Overdue but here is the bamboo flooring tutorial.  This was a very simple DIY, consisted of putting the floor together so it won’t move when laid out; however, as I was doing research for this post I came across something that might actually work just as well (will explain below) and no assembly required.

Items needed:

Bamboo posts – I got mine for $2.00 each at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off.  I bought 38 and my floor measures 7′ x 7′.
Jute – Also bought from Hobby Lobby at 50% off for $1.98.

Directions:

First lay out a little section of posts.  I assembled mine in groups of : 11, 12, 13.  When you’re dealing with bamboo posts, no two are the same so you’ll want to lay them out where they lay nicely together.  Some are very nubby and crooked.

Excuse my iPhone photos again.

Next, take your jute and weave it under and over each post.

When you get to the end, pull enough to go back the opposite direction in the same pattern.  This time you’ll go over the posts that you went under on the first time and vice versa.

When you get to the end, tie the start and end pieces of the jute together, knotting them a few times.  I left mine about 3 inches long and just tuck them between the boards when laid out.

You are going to do this 2 more times on the same set of posts so again in the middle and one more time at the other end.  I found that standing over them and weaving the jute through was the easiest.  The entire project took me about 30 minutes.

I am now able to store mine up against the wall without all of the posts falling or rolling everywhere.  Quick and easy DIY and will add a new look to your photos.  I hope you enjoyed it.

My finished product:

I know not everyone has a Hobby Lobby so I was doing some research on where to find bamboo posts and came across bamboo fencing. It appears this will be fairly close so those of you that don’t have Hobby Lobby (or just don’t feel very DIYish), that may be a great option.

As always, enjoy, have fun and be creative.  For more tutorials, click here.

Until next time,

Kristen

My sisters and I were out shopping last weekend and I came across a decorative table that was on sale.  I said to my younger sister, “Oh my, I could easily get a couple of props out of this!”  She looked at me like I was crazy, ha!  I didn’t end up buying it that day because of the price but the more I thought about it, I have spent close to that on a newborn hat for photography, crazy!  So I went back on Monday and snatched it up.  This project was super easy!  It was already assembled and assembled by the legs screwing in to the top.

1. My husband and I unscrewed the legs and he then removed the screws from the top of the legs (where the legs met the top) with pliers.  I had taken the drawer to Hobby Lobby earlier that day and matched it up perfectly to pull knobs (for drawers). I  think the knobs cost me around $8 for 4 (half off).

2. Next, I hot glued the knobs’ screw and inserted them into the existing holes since the existing holes were quite a bit larger than the screws attached to the knobs.

And that was it, so simple!  I now have 3 props!  I have a darling little bed, a drawer and a prop for older kiddos to sit on and it’s even large enough for a newborn (with hands on baby at all times, of course.)

My results from 2 of the 3 props.  We’ll see if I can use the 3rd prop from this piece of furniture tomorrow.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this very easy DIY project.

As always… enjoy, have fun, and be creative

xo,

Kristen

Click “like” if you like this post and feel free to share on Facebook and pin as well.  For more tutorials click here.

I had received a gorgeous fabric garland from Oldchateau and beautiful headband from lil’ owl knitts and knew that I needed something to go along with the vintage feel of these items so I decided to make a linen canopy.  In this post I will show you how I achieved the look to the project but also tell you what I would have done differently after putting it to use.  It can definitely be improved.

**Please do not judge my iPhone pics for this tutorial, hehe.  It was just handier than the big Mark II as I was assembling this project.

Items Needed (you can find everything I used here at Hobby Lobby, except for the fishing wire BUT if I had it to do again I wouldn’t use fishing wire.  But for tutorial purposes I will show you how I used it.)

Embroidery Hoop – you can find this in the sewing section at Hobby Lobby.  I used the 10″ and it was $.99.  You could certainly get a larger one for a larger canopy.
Hot glue and hot glue gun – Floral section Hobby Lobby
Ruffled sewing trim – you can find this in the ribbon section at Hobby Lobby.  I purchased 1 yard for $1.99
Linen fabric – In the fabric department at Hobby Lobby.  I purchased 1 yard for $11.99 (on sale)
Fishing wire – I used fishing wire to tie it to my backdrop stand but if I had it to do over I would not use this.  Will explain later in my post.

2. Lay the fabric out so the raw edges are on the outside.  Fold the fabric in half so the raw edges/frayed edges are touching.  The only thing you need to worry about is the top lining up.

3. Next, you are going to grab your embroidery hoop and hot glue gun.  Place the connector of the hoop at the back.  Starting with the front of the fabric, start hot gluing it to the hoop leaving a 2″ lip so you can wrap over the hoop later.  I left a 1″ lip and it wasn’t enough so to be safe, allow 2″ at the top.  Glue the fabric around the hoop until  you get to the hoop connector in the back. You will have excess fabric.

4. Again, apologizing for the poor quality photos…gotta love that grain. You will end up with something like the photo below.  With the excess fabric, hot glue it together first where it’s folded and then hot glue it to the hoop like shown below.

5. Once the hot glue has dried it is time to hot glue the lip of the fabric to the inside of the hoop.  Starting in the front, little by little, apply hot glue to the inside of the hoop and fold the lip over.

6. Starting at the back of the canopy, hot glue your ruffled (or whatever you choose) sewing trim.  You’ll want your raw edges to meet in the back.

There you have it!  I cut two small slits, one in the back and one in the front and threaded fishing wire through to hang from my backdrop stand.  What I would suggest instead of doing that is hot gluing some fabric strips to the inside of the canopy and tying to your backdrop stand that way.  While I love how my project turned out I wish that it was anchored some way instead of appearing to be suspended in thin air.

My final image:

I hope you’ve enjoyed this DIY project and really think you can do some fun things with this.   The larger hoops and different fabric would make for some fun canopies.

As always… enjoy, have fun, and be creative.

xo,

Kristen

Click “like” if you like this post and feel free to share on Facebook and pin as well.  For more tutorials including my floor used in this shot, click here.

I get a lot of emails asking where I get my white floor from and the answer is, I made it.  Well… “I” didn’t make it, the hubs did.  I have to give him full credit for this one because I just told him what I wanted, bought the supplies and he brought it to life.  Such a great man!

Items needed:

Wood planks – We bought 8ft planks from Lowe’s.  If you are on-location I recommend going with the 4ft planks so you can easily transport them.  I use 7 planks for my floor.
Valspar paint – Lowe’s – You will need an undercoat color, the color that will show through (mine is chocolate brown) and then a top coat color (mine is a cream color)
Valspar Weathered Crackle Glaze – Lowe’s
Paint rollers – 3-4
Paint tray – 3-4, just the cheap plastic ones

Now that you have all of your items, it’s time to get busy.   Vaslpar has a section at Lowe’s with all of their faux finishing techniques and you can pick up a pamphlet there for easy reference (recommended) or click here for reference as well.

Directions:

1. With wood planks laid out, apply a base coat of Valspar paint according to label instructions. Allow to dry 4 hours or overnight before applying Weathered Crackle.  Make sure you paint the sides of your boards the same color as the bottom coat.

2. Using a premium quality short nap roller of nylon brush, apply an even coat of Weathered Crackle to the surface. Uneven application will cause unwanted variation in the cracking pattern.

3. Let Crackle Glaze dry 1-4 hours before applying top coat. Waiting longer than 4 hours may require re-application.

4. Using a premium quality roller or brush, apply a flat latex paint in the color of your choice. Do not overwork this coat. One application in a single direction works best.

There you have it, easy peasy!  This project is pretty fail proof and if I had time I’d love to do some funky colors like red base with turquoise top, fun!  Or with Valentines coming up, doing a red crackle would be fun too!  Ok, I need to stop… my hubby will kill me as we’re cleaning out our house to move.  Hehe!

My finished product:

For the background I just use my wall and use Pure Photoshop Action’s blanket fade action to blend the floor to the backdrop.  If you’re on-location just pick out a blanket or some fabric that is close to the same color as your top coat and hang that from your backdrop stand.

As always, enjoy, have fun and be creative!

xo,

Kristen

Click “like” if you like this post and feel free to share on Facebook and pin as well.   For more tutorials, click here.

I was going through my prop closet for an upcoming prop sale and came across these Ofelia blankets that I had dyed a while back.  I’m quite addicted to the texture but the color choices are limited in the stores and spring was right around the corner so I wanted something colorful for those spring babies.

Items needed:

White Ikea Ofelia blanket
5 gallon bucket
Rit dye – you can find this in the laundry detergent section at Walmart or online for many more color options
Rubber gloves

Instructions:

I used the 5 gallon bucket method.  Fill the bucket 3/4 full of hot water.  Drop your dye in the water; the more dye you use the darker the blanket.  I recommend 3/4 of the bottle because it will fade during washing.  Slowly place the blanket into the water, little by little until it is fully saturated.  With gloves on (yes, it will stain and it takes forever to come off your hands and nails, ha!) stir the blanket every 3-5 minutes for 45 minutes.  When removing the blanket I placed the bucket in the bathtub and squeezed the water out of the blanket and then rinse bathtub immediately.  Next, hang your blanket to dry.  I hung mine outside overnight and it was dry the next morning, or you can place in the dryer since we are in the dead of winter.

Washing instruction:

Wash blanket on cold and it will fade a tad.  Just repeat this process again for for the color to remain permanent.

My results:

The colors are endless, be creative and enjoy!

Until next time…

Kristen ]]> http://www.sonkissedphotography.com/blog/archives/2521/feed 15 http://www.sonkissedphotography.com/blog/archives/2217 http://www.sonkissedphotography.com/blog/archives/2217#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:13:58 +0000 Kristen http://www.sonkissedphotography.com/blog/?p=2217 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

When you’re having trouble pulling focus from a newborn’s eyes, try focusing on that little shadow under the nose as it’s on the same plane as the eyes (when shooting at around 2.0)   Happy Tuesday!

I was wandering about Hobby Lobby as I do a few times a week and I had an idea pop into my head.  Often times my ideas are a bust (haha) but wanted to try it anyway.  So in this post I will show you how to create an inexpensive newborn prop.

Items Needed:

Basket – Hobby Lobby 50% off : $10.00
Greenery – Hobby Lobby 50% off: $9.00
Floral wire – $2.99
Wire cutters (Shown are scissors but I was silly to think that would cut wire.)

You will want to purchase a basket that you can easily attach the floral wire to.  I guess you could always super glue it but I wanted something that I could remove and reuse or change out the greenery so I went the wire route.

Next, I disassembled the greenery and began attaching it to the basket using the wire.  Each row you will want to do in the opposite direction of the last row so your greenery fills in nicely on the basket.  Make sure the wire is pressed firmly to the inside of the basket so it’s not poking out.

This is my end result.  The project took me a total of 30 minutes from start to finish.  I picked up a strand of holiday berries and can’t wait to play with those too!!

Enjoy, have fun and get creative.

Press “like” if you like this post.  Until next time…

Kristen ]]> http://www.sonkissedphotography.com/blog/archives/2089/feed 5 http://www.sonkissedphotography.com/blog/archives/1944 http://www.sonkissedphotography.com/blog/archives/1944#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:30:54 +0000 Kristen http://www.sonkissedphotography.com/blog/?p=1944 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

I thought I’d share how I anchor my props, another SAFETY MUST during your newborn and baby sessions.  The reason for this post today is because I had sweet Campbell in the studio (blog post coming soon) and I noticed right away that he had a very sensitive startle reflex.  Every time I touched him, he would startle.  I recognized this right away, which is key and  I wanted to post this while it was fresh on my mind.  What if Campbell were to startle and topple the bucket over?  With the weights, it wasn’t possible.  And if at all possible, use mom or dad as a spotter in addition to anchoring your props.

During every newborn session I anchor my props.  Why?  Because you can NEVER be too safe!  I purchased a set of ankle weights long ago from Target for $15.00.  I wanted them to be pliable so I could position them nicely into any prop.  Below are a series of images showing the weights anchoring the prop.  If you do this, great.  If you don’t, you should.  Safety is always key.

Final image.

If you found this post helpful, please like and share.  Safety awareness with newborns is so important.

Hanging shots… there’s often a debate about them in the photography industry.  There are very few professional photographers that do hanging shots well.  The baby should be and look very relaxed when this shot is done.  When you see the amazing hanging shots from tree branches, etc the babies are NOT really hanging from the branch… or if they are, they shouldn’t be!  Those are composite shots (where a shot is taken of baby in the sling with hands on baby and then a shot of the sling tied to the branch with nothing inside.)  Ahhh, the beauty of Photoshop, right?  Well not exactly… many photographers do not know this and attempt this shot without proper safety measures.  DO NOT hang a baby just for the sake of hanging a baby, please.

Those of us who specialize in newborn photography know how important safety is.  I can assure you that every shot/pose I do is 100% safe.  So the point of this post is to show how to properly and safely use my favorite hanging cocoon from lil’ owl knitts.  Jen knows the importance of a newborn’s safety and her products are constructed with high attention to detail and stability.  When I started working with Jen I mentioned that I wanted some type of cocoon to do hanging shots because although I can do them with a scarf, it is much, much harder.  And just a personal preference, I like the hanging cocoon much better.

Not every client wants this shot.  I always ask “Is there any shot/pose you can’t live without?  Is there any shot that you don’t care for?”  I do the hanging shot by request only and honestly, I get a lot of requests for it.

So here we go:

1. Make sure baby is in a deep sleep.  You NEVER want to attempt ANY type of hanging/prop shot when baby is awake.  It’s just not safe.  Period.  If I can’t get the shot, I can’t get the shot and move on.

2. Test the cocoon for stability (these are SOOC, by the way so don’t judge ) When putting the weight in the sling, I bounce it up and down several times.  I know that Jen’s slings are 100% sturdy but I always, always do this before ever putting a baby in the sling.

3. Pose baby in hands and have mom/dad slip sling under baby

4. I’m putting finishing touches on the pose so baby is looking at me.

5. ALWAYS, always have a spotter.  We know that the sling is strong but you can never be too safe.

6. Final product

I hope this helps when making your decision about doing hanging shots.  I 100% stand behind Jen’s products and personally have over a dozen in all different colors. 

And remember.  SAFETY FIRST

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