Archive of ‘Projects’ category

09
Mar
2014

Easy Twine Wrapped Carrots

Written by: Grace

I made an easy update to my Burlap wreath with some easy twine wrapped carrots. Remember that Easy Burlap Bubble Wreath, I made for Valentine’s day? Go ahead. Check it out. I’ll wait here.

Okay, so I took out the hearts and the lovebirds, and decided to update this wreath with something more Spring appropriate.

This time, instead of going with glitter, I wanted my wreath’s accessory (Yup, my wreaths have accessories because they are fancy like that) to be rustic like the burlap.

I decided to make some easy twine wrapped carrots. Kind of like these yarn wrapped carrots.

I whipped up three carrots in no time. Another easy craft from Grace. Who’s keeping the tally for my easy crafts? Maybe I should start more challenging crafts…

What you’ll need:

-Jute like this

-Orange Craft Paint

-A foam brush

-Hot glue

-Greenery for the top of the carrot (I used Onion grass like this one)

-An old magazine

What you’ll do:

- Take a couple of pages from the magazine and roll it into a cone.

- Keep rolling pages until you have a carrot size that you like.

- Cut your greenery and shove it in the top and down the center of the magazine carrot

- Glue the beginning of the jute/twine to the magazine carrot and start wrapping it around the carrot form (tip: do not try to be perfect. Just wrap the twine haphazardly. I like to wrap all over the place. For two reasons. 1. I think it looks organic and 2. It’s easy, and you all know how I feel about ease).

Just wrapping the twine. Excuse the mess, I whipped up these three carrots, two moss bunnies during our last Craft Night, so there was a lot going on. When is there not a lot going on?

In case you needed another picture of me wrapping my carrots.

- Tuck the end of the jute/twine under what you have already wrapped. If you want, glue the tail end down.

- Paint your carrot with craft paint (tip: I added a little water to my paint, and just blotted the paint onto the carrot).

- Attach the carrots onto your burlap bubble wreath (I used green floral wire to attach my carrots) for a cute Spring update or wherever your heart desires.

You can barely see the floral wire.

An easy update to an easy wreath!

This extreme closeup reveals the blue poster gum I use on the back of my wreaths, so they don’t slide when opening and closing the door.

What updates do you have in store for your Burlap Bubble wreath? The possibilities are endless. Anyone securing a bird’s nest with Robbin’s eggs on theirs?

28
Feb
2014

Ragin’ Rag Wreath

Written by: Grace

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

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.

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

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

-Keep tying those knots.

-Fluff and scrunch

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:

Or Rona’s Redskins fan wreath:

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?

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).

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

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?

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

Entry -Form

Good Luck!!

19
Feb
2014

Berry Letter T Wreath

Written by: Lisa

When I first laid eyes on this pin from Our Unexpected Journey, I knew I had to have it. I loved it for a few reasons. First, it was wintery without being overtly Christmasy. Second, nothing says wintertime like a bushel of cranberries. Third, I love me some door décor and was happy to get away from the traditional wreath.

You certainly could go the easy route and use a wooden or black MDF letter from any craft store for this project. The thing is, the letter T can be a bit of a crapshoot when using premade letters—often it is very tall and narrow or the fonts available are on the trendy side. I wanted something a bit more classic looking, so I opted to make my own.

What you need:

Letter on paper (in a font of your choice)

¼” plywood (Any type will do, I went for the cheapest one. You want a lightweight piece.)

Jigsaw

Sandpaper

Spray Paint (optional)

Glue gun

Berries

Picture Hanger

Ribbon/Burlap

Step 1:

Choose a font for your letter. Select the size that looks best on your door. The dimensions for my T are 12” x 14”.

You can print it out and tape your paper together, as it will likely be bigger than 8.5 x11. Since we have access to LCD projectors at school, I used one to trace my T onto a single sheet of large paper. Convenient crafting tools–one of the many perks of being a teacher.

Step 2:

Cut your piece of wood into a square or rectangle that is close to the dimensions of your letter. This way you have less excess wood to work with as you cut your letter.

Tape your cut out letter to the piece of wood and use it as a stencil to trace your letter onto the wood.

Step 3:

Use your trusty jigsaw to cut out your letter. After it was cut, I used sandpaper to smooth out the edges. My husband made a second letter for Gracie, who used hers in a different craft.

Step 4:

Before I glued the berries, I decided to spray paint my T red. I figured that if any wood showed through the gaps of berries, it would be less contrast if it were the same color.

Step 5:

Prepare for a berry gluing marathon. I chose to cut the berries off of my stems the day prior to making the T. Berry branches were on sale at Michaels after Christmas 2012, so I grabbed a whole bunch. Any extra sprigs went towards other Christmas décor- you can never have too many Christmas greens/foliage.

Use your glue gun to glue each berry onto the letter. I wanted a crisp outline, so I chose to glue berries around the perimeter of my T before filling in the center. As the first layer firmed up, I went back and put a second layer of berries in order to cover up the gaps from the first layer. This is mindless work; I just put on some TV and got to it!

Step 6:

Hang her up! For the letter T, I decided to use 2 small picture hangers for my ribbon because I didn’t like the look of just one hanger in the center of the letter. I secured 2 picture hangers on the back with some hot glue. I then used some leftover Christmas ribbon and voila, my door décor was complete.

I think it’s classy and fabulous. Almost everyone who comes over when this is on the door asks where I got it, which is always a huge compliment. We love it, and I hope you love yours too!

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