scrap paper posies

some days, we just need a break. right? 
a chance to rest, an opportunity to cut loose, a moment to relax.
not every project has to be a ground-breaking new invention. or a massive undertaking.
sometimes - especially during a worldwide shutdown -
we just need some mindless activity to distract ourselves from anxious thoughts.

so while i've completed some big projects over the past few months,
and the muses have been kind enough to lead me in the direction of new creations,
i've also given myself the gift of time to PLAY. as in: projects just for FUN.
not necessarily to blog about, because they aren't always AMAZING,
but to sit back for a time and play around - and see where it goes.
i'll look at something in my studio and think 'what if i.....' 
and then i'm off, trying something new.

no matter what i am making, i always have fun playing with paper, scissors, and glue.

(sometimes my creative life feels like kindergarten....)

my challenge to myself these past four months has been to ONLY use what i have here at home.
(yes, the vintage roll of crepe paper from a recent post broke that rule...
but i hadn't gone out specifically shopping for craft supplies.)
i've got a lot of stuff around here, so there are ample 'art supplies' at hand.
and rarely do i use things the way they were intended to be used.
i just see things.... differently.

take gift wrap paper, for instance.... sure, i wrap gifts with it. 

but it's basically an art supply, right? paper of any kind is an art supply. 

oh, how i love art supplies. always have. even when they aren't from an 'art store'.
even when it's technically trash...

these scrap paper posies turn trash into treasure,
and are a quick project, perfect for de-stressing on a hot summer day!

continue reading to see where the inspiration for these colorful blooms came from...

metal chair = magnet board!

a spur-of-the-moment solution to a project i'd been considering took over my weekend!
making a change to the black metal chair in this photo has been on my mind,
but i wasn't sure about the method. or the outcome. mostly, the permanence of it.
so it's been 'on the back burner' for awhile. um... years.
then a solution presented itself - and in less than ten minutes, i had done it!

continue reading to see the final colorful outcome of this crazy-easy undertaking,
and hear a tale about the chair in this photo. it's been on a journey to get to me...

tropical gift bag wall art

along with the plethora of tikis i've been creating,
i've added some other tropical decor elements to our home for summer...
elements like this leafy wall art, made from a plastic gift / tote bag!

continue reading for the easiest art project ever...

junk makeover: beachy wood signs

many many many vacations have been cancelled or rescheduled this year,

by many many disappointed people. myself included.

there were no planned excursions to Hawai'i this year for us,

but because it is a place that my Mom and Dad loved, and now i love,
it has a special place in our hearts. even if we can't GET there.

here's my take on that: if you can't go to the islands, then bring the islands to YOU!

and that's exactly what my Mom and i have been working on in our backyard.

continue reading to see just one of the recent projects we've undertaken
to add some tropical charm to our 'staycation location'...

painting books... again!

this post wasn't planned and i am not on a book-painting bender.
(just in case you are concerned about where my creativity is taking me these days!)
but when the muse strikes, i try to comply...

i'm sending this book to my little sister (it's ok, she doesn't read my blog ;) )

and while the content of the book is encouraging, uplifting, and faith-building,

i didn't like the look of the dust jacket cover. so i took it off.

the plain white cover and dark burgundy binding weren't pretty, either.
not the mood i was going for.

so i decided to send my sister flowers... painted flowers... painted ON the book! 

continue reading for more of this creative MAYkeover... 

painted books?!

oh, yeah, you read that post title right... PAINTED books!

now, before the book-loving librarians, historians, and antiquarians

start ranting at me - lemme' 'splain:

i bought these six large encyclopedias from a thrift store

for ten cents each. three years ago.

miscellaneous volumes circa 1950, with covers that were yellowed, aged, cracked leather.

perfect for the store display i was using them as props in!

but since then, they've languished in a box in the garage. just gettin' older.

my decision was to either recycle them - seriously, the library does NOT want them donated - 

or do something creative with them to make them useful again.

so i turned to my trusty friend, Paint.
turns out a MAYkeover was exactly what they needed! 

continue reading to see where they live now...

vintage door = inspiration board

while i love Pinterest as much as the next girl, i prefer the old school method...

an actual 3-D 'bulletin board', inspiration board, mood board -

whatever you want to call it. and the bigger, the better!

years ago, i had an old door that i turned into an inspiration board

by filling the window area with a large piece of modular ceiling tile.

(you know the kind that drops into the T-bar in the dropped ceilings of every office building?)

 it worked great - but that material is messy as heck. it's like styrofoam.

  

so when i undertook the same project again recently, i needed a new material to use.

turns out, i had what i needed in the garage!

 continue reading to learn how to create a bulletin/inspiration board, 

using an old door or window frame - or even a new window frame, or picture frame.

yes, you can paint a lampshade!

this colorful lampshade was a spur-of-the-moment weekend project, 

an idea that came to me as i collapsed into a chair 

after the second day of my weekend studio/office overhaul project.

i was scrolling through Instagram and saw an image that completely delighted me - 

and solved my problem of 'what can i do to this plain ol' lampshade?'

paint it, of course!

so, i put down the phone, grabbed my paints, and gave this old thrifted shade a makeover.

i really love the way it turned out, and it was an easy way to add color and pattern to the room.

continue reading to see what started this whole thing...

easter eggs on parade

it's April first - and rather than share a joke or a prank, 
i hope you'll enjoy this slideshow of Easter egg decorating ideas

pulled from my past homewardFOUND blog posts!

for more inspiration, 

see all past Easter egg posts here

painted easter eggs

while employing this mandatory time at home to accomplish some long-overdue tasks,

i've unearthed some goodies that i completely forgot that i still had!

(tell me i'm not alone. please. i can not be the only decor/craft-supply hoarder out here!)

.

seven ceramic eggs that i bought at a thrift shop years ago turned up in a box,

and as soon as i saw them, i decided to give them a makeover with paint -

and pictured them just as you see them in the image above.

because it's all about making do with what we have at home right now, yes? yes!

continue reading to see the before & after!

painting the daffies yellow!

spring 2020 sure is coming in like a... not lion. more like a T-Rex!

as we all adjust to this 'new normal' (and no, it's not normal),

we're all looking for activities that calm us, entertain the kids, make home a bit more... home-y.

.

using my recent 'paint your own paint chips' technique,

i've been happily painting away and then making new decor elements with the results...

this time 'round, i came up with flowers.

i'm not painting the roses red... i'm painting the daffodils yellow!

continue reading for my easy tutorial for this sweet spring project...

paint chip shamrocks!

it's finally MARCH!
so now i can divulge the second decor project that i came up with
after creating my 'painted paint chip' paper <<< click for tutorial
(this project was actually the REASON i came up with that alternative to using actual paint chips)

inspired by my own pink 'paint chip hearts' shared back in February, 
i tweaked that process to make shamrocks to decorate with, in honor of St. Patricks' Day - 
and it's SO easy, even your kids can do this!

continue reading for an easy-peasy spring decor craft that your little leprechauns will love...

painted 'paint chip' wall art

in a past post, i used pink paint chip cards to make decorative hearts.

i also talked about how it is decidedly NOT cool 

to grab handfuls of paint chip cards from your local hardware or paint store, 

and suggested a few ways to obtain said paint chip cards without being greedy.

today, i came up with another alternative - just paint your own 'paint chips'!

i grabbed some heavy white paper and some craft paints to try out my idea,

and it works so well that i immediately made some wall art out of it!

continue reading for an easy paint tutorial,
and in just a short time, you can have SHEETS of 'paint chips' to craft & decorate with!

gift bag wall art tutorial

i love making somethin' outta' nuthin'! using inexpensive or free supplies is my jam.

and i love sharing those kinds of ideas here.

we all know that crazy-cheap retailers like Dollar Tree have loads of paper gift bags every season:

(Dollar Tree photo)

did you ever think of those as not just gift bags but craft supplies?

doing something unexpected with things is my jam, too...

like turning gift bags into wall art that echoes the current 'handlettered sign' trend! 

continue reading for this super 'fast, cheap & easy' project tutorial

heart-felt decor - in an instant!

we incorporated the color RED (for the first time) into our home decor this winter,

and it has truly warmed up the visual look of our rooms.
(i've linked up those posts at the bottom of this post)

the bonus is that this color made the transition to February SO easy:

all i did was add in a few red hearts... BOOM! done!
one of the ways i did that was by using a completely unconventional method 
that i just had to share!

continue reading for my crazy crafty decorating exploits...

L.O.V.E. letter... tiles

way back in 2009, i had a wild idea to make a supersized version of wood Scrabble tiles.
i made them - a LOT of them, actually - and sold them (a LOT of them!) for several years.
at that point, no one else was making them or sharing them online.
a few years later, in 2013, i shared them here on the homewardFOUND blog.

since this is the season for putting our hearts on our sleeves, (or, erm, walls?!)
i thought i'd share my super easy tutorial again!

continue reading for a very easy DIY project that you're sure to L.O.V.E.!

paint the town pink!

in my last post, i mentioned some hearts that i had made out of paint chip cards -

but i didn't have a great photo of them to include in the post. i just found those paper hearts in a bin!

i snapped a few quick photos just so i can share them...

so let's consider this my 'Paint the Town Pink!' post Part Two!

continue reading for the details + more ideas...

nativitiki - times two!

my thinking is: if you're going to do a Christmas theme, do it all the way.
the TIKI tree in my last post was just the beginning of our 'happy HULA days' theme...

i also created TWO incredibly cute nativity scenes with a tiki vibe.

(oh, and that name? well, as i was painting them, 

i thought to myself 'a tiki nativity. wait! nativi-tiki!' ... and it stuck!) 

i laugh out loud every time i look at this nativiTIKI in our living room! it's so happy!

grab a handful of macadamia nuts and continue reading to see all the tropical details...

more sweet sweater trees!

today i was moving some things around my studio/office, and discovered some 'forgotten' trees!
i made them awhile back.... and loved them, 

but they don't go with the current brightly colorful scheme in this room.

so, i came up with a quick idea to CAMOUFLAGE them - with sweaters! 

continue reading to see the before & after...

scrap paper tree wall art

i never throw away paper scraps. ever.
(because the moment i DO, i find a use for them! LOL)
when i had some thin strips of wood-patterned paper left over
from my faux wood tree project in my last post, they went into a drawer in my studio.
and just about about a day and a half later, i had a project to use them in:
a piece of contemporary rustic wall art for our gallery wall!

'continue reading' for the really easy details...