Wow, can you believe that this is the last week of September?! It's really scary to think that Halloween is right around the corner... get it?! Ba-dum-ching! Ok, I'm sorry about that... MOVING ON!  :)

 

This year I've been trying to do a little front porch decorating for the occasion. I'm not a huge fan of this particular holiday, but my husband and I love passing out candy to all the munchkins so for that reason I participate. One really awesome thing that I do love about Halloween is Candy Corn. I could eat that stuff all day long. When I saw a similar Candy Corn flower pot on Pinterest by Amber at Crazy Little Projects I knew I needed to make one for myself. So I did!

 

To do this yourself you will need the following supplies:

 

- Terra Cotta flower pot

- Acrylic Paint in white, orange, & yellow - Paintbrush (any kind will work)  

Now for the "how to":

 

>>> Step One... mark off areas for the three paint colors. You can use a ruler & a pencil and then use tape to divide the colors or just freehand it. I used tape, because I'm a messy painter.

 

>>> Step Two... paint your flower pot!

 

>>> Step Three... oh, wait! There isn't a Step Three! You're finished! How easy and awesome was that?!

 

Now my porch is festive and looks like one of my favorite Fall junk foods. I'm a happy lady!

Simple DIY Canvas Art

How was your weekend, my lovelies? Mine was filled with upcycling, crafting, and house remodeling... it was beautiful!

One of the projects I tackled was this canvas makeover. I had the original black and white "Paris" canvas hung in my office a few years ago when I first purchased my home, but had since removed it as my office evolved into more of a workspace / craft room. The black and white theme just wasn't inspiring me anymore. I have been itching to revamp this piece, but just wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it until this weekend. I remembered that I still had quite a bit of the coral colored paint that I had used on my birdhouse makeover (HERE) and realized it would be perfect in our guest room.

First I spray painted the canvas white. After it was dry I just used a brush to paint a few vertical strokes of the coral color onto the plain white. 

It is super simple, but I love that it is something that I created. Handmade is always so much more meaningful, isn't it? It also adds a great pop of color to the room which I love. From start to finish (minus paint drying time) this project took under 5 minutes, but I'm pretty sure I love the result just as much as if it had taken me 5 hours. TOTALLY my kind of craft! Here is the canvas in the room with a little Rhonna Designs iPhone app fun to go with it! Happy Monday, my friends!

DIY 10 Minute Patriotic Wreath Tutorial

I FINALLY got around to crafting for the 4th of July this past weekend! Better late than never, right? Darren and I had five different obligations that we were trying to juggle on Saturday and Sunday so I needed to make something that wouldn't take a lot of time. I decided to go with a fabric wrapped wreath because A.) it's easy and foolproof which is the kind of crafting I like to do and B.) it's super fast and wouldn't make a big mess for me to clean up.

All you need for this project is a wreath form (any kind will do), fabric, a glue gun, and whatever embellishments you like to fancy it up at the end. I only used about a 1/2 yard of each kind of fabric.

First you need to rip the strips of fabric for your wreath (learn how HERE). I made mine about 3 1/2 inches wide. Next wrap the fabric strips around the wreath using your glue gun to secure the ends. Make sure your ends are glued to the back of your wreath so they can't be seen. One of the best things about this project is that this entire portion only took around 5 minutes to complete!

This is what my wreath looked like after it was totally "wrapped". It was cute, but I felt it needed a little more umph. I used my Cricut to cute some mini pennant flags and attached some red, white, and blue scrapbook stickers to them. If you don't have a Cricut just use a scrapbook punch or freehand it! Next I strung the banner with some patriotic Baker's Twine and tied to to the wreath. I think that was just the extra touch it needed! Again... this second part of the wreath only took an additional 5 minutes! LOVE. THAT!

DIY Washi Tape Notecards

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you had an amazing weekend! The weather here in Indiana was absolutely gorgeous so we spent most of Saturday and Sunday outside in the garden, but I still found time to do a little indoor crafting! I made a monumental crafting discovery, in fact.

Did you know that you can use your Cricut to cut Washi Tape?! {insert gasps from the readers} I know, I was as shocked as you are... or maybe some of you have already figured this out, but I had no idea it was possible. Here's how you do it.

Step One : Tape the washi to the cardstock. Complicated, right? Just keep taping until the entire page is covered.

Step Two : Trim the extra washi off the edges of the paper.

Step Three : Stick cardstock (washi side up) to Cricut mat and cut.

Step Four : Be super happy because this opens a whole new crafting world!

PS - Don't forget that tomorrow is the big day! It's my 1 Year Blogiversary and I'm celebrating with a multiple Etsy shop giveaway!! CAN'T WAIT!!!

Easy DIY Scrap Wreath

My front door is still in need of a Spring wreath! Shocking, I know, considering the rest of the house was "spring-i-fied"  by the end of February. LOL. I have been wanting to make a scrap wreath for awhile and I figured now was as good a time as any to give it a whirl.

 

Since I didn't have a lot of Spring colored fabrics lying around the house I headed to Jo Ann's. Lucky for me the fabric quarters were on sale for $1.50 each and I had a coupon for 40% off my purchase so all the supplies for the wreath (including the wire wreath form) only cost about $8.00.

 

There are only two steps for making a scrap wreath. The first is to rip your fabric strips. Mine were about 7 inches long x 1 1/2 inches wide. They don't need to be perfect or all the same size. I ripped my fabric strips while watching tv with my husband one evening. I used the entire fabric quarter of each of the 8 fabrics that I chose, but didn't end up using about 15 of each color when it was all said and done.

 

Next, I tied the strips onto the wire wreath form. It doesn't get easier than that! I just kept going until my wreath was totally full, gave it a good fluff up, and I was finished!

 

Ta-da! What do you think? Personally, I adore the finished product! I'm not sure I love it for my front door though... I'm thinking the reason for that was a fail on my part as far as the fabric prints & colors go. I would LOVE this in a nursery or little girl's room. You really have to try this project though! The fabric you choose will determine what season or style you want to represent. It's cheap, simple, and so stinkin' cute! 

 

DIY Reusable Chalkboard Pillow Boxes

I am so excited to share this super simple project with you all today! It literally required minimal to zero brain power and definitely no crafting skills. Why am I so happy about that? Because it tells me that every single one of you can do this even if you are one of those "Oh, I'm not creative" kind of people. Seriously, watch this....

I started out with some plain Kraft pillow boxes. These are perfect for small gifts like jewelry, gift cards, chocolates, etc... (I'm thinking about Valentine's Day right around the corner). The size that I used are 4.5 x 4.5 inches wide and about 2 inches tall inside. 

Next I used chalkboard spray paint to cover the boxes. The paint didn't cost me anything since I still had a ton of paint leftover from the DIY Chalkboard Clothespin Mini Signs project I did a few months ago. Believe it or not, the pillow boxes held up to a heavy coat of paint very well! Much better than I expected. It didn't make them the least bit soggy! They are still just as strong as they were before the paint went on. Success!

Now for the fun part! You get to customize the pillow boxes however you like! There are so many possibilities. Just make sure to season the surface before you write on them for the first time. Diane with In My Own Style has some really great tips HERE on all things chalkboard art. 

Easy DIY Washi Tape Serving Tray

Have any of you seen the cute serving trays that are out there these days? I have been lusting after one for months now (HERE are some of my favorites), but I really don't have $60 + to spend on a tray that is just going to basically sit on a table most of the time. So when I spied a couple of wooden trays at Goodwill for $1.99 I decided to just make my own! I debated between using a stencil or spray paint, but finally decided to use Washi Tape. It's the cheapest and easiest option plus it is a lot less messy than paint. 

So are you ready for this? Here's the "how to"... apply the tape in whatever direction or pattern you like. Mod Podge it. And.... that's it! It can't get any easier than that, can it?! This one is going to be used in the guest room Darren and I are getting ready to makeover. I'm excited about it because I think it will add a personal touch to the room and it cost about a tenth of what a tray would have cost for me to purchase!