DIY Mugs - Meet the Moustache World

I should have shown you these DIY Mugs a long time ago!  Seriously.  I joined the moustache world a couple of years ago when coming up with gift ideas for the husband.  Like a lot of other men he has hopped onto that bandwagon only I don't really like REAL moustaches so he mostly just dreams of the moustaches he could grow.  Since I am a total dream killer I thought these diy mugs would make the perfect gift as he also loves hot chocolate.  Best of both worlds.  He thought they were awesome, at least that is what he told me.

Fabric Pumpkins Makeover

I know these fabric pumpkins are one of the oldest tricks in the book, but c'mon they are still pretty cool.  After making my twine pumpkin out a roll of toilet paper and now posting this project you're going to think I have an obsession with toilet paper.  I like to think of it as "Food Storage."  When the world is coming to an end and we are grabbing our most valuable possessions you can bet I will call out, "Honey, grab the pumpkins!"  Ok that's not the real reason I use tp but it is pretty funny if I say so myself.  Toilet paper is one of those perfect forms for pumpkins and inexpensive.  Fabric pumpkins were one of my very first craft projects as a newly wed several years ago.  Here is what they looked like then.

Simple Halloween Crafts and the Wrapped Letters

Who doesn't love simple Halloween crafts?  I know I sure do.  That's what I thought I got myself into when I decided to do these yarn letters and spell BOO.  Boy was I wrong.  These letters went from simple Halloween crafts to complicated, time consuming, headaches pieces of art in a matter of minutes.  Still I think they turned out pretty darn good.  

Having Some Pumpkin Fun

Are you ready for some pumpkin fun?  If you can't tell by all my previous fall posts, I love pumpkins and have been working on one pumpkin project after another.  The only thing that could make all this pumpkin fun better is to have a mantle.  I long to be able to decorate a fall mantle but since that isn't an option right now I will stick with my side table and make the most of it.  Can you believe I made most of those decorations?  I know, I'm still in shock myself.

Halloween Wreath and Banner

I started working on this Halloween Wreath over a month ago.  After completing my 4th of July straw wreath I knew I wanted to make one more but for Halloween and I think this Halloween wreath is even better than the original.  It's so graphic with  just the right amount of color.  I promise though this is my last straw wreath... that I know of.  It has so many different looks to it. 

Simple Fall Crafts - Book Pumpkins

I am all about the simple fall crafts this year as my schedule seems to be stretched to the max.  Even better is when I can find simple fall crafts that cost me little to nothing like this book pumpkin.  I was able to make it from things I already had at home which gains points for frugality and recycling. 

DIY Fall Shabby Pumpkin

I have about 5 DIY fall projects in the works and this shabby pumpkin is the first to be finished.  It really was easy to make and fairly inexpensive.  I had most of the supplies sitting in my house already.  I just had to go buy more twine, as I ran out.

Coping With Grief and Depression

Coping with Grief and Depression

Have you ever pictured a certain song playing as you walk down the street?  No?  I do on occasion and this time it is one of my tools for dealing with grief and depression.  Some may have noticed a lack in blogging from me over the last couple of months and unfortunately it's the result of another miscarriage.  

A Work in Progress

I'm still here.  Life has its way of throwing curve balls which I did not have penciled in my monthly schedule.  Don't give up on me just yet.  Right now I am in the works of taking this laminate table and turning it into something fabulous.

I am really, really, REALLY excited with how it is turning out.  Just a little more sanding and the finish coat to go.

Has anyone else refinished their furniture?  If you have and have a link I would love to come check out your projects!

I'm thinking I will have the post up of the Before and After sometime early next week so be sure to check back here.

Patriotic Wreath Tutorial

No shock the inspiration for this wreath tutorial came from Pinterest.  How did we ever live before this wonderful site? A few months back I had come across a wreath tutorial using striped straws only it was for a Christmas wreath.  As soon as I saw the straws I immediately thought of fireworks and knew I wanted to create a wreath using this method but for the Fourth of July.

Supplies Needed:

- 1 foam wreath form (you need one with a flat front, I found mine at the dollar store)
- Yarn or Fabric to wrap around the wreath form
- Muslin Strip to hang the wreath
- Approximately 70 striped straws (I ordered mine from Amazon)
- 3 stars of various sizes (Michaels)
- Blue and Silver Glitter Paint
- Hot Glue

Step 1:  Wrap your wreath form in yarn or fabric.  You'll notice I used leftover yarn from my summer wreath.  This part is what took the longest.

Step 2:  Cut approximately 1 inch off half of your straws.  I would have a few extra of each size so about 35-40 straws in each size.

Step 3:  Glue your muslin strip to your wreath form, glue the front and back.  I did this because I ended up gluing my straws on top of the muslin.  Make sure you measure the muslin strip to make sure the wreath hangs at the right length.  

Step 4:  Glue your striped straws around your wreath form alternating between your two sizes.  You want the ends to touch at the center of the form.  A flat front wreath form is ideal because it gives you more surface in which to glue your straws to.  

Step 5:  Paint your stars and glue them onto the top of the straws.

That's it.  It's an easy wreath tutorial and can be done in an hour or two depending on how long it takes you to wrap your form.  The straws give the wreath a fun texture and shape, something a little different than most other wreaths.  It's patriotic and can be used for Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July, and even Labor Day.

I'm really excited with how it turned out.  How do you decorate for any of these holidays?  What tutorials  have you found or created?

Summer Yarn Wreath

I did it, I made my first yarn wreath!  I think this is my first wreath period and I love how it turned out.  Honestly the hardest part was trying to decide on colors.  Do I make it match my interior?  Do I use the same style?  Do I go completely different?  Do I make it seasonal?  So many questions.  Ultimately though the lack of color choice for the felt flowers helped me make a final decision.  While the colors in my house are a little more subdued I think that I was able to mix my overall design style with fun summer colors to make the perfect outdoor yarn wreath.

Supplies:
1 skein of yarn
1 foam wreath
3 pieces of dark purple felt
3 pieces of yellow felt
1 piece of lt grey felt
1 piece of dk grey felt
1 piece of medium purple felt
1 piece of lt purple felt
1 piece of linen for a tie
Glue gun

I wanted a yarn that had some texture so that it didn't have the "yarn" look as I wrapped it around the wreath (I know it's kind of ironic since I was making a yarn wreath).  What can I say... sometimes I don't understand my own thought process.  I found this neutral color as JoAnns.  It's Lion Brand and the color is Pearls.  It  kind of reminded me of wool and it was on sale!

I found various felt flower tutorials for my yarn wreath on Pinterest.  All were fairly easy.  The yellow flower was the most time consuming but it was my statement piece.  Again I wanted varying textures.  Some of the flowers had more dimension then others.

After I had finished all of my felt flowers I played around with the placement and hot glued them on.  The final touch was my linen tie at the top.  Do you recognize my the linen strip from another one of my projects?  

This yarn wreath was rather inexpensive.  I think I made it for right around $10.  It was a project I worked on with my mother-in-law and we had a blast creating it.  Do you have a yarn wreath or any wreath you made for the matter?  I would love to stop by and see your latest creations.  Happy Monday!      

DIY Cupcake Stand

This DIY Cupcake Stand is seriously so easy but it's one of my favorite projects.  I had another design friend who made something similar out of all white dishes to replicate a cupcake stand she had seen in a Pottery Barn magazine.  I love the simplicity of all white, I really do.  I also have my kitchen decor themed around dishes and wanted to make a stand I could leave out year round.  My kitchen/dining/living room has some shabby chicish elements and I wanted my diy cupcake stand to be one of those elements.

Materials:
2 Large Plates
1 Medium Plate
1 Small Saucer Plate
2 Mugs
1 Sm Bowl
Ceramic Glue (or something strong like the E-6000 glue)

I went to Pier 1 and found all of the pieces in their clearance section.  Score!  I will admit that I sat on the ground and stacked the dishes until I had the exact look I was going for.  I can't remember exactly how much I spent but I know it was under $20.  Then I came home, washed the dishes and glued them all together.

TA DA.

Obviously I have to wash it by hand but I use it for more than just cupcakes.  Fresh Fruit.  Assorted Candy.  Nuts.  Anything that looks pretty and needs to be on the counter for one reason or another.  It's true that I probably couldn't put blue cupcakes on there and make it look masculine for a boy themed party but that is why I have a set of white cake stands.  It really was meant to not only be functional but be a pretty piece of art.    

To be honest I'm so tempted to do another diy cupcake stand just for the fun of it.  Maybe someone will want one for their birthday.  Any takers?

Valentine's Day Craft Projects - (Holiday Banner)

 I had been itching do some sort of project the only problem is that I've been traveling so much I don't always have my "regular" tools and supplies with me at all times.  Lucky for me I have a mother-in-law who doesn't mind being my partner in crime.

I had been perusing the Pinterest boards looking at Valentine's Day craft projects not knowing what I should do.  I don't typically get all gung-ho when it comes to some of the smaller holidays and after Christmas don't really want to re-decorate my house again.  I also don't really want to put a bunch of colors up that don't already go with my everyday decor.  That's when my light bulb went off.  I could make a holiday banner.

My house has touches of shabby chic in it and a lot of black and white, silver, gold, etc.  I had an idea in my head of what I kind of wanted the holiday banner to look like.  I opted for the word "Amour" to "Love" as I not only have another craft in mind for that word but also wanted something a little longer.  Thus, off to Hobby Lobby we went in search of  various papers.  Little did we know that was the easy part.

Next we logged in Silhouette's library and found various tag templates for all of the backgrounds.  The hardest part was deciding how to accent each letter and background.  I'm not kidding when I say I spent a few hours on this part.  The Silhouette did all of the cutting for me so after my design was complete I just had to assemble it together.

I couldn't be happier with the outcome.  I can easily hang this up in my house without doing any sort of re-arranging of my current decor and it not only acts as a Valentine's Day banner but it could also double as an Anniversary banner.

Here are the specifics for each letter:

A - Black and White Cream Polka Dot Paper Background; Grey Paper with Music for the Shield
M- Tan Paper with Words All Over for Background; Pearl Embellishments on top of the Letter
0 - Red Damask Paper Background; Cardboard and White Pearl Specialty Papers for Rectangles behind the Letter; Hearts Punched out of Various Papers
U - Grey and Cream Small Polka Dot Paper for Background; 2 Flourishes out of Cream Cardstock; White Pearl Specialty Paper for the Bird
R - White and Gold Patterned Specialty Paper for Background; Gold, Word, and Grey Cardstock for the Brackets

Then of course there is the Fleur De Lis which is on a pink striped paper.  It has just a touch of glitter which I love.

I used the antique ink on a few of the papers to help add a little variety as well.

Overall it really is a simple project, one worth attempting.