Christmas Potpourri

In hunting around for nice gifts to give my staff this year, I searched high and low on Pinterest.  I finally settled on this simple but classic gift: Christmas in a jar, via Nest of Posies.  I enjoyed the free printables, too!  All you do is put some spices, a small orange, and rosemary in a jar.  Bring a pot of water to a boil, dump out the jar contents, and simmer all day.  Definitely an easy way to get the house smelling perfect for the holidays.
Now, I couldn't find mulling spices at the grocery store, but raiding my spice cabinet did the trick just fine.  I'll be sharing these with my group tomorrow, so fingers crossed that they enjoy the gifts!

Ornament Wreath

 

I have been wanting an ornament wreath for years now.  Each fall/winter I see Pinterest blow up with these awesome looking wreaths, but I can never find inexpensive shatterproof ornaments to do it myself.  I'm also not ok with shelling out $100 for one of these store bought guys.  This year, I finally found it- $5 for a set of 12 shatterproof ornaments at Bed Bath & Beyond.  Yes!!!  And of course once I clued in to the term "shatterproof" I saw tons of listings on Amazon to get anywhere from 60 to 100+ of these bad boys.  Anyway, now that I'm in the know, I'm happy to share my great wreath with you.

Supplies

• 4-6 dozen shatterproof ornaments
• 2-3 dozen mini ornaments
• Foam wreath form
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Knife

Directions

1. Cut hole in wreath form large enough to fit the top of your large shatterproof ornament into (the part you normally put the hook in).  Put a dab of hot glue in the hole, and set the top of the ornament into the hole.  Hold a minute to set.  Repeat times a gajillion until the wreath form is evenly covered in larger ornaments.
2. Hot glue a circle around the top of a mini ornament and glue into gaps between the large ornaments.  Repeat times a gajillion until gaps are well filled in.
3. Hang!  Bow optional. :)

This really isn't a complex project.  The key is to varying the placement of your ornaments so they have a pretty organic flow and don't look like perfectly lined up rows of ornaments.  You want them to look random and bubbly, and you use those small ornaments to fill in the spaces so you don't see your wreath form underneath.  That's it!

First layer down.  Looking good!  The base is well covered, I alternated red and silver, shiny and matte, and the inner part of the wreath out to the edge.

Now we've got the mini ornaments layered on to fill in those gaps.  I even pulled out and rearranged and added more of the larger ornaments as I went.

Mini Ornament Christmas Tree

 

This is such a super cute, easy project you can do in less than 30 minutes.  A friend and I each made these at our recent Christmas crafting Pinterest party, and I love the end result.  This is a great decoration for the holidays, and I think it would even be a special gift.  Lots of wow for the beginning crafter.  :)

Supplies

• 2-3 dozen mini ornaments
• Picture frame or other solid surface
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Optional: Star ornament for the top of the tree, cut branch or twig for your tree stump, scrapbook paper presents under the tree, paint words onto the glass, draw on the glass with sharpie, etc.

Directions

1. Remove the toppers from all of your mini ornaments.  Lay out ornaments in your pattern, arranging colors, matte vs shiny, etc. to get nice variation in your tree design.
2. Hot glue the top of each ornament and glue onto the glass of your picture frame.  Hold in place a couple seconds until it sets.  Repeat until all ornaments are glued in place.

THAT'S IT!  Seriously, it can't get much easier than that!  Yes your ornaments will roll around a bit as you get things in place, and yes you may get some off-centered situations going, but it's all ok.  This craft is all about simplicity and not over complicating things.  Love it and display with pride!

Fab!

Decorate a Pillowcase with Stamps and Paint

 

I was in Michael's a while back and saw these great key stamps, and I somehow got it stuck in my head that I'd love a pillow covered in a pattern with those stamps, and maybe some C monograms.  And a bird cage, because why not?  I didn't know how I'd make it work, but that idea percolated in the back of my head and with time, I got to this point!  Turns out you can paint designs on fabric and they'll actually set and turn out really well.  Who knew?!  So let me walk you through how I got this lovely pillow. :)

Supplies

• 1/2 yard fabric (or more, depending on the size of the pillow you'll be covering).  Pro tip: check out the remnants bin at the fabric store.  I scored this super soft fabric for a fraction of the cost.
• Craft paint
• Rubber stamps
• Paint brushes
• 3/4" wide Bias tape- enough to trim all around your pillow (for this one it was ~48")
• Cording- same length as your bias tape
• Coordinating thread and sewing notions

Directions

1. Pre-wash and iron fabric.  Lay out fabric on a covered work surface.  When you stamp and paint, it may bleed through the fabric.
2. Dip rubber stamp in paint and stamp a couple times on a paper towel or rag to remove excess ink.  Stamp smoothly and evenly on pillowcase fabric, then lift gently.  Repeat.  I recommend you do a few stamps before dipping back in the paint, so you get variation in the stamped images.  With very bold graphic stamps, though, I think a pattern with saturated images could be really great, so just let your eye determine how much or little paint to stamp with.  I also alternated between dipping my stamp in the paint and using a paint brush to brush paint onto the stamp.  Don't ask me why- it just felt right. :)
3. Use paint brushes to add accents such as my large bird cage, text, lines, dots, etc.  Let me be very clear that I am not an artist by any stretch, but that bird cage came out pretty decently, didn't it?  I always recommend googling some pictures or other artwork to use as a guide if you're feeling wary of this step, and know you're always your own worst critic.  The end result is going to be pretty great overall so don't sweat this part!
4. Cover at least half of the pillowcase fabric with your stamp and painted pattern.  If you want the whole pillow case covered (for front and back), go for it!  Let paint dry completely.
5. Lay out bias tape.  If you want to make your own like I did, I recommend this great tutorial on cutting it, sewing it, and even making piping.  I also like this blog post for attaching your pieces together.
6. Place cording in the center of your bias tape, fold over bias tape, and sew the cording in place.  This makes great piping for your pillow!  Credit to crazy little projects for their piping tutorial. :)
7. Cut fabric to size of your pillow form.  Lay one side of the pillow right side up and pin your piping along the edges (the piping will lay on the fabric, not extending past it).  Pin and sew the piping edge to edge to the pillowcase fabric.
8. Lay the other half of your fabric right side down, pin in place, and sew along 3 of the 4 sides.
9. Turn pillowcase right side out and poke out corners fully.  Insert pillow form and hand sew the final edge together.  Admire!

Getting started!  Fabric laid out on magazines, paint and stamps ready to go.  Never mind the spots on the fabric- they're still a little damp from ironing.

Stamped, painted, and waiting to dry.  So awesome!

I opted to try making my own bias tape.  It was surprisingly not so bad!  I used this great you tube tutorial to watch how it's done.  I don't know why but this British girl in her kitchen makes me happy.

Basically you just fold one corner of your fabric up to the other, making a triangle, and you cut a nice strip along the fold.  If you need additional length, you measure out and cut another strip parallel to the first.  Then connect.  Easy peasy!

Why didn't I nab a picture when I sewed the cording inside the bias tape?  Ah well.  Here we have the assembled piping pinned in place- loose edge lined up with the loose edge of my pillowcase fabric.  Note this is the "good" side of my fabric, just left plain for the back of the pillowcase.

Piping sewn in place, I then lay my decorated half of the fabric right side down on top.  Pin, then sew 3 of the 4 sides.

All sewn up.  Time to turn inside out, stuff in my pillow form, and sew it up!

Complete!  Ahhh, so satisfying. :)

Copycat Pottery Barn Glitter House

Continuing my trend of redoing Pottery Barn decor for a fraction of the price, I bring you my $2 glitter house!  That's right- instead of spending $30-$40 for a flimsier version from Pottery Barn, you can make your own sparkly gorgeous glittery houses for just a couple dollars each.
I first fell in love with the idea of a snowy white gingerbread house when I saw an adorable pin on Pinterest a couple years ago.  The link it went to is now defunct, but you can still see the picture here.  This has been at the back of my mind since, and when I came across a super cute plain gingerbread house at Michael's, it all started to come together.

Supplies

• Unpainted wood house from Michael's (usually ~$5; take advantage of sales and coupons to get it for just $2)
• White craft paint
• Mod podge
• Fine white glitter
• Clear spray paint

Directions

1. Paint the whole house with white paint.  Let dry.
2. Coat in Mod podge, small sections at a time, and sprinkle with glitter before glue dries.  Let dry all over.
3. Spray with clear spray paint to set the glitter, so it doesn't come off every time you touch the house!

Suggestions: Add small bottle brush trees, use silver glitter for accents like the roof and windows, hand paint designs in contrasting colors like green or gray.

Ooooo.  Aaaahhhh.

Bookshelf Makeover

Welcome to today's edition of things that you didn't know you were doing wrong until Pinterest told you so.  This edition faces the dilemma of bookshelf styling.  What's that?  You didn't know this was a think?  Oh you dear thing.  If you've been on Pinterest at all, then sooner or later I'm sure you've come across tips for styling your bookshelf to look worthy of a magazine.  Typically, that means removing all of your books, or organizing them by size, color, with the spines turned around (no, really), or some other bizarre treatment that may look nice but renders the shelf useless for storing books you actually, you know, read.
Thankfully I did come across a couple blogs that explain why some setups look cluttered while others look nice and appealing.  Furthermore, they showed how to apply these principles of balance, vertical and horizontal space, and grouping with shelves full of real life books.  Brilliant!  I applied those general rules and got a great end result with the bookshelf in my living room.

Before: A Mess

Before, I didn't know why the shelf felt messy but it just did.  Turns out there were some general design things to explain this feeling.  There were a lot of spots where things were all too similar.  They threw off the visual weight of things.  Mixed in with the obvious no no of toys were the messy spots, again close together, without any sense of balance or feeling of intent.  They looked disheveled because they were- spots to toss books whenever.  Lastly, I wouldn't have thought it, but the "plain" cubes with just books and nothing else were throwing things off, too.  You don't need tchotchkes in every cubby but you do need to spread the love with the empty spots, not concentrate them all in one area of the shelf.

So to get started with the clean up, I took out all the toys and put them in the playroom, where they belonged.  Then I took off all of the non-book items.  I set aside the Halloween stuff and put it back in bins until next fall.  I needed the default look of this shelf when not decorated specifically for a holiday.  Then I went cube by cube and started pulling out books in chunks to stack on their sides, or to double up rows of books, put some behind objects and use others to prop up on either side of a stack.  I did this bit by bit, layering in the accessories as I went, going over it a couple times and rearranging to get the final, balanced and clean looking product.

Ta da!

So why does this setup work so much better?  Let's break it down by a few simple rules.

Vertical height.  You need the height to go up and down in some nice progressions, giving the eye some spots of interest to catch and move on from.  You end up creating a series of triangles in the layout of objects, and when you see that these triangles are varied all through the shelf, it's working.

This variations aren't just vertical height, either- horizontal depth is important, too.  You need layers, so sometimes this is by pushing the books far back and placing something in front of them, like an old camera or a stack of books on their side.  Other times, it's pushing the books just to the middle of their cube so they're at a different depth than their neighbors.  The mirror in the back of one spot does this to a whole other degree as well.

Lastly, I balanced the blank space throughout the shelf instead of all at the bottom.  Much better!

And there we have it.  Nice, pleasing bookshelf makeover while keeping ALL of my books on the shelves!  I'll do a future holiday edition when I gussy it up at Christmas time. :)

Side Table Makeover: $5 Flea Market Flip!

Well the last couple weeks have been very busy, but I promise I've still been cooking, quilting, and DIY-ing.  Today's adventure was to make over a happy little side table I got at the Harper's Ferry Flea Market.  Remember in my post about the copycat Pottery Barn candle holders, when I showed off the batch of goodies my husband and I got for $25?  Well this is the side table from that haul.

I liked the shape, and it's a great little size to sit next to the couch and hold a drink while I'm watching TV.  It was wobbly and just needed to be reassembled with some wood glue, really.  I also wanted to sand it down and give it a nice coat of navy blue paint so it could be a happy, well adjusted member of my living room furniture family.

See?  What a nice size.

Our before shot.

Disassembled.

Sanded!

Primed.  I used the Zinsser primer again- the one I used on the dresser makeover.

Painted!

The after picture.  Ooo. Aaa.

Just used basic craft paint for the table, and wood glue in each joint when I reassembled.

Fin!

Copycat Pottery Barn Candle Holders: My First Flea Market Flip!

I recently discovered and fell in love with an HGTV show called Flea Market Flip.  It's basically rewarding people for their Pinteresty reinvention skills of an artist.  Now, my husband has always tried to convince me how rewarding a flea market scavenge can be, but after my first experience with an indoor flea market at a rundown strip mall near Pittsburgh, wherein people were selling all sorts of guns and ammo and more knives than I knew existed, I begged off.  It was an ongoing joke to take me to flea markets as a form of torture.  This show gave me a new perspective and willingness to try, though, so we found ourselves at the Harper's Ferry Flea Market in West Virginia last weekend.  We didn't have any specific projects in mind and just meandered, looking for things to catch our eyes.  There was one very cool trunk that I didn't investigate when we walked by, and later regretted because it was gone on our way out.  Lesson learned.  What we did walk away with was this little stash:

2 lanterns: $8
Side table: $5
Pillar candle holders: $2
Magazine caddie: $10

I can't even imagine where else $25 would get me so far.

So the first find was that pair of candle holders.  We were walking down a row and I immediately locked eyes with those.  I hated the bubbled green treatment on them, but they had great shape.  The #1 rule I hear from Flea Market Flip and every other makeover/DIY show I've watched is to look for good bones, and sure enough the underlying shape of those cheap ceramic candle holders was one I liked a lot.  I knew that with a coat of glossy black spray paint, they'd look Pottery Barn worthy.  Turns out I was spot on.  Check out this set I could have spent $70 on instead of my $2.

Oooo I love the feeling of a good deal!  Muahahahaha.

So first things first- cleaning up these holders.  They had old wax drips on them and a layer of dust/grime.  Because they're ceramic, I used a plastic child's spoon to scrape off the wax without damaging the base.

You've gotta go, gunk.

Once the wax was scraped off and I gave them a nice scrub with my Mister Clean Magic Eraser (really- it's magic), it was time to spray paint.

I used Krylon shiny black spray paint and checked the back of the can to make sure it would adhere to glass and ceramic.  The candle holders are made out of ceramic but the coating on them was glassy, and I wanted to be sure the spray paint would adhere well.  I'm happy to report that yes it did!

I sprayed on two coats.  The first one was as shown here, with the holders upright.

I let that dry, then flipped upside down and did coat #2 to catch everything from the opposite angle.  This was my first time spray painting in a LONG time, and I could have been more careful about making sure I did a good job at the base.  It was too sunny outside to really see where I was missing spots, and I only noticed that I didn't have a completely even coat until I was inside.  I am just being overly critical, though.  They look great- I'm just sharing advice on what I encountered. Anyway, when spray painting, remember- nice even spraying at a good distance, and be careful you don't overload with paint and cause drips.

End result: don't they look great?!  And I'm not talking just for Halloween, here.  They'll be wonderful all year long.

Framed Burlap and Bunny Silhouette

I came across this super cute framed bunny silhouette pin a while ago, and loved the idea of it in my daughter's woodland-themed nursery.  The original blogger meant it for Easter but pfft, why limit yourself like that?  They also painted the silhouette on their burlap, while I just cut mine out of construction paper.  I think my way is great, naturally.

Supplies

• Frame, such as this laser cut frame I got at Michael's for just a few bucks!
• Paint
• Burlap- enough to fill frame opening
• Black paper
• Ribbon
• Hot glue

Directions

1. Paint frame white and let dry.
2. Cut burlap to size, and use hot glue to attach to frame back.
3. Print bunny silhouette outline (found here or here or going with any Google image search result you're happy with) on black paper.  Cut out bunny shape.  I cut inside the outline, rather than leaving that thick black ink outline on my bunny.
4. Glue bunny to center of burlap.  
5. Tie ribbon into a bow and glue to bunny's neck.

Optional: Decorate your bunny for the season!  Give him a trick-or-treat bucket, pilgrim hat, Santa hat, wings and a bow and arrow, etc.  Let your bunny be an active guy in your home!

Versatile Photo Frame

I think just about everyone on Pinterest has seen this pin of a cute frame with a bulldog clip, for both cute display and an easy way to swap out pictures as your kids grow.  I've been wanting to do this for a while, and finally got all the goodies to make it happen at a Pinterest party.  I am VERY happy with how mine turned out!

Supplies

• Frame, with or without a back
• Paint, preferably in a bright color
• Scrapbook paper, big enough to fill your frame
• Bulldog clip
• Hot glue gun

Directions

1. Remove glass, matting, etc. from frame.
2. Paint frame and let dry.  If desired, scuff up painted frame a little to add some texture and a worn appearance.  If you zoom in on my pic, you can see where I left it a bit streaky in spots and scratched up a bit in others.
3. Cut scrapbook paper to fit.  Glue to frame backing.
4. Hot glue bulldog clip, either directly to glass or to the scrapbook paper if you aren't using glass in your frame.
5. Swap pictures out all year long!

Fall Pinterest Party Roundup

Today was the latest Pinterest party, and I put those hours to good use!  I made my chubby hubby cookies as my food offering to the crafting Gods, and set out to make 2 frames and a mummy onesie.  I didn't progress to the ghost yard decoration for Halloween, but there's still plenty of time to get around to that.  :)

I have little write ups below, with links to full posts on each craft to walk you through it step by step.

First up was the versatile photo frame.  Painted a frame with some interesting detail, put scrapbook paper on the frame backing, and hot glued a bull dog clip.  I plan to have this at my desk at work, where I can swap out pictures easily and have something colorful in the office.  Lord knows that is necessary.

Next up was the bunny silhouette for the nursery.  I painted one of those cheap laser cut frames from Michaels, added burlap backing, cut out a bunny silhouette, and glued on a little bow for good measure.  SUPER easy and I absolutely love it.  I plan to decorate this bunny throughout the year.  Maybe he'll get a little mask for Halloween and a Santa hat at Christmas.

And lastly, the mummy onesie!  I sewed on some gauze and googly eyes, and we were in business.

Here's my lovely daughter showing her enthusiasm for this cute getup!

Tin Containers as Fridge Storage

I've seen this idea floated on Pinterest for a while now.  Allegedly, you could put a magnet inside a tin container and it would magnetize the whole thing to stick to your fridge.  Not true.  BOO.  Still, with a bulldog clip, you can still take advantage of your cute old tin (in this case, an old bank) for holding pens.  I have a Chiclets tin holding coupons as well, but in that case I don't have an open side to use the clips on.  I need to stick magnets to the back of that puppy for it to be functional.

Finished Cross-Stitch

Update: I won a 1st place ribbon for this bad boy at the Montgomery County Fair!  Woohoo!!!

This week marked a momentous occasion- I finished a cross-stitch piece!  These patterns usually take me at least a year to complete (not working on them daily), and this was no exception.  I can't remember exactly when I started this one, but it had to be about a year ago because it reminded me of a street in Venice during last September's vacation in Italy.
This pattern is a Dimensions Gold kit- Paris Market- that comes with the blank fabric, all the thread, and some needles.  It's 15" x 11", making it a pretty good size as far as these kits go.  This pattern has a really tiny grid, which makes for a beautiful scene that doesn't look pixelated like some cross-stitch does, but the trade-off of course is a ton of stitches.  In addition to that, there are SO MANY colors in this one, which is why I love it, but switching threads constantly also adds to the amount of time it takes.  In the end though, as always, it was well worth it.  I'm pretty sure this one will be framed and hung in the master bedroom.  Hubby and I both love it, and are happy to wake up to see anything that reminds us of that amazing vacation!

Close up of the yellow flowers in the bottom left corner, to show those pesky French knots.  I hate making those knots!  They add so much texture, though, and you can't skimp on them.  At least this one wasn't covered in snowflakes like one of my past projects!