Robin Egg Wreath

This weekend I put together a new wreath for my front door.  I had an idea of a citrus themed wreath, but when I stumbled upon several items at Michael's I decided to go another direction.

Come back tomorrow for an easy tutorial on how to make this Robin Egg Wreath.

Linking up to:

The DIY Project Parate at The DIY Showoff

Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple

It's So Very Creative at It's So Very Cheri

Make it Monday at The Persimmon Perch

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Just Something I Whipped Up Monday at The Girl Creative

I Made the World Cuter Today at Making the World CUTER

Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered

Made By You Mondays at Skip to my Lou
DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog
Toot Your Horn Tuesday at Silly Little Sparrow
Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented
Talented Tuesday at My Frugal Family
Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie
Make It Yours at My Backyard Eden
Look What I Made at Creations by Kara
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs
Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home
Sharing Ideas Wednesday at The Trendy Treehouse
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Be Inspired at Room to Inspire
Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family
Idea Sharin' Wednesday at Women Who Do it All
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursday at Shabby Chic Cottage
Thrifty Thursday at Tales of Bloggeritaville
Get Your Craft on at Life as Lori
Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous
I'm a Creative Cat at Poppies at Play
Remodelaholics Anonymous
Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home
I'm Lovin it Friday at Tidy Mom
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Friday Fun Finds at KoJo Designs
Spring has Sprung at Fun to Craft
Plan a Punkin Seed at Punkin Seed Productions
Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk's Interiors
Check Me Out Saturdays at A Vision to Remember

Tuesday's Tutorial

Last Monday, I featured these adorable bird nest decorations.

The idea for these bird nest plaques came from the catalog Country Door.  As promised, here is a quick tutorial of how to make them.

Step 1:  Purchase 2 wood plaques.

Step 2:  Paint the outside of the wooden plaques.

Step 3:  Cut music sheets to fit slightly inside the 2 wooden plaques.  Several people have asked...I found the music sheet paper on E-bay.

Step 4:  Ink the outside of the music sheets to give them a semi-antiqued look.

Step 5:  Using Mod Podge, attach the music sheets to the plaques.  Let dry.

Step 6:  Using a paper towel, lightly apply a brown paint to the sides of the plaques.  With a clean paper towel, wipe off excess paint.  This will continue the semi-antiqued look.

Step 7: Hot glue bird nests to the front of the plaques.  I purchased my bird nests (instead of making them) from Wal-mart.

Step 8:  Hot glue the bird eggs to the inside of the nests.

Step 9:  Paint the bird nests a light blue to match the outside of the plaques.

Step 10:  Using a stencil brush, blot brown paint onto the blue eggs.

Step 10:  Display and enjoy!

This post is linked to Tuesday's Tutorial at Hope Studios.

Funky and Chunky

I love rings that are what I call...funky and chunky!  However, they are hard to find and typically cost a good 20 to 40 buckaroos.  

I've been looking for the perfect pieces to make my own, and I finally found them. Aren't these adorable?

  

The best part...these pieces were only $3.99 a piece.  I think that is pretty stinking good.  So, with the help of some glue and ring bases, I made these two beauties.

 

Although I wanted the BIG and chunky pieces, you could choose smaller ones and make these very easily.  So, for the breakdown on cost: $4.50 each ($3.99 for top circular piece, $.50 for ring base, free for glue that I had on hand).  I think that is pretty good!  Can't wait to wear them.

If you're interested in creating your own rings, this will be my Tuesday Tutorial next week. 

Burlap Stenciled Curtains

My sister and I did a little switcharoo several weeks ago.  We were both tired of our living room furniture, so we decided to trade.  I am in love with my new look, and best of all...it was FREE!  The only issue was curtains.  My sister didn't have curtains, and I have a massive front window that needed a little privacy.  So, I decided to put my new sewing skills to good use.  Forgive the pictures, I took them at night (as you can tell by my sleepy dog who would not budge).

I purchased a stencil that I really liked and matched the paint colors to the blue and brown.  The burlap alone looked too bland, but the stencil gave it the needed punch.

The funniest part of this project, is that I made a slight boo boo purchasing 16 yards of burlap instead of 16 feet...it was one of those days!  Needless to say, I'll be doing a lot with burlap over the next year(s).

I'm linking to the following parties:
It's so very creative at It's So Very Cherri

Make it Monday at The Persimmon Perch

Just Something I Whipped Up Monday at The Girl Creative

Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

I Made the World Cuter Today at Making the World CUTER

Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered

First Project of the New Year at Sanctuary Arts

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog

Toot Your Horn Tuesday at Silly Little Sparrow

Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented

Talented Tuesday at My Frugal Family

Make It Yours at My Backyard Eden

Look What I Made at Creations by Kara

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs

Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home

100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence

Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Chic Cottage

Show Off Your Stuff at Fireflies and Jellybeans

Thrifty Thursday at Tales of Bloggeritaville

Thursday's Treasures at Treasures for Tots

Get Your Craft On at Life as Lori

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous

I'm a Creative Cat at Poppies at Play

Remodelaholics Anonymous

Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home

First Friday Party at Crafts in Bloom

Funky Junky's Saturday Night at Funky Junky's Interiors

Check Me Out Saturdays at A Vision to Remember

New Year Challenge

I promise I haven't forgotten about you all.  In fact, I've thought numerous times about posting.  However, I just haven't made it the priority I want it to be.  Anyway, as I am sitting in my hotel room listening to the ocean...well, honestly I'm listening to the city sounds of Honolulu (but I wanted to make you a little envious).  Okay, back to my reason for posting...

This Christmas I received handmade gifts from a sorority sister.  She created tile coasters and label name plates.  These gift were extremely thoughtful and included several crafts I wanted to make myself.

She sparked an idea for me...hence, my New Year Challenge.

I've decided for the entire year, I will only give homemade gifts.  Obviously, every portion of the gift won't be handmade, but they will all include some sort of a self-created aspect.

I'm really excited about this challenge.  I definitely think it will challenge my creativity and time management (considering I will spend more time making the gift than I would purchasing one).

I'll keep you posted (ha, literally), as I plan to post all of my creations here on this blog.

Personalized Wreath

This year I've enjoyed checking out all of the wreaths people have created and displayed on their blogs.  Every year, I (wait, let me rephrase...my mom's handyman) hang plain green wreaths with red velvet ribbons on each one of my windows.  I love the look, but I wanted something new for my front door.  I've seen numerous wreaths created from picture frames, and it sparked an idea for me.

I decided to personalize mine, as I always enjoy a great monogram.  I purchased the frame (without glass) in the clearance/as is section for only $8.  The garland (attached with florist wire) was left over from my outdoor decorations.  The monogram was $18 at Hobby Lobby, but luckily I got it on a 50% off sale week.  Lastly, Mom created a bow to adorn the top.  Overall, a $17 wreath that I think turned out pretty well.  I'll certainly be reusing the frame throughout the year to see what I can create with it next.

Christmas Decorations

So, if you know anything about my mom...you know Santa throws up in her house annually (beginning in October).  Her decorating is insane, and I often wonder why and how she does it.  I just don't feel like I have the energy and desire to decorate as much as she does.

I usually put up the same snowmen, same trees, same decorations yearly and don't even think twice about them.  This year, I decided to go out on a limb and change a few of the decorations.  So, I'm going to show a few off this week.  I'm also going to provide a tutorial or two for the ones I made.  Hopefully, I'll pick up my house enough to photograph my very unusual tree (definitely Mom's idea).

Today, I want to show you my newest decorations that I made several nights ago.

When you walk in the back door of my house, you are typically greeted with a display of photos in matching frames.  My goal was to use supplies and items I already had and only add something if absolutely necessary.  So, here is how these cuties came about.

I purchased a lot of five paper star ornaments at Michael's (the only newly purchased part of this).

I spray painted the five ornaments with some leftover paint I had from a previous project.

While waiting on the stars to dry, I took some Christmas scrapbooking paper and cut triangles to fit the stars.

With my favorite crafting tool, I used Mod Podge to apply the triangles to the spray painted stars.

After applying the scrapbook paper, I covered the entire ornament with Mod Podge.  Once the ornament was dry, I applied another layer.

Taking the picture frames that are typically on top of the bookshelves, I cut white paper to cover the pictures.  Then, I looped ribbon through the back hanger and attached the ornaments.

The final step (I didn't photograph) was to hot glue a button to the center of the ornament.  Don't you think they look super cute on my bookshelf?

I also added ribbon to my candles.  These are so fun because they are items I always have out, but they have a new twist for the holidays.

Christmas Tree Earrings

I love handmade gifts...in fact, I received a few the other night (more on that in a future post).  Anyway, I wanted to make something festive for a few friends, and I came up with these.

Christmas Tree Earrings

In case you need a few last minute gifts, here is a quick tutorial.

Materials:

Earwires    

Headpins




Small yellow round crystal bead

Small black round crystal bead

Large green flat crystal bead (this won't be completely flat, but it should not be round at all)

Medium green flat crystal bead

Flat nose pliers

Round nose pliers

**All of these materials can be found at Michael's, Joann, Hobby Lobby, etc.

Directions:

STEP 1: Add a small black bead to the bottom of a headpin.

STEP 2: Add 2 large green beads to the headpin.

STEP 3: Add a medium sized green beads to the headpin.

STEP 4: Add a small yellow bead to the headpin.

STEP 5: Using the flat nose pliers, grasp the headpin slightly above the yellow bead.  Bend the top of the headpin around the top of the pliers.

 

STEP 6: Switch to the round nose pliers.  Place the end of the pliers through the hole created in the headpin.  Twist the headpin horizontally around the headpin.  There should now be a complete circle or loop in the headpin.

STEP 7: Continue to wrap the end of headpin around and around until there is no more wire remaining.  You may need to use the flat nose pliers to squeeze the wrapped portion.  This will keep the end of the wire from poking your ear.

STEP 8: Place the finished Christmas tree to the side.  Pick up the earwire, and place the flat nose pliers in the circle/loop at the bottom.

STEP 9: Rotate your wrist toward yourself (don't pull with your hand or it will lose shape) in order to open up the circle.

STEP 10: Place the circle/loop of the Christmas tree into the circle/loop of the earwire.

STEP 11: Rotate your wrist away from yourself (don't pull with your hand or it will lose shape) in order to close up the circle.

STEP 12: Continue the steps again to complete the second earring.

Linking to Make it Monday at Cottage Instincts

Linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch