DIY Burlap Wreath & a Fall Mantle

Last year I made a fall wreath for my front door with supplies I got from the dollar tree. I bought some see through super thin fall leaves (that I thought, when layered, would look super cute and well, not so THIN) and I hung it proudly on my door all season.

Really, it stayed up from September to November. Apparently I am was crazy fall. And that wreath.

When I took out some of my fall decor this year I looked at my wreath and couldn't help but laugh. It was the first wreath I ever made and well, to be brutally honest with myself, it looks prrreetttty measly...

I mean, it's cute. But too NOT cutely poofy. Know what I mean?

Who knows. Maybe I'll hang it up again this year if I don't get around to making a new one for the front door.

Moral of the story: This year I made a hugemungo wreath. And I love it too. So here's to hoping you guys feel the same way!

This is the first home I've had that I've had a mantle to decorate and I'm so excited!! I've got a million ideas floating around in this strange head of mine and the scary part is that I think that I'm starting to mesh all of them and the seasons and my crafts into one season because I'm SO PUMPED to actually decorate a mantle for each season.

(Is it just me or was that paragraph redundant? I felt like I said "season" a lot. Oh well, it's late... forgive me!)

So here is my fall mantle. EEEKK!

I just love saying that.

My. Mantle.

It has a nice ring to it!

LOVE.

LOVE. LOVE.

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

That's truly how I feel about my mantle. Pathetic? Possibly. But I won't admit it!!

Here's the tutorial for the big-o-burlap wreath:

Supplies You'll Need

•  Embroidery Hoop (I bought the biggest one HobLob had..I'd guess it's probably got a 3ft diameter, but math as never my strong subject, so don't hold me to it)
• One package of THICK (2in) batting.
• One set of 3 (1in) make your own button thingmajigs (sorry, the formal word slipped my mind)
• One set of 3 (3/4 in) make your own button thingmajigs
• 3 different patterned fabric pieces (I bought mine at HobLob, so I had to buy an 1/8th of a yard since it's the smallest they'll sell you)
• 3 different colors of burlap (1/8 th of a yard, I got tan, dark brown, and orange)
• 3 yards of burlap (I did have about 1/2 a yard left over, but I'd rather have too much than have to go back. And I bought the lightest shade of tanish/white they had since my walls are tan)
• Hot glue gun and one hundred and twelve a lot of glue sticks

I separated the inner embroidery hoop from the outer one and cut the batting into approximately 3 inch wide strips. Then I began wrapping it around the hoop. I put some hot glue on the end of the batting when I started wrapping it and did a couple of loops around then glued some more then wrapped a few times then looped, like this:

I ended up doing three layers of batting all the way around (which was the whole bag of it) the hoop because I wanted it to be pretty thick. It was easy to shape the the batting once I started wrapping it with burlap too, so that was a plus since obviously you want a wreath to be pretty evenly shaped.

Then I cut my light burlap into approximately 2 in. strips began the wrapping process all over again.

I decided to do two layers of burlap around the hoop, the first to cover it, the second I did it tighter to shape it better.

Then, using a piece of cardboard I made two templates for the flowers. One small, one large-ish. (I'm sorry, I didn't photograph any of this..I needed two hands once I got started and it didn't cross my mind to pause, I was too excited!)

Once I cut out all of the pieces for the flowers I just hot glued and layered each piece..

..maybe you can tell what I'm talking about by that picture? I hope so..

Then I used my fabric and made the buttons and glued them to the center. Once all the flowers were glued onto the wreath I stuck in two loopy twirly sparkly twig things that I picked up at HobLob. I think it added just the right cuteness.

I hung it from a nail above my mantle using some ribbon I had laying around the house. The rest of my mantle decor is from HobLob, Dollar Tree, and Wally World.

I purchased the candles and candle sticks at Wal-Mart. The giant sparkly acorn, harvest tin, and some of the fillers in the vase came from HobLob. The books are just books that I wrapped in burlap and tied orange and brown sparkly ribbon around (also from HobLob). The vase I already had, and most of the fillers (the wheat, cattails, grassy stuff, and moss are all from the Dollar Tree.

Here's one more look at the complete MANTLE (I think that's my new favorite word! Ha. Ha.)

Have you started decorating for fall yet? Or made a wreath? If so, let me know, I'd love to see it!!

This post is linked to:

• I Heart Naptime
• Serenity Now - A Mommy's Solution to Staying Sane
• Sassy Sites
• Sugar & Dots
• Thrifty Decor Chick
• Just a Girl
• House of Hepworths
• Remodelaholic
• The Gunny Sack
• Ask Anna
• Home Savvy A to Z

Fruit of the Spirit Wall Art

For the past few months I've had nothing hanging over my bed. The wall space stuck out like a sore thumb but I couldn't figure out what I wanted there. A little color. Something meaningful. Simple.

Well, back in July I posted about a wall decor idea that I needed suggestions for and was so happy with your ideas! I bought the supplies shortly after but just finished the project over the long weekend.

This is what I started with..

And this is what I came up with..

To make it I needed:

• 9 canvases, each with a length or width that measured the same (mine were all 8'' x something)
• black paint ( I used two bottles of acrylic..inexpensive & easy clean up)
• ribbon
• vinyl (I used contact paper..way cheaper and you get the same results) & a die cutting machiene (this was cut with my cricut)
• hot glue gun & LOTS of glue sticks

I started by painting all of the canvases with two coats of black paint

While I was waiting on them to dry I cut the letters out with my Cricut. (I used the Don Juan cartridge that came with it & they ranged in sizes from 1.75'' to 2.25''). Also, as I mentioned above in the supply list I used contact paper (what people use in their cabinets on the shelves..). I bought a hugemongo roll for like 6 dollars at wally world. And I cut it at a pressure of 5, high speed.

Once they were dry I began arranging the words/letters on the canvases until I came up with the design I liked. I knew I didn't want each one to be the same..similar yes so it would flow but I wanted each to be a little different. This is the part that took me the longest.

After my words were in place I played around with the ribbon (I used a sheer red..I like that it gives it color, but isn't bold) and began hot gluing bows and angles and stripes all over.

The tricky part was the wall placement..centering and equal spacing and all that math..NOT my strong point. I knew I wanted an inch inbetween each canvas so I added two inches onto the total combined width and length of each row and column and got to work making a gazillion few marks on the wall where they'd be hung.

DID YOU KNOW: You can use hot glue to adhere a canvas to the wall?!

I didn't but they've been "glued" there for a few days now with no problems..and I've heard a few teachers say that it can be peeled off without ruining the paint or wall either..we shall see! I wanted to avoid using nails because I didn't want a bunch of holes in the wall and I knew it'd be a balancing act to get each one to hang straight.

I love how my canvas art turned out..and it's a good inspiration and reminder of what I need to strive for in my daily life..

Have you ever used hot glue to adhere anything to the wall? If so, how'd it hold up? Did it peel off your paint? What about canvas art, have you ever made your own? Leave me a comment with a link to the post, I'd love to see it!

PS- I FINALLY got internet at home!!! Woo hoo!! And I have about 5 projects, some before and afters, and several recipes I need to post so please be sure to follow me or check back soon! I'll be posting my fall mantle and DIY Burlap Wreath within a day or so!

This post is linked to: Ginger Snap Crafts, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Cherished Bliss, Thrifty Decor Chick, Pinkapotamus, Home Savvy A to Z, Sugar and Dots, Night Owl Crafting, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Delightful Order, Serenity Now - A Mommy's Solution to Staying Sane, Tatertots & Jello

Wall Decor Idea - I Need Your Suggestions!

So, I've got this picture in my head of a wall decor idea that I want to make to hang above my bed since my headboard is itty bitty. Anyways, heres a picture of the layout I'm going to use..

I intend to buy these 9 blank canvases at Hobby Lobby this week because they're on sale (heck yes!) and I'm going to paint them black (my master bedroom colors are black, white, & red).

Then on each one I'm going to use my cricut to cut each of the fruits of the spirit out on white vinyl & adhere them to the canvases. But here's where I'm stuck..

I want to tie red in somehow. But I want all of the letters/words on each canvas to be the same color. I'm not sure, something about the uniformity of it seems right. I've considered several different ideas for incorporating the red, but none of them fit just right for me. If you can help me out with this I'll be eternally grateful! I don't like having "creativity block" and am so ready to have my bedroom's decor finished! Thank you guys so much for your input, I can't wait to see what you come up with!!

This post is linked to: Bella Before & After, Strictly Homemade, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Tip Junkie & Not JUST a Housewife

Sunburst Mirror Bandwagon!!

I know, I know.

I’m a little late jumping on the sunburst mirror bandwagon.

I made this one about two months ago, but yours truly is just now getting around to posting about it.

Sorry for the delay! And I’m sorry that I only took a completed project picture instead of step by step pictures.

Bad blogger.

Shame on me.

But here’s the instructions to make the one pictured above.

First, I contacted Sherwin Williams and asked if they’d like to donate 20 long and 20 short paint sticks to a project. Woohoo!! Now, if your local paint shop won’t do this you can collect paint stir sticks at your local hardware store each time you go in, or just purchase a bundle.

Once I had the paint sticks in hand I headed over to Hobby Lobby and picked up the 13” decorative round mirror plate (this can be found in the candle holder section). They’re typically $7.99, but I got mine when the candles etc. were half off so it was only $4. And I loved this mirror because it has beveled edges. Perfect for me, since I didn’t want to do any extra work making the outside edge of the mirror pretty. Then I headed to the craft paint section and got two bottles of black Anita’s craft paint. Those cost me $2. I already had all the other supplies I needed (a glue gun, glue sticks, and sponge brush) so it was time to go home and get started!

I started by measuring the area above my fireplace and decided that I needed to cut about 3” off of each of my long paint sticks so to the table saw I went. Once they were all cut to the size I needed I laid out a piece of cardboard and painted each stick with two coats of paint. Since the short paint sticks would be layered behind the longer ones I didn’t paint them past the curved part on each handle. While those were drying (it only took about 15 minutes) I marked where I would glue them on the back of my mirror. Your marking will be different depending on how far apart you want yours spaced.

I began by gluing each of my long sticks around the mirror first and then went back and glued the short ones in between each long one. I love the staggered look of it, and there are many patterns you could do by staggering the length of each paint stick. Once they were all glued in place I let it dry for about 15 minutes then, because the paint sticks gave enough depth on the back of the mirror to hang it from, simply put a nail in the wall and tada! Finshed.

Simple. Pretty. Thrifty Décor. My favorite!