Weekend Wrap Up-Wreath Chronicles

Awhile ago when my BFF was in town we made some  hair bows and wreaths.   I started this wreath making weekend by creating a wreath board on my pinterest page . That way she could choose what we were going to do and I could gather supplies before she got here.  She chose this Halloween one:

Originally from Jamie at Something To Do. This is her picture and the wreath is so pretty and full and perfect.

Before Kelly arrived, I read Jamies tutorial and of course got to work deciding how we would make ours.  Maybe Jamie is like me and knows there are a gazillion tutorials for anything you want to make and she didn't feel like writing another one.  I certainly wouldn't blame her!  I didn't know what size hoop she used or if she used all of that 12 yards of tulle she bought. 

Here is my brief tutorial: I bought 1 10" wooden embroidery hoop (however, if you look closely at Jamies embroidery hoop, I doubt it's 10"...oops, you will see why this mattered...keep reading) for $1.59 (now I had 2 wreath forms!) and 12 yards of black tulle from Hobby Lobby for $3.99.  While I was casually perusing busting butt to get through there with my 3 children, I wasn't thinking and only bought one roll.  Another day was I was in Hancock Fabric and they had shiny black tulle!  How fun!!  10 yards for $3.99.  I spray painted my embroidery hoops black for any see thru.

When Kelly got here we were ready to get down to business..there may have been some wine involved.  

I wrapped a piece of tulle around for measurement and landed on 14" for cutting the pieces. Why 14"? Why not? This stuff was full of glitter...By the end of cutting we looked like 2 teenagers that had been to see New Kids on the Block Big Time Rush.

We got to wrapping.  Alternating 1 piece of black sorta glittery  and 1 really glittery piece of tulle.  When we were done with 24 yards of tulle this is what our wreaths looked like

Oops! That word comes up a lot. Don't fret. We made our way back to Hobby Lobby and Hancock. 2 more sorta glittery and 2 more really glittery. We came back, cut and started wrapping again... We used alllllll the tulle. But we were really pleased with how they turned out! Thanks Jamie for your inspiration!

Our totals were 36 yards of sorta glittery and 30 yards of really glittery (of course you would not need this much depending on how big your hoop was or how big your tutu is). 1 black embroidery hoop. A tiny bit of black spray paint. A few feet of orange satin ribbon. A couple of hours and a bottle of wine....WITH your BFF.  Life doesn't get much better!

I plan on making one similar for our big celebration in December.  Little Miss turns 1!  Stay tuned!

I'm linking up with Coastal Charm, A2Z, & Savvy Southern Style

Baby Legs

While I am keeping you on pins and needles waiting to see that roman shade, I will share some pictures from a new project. It should probably go on my family blog, and it might at some point, but will never make it there, due to the cuteness that keeps me away from the computer.

So here is cuteness now. Little Miss enjoying her most recent repurpose which I first shared a sneak peek of here:

She is trying to crawl and I don't want those beautiful yummy delicious little knees getting banged up. Not to mention that most of our floors are hardwood....ouch!

I didn't use a tutorial. I pinned some on pinterest but found it easier to just go with the flow and use what sewing knowledge I have!

                                                          Knee socks from the store:

                                                              Cut off at the ankle:

Then snipped the toes and ankles off the foot part (these make the bottom cuff, not completely necessary, you could just fold and hem!)

                                                Flip the band part inside out and sew

(make sure the pattern, if you have one, will then be in the right direction!)

Then sew the hem on the bottom part of the cuff & iron. Flip right side out and enjoy your new baby leggings, or at least watching your little one enjoy them!  And that is how to repurpose knee socks!

And one last one of Little Miss, because the hair is too much..

That is all natural people. All nat-tur-rel!  Enjoy your weekend and all the cuteness that fills your house!

I'm linking up with Coastal Charm and Beth at A2Ztoday!

Weekend Wrap Up- It's football season!

My BFF is like most of my friends.  She is extremely creative, talented, motivated and hardworking (not to mention smart, beautiful, and brings joy to my life).  These girls love a new and fresh idea (or one shared 110 repins later on Pinterest), but they always leave it to me for execution.

Once she bought her ticket to come visit, she decided we needed to make a wreath (or 2 or 4).  We both wanted a football one since football season is upon us (as much as I LOVE a good football game, my husband,  makes his weekend schedule around who is playing and when).  And IF it happens to be East Carolina, you can guarantee he is unavailable for the any pregame, the entire game, and any amazing highlights any network decides to share after.  And if they don't he will probably check you tube to catch anything he may have possibly missed if he so happened to blink.  Thankfully, I went to East Carolina as well, so I share a smidge of the spirit that he does. 

I made a wreath board on pinterest, for Kelly to look at of my faves. We decided on the rag wreath that Krystal at Sassy Sanctuary had done. Here is her picture.

After reading her Halloween rag wreath tutorial (which is really good, so I don't have too..woo hoo), I went out and started looking for fabric. She used 8 yards (4 patterns/2 yards each). Since we would be doing purple and gold I went for 1 yard of each (and I have LOTS leftover). But I did cut my strips the same (6"x1") and double knotted (as she suggested)!

My absolute favorite football wreath I pinned was the houndstooth Alabama one. Just because I don't think there is a pattern better than houndstooth!! But when people come over and ask me if I went to Alabama it might be a little awkward to say no.

I do think ours is a little on the light side, because I used fabrics with a white background (ie the argyle) but I went for fabrics I liked, not just color. And I would not buy the licensed ECU fabric again. It's higher priced AND you can't see it! I do love our football pin that we made. Overall I think this wreath is super cute and I can't wait to hang it on my front door! Kick off is Saturday! Here's a little Pirate Pride video to get you pumped up...it's on a constant repeat feed at our house!

Half way done!  Kelly went around and I did section by section.

Yellow Pirate

Purple Pirate

Thanks Krystal for the inspiration and the excellent tutorial!
Linking up with Beth at A2Z & & Wow Us Wednesday on Savvy Southern Style!

One Word Wednesday

FAIL

L-O, L-O

L-O-V-E
Back in September I co hosted a wedding shower. We had it in a really great undecorated space (with an exposed brick wall, my favorite!) Since we had such a blank canvas, I had lots of room for creativity!

The colors were aqua, orange, and white. I found these letters on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try. I didn't even visit the site for a tutorial or anything, I thought it would be self explanatory. It wasn't a craft fail, but I'm sure she had some tips or something. I like that they were colorful and had texture and could be reused anywhere! Two of my favorites!

I got the letters at Michales. First I had my design assistant my four year old paint them the color of the yarn I was using. It was nap time for his little brother, so I figure I could put this under the "we did a craft today" category.

Once they were dry I sprayed them with Elmers spray adhesive to hold some of the yarn in place. Then I just started wrapping. I didn't do anything fancy and don't have any secrets. Just wrapped and sprayed, wrapped and sprayed.

Ta-Da!

I think they are super cute and fun and I thought I would use them in the nursery. But there really wasn't a place for them...but I'll find somewhere!

A Nursery Sneak Peek..Linens

We will continue this weeks reveal today with the linens. I know. Super exciting, right?!
Actually, I am a little let down. For someone that LOVES fabric and color as much as I do (I mean I do have a degree using them and spent my previous life before kids working with them day in and day out!) I didn't get too crazy or colorful! But they are exactly what I wanted!
Here are the crib linens.

(Excuse the poor picture quality. I have no idea what was going on. They looked fine on the camera?!)A natural colored linen bedskirt with white ruffles. Painstakingly made by grandma. The bedskirt has a hook and loop hem at the top so it can be moved when the crib mattress gets lowered. I absolutely love it. It's probably my favorite thing in the whole room. I would love one for my bed, but I'm scared to ask. I know the ruffles are a lot of work!

A plain white sheet. I thought I wanted a pink and white toile. However, once I put the white sheet on, I really liked it. Remember, the walls are pink! There is plenty of color in this little space!

I wasn't sure what to do for a bumper. There isn't anyway to attach it to the back of the crib (no slats) and they never really fit to where they can easily be tied. It was low on the priority list. I did finally decide I wanted one and a white one. I was trying to keep it simple. I looked online and found plenty. None of which I liked enough to spend $150 on. Strange, I have a Pottery Barn one, and I'm pretty sure it didn't cost that much?! And then...I decided why not make one?! I went to Hobby Lobby found some great chenille white on white polka dots and well...the rest is history. I thought I would just make a simple pillow case for my old bumper. Then I could put the ties where I wanted them and a little more hook and loop would solve that problem in the back! But that amazing grandma took over and whipped it up in a few short hours. She saved me yet again. I mean, I sure it would have only taken me a few short days! I will admit it took me until today to whip stitch the openings closed and sew on the ties (white grossgrain ribbon with some Fray check dabbed on the ends!). $20 for fabric (have some extra!) and $4 ribbon. Already had the fray check and white thread! I call that a good deal!

I loved the bedskirt so much that I couldn't stop there.

I used this linen in several projects, including covering the seat of a tiny rocker and a stool.
Then there are the curtains, which you saw in this Sneak Peek. I thought I may have come up with this idea on my own (I LOVE pom poms and I even had them in our old house on some cornice boards...before Pinterest!!) but I found this pin

Originally from here.

Apparently, I am not the brilliant decorator I thought I was! That's ok, I love these. Super cute and fun. One twin size white $6 sheet and six packs of pom poms (6x $4= $24) later! Not too bad!

Thats about it for linens! What will I reveal tomorrow?!

In case you missed yesterdays post here it is.

For previous nursery post see these Pink,Frames, Sneak Peek, Gallery Wall in progress

A Nursery Sneak Peek..Gallery Wall

The nursery has a lot of details so I will make a week of it and on Friday you can see the whole room in all it's glory. Of course, that's pretty scary because it means a lot of pressure for me. You see, the room is not quite finished. Almost, but almost doesn't count.

And I'd rather do it this way so the reveal isn't too wordy.

I am so proud of this wall. Gallery walls scare me because I feel like you are married to them. All those holes in the wall. What if you don't like it. Then it's a lot of work to repair your wall....ugh. No thanks.

When I found out we were having a girl, I wanted to do paper dolls a la Erika at Urban Grace Interiors

What's not to love?! I wanted to do them myself, but wasn't sure how to do them and change them up a bit without directly coping them.

So the plan changed to a gallery wall when we went to the Outer Banks for Labor Day and found an old Peter Rabbit book. First, I guess I should explain the Peter Rabbit connection. The furniture that is used in the nursery and a few pieces in the boys room was my grandmothers, and first her sisters! Their childhood room was called Peter Rabbits room. The furniture became Peter Rabbits furniture. So once we found the book, and decided on a gallery wall, I ran with the Peter Rabbit theme. (I love a theme. It seems to make things easier?)

Then I had to find some other inspiration. I didn't want all pictures. I wanted different textures, sizes, colors, etc. So to pinterest I went!

Once I got some inspiration I headed to the Salvation Army for some frames. Remember this post about some frames I found? Since I wanted different textures sizes etc for the artwork, I decided I would do that for the frames too. Which made shopping at the Salvation Army easy. I also decided that the color would be the thing that made them uniform.

And then I showed you the frames in progress. Some primer and $3 gold craft paint.

Here it is all finished.

Pictures 1 & 2 were inspired by this:

For some reason it's not letting me open the original site? I took a guess as to what it actually is, but I thought I would combine silhouettes and the boys artwork, so it was a project for them and something they did just for her. These two pictures consist of a $3 Walmart frame, a $2 Salvation Army frame, and 2 pieces of cardstock for $1.

Pictures 3 & 4 are the pages from the Peter Rabbit book. Two $3 frames from Salvation Army.

Picture 5 is a cross stitch I did years ago (I believe in high school) and a $1 wooden frame from Michales.

#6 is just a resin C from Ben Franklin. $1.

#7 is a Wedgewood plate from the set we were given from Chads grandmother when Q was born.

Image found here. So glad we found a great use for it. I know I should have, but there was no way, I was going to give my toddler some Wedgewood china to eat off of!

#8 was inspired by this:

Found on Pinterest but originally from here
It was super simple to do. I got a $1 embroidery hoop from Ben Franklin and used some fabric & thread I already had. I also used iron on tape to keep things from shifting while I sewed. I really think it's cute.

Picture #9 was inspired by this bunny bunting

Again, found on Pinterest but originally from here. I even used the same bunnies for a template. I made five different sizes. One for each member of our family. A $2 Salvation Army frame, $1 for 2 pieces of cardstock, and $1 for a package of pom poms. I don't know how I got this final product from the bunting. But I guess that is why it is called inspiration!

Picture 10 is one of my favorites. I love toile print. I saw this paper at Hobby Lobby and new I wanted to use it. I was originally going to use it for the five bunnies but it wasn't working out. Once I started to look at it I noticed it had two little boys and a little girl playing ring around the rosey, with a dog and a mom watching. Two little boys and a little girl!! $1 Salvation Army frame and a piece of scrapbook paper! Score!

Picture 11 is a Michaels frame I already had, some linen fabric (you'll see more of that soon) as a mat, and two pages from another antique Peter Rabbit book.

There you have it. A gallery wall for under $25 and I got to conquer my irrational fear laziness of completing one! And I'm sure way more details than you ever wanted to know!

For previous nursery post see these Pink,Frames, Sneak Peek, Gallery Wall in progress

Check back tomorrow night for Tuesdays reveal!

Curtains!

The boys curtains went up, which seems like it took forever. However, it took me much longer to write this post! I shared the inspiration in this first post about their room.

First I knew I wanted white curtains. Then I found these:

Source via Pinterest
I have been using navy as an accent so I knew I wanted to use navy at the bottom and not red. And they would be hanging on a red wall. Curtains are from World Market. Found some navy fabric at JoAnns Fabric and my seamstress amazing mother, measured, cut and hemmed them!

Then I found this curtain rod

Source
So creative! Kind of nautical. Seemed so easy! Easy until I went to execute the design. Aunt Kelly and I went to Lowes to pick up all our plumbing supplies. Since we didn't have any directions, we were going off the picture and the grommet holes on the curtains. Things were going well until we picked up the rod itself. It weighed at least 10lbs (for the length of 2). We went and looked at anchors. Big, strong, massive wall anchors that were going to be strong enough to hold a four and two year old swinging on them! Then we asked an associate where the wall anchors were if there was another solution for the rod. He suggested electrical conduit. This was great because the rod was lighter and CHEAPER!! Woot!

And then we went to put them up. One of the elbows was missing some thread. Ugh....I have two small children and I was pregnant and now I was having to go back to Lowes at Christmas.....Ahhhhhh!! But I was so excited about these curtains and how they would look! I will say that hanging them was a lot more work than regular rods (heavier and they have to be done at once, not a braket at a time), they were about $30 for each window (about the same as a regular curtain rod) and curtains can not be washed as easily. You will have to take off the rod itself, unless you got curtains that tie. But I was worried that would not fit my look! Thanks to the hubs and his muscles for the hanging part of this project!

I think they look awesome, if I do say so myself!

Soon I'll get some shelves up and a final room reveal!! I know, I know, you can't wait! Believe me, I can't wait to have it done!

Other Boys room projects:
Inspiration
Nautical Flags
Artwork
A Dresser
A Dresser Reveal

Pinterest Challenge

I did it. I participated in the Pinterest Challenge. Well, we'll see anyway. I tried to and Sherry at YHL made the directions sound super simple?! You know I love some Young House Love, I blogged about them here. Now we are practically neighbors..Well the same zip code anyway.

I didn't participate last time because, I wasn't ready to share any of the projects I'd already done and I hadn't blogged about them either, which made it a more than two step process to get it done....so it didn't.

I just checked...IT WORKED. I linked up! I'm number 338!

And since that was so easy I linked up over at Bower Power. I'm number 173!!! Love me some Katie Bower. I think she may have gotten that old window over the big fixed window because you don't really want blinds idea from me? No? Yeah me either, especially since I didn't blog about it!

So then I participated with Erin at House of Ernest. Number 133!! Erin was participating with YHL & Bower Power but her blog is a fave too!

But the kicker..I linked up over at Ana White. Number 90!! I may not be featured but Ana White is my idol. Not only is she creative, she builds things too! AFTER she makes & creates a plan for it!!

Sooooo, what did I link to these amazing bloggers my idols & fellow DIYers? Well my latest Weekend Wrap Up art project of course!

Can't.Stop.Pinning

So I could have blogged months ago about my obsession with Pinterest but that would require I stop pinning for 30 minutes or so and write. But I can't. I am obsessed.
I LOVE that I don't need my 3 ring binder anymore. I LOVE that if I find something in a magazine, I can find it online and pin it to a folder. No more need for paper. And that is great on so many levels.

I have two weddings coming up and have had a great time pinning wedding shower ideas etc. I've even completed a few projects I've pinned!

It may be a short welcome back post, but I will leave you with some inspiration and a need to get on Pinterest!!
Enjoy!

You could repurpose some scrap wood and make the slats different widths.VIA

Oh that Martha! She gets me everytime!

A great way to use up some of those extra pieces of yarn. It's a recycle for the birds!VIA


A lot of trees have come down in Richmond lately. Pretty sure I could find some extra stumps? Repurpose them instead of mulch!VIA


A new use for clohes pins!VIA