Crafts

Colorful Nautical Gallery Wall Tips and Tricks

2 · Mar 20, 2017 · 1 Comment

The Gallery Wall… Everyone loves them. Yet, some find them really challenging. It can be hard to come up with the perfect combination of items that complement each other. Finding the right arrangement on the wall can be mind boggling BUT… It doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to be a certified gallery wall specialist, you just need to find a good partner like Michaels and then follow a few tips and tricks to create the PERFECT gallery wall for your home.

Gallery Wall 101

Gather items that compliment the room – You need to stay true to the space and find items and frames that enhance the space and stay true to the style of the room. If you have a rustic white farmhouse space, it would make no sense to put together a mid-century inspired wall gallery. The examples below are from Michaels new Gallery Wall collections. They are each designed to complement YOUR STYLE and make it easy to pull that style together without a degree in the fine arts… They’ve done all of the hard work for you.
Don’t be afraid to gather more than you need – It’s so much easier to gather items such as frames, photos, hooks, clocks, shelves, planters, wall art, mirrors, meaningful items… The list could go on and on. It’s better to have too much to start with than not enough. It’s easier to start working on your layout and then edit out items that don’t work. (Michaels PRO TIP, If you join their rewards program YOU NO LONGER NEED A RECIPT TO RETURN ITEMS! Yep, they keep all of your purchases stored under your account and you no longer have to keep those pesky recipes.)
Define your space – Gallery walls come in all shapes and sizes. Don’t be afraid to break the rules! Trust your eye and see what works best for your space. For my gallery wall, I wanted something nice and tight that didn’t go too much past the edges of the dresser in my daughter’s room. Yet, I didn’t really want it to be in a uniform shape. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. Gallery walls can also spread out over multiple walls, around corners and take up larger spaces. So, don’t be afraid to spread out as well.
Layout your design on the floor – Jennifer Rizzo created a fun gallery wall using this idea. Before you get out the hammer & nails… Layout your design on the floor to get an idea of what it will look like. It’s so much easier to move stuff around that way and play with different designs. It’s much easier on your walls as well. Click on the photo to see how beautiful her gallery wall turned out!
Layer items to give more dimension – Flat is OUT! Gallery walls don’t need to to be one dimension. For my gallery wall I layered some items to give the space a little POP. I used strong adhesive glue like E-6000 to layer my different items.
Add color and texture with decorative paper – Not all frames need to be filled with photos. Using decorative papers is an inexpensive way to add color and texture.
Trace your items on paper – STOP! Before you hang one single thing… Trace all of your items onto butcher paper or old paper grocery sacks. Cut them out and hang it on the wall just like your perfect layout that you created on the floor. Ashley Hacksaw from Lil’Blue Boo shows how to use inexpensive paper and some painters tape to layout your gallery wall BEFORE you start putting holes in the wall. Once you get your layout perfect then the hanging can commence. You can even hammer or drill right on top of the paper to make sure your nails or screws are in the perfect place. Click on the photo below to see how Ashley’s cool gallery wall turned out!
Don’t be in a rush – Take your time. If you have a hard time feeling comfortable with creating your gallery walls and feel like you need a few second opinions, do it! Lay your gallery wall out on the floor and hand your paper gallery wall up and invite a couple of trusted friends over. Let it sit at this point for a few days until you are good and ready to move on to the next step. There is no need to rush… Unless your Mother-in-Law is coming soon, then you should probably get a move on.
Don’t be afraid to try other methods to hang your items – We live in an amazing time when we don’t always have to put nails in our walls to create an amazing gallery wall! Have you tried using Command Strips to hang your gallery wall items? I LOVE THEM!!! I especially LOVE the Command Strip picture hanging strips that are like Velcro. They are my current obsession. Will it surprise you to know that I didn’t use a single nail or screw for my gallery wall? Not a single hole was made in the wall. (My Dad would be so proud!) Now with that said, some heavier items will need a more secure way of hanging, so follow the directions on the Command Strips and make sure to use the right tool for the job.

The bottom line is, DONT BE AFRAID! Break the rules, do what works for you and your space. You aren’t creating Mount Rushmore, if after some time you feel the need for change, than change it. Luckily Michaels makes it so easy by creating a great starting point with fun products for their four new gallery wall collections the Farmington, Catalina (that’s the one I used), Alexandria & Savannah. Come on over to their blog the Glue String to get even more inspiration on how to create the perfect gallery wall for your home.

Disclaimer // I am thrilled to be a Michaels Maker and to have a chance to share with you some of my favorite Michaels projects. As a Michaels Maker they do provide the product for me to create with each month. However, I will only share what I truly love and use in my typical day-to-day life.

DIY T-Shirt Design + Salty but Super Sweet with Cricut Rose Gold IRON-ON Foil

14 · Mar 7, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Anyone out there have a middle school girl, a sassy friend or teenagers at all? I have ALL THREE!! The level of sass in my life is epic. I have three girls all in the teen years and there is a new term floating around our house these days… “ohhhh, SALTY!” OR, “You’re being soooo SALTY!” Isn’t it funny when the newer generation comes up with their new slang or vernacular? If you haven’t heard the term before, think of it in terms of a person who has the same kind of savory bite like salt. It basically means that, you are upset and throwing a bunch of sass. I decided that with three teenage girls and a truck load of sassy friends they all needed a special tee that describes them to a “T.” After a particularly rough afternoon with one of my girls the perfect saying popped into my head, “Salty but Super Sweet.” That’s exactly how I felt in the moment. She was being so hard to deal with, yet under it all, I know that she is, and will always be SUPER SWEET. That’s when I set to work to design a perfect DIY t-shirt for her and all of the other “SALTY” ladies in my life using my Cricut Explore Air 2 and my FAVORITE Rose Gold Iron-On Foil!

Materials for the DIY T-Shirt

I ran over to my local Michaels and grabbed some of their black v-neck t-shirts in their fabulous t-shirt section. Have you checked that out yet? You can get all kinds of sizes, colors, youth, adult and even v-neck tees. The v-neck that I bought was $5.99 AND… If you keep and eye-out, they usually have some crazy awesome sales on the t-shirts that make them an even better deal.

I decided that with a “SALTY” kind of tee, I needed to use a material for the graphics that REALLY stood-out. I combed through Cricut’s vast array of iron-on materials and selected the metallic Rose Gold Iron-On Foil. I’ve become a HUGE fan of all of their foils and this one REALLY does not disappoint. It adheres to the t-shirt fabric beautifully and looks fabulous against the black tee.

I’ve used other iron-on materials from other brands and sadly, the materials are peeling off by the end of the day. Incredibly frustrating after spending time & money to create something special just for it to peel off the first time you wear it.

• PRO TIP •

Creating the DIY T-Shirt Design

This is where things get super exciting!! Did you know that you have a couple of different options when it comes to creating designs to use with your Cricut when creating your own shirts or, anything really!

First off, you DON’T have to be a mad designer in order to utilize your Cricut machine. Cricut has made it so easy to browse through a whole library of projects in the Cricut Design Space. If you want to do the whole DIY t-shirt thing and you don’t know where to start, go into Design Space and search the whole Fashion section and you’ll find all kinds of fun ideas.

It’s also easy to create your own designs within Design Space. If you’ve already done some basic design work in other programs like Adobe Elements you’ll feel right at home within Design Space.

If you are more of an advanced designer, you can create designs within programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, save them as .jpg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .svg, or .dxf files and upload them right into design space.

That is one of my favorite ways to create. I’ll be creating and sharing some fun files with you a few times a month so you’ll want to make sure you stop by often to see what the new designs are. I’ll also be creating tutorials to teach you how to create with your Cricut cutting machine along with all kinds of handy PRO TIPS.

Don’t forget, here is the PNG file that you may download to create your own DIY T-shirt with my Salty but Super Sweet design… Here is the download file for the Salty but Super Sweet tee. This is for personal use only please.

It’s time to get creating, go grab your Cricut and let’s get our creative juices flowing!

Disclaimer – I am a proud member of the Cricut team and look forward to sharing my experiences with you every month. As always, I will never share with you a product that I don’t absolutely LOVE and use often in my everyday life. This post does contain affiliate links and I am paid to cover my time and materials when creating these posts.

Lighted Floral Swag | Perfect to Add a Little Romance to Any Room

10 · Mar 2, 2017 · Leave a Comment

I know the majority of the country is looking forward to a little Spring heading their way. There is nothing better than some early spring blooms to help you out of the winter doldrums, but, if you’re still knee deep in snow… They aren’t going to show up any time soon. That’s when the Floral Market at Michaels should be your next stop ASAP!! Refreshing your home for spring is as easy as swapping out a few décor pieces or adding pretty faux florals. Or, you can make a Lighted Floral Swag to add a little romance to your room. Michaels has everything you need to get started!

How beautiful is THAT! Won’t that brighten-up your dull, gray day?

I started with these lovely flowers from the Michaels Flower Market…

Then I grabbed two different kinds of led lights to add a little flair…

This fun vintage style string of Edison LED light bulbs and then just your basic LED string lights. The next item I needed was some great branches from out in the back yard. If you don’t have any fallen branches, scour your neighborhood and see if your neighbors would be willing to part with some of theirs. You can even buy branches at your local garden center if needed.

Lighted Floral Swag Instructions

First, I wired my branches together with floral wire and used some twine to create loops to hang the branches from. Then I wrapped them with the wire LED lights first.

Don’t worry about the battery packs that you can see on the sides. Those will be hidden later on with the flowers. You’ll also need to trim your twine to make it look nice.

Next, I draped the light bulb string loosely around the branches.

I love how those bulbs look hanging from the branches!

Finally, I hot glue my flowers to the branches. I wanted kind of a minimalist look for this swag, but, you can go totally crazy with the blooms if you’d like. It’s totally up to your preferences.

I completed the look with a few old pieces from around the house, plus a new FABULOUS foot stool from Michaels!!

I mean how cool is that footstool?! I also grabbed that yummy gold “hello” at Michaels as well in the same section. I just adore it all!

This project is super easy! Run on over to Michaels to grab your favorite florals and get started. Let’s start Spring off with a lovely BLOOM!

Looking for more inspiration? Make sure you visit Michaels’ blog, The Glue String, to see the rest of the Michaels Makers’ Spring Refresh project ideas.

An InLinkz Link-up

Using Cricut Faux Leather + Gold Foil to Dress-up Your Home

15 · Feb 15, 2017 · 2 Comments

5 stylist walk into a bar… Alright, maybe not a bar. A glorious industrial blank space in the heart of Salt Lake, they have 3 Cricut Explore Air 2 machines, new bedroom furniture from Hayneedle and all kinds of Cricut tools & materials. One stylist says…

Alright, this is starting to sound like a really bad joke. The strange thing is, it really happened. I had the great opportunity to head out to Salt Lake to share in the creation of a fun bedroom space with some great blog friends. Hayneedle graciously supplied the basic room elements and then we had the assignment to add a little pizzaz to the space. The main themes were industrial, softened up with a little romantic floral flair. My assignment was the chair and then heading up the collaboration of one of the gallery walls.

For the chair, I created a classic pillow using the Cricut Faux Leather and designed a fun wreath using crafting pearls from Michaels for the “berries.”

I LOVED how it turned out… It added just enough personality to make the beautiful chair from Hayneedle SING!

I then worked on a super fun piece of wall art that I adore…

Since the room was going to have a floral flair, I thought a playful quote on the wall would look fantastic. I found this quote and then set to designing it so that would tie the other wall art pieces from the other designers together. I decided to use the AAAAMAZING Adhesive Gold Foil from Cricut for this piece and I ADORED how it turned out.

Come on over to the Cricut Blog to see WHO the other stylist are, see the rest of the projects, learn how to RE-CREATE what I designed and see the COMPLEATED ROOM. PLUS, you’ll have a chance to WIN the whole room for yourself!! You won’t want to miss out on that!

Disclaimer + I am a Cricut Ambassador and this post does have affiliate links. Please know, I will NEVER promote a company or product that I don’t truly believe in and use myself.