decorating Archives - Page 11 of 13

Yarn Wreath Madness Continues

December 5, 2011 By Shannah 9 Comments

I have a confession: I just can’t seem to step away from the yarn. I want to stop. I need to stop. My front door is begging me to stop. I keep saying: “this will be my last yarn wreath” and then I make another. This time, it was a Christmas wreath. Oh, and a Styrofoam wreath form (it was on sale and I now know why!)

This one started like most of my wreathes (at least recently) do. A form + a ball of yarn + a knot.

Then, I wrap and wrap and wrap. Only this one was much more difficult. The yarn kept sticking to the Styrofoam which (honestly) sucked. But, I kept wrapping…

When I was tired of wrapping, I stopped to think about what I was going to do to the wreath. Obviously, I wasn’t planning to just stick a wreath form wrapped in yarn out on the door. I cruised around the web and saw all kinds of amazing wreaths! Some had felt flowers, some had beads, and some had very intricate scenes on them. I headed over to my craft room (a.k.a the basement) and took a look at what I had: random wood forms and scrapbook paper.

Oh, and clearly a ghost that was casting a shadow on my table. Yikes!
I traced the little wooden shapes onto the back of the scrapbook paper and hit them with some scissors.

I also painted the backs and sides of the shapes since some of that might be visible on my wreath. I picked silver because it pulled out the little silver threads that were woven into my yarn. I used their little wooden brothers to keep them off the paper so they wouldn’t stick while drying.

Next, it was Mod Podge time! I picked outdoor mod podge since my wreath would be handing outside. I brushed a layer of mod podge onto the wooden shape and stuck the scrapbook paper onto it. Then, I brushed a layer on the top of the scrapbook paper.

Once the mod podge was all dry, I laid out the pieces on the wreath to determine how I wanted them to be placed.
With the placement decided, I grabbed the hot glue gun and my little wooden buttons. I glued buttons onto the back of the snowman and the oval piece. I left the other two pieces with the plan flat backs. Then, starting with the Christmas tree, I hot glue each piece down.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Craft Round-up!

November 28, 2011 By Shannah Leave a Comment

Even though I already shared this riveting account of our black Friday adventures today, I wanted to come and share with you my favorite crafts for the Christmas season {so far}. I {hopefully} will manage to actually complete all of these during Christmas time. You know that old saying about the best laid plans though…
Let’s start with something on the simple side – Reindeer Beer from And I Thought I Love You Then!

[And I Thought I Love You Then]

Then, I’ll work on a felt Christmas tree using one of the styrofoam trees I picked up recently.

[Scissor Variations]

I love this simple way to display incoming Christmas cards.

[Red Thread DIY]

I also can’t let the season go by without making an Advent calendar. Now, if only I could decide what kind to make!

[Talk Crafty to Me]

These waterless snowglobes are absolutely gorgeous and sound pretty easy to make!

[Sweet Something Design]

Of course, I am going to need a wreath for the door. Maybe a marshmallow one!

[Food Network]

These yarn balls looks so cute and can be customized to match any decor!

[Ruche]

These cupcake liner trees are another cute way to decorate (and maybe even get the kids involved)!

[The 36th Avenue via Tatertots and Jello]

My Silhouette Cameo is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. I might try to make something similar to this stenciled sign.

[Tatertots and Jello]

Then, I think I will end on another easy note with homemade glitter Christmas ornaments.

[Greenbean’s Crafterole]

What is on your list for holiday crafting this year?

Setting Up for Thanksgiving

November 22, 2011 By Shannah 1 Comment

Many of the blogs I read (of which there are many!) have been working on Thanksgiving decorations for weeks. I don’t traditionally host Thanksgiving at my house so I hadn’t really bothered to decorate anything! This year, we are hosting a very small Thanksgiving meal at our house and so I am doing very small things to decorate our house for the occasion.
I love the idea of using natural and/or food items as part of decorations. I had an empty vase hanging around and so, on a recent grocery store trip, I grabbed some food to use in it. Using split peas, white beans and kidney beans, I simply layered them all in the vase for a simply decoration.

Once the vase was done, I turned my attention towards the table. I had picked up some burlap garland so I figured I would incorporate that into my table decoration.

It was much narrower than I expected once I opened it. No worries though because I just made two separate panels and overlapped them a little on the table.

I’ve had a fall themed arrangement on the table for awhile and I thought it still went pretty well. So, I just placed it right back on the table.

So, there you have the beginnings of our Thanksgiving preparations. H started setting the table over the weekend by placing every spoon we own out on top of paper towels. She was so excited so I think I’ll put her to use when the dishes are ready to come out. The turkey and ham were bought over the weekend so we aren’t too far away from our big Holiday meal.

Everybody Puts Baby in the Corner

November 7, 2011 By Shannah 8 Comments

We recently inherited a lot of furniture from some of Mathlete’s relatives. One of the neatest items is a corner chair. Yes, a chair specifically made for the corner. Cool, huh?

It obviously needed some work to fit into our house a little better so I kept my eye on it for a makeover. Right now, she’s a lot like Jennifer Gray when she is shy and awkward Baby.

…

Pinning a Challenge

November 2, 2011 By Shannah 19 Comments

I mentioned here that I was going to jump into the ring for this edition of

[Bower Power]

My final product ended up being a bunch of different Pinterest items all put together but I am really happy with them!

[Johnny in a Dress]

[Good Housekeeping]

[My Blessed Life]

I’ve been jonesing for some new glass hurricane vases but I really didn’t want to pay the new glass hurricane price tag! Thanks to Pinterest, I had seen people make news one out of dollar store materials. In my dollar store though, the supplies would have made vases a lot smaller than I was looking for.
While hunting for Krylon paint for the One Month to Win It – Round 1 challenge, I stumbled across some larger supplies at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart had reasonably priced hurricane vases for $15 each but, if I could make it with the separate pieces I found, they would be less than $7 each. 2 for the price of 1…cha ching!
I dug through my adhesive collection and found some china and glass cement.

I chose this because it was dishwasher safe. I find it easiest to get glitter and stuff out of vases by just shoving them in the dishwasher so that was a big bonus.
First, I had to clean all of the glassware. Some of it still had price tag stickers so I used goo gone to remove those first. Then, I wiped everything down with alcohol.

I put a thin layer of the cement around the edge of the candle holder. It comes out white but dries clear so don’t be worried if you use it and it shows up white at first.

I placed the candle holder on top (the other piece was upside down) and pressed. I held it for about 45 seconds. Then, since the full drying time is 3-6 hours, I used a book to put pressure on it while it dried. {Thanks again to Mathlete for the awesome Anniversary gift…it is already proving to be extremely useful in and OUT of the kitchen!}

While my hurricane vases dried, I broke out some dollar store pine cones and my spray paint can.

I sprayed on some red and gold spray paint and left them to dry while I searched for some other vase filler.

I just randomly put things into the different vases until I was happy with how they looked. I had an extra vase that I threw into the mix for fun too.

Now, these babies are ready for Christmas which is fast approaching!

**Sorry for the terrible photos here. I am a night time crafter this week due to an super crowded weekend!**

This post is partying at the following locations:

Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T., I Made the World Cuter Today at Making the World Cuter, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Anything Related at All Thingz Related, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, Hoo’s Got Talent at Nightowl Crafting, Show & Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Me Wednesday on Ginger Snap Crafts, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs, Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home, Fall in Love with Your Home at Décor to Adore, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, Coffee and Conversation Thursday at With a Shot of Brandy, Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Doggone Dirty Craftin at Rhinestone Beagle, Look at Me, I’m so Crafty at It’s Fun to Craft, Craft, Scrappy Happy Me Thursday at Craft, Scappy Happy, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal, and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.

You can also find this post linked up the Pinterest Challenge at Bower Power, Young House Love and House of Earnest

The (Not So) Haunted House

October 24, 2011 By Shannah 1 Comment

Our house is finally (mostly) decorated for Halloween. I found so many awesome ideas around the web but didn’t find much time to actually do them. Let’s take a look at what I did manage to complete though!

Lanterns – I posted about creating lanterns for the front porch here and here. They are now in their rightful home and ready for Halloween night. Real candles = only going to be lit for one evening because I’m super cheap.

Spider Wreath – Liz and I had a cradat and made this little jewel for my front door.

Mummy – I jumped on the make your own mummy bandwagon which I first saw here.

Ghosts – Scored these ghosts at my goodwill trip from forever ago for only $.96!

Boo – I pulled together some quick and easy B-O-O letters to add to my hay bale outside and shared the creation here.

Candy Corn Filled Votive Holders – The dollar store to my rescue again. Some $1 vases and candles combined with candy corn. Perfect addition to my little table display.

Dead Pirate – Our yard has always been a refuge for bunnies but it seems a dead pirate has taken up residence in my front lawn now. I’ll let him stay though because it is pretty neat to watch his heart beat at night.

and he brought his own tombstone along.

So, there are the basics of our Halloween decorations. We have a few other items not shown (hanging mummy, purple lights on the porch and some spiderwebbing) because they look much better at night. My photography skills are limited enough that darkness would just completely shut them down.

Now, the top 5 things I wanted to do but time didn’t…always next year right?!

Did you get all of your decorations completed? Have a list as long (or longer) than mine that are still in the to be completed pile?

Scraps with Purpose

October 20, 2011 By Shannah 1 Comment

In our last house, we never really decorated for Halloween. We didn’t have a whole lot of kids coming around and our neighboring townhouses kept it pretty low key too. Our new neighborhood is way different though (way!). We have a lot of kids that trick or treat. The neighbors around us tend to decorate too.

Shannah = definitely has a desire to fit in with the neighborhood. So, last year, I scored some Halloween decorations at 50% off. We got just enough to get us started so we didn’t look like that stark, empty house no kid dares to approach for fear of the treats being apples with worms. I’m cheap so my plan is to add to them each year on the day after the holiday (worked for Christmas after all!). I still felt like our house needed something else though.
Enter our deck scraps:

Mathlete has a bunch of wood scraps in our basement (a.k.a. my current crafting space) leftover from building our deck. I rummaged through and found three identical wood blocks that I ~~stole~~ asked nicely to have.
First up was priming with our Kilz Clean Start primer (extremely low VOC) that was leftover from painting the chest of drawer.

Next up was the orange paint (leftover from painting my wreath letters)

I put on two coats (pic above is of coat one) and then it was time for letters! I’m sure you saw this coming but I wanted to write B-O-O on the three blocks. Problem: I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to write it with. I didn’t have black paint and this was supposed to be a use what you got sort of craft. So, I rummaged through my supplies for ideas. Jackpot…glitter!

I had the glitter leftover from my Halloween crafting date so I took a trip back to grade school. I wrote out the letters on each board in glue and then sprinkled it with glitter.

I’m hoping it looks a little better than my first grade pictures using the same method. Mom…any thoughts on that subject?

Obviously before brushing the glitter off.

Made or scored any super cheap Halloween crafts recently? Have a love of glue and glitter?

Shut the Country Door

October 17, 2011 By Shannah 2 Comments

I get a ton of mail. My poor mail man must spend all of his FSA dollars on a chiropractor from hauling our mail around. Most of it is junk that goes right into the recycling or shred bin. The other day, I opened the mailbox to find a catalog from Through the Country Door (TTCD for short…at least in this post!).

This had to be some kind of post office mix-up, right? I’m not a country decor style person. Other than being someone who was born in the South (and may or may not have had a CB radio…), I don’t have much country cred to warrant this delivery.
I’m sure you could guess where I planned for this to go

H wanted to look at the picture on the front so it made it into the house. Intrigued, I flipped through it.
Honestly, there was a lot in there that didn’t really fit my taste (no surprise!)

…

Seeing Circles

October 4, 2011 By Shannah 23 Comments

This is sort of a mini-house crash since it is only one room! My words + Junior’s work is what you get today. Enjoy!

Junior has been quite busy over at her house. Most notably, she has been painting and decorating the half bathroom on her main level (the powder room, if you will…although, I think that is a silly name for it…we don’t even keep powder in there!).

Inspired by pictures seen over at House*Tweaking, she picked up some gray and white paint. Then, she proceeded to use that bathroom (alot) so she could get an empty toilet paper roll more quickly.

She painted the walls a gray tone that was just slightly darker than the hallway immediately outside.

Then, using the empty toilet paper roll, she created circles the way around the room using the white paint.

She did a total of three rows.

Once the rings were painted, it was fixture time. An ORB mirror and light switch cover got some white spray paint love

The final product looks amazing!

The towel hooks (one low enough for her kiddo!) were left as is in the nickel.

Striped towels and a little vase for flowers finished off this portion of the makeover!

Rumor has it art is in the works…stay tuned.

Featured at:

This post is partying at the following locations:

Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T., I Made the World Cuter Today at Making the World Cuter, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Anything Related at All Thingz Related, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Tuesday Talent Show at Chef N Training, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, Hoo’s Got Talent at Nightowl Crafting, Show & Share at Southern Lovely, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs, Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home, Fall in Love with Your Home at Décor to Adore, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, Coffee and Conversation Thursday at With a Shot of Brandy, Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Doggone Dirty Craftin at Rhinestone Beagle, Look at Me, I’m so Crafty at It’s Fun to Craft, Craft, Scrappy Happy Me Thursday at Craft, Scappy Happy, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal, and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.

Canvas Painting in Just Us Four Style

October 3, 2011 By Shannah 10 Comments

Back during the Pinterest Challenge, I came across a geometric canvas painting that I loved over at Cardigan Junkie

Great, right? Of course, I immediately pinned it and started thinking of my own canvas art. Where would I put it? What color would I use?
I didn’t bother to answer those questions before going out to buy the canvas.

I bought two and put them on the dining room table (my crafting spot at the time). There they sat for quite some time except for when we needed to move them for large family dinners. Trying to motivate myself, I picked up some Frog Tape from Home Depot one day. Yeah, it sat right on top of the canvas.

While thinking over the potential of a bedroom redo, I decided that our bedroom, redo or not, would be the perfect place to put my geometric art. So, I taped. Only I didn’t really measure or mark the canvas in any way. I just taped…yep, that’s how we roll here.

The geometry wasn’t exactly perfect in my taping but that didn’t really bother me. After taping them, the canvases sat on the dining room table for awhile because I couldn’t decide where I wanted them to live once they were complete. With our new bedroom in the works, I decided they would be perfect for above our bed. So, I went to Home Depot and got a sample of the green color that we plan to use for accents.
First, I painted the entire canvas white though to “seal” the tape down and (hopefully) prevent that annoying bleeding.

Once that was dry, I painted the canvases the green color I had purchased.

I allowed that to dry for a bit and then went to pull up the tape before it dried completely. I was hoping to prevent it from pulling up the paint when I removed the tape. Unfortunately, I pulled it too soon and it caused the paint to bleed just a little bit.