Teacher Appreciation "Apple" Gift Idea

Hey guys, I have been racking my  mind at what to do for my two kids teachers. I truly didn't have it any me to come up with something clever. Then while out shopping with my daughter we decided to stop at Ace Hardware. They have these two clearance shelves I always check out. So I went there and "BAM" in my face were two darling ceramic apple candy jars. I couldn't believe it... then I saw the price.. and really couldn't believe it. They both were regularly $14.99 then marked down to $9.99 then to $2.99 "HELLO!" "SCORE!" I was beside myself thrilled. I new right away I would fill them with the yummy soft and sweet "Apple Gummy Rings" 

So today I am sharing my "Teacher Appreciation" gift idea. If you can find some ceramic apple candy dishes/cookie jars then I hope this idea helps you. 

Do you see that "killer" price! Wooooot!

 Supplies!

 Simple Sweet Message!

I hope you all enjoy this simple Teacher Appreciation Gift Idea. 

p.s. You can always just do the treat baggie with the apple gummy's!

xo jen

Freezer Paper Stenciling Subway Art

Hello out there to all the Craft-O-Maniacs, and thanks to Jen for the feature!
My name is Megan, and I am the founder of 
C'mon Get Crafty! 
My blog is a veritable hodge podge of crafty goodness, so you never know what you're find next! I hope you all enjoy my Freezer Paper Stencil tutorial and stop by for a visit! :)

My guess is, if you're here, you already have a pin or two related to freezer paper stencils saved on a board somewhere. 

I pinned probably half a dozen versions of freezer paper stencil ideas before I ever actually looked at one;  when I finally did, I was hooked. I've played around with lots of painting ideas, and the thought of a better stencil to go with my painting ideas was a pretty tempting distraction. My main concern was that 95% of the pins related to stenciling on fabric, whereas I hoped to stencil on canvas. So I thought I'd try to combine the two, and see what happened.

**I have seen some people get up in arms about posts where people hijack ideas from others and pass it off as their own. I would just like to state for the record that I'm not even close to trying to claim that I thought up freezer paper stenciling. For that matter, my guess is neither did most of the people I pinned about it. It looked like a neat technique, and I thought I'd give it a shot....AND I ended up with a neat result I have not</ i> seen in a previous pin. Hopefully this post will simply add some flavor to the search for new techniques! I've also included some of the links I found at the bottom. :)**

The fabric is actually an old, stretched out shirt. I retired it to my fabric stash a long time ago, since it was so pretty even if it was shapeless. I pulled it out, measured it to fit over the canvas, and cut it up. 

First step, I modge-podged the entire canvas.

Next, I laid my fabric down, smoothing and stretching it flat over the front of the canvas. I flipped it onto its face and let it dry a bit, then followed up the back with more MP and got it nicely secured. 

I chose to use the Fashion Capital cut from Word Collage in my Cricut for this attempt. Since the fabric is pretty busy, I decided to sort of reverse stencil - I cut out the words, and ironed them down, then painted the whole face of the canvas, over my stencils.  For those of you who have not seen freezer paper stencil tutorials before, you lay the shiny side down to cut your image and iron to the fabric - it adheres quite nicely!

For ironing onto the canvas, you need to support the center so the paper adheres. An old high school yearbook fit nicely. :) No worries about it harming your book.

Fully covered:

You can see where I had a few issues with letters peeling up, which was frustrating. I think in the future I need to iron as I go, to keep them secure for the painting. Also, if you re-adhere with the iron after you've started to paint and end up with paint on your iron, just wipe it off with a damp cloth while it is still hot. (Guess who learned that</ i> from this experience??)

Once the paint dried, I peeled up the letters. Lookee!

Not perfectly done by any means, but not a terrible first attempt either!

To be safe, I  tried two techniques at the same time. The second attempt was more of what I think the traditional stencils are like, though again on canvas. It was also what I call my "Happy Accident" because it was completely unplanned for the result it yielded.

 I had taken a canvas and painted it a turquoise blue in anticipation of a completely different project. When I started this, I discovered a similar colored fabric in my stash and decided to repurpose my original idea. I adhered the fabric to the canvas with MP, same as above.  Only difference is that I did not MP or secure the back, only the front. I'm calling this Fate. 

I even used the same stencil, though this time I used the excess from my words - so I painted the words in, not the background. When I peeled the paper off, I was dismayed to see a LOT of bleed through.

I tried to convince myself that it was a unique look, but the longer I looked, the less I believed my own sales pitch. Sad face. I chalked it up to beginner's lesson, and laid it aside.

Two nights later, I decided to see if I could salvage the canvas, so I started to peel the fabric off the front. When I saw what was beneath, I was astonished! I showed my husband, who agreed it looked really, really cool!!  Check it out!

I never expected that!! I actually love it more than the other one! 

Side by side comparison - thoughts?

Other Freezer Paper ideas/tutorials:</ span>

http://www.stayathomeartist.com/2011/07/stencil-with-freezer-paper-harrypotter.html

http://www.makeitloveit.com/2011/01/what-is-freezer-paper.html

DIY Metallic Framed Handprints

Hi Craft-O-Maniac readers! I'm Laura from Make Life Lovely, and I have a unique and easy project to share with you today! I am so excited to share with you this idea that I came up with a few years ago.  I have never ever ever seen this done, which makes it even more exciting!

This is probably one of the easiest tutorials on my site, and yet is one of the most special and memorable gifts I can think of to give to a family member, or even keep for yourself.  It is so easy, so fast, and yet so precious and sweet at the same time. And there's absolutely no paint involved.

Have I got you on the edge of your seat yet?!

Metallic handprints!  Shiny, upraised, silver metallic hand prints.  

Want to know my secret ingredient?

Embossing powder.  And a clear ink pad.

Here's what you'll need to make these sweet little prints:

Not pictured: a canvas, paper, or block of wood.  I bought a 3 pack of thin canvases at Walmart for around $3.50.  Super cheap.  I bought all the rest of the supplies over the years at Michaels.

The embossing heat tool is necessary, and no, you can't use a bow drier instead.  A blow drier will blow the powder right off your canvas, but the embossing tool shoots out less air but a lot of heat.  If you have a friend who scrapbooks or stamps, maybe you could borrow theirs ;)

I used sterling silver embossing powder, but any metallic will do, or even non-metallic.  You can buy embossing powder in tons of colors at Michaels or Joanns for cheap.

The VersaMark Watermark stamp pad is a must, too.  It's great because it's clear, so it doesn't make a big mess!  You can use any small paintbrush for this project.

Directions:

Step 1:   Decide if you want a plain white canvas or a colored one.  If you want it colored, you'll need to paint it.  I just spray painted mine with some Krylon spray paint I had on hand that I used for these DIY Party Serving Dishes, and it was dry and ready to go in just a few minutes.

Step 2:  Practice with your child where their hand will go on the canvas, show them how far apart you want their fingers, and practice pressing down their hand.

Press the ink pad onto your child's hand, making sure to ink the whole palm, and the entire length of the fingers.  The ink is clear, so be sure to be thorough.  Carefully press your child's hand onto the canvas.  Have them hold their hand still while you press down on the palm, and then each finger, to make sure that they are leaving a print on the canvas.  Carefully lift up their hand.  Repeat with the other hand.

Step 3:  While your child washes their hands, generously sprinkle the metallic embossing powder over the handprints.  I use almost the whole bottle each time, because I want to make sure that I get a nice dark print, and that the whole print gets covered.  Don't worry, you can make tons of handprints out of just one bottle!  Gently shake off the excess powder onto a piece of paper, and funnel the powder back into the bottle.

Step 4:  Use the paintbrush to carefully brush off any excess powder off of the canvas.  This is important, because once you heat up the canvas, you won't be able to remove any extra little pieces of powder, and they will be stuck on your canvas forever.

Step 5:  Now for the fun part!  Turn on the heat tool, and hold it above the handprints, focusing on one spot at a time.  Watch in amazement as the powder begins to melt together and raise up off the paper into a beautiful metallic masterpiece!  Be sure to heat all areas of the handprints until they are raised and shiny and metallic.  You can frame the canvas (or paper or wood), or just leave it as is.  It looks great either way!

Aren't they lovely?  Those are my daughter' hands on the purple, and my cute son's hands on the blue...

The prefect treasure for you, or the perfect gift to give to a family member!!  Don't forget Mother's Day is this Sunday! ;)

Enjoy!

xo, Laura

This is just darling a fun spin on the clay hand prints. I love it! thanks Laura for sharing it with us all on COM today.

jen

Craft-O-Maniac Monday Link Party

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