Crafty Time: Lace Textured Mugs

Of course I'm Pinterest addicted and found this idea on there too.  Got the idea from Urban Comfort.  So these mugs were way easier to make than I expected.  And as usual, I took advantage of sales and discounts to make these.  These lace mugs have been quite popular with my friends.  


Materials needed:
-Lace fabric (found mine on sale at Joann's)
-Mod Podge (at any craft store, this was probably the thing I spent the most money on, and I used a coupon)
-Paint (I'm a fan of the Martha Stewart craft paint, again was on sale)
-Mugs (Dollar Tree!!! so cheap)


How to:
1.  Cut lace to fit mug.  I made mine wrap around the whole mug, but cut how your artistic eye sees fit.  
2.  Paint a layer of mod podge onto clean mug.
3.  Place lace onto mug while mod podge is still wet, and let dry.
4.  Once dry, paint layer of modge podge over the lace, and let that layer dry.
5.  Paint with desired color of paint over lace, ta da!!! cute mug!


I think it might be a good idea to add another layer of modge podge over the paint as a sealant, as I'm worried about my mugs peeling.  My lace mugs have been really loved by my friends, I would definitely recommend these!

Start to finish! love this mug.

Crafty Time: Make Your Own Canvas Prints

I have always loved the looks of canvas prints.  However, purchasing one from a place like Walgreens starts at $39.99 for an 11' x 14" print.  That's a little bit out of my price range, especially given how much I love swapping out photos.  So after finding The Pinterest Project's attempt at this, I decided to go all out and make my own.

Supplies:

Canvas (size of choice)

Bought a 10 pack originally $20, used Michael's coupon and got it for ten meaning each canvas cost about $1.  Always take advantage of coupons!!

 

Gel Medium

Again, always take advantage of coupons!

Photo (printed on regular paper, not glossy photo paper)

I printed all of my pictures at Fedex Office, costing me about $0.57 per print.  Make sure not to print on photo paper! As well as reverse your image before you print them, or they will turn out backwards!

Procedure:

 

1.  Paint canvas with a generous layer of Gel Medium (enough to cover canvas).  You don't have to overdo it but you want enough for your picture to stick to.

2.  Spray water on to photo side of print using a spray bottle.  Not too much just enough to get the picture slightly moist.  Place print face down onto canvas while gel medium is still wet.  Smooth out with a plastic card of some sort (credit card, drivers license, etc.) and let canvas dry for 24 hours.

Canvas after drying for 24 hours.

   3.  Once dry, spray entire canvas with water.  The canvas needs to be soaked for this to work so make sure the entire thing is thoroughly wet.

A towel on work area is recommended.

4.  Alright, here's the fun part.  Peel off the layer of paper, and ta da! The ink has transferred onto the canvas!  Keep peeling off all the paper until a residue of paper strands is left on the canvas, let dry.  

 This part is very messy! keep a wastebasket near you if you don't want to have to clean up shredded paper.

5.  Once dry, spray again thoroughly with water and start to rub off paper remains.  Repeat as needed.  I was annoyed with how long it took to rub using my finger, I found using a softer scrubbing pad took off the paper remains very well.   Note: if part of the ink is rubbed off in this process, that's ok, it adds what I feel is a nice distressed, worn look to the photos. 

 

After a lot of rubbing and paper mess, I managed to make 19 of these (I'm saving my last canvas of one of my bulk pack for another project).  The best part over all all of these probably cost me about $32 for all of these print (less than $2 for each canvas individually), which is a much cheaper than paying to have one made (I got 18 more for less than the price of one!)  I gave 4 away as gifts and hung the rest in my room and they add a nice homey touch to my room for my senior year in college. 

I absolutely love my canvas prints! Gives me a constant reminder of how much love I have for all my friends and family in my life!

I thought it would be a really cool idea to buy square canvases and print Instagram pictures.  Also, I'm wondering how cool this would look on other surfaces like wood or fabric!