Twine and felt wreath

I was definitely feeling the late winter/early spring blahs the other day. It is hard to decorate outdoors when the wind is still whipping and it is snowing. I thought I would brighten my front door with a new wreath. All of you know how this girl loves making wreaths, right?

I have seen these wreaths all around and thought I would make my own with a twist. The materials were easy enough, foam wreath, twine, felt and glue gun. I like the twine better than the yarn version because I thought it would make it more durable and rustic.

I attached the twine to the wreath with glue and wrapped the twine all around the wreath until everything was covered. I glued every so often to make sure it stayed attached. After that was completed, I began working on the flowers. I cut circles in various sizes with 6 different colors of felt. Then I just layered the felt until it looked like a cute flower and the color combo was good.

Then glue the flowers on the wreath. You can do as many or as few as you like. There are no rules. I attached another piece of twine to the top to hang the wreath. Soooo simple, and cute! Take that expensive wreaths from the store!

Monogram Picture Frames

Creative credit: Jennifer Caldwell

Here is a cute and simple way to brighten up your home with some cute decor. These frames are so easy to make. They also make great gifts.

All you need is pretty picture frames ( these came from TJ Maxx), coordinating scrapbook paper, and felt stick on letters. Cut the paper to fit the frame and add your monogram. These three have the last name initial and the two first name initial. Super easy and adorable!

Burlap Wreath

Time for me to make a new wreath. I mean, I have to keep up with my wreath a month habit. I admit, I am addicted to making wreaths. They are just so easy to make and can brighten the front door. My door needs to be brightened up right now. I hate when all of the holiday decorations come down. I fee like my porch and front door look naked. So, time to snazz it up.

You will need:

2 yards burlap
1 yard different color burlap
1 wire wreath form
hot glue gun
buttons
ribbons

I started with cutting my main color of burlap in 6 inch by 1 inch strips. Cut a lot of them, it will take them all. Once they were cut, I tied them on to the wire wreath. I went back and forth tying them, making sure to compact them together. You want to be sure that there are no bare spots or holes. Just keep tying until the whole wreath is full. I then went through and cut all of the loose strings off of the burlap. I forgot to mention this is really messy. The burlap makes a crazy mess with all of the strings.

Now to the flowers. I used the different color of burlap. I cut it into 2 inch strips approximately 36 inches long. Plug in your glue gun and get gluing. Fold the burlap in half lengthwise, then begin rolling about 10 times, gluing each roll. After you have your initial roll, begin folding the burlap around the roll. This will make the flower get larger and take on a more flower look versus just a roll. Continue folding and twisting the burlap around the roll, gluing often to secure, until you get to the end. I tried to take pics of the steps but it is hard to show. I also make a flower out of the coordinating ribbon to brighten things up.

Once the flowers were complete, I glued some decorative buttons on a few of them. Now, time to attach the flowers. Figure out where you want your flowers. In that area, I knotted the burlap one more time to make it more of a base. Glue the heck out of the flower and the base and hold it on until it is dry. Continue gluing the others on, making sure to glue the sides so the flowers attach to each other.

Last step is to cut your ribbon. Thread it through the back of the wire wreath and tie a bow at the top. That will be your hanger. Enjoy your wreath. Of course you can do different color combos and accents on it for different seasons.

String Art

 

I keep seeing string art everywhere and I thought I would give it a whirl. It wasn’t hard at all. The most difficult part was getting the map out after I had everything strung together.

First step was to print out a state map. I did Virginia because that’s where we live, (hello)! Then I just followed the outline hammering in tacking nails as straight as possible all the way around. Next, I made a heart shape over Blacksburg area (where I live) NOTE: If I do this project again I would make the heart first then follow the outline around the state…it would make it much easier.

 

After I had all my nails in, I started stringing. I just made a knot and the cut the loose ends off. I wrapped back and forth from the heart to the outer edge. I did ombre colors but you could choose whatever color or colors you wanted. My final step was to pull the map out. I used tweezers to get under the strings and pull the paper out, and then I pained the nail headed for extra pop!

 

So I officially now have string art!

Things Needed:

Wood

Nails

Map

String

Paints

Hammer
Tweezers

 

$8 $8 Read All About It

I wanted to do something budget friendly this year and I needed a holiday wreath. Btw, have you looked at the price of those? The cheapest one I could find was $30. I thought, I could make something cute under $10….

So I check my wallet...score! I had a 50% off coupon for Michael’s Crafts so I stopped there first and snagged my wreath with my coupon it can to a big whopping $2 bucks!!!

Then I headed for the Dollar Tree. I think people tend to write them off, but I have done some wonderful party centerpieces from Dollar Tree items (I’ll save those for another blog) While I was there I picked up come awesome swirly candy cane stakes and red and white ball stakes…. I didn’t have a theme but one just kind of fell into my lap. They had an assortment of ribbon so I found one I liked and a Santa head ornament. It was larger then most so I thought it would look great  front and center.  Grand total of $6 at the Dollar Tree!

It was easy to put together. I cut the stakes to size, one on each side and glued it in place. Then I put Santa in the middle and glued the ribbon around….

Tada! Super Cute and Super Cheap!