Stars & Stripes {WREATH}

The other night, while trying to tackle a LONG to-do-list, I found a few things in my craft stash that I thought would make a perfect Patriotic wreath.  So, I decided to forgo the to-do-list and do something a little more fun.  My crafting time has really been dwindling lately, so it was SO good to finally feel like I had done something crafty!

This was a great project because I had all the supplies on hand (yay, free for me), and it didn't take too long!

 It's pretty self-explanatory, but here are a few easy directions if you want to make your own:

Cut Strips of burlap.  I used white burlap and cut it into 2.5" strips.

 Paint half of the strips red.  I just used a foam brush and regular craft paint.  Spray paint would have been a bit faster, but I didn't have red, so this is what I used.  It was more of a blotting than a painting process.

 Cut the burlap to fit around the wreath, and hot-glue into place.  Alternate the white and red strips, overlapping just a little bit.

 Tie the star to the wreath, and hang from the door.

I love it!  I was needing a change to my front door, and this is perfect!  Gotta love the USA!

It's a Ballerina Birthday Party

Hello, hello.  Wow.  It has been a long time--too long.  It's been a crazy couple of months.  We had an unplanned move, a few trips, birthdays, and well, just life.  But here I am again.  I am excited for life to slow down a bit (hopefully) so I can get some more crafting and blogging done!

My daughter turned 5, and was dying for a ballerina birthday party.  We had so much planning the party!  What girl wouldn't love a party dedicated to dancing & twirling.

The invite: (I LOVE how they turned out)

 For party favors, I made these cute little cards for each of the girl to take home:

I decided to do cupcakes this year rather than a cake---best idea EVER!  Cupcakes are SO much easier.  I made these cute little toppers for the cupcakes:

 Here's a quick tutorial:

And of course, there was a pinata!  I made several tissue-paper flowers, and hot-glued them to my paper-mache balloon.  Pretty simple!

Simple little banners:

 Happy Birthday to my Halle Girl!

Lucky {St. Patrick's Day Wreath}

Hello friends.  I have been a little MIA lately.  It has been kind of a crazy month--sick kids, last minute vacations, life...lack of motivation & time to do some crafting.

But good news, I pulled things together today and made a fun little St. Patrick's Day wreath.  I made it with things I mostly had on hand.  I did buy some floral wire, however, it could be made without it.

Simple paper rosettes.  If you have never made them before (like me), they are simple.  Cut out circles--I used just two different sizes.  Then cut them into spirals.  You can cut them a little wavy to add a little more dimension if you would like.  I did this on about half of them.

Then, roll the circle starting with the outside.  **The side you want to show should be rolled toward the inside.  I played around and rolled some tighter and some looser.  I wanted them to all look a little different.

Now, I wanted to be able to reuse my wreath, so instead of just hot-gluing my flowers right to the wreath, I glued a small piece of brown floral wire to each flower.  Once they were wrapped, I let go and they loosen up a bit.  I then put a dab of hot-glue to the bottom flap of paper and pressed the flower down to hold it in place.  Really easy--I even had my 4-year-old making flowers.

 Then I simply wrapped the wired flowers around my wreath until it was full of flowers.  Once I finished, I decided it needed a little something else.  So, I printed a cute little "lucky" card, inked the edges, mounted it onto some cardstock and cardboard (just to make it a little sturdier).  I then glued it to a "v" piece of wire and attached it to the wreath.  Yay.  

Kind of fun. What do you think? 

Heart Attack

So, here is a quick way to tell your family that you love them.  Each night, write a quick little note on the back of a heart and tape it to their bedroom door along with a Hershey's kiss.  Then, when they wake up, they get to read their sweet note and eat their sweet treat.  Plus, it adds some fun Valentines decor to the house!

Yes, my son left his wrapper taped to the door...kids!

I started on February 1st, but you could start anytime.  My plan is to go through Valentines Day.  My kids {and husband} have LOVED it, and it is fun for me to put in writing all the things I love about them!

Happy Valentines!

Love Day Decor

I LOVE decorating for Valentines.  I'm not sure why--maybe it's the pink, or the hearts, or the love, but whatever the reason, I just love pulling out my Valentines decorations!

 My I love you sign normally is in my baby's room, but for the month of February, it is going to be front and center on my mantle!  I love that this sign reminds me of my mom who sang me that song when I was little.

And check out the CUTEST thrift store find--this little heart-holding boy.  I loved it when I saw it, and look how perfectly it matches this cute little printable!  It doesn't get much better than that!

 I've seen lots of fun Valentines burlap banners, so I decided I needed to make one.  It was a super fast craft, and I think it turned out really great!

 The only small problem--the candy I put in a little dish.  My baby wants some CONSTANTLY!  Oh well.  The good news for her is that her cute little way of saying "treat" usually means I cave and give her one.  I guess it's okay to spoil her for the month of February, right?  Every little girl needs candy first thing in the morning, right?  Right.

Happy Love Month!  

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

So my advent calendar is getting very full, and my countdown is down to single digits.  I can't believe Christmas is just 4 days away!  Yikes!  I hope you are ready...I am close...very, very close.

Anyway, I thought I'd give you a peak at my Christmas decor:

Mantel #1

Coat Hanger/Shelf:

 Simple circle garland {scrapbook paper, inked edges, sewn together}

 Advent Calendar {Even my 1-yr old LOVES when it is her turn to pick the magnet for the day}

 Mangel #2

 Little yarn pom-pom garland:

 The stockings were hung...

A little closer look at my newest sign for the year:

I am loving it!  I just love this time of year!  Merry, Merry Christmas!

Little Birdie Ornaments

I wanted to make some ornaments to hand out with Christmas goodies to friends and neighbors, and since I seem to have a thing for birds, I knew this Pinterest find was PERFECT!

You want to make some of your own?  They were actually pretty easy!  Grab some burlap & contrasting fabric scraps, pick some ribbon or jute, find a bird template online & get started!

It is pretty self explanatory, so my instructions will be simple:

1--Cut bird shaper out of 2 layers of burlap

2--Cut a wing out of contrasting fabric

3--Stamp Christmas words (joy, love, noel, wish) onto the wings.  I used a metal stamp set and just used regular ink and it worked just fine.

4--Sew wing onto one layer of bird.

5--Place birds right-sides together, inserting a little ribbon in-between the layers to act as the hanger.

Done and done!  Don't you just love easy little projects!

Merry Christmas!

12 Day of Christmas {EASY & Do-able}

I am so excited.  Every year growing up, my family selected another family to do the 12 Days of Christmas.  Basically, each day for the 12 days leading up to Christmas we delivered a fun little gift.  The gifts aren't anything crazy or big--very do-able, but it was such a fun way to spread the Christmas spirit in December.

So this year will be the FIRST year that my little family will do our own 12 Days of Christmas.  I think it will be so fun to have my kids involved--Helping with the gifts, knocking, running, and hopefully not getting caught!  I am hoping they will start to learn the true meaning of Christmas and how much fun it is to do the GIVING!

Anyway, I made simple little tags that I will glue onto cuter Christmas paper.  But, I wanted to share so you too can start this fun & easy tradition!

Here is a link to download the file!

And just to give you a quick look, here is page one of the two-page document:

First Delivery...success!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry & Bright I-Phone Wallpaper

Here is a new I-Phone Wallpaper for the Christmas season for anyone interested!  I hope you like it!

Here are the quick steps:
1--Save the image
2--If on your computer, email the file to yourself so you can access the image on your phone
3--Open the email on your phone.  Click on the little arrow button on the bottom (2nd from right)
4--Select "Save Image"
5--Open up your Photo Album, and select the new image
6--Click on the bottom left arrow button
7--Click on "Use as Wallpaper"
8--Stretch to fit your phone
9--Select to have it for your home page, lock screen, or both.  I just use it as my lock screen.

Done and Done!  Merry Christmas!

5 Favorite Things

A couple weeks ago, I hosted a "5 FAVORITE THINGS PARTY."  For those of you who may not know what that is, here is a little description:

Each person brings 5 of the same item (something that they love or that represents them).  Everybody keeps the items under a certain price range.  For my party, we kept it under $4 per item.  Then at the party, each person has her name on 5 pieces of paper.  All of the names go in a bowl.   Going around the room each person explains what they brought and why it is one of her favorite things and then draws 5 names out of the bowl to give her items to.  So in the end, you go home with 5 different "Favorite Things."  Totally fun!  To make things even better, everybody brings a fun snack or treat to share.  Such a fun evening.

Anyway, I made some fun little thank-you boards for Thanksgiving, but they can also be used for other things throughout the year.  Take a look:

I originally got this idea from Whipperberry.  She has a great tutorial.  I did things slightly different, but hopefully they will both help you make your own!

Start by finding a frame. I found mine at Goodwill.  They weren't especially pretty--but it's amazing what a bit of paint can do!  After painting my frames, I also sanded them down a bit and stained over them to give them a more antiqued look.

To string the jute I marked down the side of the frame on the back every 2 inches, but alternated the sides by one inch to make a zig-zag pattern.  Then I used staples to hold the jute or twine in place.  Once the twine was in place and tight I simply tied little knots to finish it off.

To make my sign, I simply printed the wording.  I used "Oh so Thankful."  Then I mounted it onto some cute paper, and then mounted that to a piece of cardboard just to add a little dimension and stability. 

 I wanted to make the sign easy to take on and off, so I hot-glued a piece of pipe cleaner (about a half of a piece) to the back.  Then this can be attached and wrapped around the frame easily.

Then during the month of November, I have each member in my family write things they are thankful for on little cards and use clothes-pins to attach it to the twine.  Simple.  My kind of project!
So, in the end it looks a bit more like this:

Give Thanks IPhone Wallpaper

I made a new little wallpaper for my IPhone yesterday to celebrate the month of Thanksgiving.  And...I thought I might share it with any of you interested:

 Doesn't it look cute!

Here are instructions:
1--Right click on the above image and save document.  If using a computer, you will have to transfer this photo to your phone.  The easiest way I found to do this is simply email it to yourself.
2--Open up the document on your phone and save it to your Photo Roll
3--Open it up inside your Photo Roll.  Click on the bottom left arrow.
4--Tap use as wallpaper.
5--From there you can scale and move it to the correct position.
6--Select if you want it as your home screen or lock screen or both. (I just chose my lock screen).
That's it.  Easy and festive!
Let me know if you have any questions!

Fall Burlap Banners

Happy Fall!  I keep waiting for life to slow down a bit, but it just isn't happening.  I am squeezing in some time for crafting.  The hard part just seems to be posting it to my blog.  But, here is a SIMPLE little project that I did recently:

They were super fun and super easy.  They are pretty self-explanatory, but here are some pictures of the steps along the way:

**I didn't show a pictures of this, but I made a triangle template out of a cereal box.  It made for quick fabric cutting and ensured all of my triangles were the same size and shape. (Well, the best you can get when you are working with burlap!)

Once my triangles were cut out, I printed out my letters, cut them out, and then traced them onto the burlap with a regular Sharpie marker.  I even used a brown marker to outline the letters that I painted white and orange and it turned out fine.

 Next, I simply painted in the letters with regular craft paint--nothing fancy.  I did find that it worked best to kind of blot the paint as I went to fill in the little squares.

Then I just decorated the triangles.  To make the circles, I just dipped the end of a sponge brush in paint and then dabbed it onto the burlap--re-dipping in the paint for each dot.  Easy.

Next, I just sewed on a strip of ribbon to connect all the triangle pieces.  I did overlap the corners just barely, and I used a zig-zag stitch.

Lastly, I sprayed them (especially the edges) with a clear sealer.  I am hoping this will keep them from fraying.

I had so much fun making these!  You should give it a try!