Butterfly Cloches
Capture a Victorian cabinet-of-curiosities vibe—minus all the hunting and gathering—with faux butterflies. To create the vignette shown here, we applied a technique featured in the book Design*Sponge at Home to a graceful glass dome ($125; jaysonhomeandgarden.com). Using a serrated knife, cut a one-inch thick circle piece of Styrofoam into a five-inch circle. Next, cut a nine-inch circle from black velvet. Pull the fabric over the Styrofoam until taut and affix underneath with straight pins. Using our photo as a guide, cut pieces of 22-guage wire to various heights that fit within the dome. Place a dot of superglue on one wire end before sliding it into a butterfly's body; hold in place until dry. Repeat for each butterfly. Finally, insert the wires into the Styrofoam base, then top with the glass.
String-Art Trophies
Begin by painting a blank basswood plaque with two coats of semigloss, allowing one hour of drying time between coats (from left: Valspar paint in Schooner, Mystified, and Montpelier Wedgewood, $2.98 for 8 oz.; lowes.com). Let dry overnight.
Step 1: Download our rabbit, horse, or steer template, resizing as necessary to fit your plaque (from left: 12"W x 16"H, $12.99; 9"W x 12"H, $8.99; 13¾"W x 18"H, $15.99; woodcrafter.com). Print and cut out.
Step 2: Center the shape on your plaque and tape it down. Following the marks indicated on the template, hammer 3/4-inch brass nails 1/4 inch deep into the plaque (you'll need between 50 and 80 nails for each animal); then tear away the paper.
Step 3: Double-knot the loose end of a spool of 0.035-inch waxed cord ($5.97 for 210 feet; mainethread.com) to the bottommost nail. Working clockwise, stretch the cord to the next nail, loop around once, and pull taut; repeat for all nails to form the animal's outline. After you return to the initial nail, continue stretching and looping, working across and diagonally at random points, to fill the outlined shape. Once you are satisfied with your critter, tie a double knot to the nearest nail and cut the cord.
How to Make a Paintbrush Vase
Blogger Camilla Fabbri gives used paintbrushes a new lease on life with this fanciful centerpiece. "I love the way the colorful bristles look," says Fabbri, an Evanston, Illinois, artist, "and the whole thing takes just minutes." Simply space two rows of plain rubber bands around a tall, cylindrical vase, then tuck brushes (Fabbri used about 40) inside the bands until the tools completely surround the vessel.
Paint-Stick Lampshade
Transform a basic shade with paint sticks.
Those hardware-store stirrers can do more than just blend semigloss. Instead, use them to ring any cylindrical shade that's up to 14 inches tall.
Step 1: Measure the circumference of your shade to determine how many paint sticks you'll need. Each one is approximately 1"W, so for our 40"-circumference lampshade, we used 40 sticks.
Step 2: String up a length of twine with a drop cloth underneath. Dunk the unnotched end of one stick into a can of semigloss paint (we used Benjamin Moore's Cedar Grove). Secure the unpainted end to the twine with a clothespin. Repeat with remaining sticks, varying the heights of the paint lines. Let dry for four hours.
Step 3: Place your lampshade upside down on a flat surface. Apply a line of hot glue along the length of one stick's back side, and adhere it to the lampshade, placing the notched handle end flush against the top edge (the ends of the sticks may extend past your shade's bottom edge). Repeat with remaining sticks, placing them side by side until the lampshade is covered. Finally, flip it over and position your shade on a pendant- or table-lamp base to really brighten a room.
More Home Decoration Tips: If you want to know more about home decoration tips, please refer to Girls Bedding Blog to get more ideas.
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