Super Simple Birthday Wreath

Y'all know I love a good wreath by now, so of course I had to come up with something fun for Jaqsy's birthday party. I searched Pinterest high and low, but I couldn't find anything just right, so I actually did something with my own brains. Novel idea, eh?

We did the tied ribbon wreath for her nursery, and I love it, but it takes A LOT of ribbon not to mention a decent chunk of time, too. That was fine while I was pregnant, but now that she's out, spare time is precious ;) I found some ribbon at Hobby Lobby that I loved, so I decided to do a simplified ribbon wreath.

sorry, only had an iPhone pic

Supplies:

Foam Wreath

Whatever variety of ribbon works for your theme

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Embellishments

Cut your ribbon into pieces long enough to wrap around your wreath one time...mine were about 5 inches, I'd say. Then all you have to do is wrap them around and secure with a line of hot glue on the back. Overlap the ribbon a little as you go so as not have any foam showing through until you've covered the wreath. It's as easy as that! I chose to keep the rainbow pattern going, but you can mix it up and do different widths of ribbons, too.

Side note: I said "ROY G. BIV" in my head about 27 times while making this! Ha! 

Once you're done wrapping your wreath, hot glue one or two embellishments on there to celebrate your occasion! My number 1 came from Hobby Lobby and was already white, so I didn't even have to paint it. Score!

This wreath is still hanging on our front door...I can't let it go just yet! I figure I can get away with this for the month of April, right?! It IS her birth month, after all.

One other thing: I'm guest posting over at Ripples & Waves today! Check it out if you're curious about when Galusha baby #2 may make an appearance...

X's & O's: Valentine Door Decor

Y'all know I love seasonal door decor, right? I'm not even sure how many wreaths I've made in the last year...it's kind of become an obsession. Of course, I couldn't leave one of my favorites, Valentine's Day, out! I came across this little cutie on Pinterest and decided I wanted to make it my own. Side-note--I get so annoyed when pinned pictures don't go to an actual website. #PinningProblems

Apparently I'm no good at step-by-step crafting pictures...too in the zone I suppose ;) 

Lucky for you, this one is pretty self explanatory. 

I purchased my X's & O's at Hob Lob for $1.25 each and picked up some Valentine ribbon for about the same price, so this baby was less than $10 since I had all of the other supplies.

I did 2 layers of acrylic paint on the letters then let them dry over night before hot gluing them all together. I also put some tape (fancy, huh?) in the center of the backside to give it a little extra security. To hang, I hot glued ribbon to each side of the back then tied it up on our door hanger! Very, very simple, and darn cute if I do say so myself!

Paint Colors: X's-Metalic Bright Red; O's-Baby Pink with a VERY light layer of Metallic Pure Gold over it.

Oh, I almost forgot, my football coaching hubby was sorely disappointed to find out the X's & O's were for a Valentine door instead of a Super Bowl door. Sorry babe, football already stakes its claim in our home from July-December ;)

I'm linking up with Katie & Stephanie for Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.!  Go check out all the great ideas!!
Also linking up with "The Dog Days {of Winter} Are Over" linky party! :)

chalkboard banner

Just like the next blogger, I have a thing for chalkboard paint. I mean, what's not to love about being able to customize your wall and/or decor to each holiday or celebration? Nothing! When I saw this bunting on Pinterest via Etsy, I knew I wanted to recreate something similar for a fraction of the $18 price tag.

On my {weekly} trip to Hobby Lobby I found the perfect thing to make this little craft EASY peasy: a pre-made bunting made of chipboard. I couldn't find it on their website, but it was in the party section, and there were several shapes to choose from for about $3 for a 9-piece package.

I had plenty of chalkboard paint at home, so I painted a couple layers on both sides, then strung some thing Valentine ribbon through the pre-punched holes when it was dry.

I am so happy with the way this turned out, and I'm excited to be able to customize it for whatever holiday or birthday we're celebrating any given month!

I'm linking up with AP for Hey, that's Pin-tastic! Go check out all the great projects!

scrapbook paper & foam christmas trees

I've had some foam Christmas trees hanging around for awhile now, and I've been trying to find a way to "up-cycle" them this year. Previously they were mod-podged with tissue paper, but after being stored in the attic during hot Texas summers for several years now, they were looking pretty pathetic. When I came across this little project, I knew I'd found the one. I thought they'd be a cheerful addition to Jaqs' nursery this season!

original pin

I had to pick up some sequins and straight pins, then I got busy punching out the circles from scrapbook paper using a craft lever punch. My edges are scalloped, and the circles are 2" across. I used 9 sheets of scrapbook paper, and I had plenty left over to make a garland, too.

 Next, you just thread the sequin onto the pin then punch them (and the paper, of course) into the trees working from the bottom to the top. I put my circles in a line and basically kept that order throughout. It worked well for my OCD self ;) Once they were covered, I hot-glued a small, glittery foam ball ornament on top to finish them off!

Here's the finished product in the pea's nursery:

 I love how girly they are, and they were so simple to make! I definitely enjoyed this one.

I'm linking up with Katie & Stephanie for "Saw It, Pinned It, Did It"

Also linking up with AP for Hey, that's Pin-tastic!

Anthropologie-Inspired Snow Globes

I've had my eye on these little mason jar snow globes for awhile now; I just think they're so whimsical and fun! I knew I wanted to make them from the first time I saw this pin!

I gathered my supplies from Hobby Lobby, (all on sale, of course) and 6 of these little pretties ended up costing about $5 total. Hard to beat!

You'll need: Mason jars, Village trees, fake snow, and some hot glue.

This has to be one of the easiest Christmas crafts of all time: just hot glue the trees to the inside of the lid, pour a little bit of snow in the jar, and seal 'er up. Give it a shake to help the "snow" settle, and voila! Done! Looks pretty similar to the Anthro version, no?

I'm linking up with Katie & Stephanie for Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.!

"snowball" winter wreath

Y'all know me well enough by now to know I love a good Pinterest craft, right? Right. I've also been loving making wreaths for our door with the changing seasons, and with winter in the near-ish (looking at you, crazy TX weather) future, I decided it was about time to get my craft on again! This project was inspired by THIS pin. There weren't any tips or anything included, so I just picked up a 14 inch foam wreath, 400 count jumbo cotton balls, and I had Mod Podge on hand.

 I poured the glue in a paper bowl, and just started dipping and sticking the cotton balls all over the wreath. Once I got it covered, I decided to add some jingle bells for a little something extra. Then I tied it up on our door with some fabric scraps I had on hand...

I have to say, I'm not entirely sold on this. Maybe it's not full enough? Or it needs something hanging in the center? Possibly tied up with some different fabric or ribbon? What do you think I should add? Or should I just throw it right in my dumpster?

 The good news is that this little project took all of about 45 minutes and only about $6, so even if it doesn't stay, it's no huge loss of time or dolla-dolla bills!

So, yeah, some Pinterest crafts rock while others? Suck. Better luck next time?

Linking up with Katie and Stephanie for Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.!
Next time, I'll be sure to bring my A-game! ;)

Chalkboard Gift Tags

Back again to link my Pinterest projects up with AP for her Monday link-up!

I saw these chalkboard gift tags via Etsy; I thought they were adorable and would add a little something extra to our Christmas packages this year.

I showed them to a couple of my girlfriends, and we decided to have a little paint party while the guys were working yesterday. I found my tags at Hobby Lobby in the Christmas crafts section. They have holes in them already and are meant to be ornaments for kids to craft. I got snowflakes and Christmas trees :)

Only an iPhone pic, so it's terrible quality...FAIL. Sorry.

We just painted a couple coats of black chalkboard paint on them...seriously the easiest project ever, but so cute! The best part is that they be used over and over!

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I also made a few recipes from Pinterest this week; some hits and some misses in my opinion. My thoughts:

*One Dish Chicken & Veggie Bake-this was incredibly easy to make and pretty good considering the effort. Certainly not the BEST thing I've ever made, but I'll definitely do it again if I need something quick & easy.

*Crockpot Cheesy Chicken & Rice-about the same as above. GREAT for the amount of effort that went into it and tasty!

*Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles-these were yummy! Rob loved them. We had them with a honey-soy salmon thing that I made up with what we had on hand.

*Copy-cat Pumpkin Spice Latte-this was DELISH! I'll definitely do this one again. Talk about a money (and calorie) saver!

*Honey Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas-one word: GROSS! Won't make them again. Probably the only place garbanzo beans & I will meet again is in hummus. 

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One last thing: I have a fun little giveaway coming up tomorrow, I'd love if you came back and checked it out! Hoping it won't be a complete bust ;)

Happy (?) Monday!

birth stats subway art

I had so much fun linking up with AP for Project Pinterest last week that I thought I'd jump in again this week. Thanks for all the love on the yarn wreath last time!

This week I decided to tackle a project that I've been needing to do for approximately six months ;) Jaqs has had these empty canvases sitting on a shelf in her nursery, and I've gone through several ideas of what to do with them, but I finally landed on the perfect one. For one of them anyway. The other one shall remain unfinished for now. Maybe that will be next week's project!

Anyway here's the inspiration pin/tutorial:

Essentially, I just followed the directions that were posted and used Power Point to create my subway art. I downloaded several free fonts that I liked from the web. I had a lot of fun with it! The only thing I added was her birthplace. I saved the file as a JPEG then took that to Office Max and had them print it on card stock for me on standard paper size.

The canvas (12x15) itself used to have some bright red poppies on it, so I decided to "upcycle" it. It got a couple coats of antique white spray paint to start, then I painted the larger polka dots using THIS method (genius!). I used the wine cork itself to do the smaller polka dots. I then put a gray stripe along the sides to give it a finished look. Next, I mod-podged the print onto the canvas. I covered it twice to make sure the card stock didn't pull away or anything.

I am so happy with the way this little gem turned out! I think it's the perfect addition to Jaqsy girl's nursery! Now, any ideas for that second canvas??

the 'original'

I had so much fun making the first one that I decided to make a print of a different variety for my sister-in-law for her birthday. I saw this on Pinterest as well, but I didn't pin the original link. Whoopsy! I did this one the exact same way and mod-podged it onto an 8x10 canvas then striped the sides of the canvas as well. I think she liked it! :)

Thanks for popping over! Hope you like it!

Yarn Wreath

Pinterest and I go through peaks and valleys...sometimes I can't pin enough and others I don't think about it at all. With Fall here and the holiday season a-comin, we're at a peak.

When I saw that AP at ILYMTC was hosting a weekly link-up to share the Pinterest projects you've made, I knew I wanted to join in the fun! This is my first time to link-up, but I'm sure it won't be my last...this is such a great idea!

I have been loving yarn wreaths lately, so I decided my front door needed one. I chose to combine two of my pins to create my fall-ish yarn wreath!

via

via

The supplies are pretty simple: straw wreath WITH plastic left on, yarn, felt for embellishments (1/4 yd is more than enough), and any other add-ons you might like. You'll also need scissors (duh) and a hot glue gun (double duh).

I'm awful at taking pictures when I'm in the process of making something, so let me just tell you...it's easy! Tie the end of the yarn around the wreath and just start wrapping it around the wreath. No gluing necessary. I would advise you to keep the yarn pretty taut or it will start to slide around a bit. You can try to keep it all perfectly aligned if you wish, but I didn't mind mine overlapping. This process gets a little tedious, but it really doesn't take too terribly long.

As for the felt blooms, I followed the tutorial above to a "T', and it worked beautifully! I really like the way they look, and they are incredibly simple to make. 

I had burlap left over from this project, so I used that to tie it up on my door.

Here's the finish product...

All in all, this wreath took about 2 hours to complete, and it only cost about $10 with supplies leftover to make more! I made another for my mom already, and I'm working on two more :) I'd call this one a success!