Easy 4th of July Hair Bows with Mod Podge Mod Melts

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Plaid Crafts and The Blueprint Social. All of my opinions are 100% mine.

Are you ready for the 4th of July fireworks to begin? We are! Mostly because this is the first year we won't have a child who is terrified of them. :) We've tested it... Disney is close... fireworks nightly. Just a few months ago we managed to get through them with no tears. And since we won't be the family huddled in the car this year while all the other kids run wild with sparklers, I decided to get my patriotic craft on. After all, I might actually get some non-crying cute pictures this time. Here's a quick tutorial on how to make easy 4th of July hair bows embellished with new Mod Melts by the makers of Mod Podge.

Now really, the only thing making these "4th of July" is the colors I chose, so you could easily make them Christmas bows or Halloween bows or I-just-like-pink bows by switching up the ribbon and paint.

Supplies

• Mod Melts mold
• Mod Melts sticks (I used "sea glass" finish)
• High temp mini glue gun
• Hot glue
• Various ribbon
• Craft paint
• Hair clips (a pack of 6 is around $2)

Step 1

Make your Mod Melts.
These are so easy and quick to make... and a little addicting. Use the sticks in your high temp glue gun to fill the mold, wait about 3 minutes, and pop them out.

Once you've got a pile of 'em, you can paint, glitter, or leave them plain. I did some painting before constructing the bows so they would have time to dry.

Step 2

Cut your ribbon. 
To make this particular bow (I'm going to show you how to make one... I got in a groove and made three) you need 5 pieces of ribbon. 3 at about 12" long, and 2 smaller ones at about 10" long.

Step 3
Make loops.
Take each ribbon and glue the ends together to make a circle. Then smoosh your circle down in half and put a dot of glue in the center so it forms a bow shape.

Step 4

Stack your loops.

I began with my single thickest ribbon. Put a dot of glue in the center and stack your loops on top. Glue between each one.

Step 5

Embellish!

Here's the fun part. Play around with your Mod Melts to give your new accessories some detail and personality. Just from the one mold I used, there were so many choices. I experimented with different paints too. 

Step 6

Add your clip.

To add the clip, I cut a small piece of matching ribbon, cover one side in a good amount of hot glue, and sandwich the bottom side of the clip between the bow and the glue-covered ribbon. (best chance of burnt fingers on this step... not gonna lie)

And there you have it. By embellishing the Mod Melts yourself, there are so many unique possibilities. I was lucky to get my hands on one mold for this post, but all the Mod Melts and Molds will be available at Michaels Craft Stores by the end of this month. There so many more options than I've shown here... dangerous, I know. :)

You can find even more ideas and inspiration from Plaid Crafts, the makers of Mod Melts via Facebook, Twitter,  Pinterest, or their blog. Happy crafting!

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Plaid Crafts and The Blueprint Social. All of my opinions are 100% mine.

How to Make Chalk Paint

Chalk paint. Have you heard about it? Annie Sloan is famous for it and it's been all over blog land. In fact, Annie Sloan's variety has been called "the best paint in the world". Okay, I got that from their site so it might be a little bias, but I've never heard a bad thing about the stuff... except the price. It's steep. And they may be justified in that price, but me being a DIYer and refusing to pay retail for almost everything (I have a problem, we are all aware), I gave that price a big fat "Pshaaaa" and decided to figure out how to make chalk paint myself.

Before we get into that, you might be wondering what is chalk paint and why would anyone want to use it instead of regular paint? Well, in my own non-scientific-I-only-know-this-because-I've-used-it observations, chalk paint is regular paint mixed with a little plaster and water. When you paint a few coats of it and sand between them, the finish gets very soft and smooth and "chalk" like. It also dries very matte and can be waxed to add a slight sheen and protect whatever it is you've painted.

I've also noticed that I have no brush marks with chalk paint and the furniture pieces I have painted and waxed have absolutely no chips. (That said, they are not in a super high-traffic area) The surface looks very professional. I have heard that you don't need to prep or sand whatever it is you are painting first with chalk paint, but that just doesn't seem like a good idea to me. The pieces I've painted got a quick sanding first and a wipe down with a damp towel. It might be true, but I didn't go that route. Call me chicken, it's cool.

Katie from Sew Woodsy was actually the first person/blogger I knew that used chalk paint that she made herself. Katie and her husband Jon painted Craig's List dressers and since I might know Katie in real life :)... I got to see them in person. I couldn't get over the finish. So smooth! They had me convinced and I got the recipe. Without further rambling...

• 2 Cups Paint (I wouldn't use anything glossier than an eggshell finish)
• 1/3 Cup Plaster of Paris - About $7 for a giant carton
• 2 Tbsp Water

That's it! Mix that shize together in an old Tupperware and you're set. Now, me being me and not really measuring anything, I'll admit I probably eyeballed some a lot of that. No problems! 

Check it out. I chalk painted my Goodwill End Tables.

And my fancy shmancy sewing desk is also chalk painted.

And, my DIY Map Table.  I'm starting to think I might have a thing for white furniture. Note to self: no more white.

After you do about 3 coats, sanding and wiping the dust off between each one, you'll want to wax. I use Minwax Paste Finishing Wax. You can buy it by the stains at Home Depot or Lowes. Just like waxing a car. I rubbed it on with an old cloth diaper, waited about 5 minutes, and buffed. Slight arm work out in the process but no one wants "bingo arms", amiright? ; )

That's it. How to make chalk paint ala Sarah. Hope it was helpful! If you get motivated enough to try it... email me your garage sale/thrift store/Craig's List transformations. I love seeing them and showing you off!

DIY Bookends Roundup

So later this year I'm attending Haven, my first blog conference, to figure out how to do this better... well, that's the goal anyway. We'll see how that goes. Through signing up for that, I started to explore stalk other bloggers who were coming too so I could at least try to remember faces and names come conference time. Normally I forget someone's name 3 seconds after they tell it to me. It's horrible. I have the short term memory of a gnat. Anyway, I don't know if blog stalking others is going to help me in name-remembering, but it did help me find some new blogs/bloggers including Christine from First Home Love Life. 

She recently posted about her office-makeover-in-progress which will include some bookends she found at Goodwill and revamped with a quick coat of paint. Sooooo, that got me thinking about other ways to DIY bookends. After some Pinteresting and Googling, I found quite a few ideas that I just might try.  

So here it is... my DIY Bookends Roundup.

First up, the revamped painted Goodwill bookends from First Home Love Life. I just love how modern these look in gold. So chic. I wonder how many people passed up these babies before Christine got a hold of 'em.

First Home Love Life

Next is another painted option. But, instead of traditional bookends, Megan, from Brassy Apple, and her daughter found a beat-up toy elephant and painted it bright pink. Love the color choice! Very easy way to recycle some of those toys that have been around the block a time or two.

Brassy Apple

How's this for a funky option? I found this one on Home Sessive. Basically, you melt old vinyl records into an L shape and sit your books on top. Perfect for a music room and another good way to recycle something old.

Home Sessive

How about some urban chic? This bookend via The Beat My Heart Skipped was made from a Ferrero Rocher container and concrete! I love this and I'm now thinking about everything I have around my house I can use as a concrete mold. hmmmm

The Beat That My Heart Skipped

And last is one with lots of possibilities. These "read" bookends by Pinster Sisters are so simple and so cute. You could make the bookends say whatever you wanted. Well, I guess it would have to be fairly short or you'd have giant bookends :). I saw another pin with bookends that said "love". And, I thought you could do personalized ones with your kid's name for all their bedtime stories too.

Pinster Sisters

So since summer is here and I know you have nothing to do (ha!) this might be a good quick craft to try. What do ya think? Crafty and functional... I'm all for it. :)

How to Update Old Shoes

Besides scouring Goodwill on my lunch breaks, cheap shoe shopping is another rare favorite I get to do occasionally. The thing is, I have giant feet. Size 10. Yep, I just put it out there. TEN. Having a ski-sized foot, seems like my selection is often over-bedazzled flip flops or orthopedic loafers. I always see such cute shoes in every other size except mine. One day I saw a pair of cute flats with pops of color on the toe and heal and tried to shove my foot in them... no dice. That's when I got the idea to DIY my own. Wanna see? Here's how to update old shoes.

Here's what I had at home. Some okay flats that had seen better days. 

The toes were pretty scuffed up and the extra flappy bow thing on the front kind of made them look like slippers... especially when I wore them with pants.

So I chopped the bow thingy off.

Then picked out some paint. I figured the enamel would stick to the shoe the best. I'll letcha know if it starts scraping off.  So far so good. I mixed these colors to get the bright citrus green I was looking for.

I taped off a stripe at the back. Just eye-balled, no measuring. I didn't tape the front... living on the edge. :)

I did 3 coats total.

Peel off the tape.

And, tada! "New" shoes for me. :)

They're a little bold... but I think I'm liking it. 

Thrift Store Desk: Trash to Treasure

Earlier this week I posted the above photo on Facebook of my little corner-of-the-room sewing space. This is just that, a small corner in our guest room I claimed as mine... all mine. No kid toys, no junk mail, no half-done ripped out coloring pages... just pretty. AND, this "pretty" I'm talking about is the DIY kinda pretty; made up of thrift store finds, dumpster dives, and DIY projects... including the desk (which is really what this is all about). Before we get to the trash to treasure desk, let me explain!

• Mirror: $10 - Goodwill
• Clock: $1 - Garage Sale (and it works!)
• Glass Vases: FREE - Leftover wedding centerpiece items
• Chair: $25 ish in supplies - Read about this garbage rescue/DIY project HERE
• Pillow: FREE - Upcycle! Read about that one HERE
• Curtains: FREE - More DIY mojo on those HERE
• Desk: $40 - Thrift Store
• Sewing Machine: FREE - It was a gift if you're wondering :)

That's right.  Even if we round up for things like tape and paint and supplies of the sort, this whole space was probably less than $100.

So where did I get the desk?  In a tiny thrift store in a strip mall behind a Wendy's. How's that for glamorous? After being turned off by the looks of this particular thrift store, I finally went in one day and discovered a gem. Yes, the place was small and kinda crummy but it was also a food bank for our community (had no idea).  All of their items were donations and all of their profits went to buy food for their pantry (which was also in the store). Anyone could come in and pick up peanut butter, bread, canned goods, etc... free of charge, no questions asked, at any time. How cool is that? I decided to stop by often to see if I could *ahem* do my part to help and purchase items. One day I found the desk.

I seriously looked twice, maybe 3 times, at the masking tape price sticker. Could it really be $40?! I asked to make sure. It was. I think I ran to pay and like a psycho calmly asked the loading guys to put it in my vehicle.... like right now! 

This picture actually makes it look in good shape... it was not. The veneer was lifting big time on the top. It was also chipped and missing in some places. There was a handle missing, some chunks of desk looked like they had been hacked off with a hammer, and it stunk like last years gym socks. But I saw the potential!

It took a week or so of glueing, sanding, filling, painting, and airing-out. 

In fact, I did the desk along side my dresser. You can read about that adventure HERE. Here they are as good buddies in my garage. :) This is why I have given up hope of parking in there. The desk was in no condition to be stained... unlike the dresser. This sucker needed paint to have a second chance at life.

Here's a closeup of some of the wood filler I used on the front.

I used the same white homemade chalk paint I used on the Goodwill end tables too.

I had to fill the original hardware holes in the top drawers since I wanted to use glass knobs there. The original hardware required 2 holes, the glass knobs needed only one hole in the center. So I filled, sanded, and drilled new holes.

After it was all painted I decided to add a scaled-down version of my DIY Moroccan stencil on the sides since that is the first thing you see when you walk in the room.

So, I hope you like my "trash to treasure" desk and that you're inspired to try out that sketchy thrift store you always pass but never go in :)