Authentique Bountiful Home Decor Trio on a Shoestring

Hello, Friends!  Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday,  is on the horizon. It’s easy to spend a small fortune on home decor for that happy holiday.  But, you can make this Authentique Bountiful Home Decor Trio on a shoestring. Your home will look lovely, and you can use the extra cash to purchase more paper pretties!  See how I look after you?  Best of all, these projects are super easy to make in a day or less.

Count Your Blessings Altered Bottle: Bountiful Home Decor on a Shoestring Project #1

I have a thing for glass jars and bottles.  The Closet of Shame has a shelf dedicated to jars and bottles in interesting shapes and sizes. I use them to store supplies, of course. But they also make great home decor.

This lovely altered bottle began its life as a maple syrup container.  After removing the label, I washed and dried it thoroughly.  Originally clear glass, I altered it with alcohol inks.  If you’ve not done this before, here’s how:

• Begin with a clean, dry glass surface.
• Gently squeeze your chosen colors of alcohol ink into a felt blending tool.  It doesn’t take much.  Just a few drops of each color. I worked with Red Pepper, Pesto, Terra Cotta, Caramel, Purple Twilight, Sunset Orange, and Butterscotch Inks.  You can add all these colors in a cluster on one blending tool
• Now, tap the applicator all over the surface of the bottle.
• To get in small crevices, I dripped drops of color directly onto the glass.
• Tap Copper Mixative Alcohol ink directly over the raised edges of the glass.  Use a clean blending foam for this.

Let the ink dry thoroughly. Alcohol ink dries quickly.  So even though I had so many layers of ink on my bottle, it was completely dry in about an hour.  I simply matted the sentiment from the 6″ x 6″ bundle and glued it to the bottle front.

TIPS:

• To avoid stained hands, wear gloves!
• Work over a non-stick craft sheet or several layers of newsprint.
• For easy clean up, try using hand sanitizer and paper towels.
• Use in a well ventilated area.
• Do not re-use the blending felt.  It’s flammable.
• Do not dry with a heat tool! Alcohol ink is flammable!

Dress up the top of the bottle with ribbon, flowers, stickers and fussy cut images from the Bountiful Paper Collection.   The quote strip is from the Bountiful paper header.  I never throw these away.

Gather with Thankful Hearts Chunky Canvas: Bountiful Home Decor on a Shoestring Project #2

From time to time, Michael’s puts out bins of merchandise that have been ridiculously marked down.  I pulled this chunky little 4″ x 4″ linen canvas from one of these bins.  It cost me all of 70 cents!  Creating this project is a real time bargain, as it will take you under 30 minutes to complete.

• Mat a 3.75″ square of Bountiful Seven paper on kraft, light blue and brown cardstock.
• Run Scor-Tape along the back and attach to the center of the canvas.
• Fussy cut the sentiment medallion from Bountiful Eight.
• Ink the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Back with waste chipboard or foam tabs.  Glue to the leaf panel.
• Sponge a chipboard flourish with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Sponge again with Versamark Embossing Ink.  Heat emboss with Wow Ultra High Copper Embossing Powder. Glue to the left of the sentiment medallion.
• Glue a couple of burlap leaves on top of the flourish.
• Paint some metal charms (these have been in my stash forever!) and glue over the leaves.
• Top with a burlap string bow and button.
• Add acorn stickers (also from the bargain bin!) to the corners.  If you don’t have acorn stickers, you can easily use buttons, metal corners or nothing at all.

These rustic nail heads were already on the canvas.  But you could add thumbtacks for very little money.

Gather Shadow Box Frame: Bountiful Home Decor on a Shoestring Project #3

While I was out walking last Saturday, I discovered that one of our neighbors was having a yard sale.  Yippee!  I snagged this 9″ x 11″ x 1.75″ shadow box frame for a dollar!  Happy day!  Now, it was a bit of an ugly duckling…dusty, dirty and chippy…but I was able to give it the swan treatment with a little paint, paper and fun elements from my stash.

• Begin by washing and drying the shadowbox.  Of course, if yours is new, you can skip this step.
• Next, paint all the wood surfaces with Folk Art Coffee Bean Paint.  Dry thoroughly.
• Then, dry brush on some DecoArt Media Burnt Sienna Fluid Acrylic Paint.  I typically put a small puddle of paint on my craft sheet, pick up a small amount, brush it off on the craft sheet, then brush lightly over the paint.  I was going for a faux wood grain finish, not complete coverage.
• Now, repeat this step using American Crafts Black Chalk Paint.  Again, use a light touch.  It takes a little practice, but if you make a mistake, just paint over it!  No stress!
• Cut strips of Bountiful Five paper slightly smaller than the shadowbox frame face.  Ink the edges with Black Soot.  Miter the Corners.  Glue in place.
• Finish by brushing all the wood with Tim Holtz Vintage Collage Medium.  This not only gives the paint a lovely aged appearance, it also protects it from moisture and dust.

The Inside Scoop

• Brush a pile of acorns with Prima Copper Crackle Texture paste.  Again, just dry brush this on.  Set them aside to dry. These will fill the base of the shadow box.
• Cover the mat with the acorn print from the Bountiful 12×12 Collection Kit.  Cut the center out with a craft knife.  Sand the edges lightly and ink with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.
• Cover the open area with the paisley print from the reverse side of the acorn print.  To make it fit over the opening, mat it on cardstock.  Glue in place.
• Add ribbon and copper brads.  These are both old…they’ve been in my stash forever.  But you can substitute from your own stash.
• Die cut little banners from scraps and string across the top.

• Mat the “Grateful” sentiment on the same cardstock colors.  Back with waste cardboard or foam tabs and press in place.
• Die cut Tim’s Tattered Leaves from Bountiful Scraps.  Distress. Glue in the corner.
• Punch the “Gather” medallion from the 6″ x 6″ bundle.  Mat on brown cardstock that you’ve punched with a scallop punch.  Glue over the leaves.
• Fill the base with the acorns.  I glued the bottom layer in place to help keep the acorns from shifting.  Just be sure to glue where it won’t show.

Authentique Bountiful Home Decor Trio: Closing thoughts

On a side note…do you know how hard it is to photograph through a glass frame?  If any of you have tips for doing this, it will be greatly appreciated!

Bountiful is a beautiful collection for fall.  You can create a lovely grouping with these three items.  I’m sure if you look around your home, you can find items that will help you create your own Bountiful Home Decor on a shoestring.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy