hobbies – Bits of Love Creations

DIY Canvas Photos

Do you love the look of canvas photos but not the price? Yeah, me too. There are some places online that will run a sale on them definitely making them more affordable, but when I wanted to do my own version of a gallery wall a few years back, I had to get creative.

There are a million tutorials for DIY canvas photos on Pinterest, you can find one that suits your purpose. For me? I opted to go with tip from a friend years ago mixed with a little common sense and trial and error. This is what I ended up with.

First off, choose your photo. for my gallery wall, I wanted a mix of current professional photos, snapshots, and photos that have been around for a little while. For this tutorial, though I used a landscape photo Mallory took of the mountains in Colorado on her spring break trip (pre-coronavirus). It’s a great picture, and she wanted it enlarged and made into a canvas for her room. She’s no stranger to this method, as she helped with my gallery wall years ago and has since made her own for her room, and her room at college with pics of her and her boyfriend and her with roommates and friends. Safe to say it’s easy and cheap enough for a college kid to do it! lol!

So the canvas. They come in so many sizes! You can get them for a great price every day at Hobby Lobby with their coupon (and occassionally on sale!). Walmart also has them for a great price, but when I wanted to do the gallery wall, we went to Michaels when they had their big sale and bought multi packs of various sizes for $10.00! we still have some left over in the craft closet! Choose your photo and what size you want it to be, and choose your canvas. To get photos printed, I always recommend Costco photo printing. It’s a good quality print, for a very good price. Shipping is fast and for this, I always choose their matte finish which they call lustre.

This is my gallery wall as it stands today. The engagement photo, wedding photo, and photo of the 3 kids when they were little, were from a while back, so their size was of course predetermined. I chose a canvas for each and cut (if needed) the photo to fit. You’ll notice 2 of them have a border… we needed this because the height of the photo did not reach the edges of the canvas. Mallory’s picture we used in this tutorial only needed a border on the sides. She was fine with taking the photo all the height of the canvas instead of cutting it. So before we even began, she painted her canvas black so the border on the sides would match her accents in her room. I’ll stop being so long winded and just say – use your creativity, it’s your project, do it how you want!

Make sure your photo is the size you want for the canvas. Trim and cut if you need to.

I use matte finish mod podge and a foam ‘brush’. It is white, but dries clear! Protect your surface with a tablecloth. We use an old vinyl table cloth for painting projects and projects like this. Start by spreading a layer (not too thick) of mod podge on the canvas and on the back of the photo. Don’t go too slow because the glue definitely gets tacky pretty quickly. Place the photo where you want it on the canvas and (making sure there is no glue on your hands) smooth the photo to the canvas. Let it dry.

Begin to apply pod modge to the top of the photo & canvas.

Do not use too much. This will cause those heavier spots to look faded and almost blurry when dry.
Make all brush strokes go across the canvas horizontally.
Try to take your brush strokes across the whole canvas if possible.

Once you have covered the surface, lightly and evenly with strokes in one direction, let it dry COMPLETELY. If you do not let it dry completely in between layers, glue does what glue does and you could end up with clumps and icky spots that will ruin the photo.

When this first layer is completely dry, you can start the second layer by using the same process as the first except going vertically in even strokes.

Let it dry completely yet again and voila! You’ve just made your very own canvas photo!

Have a lovely day!

Decorating Your Tiered Tray

I know you’ve all seen the tiered trays that are trending. In fact they’ve been trending for a few years now. I love them! There are so many different ways to decorate them and there is no wrong way… just do it how YOU want!

I made one, like so many others have, by using materials from Dollar Tree. Look for a DIY blog on that later. But I didn’t want to spend a lot of money each season for decorations, because I love to change things up way too often. While stuck in quarantine, I decided I would try my hand at decorating for as many seasons as possible with mostly things I already had. Mal helped me and we had a blast being creative! In all honesty, we could’ve probably decorated for more themes since we actually became pretty decent at re-using a lot of the items.

Winter – Hot Cocoa:

For the winter decorations, We went with a Hot Cocoa theme.. We used a small glass milk bottle from Michaels that I painted white on the inside. The greenery is lambs ear I’ve had forever, and the little one piece on top in the back is a photo holder (with the photo holder removed) also from Michaels. The camping cup is one I have had forever from —. I added a little ribbon and the most adorable mug topper from the Etsy shop – mug toppers. A little white Christmas tree, pick up truck ornament, and wood box present add more dimension to the bottom layer. Also on the bottom layer is a small marshmallow mug with another cute topper from – mug toppers, and some scrap material in a Christmas’y’ plaid. The small hanging chalkboard sign was found at Hobby Lobby a few years ago and I just used a chalk dust type of font on my Cricut and cut the words out in vinyl.

Valentine’s Day:

We re-used the milk glass, lamb’s ear, marshmallow mug with topper, and berry greenery photo holder. We added a few teddy bear Valentine’s I have had for longer than I’ve has my kids! lol!We also added a heart shaped candy dish (also had forever), homemade snowballs out of yarn, a few glitter hearts from floral picks, and a kitchy cupcake shelf sitter, all items I have had for longer than I can remember.

St. Patrick’s Day:

The ST. Patrick’s Day trays were difficult for us… because we just didn’t have many things. I had found the plastic gold coins, green cauldron, and the green hats at WalMart earlier in the season for super, super cheap. The hats fit perfectly on my little marshmallow guy. The shamrock garland, leprechaun, wooden shamrock, and shot glass I have had for years. The ‘luck of the Irish’ and Welcome signs I also found earlier in the season at Hobby Lobby. If you look, you can always find things like this for decorations for very little money!

Spring:

To freshen up the trays for spring, we opted for brightly colored items and some green Easter grass. The small metal pot, springs of pink berries, and cute frog were found at Hobby Lobby. The daisy candy dish and Gerbera Daisy flowers have been in my craft closet a long time. The hanging sign was a Michaels find about 5 years back, and we just wrote Spring in chalk. There is definitely more room to add other things, but this starts the decor out just fine.

Easter:

Moving into Easter, we kept a lot of the tray the same with the grass and the Gerbera Daisies. We added a little more grass to fill out the surface of the trays. The Easter sign, carrots, and Bunny Trail rock were all found at Hobby Lobby last year. The woodland bunny was found at Michaels, and the eggs and egg carton were found at Dollar General. All last year. We swapped the marshmallow mug for a different one (no chocolate on top) and added felt bunny ears made by me, and a ribbon.

Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day:

We kept this simple so it would be easy to un-assemble and re-assemble throughout the summer months. The 3 flags we have had for a while, but the starry mason jar was purchased this year at Hobby Lobby. The firecrackers, ‘Home of the Brave’ sign, and Uncle Sam are all from Hobby Lobby. The candle holders are from my days (long gone) as a candle lady, and the bear was a gift from my mom years ago. I wanted a little filler – nothing too over bearing – so I took blue and red scrap material and made a miniature fabric bunting.

Summer – Beach:

So this one was mine and Mallory’s guilty pleasure. Being in quarantine, we could not and would not go to stores. But for this one, we found almost everything on sale at Hobby Lobby and ordered online. We didn’t have much for this kind of theme at the house already and set a budget because, quite frankly, we were having shopping withdrawl and this was an inexpensive way to get a ‘quick fix’. We already had the rocks, piece of driftwood, and sand. Everything else was in that Hobby Lobby online order and was less than $20! Warning: this one was a mess to clean up!

Fall:

For fall we broke out the camping mug, mug topper, and lambs ear again. With it we added a Dollar Tree ceramic pumpkin, a foam pumpkin painted blue (also from DT), and another covered with buffalo check fabric. We also use a spare piece as a napkin to lay on the side of one of the trays. The fall candle holders are a Rae Dunn find from Marshalls. Seriously if you don’t shop TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Homegoods, you’re missing out! I always find the cutest stuff at great prices!

Halloween:

Pumpkins, spiders, and leaves! I loved doing this one! All the leaves were off of a leaf garland I’ve had since I got married. It’s slowly started falling apart over the last couple of years, but I don’t typically get rid of the leaves for ideas such as this. All the pumpkins… ceramic, foam, and painted are all from DT. The flowers are also from DT as are the spider rings. The cutest wooden ghost, and teddy bear pumpkin I’ve had forever. The pumpkin sign on top was purchased from Hobby Lobby probably 2-3 years ago. The ‘hello Fall’ piece is actually a candle I purchased last year from TJ Maxx. I added one of my small mug toppers to it and think it’s pretty cute! My most favorite piece is the witch. As a kid my mom did a lot of ceramics painting. This particular year, (I think 1979), she painted a brunette witch for me, and a blonde with for my sister. Even with the chip on her witch hat, she has so many sentimental memories for me.

Thanksgiving:

Keeping the decor mostly the same for Thanksgiving, I just added a wooden turkey I purchased from WalMart many years ago, and another of my favorite ceramic pieces from my childhood, the scarecrow. Like the witch in the Halloween tray, this little guy has been with me since the 70’s or 80’s. I love the fact that my mom made these for my sister and I and am even more happy that my kids can have these as a part of me and a part of their grandma for years to come.

Christmas:

For Christmas I brought the out a different marshmallow much and attached a plaid Santa hat which was originally an ornament from Michaels. The present is just a box I had in my gift wrap tote as is the bow. The same plaid material that was used in the Winter – Hot Cocoa tray is used here. I also re-used the grapevine present, white tree, hot cocoa sign, milk jar, and berry greenery. The holly leaves are from old candle wreaths I had when the kids were little. The final addition was the wooden Christmas sign from Hobby Lobby last year.

So I have to mention, the marshmallow mugs I’ve used throughout are a plastic take off of the ceramic ones floating around the internet. I ordered these through Oriental Trading. I needed up with 1 dozen, 4 of each kind they offer, and saved money per piece in the process. I e given some away and used others in baskets for silent auctions. All in all not a bad deal since I only use them for decorating… you can check them out here.

There are so many more options you can do with these trays! You can do birthdays, New Years, Farmhouse, whatever you like… I think that’s part of the appeal! Mix and match, fit your style and decor, it’s so easy! And don’t forget you can find so many inspiring ideas on Pinterest. Follow our DIY Tiered Tray board to see all the pins we find and re-pin!

Have a lovely day,

DIY-No Sew Easter Baskets

So every year I think I will find the perfect Easter Baskets, and every year I am not happy with the ones I settle on… I know, super dumb – 1st world problems. My girls and I brainstormed about what we could do this year without going to the store OR spending any money. Megan explains below what we ended up doing. Another crafty bonding – quarantine project with my kids! I love it!

Note: They aren’t perfect, but they are perfect for what we wanted. They were 100% free, using items we had already in the house and just something fun we could do to stay busy and let creativity flow!

Want or need new Easter baskets, but can’t get to the store due to the quarantine? Us, too. So, we decided to try our hand at making some homemade ones. We just used materials we already had lying around the house so we also spent $0!

What will you need? We used some cardboard boxes for the base, cardstock for the walls, and covered them with batting and fabric to make them pretty and customized for each person. In addition to this, we used packing tape, scissors, a bowl, wire hangers, and lots of hot glue so we didn’t have to do any sewing.

First, we cut circles of cardboard using our bowl to get the size we wanted for the bottom of the baskets. Next, we glued fabric to the bottom of the cardboard, covered the top with batting, and then covered the top with fabric.

For the wall, we cut cardstock in half “like a hot dog bun” (or long-ways) and taped enough pieces together to wrap all the way around our base. After getting the right length, we glued strips of batting to what would be the inside of the basket wall and then covered the wall with the fabric we chose for that specific basket. We then carefully glued the wall to the base and folded and overlapped the fabric at the seam for a clean line.

Lastly, we cut and used half of a wire hanger for the handle (of course you can use as much or as little as you would like in order to get the length you want). We covered the wire with fabric by basically folding and gluing the fabric around the wire until it looked like a roll. For some of our baskets we decided to get fancy and roll two more pieces of fabric without wire and “braided” them around the handle, gluing as we went, to make the handle look loosely braided.

To finish off the look, we glued the ends of the handle to the inside wall of the basket and covered them with squares of fabric to match the wall. (If you chose a patterned fabric for the wall then it’s a little more difficult to line up the design perfectly, but is super satisfying when you get it to look right!)

We hope you’ve been creating and making memories too during this quarantine time! We always say it’s the little things that make the big memories!

Have a lovely day!

Fashion Finds – A Walmart Easter

As a preface, I would like to say hello and welcome to our first fashion finds blog post! My name is Mallory I am the 3rd and probably most fun and/or important child. 😉 It has been a process to get this going with me being away at college, but with the new developments I will be home for the semester. In case you are under all the toilet paper, we are currently in a global pandemic with COVID-19 (coronavirus). So my semester as been cut short but will be completed in an online format, but hey, at least I will be in the comfort of my own home. Our weekends are spent out and about running errands, but most importantly shopping or looking, whatever the bank account allows. We have found many things we want to share with all of you, but Easter is right around the corner so this seems to be the most logical place to start.

On our most recent trip we accidentally found my Easter Sunday Outfit. We were looking around the clothing department at good ole Walmart and I saw a pair of paper bag pants, and they were to die for. They are full length with a tie belt around the waist. They are a very light cream with no yellowy undertone and have slate blue stripes down them. I found a white ribbed turtle neck tank that, in my opinion, looks so good with them. I have TONS of shoes, so mom said we probably did not have to look for those. The shoes that I will be wearing I have had for around 2 years now and are a Payless find :(. They are super cute heels but are not too high that I will be uncomfortable all day. I am super excited to wear the outfit for this occasion, but it includes staples pieces that are great to add to my wardrobe. Best of all, being Walmart, everything is a super affordable price. I feel that Walmart’s game has recently stepped up with the quality of their clothes which now actually last longer than one wear. The paper bag pants were a whopping $18.87, the ribbed turtle neck tank was $5.95, and my super cute heels were $25 (again *sad* the shoes are old from Payless, I really miss that store).

On the complete opposite end of the wardrobe spectrum my sister Megan, the sibling behind the ‘Coffee Crawl’, found an outfit for herself as well. Her style is VERY different from mine, but she’s still cute in her own way ;). She found the CUTEST flare jeans, that I will be stealing, in black denim. The absolute best part about these jeans, other than the adorable fit, is that they were a clearance find for only $3! She got a long sleeve button up shirt, which is a light weight material, and has a tie at the waist to be cinched. Her shirt was also a clearance find for only $7. Megan is the epitome of a bargain shopper to say the least! Her shoes are also a Payless find :(. She found these on clearance, shocker, about a year ago for only $13.

We are excited to get to show case our outfits this Easter (providing we are out of quarantine by then) and we hope this has helped give you some ideas and show you that you can/will look great and grow your wardrobe on a budget!

That’s all for now, but we will be back;)

Take an Interest

One of the things I always did while raising my kids was really try to intentionally take an interest in things that interested them. So many times it’s easy to put them in a sport or activity we did as kids. Or introduce them to a hobby we are interested in. That is perfect in the sense that they won’t (or we won’t) know what they are interesteed in until we give them those options. That is the best way to start. I did that with all of mine.

Sports, choir, drama club, or anything else, we encouraged them to find something they enjoyed. I made it my mission to take an active interest in what made them happy. I may not have understood it, it may not have been my cup of tea… but if it was important to them, I made sure to show an interest.

Fast foreward to now… they are all grown, young adults if you will, and I feel I have a very strong relationship with each one of them. So carrying over from their childhood are hobbies and interests that they each enjoy that I have learned to enjoy too, if for nothing else than just spending quality time with each of them.

So we have decided to do something fun!

My son Jacob, likes burgers. He always has! He could literally eat a burger every night of the week. We have talked about Mother/Son dates to try some of the “best burgers” in our hometown of St. Louis. So that’s what we are doing! He has coined our little adventures, ‘Burger Bounce’, and he will be writing much of the blog/review. Those that know my son know that he has a dry sense of humor and very eclectic approach to writing. This should prove to be entertaining at the least. Be on the look out for the Burger Bounce coming to the blog very soon!

So with my older daughter, Megan… she and I have a mutual love for coffee. Her’s is definitely a stronger love than mine, though as I am happy with my plain coffee and a little creamer at home in the mornings. She, on the other hand, could drink black coffee all day and even throw in a specialty coffee from a local cafe. We will be having our time together that she has named ‘Coffee Crawl’. Specifically visiting local coffee houses and those that give back to the community. Look for the “Coffee Crawl’ also coming to the blog soon!

And then there’s my baby, Mallory. She is still in college so she isn’t home much, but when she is we have discovered that we share a strong love of… shopping! I swear that girl owns more shoes than most. We love to shop the deals and sometimes just have fun window shopping and laughing until it hurts. We don’t get to shop together often throughout the school year, but when we do and find good deals, we will be sure to share those in our ‘Fashion Finds’ blog posts.

I am excited that this is something they love to do with me. To me there really isn’t anything more special than having found wonderful friends in the young adults you’ve raised. I know, super corny…but that’s me! And it’s so true. My relationships with them mean the world!

Look for our adventures coming soon! Until then,

It’s the little things…

I’m back! Last time I shared a little about me. Whew, that’s tough. I’ve never been one to like to talk about myself. Ask me about one of my hobbies or passions, better yet ask me about my kids! I never struggle for words about any of those topics. But myself? Definitely tough stuff for me. But it’s something I’m working on so we will see how it goes.

A few of years ago my friend, Britaney, asked me to make her some dainty newborn headbands for photo shoots. While she appreciates the large flowers and bows on headbands that are all the rage, she was looking for light, airy, and dainty for all those fresh newbie heads. It’s creative! And as with all creative challenges, I was on totally on board! After the first few I created for her, Brit asked me for a business name so she could tag me in teaser photos she would be sharing on social media. It was her thought that potential customers and other photographers would be able to contact me and something could come of my crafting.

For days I brainstormed/stressed over a simple name. But for me, if I was going to do this… it had to have meaning. Ultimately, as with almost all things in my life, that meaning revolves around my kids. My kids are my love. They are my heart. They’re bits and pieces of myself and my husband. One of the most fun parts of my journey in raising them has been watching their personalities and character come to light. Seeing the bits of myself and my husband join with their own qualities to become their amazing selves has been an excitingly wild ride.

Three. A most significant number as I have 3 children and they’ve always been my bits of love. Creating in almost any fashion has also always been a love of mine.

Enter Bits of Love Creations.

So with the name in place, I created a page on Facebook for Bits of Love Creations. The feedback from the photography clients was super positive! I was having a blast and Brit was loving the fresh stash of headbands and tiebacks I supplied to her. It’s the little things. I create the little things that can ultimately end up making a big impact for the little ones we hold near and dear to us. How could I not love what I do?

So here we are. I have so many plans for this little journey. New and exciting things are coming soon, and I’ve decided to give this little blogging thing a try, too. I am so blessed in life to have so much support from friends and family. Who knows where all of this will lead? I certainly don’t have an answer for that, but I do know that I intend to make the most of it and enjoy every step we take… together!

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Note: They aren’t perfect, but they are perfect for what we wanted. They were 100% free, using items we had already in the house and just something fun we could do to stay busy and let creativity flow!

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