17 Oct 2015

Fall Decorating

by Eva M | posted in: Crafts, Home Decor | 0

I love decorating for Fall both the inside and the outside of my house. All the colors are earthy and decorations are rustic. This is the front door to my house. It is the perfect way to greet your guests with warm and inviting decorations to welcome them to your home.

This basket is one of those things that everyone comments on. I have it filled with decorative pumpkins that I picked up at my local craft store along with scarecrow pics, raffia and pinecones. I also threw in some small decorative gourds. As far as the basket goes, I weaved different colors of ribbon in around the bottom, middle and top to brighten it up. The basket alone is really nice, but I wanted to give it some more color on its own. As you can see, the pumpkins are at different heights. I have floral foam at the bottom of the basket in different lengths to stager the pumpkins. Every year I re-make it. It’s always a little different, but always gorgeous.

This is so easy and it looks great. This is a dollar store pumpkin that I took the handle off and hot glued some floral foam in the bottom. Then, I went to the craft store and picked up 2 large fall bouquets and arranged them in the pumpkin. It is as easy as that.

My dining room table has a runner with all those great Fall colors and three dryer vent pumpkins on it. I have one orange and the others are off-white and black. I also have the wine glass votives on the table in between the pumpkins. All the step by step instructions are in the Fall Craft section.

I made this tray years ago out of paper napkins. This is decoupage. Basically you cut out pictures and glue them down. For this one I used some Halloween napkins and cut the edges and the pumpkins out. The decoupage medium works as a glue and a varnish. I’ll put the instructions in the Fall Craft section.

My husband picked up some Halloween decorations for the house. His choice is slightly different from mine, but it wouldn’t be Halloween without a few spooky decorations. The skeleton on the candy dish comes to life when you take candy from the bowl. He says things like…”hands off my candy, I’m not in the sharing mood”. And, his eyes light up like two red beams coming from his head. It’s scary and very startling. No matter how many times I heard it, and of course I know it will go on, I still jump as though it is the first time I saw it. My grandchildren laugh every time I jump. They range in age from 3 to 13 and they all play with the candy dish. I’m sure everyone has a crow with an eyeball hanging out of its mouth adorning their homes, don’t they??? He also makes a crowing sound when prompted. I can’t leave out the owl. This one also makes a sound, but it in no way resembles an owl. It’s just weird.

23 Sep 2015

Burlap Covered Mason Jars

by matt | posted in: Burlap Covered Mason Jars | 4

These Mason jars are so versatile. Here I have them with silverware in them, but I also put candles or fresh flowers in them. They are fantastic.

Supplies
Mason Jar
Burlap
Beads
Little flat flower middles
Ribbon
Hot glue gun

Instructions
First, wrap the burlap around the mason jar. Put a line of hot glue on the jar first, then secure one end to the jar. Hold the burlap in place for a minute, until the glue is secure. Then put a line of hot glue on the burlap to secure the other end. Hold in place until it is secure.

As you can see from this picture, I first tried a piece of twine for the bow at the top. It looked ok, but I decided to change it after I put the beads on the jar. Try the twine or a piece of ribbon that coordinates with the color of your beads and see which one you like better. I ended up with the brown ribbon.

The beads I had here were in the shape of a tear drop. They fit perfectly together to make the pedals of a flower. In the center, I had flat medal circles that I purchased in the bead section at my craft store. They worked great in the middle of the flower. You could also use a colored jewel. As long as the back is flat, you will be fine. I have 5 flowers around the jar. Depending on what size beads you use, you will need a different amount of flowers.

23 Sep 2015

Floral Wreath

by matt | posted in: Floral Wreath | 0

This is a beautiful wreath outside my front door. What and eye catcher!! It is not only beautiful, but so simple to make. This is a craft that will take you an hour to complete.

Supplies
1 straw wreath
Floral picks in different sizes and colors
Coordinating ribbon
Floral Pins
Scissors

Instructions
Cover the straw wreath with ribbon. Use a floral push pin to secure the ends into the wreath.
Start with the inside and work out with the floral picks. I used a small flower to go around the middle part of the straw wreath, then I used carnations for the middle, then smaller airy flower around the largest part of the wreath. **Straw wreaths come in many sizes. You will need the amount of flowers to cover your wreath. I used a 10″ wreath here and I used approximately 10 small flowers, 15 carnations and 40 smaller airy flowers around the largest part.
Use the scissors to poke holes through the ribbon so you can push the flowers into the wreath.
Regardless of what type of flowers you use, you will need to cover the entire wreath. Once it is covered you can add a large or small bow. I have a small one here because the wreath is so colorful. If you are using only one type of flower, you will need a more colorful and a larger bow.

23 Sep 2015

Stamped Wood Tray

by matt | posted in: Stamped Wood Tray | 0

These stamped wood trays are super easy to make. One large stamp, some gold paint and you are done. Around the holidays, I like to give these trays with a couple of mugs, hot cocoa and a book.

Supplies

Wood Tray
Stamp(s)
Stamp Pad(s)
Optional – Embellishments

Acrylic Paint
Varnish
Paint Brush
Optional – Paint Markers

Instructions

1. Paint the tray. (Any craft store will have a wide variety of acrylic paint to choose from. You can also go to your home improvement store and buy samples of water-based paint to use. The advantage of purchasing the paint this way is that you can customize the color you want. The store clerk can tint the paint for you) Once you have painted the tray, let it dry completely before moving on to the next step.

2. Pick out the stamps that you will use to decorate your tray. My suggestion is that you experiment on a piece of paper to see how much ink is needed to achieve your desired effect. Also, if you are using more than one color, you have to let each color dry completely before starting another one. Remember, the bigger the stamp the more ink you need, and in return, if you have small, intricate lines, you will need less ink.

*This is where you can use markers. If you are using a stamp with lots of detail, you can color the lines of the stamp with markers, then stamp your tray. Once the lines have all dried, you can color in between the lines with paint or markers.

3. When you are completely finished with the paint, let the tray dry overnight.

4. Now its time to varnish. Since there are so many products on the market, I always recommend to check the manufactures directions and follow them.

5. If you are going to embellish your tray by gluing on jewels, buttons or ribbon, now is the time to do it.

*Embellishments – Depending on the style of your tray, you may want to add a bow, jewels, mosaic tiles or any small trinket around the edge. If the tray is solely for decoration, you can glue the embellishment intend to use it as a tray, you need to keep the main surface flat.