Dried Lavender Arrangement in Moss Pot

I have to say one of my favorite scents, besides orange, is the smell of lavender. It has to be real fresh or dried lavender and not the artificial scent. Isn't it one of the most wonderful smells of spring?

I saw this basic and not very nice dried lavender arrangement on the Pottery Barn site and was not impressed. I loved their lavender wreaths, but this arrangement is pretty boring and dramatically over priced at $29 for a small 4 inch pot! That is really small.

Source Pottery Barn

 Here is the Pottery Barn description:

"Carefully harvested and dried in bundles, our natural Provence lavender makes an ideal gift that showcases the vibrant purple color and soft fragrance for which the flower is known. Accented with a hand-tied raffia bow; comes in a terra-cotta pot with green Spanish moss. Lavender is grown in Northern California."

 Here is my description:)

"Easily snipped with kitchen scissors and dried by hanging upside down in the laundry room for a week, this naturally grown Canadian lavender makes a beautiful piece showcasing it vibrant purple color and soft fragrance for which the flower is know. Accented with a hand-tied sheer ribbon bow found laying around in the craft box; comes in a moss covered pot with left over sand colored Spanish moss. Lavender is hand grown in a beautiful back yard garden in Southern Ontario, Canada."

Now that I had my fun, here is what I did.

Knowing I could do a lot better for a lot less, I headed to the garden and snipped some lavender (free I might add) and hung it to dry. I dry my lavender by tying it into one large bunch and hanging it upside down. This keeps the flowers in an upright position when they dry.

I found a really beautiful pot at a local store (not free but reasonably priced at under $10) and knew it was perfect for this project.

I had floral foam, ribbon and moss on hand so they cost me nothing.

 I stuck the floral foam into the bottom of the container and started sticking the lavender stems in one at a time. Making sure to keep them straight up. 

 Once I was happy with how full the lavender looked, I covered the floral foam with moss (gluing down the pieces that didn't want to stay). I then tied a ribbon with a bow around the stems.

I did not spray the lavender with any sealant, but I have heard you can do this to prevent dust from sticking. I have used dried lavender in other arrangements and have never had a problem with this before.

I have put the lavender container behind our couch in the family room and I love smelling it while I am watching TV or reading a book.

 

Oh, if you are wondering about the table behind our couch...my husband and I made that. I will post that next week. Another thing that I love!

 

Are any of you enjoying the flowers from the garden yet?
What do you think?
Stephanie
Linking to some great parties including: Story of A2Z

Printing on Tissue Paper - Have you tried this!?!

I realize printing on tissue paper is not a new idea, but it is something I had not experimented with until recently.  After making my subway art with a laser print transfer, I knew there had to be an easier way of achieving the same results without having to scrub off all the paper. I tried many different methods and here is what I found to be the easiest way. Printing on tissue paper and then gluing the paper to canvas.  The tissue paper goes almost invisible and it appears the text is printed directly on the canvas.

The actual printing on the tissue paper is simple. Well it is now that I figured out the best method for me :) . Here is the simplest way I found  to print on tissue paper.

I bought the long pieces of tissue paper so there were fewer fold lines.

Lay one piece of tissue paper on a flat surface shiny side up. (I found all the tissue paper I used, had a shiny side and a rough side. For me the printing looked nicer on the rough side. You might want to experiment with this yourself.)

Place a regular piece of printer paper (8.5x11) on top of the tissue paper. Try to place it in between the fold marks.

Cut the tissue paper so there is a 2 inches boarder around the printer paper.

Using clear tape, I folded down the long sides and taped the tissue to the back of the printer paper.

I then folded down the ends of the tissue paper and again taped them in a couple of spots.

Be sure you tuck the corners in so the paper is no larger than the 8.5 x 11 sheet.

This is what it will look like.

Place the paper/tissue sheet into your printer being extra cautious that the right side of the paper is in the correct position.

Print the image or text file as you normally would.

Here is what my subway art looked like once it came out of the printer. Perfect!

When trimming the image, I find it easiest to cut through all the sheets of paper. This gives you the cleanest lines and prevents the tissue paper from bending. Sorry I only took pictures of me trimming another photo I was testing out.

I painted my canvas white and then covered the entire thing with a layer of Modge Podge. I carefully placed the tissue paper over the canvas and smoothed out the image.

There were a few wrinkles but I liked how it gave it a worn look.

Here are some other things I printed on tissue paper. I found that black and white images printed far nicer than color. But give it a try...tissue paper is extremely cheap, that it is fun to play with.

Have you ever printed on tissue paper? What were your results like?

Now that I know how to do this, the possible crafts seem endless. Coasters with photos, designs on candles, customized wrapping, etc.

Let me know what you think.
Stephanie
Linking to some great parties including: Story of A2Z

How to build a PVC lacrosse net

How may of your sons play baseball? How about football? As you may know from previous posts, I live Canada and because of this, my son plays 'traditional' Canadian sports i.e. hockey and lacrosse. In our family, because of our weather, hockey is our winter sport and lacrosse is our summer sport (we did a couple of seasons of soccer but I hated it). Our son started both of these sports when he was four and has yet to learn how to play baseball or football. Of course he will be introduced to baseball and football soon enough. I don't know how parents with lots of kids manage all the different sports...how do you ladies do it? :)

I am sorry this post probably does not interest the vast majority of you out there...but I wanted to share it in case you can adapt it or if you also have a child who loves lacrosse as much as my son does.

A fellow lacrosse parent first made one of these lacrosse nets and after my husband studied it, he was able to make one of his own with minor changes. They are very easy and quite inexpensive to make (vs buying one).

Materials:
1 1/2 inch x 24 feet PVC pipe
4 x 90 degree corners
'Y' joint (with drain and plug)
PVC cement
2x3inch bolt with washer and wing nut
Replacement hockey net (54 inch)

Method:
Since my son is only 6 years old, he plays with a smaller lacrosse net. The net opening is 48 inches high by 48 inches wide.

 So using a miter saw, we cut:

• 3 pieces to 48 inches long
  
• 2 pieces to 63 inches long

We 'dry fit' all the pieces to make sure they fit together before we even thought about gluing them.

I really did not realize when we were planning this that it would be so big. I am spatially challenged :) So to deal with this massive net in the winter months, I convinced my husband to work his magic so it could be disassembled.

He glued the 2 top 90 degree pieces and the bottom 'Y' piece. He then decided (since it couldn't be glued) to put a large bolt through the bottom 2 x 90degrees and the PVC pipe to secure them. This allows us to take apart the net for storage (or transporting to the basement) during the winter months. He simply drilled straight through the 90 degree and the pipe being extra cautious that the holes lined up.

We put an opening/drain at the end of the 'Y' piece so that if the net needs weight, we can add sand or water into the bottom pipes. At this point, it doesn't seem necessary, but the option is nice.

 

Once all the pieces were glued and dried, we installed the hockey net. To purchase a lacrosse replacement net is rather pricey and hockey nets can be found at any local sports store for a really reasonable price. Using a large 54 inch hockey net and the nylon rope provided, we started by securing the middle of the replacement net to PVC stand.

 We looped the nylon rope through every third hole so that the lacrosse ball would not fit through.

 The net was a little short in the back (not reaching the 'Y' fully) so we just used some extra nylon rope and wove it through the net to keep it pulled back. As the net stretches, we will just tighten the extra nylon rope at the back.

A couple of hours of work and here is what we ended up with. A home made lacrosse net.

 My son has had a great time practicing at home!

 I hope someone will find this useful. :)
Linking to some great parties including: Story of A2Z 

How to make a flower press

My husband and I made a few of these flower presses years ago. Actually, it was more than a few years ago; we made them to dry flowers for our wedding. Time really does go by quickly.

Well, our daughter recently found them and has had a great time pressing all the spring flowers she finds. So I thought I would share with you this really simple method of creating a great flower press.

Materials needed:
2 pieces of scrap wood (mine are 12x7x3/4 inches)
4 carriage bolts (approx. 4 inches long)
4 washers (approx. 3/4 inch - be sure they fit over the square piece on the inside of the bolt)
4 wing nuts (be sure they fit on your bolts) 
4 washers (approx. 3/8 inch)
Drill
Cardboard

Method:
We clamped the 2 pieces of wood together and drill one hole approximately 1.5 inches in from each corner through both pieces of wood. This ensures the bolts line up perfectly. Be sure to make the hole a little wider than the width of the bolt so they easily fit through.

Slide the bolts through the larger washers and place them through one piece of wood. 

Cut cardboard to fit between the bolts. I wanted to have as much drying space as possible so I cut it this way. If you want it to be pretty, you can cut a perfect rectangle.

I place a piece of tissue between the 2 pieces of cardboard so the flowers don't stick. I have used waxed paper but I found the colors weren't as bright in the end. Personal preference I guess.

I lay the flowers pretty side down so I can flatten them the way I want them to. If you just lay the cardboard on top without guiding how they press, they can become misshapen.

Place as many pieces of cardboard/flowers as you like (cardboard - tissue - flowers - tissue - cardboard - tissue - flowers - tissue - cardboard.... you get the idea :-) ) and then place the second piece of wood through the bolts to rest on top of the last piece of cardboard.

Put the smaller washer on and then thread the wing nut. Tighten all 4 until they are tight against the wood. Don't over tighten or you will have a tough time loosening it later.

I just added vinyl lettering on the top to make it new again for my daughter .

I find the bright colored flowers press the best and white ones tend to brown.

We have a great time going for walks with our kids and picking different flowers for them to dry.

Here are a few we dried recently (sorry the photo is dark. I tried to take the picture outside in the sun, but it is windy here today and they kept blowing away).

 

Enjoy!
Stephanie
Linking to some great parties including: Story of A2Z