Stop and Smell the Roses

As the proverb goes “no matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.” And after an unusually harsh winter, signs of spring are finally here! The birds are chirping; the sun is shining; baseball is back and the flowers are blooming! To celebrate the beauty of spring and my mom’s birthday, I made her a birthday cake out of fresh flowers. The concept is not unique or original, however, my design cost less than half as much as commercially made flower cakes. And, besides, it was handmade from the heart especially for my wonderful momma!

To make the flower cake, you will need bouquets of fresh flowers (any of your favorite blossoms will do – I chose purple daisies, green mums, and mini roses) and two fresh flower floral foam bricks bound together and cut into a cylindrical shape. After you cut the foam bricks into the desired shape, soak them in water for a few minutes. Cut the blossoms down to about half inch stems, place the foam on a cake pedestal and start adding the flowers. Once the foam is completely covered in blossoms, you can decorate the top with candles, ribbon, or any cake topper of choice. And, before you know it, you will have a vibrant and fragrant flower cake!

One-Hour, No-Commitment Pop Culture Wall

We’ve all been there: at home on a Sunday, wanting to execute a home makeover project but never quite getting to it. Maybe you’re low on motivation (and funds) to head to the hardware store for the supplies you need. (This happens to me with cooking sometimes…I get excited about making an elaborate dish, like paella, but then get discouraged when I realize I don’t have saffron, parsley, mussels, and about 6 other ingredients). Or maybe it’s a case of ADD: you get excited enough to start a striped paint job, but can’t commit to the several hours involved to complete it. Sure, we’re all competent enough to take on the most challenging projects, but there are those days when we are just more likely to execute something if 1. The supplies are handy and 2. It doesn’t require a lot of time, money or effort. Here’s one I tried on one such weekend: the 1-hour, no-commitment pop culture mural. You’ll need a stack of cool magazines, adhesive putty and a pair of scissors. This is as easy and cheap as projects get…

Gather some magazines you have lying around and carefully cut off the front cover. We had a ton of Rolling Stone, which happens to have great cover art. Put a pea-sized piece of adhesive putty on each corner of the cover and proceed to hang on the wall of your choice. The order can be completely random. If you have a laser level you may want to use it to keep your installation straight.

Voila! That lackluster room suddenly pops with pop culture!

Handmade Gift Bags: Easy Breezy Screen Printing

Hello, and welcome to the first Handmade Article!
Here I will provide a newbie’s point of view to a myriad of art projects.

Being the aspiring crafter that I am, I wanted to do something creative and personalized for my best friend Erin’s bachelorette party in Vegas. And as an alternative to paper or plastic gift bags, I thought it would be a fun idea to make reusable canvas totes for the party. Not only are the totes environmentally friendly, but we also filled them with fun goodies for the perfect souvenir of our awesome weekend together.

Erin’s sister, Kacie, helped me pick out an image and my friend, Kevin, helped me customize it with Erin and Nathan’s initials and wedding date. I loved how the image turned out and was super excited to get started.

Since I am a screen printing newbie, I used the internet and friends as references for my project. And, I found that The Gospel of ScreenPrinting was an extremely helpful resource.
The most challenging part of the process was creating a successful screen. After a few experiments with different exposure times and distances, I was finally able to produce a successful screen. The overall process can be challenging for first timers, but the end product is well worth it!
Because everything is better when it’s handmade from the heart!

Steps for Screen Printing:

1. Degrease the screen – Wash the screen with dishwashing soap and rinse thoroughly – let dry completely
2. Coat with Emulsion – Since the emulsion is light sensitive, this step will need to be performed in a dark room under a red lamp. Pour a light coat of the emulsion onto both sides of the screen and spread evenly. Prepare a dark place for the screen to dry (at least 4-6 hours)
3. Exposing the Screen – Prepare an area to expose the screen. Place a black sheet of paper or cloth under the screen, then put the positive image on top of the screen and lastly, place a piece of glass on the positive image. Use this as a guideline to determine exposure time for a 150W bulb:

• 8×10, 12 inches, 45 minutes
• 10×14, 12 inches, 45 minutes
• 12×18, 15 inches, 74 minutes
• 16×20, 17 inches, 92 minutes
• 18×20, 17 inches, 92 minutes

4. Washing Out the Screen – The screen is still light sensitive, so be sure to wash out the screen in a dark room. Gently wash out the unexposed emulsion from the inside of the screen. Once complete, you will be able to see your image!
5. Printing – Now are you are ready to screen print. You will need to tape off the area that was not filled with the emulsion. Masking tape, duct tape, or packing tape and foil will work just fine. Next, place your screen on the area that you want to print and pour ink onto the screen. Hold the squeegee at a 60 degree angle and slowly spread the ink evenly over the image. You will need to run the squeegee over the image a few times in order to get an even coating. Then, slowly separate the screen from the printing surface. And, tada, your inked image will appear!