Quick, Easy Topiary

This is another borrowed idea. I found it at Creations by Kara. I love topiaries in all their varieties! I would say that I'm a bit obsessed...I have too many to count...okay I just counted them...I have twelve, that doesn't sound like a lot. Anywho, when I saw this on Cara's blog, I knew I was going to do it and began the process of finding the perfect ball. Most of the little balls that our boys have are buried in feet of snow and I thought I was going to have to wait until spring until I found this little ball under our bed! It was a souvenir for our littlest from Disneyland, so it wasn't the cheapest ball, but I think we have gotten our money's worth out of it, so it was the lucky ball to be covered in green moss.

The supplies needed are a small ball (you could buy a foam ball at the store if needed), a container to hold your topiary (I got mine at Hobby Lobby), and green moss. I found my moss at the Dollar Tree. You will also need a glue gun.


You just start gluing the moss onto the ball until it is covered and ta-da, you have a homemade topiary, for cheap!

I plan to paint the urn antique white when it's warm again, to add some contrast.

Valentine's Day Wreath

I have been looking through blogs for wreath ideas and found lots! I eventually decided to combine a couple and this is what I came up with. This wreath took about 4 hours to do...seriously! I started it last night and finished it this afternoon. I really enjoyed making this. One of our sons helped me last night and it was so nice to sit and visit with him. He was having a hard time sleeping and I was happy to have the help and company. Our youngest was my happy assistant today and it was fun to spend time with him too.

First, you need to cut about a million of these! I used 1 1/2 yards of fabric total. I ran out last night and had to go back to the store today for more. I cut the fabric into strip and then squares and then circles. I won't lie, it took a ton of time.

I didn't take step by step pictures, but I wrapped the fabric around the end of a sharp pencil, dipped it in glue and pushed it into the heart...repeat this step a million times until it looks full.

I love it!! It has texture and color which are favorites of mine.

I am growing more and more fond of the color red...

Painting and Twining (is that even a word?)

Painting

I have a serious back log of projects that I have been wanting to do. I finally decided that I need to stay away from the thrift stores until I'm caught up...now that was a huge motivator because I love to go thrifting! I found this spoon and fork a couple of weeks ago and they have been in the waiting to be painted pile ever since. I ended out using craft paint on these because it is still too darn cold to get the spray paint action going. This little makeover was really quick and simple. I still plan to sand them up a bit and add some antiquing gel. They are good enough to hang up now and they have been moved from the forsaken pile.

Before:

After:

Twining
I used to be anti-monogram, but have since fell in love with the idea of them! I am proud of our family name and want to display the letter 'B' everywhere!!! My maiden name and married name both start with 'B'...just a little nugget of info for you. :)

So, I got the chip board letter and twine at Hobby Lobby. I saw this idea on a blog somewhere and thought it would be so easy. Now let me just say...I was really wishing that my last name started with 'T', or 'I' during the twining process. Wrapping that 'B' was a pain in the 'B'ehind!!! It ended out taking a couple of hours and several hot glue burns. I was so happy to be done with it! I really like it though, it was worth the time and effort.

Looks pretty simple...

Here it is in all its glory!

Marbles, Glue and a bit of frustration...

So I'll be the first to admit that I'm not really a crafter. I have never come up with an original idea. I am a huge borrower of ideas though and I borrowed one from Jen over at Tatertots and Jello...again. I thought this would be easy and I loved the 3D effect of the marbles.

I painted a couple of Dollar Tree frames black, cut some scrapbook paper, traced my heart, added glue and started to stick the marbles on...sounds easy so far and it was. As I started to add the marbles, I could not for the life of me get those round marble to come together to make a heart! It drove me crazy. I think I finally got it to work, but it was not as easy as I thought it would be. The X and O was way easier on the marble end, but required some measuring and tweaking to get it all centered. All in all, I had fun with this craft and the kids liked it because they got to stay up until 10:30...shh told tell anyone.


The heart is my fav! I love the whole package a lot. This year will mark the first that I have ever decorated for Valentine's Day...I quite like red :)

Decorating Contentment

We bought this hutch last summer. There is so much I love about it, but don't really get into blonde woods. It is in flawless condition and doesn't need to be painted, but I just can't fight the itch to paint it...I think it's a disease! So, I'm thinking when the weather warms up, it will get added to the paint list, it is getting really long!

For a couple of months this piece of furniture has been kind a drop off surface for papers, ribbon, thrift store finds etc.

I finally cleared it off and attempted to decorate it.

The frames with the letters in them get changed out for each season...have you ever noticed that the seasons all have six letters in them (I use Autumn instead of Fall)? I was super excited when I found that out!

Three of the plates are from Hobby Lobby and the smaller one is from D.I.

The pear is from Michael's...it's actually a gourd, but I thought it looked enough like a pear, if you don't mind the brown color. :) The stand it is sitting on was a D.I. find.

The frame was a Christmas party win and the topiary is a fix up from D.I.

I achieved the balance I have been craving for this piece of furniture and like the color scheme too. Finally it feels right and I am very content.



Onto the next thing...my dad was going to throw this picture out until I arrived just in time and said "No!!!" I mean how could he throw this beauty away? The cross stitch is hideous, but the frame...I saw huge potential in the frame and have big plans for it. I will reveal when it's done. It will be getting a nice fresh coat of black paint in the process. The clapping lady man were deposited in the trash thank you very much.

I'm lovin' the detail on this frame!

Post Christmas Decorating

So I got the Christmas decorations down and just didn't know where to start. I was tired of my old stuff and the arrangement of the furniture in our living room. I moved a couple of things and it looks so much better. I set out all of my accessories and started working my magic....what little I have. :) I moved things around over and over until things felt just right. My husband seriously thought I was crazy, but he was really patient with me.

Since we are in such a small home right now, there aren't many surfaces for me to decorate. I'm sharing pictures of the three main places I get to decorate...minus my hutch that I'm still working on.

I had some red berries in this jar below, but had know idea what to put it in post Christmas. I combined these three:

Into this...I'm not sure if that plant looks okay in there, but I like it...I guess that's all that matters right?

I eventually took the letter 'B' off, added a different ribbon and tied it to this urn that I got at an antique store...I LOVE the green color, but it needed a little somethin' extra.

Here are some other pics from the living room:

This hutch is the first piece of furniture I ever painted. I bought it at a garage sale in AZ. It is the top part of a bookcase, but I think it looks great as is. I'm going to paint it black in the summer when the weather warms up.

I made these cones a couple of months ago...I love them sooo much! I saw the idea on the blog Just a Girl. The table that these goodies sit on will get a makeover this summer. My husband bought it for me at an antique store. It has a lot of character, which you can't see in this pic.

Decorating this table always stresses me out! I change it up repeatedly before it feels right. I got that pine cone thing at the D.I. and it is begging to be painted...it will just have to wait, it's too stinkin' cold outside. I very hesitantly added ribbon to the candles {I'm kind of unsure of myself}, I was surprised at how much I liked it. I won the plaque in a blog giveaway hosted by Beneath My Heart. I treasure it!! I hung another 'B' onto the lamp and used the same ribbon that I used on the candles.

The 'B' close up. Isn't it cute?