Crafts at Ma Nouvelle Mode

Now we aren't a craft blog, nor do we claim to be.  There are so many blogs out there with women who are crafty beyond my wildest dreams.  As much as I wish I could craft like that and be so resourceful, I can't.  It's just not in my blood.  Know your strengths, ladies, know your strengths!  We have, however, done a few around these parts and today I'd like to share a few!

The first one deserves to be first because, well, it's awesome.  Christie had made these beautiful rustic oversized paper bag flowers and they were a hit.  They were pinned and repinned a bazillion times and Tip Junkie even featured them!  They are easy and cheap but add so much!

Not that much compares to these beautiful flowers, but the next craft is something I did a while back and still have hanging in my home.  It is a decopaughed canvas wall art. Also very easy and relatively cheap, I liked the way it turned out and how it hangs with my photos, the few that I do have.

Well that is all we have for you today.  But don't worry, we have a lot up our sleeves for you in the very near future!  I mean, if we're being entirely honest, there won't be a ton of DIY projects, although I have a few up my sleeve.  I feel like that should be left to the professionals!

Stay tuned, Monday is our relaunch... YAY!!

 

Oversized Rustic Paper Flower Tutorial

Ok guys, here it is! Just as promised. If you missed my previous post about the baby shower I hosted, go check it out so you can see how amazing these flowers can look as a backdrop! 

So the first step is to go to Trader Joe's a million times and start collecting brown paper bags! (or you could always use butcher paper) You will want to make a couple different sizes of semi circles (see step 4) since the petals should get a little bit smaller towards the middle of the flower.

It is easiest to just knock this step out of the way and make a million petals at once. These petals SHOULD feel very rustic. In fact I had made a huge pile of them and my husband threw them all away because he though they were trash! 

You will be using a lot of hot glue! The great thing is you can manipulate each petal as you glue it in to form the shape you like best. It will all start making sense once the petals are layered on each other. Use the largest petals for the base and then add the smaller sized petals as you layer.

You're almost done! Just time for the finishing touch....

And here a  couple of pictures of how they were displayed. I personally LOVE the rustic brown because it grounds any colors you decide to use for other decorations. 

Go ahead and comment if you have any questions and I will be sure to answer them!.

XOXO- Christie

 

New Blog Layout! Whaddya think?

Well, you might have noticed, things are a bit different around here!  I revamped my blog and I am really excited about it. I was able to keep my Frenchie girl, who I love, but I gave her darker hair and blue eyes. It kinda fits me more.  I love the softer colors, too, and the solid writing is called "Parisian."  Isn't that perfect?  I thought so!
I thought I would try to help you find your way around the new design!  I know you're all pretty smart, but you know, it's Friday.  So here ya go:

Thanks for stopping by! Your feedback is always appreciated!  If you haven't followed yet, I would love to have you.  I love meeting new people, so always introduce yourself!  You can also check me out on Twitter and Facebook, definitely love my tweet buddies!  Thanks and stay tuned!

DIY Earrings!

Good Morning everyone!

I have a recent craft to share with you all today.  Like I mentioned, I have been into making jewelry lately.  I would love to make more, but this whole packing thing is really cramping my style.  But I managed to bust these out a couple weeks ago, before I started packing.  These were my first attempt at jewelry making, so be nice... :)

Here is what you need:

~ Two equal length chains

~ Charms of your choice

~ Head pins

~ Jump hooks

~ Earring hooks

I used  left over jewels from my old necklace I mentioned here.  I also used it here a bit.  And another craft that will pop up a little later.  I am really getting a lot of use out of this baby!

You're gonna love how super easy this is.  I probably don't even need to explain.

But don't worry, I will. :)  I chose charms to match, two of each, obviously.  I put the pretty flowered ones at the bottom and I worked up from there.  I would count the links to make sure everything was even.  You also would want to make sure that you are placing the charms evenly on each side. 

In my pictures I am just using the pins that came with the old necklace I had.  It doesn't look awful because you can't really see it once I am wearing them.  But I would suggest to use the proper tools and use the head pins.  It would probably look more professional. 

I also had left over chain at the top. Instead of cutting it, which I could have, I just put a jump ring and attached the earring hooks and let the rest of the chain hang. I figured it kinda went with the whole feel of the necklace. 

But what do you think?  I still think they are pretty.  And, like I mentioned, these were my first ones, so I think I can cut myself a little slack.  Just look out for things to get better and better!  Oh and since I am going back to LA, I cannot wait to go to downtown LA and get some beautiful stuff for jewelry!!  YAY!  Maybe an Etsy shop opening this summer.... Who knows!!

I am linking up to my parties here.  Except I usually only get to the first half of them and forget by Friday. Oops!

I hope you all have a wonderful day! 

Easter Subway Art

Okay, so I am a little behind on anything Easter, whoops!  I didn't really decorate here, because we are moving in a just a bit and I don't want to make more so that I have to pack more, ya know?  (If you are wondering why I am moving, stay tuned Friday for more of my story)  So last week sometime I made some Easter Subway art.  It was fun!  I can't wait to do more.  Then I spent a little time trying to figure out how to make them printable and gave up.  I just got tired of trying.  But I didn't want to not link them!  So here they are.  I wonder if you could still print them, I made them 8x10.  I don't have a printer, otherwise I would try it.  Sorry folks.  But if you have a printer and would like to try it, let me know if it works!  They are yours for the taking.

Easter Spiritual

Easter fun

This is the first one I made.  It looks a little busy to me.  But I think the more I pratice, and I intend to, I will get better.  I hope you guys like them! 

Oh and you are gonna want to check back tomorrow.  It is my VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY here!!  YAY, I am so excited!! So stay tuned to see what you can win!

I am linking this up to my linky parties here and Eisy Morgan's birthday bash party too.  Maybe I will win something.  I never win anything!  Goooooo me!

Have a great day!

Decopauged Canvas Decor

A week or two ago I got to share this project over at At Home with K.  Thanks Kindra!  Anyway I thought I would post it here in case any of you missed it!

So, I don't have a lot of money to spend or space in my house.  So although it can be more challenging, it is super fun to say 'yes, I made that!  And for like 2 bucks!'  So I am going to share with you my most recent finished project, what I made for my front entry way.  Here it is:

And now for the tutorial, really simple and inexpensive ladies! That is the best part!

Here are the materials I used:

1. Canvas board (size of your choice)
2. Black tissue paper
3. Old book (I used the same one as my last project!)
4. Modgepodge glue
5. Hot glue gun and glue
6. cardboard (not pictured)
7. I used the letter 's' for the finished project

I started by decopauging the canvas board with the black tissue paper.  Not neatly so it has a personality!  And trust me, I am good at not being neat. Then you let it sit overnight to dry. 

Then I proceeded to make a ton of little flowers for the heart.  You cut out a spiral.  It doesn't have to be perfect, but make it a circle, ovals don't work nearly as well.  Start at the outside and curl in. 

You will come to the end and it will look like above.  Add glue over the entire base and seal with the remaining flap of paper like below.



Yes, those are my dry hands! I wash the dishes toooooo much!

 May I suggest putting on a good movie and bustin' out these bad boys.  I just sat at the table by myself.  Not nearly as fun! 

Isn't it cute? I am sure you could find a ton of ways to showcase these beauties!

Voila!  My petite fleur! 

I cut out a heart shape on a book page.  I realized it was a bit flimsy so I attached it to a piece of cardboard I cut in the same shape.  So if there were any spaces, it would be another book page.  I glued all the flowers on with hot glue, starting on the outside and moving in to make sure I kept the flower shape.  I stuck them in there as tight as they would go! 

I don't have a picture, but I am sure it isn't that hard to figure out, I glued it to the decopauged canvas!  The great part about this project is that the heart could be any shape you want!  Like maybe a little bird, which are popular now, but with a cute material on it instead of the hearts.  It is all left to your style and imagination!

Here is how I used my finished project: 




My little picture wall in our entry way.

 And if you remember, I asked about where I should use my 'S', this is where she ended up!  What do you think?  And really, if I am being honest, this table never stays this neat.  There is always jackets, beenies, randomness there.  But it looks good for the pic! 

I am linking this baby up to all the parties on my linky page!

Guest Blogger ~ Jennifer at Vintage Gwen!

Hello everyone!  I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!  This weekend I am in Paris, so I have Jennifer at Vintage Gwen guesting for me.  Thanks Jenn!  Take it away....

Bonjour!!

I can't believe I've made it to France!!  Cyberspace counts right?

I'm so excited and honored to be Natalia's guest today!  I've enjoyed her creative and unique blog as I know you have.  She's asked me to share what I wanted and I thought a nice little spring project would be just right! 

I've been wanting to put something on my front door to welcome Spring.  I have a wreath but it's about 3 years old and a little tattered...thanks Oklahoma wind! 

I had this just hanging on my son's closet door.....

This is a pretty shade of blue but I'm quite fond of PINK.

So I gathered some materials:

Container

Flowers

Paint-Ballet Slippers

Fabric for Bunting....joining the bandwagon!

Jute

The trusty Hot Glue gun!

I started with the container first, knowing it would take several coats of paint as I did not use primer. So in between painting I made the bunting.....

Start with a small square piece of paper.

I folded it in half and then drew a line from one corner to the opposite corner. Do this on both sides.

This is what it looks like unfolded.



Then I folded back the sides or you could cut them off to get a triangle.

Traced on the wrong side of my fabrics. And cut.

I measured a little bit extra at the top so I could have a flap to fold over the jute.

Then just eyeballed a length of jute and started attaching the triangles.  5 triangles were going to be too many so I did 3.   *Tip: in decorating, an odd number of objects is more appealing then an even number.*

By gluing the flap it allowed for the triangles to be able to slide on the jute that way adjustments can be made.



Filled container with the flowers and tied on the bunting.  I wanted it to be off centered a little so I tied one end to the top of one of the rings.........

....and the other end to the bottom of one of the rings.

And wallah!!!  This was about a $10 project!!



Well now if only the weather would match my front door!!

What objects that you already own can you transform?

We'd love to see!

Thanks again Natalia!! This was fun!

She is so super creative!  Go check out her blog for tons of more crafty, DIY projects you will love.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!