are two of the most creative and hilarious people I know. Coming up with insanely unique ideas is definitely their forte. Recently, one of their crazy ideas has become a reality!

I introduce to you: The ButtleOpener! : The World’s Hottest Bottle Opener

A few years ago, Greg and Mark, after a round of golf, ended up at the local bar. This is where the dream was born. Somehow the thought of a life-size butt than can open your beer bottle was brilliant in their minds, so they took off running. After patents, drawings, prototypes, and business plans… and a tremendous amount of time… the ButtleOpener became a reality. In early September, the first shipment arrived!

Since its arrival, the brothers, along with friends and family, have been traveling to colleges, NASCAR races, and various other events to push the product. They have even rigged up a ButtleOpener on their truck to promote it while driving. From what they tell me, they get some hilarious looks and comments.

In early November, my fiance and I will be traveling with them to Tuscaloosa to help promote! My beloved Crimson Tide will be playing LSU, so I know it will be an incredible weekend!

This “dream” becoming a reality goes to show that creativity is not a lost cause. They took their idea and made it happen! Sometimes I come with awesome ideas, but someone else is always one step ahead of me. The thing I admire most about the Gregory brothers is that they wholeheartedly pursued creating this product, even though it people laughed it off and said it was crazy. Creativity IS crazy sometimes; that what makes it so fun!

Do you have any ideas that you’d actually like to pursue? What are you waiting for?

The ButtleOpener is now for sale on their website– it will make a hilarious gift or the perfect decoration for your basement, poker room, etc. Take their advice and “Man Up And Getcha One!”

Ahhh, Tornadoes!

Want to know what is constantly being created? Opportunities to help!

Last night (9-5-11), North Georgia experienced some terrible weather and several tornadoes made appearances in Kennesaw, Woodstock, Canton, Ball Ground, and everywhere in between. Many people still remain without power and there are tons of houses with damage in our communities.

Here are a few pictures from my in-laws’ neighborhood in Towne Lake, right outside of Woodstock:

And here are a few pictures of my aunt’s road in Ball Ground, just north of Canton:

As you can see, this terrible weather did some serious damage. From what I have seen on the news, these pictures are minor compared to what some peoples’ homes have experienced. If you have some spare time, why not lend a helping hand to your neighbors, friends, or members of your community and find out ways you can help?

A Little Introduction

Welcome to my blog, Creations And Crafts, which will be all about, yep- you guessed it, things involving creations and crafts. From small decorative projects to refinishing furniture, I'd like to give you a glimpse into my passion of using imagination to CREATE!

I have always had an extremely creative mind, and as much as I wished I could pursue art, I was just never that good at it. BUT several years ago, after compiling years of memories into a hefty scrapbook, I realized that while I don't necessarily have a gift for drawing bowls of fruit or sculpting masterpieces from lumps of clay, I can still CRAFT like nobody's business!

By definition, a creation (cre·a·tion, noun) is, "the action or process of bringing something into existence." In my opinion, I believe that that 'something' can be anything. Because of this, I also hope to share with you some other companies and blogs of friends and colleagues that share my same passion of creation.

Over the years, I have created some fun things, but never took the time to document them and share. My method in using this blog, aside from sharing others' creative works, will be to share a step-by-step, picture guided tour of the process I endured in creating a specific thing. I have several projects lined up on a to-do list, so I hope to work through that list quickly. This blog should give me the motivation I need to do just that!

I truly enjoy the idea of "turning trash into treasure" and whether it's scrap materials around the house turned into a fun, new decorative piece, or even a crappy old table from a garage sale being transformed into a new living room centerpiece, there is always something new to be created and that is something I never want to lose sight of!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and I hope you enjoyed it. I look forward to sharing more in the future and hopefully, you too, will be inspired to find your knack for creation!

Everyone Wants To B.Loved

Last November, my friend Mandy launched an online store called B.loved, which sells women’s clothing and accessories. From belts and bags to dresses and rompers, they have a wide selection and are consistently adding more items to the collection. They also have a fun blog full of style ideas, health tips, and some amazing recipes.

Recently, B.loved began selling Lenny & Eva jewelry! Their leather cuffs are awesome and would make a perfect gift for any of your jewelry loving friends and family out there. The cuffs and braided wraps can also be customized with metal sentiments, which will definitely give you the unique look you’re after!

Be sure to head over to shopbloved.com and see what clothing and accessories you can add to your closet today!

This picture is from the B.loved website and features my friend Katie fromfaithandfunfetti.com! Be sure to check out her blog as well; I promise you won’t regret it!

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