DIY Coffee Filter Floral Wreath

You guys. I am so stoked about this project. (Does anyone used the word stoked anymore?) In fact, I’m just going to glaze over the fact that it’s been five months since my last blog post, and dive right into this masterpiece.

I’ve been wanting to make a fun, spring/summer indoor wreath and had seen several coffee filter wreaths on Pinterest. So this was the perfect excuse for a good ol’ DIY evening. It really is an easy project and doesn’t take a whole lot of skill – just a lot of coffee filters, time, and patience (and maybe a couple glasses of wine if you’re so inclined). But it’s worth the end result if you ask me.

Aside from the coffee filters (which only cost $1 for a package of 100), I got all my supplies at Hobby Lobby:

Coffee filters (2 packs)
12” wreath form
Sewing pins (box of 325)
Faux flowers (on clearance!)

Total cost: About $10

Oh, Baby - Initial Art Gift Idea

Even though I have some upcoming blog posts planned about our newly painted walls, I haven't had time to work on actually writing them yet. Sad face. So in the meantime, I'm sharing this quick and easy gift idea. 

Let's rewind to a few years ago, when I made this personalized nursery letter artwork for one of our friends who had a baby boy:

I wanted to use a similar concept for another friend who just had a little girl recently. The only things I knew were A) their nursery was mint green and B) I wanted the final piece to have a sort of rustic/natural/sophisticated vibe. I wasn't sure how it would all come together, but all it took was a trip to Hobby Lobby to peruse the aisles for inspiration. At the end of the trip, my basket included an 8x10 frame, a piece of scrapbook paper, a chipboard letter, and some jute. 

Drinking & Crafting: DIY Wine Cork Ball

We've been accumulating quite the wine cork collection throughout the past seven years of our marriage, and lately the situation has been getting a little out of control. There's a large glass vase that's overflowing with corks in our kitchen, plus a plastic bag full of them in our closet. Eventually I figured I'd do some cool crafty project with them and have been pinning lots of fun ideas on Pinterest:

[Wine Cork Decorative Tray Filler]

Frugal & Fabulous Fabric Artwork

Wow - it's been more than 4 months since my last post. That may be my longest blogging hiatus yet. But I'm still here, dangit!  There's been a lot going on with work and life in general, so therefore just not much time for doing fun stuff worth blogging about.  *insert pity party here*

However, the other night I was bound and determined to get my DIY fix. Now, I don't want to talk this project up too much because it's not like it's anything groundbreaking--but I am pretty happy with how it turned out! And let's face it, "artwork" is a very generous description, but whatever.

I've had some oh-so-trendy chevron fabric sitting in my closet that I purchased quite some time ago just because, well, I just really liked it. I also had stashed away an 11x14 picture frame which I scored from a Michael's clearance sale for $3 or something crazy cheap like that. (In case you hadn't figured it out, I tend to buy things on sale even though I have no idea what I'm going to do with them.)

Recalling something I'd seen on Pinterest, I realized my bargain finds were the beginnings of a new project. All I needed was a little paint and a mat for my frame--just to make it look a little more "complete." I got a little can of Krylon Sun Yellow spray paint at Hobby Lobby, which was a pretty close match to the yellow in my fabric. 

World Map Wall Decor: $50 DIY Project

My absence on here the past couple of months doesn’t mean I’ve been totally unproductive. It’s been quite the busy summer, actually! I’ve been giving our bedroom a mini-makeover (more on that later), but I’m also quite pleased with my latest project.

I was first drawn to this idea when I saw it on Pinterest (here and here). The idea of vintage-y map wall art just seemed so cool – especially since we traveled to Europe earlier this year, which makes me feel more worldly and cultured. Like, now it’s legit to have a world map on my wall or something.

I didn’t really know where to find such a map, so I started with good ol' Amazon, where I ended up finding several options and sizes. There were quite a few 24x36” sizes, but since I had a large wall in mind for this project, I chose the giant 55x39” size. The map is actually more of a poster and obviously not true vintage, but it looks vintage and the colors work perfectly with the rest of the decor in our house. Including shipping & handling, the poster was about $18.

You can imagine my excitement when the poster tube showed up on our front porch a few days later in great condition (despite some reviews I’d read to the contrary). It was definitely gigantic!

Fabulous Fabric Lamp Revamp

This little garage sale treasure has been sitting on a night stand in our guest room for a couple of years now. I think I bought it for a whopping $2. I like the base just fine, but the ugly shade has been begging for a facelift.

During a recent trip to Hancock Fabrics, I spotted some clearance fabric with a fabulous print in the remnants bin. It was $4 for two yards, so I snatched it up.

I wasn’t quite sure of the best way to cover the shade, so I basically just rolled it up in the fabric and cut along the top and bottom outline, leaving about 1” extra.

Simple Spray Paint Makeovers

The power of spray paint never ceases to amaze me. Case in point: three mini-makeovers from the past week.

Exhibit A – Spruced Up Sticks
My neighbor’s yard is often littered with twigs from her trees. One of those trees in particular—I’m not sure what kind it is--has some very unique, wavy branches. I never really thought much of this until recently when I realized I could use these branches as decor. With this vision in mind, I began the search for a large floor vase and found one at Gordman’s for $30.

Then, I picked out a few of the best-looking twigs from our neighbor’s yard and spray painted them silver. Easy peasy!

Up Cloche and Personal

Before I begin, I should let you know that I recently got back from a 2-week vacation to Europe. Since we returned home, I'm still adjusting back to "real" life... you know, being domesticated and cooking meals and working 8-5 (ugh). This also means easing slowly back into house projects. Hence my absence around here lately, and hence this post's somewhat-boring subject matter. 

Moving on. A cloche bell jar has been on my wish list for quite some time now. This week, I finally bought one at Hobby Lobby for $20 (50% off). I'm not sure if this is a great deal, but I didn't have the energy to search for cheaper options elsewhere. 

Now, a tough decision. What to put in it?? I made another stop at Joann's to see what I could find. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon some "textured spheres" on clearance for $3.97 a box (marked down from $14.99). I got two boxes, which ended up being just enough to fill up my cloche.

Crafty Bottles

[Alternate post title: An excuse to drink more!]

So we've had an empty Disaronno bottle on our kitchen counter for the past few weeks. I didn't want to throw it out, although I'm not sure why. After my last bottle project from Christmas, I just knew there was probably some potential.

Yum.

I turned to (what else?) my Pinterest boards for inspiration and found these in particular:

wine bottles

yarn-wrapped beer bottles

With these ideas in mind, I headed to Joann's and bought a roll of jute for $2.49. After soaking the bottle in hot water to get the label off, I settled in with my glue gun and began wrapping... and wrapping. I just glued at the corners every few rows or so, to keep it all in place.

About a half hour later, I ended up with this:

It seemed a little lonely by itself though, so I stole another random bottle/vase from a different room in the house and gave it a jute makeover too. I'm kinda diggin' them.

And I've still got plenty of jute to spare! Not bad for $2.49. So, what crafty things have you done with empty bottles?



Linking up to:

Weeekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now

Lovely Crafty Weekend @ Lovely Crafty Home

http://www.ourdiydiaries.com/2012/01/fab-not-drab-party-and-features-fridays.html

Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop @ Homemaker on a Dime

Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.

Pumpkins & Paint

I normally don’t do a ton of fall decorating around the house, but there is one thing that I usually have to have - pumpkins! So when I saw that Aldi had large pumpkins on sale for $2.49 each, I had to take advantage of this bargain. With my barren front porch in mind, I picked out three pumpkins.

But this year, I wasn’t just going to plop the pumpkins on the steps like years past. No, this year I had other plans.

My fondness for all things paint has grown throughout the past year, and these unassuming pumpkins would soon find themselves face-to-face with a spray paint nozzle.

Pumpkin, meet White Spray Paint:

You might have guessed by this incredibly generic-looking can that I picked up the cheapo 97 cent off-brand at Home Depot. I figured it would be a good time to try it out since this project would only be on display for the next few weeks.

Well, suffice it to say, there’s a reason it only costs 97 cents. The spray was so broad and fine that it took about 4 coats (much closer than the recommended 10-14 inches) to get all the orange covered. (I also used ScotchBlue painter’s tape to cover up the stem.)

In between coats, I also painted my second pumpkin. For this one, I chose to show some school pride with the color of my alma mater (go K-State!).

Pumpkin, meet Purple Spray Paint:

Painting with the RustOleum Painters Touch was a dream compared to the cheapo brand. It was a much more concentrated spray and only took two coats. Lesson learned, it's worth the $3.77.

Back to the white pumpkin… I had originally thought of painting big black dots on it, but then I decided to try something a little more challenging and “artistic.” Maybe along the lines of what Sarah at Hennessey House might do, but obviously not as intricate or impressive (have you seen that girl's artwork?!).

I had bought a sample of black paint at Home Depot, so I got a little paint brush and started painting… and painting… and painting. About two hours later (including a couple breaks), I had this:

Overall, it didn’t turn out too bad. My swirly vines could have used another coat to make them more solid, but at that point I had already invested enough time in them. Plus, you can’t really tell that they’re a little streaky unless you get up close.

Just for tradition's sake, I decided to keep the final pumpkin orange. (Okay, maybe it was also because it was late and I was tired of painting.)

And here are the finished pumpkins on our front porch:

So tell me, what are you doing with your pumpkins this year? Carving? Glittering? Painting? Nothing?

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Linking up to:
Get Your Craft On Tuesday @ Today's Creative Blog
Creative Juice @ Momnivore's Dilemma
Weekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now

$6 Summer Wreath (better late than never)

Sadly enough, this little wreath has been several months in the making. It didn't literally take me several months to make, but let's just say I've been wanting one ever since it was supposed to be a spring wreath. The only problem was, I couldn't find the right kind of greenery I was looking for and still stay within my usual cheapskate budget.

Then all of a sudden, things started falling into place last week.  I unexpectedly found this wreath at Goodwill for $2.49.  Score #1.

Then I found this interesting faux flower thing at Hobby Lobby for about $3. It had a bunch of narrow yellow/green leaves, along with small white and yellow buds. The leaves and stems had tiny wires in them, so they'd be easy to stick into my wreath. It was like it was made exactly for the purpose I wanted. Score #2!

So, as I previously alluded to, all I did was cut off the leaves and stems with wire cutters (I only used about half of them). Then I just tucked them into the wreath far enough so it felt like they wouldn't fall out.

About 30 minutes later, I ended up with this.

And here it is, giving our front door a little extra flair. Simple and pretty, but not too flowery.

On second thought, it may be a little on the puny side, but oh well. It does the job, and the price was right!

 

Personalized Nursery Letter Art

You may be wondering why I would be doing a project for a nursery. Well..... I have some news to share......

Just kidding! No, we are not having a baby. However, a couple of our good friends just became proud new parents of a baby boy (three weeks ahead of schedule). I knew I wanted to do some sort of DIY project for their gift, and I had been thinking along the lines of a personalized photo frame.

Then, I came upon the perfect idea while visiting Hennessy House. I wish I could take credit for myself, but I have to give Sarah all the props; this girl has creativity oozing out of every pore! Seriously, you should see her artwork. Normally I am both impressed and intimidated by her talents, but this letter art actually seemed like something I could attempt to re-create myself.

Basically, the idea is to trace a bunch of different stencils to create the shape of a letter. For a good, detailed tutorial, just check out Sarah's post. In her case (below), she used it as a wedding gift.

via Hennessy House

I, however, was visualizing it in a nursery. Since my friend's nursery has what I would call a sophisticated/modern jungle theme (it's really adorable), that made it pretty easy. I had no trouble finding various elephant, giraffe, and hippo silhouettes on Google Images. I also used a photo of the wall in the nursery to get the silhouette of the simple tree that also matches the tree in her fabrics. Then I printed off all the silhouettes in a variety of sizes.

The baby's name is Elijah, so I found a nice chunky font (Berlin Sans) for my letter "E"and blew it up to about 700 point size for an 8x10 frame. After tracing the outline of the E onto tracing paper, I proceeded to trace my silhouettes inside the letter. It was kind of like putting a puzzle together, trying to decide where they fit best. And although it was time-consuming, I thought it was pretty fun.

I wanted to make a couple different versions to see which one I liked best, but ran out of time and just went with my first attempt. Here's what it looked like as outlines only:

Then, I scanned in the tracing paper, printed it off on regular white paper, and colored in the silhouettes with a black Sharpie. (You could also just use the fill tool in Photoshop to color in the outlined shapes, but this way felt more "handmade.") Here's what it looked like when I scanned it in again:

In Photoshop, I erased the outline of the E, darkened the silhouettes by adjusting the levels, and just cleaned up the image in general. There was also a little blank hole that needed filling, so I added the date of Elijah's birth.

I found this silvery frame at Walmart, which I spray painted with Rustoleum American Accents satin finish in Iris Blue.

Then I just printed out my letter art on matte photo paper, and voila!

I think Sarah's version looks better, but overall I'm pretty happy with mine. This is such a great gift idea -- inexpensive, yet it still requires effort and creativity. With that said, you don't have to be an artistic genius, just have a little bit of patience.

And the season of giving continues...

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Linking up to....
Motivate Me Monday
Anything Related Tuesday
Amaze Me August
Look What I Made! (Creations by Kara)
Whatever Goes Wednesday
What I Made Wednesday (Sweet Peas and Bumblebees)