Pressed Flowers

Materials: Pressed flowers Heavyweight paper Picture frame Craft glue Small paint brush Tweezers

Directions: 1. Pressed flowers can be purchased online or you can easily press them yourself. Begin by folding a sheet of standard copy paper. Select a variety of flowers and foliage from your garden or backyard and place them in the fold of the paper. Place this in between the page of a book and then stack additional heavy books on top. Allow two to three weeks for the flowers to dry -- this time may variety according to where you live and the level of humidity. 2. If you'd like to frame your pressed flower monogram, begin by selecting a frame. Remove the packing and use it as a size guide to measure and cut a piece of heavyweight paper. Watercolor paper from your local art supply store is a good option. Then set your frame and cut paper aside. 3. On a separate piece of paper lightly draw the monogram letter you'd like to create in pencil. Alternately, eyeball the placement of your pressed flowers. Using tweezers to lift the pressed flowers and begin to arrange them on the paper into the shape of your monogram letter. 4. When you're pleased with your arrangement, the flowers can be transferred and adhered to the cut piece of paper. Use a small paintbrush to lightly dab glue onto the back of the pressed flowers. You do not need to cover the entire back of the flower with glue, simply dab small amounts along the edges of the petals, leaves and stem. Position them on the cut piece of paper and lightly press them into place with your fingers. Once all of your pressed flowers have been glued in place, allow them to dry for at least an hour.

Photo Canvas

Materials: 4 canvases Image Modge podge Paint Sponge brush

Directions: 1. Take a picture, either take it in a square format, or crop it to a square. Or maybe snag one from a very popular social networking site already in the perfect size of a square. Convert it to black and white. 2. Have it printed at a local store that has printing services, in a 12x12 size. low res images might turn out grainy FYI. 3. Measure and cut into four equal squares. 4. Paint the edges of all of your canvas’ with a fun color, such as hot pink! 5. Mod Podge each of the 4 pictures to the tops of the 4 canvas’ and let it dry! Hang them up in a square to see the whole image.

Gold Leaf Art

Materials: High end paper Gold leaf Adhesive Sealer Frame

Directions: 1. Pick your shape: glasses, heart, home, dog, anchor, monogram letter etc. 2. Draw your shape: find clip art online, print it and cut it out and make your own stencil or free hand it. 3. Use brush on gold leaf and paint in the glasses, or get adhesive, paint it inside the glasses, and start applying pieces of gold leaf. 4. Frame it!

Tissue Paper Collage

Materials: Tissue paper Scissors Mod Podge Paint brush Frame

Directions: 1. Cut tissue paper shapes to form letters. 2. Brush thin layer of glue on tissue paper. 3. Place first shape down on construction paper. 4. Brush with glue to smooth. 5. Overlap pieces to form letters. 6. Brush thin layer of glue over entire collage to seal. 7. Allow to dry then frame.

Oversized Metal Charms

Materials: 38 gauge aluminum foil Serrated shears Line art image of your choice Ballpoint pen Tooling tools – such as a stylus, wooden skewer, craft stick, pounce wheel or spoon Awl or paper punch

Directions: 1. Select an image to tool into your foil - keeping in mind that simple line art works best. You can scan and print line art from magazines, old greeting cards, coloring books or search for clipart online. 2. Cut a piece of the foil slightly larger than your selected image. Trim the paper around your printed image and then tape it to one side of the foil. Place the foil on a piece of felt for cushion and then trace the image, embossing it into the foil, using a simple ballpoint pen. Using a pen helps you keep track of your tracing, but you can always flip your piece over to make certain you haven’t missed anything. 3. Optionally, trace an outline around the image using a pounce wheel to create a decorative dotted/perforated line. 4. Once the entire image has been traced, remove the paper and turn the foil over. You’ll see the embossed outline, but now we want to work the foil to make the lines more pronounced and give the image more dimension. There are a variety of tools that you can use for this purpose – a stylus and a wood tool used for sculpting clay are shown in the video – but get creative here, consider a craft stick, a wooden skewer or even a spoon. One way to make the embossed lines stand out more is to trace around them. When finished, flip the foil over. 5. Debossing or indenting areas on the back of the foil raises those same areas on the front creating a relief. Using a tool such as the back of a spoon or the rounded wood end of a tool gently work areas of your image and occasionally flip the foil over to see the results. 6. When finished tooling the design, gently rework any areas that may have been pressed down during handling of the foil. Cut along to the outer edge of the border. Add a hanging hole using a sharp awl or a standard paper punch.

Framed Embroidery

Materials: Heavy Metal Alphabet Demi Towel (will fit a standard-sized frame) Iron Ruler Exacto Knife Foam core Stainless steel straight pins Thimble

Directions: 1. Iron back of embroidery, work from the center out 2. Take out picture frame backing, place on board and trace along the edges. 3. Grab the ruler an exacto knife and cut foam core to fit frame. 4. Center embroidery on foam core. 5. Use stainless steel straight pins to pin embroidery onto the foam core. 6. First pin in center of one side, then pin in center of opposite side. 7. Fold fabric over edges. 8. Pin every 1-2 inches around the embroidery. 9. Use a thimble to help press in the pins. 10. Place embroidery inside the picture frame, fold down excess fabric, and secure the frame backing. Helpful Tip:

• If your embroidery was created on a larger piece of fabric you may be tempted to cut off the excess material around the edges when fitting it into a frame. But think twice before trimming if you may want to use the piece for another project down the road. It goes without saying, once you've cut away any excess, there's no putting it back!

Picture Frame Clock

Materials: Shadow box picture frame Chipboard or heavy cardboard Decorative cardstock Pencil Scissors Ruler Glue stick Screw punch or craft knife Clock kit Masking tape

Directions: 1. Remove the backing, mat and glass from the picture frame. Discard the glass and the mat. 2. Trace the picture frame backing onto a piece of chipboard or heavy cardboard and cut along the trace lines with scissors. 3. Trace the picture frame backing onto a piece of decorative cardstock and cut along the trace lines with scissors. Glue the cut cardstock onto the cut chipboard and allow to dry. 4. Flip the chipboard over so that the decorative cardstock is face down. Using a ruler and a pencil draw lines connecting the opposing corners - the point at which these lines intersect is the center of the board. Using a screw punch or craft knife, create a small hole at this center point just large enough for the clock post to fit through. 5. Install the clock mechanism by placing the post through the hole and attaching the clock hands. Secure the mechanism to the back of the board with masking tape and install the clock battery. This creates the clock face. 6. Place the face into the picture frame and re-install the backing. Your clock is now ready to display! The depth of the shadow box frame allows you to set it on a surface or hang it on the wall. You can easily create a new clock face using a different decorative cardstock to fit your décor.