Ornament Wreath!!

I love decorating for Christmas!!! When I saw the tutorial for this ornament wreath on Eddie Ross' blog I knew I had to give it a try!

You'll need:

- a wire hanger (the flimsiest one you can find!)

- hot glue (no good craft is made without it!)

- shatter-free Christmas ornaments in the colors of your choice

(That giant container was only $10 at my favorite store! Love me some Hobby Lobby!!!)

- a big 'ol fatty piece of ribbon to hang it on your door

First, bend the hanger into a nice wreath shape, aka a circle.

Hotglue on the tops onto the ornaments- this is a very important step.... forgive me for not photographing it.

Next, slide the ornaments onto the hanger. To hide the wire, use different sizes of ornaments to fill in the gaps.

Hook the 2 ends of the hanger back together using some pliers-- you might be able to do this step without pliers, but my hanger was rediculously hard to bend.

Step back and admire your work!

Total cost of this project- $14!!!

Get crafting!

An Idea Board- All Fancied Up

Every time I look in a home decor magazine and I see something I love the thought runs through my head-- "I could make that!" It happens so often that I needed a place to put the ideas.... hence, the idea board.

This is a super-easy, super-inexpensive little project... not to mention it looks really cute, too!

I started out by buying a $6 cork board at Target. Love that place.


I lightly sanded the gloss of the edges and painted them.


Dug through my stash a scrap fabric and found a piece that was big enough. I added some scrap iron-on fleece to the back to give the board a softer feel, but that part is completely optional. Using my staple gun I attached the fabric the perimeter of the board.

Then, I cut off the excess.


Hot-glued some ribbon around the edges to cover up the staples....


I tied some more of the same ribbon to the back for a cute way to hang it on the wall.

TA-DA!! Love it! (Ignore the messy crafting area!!)

Total cost of this project- $8.

A nice way to say "Don't ring my doorbell people!"

I saw this project done by Natasha over at Samster Mommy and loved it! My front door post-it note found a much more stylish replacement!

This project is quick and easy..... and most importantly cheap! You will need- a piece of wood (Hob Lob for $5.99), scrapbook paper and stickers (left over from this project for free and Hob Lob for $7), paint, spray adhesive, and ribbon (stuff I always have around this place).



I painted the edges of the wood piece my fave color- black. Glued the paper on with my almighty spray adhesive and went to town decorating. I used my trusty staple gun to secure the ribbon to the back....

And it's finished!!

Project total= $13!

Get crafting!

A Special Baby Blanket

** Sorry about the insanely long time between posts. My goal is to post weekly from now on!!**

My grandma made me this beautiful baby blanket for my little guy. Its made with my favorite fabric- Amy Butler!!

Sunny Bag

In my first post I introduced you to a pattern I bought off of etsy.com for the Sunny Bag. As soon as I saw this pattern I knew it would be perfect for my friend Emily for her birthday! Here's how it turned out--


This picture is deceiving-- it is much bigger in person than it looks in this photo!



Once I get some more free time I'm going to make myself one.... well, let's be honest, I'll add it to the bottom of my list of things to do and hopefully get around to it before Christmas.

I hope you like the bag, Emily! It's made with lots of love from your's truly!

New Wall Decor!!

I first saw this project on Thrifty Decor Chick's blog and loved it! I always have trouble finding wall art that matches my decorating style that's within my tiny budget. This project is cheap, easy, and, because its DIY, it turns out to be exactly your taste!

To start you'll need MDF (medium density fiberboard) cut into 9 12X12 squares. Don't worry if you don't own a saw-- your local home improvement store will cut it for you for free! You'll also need 9 sheets of your favorite coordinating scrapbook paper, spray paint, and spray adhesive.



I lightly sanded the edges, just to get them nice and smooth. Then, I spray painted them a nice shade of brown.


After the paint dried I used my adhesive to attach the scrapbook paper. You could also use modge-podge if you wanted, but spray adhesive is much faster and in my opinion looks a ton better. I attached these sawtooth thingies to the backs-- make sure to put them at the exact same spot on each board to make hanging them on the wall easier.


Hang them up and enjoy!!

Garage Sale Table Transformed!

I finally got some time to work on my garage sale table. Remember this ugly thing from my last post?? YIKES! The rose stickers on top really made me gag.


I peeled them off with a razor and lightly sanded the whole table. Then, of course, I spray painted it black. It looked much better, but still needed a little something.... a little flare, if you will. I gathered my stenciling supplies.



A few stenciling tips:

- I use painters tape for delicate surfaces to hold my stencil in place. If you spend the time to paint it try not to mess it up as you stencil!
- Clean the paint off your stencil each time you move it, otherwise the tiny bit of paint that somehow gets on the back of your stencil will ruin your design.
- Don't worry if you get some stencil paint on another part of the table. Just wipe it off with a damp paper towel before it dries!

(see the design-ruining paint on the back of this stencil??)

Here's how she turned out-

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Much better than roses, huh?

A bag for my momma!

I'm in love. I have been for awhile now... since I started sewing, really. Her name is Amy Butler and she designs the most delicious fabric and has the most fantastic patterns. You can look at all of her stuff here. My first experience with her was posted here. I love this birdie sling so much that I can't seem to get over it and make anything else of her's!! This is probably the 5th one I've made.

This particular bag I made for my fabulous mother. She picked out the fabric (with a little bit of guidance) and I got down to business.... well kinda. She asked me to make it in March and my life got super-busy and then I got super-pregnant and super-lazy. But I'm back to normal now-- and I got it done!! Cute, eh?

This bag has a little bit of everything- flowers, polka-dots, and stripes. What's not to love?!

--COMING UP---

The transformation of a garage sale table.

(Yes, the roses will be gone. I don't like them, either.)

Easy Framed Name

While cleaning out one of our closets I found this ugly old picture frame. It's the kind that doesn't even stand up on its own- intended completely for hanging on the wall. Not a chance I would hang this thing up in my house- BUT I got an idea!


I bought some wood letters and a piece of scrap-booking paper for super-cheap at my favorite store. I removed the glass and backing from the frame and spray painted it and the letters my favorite shade of brown.




I glued the paper to the backing using this- (aka: the best thing ever invented)


Then hot-glued the letters on like so! Ta-da!


Total cost of this project- $9! (More than I thought it would be, but that's because I had to buy a new can of spray adhesive for $6!)

Welcome!!

I'm so excitged about starting my second blog! I wanted a dedicated space for showing all of you the things I do in my free time- sewing projects, easy crafting projects, restoring garage sale/goodwill finds, etc. Also, I'll include easy how-to instructions for you to start your own crafting adventures. Tell your friends about my blog, invite them to join the free-time fun! How excited are you right now??


To get things started off I want to share with you my all-time favorite website. Its the closest thing to an online craft fair as you can get. Go there. Explore. Buy great things. You'll love it. I promise.

www.etsy.com

Here are a few things I've purchased recently-

Fabric- We all know how much I love fabric!

Patterns-

There are soooo many cute patterns. I will eventually have them all. HA!

A simple door decal-

I love this! It looks fabulous on my front door!
(This isn't my front door, but the one above is!)

Clothing-

I couldn't resist these two great items!

All of these items are still for sale on etsy- so if you fell in love with them as fast as I did you can get one for yourself to enjoy!