Another DIY Mixed Media Angel

September 29, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / 4 Comments

Hello Everyone!

I am back! Thank you all so much for your patience with my long absence. It was never my intention to go silent for a month! I was trying to upgrade my blog to better serve you and in the process I broke it. In fact, it was so bad that tech support was baffled. They had no idea what I did and how they could fix it! (even my mom agreed that it is something that would only happen to me, haha) Anyway I am back online, and over the course of the next few weeks I will be working on cleaning up the blog and making it more used friendly. But for now I am back and I will be posting new projects weekly. I have a ton of ideas for Fall and Halloween so be on the look out of those projects in October.

If my blog ever goes down again you can keep up with me on Instagram

Let’s get into the latest project. I did another mixed media angel. I showed you how to make a mixed media angel that was black and gold. You can see it again here.

For this angel I went with lighter colors and I like the way it turned out.

Materials:

Angel
White Gesso, soft gloss gel, Mica Powder, brushes
Ribbon, roses, wire and other embellishments

Instructions:

~ Make sure the angel is clean and dry, then add a layer or 2 of gesso to get a good base for painting.

~ Start to add embellishments. Just like the previous angel I mixed micro bead with soft gloss gel for texture on the wings. Then I added ribbon for the dress, I just adhered it with 3D paste. Then I added some roses for interest and a wire halo and then I was done with the texture for the angel..

~ Once she was dry I added more gesso. I added a few layers to make sure she was all covered and ready for the paint.

~ Now time for the fun part, adding paint! I mixed Soft Gloss Gel with Mica Powders to make my own paint and then I applied it to the angel. I did some dry brushing and some heavier paining. I just kept at it until I was done.

When I was happy with the final result I added a clear protective coat of spray paint. Then I let her dry and now she is ready to be displayed. I am having a blast with these mixed media projects! What should I do next?

Mixed Media Angel

Frozen Mixed Media

TBT Restoration Hardware Chandelier DIY

July 14, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / Leave a comment

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to take a few minutes today to do a TBT. I made this chandelier about 4 years ago and I still love it! Here is the original blog post: Restoration Hardware Chandelier

The DIY took me a while to complete, but it still is one of my favorite projects! I hope you all enjoy the walk down memory lane.

I have a lot of new readers so I wanted to share this DIY with everyone.

When I saw this RH chandelier I fell in love! I mean it is a perfect blend of sparkle and fancy with rustic, industrial elements. But I did not fall in love with the cost.

The Full instructions are in the original post, but here are the abbreviated instructions

I found this old light fixture and added some hoops that I found at the craft store.

After adding the hoops I spray painted everything with Rusteloem Oil Rubbed Bronze (my favorite spray paint)

Then I added all the crystals and light bulbs

Then we hung it up and it looks awesome! People are always surprised when I say that I made it!

What DIY projects have you done that were inspired by Restoration Hardware?

Turn Gift Bags into Wall Art

June 16, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / 2 Comments

Hello Everyone!

I have a serious question for you, have you seen the awesome gift bags at the dollar store? They are amazing! So cute and every design imaginable. When I see them I think that these should be hung on the wall and not given away. And that is just what I did.

This one I put in my teenage son’s bathroom. He got a kick out of it. We will see how long it stays there, haha.

This is not the most complicated DIY that I have ever done, but it is easy and fun and you can have new art work for a couple of bucks.

All you need are gift bags from the dollar store (from this picture you can see that I might have a problem collecting too many….. nah, I think I don’t have enough, lol)

And a frame ( I got mine from the dollar store as well)

Just use the glass from the frame to see where to cut and cut out the design and put in the frame and that is it! All done.

Think about all the options, you can switch out for the holidays (the dollar store always had gift bags around Christmas)

You can give a gift in the bag and give them a frame to use after they open the gift. It is like a 2 for 1 deal.

I thought that this one was very sweet, wouldn’t this look perfect in a nursery?

This one would look so cute in a nursery as well.

This one would great for newly weds, or even as a decoration at a wedding reception.

This one would be great for a boy’s room or a man cave. The possibilities are endless.

And the best part is that there is usually an identical design on the front and back so you can get twice as many pictures out of 1 bag. This is great if you have 2 kids that want the same art and you only want to buy 1 bag.

I did save the back of the bag for different projects in the future, so look forward to seeing these designs again.

I hope you can find some really great bags to hang on your walls.

Re-purpose an old window into a shabby chic message board

June 2, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / 2 Comments

If you follow my Instagram (taketimetocreate) then I am sure you have already seen the reveal of this repurposed window. For those of you who don’t follow me there here the shabby chic message board!

I have to say I do love the way it turned out! This all started when my friend asked me to paint a window for a silent auction for mental health awareness. At first I wasn’t too interested, not because I didn’t believe in the cause (because this is one cause I totally support) it was because I wasn’t sure I had a design that would work. Most everyone else did a more traditional painted window with flowers on the glass and things like that. Well of course I didn’t follow the crowd. So I did my own thing and hopefully it will bring in a lot of money for the charity!

Here is how I did the repurposing.

Materials:
~ old window (for this to work you for magnets you will need one with a metal screen)
~ sandpaper, tape, cleaning supplies
~ paint and brush
~ cork
~ flowers, magnets, tacks, and clothes pins
~ ribbon and burlap

Instructions:
~ The first thing you will need to do is sand down all the rough edges and smooth it out. Once you like the feel of the window then give it a good cleaning.

~ Now you are ready to paint. I taped around the edges to help cut down on how much paint went on the screen, and this seemed to help.
Paint a couple coats until you get it to how you like it. I used this white acrylic paint that I had on hand.

~ Cut your cork down to size and glue it on to the screen. I just glued the edges with a metal glue and that seems to hold it pretty well.

~Then I went to work decorating the edge. Shabby chic is all about layers so that is what I did. I put down a layer of burlap, the layered on a layer of crochet ribbon that I had in my stash.

That looked good, but I felt like it was missing something, so I added a ribbon on top and flowers in the corners.

Then I added ribbon to the bottom of the screen and to the bottom of the window. Once that was done it was time to add the flower decorations.

~ For the flowers add a magnet the back of some and tack to the others. For the clothes pins I just added ribbon to a plain clothes pin I got from the dollar store.

And that is it. This is a very fun project that is easy to do and I loved using what I had on hand. I can’t wait for the auction and hopefully they will make a lot of money for their cause!

DIY projects with glass animals

February 24, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / 3 Comments

My Grandpa was a rock hound, he searched and collected rock for as long as I knew him. He loved rocks and he created some wonderful, beautiful jewelry with his rocks.

Here is a 70s fantastic picture with my Grandpa. I love this pic, it was taken not long after my brother was born (he is the baby in my Grandpa’s arms). I am the little cutie in my mom’s arms, my sister Valerie the cute little blondie, and my other sister Kim is the cutie sitting down.

And what I love best about the above picture is about 5 seconds after it was taken this next picture was taken (or maybe it was 5 seconds before the actual photo when my folks were trying to set everything up). But either way the before and after is funny. It is almost impossible to keep 4 kids in one place. It just makes me giggle every time I see it.

Anyway, I digress. As I said my Grandpa was a rock hound. It was fun to spend time in his rock shop and see his tools and rock and various treasures. When he passed my oldest sister, Kim, got almost all his rocks and tools. Well, I was visiting Kim a few weeks ago I spent some time digging around in the rocks she had. And I come home with a treasure trove! My Grandpa had these really cute glass animals, I knew I could do something with them. Be prepared for more future posts with rocks, I may have collected a ton from my sister….

Aren’t they cute! But you know real life happens and before I even started my craft projects Cole had to take a few (or 10) so this is all the remains. LOL. He also had first dibs on all the rocks I brought home, so I have significantly less than what I started with. I love how interested he is in rocks and nature.

I made some necklaces and some little decorations with the glass animals. I will divide this post into 2 parts, starting with the jewelry.

Materials:

~ Glass animals (you can get these almost anywhere. I would look on Amazon, eBay, or do a quick Google search, or sometimes rock and or bead shops might have them)

~ Wire, pliers, jump rings

Instructions:

~ The little dogs had a little glass bump that was perfect for a jump ring. Add a jump ring and a chain and you are good to go. I think this is the easiest project ever!

~ The giraffe was a little harder, but not much. Just take some wire and wrap it around the body of the giraffe.

Once you have wrapped it as much as you want then twist it at the top and add a jump ring, just watch for the center of gravity. You want to make sure your jump ring is in a place to make sure the giraffe will hang right. Then take the wire and twist to the bottom and secure and cut off extra. I am thinking that I will need to add a dab of glue to make sure it is secure.

~ Please note that these are glass and to be very careful when you wear them. These might not be suitable for children, they might break.

Making Glass Animal decorations

Materials:

~ Rocks

~ Glue (I used Loctite, but E6000 would probably work, or any other glue like that)

~ Glass animals

Instructions:

~ Gather your rocks and animals. As you can see I have a lot, but this isn’t even a tiny fraction of what I brought home. I am so excited for all the rock projects I have in store!

~ Then glue your animals to the rock base and that is it! Display them on your favorite shelf. Reminder that these are glass and fragile, so you should be careful handling them and these are probably not for kids to play with.

Nice and easy for this Wonderful Wednesday! Check out my Etsy shop to purchase some of these creations. TakeTimeToCreate.etsy.com

There are no affiliate links in this post

Vintage Button Magnets

January 14, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / 6 Comments

So as you all probably know by now I love buttons. I made this letter S a few years ago and I still love it. Buttons are so much fun to go through and sort and reminisce about. I think they are one of my favorite crafting item.

So I made another craft with buttons. This time I made button magnets.

In addition to the crafting I decided to reopen my Etsy store and sell some of the things I make here on this blog. Stop by and check it out: TakeTimeToCreate.

Here is how you can make your own button magnets

Materials:

~ Buttons (so many buttons!!! And this is only a small portion of what my mom gave me! She is the best!)

~ Magnets

~ Glue (I am using my trusty E-6000)

~ Clippers or something to cut the shank off

Instructions

~ prep the buttons. You might need to clean them a bit or snip off the shank. Be careful because pieces of plastic might go flying.

~ Stack the buttons to create a different looks. Glue the stacks as necessary.

~ Glue the back of the button and add the magnet

~ Wait for them to dry and then put them up on your fridge. You can see I use them to hold pictures of Cole. I love his monster and dino magnets he made when he was little. So cute! Sigh he is not so little anymore.

Stay tuned for DIYs on how I made the little canvas magnets and the bottle glass magnets.

Here are some of the completed magnet sets that I have on Etsy just to give you an idea of what you can do with magnets and buttons. These make great house warming gifts!

Christmas Mason Jars

December 23, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / Leave a comment

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas!

Do you remember the Fall Mason Jars I made a while back? Here is the link incase you missed it: Fall Mason Jars

Well I updated them for Christmas just by making a new flowery top.

Here is how I did it;

Materials:

~Flowers

~Mason Jar lid

~Hot Glue

~Ribbon

Instructions:

~ Remove the old lid and save it for next year

~ Take a new lid and glue on flowers. For Christmas I used Poinsettias that I found at the Dollar Store

Glue ribbon around the edge

Fill with Candy and you are done. I didn’t use any window clings this time because I thought the red and green candies were enough.

I am loving how easy it is to make these jars and how easy it is to store just the lids. And my boys love the candy in the jars Smile

Easy DIY Scarf Holder

December 4, 2015December 3, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / 2 Comments

I know I am way late to the scarf train, but now that I am aboard I am all about scarfs! I love how you can take a basic outfit and dress it up with a simple scarf, and they make your wardrobe so much more versatile!

Well now that I have accumulated a fair number of scarfs I ran in to the problem of where to store them. I wanted the in a location that I could see them so I didn’t forget about them in the morning. Also I wanted the scarfs to hang so they didn’t get too wrinkly (less ironing, which is always a good thing)

So we can up with the solution of finding a way to hang them on the back of the closet door. Please excuse any mess you see in my closet, organization is an ongoing problem in there.

This is a fast and easy way to hang your scarfs

Materials:

~ Dowel Rod

~ Adhesive hooks (I used 3M Command hooks)

~ Level (for hanging)

~ Duck Tape (Used this great purple Prism color)

Instructions:

~ cut your dowel to length. I wanted 2 rows, so I just cut them the length I needed. We had a saw at home, but the home improvement store can cut it for you if needed.

~ I was worried about the wood snagging my scarfs so I decided to wrap it in Duck tape. It also has the added benefit of being purple and sparkly.

~ Attach your hooks to your door, or where ever you want your scarf holder. (My fabulous husband was nice enough to help me hang it up and make sure it was level)

~ Add the dowel rods

~ Add your scarfs and you are done!

It was that easy!

Gallery Wall

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / 2 Comments

Today I thought I would take a moment and show you my gallery walls that are in my house. I love to have photos of my family and our favorite vacation spots on our walls in our house. Since we don’t have a ton of wall space we needed to be creative in how we display our pictures. So we set up two gallery walls. One in a 3 x 3 grid and looks a little modern with our black and white pictures. The other is a little more free flow. I will show you both and how we put them together.

Black and White Grid

This was a fun way to show our favorite vacation spots. We love to travel and we have tons of pictures from our travels, so what better way to show where we have been than with a gallery wall. The frames are 12 x 12 black frames I got at Aaron Brothers, but I think you can get them pretty much anywhere, including online. I had our photos printed at Walmart in black and white in and 8×10 size. I added a blurred boarder around the edges. When I got the photos I glued them on to a 12 x12 piece of card stock and framed the photo. We then hung them in a 3 x 3 grid pattern. Very easy to do and it is a nice way to show case you travel photos.

Here is a close up of the photos

If you want to see how we painted our couch you can see this blog post.

Gallery Wall

The other wall was a little bit less defined. Going up our stairs we thought it would be fun to show our family pictures and other things that mean a lot us. First we laid it out on the floor (and yes that is Starlight “helping”). I am so sorry for the blurry pictures, these are just terrible…

Anyway we laid out that pattern and when we found a pleasing layout we took papers in the sizes of the frames and laid it out on the actual wall so we could get a good idea of placement. Once we were happy we pounded in nails and hung up everything.

On this wall we have our family pictures, a favorite saying (Live well, laugh often, love much) a letter S that I put buttons on (the how to blog post is here) and a beautiful hand pained tile we got in the Bahamas. And we have prints with what our names mean. It is a wonderful grouping of things we love.

What do you think of our gallery? How do you hang pictures in your home?

Wake Up And Be Awesome

October 29, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / Leave a comment

Wake up and be awesome is my motto. Everyday you have a choice of what you want to be and awesome is my answer. It is not always easy, but I do try.

So what better way to show my love for awesomeness than to make a wall hanging? It is fun to look at first thing in the morning and they day is always better when you start off with a smile.

Materials:

~old painting that you are willing to cover up. I found mine at Goodwill

~ paint (I am using acrylic paint that I found at the craft store)

~ Alphabet stickers, I was looking for big stickers and I found mine at Target near the poster board section

~ Rhinestone (of course I need rhinestones! I think this is a prerequisite for all my crafts Smile )

~ Glue to glue on the rhinestones (I am using Aleene’s Jewel-it glue)

~ Foam paint brush

Instructions:

~ Take your old painting and wipe clean. A damp paper towel should do the trick. I found this painting at Goodwill. It is not an actual painting but a print on canvas. The style doesn’t match my décor but the colors do. So I thought it would be perfect for this project.

~ Gather your supplies

~ I cut out the letters and laid them out to make sure everything fit.

~ Stick the letters on the canvas. Really press them down to make sure no paint seeps under the letter

~ Start painting. Cover the entire canvas. Take your time and make sure it is all covered and looks good.

~ Before the paint completely dries take the letters off and throw them away. Check for sections where the paint might have seeped under the letter and clean it up. I used a Q-tip to make the letters look crisp.

I am not sure how anyone gets anything done without a little cat help. Smile It seems like every time I start a project Starlight has to be in the middle of it. But she makes it more fun.

~ Then I started adding rhinestones. I think everything is better with a little sparkle. I just added a few to the left edge of the each letter in the word Awesome. I think it added just the right amount of sparkle.

~Hang it on you wall (mine is in our bedroom) and get ready to wake up and be Awesome!

Take Time to Create

Taking a few minutes in our busy lives to create new and wonderful things

home decor

Another DIY Mixed Media Angel

TBT Restoration Hardware Chandelier DIY

Turn Gift Bags into Wall Art

Re-purpose an old window into a shabby chic message board

DIY projects with glass animals

Vintage Button Magnets

Christmas Mason Jars

Easy DIY Scarf Holder

Gallery Wall

Wake Up And Be Awesome