Yarn Wreaths

Unfortunately, I have not been crafting regularly. And I miss it! December had me focused on getting everything bought & wrapped and finishing up my math class, and then Christmas came, followed by our vacation. Now I'm back in school taking college algebra and anatomy & physiology I. It's a tough semester. Hopefully I can find some time to craft, and soon. In the mean time, I'm going to share a few wreaths I managed to sqeeze in back in November & December.

You might recognize the rainbow wreath at the top of this post. It's not new, but since I posted it, it's been pinned quite a bit on Pinterest, and I've read a lot of  comments mentioning making it for other holidays, etc. So I decided to copy myself. This gold one above I made for Thanksgiving.

Then in December, I joined at Christmas Swap hosted by Crystal at Little Bit Funky. I wanted to send something handmade to my partner, so I decided to make another wreath. I started again with the rainbow wreath as inspiration, but ended up not copying it 100%. 

She decorates with traditional Christmas colors, which I somewhat do as well (I really loves blues & bright colors though), but it was kind of hard for me to work with these colors. The red glittery sticks were part of a Christmas pick from Michael's.

I had purchased these little trees at the thrift, but didn't like the gold bases. So I covered them with some silver glitter.

After I shared photos of that wreath on Facebook, my sister in law mentioned she wanted one. So I got busy making another. This time I used the white Christmas wreath as inspiration. This time I added a small white pearl to the center of each flower, and added a chipboard deer glittered white. I also tied a bit of red twine around his neck. Sadly, this is the only picture I took of it!

(I apologize that it's crooked. I didn't notice when I was taking the photo!). Then I decided it was time for another one for me. But it was so close to Christmas (like, Christmas Eve), that I decided I'd go ahead and just make it more of a winter theme. So I used this pretty aqua yarn.

And I bleached a few trees and glittered their bases. And this was as far as I got. I was playing around with adding a brown glittery chipboard deer, felt flowers, snowflakes... but I couldn't decide. I thought maybe if I left it alone for awhile, it would come to me. But it still hasn't. And it hardly feels like winter most of the time here anyway. It's been in the upper 70's/low 80's quite a bit. So it seems almost silly to make a winter wreath!

Any suggestions for finishing this thing? Or should I just put it away until next year and worry about it then?

Linked to: I'm Crafty Party at So You Think You're Crafty, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, Delicately Constructed Friday at delicateCONSTRUCTION, Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home, Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Friday Favs at Naptime Crafters, Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots & Jello, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Creative Bloggers Party & Hop at Homemaker on a Dime

I Love You Collage Art

When I first saw this idea on Pinterest, I knew right away that I wanted to do it. I loved the way it looked and I like doing collages, so I figured it would be super easy. Which is wasn't! I know, what's hard about a collage? But I really did struggle with getting this thing started and finished. But it's finally done!

As you can see in this picture, I started it more than once. I had a row all cut out and glued on and I just wasn't loving it. So I ripped off what I could and painted over what remained, knowing it would all be covered anyway.

Whenever I had spare time, I went through old magazines, coupon inserts and weekly store ads looking for the appropriate letters and words. After trying out just using individual letters, I realized it looked a lot better with a mixture of words and letters.

Here you can see it about halfway done, and if you look close you can see the mixture. I clipped the letters spelling out I LOVE YOU and the words LOVE and YOU. And then I just did a mixture of ways to write it. Some were spelled out in letters, some were written "I love u" or "I love you!" and sometimes I used "ou" stuck together. 

 Oh, and I just used a regular old glue stick to glue these on.

 Once I finally had everything pieced together, I brushed over the whole thing with Mod Podge, just to help seal it in. 

 Now that it's finally finished, I am really happy with how it turned out. But it was SO much harder than I thought it would be! Not only is the letter V super hard to find in magazines, but even getting the placements right was tricky. But I think it was worth it. Now I just have to figure out where to hang it.

Linked to: Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots & Jello, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Creative Bloggers Party & Hop at Homemaker on a Dime, Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table & Dreaming, Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, What We Wore, Read & Made at Rae Gun Ramblings, Hookin Up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, I'm Crafty Party at So You Think You're Crafty, Catch-as-Catch-Can at My Repurposed Life, Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home, Friday Favs at Nap Time Crafters, Delicately Constructed Friday at delicateCONSTRUCTION, The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush

Garden Row Markers

Every year we have a garden, even though we tend to have issues with certain vegetables. Corn, onions, tomatoes... but we keep trying. We don't usually mark the rows, but last year I painted the names of the plants on sticks and stuck them in the ground. This year I decided to do something different. We have a huge stack of pavers out back, so I dug some out and grabbed some acrylic paint. 

The plan initially was to draw the vegetable on the paver, and then add the name. But I wanted the kids (well, Layla) to help, and that was a little tricky for her. 

Of course Morgan had to help, too. So we decided to just paint the entire top of the paver the color of the vegetable it would go with.

It took a little while with those small brushes, but we eventually got them all painted. 

Here they are!

Just for fun, I decided to make a rainbow colored one to go in our flower garden. 

Once they were dry, I painted on the name of the veggie. 

Once they were totally dry, I sprayed them with a few coats of  polyurethane to help protect them. Then I just placed them at the end of each row.

And the good thing about these is that they can be saved and reused, year after year. Did you plant anything this year?

Linked to: Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots & Jello, Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, Sundae Scoop at I ♥ Naptime, Creative Bloggers Party & Hop at Homemaker on a Dime, Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife, Talent Tuesday at Vintage Wanna Bee, Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog, What We Wore, Made & Read at Rae Gun Ramblings, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Look What I Made at Creations by Kara, Link Party #80 at Tea Rose Home, I'm Crafty Party at So You Think You're Crafty, Hookin Up With HoH at House of Hepworths, Friday Favs at Naptime Crafters, Project Party Weekend at Bubbly Nature Creations, Delicately Constructed Friday at delicateCONSTRUCTION, Weekend Link Party at LollyJane

Fabric Covered Photo Mats

 

 I have been slowly trying to update our living room, adding more photos and more color. This project was quick and easy, and took care of both. I always have spare frames on hand, and I also had a leftover photo mat in a boring beige.  So I gathered my supplies:

A frame, a mat, some fabric, a print (in this case, it's a card), scissors and iron-on adhesive. 

 Cut the fabric a little larger than your mat. 

 Iron on the adhesive according to package directions. 

  Then start folding over the edges and ironing, until they are all stuck down firmly. 

 Next cut out the center and repeat the last step. If you cut a straight line into each corner, it makes folding easier. 

Now your mat is covered!

 

Now add your photo or print and reassemble. Simple, quick and free!

Linked to: Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots & Jello

Valentine's Yarn Wreath

I never used to decorate for Valentine's Day at all - but seeing all the cute projects everyone has inspired me to start. So this year I'm adding to my decor with a yarn wreath. I needed something new on the door anyway!

I started with a foam heart form that I found at the thrift, some batting and some chunky red yarn.

I cut strips of the batting and wrapped the form with it. I glued it using tacky glue, but hot glue would have worked, too. However, I now kind of wish I had either not used the batting, or not used such a chunky yarn.

And then start wrapping. And wrapping. And keep wrapping till it's all covered. As I mentioned previously, the points on this thing were a lot harder than I thought they'd be. Then again, I think that also has something to do with the combo of batting and thick yarn.

Eventually the entire form will be covered, and you will have something like this. Looks a little wonky to be, but I decided to keep going.

I gathered up some sheets of felt. I knew I wanted to include some turquoise, but that's really all I had planned at this point. It's hard for me to take pictures of making the flowers, etc, because I didn't have a specific plan. I just kind of play with it until I get something I like.

For this little bunting I used some red & white bakers twine, white felt, some very old Making Memories letters and some turquoise brads.

I thought it needed something on the side, so instead of flowers I did this little banner.

And of course, felt flowers. It was my first time making the ones with the little petals. Super fun & easy!

And here it is! This is outside so I could get the best light.

And here it is on our ugly door. It's not crooked - it's meant to hang at an angle. I really was unsure of this thing when it was just wrapped in yarn, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Maybe I'll do a St. Patty's Day one next!

Linked to: Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife, Talent Tuesday at Vintage Wanna Bee, Home Decor & Organizing Linky Party at Organize & Decorate Everything, Show & Tell at Blue Cricket Design, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, What's Up Wednesday at Sew Woodsy, Look What I Made at Creations by Kara, Hookin Up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home, Catch-as- Catch-Can at My Repurposed Life, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, Delicately Constructed Friday at delicateCONSTRUCTION, Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, Friday Favs at Naptime Crafters, Watcha Got Weekend at Lolly Jane Boutique, Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots & Jello, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes, Sundae Scoop at I ♥ Naptime, Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table & Dreaming, Creative Bloggers Party & Hop at Homemaker on a Dime