DIY Tiered Tray Set Painting

I was looking for some fun Easter craft supplies for my shop and discovered, tiered tray sets.  I decided to do one up myself to create some finished project photos and now I am ADDICTED!

Even if you're not super crafty, or great with decorating or short on space, these sets make it easy to create something lovely for the season (or everyday).

You simply paint and assemble the various dimensional elements and then place them with some little plants & knick knacks for a pretty themed look you can put anywhere.  I'd seen a few dimensional sets like these and just assumed you had to be some incredible detail painter to make them look good, but the secret is that they come unassembled so you don't have to worry about staying in the lines.  

I researched a bit and discovered that there were a few videos on YouTube showing some ways to paint them, but not very many and almost no blog posts.  I like to do a quick read and then jump in to a craft rather than watch 1/2hr long videos that have a lot of filler chatter, so I thought I'd put together all the best tips I learned (and some of my own) for doing tiered tray decorations.

Tiered Tray Set Painting Tricks

This particular set is for Easter & has these layered elements:

It's recommended to plan out your color scheme and group the elements by color to be efficient.  For mine I chose an off-white, sage green, butter yellow and chocolate brown:

I did all my painting on freezer paper (shiny side up) to keep things clean and no-stick.  

The trick to painting without brushstrokes is to use foam makeup wedges and dab the paint on.  Super easy and drip-free too:

To make it simple to do the little pieces like letters, put a strip of painter's tape sticky side up and put the pieces on it.  Then you can hold the tape rather than the pieces.  Less mess and easier to coat:

I gave all the light colored pieces a double coat of paint.  The trick to keeping the cut-in lettering nice & contrasting (unpainted) like the Matthew 28:6 here is to dab gently with very little paint in those areas and use a wet toothpick to remove any paint that does get in the grooves:

To smooth the finish, go over them gently with a high (fine) grit sandpaper.  If you want to distress them, sand a little harder.

When dry, I grouped all my elements back together:

The detail pieces for mine were self adhesive so I just peeled the backing paper off and stuck them in place:

You can seal them with a poly spray if you want - especially if using for outdoors.  I strung the banner elements on some baker's twine:

As someone who's free time is in short supply, I really loved how quick these came together and how fun it was to style them up.  I also like that they don't take up a ton of storage space out of season, unlike wreaths and bigger decorations.  

I used mine on a tiered tray, but they are also ideal to use in wreaths or turn into magnets.  I could also see adding some pretty ribbon loops and hanging them to make an Easter tree too.

I bought this lovely tray off Amazon here.  The quality is really nice for the price and it also came with the wood bead garland.  My faux plants and flowers were all from Hobby Lobby.  I know I can easily use them in other ways when it comes time to change the decor.  You can find this set and others like it in my shop here.  Happy decorating! 

Blooming Flower Pumpkin Decoration Tutorial

I am SO into pumpkins this fall.  And all the pretty red, gold and orange flowers of the season too.  The more ways to decorate with them the better!  I had a simple idea for mixing the two and decided to give it a go this week.  My Blooming Flower Pumpkin: 



This simple project turns a basic craft foam pumpkin into a beautiful bursting blossom that adds some extra decorative color to the harvest pumpkin crate I did a few years back:



It's a fun way to bring more texture & a little something different (that is quick & easy to make too).  I added my pumpkin to my fall front porch decor. And unlike the real flowers & pumpkins, that have to be tossed out in a few short weeks, this can be enjoyed year after year:

It's especially good when you're short on time to craft, like I am, but still want to make a little something for the season:

Materials:

- Craft pumpkin

- Silk flower bunches with small, medium & large blooms

- Hot glue gun

I got several bunches of large and small silk sunflowers & mums:

Plucked them all off their stems and fired up my trusty hot glue gun:

Starting with the biggest blooms, I glued them intermittently around the pumpkin - sticking the centers in the "seams" of the pumpkin so they'd lay flatter and gluing any petal edges that still stuck up.

Then I filled in the gaps with the mums and smaller sunflowers, trying to keep the colors & styles alternating, but leaving the bottom uncovered so the pumpkin would stand flat.  That's it!

Now my pumpkin is bursting with texture & color and can be enjoyed year after year:

Happy Fall!!

Easy Craft Pumpkin Flower Tower Table Decor

 It's October and that means pumpkin season!  My Pumpkin Flower Tower is a simple way to add some pumpkin decor that will compliment any space: put it on a mantle or console table, use as a centerpiece - it would even look cute on a bathroom shelf or counter.

I paired mine with some wine & pomegranate colored candles and my DIY'd Fall Patchwork Ribbon Sign for a little fall-themed entryway decoration.

Layering in silk flowers that compliment with your room's pre-existing colors means it's easy to work that tricky pumpkin orange into any decor.  

My kids say it's like having a beautiful cake out on display and I'm inclined to agree!

  
Materials:

- Trio of foam craft pumpkins, small, medium & large

- Silk flower bunches with small, medium & large blooms

- Charger or plate

- Hot glue gun

Remove all the blossoms from the stems and sort by size:

Remove the stems from the bottom and center pumpkins - gently twisting and then pulling removes them from most foam styles.  Or just cut them off.

Arrange the largest blossoms on the charger so that they'll peek out from under the largest pumpkin.  Add some hot glue underneath each one to hold in place.

 Add a circle of hot glue to the bottom of the largest pumpkin and set on top of the blossoms.

Hot glue the medium pumpkin to the top of the largest pumpkin and the smallest on top of that to make the full tower.

Put a circle of hot glue at the base of each flower for the middle row:

 and press them into the space between the pumpkin layers. Repeat with the top tier.

 Hot glue a few leaves from the floral stems here & there for a more natural look.

Now the tower is ready to display!

It's really helped make our foyer look fall festive and transition beautifully into the neighboring living room's wine colored walls. 

Now whenever anyone comes in, there's a happy fall look to greet them!

Fall Patchwork Ribbon Sign Tutorial

This year I am so excited for fall!  Normally I don't even think about putting out seasonal decorations until the "official" September 23rd date, but this go round I'm already whipping out the pumpkins & autumnal colors. I started with this new Fall Patchwork Ribbon Sign project and just LOVE the fall feel it brings to the house.

Not only is it easy to make, but it can be done in whatever size you want (and is the perfect use for ribbon scraps!).

I wanted to have lots of texture, print & color so I used an assortment of grosgrain, satin linen and burlap ribbons in lots of fun fall shades and designs:

It's really helped make our foyer look fall festive:

Materials:

- Wood Frame with some depth
- Craft foam (or foam floor mat)
- Assorted ribbons (mine are mainly from JoAnn Stores & Sugar Pink Boutique)
- Wood plaque
- Acrylic craft paint
- Card stock 
- Craft glue
- Tape/Fabric Fusion Permanent Tape
- Dressmaker's pins (basic silver flathead pins)
Optional: cutting machine like a Cricut

I started with a craft wood sign frame I picked up at JoAnn Stores that had an opening that was 6 1/2 inches high by 13 1/2 inches wide and had a depth of 1/2 inch.  I cut up an old 1/2 inch thick foam floor mat to fit inside as the base, trimming it to be slightly smaller to allow for the extra thickness of the ribbons.  Thinner foam can be stacked for different depths.  I used ribbons that were mainly 1 1/2 inch and 7/8 inch wide so they wouldn't have to overlap.  

Start by arranging the ribbons in the preferred order vertically and cut to a length that will wrap all the way around and over lap ends on the back.  Since my foam width was 13 1/2, I used seven 1 1/2 in wide ribbons and three 7/8 in lengths to completely cover the front. 

Tape the ends together at the back:

For the textured ribbon that tape won't hold well (you don't want the ribbon popping open during the next step!), I used fabric fusion tape that is doubled sided and has permanent hold power.  

This is how the front will look:

Time to make it patchwork!  Cut several lengths of other ribbons in a length that will wrap horizontally and overlap on the back.  Snake the first ribbon alternating over and under the vertical ribbons. 

Repeat with remaining ribbon cuts.  I did just four of various sizes, so it won't be a precise checkerboard, but more of a plaid kind of design.  Attach ends on the back like the first row was done.

Insert the ribbon block into the frame.  It fits nice and snug so there's no need to glue it to keep it in place.

For the center pumpkin design I painted an unfinished wood pumpkin plaque with some acrylic craft paint I had in my stash.

It dried nice & fast for the perfect background.

I used a free font called Good Feeling Script to create this script-style Fall png file:

It's easy to transform into a cut file.  I used my Cricut Explore and cut it out on some deep purple card stock (also from my stash):

Brush on some decoupage or glue on the back:

Press into place on the wood sign.

I was going to glue the pumpkin sign onto the front, but was concerned about the weight pulling on the ribbons. I figured out an even easier way to attach it: I used a few dress maker's pins around the bottom and top to "catch" the edges.  They were easy to press right into the foam and hold it in place perfectly.

The great thing about this project is you can customize it to match whatever colors or designs you have in the house and everything can be pulled apart if you want to reuse things for other projects down the road.  

I used mine as a tabletop decoration for our entryway, but it's pretty hung on the wall too.  Now we're ready to greet fall as it arrives!