Thursday, January 24, 2019

Adhesive Backed Tile DIY {EAsy}

This peal and stick tile update DIY project turned out so stinkin' cute! My daughter was looking for an affordable way to tile her kitchen back splash. With two dogs, a cat, a bunny, and a toddler running around, she didn't have a lot of time or energy for messy grout projects, and she needed to be able to drop everything in an instant, if the baby cried.


She went online to do some research, and found peel and stick tiles (check the bottom of this post for affiliate links to similar products). Her builder grade kitchen had basic drywall back splashes, and she wanted something more attractive and easy to clean.


She was able to do her entire back splash in one afternoon!


She ordered a brand called Smart Tiles, that came six 12" x 12" tiles to a pack. She needed two packs for her project.


The dimensional tiles seem to be a vinyl type of material, and are very thin.


You can see how flexible the tile sheets are.


The tiles are designed so that the pattern interlocks from tile sheet to tile sheet.


My daughter found the instructions to be very easy to follow. It couldn't have been easier. Start by cleaning the wall with a good degreaser. Next, use a level or chalk line to create a guideline. Then, measure and cut. A utility knife and metal ruler make it easy to create perfect cuts. Cut out holes for outlets before installing the tile. Finally, fold back half of the paper backing and carefully align the tile. Once you are happy with the placement, press into place, while peeling back the rest of the adhesive backing. Rub your hand across the tile sheet, to make sure you have good adhesion.


The finished result was beautiful.


There are so many different tile patterns and colors available -- I seriously plan to try this in my own kitchen!

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy this post about decorating with a brown sofa.


If you enjoyed this tutorial, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have scheduled. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on daily on Instagram. Feel free to link today's post to your favorite social media sites.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Amanda

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Comic Book Rose Wedding Bouquet

On Tuesday, I shared how to make paper roses, using measuring spoons to form each petal. Today, I am sharing how to turn those roses into a unique and beautiful bridal bouquet -- Dr. Who style!


To create the bouquet, I ordered a couple of Sonic Screwdrivers from Amazon, and bought a couple of Styrofoam spheres from a local craft store. I bought two sizes of each item, because I wasn't sure which would work best. After some experimentation, and consulting with the bride, I chose the larger Sonic Screwdriver and the six inch diameter Styrofoam sphere. The "screwdriver" would be the bouquet's handle, and the sphere would be the base of the bouquet.


The comic book page roses would be adhered to the base, using hot glue.


I started by flattening one side of the styrofoam base. This was done by carefully pressing one side of the sphere against a hard flat surface. Next, I took a steak knife and "drilled" out a hole for the top of the "screwdriver." Since the screwdriver actually opens up and lights up, I was careful to insert the handle so that the part that opened could open, and the part that lighted up could be seen from the top of the bouquet.


Next, the roses were attached to the styrofoam, starting at the bottom, and working up.


The bride wanted plain blue roses interspersed with the comic roses, so those were added, as well.


I was careful to use all predominately orange petals, or all blue petals, etc, when making each rose, and was mindful of how the colors were distributed throughout the bouquet.


After all the flowers were in place, the bottom of the bouquet needed to be addressed, as flattened Styrofoam is not terribly attractive.


I cut wide grosgrain and satin ribbon into six inch lengths and glued them into loops, as shown above.


These loops were then glued to the bottom of the bouquet, in alternating layers. To give the piece a nice finished look, I punched a large scalloped circle from a piece of the blue paper and cut a circle out of the center of the punched paper the same diameter as the collar of the screwdriver. A slit was cut into one side of the circle, so it could be slipped over the collar. This piece was then glued into place to cover the raw edges of the ribbon.


The bride loved her bouquet.


There were even enough extra petals to make the groom a matching boutonniere!


The wedding was beautiful, and the happy couple, a year and a half later, are the proud parents of a sweet baby boy!


This lovely couple may not live in the pages of a graphic novel, in their day to day life....


But they are definitely living their happily ever after.


If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy this post about how to make a flower garland.


If you enjoyed this tutorial, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have scheduled. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on daily on Instagram. Feel free to link today's post to your favorite social media sites.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Amanda

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Make These Comic Book Roses!

Happy New Year to all my readers. I hope your holidays were joyful. In spite of being taken out for most of the month of December by a nasty flu bug, ours was still a joyous Christmas. Our oldest son proposed to his girlfriend on Christmas Eve, and she said yes!


Needless to say, I have weddings on the brain, going into 2019, so I thought I would share a tutorial for paper roses that I used to make a wedding bouquet for the daughter of a dear friend a couple of years ago.