Simple Mod Podge Frame

Do you know how difficult it is to find a 3.5 x 5 inch frame at a reasonable price?  Let alone make it a holiday one.  If you have been looking, you know what I mean; everything is 4x6 these days!  When Jacob had his Santa visit this year we ordered a picture package that had a few extra pictures - enough to share with our family.  My grandmother (Gigi for Great Grandma) recently relocated to Alabama.  After 55+ years raising her family and grand kids in the same home, this year is going to be tough.  Getting her a picture wasn't enough.  It had to be special.  After my search for a cute frame that she would like as well, I gave up and made it myself. 

Here's how...

Supplies Needed:

• Plain black frame Michael's (It was less that $5, plus 40% off - love it!)
• Scrapbook paper (Had some from a previous project)
• Mod Podge and a foam brush
• Paper trimmer and a straight blade
• Ink pad(s) (optional)

1. Trim your paper to the size needed for the frame. I like to trim mine just a hair smaller so that I am not trying to mod podge a fraction of paper over the edge. 
2. Trace the area needed to be cut out for the picture, using the straight blade make your cuts.
3. I added some ink smudges to my paper to give it a little more umph.  This is optional.
4. Smear mod podge around the front of the frame and lay your scrapbook paper cut out on top.  Smooth it out and make sure it is placed properly.
5. Once the first application is dry, apply mod podge to the top of the paper.

Fall Wreath & Garland - as cheap as it gets!

Fall is such a lovely time of year to decorate.  The colors are rich and comorting like a giant hug to keep you warm as the temps start to drop.  This year I am excited that we will be in Arizona with our families for Thanksgiving and the best part is that we will be meeting Baby Benjamin for the first time.  So, I didn't want to go all out and spend tons of money on decor.  That is where Creative Karma comes in to play.  What can I do on the cheap using materials that are recycled and inexpensive. 

Tuesday was a pretty blustery day, leaves were blown off trees and are piling up along the side walks.  On a walk with Charlie and Jacob I decided to pick up a bunch of beautiful, huge leaves.  Thank you Mother Nature for your generosity and timing.  An idea was born!

Mantle Wreath:
Using a $1 store wreath I had tucked away for future use, I hot glued the leaves on to the wreath. That's it.  Seriously, that's it.  Using the $1 wreath I already had, leaves donated from the gutter and side walk, one stick of hot glue and I myself a wreath. 

Garland:
I love twine; it's just so versatile.  you never know when you might need it. Today was the day. I took my trusty hot glue gun and glued a few leaves to the twine and hung it across the mirror in my living room.  Can you say free?  Spell it with me, F-R-E-E.  Does it get better?  Yes, indeed it does.  Also in this picture is my good old vase that is now adorned with the fall florals I picked up at -where esle? The $1 store a few week back.  In addition to that, I have leftover pumpkins that were given to me by Jacob's school. 

I am no where near done, but I was pretty stoked to share what I have so far.  All for about $5 and using the gifts that Mother Nature gave us.  That being said, the wreath and the garland are fragile.  I will not be able to save them for next year.  But who cares, right?! Free supplies rule!

3 Little Ghosts Handprint Art

I love Halloween.  I think it is because of the unleashed creativity and fun that it inspires.  You can be anything and do anything.  As a little girl dress up and make believe were one of my favorite things and I am not ashamed to admit I have never grown out of it.  Now that I have kids people don't look at me so crazy for getting so into this holiday.

This 3 Little Ghosts craft idea was inspired by a Lowe's project.  The original idea suggested a piece of wood and spray paint.  Recently I discovered that Walmart sells a 2 pack of 8"x10" canvases for around $5 - STEAL!  Needless to say, I am obsessed with what I can create with them and the idea to use them instead of a piece of wood was solid.

First, I painted the canvases with black acrylic paint.  This was fun because I love how this medium brushes on to the canvas creating a creepy streak (even though I was painting the entire thing black). 

After the black paint dried we covered our hands in white paint.  Make sure you have LOTS of paint on your hand and press gently on to he canvas with your fingers slightly together.  You may want to hold your other hand on the back side to press against to avoid stretching or damaging the canvas.

Once the ghostly hand prints dry you can paint eyes and a mouth.  I used a sharpie to create my general shape and then went over that with the black paint because I am not that great when it comes to free-hand. 

I have this orangey-brown glitter glue that I picked  up for a Halloween Baby Shower that I used to write "Oct 2011" on the bottom right corner of the canvas.  In hind sight I wish I had written our names and the year, but too bad so sad.  You can do it instead. 

Our three little ghosts now hang proudly in our entry way.  To hang them I just used those little Velcro adhesive things that you can pull off with out damaging your wall.