Handmade How-To: DIY Golden Centerpiece

Gold Leaves Centerpiece via Happy Hands Project

We had an abundant supply of dried leaves around the neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, and I thought, why not transform these supposedly useless things into something useful? If you’ve read about my addiction with gold paint, you’ll understand why I came up with this DIY. I need to spray gold paint!

This is super easy, you’ll have a great centerpiece on an otherwise boring space in no time.

Here are the things I used:

  • A bunch of full, dried leaves (make sure they’re not torn!)
  • Gold spray paint (I used Pylox, but feel free to use another brand)
  • Newspapers
  • Wide-mouthed jars in various sizes and heights (I used 3)

Here’s how to make a simple centerpiece like I did:

{01}
Collect dried leaves. Select those that are not too small, but make sure you have a variety of sizes. I collected a lot but ended up selecting about 20. Oh, and it also helps to have an eager beaver little helper with a bag. Don’t ask me, she put that headband on her head saying it was her ‘crown’.

Gold Leaves Centerpiece via Happy Hands Project

{02}
Select the best leaves – use your judgement here. I retained those that were not too twisted or coiled. I also took some thin and wide ones.

Gold Leaves Centerpiece via Happy Hands Project

{03}
Set up your spray painting area! Make sure you are in a well-ventilated place and cover the floor with newspapers. Lay your leaves down and get your paint ready by shaking it for about 30 seconds.

{04}
Start with short bursts of paint directed to your leaves. Just spray lightly at first, moving around horizontally until all your leaves are gold. I kind of did a triple coating because I want my leaves to be rich gold.

Gold Leaves Centerpiece via Happy Hands Project

{05}
Leave your painted leaves to dry, which may take about half an hour to an hour, depending on how many coats of paint you sprayed. When they’re fully dry, turn them and start spraying the other side.

{06)
The fun part and finale! Gather your jars and start filling them with gold leaves. I found out that it’s nicer to use leaves of different lengths so that some stay in while the others stick out. It’s also nice to combine straight leaves with slightly curved ones.

Gold Leaves Centerpiece via Happy Hands Project

There you go! You can place it in your living room or dining table, or fill a shelf with lined up jars. You can also swirl some fairy lights around the jars for that Christmas vibe. I hope you’ll enjoy making these as much as I have!

Gold Leaves Centerpiece via Happy Hands Project

 

Etsy Exclusive: Holiday Gift Tags

Christmas is getting closer!

We are all waaay too busy preparing for a trip next month, plus I got all these ideas for Happy Hands Project that I can’t wait to share. I got a couple of DIYs up my sleeve, too, which you will see in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, here are 3 gift tag designs that I have on my Etsy shop. These are instant download files, so you wouldn’t have to wait to get your hands on them. These tags will definitely make your holiday gifts extra special. I’ve been playing with brush lettering lately and that’s how I came up with these chalkboard style tags.

By the way, the ‘Faith Hope Trust‘ brush lettering wall art is still on sale in the shop for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

Holiday Gift Tags via Happy Hands Project

Padayon: Katha Magazine’s Auction for a Cause

Lettering and Watercolor via Happy Hands Project

Lettering and Watercolor via Happy Hands Project

I am very fortunate to be able to take part in Katha Magazine‘s online auction for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. I’m amazed at the unbelievable generosity of these artists who pledged their works to help out.

This week-long auction which started today, will run until the 24th of November, 2013. I made a lettering artwork mixed with watercolor specially for this event and the winning bidder will receive the original artwork. I hope we can all work together and make this noble cause a success. We are all still very heartbroken by the recent tragedy and are doing all we can to send help to our brothers and sisters down in Visayas. Join the bidding by clicking ‘Bid Now’ on the Auction Catalogue.

Help for the Philippines: Faith. Hope. Trust.

Faith Hope Love Print via Happy Hands Project

Reading the headlines from the past few days have been very heartbreaking. Typhoon Haiyan (known as Yolanda in the Philippines), the strongest typhoon that hit the Visayas region of the Philippines, left a trail of devastation. Thousands have died and those who survived were left homeless, hungry and cold.

The Philippines has had its fair share of natural calamities, but never to this extent. With this amount of destruction, the victims need all the help we can give.

Last night my husband and I were contemplating on how much assistance we can afford as contribution to help the victims in hard-hit Tacloban and its neighboring towns. It was also last night when I came up with this brush lettering, and I’m offering this as an instant download over at my Etsy shop. 100% of the sales will be forwarded to the Philippine Red Cross. If you don’t have an account on Etsy, just send me an email at pauline (at) happyhandsproject (dot) com with your email address and I’ll send you a Paypal invoice. You will then receive the artwork through email.

Faith. Hope. Trust.

I guess during a time like this, these are the only three things that can get us going. I hope you can help me spread the word. Together, we can help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

Going Green: Calligraphy for the Little Green Dot Workshop

I am so happy to finally be able to share some photos from The Little Green Dot Workshop, Coconut Oil for Skin, Hair & Food! It is one of my favorite blogs here in Singapore and I am so thrilled to be able to share bits of my creativity with the latest workshop. During my search for eco-friendly recipes and methods, I stumbled upon Little Green Dot, and it has been my go-to resource for all things green ever since.

Calligraphy for Our Little Green Dot via Happy Hands Project

Chalkboard Lettering for Our Little Green Dot via Happy Hands Project

Yep, that’s me with all the hair. I haven’t written with traditional chalk for ages (like high school, which is synonymous to ages) so it was a refreshing lettering project for me. Because of this, I’ve always been on the look out for discarded plywood in the neighborhood (still unlucky) and looking forward to have my own chalkboard at home.

Chalkboard Lettering  for Our Little Green Dot via Happy Hands Project

If you’d like to have your own copy of the recipes from the workshop, there’s a free copy available for download! You’ll get to see more photos of the event as well. Oh, and if the photos can’t say it all, watch the Little Green Dot Workshop Video to see all the wonderful artistic elements coming together that created such an interesting collaboration.

All photos from www.ourlittlegreendot.com.

Life is a Song. Are You Singing Along?

If the  quote below is true, I guess my current soundtrack would be a very fast-paced dance song. And yep, I’m ‘singing along’ but I’m getting a bit breathless from trying! For the Moms who read this – do you remember when the old-time parents used to tell us that we should be prepared when we have our own kids? Do everything you want to do, go where you want to go, because when you start having kids, it’s game over?

Life Is A Song Calligraphy via Happy Hands Project
I don’t agree with ‘game over’ (I love being a Mom and enjoy every minute of it) but my toddler who just turned two has been challenging my stamina lately. A few weeks ago, we were at a play gym for a complimentary class. It was a wonderful mommy-and-daughter bonding time. She was very enthusiastic and absolutely loved the place. All the kids and their moms were in place, seated together in a circle. Oh, we were seated quietly, too – for maybe two minutes max. She was up running around and exploring all the other equipment in the gym.

The best part was storytelling. She loves stories and is very fond of bedtime reading, but at the gym, music was blaring and she would rather dance around to the songs rather than listen to the story! All the kids were seated, as always, while she dances in the middle of the circle. She was dancing without a care in the world! I didn’t try to restrain her or anything. I just sat back and watched, and reveled in one of the happiest moments of my life.

What song is your life playing right now?

Julia Grigorieva’s Whimsical Art

Are you ready for some magic? I am starting the week off with a fabulous art find from Russian artist Julia Grigorieva. I guess I have always been fascinated with whimsical artworks ever since I was young (not much of realist, sorry!) so this kind of creativity always has a moving effect in me. As a kid I am all eyes and all ears watching fairy tales and fantasy which probably explains why I am always attracted to anything ‘magical’.

Julia Grigorieva does paintings and illustrations for children and adults alike. How I would want to get my hands on the children’s books that she has oh-so-beautifully illustrated! And if you want something for free, she is generous enough to have 2 seamless Christmas patterns for download which are perfect for the coming holidays. Below are a couple of her paintings that we can feast our eyes on. Enjoy!

Julia Grigorieva via Happy Hands Project

Want to see another amazing artist? A print of Hillary Henslee of The Painted Arrow was featured here.

Calligraphy Wedding Invitations

I am very, very excited to show you something new! I’ve added a Calligraphy section to my Etsy shop, and I’m working hard to come up with more items to fill it up. This is one of my absolute favorites, and I’m going to add more styles in the months to come. Here is the first of many (fingers crossed!) wedding invitation styles that will be available here at the Happy Hands Project. And yes, I have a lot of plans for next year and they’re just swimming in my head… so I need to organize every single thought and put each one out there!

Okay, I know that I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say this again. If I’m getting married now, I’d love to have this for my wedding. I think there’s something very intimate about handwritten wedding invites. This is one of life’s most important days, and I believe it deserves some handwritten elegance.

Calligraphy Wedding Invite via Happy Hands Project

I really had a great time conceptualizing the calligraphy for this invite. I’ve been practicing a lot lately, and I am very comfortable in this writing style because it’s very close to my natural handwriting. By ‘natural’, I meant writing with a regular ballpoint or pencil. I’m so glad I’m finally able to share this!

You can always send me an email if you have any queries – ask me anything! You may order this directly through email, or through Etsy. If you or someone you know is getting married, I’d love for you to help me spread the word!

Free Desktop Wallpapers? Yes, Please!

Hi everyone! I’m quite busy preparing a calligraphy post today – a new service I’m very excited to offer! I’m still up to my neck with lettering and logo projects and I can’t wait to show you the latest ones.

I did take a break, though. One moment I was working on Illustrator… the next moment I’m on Pinterest. Well, we all need a bit of eye candy, don’t you think? I desperately want a new desktop wallpaper so I scoured lovely blogs and could not decide between these two.

Patti Murphy Designs Free Desktop

Breanna Rose Free Desktop

Aren’t they fabulous? You can download yours here and here.

P.S.
I hope you’ll check back in the next couple of days for a new calligraphy service I’ll be offering!

Calligraphy Recipe Cards: Etsy Exclusive

I finally gave in and started offering printed items on my shop. First up will be these set of 12 recipe cards!

Calligraphy Recipe Card via Happy Hands Project

This started out as a personal project of mine. I love to cook and bake, but I just don’t have it in me to whip something up from scratch. I need recipes. Easy, quick ones. But they’re everywhere – bookmarked in my browser, scribbled on a notebook, typed on file. More often than not, I couldn’t find what I was looking for.

I remember my Mom had these recipe cards typewritten (yes, typewritten) on index cards and we refer to them all the time. I’m sure she wouldn’t give them to me (Mommy?) so I decided to design a recipe card with my calligraphy. I’ve printed quite a few and thought, I should share these. So here they are!

Calligraphy Recipe Card via Happy Hands Project

I hope you like them as much as I do! Check them out here.