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March 29, 2012

Spiraled Yarn Circle Garland

Whoa.  Two posts in two days. Shocking. But I wanted to share this fun tutorial to make this happy little garland.  I shared it last week on Kimberly's blog...bugaboo, mini, mr. and me.  She has a great Yarn It All series going on sharing all things yarn.  It is awesome.

I have been drooling over all the colorful crochet garlands I see out there.  So I decided to make my own version without the awesome crochet skills but still all the pretty. I am excited to share it with all of you!

Here's what you do to start making cute little yarn circles with the help of some paper and glue...








It's pretty easy and quick too!  If you don't have a circle punch just trace and cut a circle with scissors. I suggest using card stock the same color as the yarn in case you have some gaps. Also, I find hot glue to be the easiest to work with since it dries so fast and keeps the yarn from un-spiraling. You just have to  be careful not to burn yourself.  I have worked with hot glue so much I think I no longer possess fingerprints. :) 
Here it is in my Spring Vignette that is still a work in progress. Fun!

Hugs and blessings!

March 28, 2012

Distressing Paint w/ a Sponge

Hey sweet friends!  OK,  I know.  I hardly post anymore.  The last few months have been full of tons of stuff and my priorities have heavily shifted on family and helping my oldest with school. My poor girl is having a tough time in math.  But...I also have been focusing a lot on my house too.

I do love crafts.  But I have a sweet spot in my heart for decorating. I've always been too shy to share stuff on my blog because I kind of wing it when it comes to decor and furniture redo's but I figured I could start sharing with you some upcoming things I have planned.

For those of you who don't know, we bought this house about 2 years ago but 3 months after moving in my husband lost his job (he found an even BETTER one now) in the middle of us remodeling our master bath. And to this day, it sits unfinished.

And the rest of the house needs some work.  I love our house but we still need to tweak things to have it fit the way we live.  So I hope to share this journey with you friends to keep me accountable to get it done.
But in the meantime I have small little projects I am working on.  One project is this set of shutters we found for free on the side of the road.  It looks like they were a closet door or something. My plan was to cut them half to make four shutters are create a headboard for out queen size bed. But they come up short. And if I kept them intact, and lie them horizontally, they are too long. Bummer.

So I think I may use them for interest in a bookshelf vignette or something. Not sure what.  I have enough memo boards but I do love that idea.  I just don't "need" it.  Wall space in my home is precious and I don't want to clutter them with too much "stuff."

But I did decide to distress them a bit with paint.  I ended up using a sponge instead of sandpaper to do this so that I could go faster and layer it with paint for the look I want.  I wanted it to kind of look like it had paint layers peeling back over time.
 So the first thing I did was paint it a really pale blue...almost white but dry brushing it lightly.  
When it was dry to the touch, I took a really wet sponge and lightly wiped it back and forth to start peeling back paint.
Then I used a darker light blue and did the same thing.  Dry brushed it one and sponged it off.  I did this several times leaving a bit more paint on then the last time. This is what it looks like with a lot of dark wood showing though. I was looking for it to be lighter so using a light grey paint, I began covering up more of the dark wood.
This is actually the back but wanted you to see the color before :)
I like both distressed looks but ended up happy with this lighter look. 
The sponge made it much easier to work with.  Faster too.  I found that the less wet the sponge was, the harder it was to get the paint off.  So I kept the sponge wet but not soaking wet and full. It was so much easier then using sandpaper and much faster too. :)
So here it will sit in my bedroom next to my ugly fake tree until I can decide what to do next. :)
(So sorry for the weird pictures.  Something is up with my camera but I can't figure out what I did to it.)

Until the next time my friends!

March 9, 2012

Easy Fabric Flip Flops

Spring is almost here which means a fun wardrobe change like sandals and flip flops to show those toes!

Although us Floridians wear flip flops all year...even when I wear a sweater you can see me sporting the flops. :) I have...I think...1,002 pairs of them.  OK.  Maybe not that many but I have more than I can count. Dressy, casual, beachy, girly, whatever.  And my crafty self loved the idea of making my own using fabric scraps to make them custom and super fun.
I had the privilege to speak to a fabulous group of women last week for a local MOPS group about gift giving ideas for Spring. This was one of the projects I shared and I figured I could share an easy peasy tutorial using flips flops for my girls.  (It's been WAY TOO LONG since I did one).

Oh and sorry if the flip flops don't look pristine.  They were worn a few times by my little pinks until I snagged them to pretty them up. :) Here goes...

I know there are other fun tutorials out there by taking the whole thong out and just using fabric...so cute! Check out this one and this one from The Mother Huddle which are FABULOUS!  I just happen to prefer the support these give while making them feel a bit more comfortable and a whole lot prettier.

Oh, and please know I will be getting back to visiting all of you very soon.  Life has gotten VERY busy for me so sadly I have not been able to visit all you fabulous friends in A LONG WHILE!  Just know I appreciate every one of you who read my blog even with YOUR busy lives and schedules and it means so much to me knowing you come to visit again and again.

Hugs all my fabulous friends!

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