Funky Father's Day Photos
With father's day sneaking upon us, you guessed it - I'm hear to sing the praises of a handmade gift for the special dad in your life! I mean, what man wouldn't want a quilted tie or macrame laptop case to waltz into a business meeting with? But seriously - men can be slightly tricky to buy gifts for, let alone make one. I'm here to help! Put down the frills and pick up some rugged supplies to make a unique and loving gift to hold a special memory for your man.
Photos = good. But a regular old frame can get boring. Here are two ideas for creating your own unique photo displays that will be candy to your dad's eyes!
Old book& twig frame!
Using some simple and easy to find supplies, you can create a colorful hanging for a favorite picture, guaranteed to brighten up the walls of any boring old office! Funky and eco-friendly! Gather up an old book, twigs, scraps of fabric and get cracking on this easy and addictive picture frame.
You will need:
- An old hardback book cover
- Paper towel
- Paint
- Twigs
- Wire
- Stamps
- Hole punch
- Glue
- Fabric scraps
What to do:
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- Tear book cover apart so you have 2 pieces (I like to leave the torn edge rough!)
- Use a gluestick to adhere a paper towel to the book cover for texture
- Paint your favorite color of acrylic paint onto the paper towel.
- Use a decorative stamp with a different color paint to add a few designs to the edges of the piece.
- Once paint is dry, adhere photo in desired position.
- Break twigs to size and arrange to create a frame around the photograph. Use a pen to mark 4 holes at each 'corner', then punch holes.
- Thread wire through the holes in a criss-cross fashion to secure each corner of twigs.
- Grab a handful of fabric scraps and make a ball in the palm of your hand. Holding it tightly, begin to wrap wire around the ball in all directions to hold the fabric in place. Keep working until you are satisfied with all the pieces tucked in, and the shape is the way you want it.
- Attach fabric ball to the frame with a wire loop or jump rings.
- Create a wire loop to hang the frame by twisting a length of wire and securing it in the top holes.
Artsy (but easy!) photo canvas
(insert image lovecanvas)
If you shy away from the canvas aisle at Michael's because you're "not a real artist" (which you are anyway, and we will have words about this later if you try to dispute it), then grab that 40% off coupon and make a beeline for a nice big blank canvas to work on. Also stop by the paint-and-arty-stuff-aisle for some texture paste. This will be messy, fun and totally cool looking! You may not want to give it up for his office ;)
You will need:
- A canvas
- Texture paste (also called impasto medium/modelling paste)
- Acrylic paint
- Enlarged photos
- Brads
- Embellishments
What to do:
- Using an old plastic knife, spread the paste all over the canvas, playing around with direction to get a yummy texture or design.
- Once the paste is dry (can often take several hours), use slightly watered down acrylic paint to cover the canvas. On my canvas I used a pink for the first coat, and then after that was dry, a blue. Play around here to find a color and combination that you love, even if it means painting 7 layers of paint!
- Attach photos using double sided tape (or similar), then poke holes in each corner with an awl or other sharp object and insert the brads to secure the photos.
- Embellish canvas with words or other chosen decorative elements! On my canvas I used chipboard letters and hearts, ribbon and rub-ons.
Both of these projects would be fun to do alone or with the kids helping out (or creating their own alongside you), so send dad off for some 'alone time' this weekend and bust out the art supplies ready to make him a gift he won't soon forget!
Emily :)
