Forever Treasure~" Makings of a Keepsake"

What can you do with a couple of un-finished wooden frames, a little dab of craft paint and glue?

  A HUGE bag of colorful tissue paper.

 Pretty ribbon and wrapping paper?

 Stop here if you're not the crafty type, but wait... if you can tear paper and brush it on with glue... you might want to stay put!

 Is there anything more precious than the arrival of a new baby?

I'm guessing that was a resounding NO out there!

 I agree whole heartedly! Recently, I attended a baby shower for a dear friend who through the miracle of adoption is now the proud new mom of a precious baby girl. I was just one of the many happy guests who were excited to share in the joy of this adoption. The gifts were piled high at one end of the room. Imagine a sea of pink, pink and well, more PINK!

As the "new mom to be" opened each gift,we all ooh'd and ahh'd over every stitch of fluffy, fuzzy, soft, cute as a button, darling and adorable outfit. We all cried when she unveiled a wooden rocking horse built by my brother in law, painted by his wife and new mom's brother. 

 As she un wrapped each gift friends were standing by taking care of what was from who and disposing of mountains of gift wrap into a large CLEAR plastic bag...

(Which caught my eye half way through the gift opening). 

 My mind began to wonder away from Diaper Genie's, baby wipes, midnight feedings, and hand-made afghan's ( just for a minute or two, honest) over to how I was going to get that big bag of  ART SUPPLIES( I mean trash ) into my hands and home safe and sound for when an  inspiration hit! When it was time to say good-bye, our hearts were filled with joy and good wishes for this new family.

That's not all that was full! I just knew I had to bring all that lovely paper home so I asked the guest of honor if I could "take if off of her hands" and she was quick to say YES! Once I was home (with my treasure) it wasn't long before I remembered I had un-finished wooden picture frames in my "stash "... So I pulled them out, gave em a dusting off and a nice base coat of ivory craft paint.

I decided a collage using the paper from her shower would be a fun way to re-use it and make a sweet keepsake.

My daughter got in on the fun too and here is what we came up with! 

My inspiration came from the invitation for the shower. I cut it up and applied it over the tissue paper designs. Some of the paper had all the sweet words you think of when a new baby is near so it was perfect for my project. Nicolette liked the playfulness of the animal printed paper so she made them the focus of her frame.

We even managed to tie in some of that pretty ribbon by applying it to the outer edges of each frame~ 

Don't you just love those TINY baby footprints?

                                       

Polka Dots too!

That's what KEEPSAKES are all about ~

Craft confession time: I had never done a collage like this before. I did a bit or research to see what kind of glue I should use for this little project. The secret ingredient is a Matte Medium called Liquitex. It's a glue and sealer all in one and perfect for a collage project or preparing canvas for acrylic paint.  It's easy to find in your local art and crafts store.

 I used a small sponge brush and applied the glue to the frame surface then placed the tissue paper on the frame giving it another swipe with the glue to hold it in place.

Drying time: a good 24 hours!

Easy and Fun!

What have you been inspired to do lately?