Up-Cycled Project: Wicker Shelf turned Arsty!
Turn a boring wicker or rattan shelf into an artsy piece. All you need is a wicker shelf, which can be found at most thrift stores, garage sales or probably in your attic, some glue, water, foam brush and recycled book pages, music sheets or newspaper.
Step One, Mix 3 parts all purpose glue w/one part water, stir with foam brush, set aside.Step Two: Gather pieces of recycled ephemera such as book sheets, dictionary pages, music sheets or newspaper.Step Three: Coat wicker with homemade decaupage glue medium using foam brush, saturate paper with glue and press onto wicker, brush additional medium onto the paper, repeat until the whole shelf is coated in paper, let dry.Step Four: Coat piece w/sealer or finish of choice, then start adding your fave items to it.Here is my finished shelf used as a display for some artful goodies at Piddlestixs!
Tips:
-Add die cuts, silhouettes or dresden scraps/trims to your shelf.
-Add broken jewelry, paper pinwheels or trim to your shelf.

The possibilities are endless. Remember recycling something can be rewarding and save you money too!

Magic and Joy,
Lisa!c

Silhouette Rosettes!

What's better then recycling old and discarded books? There are so many books we have lying around from our houses, studios to the discarded book sections of our libraries and schools. The covers make for great canvas bases, new book binding, altered books, wall hangings, or for pages themselves. Old books can be transformed into shadow boxes, shrines, mini theaters, decorative boxes or stacked for lamp bases, shelves and display.

The pages of books can be folded directly in the book for some unique wall hangings, cut pages can be transformed into paper cones, paper fans, paper birds, origami, into wreaths, rosettes and more. This summer I have been more active into using the pages of books and turning them into large rosettes perfect for hanging in your house, used as a wreath or ornament.

For the following rosette style I rolled book pages and scrapbook paper into cones, trimmed their edges with pinking shears, added my hand pressed silhouette medallion, paints, ribbons and clear glass glitter.



My next rosette was the original one which was the foundation of the other rosettes. This piece has layers of rolled book pages, black grosgrain ribbon, German silver glass glitter and my hand pressed black silhouettes

This blue belle style rosette was created the same as the above rosette, but I added some crepe paper then coated several of the folds and the silhouette with Aquamarine glitter.



I'm currently creating some silhouettes with rolled tin, and vintage wallpapers too.
You can purchase my silhouette parts at my Etsy store or request a special listing!
My Etsy Store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/moonfaires