Guest Post by Karah!

Good morning, everyone! Happy Monday!

Today's guest post is from Karah at the space between.

I will be sort of MIA this week getting our house ready to sell and moving to Charleston! Please enjoy these lovely ladies I have lined up for you all to enjoy over the next few weeks!

Be sure to leave them some love and check out their blogs! I will be back around the second week in February!

Interested in having a guest post on aCH? Contact me for details!

xoxo

Without further ado, I introduce to you Karah...

Hello, hello!! I am Karah and I blog over at the space between where I share my thrifty, DIY adventures.

After owning and renovating 3 1/2 homes over 8 years in the US my husband and I find ourselves renting on a Caribbean island. I know, what a pity. ;)

But for this pair of serious DIYers (think date night installing new HVAC duct work in the crawl space) going back to renting has been quite the change. And, I am finding myself quite the crafter (Blasphemy!) and actually really enjoying it. :)

Today I am so happy to be here at Lianne's and I'd like to share with you a fun little Valentine's Day project that didn't cost me a penny!

I recently finished a gallery wall project with only one screw.

As part of that project, I made this faux zinc letter B (another free project!).

Since the gallery wall is one big hanging teeter totter and the ribbon hanging the B is actually

very securely attached

just taped behind the frame with the HOME stencils in it, I had the idea that I could easily exchange that item throughout the year with something seasonal.

And, it ended up being a little pop of color too!

I'm sure you've all seen different versions of book page decor all around, and I figured I'd try my hand at it.

I started with a cardboard box and blank sheet of paper. Looks like it's time to stock up on dog bones. ;)

I went the elementary school route and just folded my paper in half, drew half a heart and then cut it out so it was symmetrical. As for size, you can do whatever works best in your space. My B is about 9 1/2" tall so I knew I wanted the heart about the same. The cut out is about 8 inches high and gets to the 9 1/2" with the overhang of the rosettes.

I measured inside the heart about 1 1/2" and then cut out the inside opening with my new favorite tool - the exacto knife. I don't know how I lived so long without one, that thing is the bomb!

TIP!!! Don't worry about your heart being exactly the same width all around. Once all of the rosettes are on they dictate the final shape.

Then I used a book I was going to donate. I don't advocate destroying books and I sincerely apologize to the author.

I do, however, believe in upcycling whenever possible and am always looking for ways to use things in non-traditional ways.

I just used my exacto knife to cut out full pages and then used the scissors to cut out circles.

1 - Once the circles were cut I just cut a spiral in each one. I ended up liking the look of two book pages together per rosette.

2 - Start at the outer tip and just roll away.

3 - And keep rolling.

4 - When you get to the center your roll will look similar to this and you'll be left with the little inner piece left over. And hopefully a little inner peace as well. ;)

When you let the whole rosette go, it will fall right into place.

Make a bunch, I ended up needing about 40 for my heart. I varied the sizes...sometimes I cut one circle out of the book page and sometimes I cut two slightly smaller circles. I wanted a very ... intentionally imperfect look.

I say that's better than unintentional imperfection, right?!? :)

I also spray painted by cardboard red with left over paint I had on hand. Have you all tried painting cardboard? It works like a charm. Need a backing for a photo or otherwise sturdy piece for a project where the edges won't really be seen...cut the cardboard to size and paint it up!

Then, for the heart, just start gluing on the rosettes.

My process was to put a dab of hot glue on the heart and then a dab on the "stem"of the rosette like the picture above and then just hold it down for a few seconds until it all dried. Some of the rosettes I needed to add another dab of glue on the inside to make the "petals" sit where I wanted them but this was just an exercise in glue, hold and repeat.

Easy enough and fun enough, the perfect activity during a little TV watching. From start to finish it was about 3 hours.

Here's what she looked like with all of the rosettes attached.

You can see from the bottom right of the pic above that I did do some last minute trimming. If any of the rosettes seem disproportionately big or have any edges that could use rounding just take the scissors and make it right.

I really did like the look without the paint, but I had the leftover spray paint and just had it in my mind that was what I wanted. You could really go either way...but I do love a good red tipped heart. :)

And a couple of close ups just for fun.

Once she was all together, I just hot glued a length of ribbon scrap to the back and hung her from the gallery wall.

To me she's just the right amount of Valentine's Day in our otherwise neutral colored wall.

What about you? What do you think? I'd love to hear your feedback, and see you over at the space between sometime soon!

Now, a big, phat Thank You!! to Lianne for letting me guest post over here while she's busy moving. I hope it is all going splendidly and I can't wait to see the new space they have in Charleston.