Hi there, fellow Daisies!  I’m back with you today to show you an easy way to use some of your kit items to create a desktop art piece that you can look at and enjoy each month.  How pretty is this?

You will not believe how super simple this was.  It took just about 20 minutes, start to finish, and looks beautiful sitting on my desk!  Here’s a quick walk-through of how to create your own..

First off, choose a frame that coordinates nicely with your decor and gather up some Cocoa Daisy goodness!  I wasn’t sure what I would want to use in my finished product, so I ended up gathering a bunch of items and spreading them all around me so I could see them.  As you can probably tell from the finished product, I didn’t use everything I had initially gathered.  But it’s good to have options! And one of the great things about this project is that it doesn’t have to be planned start to finish before you begin – you can sort of create on the fly. So make sure you have a lot of items to work with, more than you will probably use. As you can see below, I started with a background paper, two tags, leaves, alphabet letters, chipboard stickers, the wooden embellishments, the free November planner printables, and some sequins and cord from my personal stash. Many of these items did not make it into the project, as you will see, but they helped spark my creativity.

Now, although you don’t have to have your project figured all the way out before you begin, it helps to have an idea of what you might like.  I absolutely loved one of the papers that came in the 12×12 Memory Keeping Kit, the one with pale gray text on the whole page and leaves on one side.  I had an idea that might make a nice background for my piece, so I started by cutting that to fit.  No fancy measuring required – just use the glass from the frame as a guide!  Once done tracing the outline, put the glass aside (and be careful not to cut yourself!).

Cut your paper to fit and place it in the frame, then add the glass back, but behind your paper instead of in front of it. Replace the frame backing so that the glass is sandwiched between your decorative paper and the backing – that way, you’ll have it if you decide to use the frame in a traditional way again.

Turn your frame over so you can see the front again.  Time to start getting creative! Now, at this point, you can start adding any embellishments you like, but I wanted there to be a focal point of some kind.  I was looking at all the supplies I gathered, thinking I would use the alphabet letters to create a quote, when I suddenly noticed a journaling card with the perfect quote on one of the printable pages.  I decided to cut that out and laid it on a slightly larger colored background for contrast, then placed it above the midline and off-center for visual interest.

While I was cutting out the quote piece, I thought it might be nice to use some of the leaf, apple, and bird art from the printables.  So I sat down and started fussy cutting!  I thought these pieces would be nice to fill in along the bottom and sides of the quote block.  This is where you just start playing around, laying things down here and there until you’re happy with the look, then attaching it permanently with adhesive.My craft tweezers came in super handy here for placing the various cut-outs!

One thing I definitely recommend is creating dimension with layers.  I adhered several pieces directly to the paper with a thin layer of adhesive all over, but then I layered those pieces with additional cut-outs backed with some foam tape.  (The quote card is also adhered to the colored backing with foam tape). This really makes your art piece pop! Overlapping the pieces slightly gives it even more dimension.

To finish it off, I decided against the sequins I had originally gathered and went with some leftover glitter dots from the October kits instead.  They add just the right touch! And just like that, my piece was done.  Now I have this pretty motivational quote to help keep me in a gratitude mindset when the season gets hectic.

This piece was so simple to make but makes such a great impact – I’m thinking I might want to make a new one every month!  It will be fun to always have Cocoa Daisy on my desk as well as inside my planner.

I hope you decide to try a piece of your own, and I’d love to see it if you do! Tag me in the Cocoa Daisy Planner Fans Facebook group or on Instagram (I’m @teachplancraft).  Until next month – wishing you love and happiness this Thanksgiving! <3

xoxo Kristine