Kids Craft: Red, White, & Blue Flower Headband

One of my favorite things to do with my nieces is crafts. It's a love we have in common and a special way to bond. We had a craft day while I was home visiting for Father's Day and made these adorable Red, White, & Blue Felt Flower Headbands.

As always, I try to keep my projects budget-friendly. We were able to make 4 headbands for less than $10.

Materials:
1 sheet each of red, white, and blue felt (only .29 cents at Michael's!!)
Clear Gemstones
Elastic Headband
Craft Glue
White Foam Sheet (Optional)

Pottery Barn Inpired Easter Eggs

When I saw these Pottery Barn Easter Eggs I knew I had to make them. Now, at $20, they are a great deal but I can never resist the challenge of re-creating something I love.

I am making a Spring Wreath and decided these eggs would be the perfect accent for it. Of course, I have to put my own spin on things! I used real eggs, blown out, and I dyed them using RIT Dye.

 

The idea to use RIT Dye came late one night when I was trying to fall asleep. Does that happen to anyone else? I found a post from the RIT Dye blog that included custom color recipes (how beautiful are they??!!) I had such a hard time deciding on a color. I finally went with Aquamarine because it would really pop against the colors of the wreath and the lettering would show well on it.

Anthropologie Inspired Tassel Necklace

One of my favorite time-killers is to browse websites like Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, and One Kings Lane looking for pieces that inspire me. I love the challenge of trying to re-create my favorites.

I found this Anthropologie necklace and loved it. I had just read a refresher tutorial on making tassels so I really wanted to try my hand at it. 

Off to Michael's I went!!!!

Materials: Necklace Chain // Embroidery Thread //Cardboard Template // O-rings //Scissors

I was in the mood for fun Springy colors so I chose these primary brights.

DIY Burlap Initial

I have never considered myself creative. I am re-creative! I've gotten pretty good at taking a project or object and recreating it with my own spin.

Today is my friend, Corrie's, birthday!! I wanted to make her something special to celebrate the day. When I saw this project from At the Picket Fence I knew I wanted to try it for her.

As usual, I hit up Michael's for my materials:

1. Wooden Initial

2. Grosgrain Ribbon

3. Burlap Panel

4. Wrapping Paper

5. Craft Glue

DIY Cascading Bottle Bud Vases

I got the inspiration for these cascading vases from a photo posted by a boutique I follow on Facebook. They were buying them from a trade show as decor for their shop but I knew I could make it myself.

I was going to try find some old bottles for the project but when I ran across these bottles at Michael's they were too perfect to pass up.

Aren't these colors gorgeous? I'm re-doing my balcony decor and I'm going with these bright colors as the theme.

DIY Floating Wall-Hanging

 

Today's post is inspired by this photo I found on Pinterest:

Source

I loved the look of the floating words in the frame. (Not to mention the wall color...) So off to Michael's I went and what did I find? A whole NEW section devoted to wood frames, cut-outs, shapes, letters, and words. I hit the jackpot!!

It was hard to choose just a few pieces from the fantastic collection. I knew I wanted to hang them in my living room so I tried to match the basic style and decor that I already have.

Materials:

I have mentioned I like easy projects, right? Well this one definitely qualifies!

DIY Gemstone Statement Necklace

These last few days at work have been crazy and stressful. After a particularly trying day, I headed to Michael's to find a project. In the past I would deal with my stress by a good junk food binge. Since I can't do that anymore I've starting finding projects to relax me. (Along with buying a new pair of heels. That ALWAYS helps too!!)

I have seen several different versions of this statement necklace project on Pinterest and ended up using a idea from each one to create my own.

Materials:

• Felt
• Plastic Canvas
• Gemstones
• Ribbon
• Craft Glue

First, I cut the plastic canvas into a crescent-style shape. (You can create any shape you like, the possibilities are endless here)

I ended up changing the shape of the necklace at the end...

Next, I cut the felt to match and glued them together.

The next step was to determine what pattern I wanted to create with the gemstones. As I mentioned above, I changed the shape of necklace at this point. I didn't like the full crescent shape so I trimmed it to a semi-circle. I experimented with a few designs and finally decided on covering the entire area with the gems.

Next, I glued the stones to the backing by applying a drop of craft glue to the back of each gem and placing it back in position on the felt. (This was a fairly tedious process but thankfully, I had a good episode of NCIS to watch while I worked.)

The last step was to attach a length of ribbon to the outer corners of the backing after the gems had dried overnight. I attached with craft glue but also added a couples stitches to make sure everything was secure.

I really love how this turned out. And you get such bang for your buck! Excluding the craft glue, I only spent $5 for all the materials. I used half of the gems and have enough felt and backing to make at least four more necklaces.

I want to try this project again with jewel-colored stones of varied sizes. Maybe this weekend!!

DIY Glittered LOVE Mirror

Sunday was a rainy, gray day perfect for crafting so I hit Michael's on the way home from church in search of a project. I had several in mind but when I came across this mirror, I knew I wanted to make something special for my Valentines... my nieces! I think it turned out pretty cute.

Here are all my supplies from Michael's:

2-inch wooden letters: L, V, E
2-inch wooden heart
Unfinished wood-framed mirror
Gold, Pink, and Purple Glitter
Mod Podge
Sponge brushes

After I removed the mirror and the back, I mixed the gold glitter with some Mod Podge and painted it on. I knew it would take a couple coats the get the coverage of glitter I wanted. I tried to keep the coats even but I didn't worry about leaving brush strokes because it dries clear and smooth.

Next I mixed the pink glitter with Mod Podge and painted the heart I was using for the "O" in LOVE. I piled the mixture on pretty heavy because I really wanted it to it shine and be extra glittery.

Then I mixed the purple glitter and Mod Podge and painted the letters. I laid this on pretty thick too but I still had to go back a couple times to fill in the "gaps" in the glitter. I didn't want any wood showing through on these. **

** I was still not happy with the coverage of the glitter so I gave everything a last coat of plain Mod Podge and sprinkled the glitter over that. I achieved maximum glittery-ness!!!

Finally, I put the mirror and back on, arranged the letters on the frame, and glued them with tacky glue.

Hopefully, every time she looks in this mirror she will remember she is LOVED by Aunt Cheryl!!!


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Jingle Bells, Candy Canes, and Inspectors

I am finally feeling somewhat back to normal so I wanted to share the little gifts I made for some of my coworkers.

I love jingle bells... Especially glittery pastel colored jingle bells!! I found these great colored jingle bells at Michael's.

I didn't have a plan for them but had to have them. Then I found the large snowflake jingle bells at the Dollar Tree. I had seen these jingle bell ornaments on Pinterest so I decided to create my own version. I simply threaded different combinations on the silver string that came with the large snowflake bells. I like the mix of the matte finish, shiny silver, glittery, and colored together.

Before I decided to make the jingle bell ornaments I bought these adorable snowman candy cane socks.

 I'm also a big snowman fanatic... I found the socks at Oriental Trading Company, one of my favorite sites to order Christmas crafts from. These ornaments couldn't have been easier. All I had to do was gently slide the sock onto the candy cane. I love how the hook of the cane made the floppy hat.

I had an inspector to make sure I was doing everything right :-) Sorry the photo is blurry but I had to snap it quick when he hopped up there. Meet Bentley!!

Apothecary Jar Snow Scene

It's Tried It Tuesday and I wanted to share this Apothecary Jar Snow Scene I did. This one is so simple! It requires no artistic talent which is good since mine is equal to a preschooler's. If you have a Christmas village you may already have everything you need.

Some years I go all out decorating my house for Christmas and others I just do little touches here and there. This is one of those years since Christmas is so close to Thanksgiving and it kind of snuck up on me. So far all I have up is my Snowman and Glittered Clothespin Garland I made, this snow scene, and my small tree.

 

Supplies:

Apothecary Jar  - Michaels Stores
Fake Snow - Michaels Stores
Christmas Village pieces - Michaels Stores and Dollar Tree

Step 1: Clean the jar so that's it's shiny and clear of any fingerprints

 

Step 2: Fill the jar partially with snow

 

 

 

Step 3: Arrange house and accent pieces then sprinkle more snow on top. I used a skewer to move the snow around after the pieces were in. (Tip: Turn off any overhead fans in the area...I had to vacuum after I was done!!)

 

 

 

 

 

For my jar I used a little village house that my sister painted and gave me for Christmas. And then I added the accent pieces. It's as easy as arranging the pieces to create a winter scene!

 

Ispiration Pin

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