Summer Archives - Pretty Handy Girl

art, arts and craft, kids art, Paintbrushes, painting, Summer, Tutorial

Easy to Paint Watercolor Daisies

Learn how to paint these watercolor daisies with this easy tutorial!

Easy to Paint Watercolor Daisies

Hello, Pretty Handy Girl Readers! Guess what? I found my box of watercolors. If you remember, last month I moved from Seattle to NC and things were a bit crazy there (still are, actually.) I’m back with another watercolor tutorial and this one is easy. Well, actually, they’ve all been pretty easy so far, right?

As a reminder, we’ve learned how to paint pink peonies:

Then I taught you how to paint lavender in watercolor:

Now let’s learn how to paint these daisies. Call them coreopsis. They are the cutest little flowers and so easy to create.

Let’s get started!

How to Paint Watercolor Daisies

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Step 1: Create a basic star flower shape

Using a medium-sized brush, dip your brush in the water and then the color, and paint a few runny lines in a star shape. This is going to serve as the base for our flower. Don’t worry if the petals don’t look perfect right now. We are going to define them a little more at the end. Remember, watercolor is supposed to be kind of runny and imperfect.

Step 2: Create more petals deeper in color

Working with the same brush we used in Step 1, grab some of the same watercolor paint. We want a richer, deeper color here so don’t use as much water. Paint a smaller star shape on top of the star shape you painted in Step 1. Try to go in between the petals previous petals. We are creating dimension and depth of the flower.

Step 3: Create the center of the flower

Now we need to define that center part of the flower. Take a smaller brush and add a bit of yellow/orange color to it. Dot it in the center of your flower, using kind of a stippling motion. You can do this several times to create a deeper, darker center. Don’t fret, it should look somewhat messy and imperfect.

Step 4: Define your petals

Finally, let’s take some of the petal color and define our petals a little more. You will want to use a smaller round brush for this. Dip a bit of water on the end of your brush, then dip it in the petal color. Define the ends of a few petals by outlining them. I don’t think you need to outline all of them. Use your artist’s eye here and determine what looks good.

That’s it!

Put on some music and just let your brushes carry you away for a little bit. Forget about the world for a moment. We could all use a little escape.

Thoughts on Paper:

Watercolor paper really does make a difference in how your final art looks, but you can still just use regular paper until you find the time and budget to buy some. In other words, don’t let not having the right materials hold you back. Watercolor painting is very relaxing and therapeutic.

If you make a page of these little flowers, you have yourself a little piece of frameable art for your walls. I hope you are enjoying these tutorials. Let me know if you are enjoying these watercolor tutorials in the comments below.

Stay safe out there, my friends! I’ll see you next month!

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

September 23, 2020/0 Comments/by Karen Decor Hint

art, arts and craft, kids art, Paintbrushes, painting, Summer

How to Paint Watercolor Lavender

I’m back with another watercolor flower painting tutorial. Learn how to paint lavender (an easy flower to paint!)

How to Paint Watercolor Lavender

I thought it would be fun to continue on with our watercolor summer flower tutorials! Last month, I taught you how to paint pretty pink peonies. For this month’s tutorial, you’ll be learning how to paint an even easier flower – lavender!

Lavender was one of the first flowers I attempted to paint when I started with watercolors. It’s literally a few straight-line stems and some stippled brush dots and you’re done. I’ll give you all the details below.

Let’s get to it!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Let’s make some lavender! Once you get the hang of these flowers, feel free to use different colors. Let your imagination be your guide.

Step 1: Create the stem

I’m using a small brush here and a brownish-black color. (Feel free to add some green if you like.) Use the tip of the brush to create a series of lines all coming to a single point at the bottom, like a stem. If your stem ends up too light, just add more watercolor paint and go over the line again.

Step 2: Create the lavender petals

Remember when I said these are one of the easiest flowers to paint? You won’t even believe this!

All you need to do is grab a medium-size brush. Add a little purple watercolor paint. Using the side of the brush, dot it along each stem (called stippling in the art world). Start narrow at the top and go a little wider towards the bottom. You’ll start to see the makings of your lavender! Imperfection is good here.

Step 3: Add some dimension

Now we want to add in a little dimension. Load up your brush with dark purple or blue watercolor paint on your brush. Create more stippled side brush marks as we did in Step 2. This will darken your lavender and create some depth.

Another variation that you can create is a bushy lavender plant. Instead of starting with a stem, create a series of green lines as your lavender bush. Paint the watercolor lavender at the tops of these lines. Then darken the bottom of the plant with a darker green to create some depth.

And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial for painting watercolor lavender.

Next month, I’ll show you another watercolor tutorial. Pretty soon, we’ll put together all our flowers into one giant piece of floral art ready for framing. See you next month!

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

July 22, 2020/1 Comment/by Karen Decor Hint

art, arts and craft, kids art, Paintbrushes, painting, Summer

How to Paint Watercolor Peonies

Painting with Watercolors - Peony Flowers

Summer is here and I’m in the mood for some summer flowers. Instead of gardening – I’m going to teach you how to paint watercolor peonies!

How to Paint Watercolor Peonies

I love painting with watercolors because it’s so forgiving. The watercolor artwork is not supposed to be super perfect – it’s those little imperfections that give your piece so much character!

Today, I thought it would be fun to give you a little lesson in painting watercolor flowers, like some easy peonies. It’s really a step-by-step process and I’m breaking it all down to show you how simple this really is.

You definitely get better at painting with watercolors the more you do it. In just one session, you will be amazed at how much you have improved and you won’t believe that you can paint this good!

Painting watercolor peonies is great way to keep your mind active and positive in these unprecedented times. All you will need are some watercolors, brushes and watercolor paper. I ordered everything off Amazon so no need to leave the house.

(Here’s a little secret though – you can even use printer paper if you’re just starting out! It may ripple a little, but don’t worry about it!)

This is a great activity for the kiddos too – so tell them to follow along and let’s dive right in!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

I ordered this set of brushes and paints and it’s been the best thing ever! The brush quality is good and the watercolors are vibrant. If you are serious about watercolors, you will want to purchase the watercolor paper eventually – it’s thicker and slightly textured and your artwork will look really good on it.

Instructions:

We are going to make beautiful watercolor peonies. I will show you the colors I used, but once you get the hang of it, you can use whatever colors you want! The steps are the same.

Step 1: Create the center of the peony

Using a medium-sized brush to dip into a light, watery peachy pink color. With your brush, create a circular backward “C” shape on the paper – it doesn’t have to be perfect! In fact, it shouldn’t be. Keep this part light and airy. This is going to form the center of our open peony flower.

Rinse your brush in the water and wipe it on the paper towel.

Step 2: Create the petals surrounding the center

Now grab a darker pink color with the same brush and form little curve shapes all around the “C” shape we created in step 1. These shapes should be rounded, like little smiles, and different in size. You are basically enclosing the center you created with these ‘smiles’. Some of the shapes should go out – like petals opening up.

To give the flower more dimension, paint one petal in the front that’s more rounded in shape. It looks like it’s facing you. You can also add two smaller frown shapes in the back of the center to give the illusion of more petals in the back.

Step 3: Add the stamen

To finish, take a very small watercolor brush and a black or brown color and paint some small dots in the center. Then add a few thin lines coming down from these dots to represent the stamens. This final step will really help your flower come alive!

All you need to do at this point is add a light green line down from the flower as your stem. Leaves are optional but are simple to paint. Create a few strokes of green with a medium-sized brush under your flower.

Once you get the hang of it, just changing the shape of the center can create a whole new flower look!

And that’s it! Aren’t these watercolor peonies so beautiful?

Paint a whole page of these beautiful flowers and frame it after they dry. I could sit here and paint all day – the time passes so quickly when I’m watercolor painting. I love these activities that help your mind focus, because I always feel so refreshed afterward!

If you guys like this tutorial, I’d happily create more watercolor flower how-tos in the future, just let me know in the comments below.

Thanks so much for reading, see you next month!

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

June 24, 2020/3 Comments/by Karen Decor Hint

arts and craft, Crafts, DIY, kids art, Landscaping & Gardening, Summer, Upcycling

Kid-Friendly Craft: DIY Hummingbird Feeder

Happy Spring Everyone! What a difference a few weeks can make. Like many of you, I am grappling with the uncertainty of this challenging time. My children are now home with me every day, for the foreseeable future. In Seattle, life has completely changed. Almost everything is shut down, even playgrounds are closed at the moment. And so, I’ve been focused on creating little projects that my kids and I can do while stuck at home. Let’s talk about DIY Hummingbird Feeder.

I came across these DIY hummingbird feeders with jelly jars and was instantly inspired! I’ve had a hummingbird feeder on my Amazon wishlist for quite some time. I’m not sure why I never considered making my own instead. This turned out to be a very kid-friendly project and they even learned a little bit about hummingbirds.

The only issue was, I didn’t have jelly jars. So I improvised a bit and used these 1oz McCormick spice jars. I emptied out the contents and washed them out thoroughly. These little spice jars are the perfect size for those dainty hummingbirds.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

1 oz Spice Jars or Jelly Jars
Jute Twine
Scissors
Goo Gone
Sugar and Water – (to make the hummingbird food, recipe below!)

Instructions:

Follow these steps to make your own hummingbird feeder.

Step 1: Prepare your spice jars

Thoroughly wash your spice jars and lids with hot, soapy water. You don’t want any lingering spice odors or tastes that will turn off potential hummingbirds. I also removed the stickers from the jars with a little goo gone.

McCormick spice jars have a lid with holes in it, covered by a snap-top. All you need to do is rip off the snap-top section, we don’t need it. Hummingbirds will use their long beaks to drink the nectar from each hole.

Step 2: Make Hummingbird Nectar

The recipe for making Hummingbird nectar couldn’t be easier. It’s just sugar water – but you need to know the correct ratio. Too much sugar can be harmful to hummingbirds and too little sugar doesn’t provide enough calories for them.

I followed the recipe from the Audubon website. It’s ¼ cup of refined white sugar and 1 cup of boiling water. Mix until the sugar dissolves. Cool the mixture and then fill your spice jars to the top. Now, just replace the lid with holes in it.

Step 3: Attach Jute Twine for Hanging

I used some jute twine to create a little loop for hanging. Tie your knots tight and make sure the lid is secure.

Now just hang it up somewhere outside and wait for those hummingbirds!

We haven’t had a visitor yet that I could photograph, but I know those hummingbirds are on the way.

Thanks so much for reading and being here today. Stay safe, stay healthy!

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

Liked this project? Check out these DIY Hanging Beaded Vases for another upcycled craft!

April 22, 2020/1 Comment/by Karen Decor Hint

decor, Decorating, dining room, DIY, fabric, Gift Ideas, Home Decor, July 4th, party, Sewing, Summer, tablescape, Tutorial

DIY Oilcloth Drink Coasters

Tutorial for making these DIY oilcloth, water resistant drink coasters for Summer!

DIY Oilcloth Drink Coasters

Hi there! I’m so thrilled to be back today with this super quick and easy project. The weather in Seattle has been totally amazing lately and it’s got me thinking about summer. And, summer entertaining is on the brain! This project will look great on your patios and outdoor spaces. Bonus, it’s totally water resistant too. Let’s take a mini-break and learn how to make these adorable DIY oilcloth drink coasters for gifting or entertaining.

What in the world is Oilcloth?

Oilcloth is a type of fabric. It has vinyl on one side and kind of a soft mesh of cotton on the other side. Vinyl has a slippery and plastic-like feel to it. The best part about vinyl is you can wipe it clean and it’s water resistant! This makes oilcloth a perfect fabric choice for outdoor items like tablecloths, COASTERS, beach bags etc.

The other great thing about oilcloth is that it just happens to be made in a multitude of funky patterns and bright colors. This fabric was made for Summer! When you get a minute – run a google search for ‘oilcloth fabric’ and you’ll see what I mean. Such pretty patterns!

So this is the perfect little accessory for all those Summer fiestas and BBQ’ s you have in the works. Or even for gifting away as little favors. Tie a cute burlap string around them and presto! You have a lovely handmade housewarming gift.

Perhaps you own a pool or live near the beach? Or know someone who does? These coasters make a fantastic DIY gift idea for them.

Here’s the best part: these stylish oilcloth coasters took me 10 minutes to make – start to finish.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Oilcloth Fabric – I chose these hot pink stripes from Fabric.com
Sewing Machine
Pinking Shears – these are simply scissors with a serrated edge. They are used to cut a zig zag pattern in fabric to prevent fraying.
Tape Measure (for measuring your coasters to a perfect square)

Instructions:

Start by folding your oilcloth in half. We need two exact squares to make one coaster (both front and back will be the vinyl, water-resistant side).

Step 1: Measure out a perfect square on your oilcloth fabric.

I measured approximately a 4 inch square coaster. (It’s totally up to you on sizing. Most drink coasters are between 3-5 inches square. For fun you can also cut circles instead of squares. Use a bowl or circle template to make a perfect circle.)

Step 2 : Use your pinking shears to cut out your measured square.

Since your fabric is folded in half – you can pretty much cut two squares at once. You can also use regular scissors here and even them with pinking shears after sewing.

Step 3: Line up your two squares and sew them together vinyl sides out.

Use use small binder clips (another little sewing trick I use a TON) to hold your two pieces of fabric together while sewing. I wouldn’t suggest using pins because the holes will be visible even after removing them.

A straight stitch is fine, but feel free to try something fun like a zig zag stitch.

Tips for sewing and working with oilcloth fabric :

Because oilcloth is vinyl and kind of plastic feeling, it will stick under your presser foot. To combat this, use two hands to feed the coaster through.
An alternative is to purchase a Teflon presser foot – they are fairly inexpensive and won’t stick to the vinyl fabric as easily.
DO NOT IRON OILCLOTH. It will melt and the mess won’t be pretty. If your oil cloth is wrinkled, lay it out and throw some heavy books on top for a few days. This usually presses the wrinkles out. Oilcloth also “releases” more wrinkles when warmed up a bit. Therefore you can try laying it by a sunny window. Don’t microwave your oilcoth. 🙂

Step 4: Use your pinking shears to clean up the edges of your coasters

Simply snip along the edge without cutting through the seam to straighten and clean up the ends.

Guess what? All done! See how fast it was making these DIY oilcloth drink coasters?

These coasters look so cute and are perfect for Summer! Pin this image to share with a friend:

I don’t know about you, but I may need to mix up a batch of margaritas tonight. I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial!

If you enjoyed this tutorial, you might want to check out my tutorial on DIY frayed napkins. They also make a nice gift and pretty setting for your tables. And for even more inspiration – be sure to check out Brittany’s amazing backyard and patio reveal, what a beautiful space!

You may also like this tutorial for making mosaic tile coasters…

…or DIY personalized wood slice coasters.

I’ll be back here next month and I’m looking forward to connecting with you all again soon.

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint . I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths , sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands . I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest , Twitter or Instagram.

April 17, 2019/2 Comments/by Karen Decor Hint