Category Archives: Home Decor

Yarn/Felt Flower Wreath

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Happy Easter everyone! Remember those felt flowers I made? Well, I told you that I used some to decorate a wreath, and here is the spring/summer wreath I came up with. (By the way, this is the first wreath I’ve ever made!)Materials
- 1 green styrofoam wreath from Michael’s
- 1 package of yarn
- felt flowers
- glue gun & glue sticks
- ribbon

 

Directions

1) Carefully cut the styrofoam wreath in half using a sharp knife. This takes a while and is pretty tedious, but is totally worth it, because now you can make 2 wreaths for the price of buying one! (And the wreath will lay flat against a wall or door!) I got this idea from That’s My Letter. A “poke & swivel” motion is the method I found to work the best. I used no directions or videos to help me, so I’m sure there is a better way to do it.2) Wrap the yarn around the wreath once, and tie it in a tight knot with no slack. Make sure the knot you tie is on the back.

3) Now, continue to pass the whole package of yarn through the wreath and wrap the string of yarn around and around the wreath. Lay each string next to the string before it, making sure to pull tight and leave no space to show.  (This is the most time-consuming step.)

(In between these steps you could use an additional yarn color to make a stripes, argyles, or another pattern for more interest.  I chose to leave mine plain.)

4)  Next, you are ready to decorate your wreath with whatever embellishments you choose.  I made and attached 3 types of felt flowers (rose, loopy, & carnation) for a simple springy, outdoorsy style.

5) Choose what ribbon, bow, or fabric you want to hang your wreath with. (Or you may want no hanger) I layered 2 different widths of ribbon and looped them through the wreath.  Depending on the size of your wreath & where you are hanging it, the length of your hanger will vary.  I didn’t even measure the length of my ribbon. I just “eyeballed” it.

6) Hang your wreath however you wish and adjust it to your liking. Now it is on display for all to enjoy!

FYI: I mostly followed a tutorial from thegluegungirl to make the wreath and the different felt flowers. I got different tips and tricks by looking through her tutorials and watching her videos on youtube. So, please refer to her if my steps weren’t clear enough. :) She is a wreath pro!

Well, I’m no longer a wreath rookie! I officially heart making wreaths! Seeing the finished product was the best part! (Isn’t it always?!) I can’t wait to make more, especially with felt! What other felt flowers are you interested in? Do you like the rose, loopy, or carnation one the best? Are there others I should try? What other felt creations have you tried or “pinned” lately?

I’m linking up at:

DIY projects and crafts
mop it up mondaysThe Southern Institute

Confessions of a Thrifty Crafter

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We have two wedding showers coming up at church and usually I make personalized casserole dishes by etching the new name onto the glass. But I’ve given over half a dozen of these, so this time around I thought I would try something new. I visited Goodwill and Salvation Army and walked away with two picture frames-having only spent $3! Here’s what I came up with.

These frames were so fun to convert! I’m tempted to make one for myself, except for there are only 3 letters in my last name, so it might not look so nice. =(

If your interested in how to transform your own frame, here’s the details.

First, buy a frame (mine were about 20″ long. You could go longer or shorter depending on how many letters are in the name). Like I said, I found mine at a Goodwill and Salvation Army for $3 total. I found another one today at a yard sale for 50¢! If you can’t find the color you want, just spray paint it. I used the 97¢ stuff and it worked fine.

Next, using your cricut (or other cutting machine), cut out your name on vinyl (I used black cricut cuttables vinyl- sold at Wal-Mart. The settings on my cricut were: blade depth-3, speed-3, pressure-3.This resulted in what’s called a “kiss cut,” where the vinyl is cut, but the backing is not.). I used the program “Sure Cuts-A-Lot” to cut mine. I have version 2.0, so it works with my cricut. The current version does not work with cricuts. You don’t have to have a cutting software though, just use a cartridge that has a font that you like. Or, if you don’t have a cricut, you can order pre-cut vinyl letters from a number of sites online.

Weed your design by peeling off the pieces of vinyl you don’t want. Be careful to not let the sticky scraps get a hold of your lettering. I cut strips off as a I go to prevent that from happening.

Place transfer tape (again, I used the cricut brand from Wal-Mart because that’s all that is available in my small town!) across your name. Use the red grid lines to your advantage. They will help you center your image on the glass, so keep them straight!

Peal the backing off the vinyl. As you peal, be sure the letters stick to the transfer tape.

This is the scariest part to me- putting your sticker on the glass. To make this part easier, I placed my cricut mat face down underneath the glass. This provided a grid for me to line my transfer tape up with. It also helped me get the sticker  level by making sure the lines in both grids were parallel. You may also find it useful to make marks on your glass. You can do that by using pencil eyeliner. Once you’ve got it lined up press down on your design. I pressed from the middle (because I had just lined up the center grid line on my sticker to the one on the mat below), and worked my way out to the edges.) Once the sticker is applied, peel off the tape to reveal your name!

I love the way the shadow plays on the wall.

See what I mean?

FYI:

  • For the “Kittinger” frame I used the (free!) font, “Alex Brush.”
  • For the “McGrath” frame I used the (also free!!) font, “Simply Glamorous.”
  • I spray painted the  ”Kittinger” frame, but couldn’t find a cheep brown spray paint at Wal-Mart, so I used an acrylic paint for the “McGrath” frame. First, I sanded the frame so that it would be more porous. Then I used to coats of the acrylic paint and finished it with two coats of modge podge to protect the paint and give it a shine.
  • Total I spent $5 on new supplies for these two frames. Here’s the breakdown:
      • Frames: $3
      • Spray paint: 97¢
      • Acrylic paint: $1-ish
  • I already had the vinyl on hand, but originally I paid $9 for two 12″ x 24″ sheets. So to make these frames it cost about $9 total! (Judging that I used about $4 worth of vinyl.)

So now I have two wedding presents that (to me) are worth at least $20. I know they were inexpensive, but I’ll be proud to give them!

What’s your go-to wedding gift?

I’m linking to Fireflies and Jellybeans, Finding Fabulous, My Romantic Home, and It’s a Hodgpodge Life.

Out with the old, in with the new!

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I think it is about time to replace my fall wreath with a spring one.

This was a “PINspired” project I did back in september. I got the idea from Sweet Passions on a Thrifty Dime.

While I couldn’t find red and orange accents for the wreath, I did find this bundle of grasses at Wal-Mart by Better Homes and Gardens.

I think it was less than $5. I got the grapevine wreath at Wal-Mart too, but kicked myself when I visited Goodwill later and found several grapevine wreaths for much cheaper. Remember that next time you need a grapevine wreath! The pearl letter I got on our honeymoon almost four years ago at The Paris Market in Savannah, Georgia. They actually still carry them on their website if you want one!

So today I hung up my spring wreath! And it wasn’t a “PINspired” wreath either. No, this one was inspired by my sister’s wedding.

See those beautiful hydrangeas? Those were used all throughout her wedding decorations. So after the wedding was over, and I had slaved away at cleaning and dismantling the décor, I decided to take some of those pretty flowers with me… and make a wreath! So for three years I’ve had this wreath, but after Leslie’s post on altered wooden letters, I decided to add an initial.

What do you think?

I got the letter from CraftCuts.com. It’s an amazing site with all sorts of wooden letters in different fonts, sizes, and materials. You can get letters that hang, or letters that stand up, or even letters that are connected! If you are interested in the letter I ordered, it is a ¾” thick, 6” tall, unpainted Baltic Burch letter in Poor Richards font. I painted the sides navy and the top pale blue using acrylic paint to match the flowers.

I just love my “new” wreath! Thanks for dropping by!

To The Letter

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One of my favorite crafts to do is “Altered” Wooden Letters. You may have seen some of these at a craft fair, in a boutique, or at a friend’s house and thought, “That’s so cute!” or “Who made that?” Well, now you can take all the credit because I’m gonna give you the few simple steps to making them. It’s easy, I promise!

1) Gather your supplies:

  • wooden letter(s) from Hobby Lobby or Michael’s
  • newspaper or paper towels
  • 1 bottle of Mod Podge
  • 1 small foam paint brush
  • scrapbook paper of your choice
  • paint (if desired)
  • pencil
  • scissors

2) Turn the wooden letters upside down and trace the shapes onto the back of the scrapbook paper that you want to show on the front of the letter.

3)  Paint the wooden letter the color you wish. For the paper/painted hybrid version that I like to do, it is only important to make sure that the sides and backs are painted well. I usually paint the whole letter, worrying mostly about how the sides look. Sometimes (because I like to use a light paint color) I have to paint 2 coats to have it looking the way I like. * Also if you are painting the back, the painting should be broken down into more steps, allowing each side to dry so that it doesn’t stick to the newspaper!*

4) While the paint dries, cut out the scrapbook paper letters.

5)  After the paint has dried, lay the paper letters onto the top of the wooden letters. Make sure they will fit. (If they are too big, that is fine too! You can always come back and trim the edges later!)

6)  Dip your paint brush into the bottle of Mod Podge and paint a thin coat onto the front of each letter. Then lay the paper letter on top and smooth it down with your fingers.  Let the letters dry for 10 minutes or more.

7)  Now, apply another thin coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper.  This will give it a shiny/glossy look. (You can skip this step if you want the final product to be more rugged or natural.)

8)  After the top layer has dried, now you can trim any excess paper that might be hanging over the edges. I use a small pair of scissors to do this because it is easier to get into the corners.

9) Add any finishing touches that you desire: paint, glitter, ribbon, bows, buttons, any embellishments of your choice!

Here is the latest letter that I did for another baby girl’s nursery. It’s my favorite so far. I just did a simple “E” for Emelyn to hang on the nursery door.  We hung it on the door to the hospital room when she was born, but they had already hung a wreath for Christmas, so we tried to work with it. However, using one of these letters in a wreath could be a cute idea too!

Altered wooden letters aren’t just for nurseries either! Use them:

  • in the kitchen: EAT
  • at Christmas: JOY, NOEL
  • at Valentine’s: LOVE
  • at Halloween: BOO!
  • on the mantle: FAMILY
  • in the classroom: READ