Archive of ‘Home Decor’ category

Moss Covered Shamrock

 

moss covered shamrocks

St. Patrick’s day has always been an ignored holiday in our house in terms of décor—I usually jump from winter straight into spring. People always assume I go all out for St. Patrick’s day because I’m the pastiest of white and have freckles. So, in the spirit of my wee sliver of Irish roots, I figured I had to try and get at least one shamrock or something going on.

If you couldn’t tell from my other posts, we don’t really feature loud colors or glittery accents at our house. We’re a bit more subdued and au naturel ‘round these parts. When I saw this on Etsy, I knew two things: one, that it would fit in perfectly with our style, and two, I could make that sucker on my own.

What you need:

  • 1/4” plywood—I used leftover from my Berry T Wreath post

  • a print out of your shamrock –- I free styled a large version based off of a smaller print out

  • Jigsaw

  • Sandpaper

  • Spray Paint- optional

  • Moss—I used sheet moss found at any craft store

  • Glue Gun

Step 1:

Print out your shamrock so you can trace it onto your wood OR draw a shamrock freestyle on your wood.

Step 2:

Power up your jigsaw and get to cutting. Be patient while cutting, as it is more difficult to cut curves rather than straight lines. Is it wrong that I always want to say “get jiggy with it” whenever I mention a jigsaw in my projects? It’s one of my absolute favorite tools!

moss shamrockStep 3:

Give it a quick sand to ensure you don’t have any shards of wood that are exposed—we don’t want any splinters.

Step 4:

As with my Berry T Wreath, I chose to spray paint the wood before covering it. I did not want the natural wood color showing on the edges of the shamrock, so I gave one coat of spray paint to the sides and top of the shamrock.

moss covered shamrock

Step 5:

Trace your shamrock onto the back of your moss sheet and cut it out.
(Does anyone else think of Joey from Full House whenever they hear this phrase, or am I the only weirdo?)

moss covered shamrockStep 6:

Using your glue gun, apply your moss. Be prepared for a bit of a mess—moss sheds!

moss covered shamrock

Now, I know that some stores carry moss that has adhesive on the back– no such luck for this girl. If you find that type of moss, I would imagine that the adhesive on the back would be sufficient to adhere to the wood, no glue gun necessary– talk about easy!

moss covered shamrocks

What moss covered crafts have you made lately?!

Twigs+Frame=?

framed twigs

My attempt at St. Patrick’s Day decoration.

I’m not a huge fan of St. Patrick’s Day. I think it’s because I was scared for life by the movie Leprechaun. There were FIVE sequels made (2, 3, 4, 5, and Leprechaun in the Hood). Why? Anyway, for my husband’s namesake, I thought I ought to get into the spirit. I was inspired by this beautiful image. I love the organic feel and versatility of twigs, not to mention they are free! I didn’t want to shell out money for a holiday I don’t really love.

It was 50 degrees last week, which felt tropical compared to all the polar vortex we’ve had this winter. L and I took advantage of the springlike temps and went on a walk to find some twigs. It was definitely more like a quest. There were piles of snow at every corner, half shoveled sidewalks and puddles from the melting snow. Finding twigs was a difficult task. Imagine the excitement when I saw these guys with little buds on them.

twigs2

I climbed on top of a huge mound of snow (easily over 5 feet) as L watched in the stroller. I wish I took a picture to help you understand the struggle. I’m pretty sure people were starring, but I didn’t care. Nothing screams “spring” like budding trees er twigs!

Returned from our quest with bundles of twigs, I remembered a frame I bought on clearance from Hobby Lobby for a dollar. I put the frame on top of each branch to find a pairing I liked.

twigparing2  twigpairing1  twigpairing3

I gave the winning branch a fitting by trimming some of the sprigs. I left a few hanging outside of the frame to keep it natural and playful. Then I secured the twig to the frame via tape.

What’s St. Patrick’s Day without something green? I dug out my stash of random paint chips (I’m a closet hoarder) and picked out a few pretty green colors. You might recognize this picture from our Instagram sneak peek.

Twigsupply

I free handed a few little triangles.

miniflags1 miniflags2

Taped those babies to some twine.

stringflags2 stringflags1

Tied the mini flags to my framed twig.

DSC01449 DSC01450

The back of the flags are not so pretty. You may have noticed it from the reflection in the mirror. If I have time I will cut out a few more triangles to tape to the back.

twig with mini flags

I think I will leave it up for L’s birthday and Easter. I just need to change up the ribbon and the flags. I may even break this baby out for Christmas. Endless possibilities and I only spent a dollar! I’m pretty proud of myself.

Have you seen Leprechaun in the Hood starring Ice T? Thoughts?

Ragin’ Rag Wreath

We have a winner! Congratulations Barbara C. Your rag wreath is on its way!

Rag Wreath

On our very first Craft Night years and years ago, I coerced all participants to make rag wreaths. Now, some didn’t share my enthusiasm, but let me tell you, I’ve made FOUR of these bad boys. Mainly because they are super easy to make… and… I went overboard with gathering fabric for this project.

This does prove to be a great project to complete with friends because you can share fabric and really diversify the colors in your wreath.

 

Materials

-Assorted fabric to be  cut in strips- (Note: I would give you an estimate about the amount of fabric needed for this wreath, but the surplus of leftover fabric strips  from this project does not attest to my estimation skills.. I can tell you that you could probably buy a yard of fabric total and be fine. You can buy fabric by any increment. You could also buy the quilting packs of fabric (My good friend Carrie just bought two packs of quilting squares, and her wreath is so dear).

-A Wire Hanger (The Mommy Dearest reference is too obvious, no?)

-Assorted Ribbon of coordinating colors of wreath (optional)

Directions:

-Cut/tear your fabric into strips of about  1 1/2″-2″ by 6″-8″ (Sorry for the range, but you don’t have to be precise) Also, as you can tell, I tore my fabric. It was easier, hence that was the road I chose to take.

Fabric is cut into strips/torn.

Fabric is cut into strips/torn.

- Shape your hanger into a circle (leave the hook– it makes a lovely…well, hook).

Rag wreath

- Take your strips and tie them in knots on your hanger.

Rag Wreath

-Keep tying those knots.

Rag Wreath

-Fluff and scrunch

Rag Wreath

Don’t get discouraged. It might seems like an endless project, and at times, you may think that it looks horrible, but just keep tying and scrunching your knots close together.

My good friend Gayle was quite efficient with this craft. She lined up her different stacks of fabric, and went to town. She scrunched and shifted at the end, instead of fluffing and scrunching every couple knots like I did. Gayle is smart like that.

This is also a fine craft for our younger friends (read: Kiddos). They can practice their fine motor skills and even the concept of patterns (that’s if you want your fabrics to be in a patterned order).

That’s it, folks.

After all those knots, you  will have a pretty cute wreath, or in my case 4 wreaths…

 

The rag wreath has endless possibilities.

Check out Carrie’s cute pastel Easter cutie:

Spring rag wreath

Rag Wreath

 

 

 

 

 

Or Rona’s Redskins fan wreath:

ragwreath

And then, my good friend Sarah wowed us all with an upscale monochromatic rag wreath. She used burlap, so naturally I’m in love.

Isn't she gorgeous?

Isn’t she gorgeous?

Sarah used a wire wreath form, so her wreath is fuller and more substantial. She’ll also tell you it took more time (But totally worth it).

Burlap Rag WreathShe made these cute felt shamrocks and a miniature “Lu cky” banner to make it festive.

rag wreath

 

 

Isn’t Sarah’s wreath gorgeous?

In the spirit of St. Patrick’s day luck, teachlovecraft is holding its very first freebie. Who will be lucky enough to win the Springtime Rag wreath I just made?

Rag wreath

rag wreath

 

Rag Wreath

Want  it? Well there are 7 ways to enter to win this little Ragtime Beaut:

Good Luck!!

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