Making furniture appliques

Not long ago I was looking for shabby chic furniture and it surprised me that all of them were decorated with appliques. So, I searched to see how much those furniture appliques cost and oh my goodness, they are expensive. I'm a frugal girl, so I decided to make my own furniture applique for my furniture. Some of you had left questions on my prior post asking if these appliquee made of All Purpose Compound are durable. Well, they are strong enough as an applique, I really recommend to paint the applique with primer-sealler before painting. These appliques are like everything else--if you give it a good hit obviously it's going to break. So start small and practise your skill of cake decoration.

I made this mantel from leftover wood that I found in my garage. I 've been seeing many bloggers using salvage mantel as a decoration spot and I think they look beautiful. You don't need a real fireplace to have the same feeling with this wonderful idea. I love it because I don't have a fireplace. So far I have made two faux fireplace mantels.

I decided to add a chic look to my mantel making a wreath and two swags. I drew a circle and half circle with a pencil were I wanted the appliques.

Here are some projects that I made using my idea of using All Purpose Joint Compound, also called: Drywall Mud, Drywall Filler in Canada, Joint Filler in the UK, Fugenmasse in Germany, Joint Finish in Australia to make furniture appliques.

I used an old window to make an ornamental frame.

I wanted to make a vintage scrolled frame on my window. I made this base support of papier mache and glued it on top of the frame window to support a shell that I wanted to put on top. This base support I covered with compound to make it strong to support the shell.

I used my cake decorator kit to make the roses.

I'm thinking about making a mirror out of my glass window, like a verre Eglomise.

I made a little change hanging my cone with dry roses in front of the window.

~Wish you a wonderful day and keep yourself crafty~

Sea Shell Crown

I got a desire for crowns so I decided to make a couple. I have been collecting sea shells and I decided to decorate one of the crowns with shells. I'm not finished with this crown yet, it needs more shells and I want to glue sea stars on each star on the crown. My husband and I decided to make a trip to the coast and I wanted to take some photos of the crown in front of the ocean, so, I had to take the crown with me unfinished. I want to share with you how I made this crown.

I made a crown of cardboard.

I covered the cardboard with newspaper dampened in a mixture of flour, white glue, and water.  The cardboard crown becomes flexible because of  the wet newspaper, so I put a support under the crown and let it dry completely.

Then I covered the entire crown with All-Purpose Compound. I put two sticks underneath for support, because it was bending a little, and let it dry.

When it is totaly dry it is good to rub it with a wet sponge to smooth the compound.

Then I started to decorate the crown with shells

I really like how the crown turned out. It looks like a crown made of stone-- I think it looks wonderful with the shell.

I wish you a wonderful day and surround yourself with beautiful things that make you happy.

 

Cutting Roses

When my roses were in bloom, the weather was good, and my little boy was excited to go outside, he insisted on cutting the roses himself and he did.

 Angel Face "Climber" She measured more than 8 feet long.

I planted strawberries along with the roses. I started with four strawberrry plants; now they cover the rose's bed, they really reproduce quickly.

With my little boy helping to cut the roses we made this floral arrangement.

Roses are beautiful and how wonderful it is to enjoy them indoors. The aroma of the roses invade my home, I am happy.

~Have a wondeful day and stop and smell the roses~

 

White Paper Roses

Roses have a special place in my heart. I love to paint them and there's no time more perfect than summer to bring beauty and romance to our gardens and homes. My home is flower filled, adorned with laces and doilys. I cling to traditions and I'm unafraid to be sentimental, surrounding myself with special things. And thinking about roses, I decided to decorate my mantel with paper roses. I couldn't find the right paper rose for my project, so, I started to think how to make a large open paper rose. This is what I came up with.

I used photo resolution coated paper for my roses--it holds the shape of the rose better. You could use postboard but you would have to glue the petal with hot glue.For the base, I tore a piece of paper shaping it into a circle of about 9inches in circumference.

I tore a piece of paper and shaped a petal with a long tail.

Then I took the long side of the petal and rolled it holding the end of the petal with the tip of my fingers. Gluing while rolling.

Make 4 cross cuts on the base of the center petal.

And glue it on the center of the base circle.

I placed 3 or 4 papers together to tear more petals at a time. Then I made cuts on the base of the petals with scissors.

I glued the petal around the center base. Tear or cut more petals, increasing the size of the petals .

Increase the size of the petals as you aproach the border of the base circle.

 Keep filling with paper petals until you reach the edge of the base.

I think that my roses look beautiful on my mantel. It gives me satisfaction to have made the paper roses with my own hands. Nothing says romance better then a rose. Like Thomas Christopher said:Roses like debutantes, do not appear unannounced, they must be formally presented."

As you can see, I arranged them on my mantel. I think they look so romantic.

I took these pictures without light, I like the diferent tone of white on the roses.

I love the reflection of my painted sky ceiling on the mirror.

I made this paper cone and I wrapped it in fabric, then I made a small paper rose and glued it on the cone. I really like the cone hanging in front of  my vintage dress, I found this idea in a magazine. 

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~Have a wonderful day and keep yourself crafty~