Carve Your Heart Out

I can't believe how easy it is to carve MDF. It cuts like butta.

Materials

1/2" MDF (medium density fiberboard)

small dowel

carpenter's glue

primer

red acrylic paint

Tools

saw

utility knife

drill

paint brush

Cut a basic rough heart shape out of MDF. Carve the shape with a utility knife using short shallow cuts. Make a cut line from the cleavage (heart cleavage?) into the main heart. Chip slices towards the cut line to define the lobes.

Drill a small hole in the back making sure that you don't drill all the way through. Put glue on the end of the dowel and insert into the drilled hole. Omit this step if you wish -I'm using this for another project (next post) so I need the stem.

Spray with primer.

Paint the heart and dowel with red acrylic. Several thin coats cover much better than a thick one.

This looks so great and is so much fun to make that I'm wondering what else I can carve; stars? flowers? animals? letters?

All You Need

Image transfers are magic to me. The ability to produce perfect lettering on a piece of wood without having to do it freehand is wonderful. There are many ways of transferring, but most use either heat or solvents which won't work on a painted surface. This will work. Think rub-ons.

Lori Barker helped me with this. You can view her fantastic artwork here.

Materials

overhead transparency film

2 painted boards (9"x 12")

scotch tape

clear spray paint

carpenter's glue

Tools

ink jet printer

wooden stick (popsicle stick or bone folder)

drill

Download "All You Need is Love" here or "Love is All You Need" here. Print it using a borderless letter size on a piece of overhead transparency film. Set your print command to "transparency" or "glossy photo paper".

You can compose your own lettering and reverse it (important). The command for reversal in Photoshop is "flip horizontal". You need to save your image as a picture in Word then flip it (goggle for instructions). Some printers will reverse. Look for the commands of "flip, reverse or mirror" in your computer application.

The lettering on the film will be very wet when it comes out of the printer. Handle carefully. I heat the lettering with a hair dryer (a heat gun may melt the film) and let it sit for awhile.

Turn it over so that the printed side is down and lay it gently on your painted surface. Tape it in the middle of each side so that the film won't slip. Rub with your wooden stick. Lift to see if everything has transferred leaving the tape in place. Continue to rub until everything has transferred. Remove the film. The lettering will be gray.

The image is water soluble so any mistakes can be removed with a damp Qtip. If you accidently remove something you want to keep, place the film back on the surface and rub again. (it may work)

Start with a very light coat of clear spray to seal and protect the image. Spray several coats after the initial one is dry to fully waterproof.

Drill a hole partially through the middle of your board and insert the dowel from your carved heart, using carpenter's glue. Attach a sawtooth hanger on the back and let everyone know that you have a romantic soul and you like the Beatles.

Update:

check out this post for an update on transfers

Greenhouse Cloche

Everywhere I look I'm seeing cloches. Although I can't make perfect cylindrical glass domes, I can approximate the idea with dollar stores frames. Check it out.

Materials

4 - 5x7" frames

2 - 4x6" frames

1/2" wood

carpenter's wood glue

mat board

2 wooden curtain rings

2 small round mirrors

white acrylic paint

brown shoe polish

Tools

scissors

hole punch

paint brush

hot glue gun

When I bought these frames at my local dollar store I stood in front of the frame aisle and tried different combinations until I found the right fit. This works because the 5x7 frames have thick wooden areas and the 4x6 ones have thin ones. You may find other combinations of sizes that work as well.

Strip out the frames.

Glue the larger frames together along the 7" sides, to form a cube.

Attach the 4x6 frames together along a very thin edge of the 6" sides. Attach the other 6" sides to the top of the cube. This will form the roof of the greenhouse.

Clamp with tape until the glue has dried and set up.

Fill the gap formed at the peak of the roof with a piece of 1/2" by 1/2" wood, the length of the roof. I cut my wooden filler out of a piece of 1/2 plywood but you might be able to find a piece of molding at your local lumber yard to fit. (since you are covering this, you could use styrofoam or several strips of foam core)

Fill the two triangles at the ends of the roof with mat board.

Cut a length of mat board the length of the roof and 2" wide. Use a penny to trace a series of scallops along one long side. Cut out. Punch a hole in the center of each scallop. Score a line one inch above the opposite long edge and fold. Carefully remove the center cardboard so that you have two paper wings. Glue over the wooden filler to form the gingerbread decoration on the roof peak.

Cut two thin strips of mat board to cover the gaps formed where the roof meets the cube.

I glued small round mirrors that I found at Michael's to the back of small wooden curtain rings then glued them to the center of the mat board triangles.

Cover a white pillar candle with a page from an old book, wrap with twine and hot glue a vintage game piece over the knot. Black paper butterflies (a Martha paper punch) are glued to the candle as well.

The cloche was painted with several coats of white acrylic paint inside and out. When dry, I rubbed brown shoe polish over the entire surface, buffing off for an antique look. Lastly, I replaced the glass then added a small dollop of hot glue at each corner to secure.

The cloche was placed over my altered candle and I welcomed the many oohs and aahs. (mainly from me)

Magic Wand

Do you know those times when you need something more than a card but less than a gift or when your gift sucks so you need to have a really neat something extra? This may fill the bill. Go to the after holiday sales and stock up on tinsel garlands.

Materials

dowel or stick

silver spray paint

tinsel garland

thin ribbon

parchment paper

white glue

grommet

tools

hot glue gun

scizzors

Sometimes I use a dowel for these, but I chose a garden stick this time because I think it has more personality. Spray silver then put a dollop of hot glue about 1/2" down from the skinnier end. Attach one end of the tinsel. Wrap the garland up, over and around the top of the stick; adding a drop of hot glue every so often to keep it in place. When the ball looks the right size, put hot glue at the bottom of the ball and glue the tinsel in place. Cut off the rest.

Cut six - foot long lengths (more or less) and fold them in half, but not evenly in half. Glue them to the stick just below the tinsel ball. When you have attached all six, cut another 1 foot length and wrap it around the tops of the ribbon, glueing as you go. Allow the ends to fall down with the others.

If you have one of those wonderful glassine envelopes, ignore these instructions. If not, get the parchment paper out of the kitchen and cut it into a 4 inch square. Fold it in thirds, overlapping by about 1/4 of an inch. Crease the folds. Open it up and fold the top and bottom about 3/4". Cut off the four corners along the folds then cut the top and bottom into half circles.

Glue the overlapping back pieces together with a very small line of white glue. Place a thin line of glue on one half circle edge and fold up to form an envelope.
Write "Birthday Wishes" on the front with an ultra fine Sharpie, then fill with confetti or glitter. *note - do not use that super fine mica glitter if you value your friendship. That stuff goes everywhere. I'm still wiping it up off the floor, my clothes and my dog. (sorry Martha)

Glue the top down and put a grommet through the top fold.

Thread one of the ribbons through the grommet and tie a knot to keep it in place.

If any wand can grant a birthday wish, this one can.

One Year

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BLOG.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

A full year of crafts and many more tutorials to come.

Princess Tiara

This craft is for a bride, a ballerina or just someone who needs to feel like a princess. Stock up on the beaded Christmas trim at the holiday sales.

Materials

thin white headband (dollar store)

beaded Christmas tree trim

pearls

thin wire

skinny white satin ribbon

white glue

Tools

scissors

Glue the end of the ribbon to the end and inside of the headband. Spread more glue on first 2 inches of the headband (inside). Wrap the satin ribbon around and around the headband for 2 inches.

Place a section of the beaded trim on the headband and wrap the ribbon around it and the band until you get to the last 2 inches of the headband, adding more trim if needed, along the way. When you get two inches from the end, cut off the trim, and spread glue on the inside of the band. Continue to wrap the ribbon until the end. Cut off the ribbon at a diagonal. Put a drop of glue to the inside of the band and press the end of the ribbon in place.

Thread pearls onto the thin wire. *note: put many more pearls than you think you will possibly need. Beginning at one end of the trim, wrap the wire around the band several times to secure. Wrap wired pearls around the band placing the pearls in regular intervals between the trim beads. Continue along the headband and the trim until you get to the end of the trim. Wrap the wire around the band several times. Cut wire and tuck the end.

In less than 20 minutes you will have a lovely tiara, fit for any princess.