Witch Hat Vase

posted in: Crafts | 0

 

This is one of the easiest crafts that I have ever done and it looks amazing on my front door.  This is one that you definitely have to try. 

 

Supplies

Witch Hat – with decorations on top of the brim

Flowers – I used 2 bunches to fill the hat

2 Pipe Cleaners – Color to match the hat

Needle & Thread – I forgot to put in the picture

Rubber Band

Scissors

Stapler

 

Instructions

If you are using 1 big bunch of flowers, you can skip this step.  If not, take both floral bunches and hold them together.  Work the stems together so they look like it is actually 1 arrangement.  Hold them together with a rubber band.  This will be at the bottom of the hat and will not be seen at all. 

Now comes the tricky part.  The hat.  You have to bring the back of the brim together in the back and sew it up.

Turn the hat upside down.  Take the two ends at the back of the brim and bring them together.  Use a stapler to hold them in place, then staple approximately 3 inches in all along the brim.

Here is the inside with both the ends of the brim stapled

From the outside of the hat, stitch the had with a needle and thread to hold it secure.  If you didn’t want to stitch together, you could use safety pins on the inside of the hat.  

 

Take the 2 pipe cleaners and twist them together.  Cut two holes in the had just below the brim and on either side of the seam you just sewed.   Put one end of the pipe cleaners in each hole, making sure that the ends are even inside the hat and the middle of the pipe cleaner is on the outside.  Make a loop on the outside of the hat with the pipe cleaners by twisting them together approximately 1 1/2 inches in from the center.  On the inside of the hat, twist the pipe cleaners together and lay flat down the hat top.

This is how the loop should look on the outside of the hat

This is the hook that I used on my front door to hang the hat.  I tried the typical wreath hanger, but the hat wanted to fall forward,  This one works great.

 

All you have to do now is hang it and put the flowers in.  If you have flowers that are to low, crumple up some newspaper and put it in the peak of the hat to keep the flowers a little bit higher.  And that’s it!!  Fabulous and easy.  This is a winner.

 

 

 

 

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Halloween Tablescape

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halloween-tablescapeThis is a super easy and inexpensive Halloween table-scape that will be great for your Halloween party.

 

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I started with a black tablecloth.  This is a plastic one that I picked up at Walmart for $1. It is a little thicker than the ones you get at the dollar store.  I picked up these spider wall decorations at the dollar store, and I used them as placemats.

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Next, I took the cylinders from my Dining room table and removed the burlap that is usually around them.  I used my glue gun to secure the end of the black ribbon on top of the glass, then wrapped it around until I got to the bottom.  I secured the bottom with the glue gun also.  For the purple ribbon on top of the black, I got a spool of very inexpensive Halloween ribbon at the dollar store.  This is not very good quality, so it is perfect for this craft.  All I did with that was wrap it around the middle of the cylinder and tie a knot in the middle.  

rock-spider

I made several of these spiders.  They are made from painted rocks from the beach. Glued on purple pipe cleaners, and googly eyes.  So easy and the kids LOVE them.  The full instructions are in the Craft section.

One important note, I always use flameless candles on the table so I don’t have to worry about the candle being directly under the branches.  Also because there will be kids around reaching for candy and spiders, the flameless candles are a much better choice. 

Dryer Vent Pumpkin - Black

This is a Dryer Vent Pumpkin that I made last year.  It is really easy and durable.  It has been in my attic for a year and came out looking perfect this year.

Pumpkin Beige

The instructions for these Dryer Vent Pumpkins are in the Craft section.

The last thing I did was take a spool of ribbon from my local craft store and wind it around everything on the table.  I used ribbon that you can scrunch small, or pull it long, its great. The craft store has it in lots of colors.  With some spider baskets from the dollar store and one older candy dish with a skeleton that I’ve had for years, the table is finished.  I filled the baskets with pumpkin cookies and clementines, but feel free to fill them with lots of candy.  

 

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Halloween Centerpiece

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halloween-centerpieceIsn’t this adorable.  It was quick, easy and very kid friendly.  The base of this centerpiece is a flower pot that I spray painted with gold sparkle paint.  This pot is so versatile,  it will be on the Thanksgiving and Christmas table, looking completely different for each one.

Here is what I did:

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I gathered some sticks from my yard.  Any will do.  No need to be fussy here.

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Then, I put them into floral foam to hold them upright while i painted them.

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I picked up this paint from the craft store.  I used flat black.

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The next step was to spray every inch of them with black paint.  Make sure you get underneath and in all the little nooks and crannies.

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Then, I cut the floral foam to fit into the flower pot

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After the branches were dry, I put them into the flower foam.  Arrange them so they look somewhat balanced on all sides.

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If your branches are as long as mine are, you want to make sure you are balancing them on all sides so the centerpiece doesn’t topple over.

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The final touch was to put some moss on top to hide the floral foam.

The last thing was the decorations.  I went to my local dollar store, where everything is $1 and I picked up a bag of bugs and creepy things.  I used a needle and black thread to attach the bugs to the tree.  I put the needle through the bug and left a big loop of thread.  I tied a knot, then hung it on the branch.

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If you don’t have a clay flower pot, a big can or bucket will do just fine.  If you don’t have the floral foam, use dirt from your garden.  If you are using dirt, you won’t need the moss.

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Magnolia Wreath on Window frame

posted in: Home Decor | 0

 

Magnolia Wreath on wall1

This is simple and basic, but I love it.  I got the inspiration for making this wreath and putting it on a window frame by watching HGTV’s ‘Fixer Upper’.  That show is amazing. Joanna Gaines’ style is very similar to mine, simple, easy and natural.  

What I’ve made here is not a true Magnolia wreath.  These leaves are artificial leaves from Michael’s Craft Store, and they are not sold as magnolia leaves.  Magnolia leaves have more diverse color with shades of brown in them.  This is as close to a Magnolia leaf that I could find. 

For the window frame, I went to a local antique boutique and found this window frame. When I bought it, it had the glass in each frame, the paint was chipped and it had old hardware screwed into it on several sides. 

Window Frame1

This is what the frame looked like after I removed the hardware, glass and scrubbed it clean.  If the paint was in good shape, I would have left it like that, however, the paint was peeling and because I didn’t know where the frame came from, or how old it was, I didn’t want to take the chance that the paint had lead in it.

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I then sanded all the paint off the frame.  Since it was old and peeling, it didn’t take long at all.  I wanted the frame to have a more natural look to it, so I chose a neutral color paint.

 

Now for the wreath

 

Supplies

Straw Wreath

Leaves

Hot Glue Gun

Twine for hanging

 

Instructions

Magnolia Leaf

This is how I bought the leaves.  They were in bundles of approximately 20 leaves.  I got them at Michael’s craft store.

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I used a wire cutter to cut them off the bundle, then separated them by color and size.

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I started by gluing the larger leaves on the inside. I glued them only at the stem.  The tip of the leaf is free.  As I added more and more leaves to move around the form, I covered the prior stem.

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This is the first row of leaves.  As you can see, when you look at the wreath, the first row is covering the middle of the wreath.

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For the next set of leaves, I did the same thing as the first row, and I tucked them half way under the first row.  All the leaves are pointing in the same direction.

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I continued around and around the wreath form using the same technique until the entire wreath was full of leaves.

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After I was finished with the front, I covered the rest of the form with the leaves, gluing them completely on the wreath form.  I didn’t leave the tips unglued on the back the way I did on the front. 

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And, that’s it.  The only thing left to do is attach a piece of twine in the back for hanging.

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Dining Room Table

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Dining Room Table - Complete1

I love the way this looks.  The basics are in the middle with the flower arrangement and the burlap wrapped cylinder candle holders, but the bud vases on the ends will change as the flowers in my garden change.  I love bringing the outside in. These clippings are from my knock-out roses.  

The base of the flower arrangement is the base that I got from my niece’s wedding.  It had beautiful fresh flowers in it for the wedding.  At the wedding, we played the game of passing a dollar around the table.  When the music stopped, the person with the dollar had to stand on a chair and dance.  After I stood on a chair and danced thinking I was going to win the centerpiece, it ended up being the person who gave you the dollar that won the arrangement. Luckily, it was my husband.

The dried flowers that are in it now are from an outdated arrangement that I had on my dining room table for 5 years.  This is only half the dried flowers, so you can imagine how big it was.  The other half, I put in my bedroom in a vase. Talk about repurpose!!!  The size and colors are perfect on this table.

The cylinder candle holders were very inexpensive.  I picked them up years ago from a discount store. For years, I have been filling them with different colored decorations at various holidays.  Red and green for Christmas, orange and black for Halloween. 

What I did here was hot glue a piece of burlap around them, tucking in the end. Then tying a few strands of raffia around the middle.  You could use any kind of wire or ribbon if you don’t have the raffia.  

The bud vases are also very inexpensive.  If you don’t have actual vases, use what you have.  4 drink glasses or mason jars or cleaned out cans would look perfect.   Tie on a pretty bow and fill it with whatever you have in your yard.  Flowers, herbs or just greenery would look great.  Change it up as the months move along. 

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