Cartwheels In My Mind

Look alike Anthropologie Newspaper Lamp.

Good Friday ladies and gents! How was everyone's week? The Cartwheel's team we have been busy little bees this past couple of weeks... we have some crafts&surprises up our sleeves that we want to reveal to you. But, I'm afraid those crafts/surprises will just have to wait for just a tiny bit longer. Confused? Excited? Impatient? That's what we like to hear :)

 

Okay, so the other day while I made my weekly trip to Anthropologie I came across this:

Oh yes... A newspaper lamp shade. Awesome right? Well, I'll tell you what isn't awesome... the price. It was either $298 or $398. WHAT THE WHAT?!? No thanks. Who is spending this kind of money in the first place?!?

So, this got me thinking... I could so do that. In fact, I know of a lamp that was in need of some doctoring. Just look at this thing: 

Ripped. Abused. Unwanted. Not for long... All this lamp needed was some TLC {tender lovin' care} and some newspaper transformation. 

This project was so easy beasy! All you need is: 1. paint brush{es}. 2. Paper Modge Podge. 3. Old newspapers. 

Rip out sections {preferably the ones that don't have pictures... just words.} crinkle them up like it's trash then coat the back. Then start placing each piece on the lamp. . Once the lamp is fully covered with newspaper brush a layer {or layers} of modge podge over the front. 

Once it's dried stand back and admire your look alike Anthro lamp that didn't require borrowing a loan to purchase. 

This project took roughly an hour to do but was super fun! Find some tunes to jam out to, invite some friends over and have a newspaper lamp partaaaay. There is no wrong way to do this... so if you're worried about messing it up don't be! :)

Do you have a fun project you would like to share with Cartwheels? We would love to see it {and share it with our readers}. Send us an email at: [email protected]

SHOUT OUTS:

Grungy lamp: The Heritage House.

The Wall Street Journals: My dad!! {thanks for saving all those old papers. Who knew they would come in handy for an awesome project?!}

Lampshade{first image}: Anthro

hellO, baBy!

 Is it just me or is EVERYONE AND THEIR MOMMA getting preggers?!? Just this past year alone I know SIX people who have been bitten by the baby BUMP bug. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come for me. Don't get me wrong I want little Mudgies running all over the place someday just not NOWday. 

Recently, I helped host a baby shower... which was WAY fun. Baby showers are a good way to satisfy a little baby craving without diving in if you're not ready {like me}. Decorating for baby showers=AWESOMELY FUN TIMES PLANNING FOR& CREATING BABY gOoDs.  

There are soooo many amazing ideas out there for baby decor... I was beginning to have an overload of ideas so in the end I just decided to keep it simple:

Tissue paper flowers. Rubber duckie candies. Baby bottle banner. 

 


Did you know that adding a doily to your gift is a great way to show everyone that you can make a gift look pretty and save a couple bucks on those expensive gift bags? YEs, it's true. Plus, it spices it up your gift-wrapping life!!! In the words of Charlie Sheen:WINNING. Haha. {that was for all you out there that keep up with entertainment news} ps- I can't remember what wrapping paper brand that is... perhaps Martha Stewart?

This upcoming weekend I will be a part of another shower... You know what that means for Cartwheels, right? More {fun} DIY projects& ideas. Check out this SUPER cute idea that I have in mind. Elephant theme anyone? If you live in the deep south and have a love for {college} Alabama football then your answer will most definitely be YES. I just couldn't wait until next week to share my idea {and by MY i mean the-idea-that-is-being-borrowed} long though to show you this cuteness! Once it's a brewin' it's hard to keep it stewin'.

If you fancy this idea as much as I do you can print out the elephant bunting&cupcake toppers. See the link at the very bottom.

 

Happy Monday to everyone!  Go out&get crafty today!

::SHOUT OUTS& DIY's::

 hello, baby elephant image, elephant bunting&cupcake topper :  here

    Tissue paper flower: HERE.

 Duckie candy mold: HERE. How to melt candy: HERE. If you're wondering if it tastes as pretty as it looks the answer is YES.

  Here's a bottle similar to the one i traced and cut out: HERE. 

{1}. I used cardboard {cereal} boxes to trace the bottle on. {2}. Painted BOTH sides blue {2-3 coats of acrylic paint}. {3}. tied a ribbon around each bottle {double knotted on the backside}. You can cut out as many bottles as you want!!! 


 

Best Wishes:: Flower Embellishment

Once a month I go to a make-and-take night sponsored by a local Stampin' Up Demonstrator.  We usually make 3-4 cards and each time I am introduced to a new technique that I get to add to my bag of tricks.  Last month we made this card and I fell in love with the flower embellishment.  Before I left to go home that evening, I had purchased the punch so I could make more projects with the same cute flowers on them!

 

I am a very visual learner, so I took photos of each step and added the directions so you can follow along step by step. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added patterned paper, a punched border, and a stamped birthday greeting with embellishment to complete my card. 

I just love how the flower adds so much personality to each of these cards. I am already thinking up lots of other projects to use them on - scrapbook pages, gift wrapped packages, a garland, cupcake toppers...so many possibilities!

Random Fact About Me:  I have this crazy notion that things have to be organized in rainbow order.  My scrapbook paper is organized in rainbow order.  Supply bins in my classroom at school are organized in rainbow order.  My stamp pads are organized in rainbow order.  You gotta love ROY G BIV!!!





Anatomy Of A Room :: A Vintage Nursery 02, Feedsack Pillow.

Happy Monday, my friends! I want to start off this post by apologizing...while sick last week I added some posts to the site from bed and apparently either forgot how to save them correctly or forgot the date. Either way, they didn't get posted...so I'm bringing them to you now! Better late than never, right? :)

Not too long ago, my friend Amy (Covey) sent me this old feed-sack in the mail, and as soon as I saw it I was super inspired and had lots of ideas for it.

(Here's a photo of an identical one that I found for sale on Etsy by seller tracytreasures13.)

I originally thought I'd use it in my kitchen since the side that's shown above has red and navy in it, but recently when I was cleaning out my art studio, it fell on the side that has only the black letters...and immediately I thought of adding lots of fun colorful flowers to it and making it into a pillow for Gracie's room. I just feel like the sack has that vintage feel that I'm going for, and the cream and black background with colorful accents are my favorite color combination.

The first thing that i did to design the pillow was to cut off a few little yo-yos from the huge quilt that is the main focal point of the room (you can see a bit of it here in the photo above)...that way it matched exactly. But then I added a few of my own fabric flowers with coordinating fabrics to add a little dimension since the yo-yos are so flat. To attach them, I just hand-stitched them directly onto the feedsack with a little bit of thin felt lining the inside of the sack to keep it from tearing. 

Then, to make the sack into a pillow, I took the original flat feedsack and filled it with quilt batting...packing it in tight enough that it has a pillow-like texture. I didn't worry too much about it being the most comfortable pillow in our home since it will be used for decorative purposes only, but I did want it to function correctly. 

Even though it's not perfect, it's perfect for the feel of that room. And that's the most important thing, right? And I sort of love that it's the only one of it's kind. 

What are YOU working on this week?

 

25 Days Of Christmas...A Vintage Banner For The Tree.

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you are all having a fabulous week! We, in typical Ametewee disaster-prone fashion, have been dealing with an exploded garbage disposal and all the stuff that comes with it. But looking on the bright side, I didn't have to do dishes for a week so when I wasn't calling the people to come fix it I was able to get a little extra Christmas shopping and fit in a tiny bit of art. :D 

SO...today I wanted to share a fun Christmas project that I did to add a little vintage/handmade appeal to our sad little empty Christmas tree...a vintage fabric banner.

When I started the project, I fully intended to use some of the new funky fabric I have picked up over the past few months, but when I was going through my fabric cases I came across this little hand-stitched quilt that I bought a couple years ago when Amy and I were on one of our many antique shop runs. I had intended from the first second that I saw it to use it for a project where I could keep it intact, but when I saw it the day I was working on the banner, I just knew it would be perfect for what I was trying to do with this tree project. And after the first few chops I didn't mind cutting it apart. :)

To make the little banner pieces, I cut little diamonds from the fabric quilt by folding the fabric in half to make them each exactly match up when I folded them and attached them to the piece of twine I used. 

Next, I just folded them over the twine and then stapled them into place. I know that it would probably have looked cool if I stitched them, but A. i don't know how to use a machine, B. I was feeling too lazy to stitch them all by hand and C. I'm not a perfectionist and think the staples make it look a little more effortless. 

Once I had them all stapled, I took a few shots to share with everyone while letting Londerpants play with them for a bit...

And then I wrapped it around the tree to get the decorating process underway (there are now a few more things added to it to make it a little fuller).

And the best part? This will go perfectly with Gracie's new nursery theme (I'll start back up with sharing the process of decorating her room after Christmas) so I'm thinking that I'll be able to use it as art on one of her walls! 

And THAT, is why I like to make sure my Christmas projects aren't all about the red and green...because 1 month a year just seems like a waste to me when you are creating a project that you love. :)

P.S. I wanted to apologize for not sharing the give-aways this week like I said I would. I promise that I will still post them all...even if I have to do it after Christmas. Everyone still loves fun free stuff no matter what month it is, right?! :)

25 Days of Christmas :: Photo Card Set.

Hi there, friends! I hope that all of you are doing better with the whole gift gathering thing than I am...because I'm running about 2 months behind schedule. And considering Christmas is just around the corner, I don't exactly have 2 months to make everything. 

Which brings me to this quick and easy gift idea :: the photo card.

Remember this photo that I shared a couple months ago?

Ok, so probably you don't remember it considering the number of photos that have been shared on this site in the past 6 months alone, but it's one of my favorites. It was one of those photos that I thought of and executed within about 5-10 minutes flat...my favorite. :) Anyways, I like to give my mom a few handmade cards each Christmas since she is so good about sending cards to people...and this photo seemed to be the perfect fit for the image on the cards.

To make the cards, I just printed the I LOVE YOU photo at 5x7 inches onto the right side of a piece of 8.5x11 cardstock and then cut it out and folded it at the exact edge of the photo.

Next, I just added 1 little pop-dotted flower/button sticker to each card along the word clothesline and then placed each card into a craft colored envelope.

And just like that, within 1 hour I had a set of 10 cards for her to send out this year. 

Easy right? And cheap...and not very time consuming. My kind of project. :)