Archive of ‘Tutorial’ category

21
Feb
2014

Kiss Me, I’m St. Patrick’s Day Burlap Bunting.

Written by: Grace

Remember, how I said it was Mantel Season ? Well, it’s mantel season! And that means it’s time for some St. Patrick’s Day burlap bunting. Whoop. Whoop.

On Valentine’s Day, I put all my Valentine’s Day decor in its bin, and started moving onto March. I know it’s only February, but I’m ready for Spring and GREEN!

Today during naptime, I whipped up a quick NO-SEW burlap bunting. I didn’t even bother to clean up the mess of craft time with the boys or the basket of toys dumped all over the place.. Just keepin’ it real for you!

Anywho.. this bunting is super easy, super fast, and super cute… You will notice this trend with most of my projects.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Burlap (the yardage depends on the amount of flags making. I used scraps. But, I’d say a 1/4 yard)
Jute, Twine, or some type of string or ribbon
Scissors
Glue gun and glue sticks
Paint Brushes
Craft Paint (I used white and green)

Here’s what you’ll do:

Step One- Determine the size and shape of your bunting and create a template. I chose a triangle with a 7 inch base.

Use a template to cut your burlap. My triangle is about 7 inches wide.

Trace your template. I did this once…

Step 2: Cut your Flags

Step 3- Decide what you want on your bunting.. I wanted a St. Patrick’s Day Bunting, so I went with “KISS ME.” I don’t like even numbers (not because I’m superstitious, but because my mom says groups of things look better in odd groupings, and she’s always right. Oh, Heeyyy, Mom!) so I put a little shamrock in there, for good measure.

Step 4: Get your Paint On! Now, you can use a stencil, or place the text you want to paint under the burlap and trace it, or you can free hand it. I just went for it and painted my letters. But, the shamrock was a different story. I traced a shamrock I had floating around. If I didn’t have a shamrock floating around, I probably would have printed off one to trace underneath the burlap, but I’m lucky like that…

I found a stray shamrock to trace…

Step 5- Hang your string/jute/ribbon/whatever you are using to hang this bunting. Because this was a No-Sew Bunting (just like my paper bag bunting ) I wanted to hang my string, glue my little pennants/flags on location as I would not be able to adjust afterward.

Hang your twine/jute/ribbon to desired hang length..

Step 6- Glue your flags. I just put a line of hot glue at the top of the burlap and folded it over the string.

Hot glue and fold over jute/twine/ribbon

DONE AND DONE!

Check out my March Mantel!

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!

11
Feb
2014

Ball O’ Flowers

Written by: Lisa

So we’re a mere 4 days from Valentine’s Day and I am still trying to get some sort of Valentine’s display going. As someone who had no decorations, I’m happy with the few things I have set up. This year was a start (last minute at that), and I know it can only get better for next year.

While I was perusing in Michaels, I saw lots of tiny balls made out of flowers. They almost looked like kissing balls, but on a much smaller scale. They came in hot pink, red, white, multi-color glitter, and many other pastel colors. I liked the idea but not the colors, so I decided to make my own flower ball.

Here they are:

What you need:

Styrofoam balls—I used one 4 inch and one 3 inch, both of which I already had
Flower blooms of your choice—I raided the clearance section of Michaels

This was the easiest craft I’ve ever done. I am known to choose crafts that are detailed or involved, but not this time! Take that Grace and Rona

Step 1:

Cut off all of the blooms from the stems. Do not cut off the harder plastic piece that joins the bloom to the stem! You can see this piece more clearly in Step 2’s photo.

Step 2:

Stick the blooms into the Styrofoam. Stick them close together so none of the Styrofoam peeks through.

Step 3:

Continue this until you work your way all around the ball. Since my blooms were snug I had no worries they would fall out of the Styrofoam. (I’ve dropped it, tossed it into the air to test this, and those bad boys stayed put.)

Step 4:

Admire your handiwork. These took me about 15 minutes per ball to complete.

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