Ombré Art DIY

Inspired by this DIY on a lovely blog called Two Delighted (which of course I found on Pinterest), I decided to take a canvas I had on hand and turn it into a personal piece of art.

As the blog said originally, there are no real step-by-step instructions for this DIY. Basically, if you start with a darker paint color and keep adding white paint to it, the ombré effect will happen naturally. 

It was fun, actually painting and getting results because let's face it, I am no artist. My dad was a for real artist (paints, easels and everything), and I always dreamt of having that talent... but no dice. I just don't have the kind of creativity that can turn nothing into something with a flick of my wrist and a palette of paint. I wish!!

But anyway - my ombré art: it's simple, it's not flashy.... and I love it. I'm happy! :)

Gallery Wall

I'm not gonna lie, I've been feeling pretty glum about the state of my living room recently. Well more like I think it's glum. It's boring. It's decorated in a broad color spectrum of beige, brown, white and more beige. *yawn*. 

Here's a picture of my living room about a month after we moved in. 

Not much has changed since this picture was taken. The couch has been pushed back and now my husband's desk is in the back corner. And we have a new tv? Other than that, samesville. 

I decided quickly that I don't necessarily want to repaint....the beige walls aren't my biggest irritation with the room. A beige wall isn't the enemy. It's the insane lack of color. Brown blinds, white trim, brown table, brown couch, brown clock... I could go on. 

What I decided to do was inject color slowly. I bought bright blue and green pillows on clearance at target, to go with the existing burnt orange pillows I've had since we got married. That wasn't enough though. I began looking around my house for things I could swap out and place in my living room. I remembered that my sister in law had bought me durable paper coasters in Katie Daisy prints. I saw a project on Pinterest that involved an old picture frame, string, mini clothespins and Instagram prints. I immediately decided that this was the perfect idea for the coasters, since I knew right off the bat that I wasn't going to put drinks on them. 

I just love how it turned out. Everyone told me how cute and creative it was when I shared it on Facebook and I was so happy that it brought in pops of color to my beige walls. 

I had a big empty space on the other side of the window that was still calling my name. It was so empty and boring. 

 

I would eventually like to get a taller bookshelf to house all of our books, but in the meantime we have condensed it to just as many books that fit in the 3 shelves. 

My friend Carrie and I had started talking about gallery walls, and I knew I wanted to do one eventually. I just wasn't sold on how much I would probably end up spending on frames and Etsy prints. 

One night, I just caved. I have a large box of random picture frames that I've collected over the years and never used. I started picking out frames that looked good together and matching them with prints I made myself and scrapbook papers that I love.

 

I think it turned out awesome.

I took some close up pictures of the pieces I love the most:

Coaster Art

Oh. Hey. Is anyone there?

Probably not. It's been like 18 years since I've logged into this blog.

Whoops.

Excuses such as "life got busy" or "I had to focus on me" don't apply here. I wasn't busy. I focus on me quite a lot. I just stopped caring. For a while, I was living in a basement and all of my crafts were boxed away in storage. Then we bought a house and sure, things did get crazy. But we didn't do any major updates to the house that I thought would have been blog-worthy. We mostly painted and moved in.

I've done crafty things since... but nothing I felt warranted a blog post. I don't even really think this does, based on how little time and resources it took me to complete it. Buuuuut, I think it turned out perfectly and exactly how I imagined it. And cost me literally $2.99 to make. The best!!!

I took apart an old print so that I could use the frame. It actually took a screwdriver to pop out staples and some serious patience, but it worked out. Part of me wanted to take out the glass, but I think it helps preserve the coasters a little better since they aren't exposed to the elements.

(This is a bad picture of the frame before I destroyed it.)

I then measured out string that I already had on hand and stapled it into the back of the frame, making sure they were taut. 

The only money came from the mini clothespins - I think I spent $2.99 on a bag of 50 from Hobby Lobby.

The coasters were a gift from my sister in law for my birthday last year. The artist is Katie Daisy, and if you aren't familiar with her work, I strongly suggest checking out her Etsy shop and buying everything. These coasters are actually manufactured by Drinkblots and are called 'Life is Beautiful'.

After about 5 minutes of work, I now have a completely one-of-a-kind statement piece that features my favorite artist AND breaks up the monotony of my beige walls.

I'm officially in love!

No Sew Fleece Sleeping Bags

I first saw this tutorial on Pinterest for an American Girl doll sleeping bag. Within seconds my mind went to: "why not make this into a big kid size?!"

I knew there would be some adjustments, besides size obviously. I thought about it for about 5 minutes, then went and dropped some money at Hobby Lobby. Ladies and gents, fleece is not cheap. Even on sale. But when you think about how long these blankets last and how excited kids will be to have totally customizable sleeping bags... it's totally worth it!!

Like I said, these are totally customizable, and totally easy to make. There are so many options when it comes to fleece! For my projects, I chose rainbow peace signs and pink fleece for my 8 year old niece, and a baseball motif and gray fleece for my 4 year old nephew.

What I Used (per blanket):
3.75 yards of patterned fleece
2 yards of solid color fleece
Fabric scissors
A ruler/yardstick (I didn't use one, but some people like to measure things. I am not one of those people.)



This isn't going to be a full tutorial, because there are a MILLION no-sew fleece blanket tutorials out there, and it really is the easiest thing in the world to do. If you don't know how to make one, google it (okay, Pinterest it) and come back here if you want to turn it into a sleeping bag. ;)

So, as I was saying. If you've ever made a no sew fleece blanket, you can totally make this sleeping bag. The only difference is adding another layer of fleece to the top side, though not the same length. You don't want to knot all 3 layers together, that would just be a heavier blanket. And what fun is that?

I made my sleeping bags 2 yards long and then got another piece of the patterned fleece that was 1 3/4 yards to layer on top. Remember, you are going to be cutting strips around all 4 sides, so the bag won't be quite 2 yards long when you're done.

For me, I also wanted them a little narrower. I laid out all 3 layers on top of each other (pattern, solid, pattern), and then folded over approximately 1 foot on one side. I cut that strip off, and was left with a narrower blanket. I wanted it to be more of a sleeping bag and less of a blanket, and thought that would help. I think it turned out perfect! (And now I have a 12 inch wide piece of scrap to do.....something with!)

Knot all around the sides, and fold down a flap on one side so that you can make it easier for your kids to get inside. That was the only change I made from the doll tutorial I found.  Don't knot all 4 sides up tight, you want to make it so that a child can get out in case of an emergency bathroom trip in the middle of the night! Just the thought of tying down the top blanket entirely makes me claustrophobic!! You can see in the picture below, to make it look more finished I also cut the strips down the flap and tied them together. But feel free to leave it uncut and as it is!

 

When I finished, I cut a strip of excess patterned fleece and double knotted it around the bag for a handle. These bags are going to stay at our house for when my niece and nephew come sleep over, but that way storage is easier and the kids can pick them up without them unrolling everywhere.

 

 

I am beyond excited for the kids to see these next weekend and see how they will react. I spent nearly 4 hours total working on these blankets, and I know I won't get 4 hours of praise (though their parents could really suggest that, it'd be cool). Even if I just get, "WOAH, LOOK AT THAT!! OH MAN, THAT'S SO COOL. Can I have a snack? Are we going to watch a movie? But I don't want to watch that!" it will be enough for my little heart. 

In my head, I know that I could have just thrown down a pillow and blanket and they would have been thrilled just to be in my house, but instead I poured my love for these 2 crazy kids into 10 yards of fleece. I hope one day, they will realize how important they are to me. 

I don't know what I would do if these kids weren't in my life, but mostly, I'm just happy I can spoil them and send them home later. With a total sugar buzz. Isn't that what aunts are for?

Crafting

Here are some crafty things I've made recently!

Missouri Love / via Pinterest / original source

Embroidery Hoop Pockets / via Pinterest / original source

 

I'm sure I found this on Pinterest originally, but this is mostly just a jar covered in scrapbook paper, vellum & baker's twine.

  

Yarn Wreath with felt flowers / my original post / flower tutorial

And then, because I am obsessed... and my room is no longer this clean, I just wanted to share pictures of the rest of my craft room. I am a firm believer that everyone needs one of these.

 

We are wedding-ed out!

October has been a very hectic month so far. I know that it's been forever since I posted, so I apologize for my temporary leave of absence.

Joey and I had 2 weddings right off the bat this month, one of which we were actually involved in. For pretty much the entire end of September and beginning of October, my entire free time was devoted to helping my lovely cousin Lisa get the finishing touches done for her wedding.

I designed, printed and assembled her program, timeline and reception place cards.... with her and Kirstie's help of course!! I could not have have gotten them all finished in time without these amazing ladies.

It was so much fun browsing Pinterest and taking ideas from here and there, along with visions I already had in my head and turning them into finished products! The program took the longest to make. The hardest parts were definitely getting everything aligned, picking the right shade of lavender and getting everyone's names spelled correctly! I think they turned out pretty awesome though.

I also found a wedding timeline on Pinterest and decided to make my own version. It's pretty similar to the one I found, I have to admit, but it still gave me the satisfaction of doing it myself. It was a big hit with everyone and it really seemed to limit the annoying questions of "Where do we go next?" and "How long of a wait til the reception?", which some people really think are appropriate questions to bother the Bride and Groom with. I am a firm believer that every wedding should implement these cards.

The reception place cards were due to the fact that the reception was a sit-down dinner and not a buffet. The colored backing helped the staff identify who ordered salmon (lavender) and who ordered chicken (black). It really helped and was a clever idea since it wasn't overly obvious!

The following pictures are a couple snapshots from the night before the wedding and during. I didn't get many pictures because I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off all day. Seriously......... I didn't sit down once all day, except for the actual wedding itself and dinner. But I loved every second of it!

 

Kirstie wearing all of our wedding rings... luckily she is a great friend and didn't run off with thousands of dollars on her hand.

Brandon playing the crap out of that cello.

My wedding day GPOY when I had a second to myself in the hotel bathroom. Sigh.

My lovely husband and I at the reception. We were both sweaty and tired by this point.

The next weekend was Casey and Amanda's wedding! We spent the entire day in downtown St. Louis with our friends Dustin and Brandon. It was such an awesome day.... I just totally forgot to take pictures. Ummmm, whoops!

We spent the time between the wedding and the reception at this pretty sweet bar/restaurant/hipster hangout called Plush. We ate weird food, I had a cider beer, and about 3 coffees. Guys, the napkins were tye-dye and cloth. TOTAL HIPSTER HANGOUT.

The upstairs of Plush was a huge open loft area with ping pong tables, a pool table and tons of mismatched seating areas and a bean bag pit. It had huge open windows and exposed brick walls.

I just love this guy.

The centerpieces! I love me a good mason jar craft. These battery operated lights were an awesome touch, as there was only dim lighting at the reception. Made a very romantic atmosphere!

Us and the groom. YAY WEDDINGS!!!

So yes, it's safe to say that Joey and I are officially wedding-ed out for 2012. We are going to rest and prepare for the Wedding season 2013... we're looking at you Roadie/Carrie and Brian/Kirstie!!!! We can't wait...... but are SUPER relieved you aren't getting married this year. ;)

DIY Doily Wedding Dresses

About 2 weeks ago, I promised you a tutorial on how to make the doily wedding dresses that I made for my cousin's shower invitations. Well, hey! Better late than never! ;)

Let's get one thing straight first. These were not a brain child of mine, no sir. I wish I had come up with them. Pinterest introduced me to these fancy frocks by way of a blog called Paper, Paws, etc.

Here is my step-by-step tutorial to make your own paper princess ball gowns!

Supplied needed:

- 4" paper doilies, I found them in the cake section of my craft store (you need approx 2 doilies for each dress, so plan ahead)

- Gluesticks

- Scissors

- White cardstock

- Ribbon, in your choice of color

- Heart punch (any craft store should sell one big enough)

- Brads, or any decorative embellishment that can be adhered without falling off easily

   

First off, you need to determine which is the the pretty side of the doily and which is the rough. I think it's pretty easy to tell when it's in front of you, but I included a picture above for reference just in case.

Since you want the pretty side to be more dominant, turn it face down. Rough side up, if you will.

Then, fold the doily just to the white circle at the bottom. Don't fold the doily in half completely, because you're wanting to create 2 layers of the dress. You'll see just about an inch of rough lace when you look at your folded doily.

Crease so that you have a firm edge.

Then, take the top right corner of the doily and bring it down towards the left, lining it up where the white circle and the lace meet. A 90 degree angle, as long as you don't check my measurements for correctness. Or my grammar. ;)

Glue that corner so that it doesn't come apart. You don't need a lot of glue, and make sure it dries clear since you're going to be gluing on the lace part.

When you're done, you should have a triangle point at the top, and 3 layers of the dress. The rough part at the bottom of the dress, then a folded part in the middle, and the piece you just folded over and glued down.

Now to make the top of the dress! 

Take a doily and fold it in half. Put it on top of a piece of white cardstock and position it in the heart stamp so that you like what you see. I felt that you needed to see some white so that the sweetheart neckline was lace only. It's totally up to you.

This will actually make 2 doily hearts, so you'll need to make more white cardstock hearts to keep up. I tried folding the cardstock in half as well, and it was too thick for my punch to go through the stack. Experiment!

Glue the doily to the white cardstock. Aww, so pretty!

Snip off the sides of the heart at an angle... I actually cut too much off of this one (in my personal opinion... also too straight), so the finished product I'm showing you is much cuter than this one would have been. Oops!

Also take the tip of the skirt and fold it backwards, and glue down.


Glue the top of the dress to the bottom piece, and wrap your ribbon around the two pieces. Glue the ribbon to the back to attach it, but DO NOT glue the ribbon on the front of the dress.

Keep it loose, goose!

See? You needed to keep it unglued in front because the next step is to put another piece of ribbon through the sash. I liked how it looked when it was at uneven lengths, but do what ever makes you happy.

Then push the brad through the whole dang mess to secure the ribbon, or glue any embellishment you want to put there. If you don't want anything to embellish the sash, you could just glue the ribbon down, to make sure it doesn't fall out.

I hope you have fun with these.... you should definitely send me a picture of your finished pieces if you decide to make them! I'd love to see them

Or, I am totally for hire. Call me, maybe! ;)

10 Pretty Things I Love for Spring!

The weather has been damn near gorgeous here lately!

You know the saying, "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb"? Okay, maybe I'm showing my age here a little. But that is a phrase and in this case, March came in growling and out positively ROARING! The weather has gotten into the 90's, especially last week. I even think I saw a heat index of 100 degrees or so. But maybe that was just in my car.

The days that have been in the 70's though, those have been the best. I am not ready for 90 degree weather, to be honest, but you work with what you're given. When it's in the 70's or 80's, I am more than happy to welcome Spring into my life.

I have worn the crap out of all the skirts, dresses and sandals that I own. This is problematic because Joey and I are on a spending freeze and I really can't afford to buy anything pretty. See, we are on the search for our first home and those things don't come cheap!!

Instead of just stomaching the fact that it might be late May or June before I get to buy anything to plush my spring/summer wardrobe, and maybe being creative in ways to keep wearing my winter clothes in a summery way, I have taken to Pinterest and found things that I would absolutely love to add to my arsenal. But can't afford. Some I couldn't afford even if I wasn't scrounging for pennies in my couch cushions to add to our piggy bank.

But that's for another day.

1) This pretty red, flowy dress from Old Navy. There is nothing better than an empire waist, knee length dress for work. I could totally pair this with a white cardigan or shrug and some sandals that I already own - easy and adorable.

2) Oh my GOSH! I am so into arrows right now, and naturally since I am a 14 year old girl, this totally symbolizes my love for The Hunger Games. This bracelet is from House of Harlow. I found it in sterling silver and rose gold, and I kind of prefer the rose gold. It's just so striking. I want it!

3) Okay so I'm kind of cheating here. I own this pillow. I found it on the clearance rack at Target. I wish there had been 2, so I guess you could say I still covet one of these magnificent pillows. I don't have a link to source here because it's been taken offline. :( But I promise I got this pillow from Target.

4) I am obsessed with all things wood right now. I have an iPhone cover that is wood, albeit plastic, but I love it. These sunglasses from the Tumbleweeds shop on Etsy. They have woodcrafted sunglasses in all shapes, sizes and colors. I wish, wish, wish that I could afford a pair, and that I didn't have to wear glasses. Hrmph.

5) Speaking of wood things, how adorable is this cutting board? I found this on Pinterest and followed the source back to a shop on Etsy that makes custom wood crafted cutting board in the shape of the states! Of course, I would want a Missouri one with a heart in St. Louis. :) Check out the shop - AHeirloom.

6) I own these shoes too. Shhh. I had a Kohls giftcard left over from Christmas, can you believe it? I managed to buy a dress for Easter and these shoes from the Simply Vera collection. I haven't worn them yet but they are so adorable and I can't wait to put together an outfit with them.

7) These shoes are also from Kohls, but I haven't been gutsy enough to try them on. Mostly because once I put them on, I will want to buy them. This is regardless of how comfortable they are, just because they are so gorgeous. So I am steering clear. Until my willpower shatters. Tomorrow. Shhh.

8) AH! How adorable are these Pantone iPhone cases! I want all of them, but I think the Tangerine and Yellow ones would make me the happiest.

9) I won a Vera Bradley Attache at my work's Trivia night in March and am super excited about it. I mean, technically I have nowhere to need a briefcase but hey - now I have one if the situation arises! To go with it - you know, thinking ahead - I want to get this Turn Lock wallet in the same fabric (Folkloric) as the Attache. Pretty!

10) Finally, what Spring wouldn't be complete without some new baseball gear?! I love this collection from Victoria's Secret, and with Joey being a majorly huge Mets fan, I know I could get him to agree to me getting this hoodie if it was for the Mets. ;) Here's trying!!

DIY Yarn Wreath & Felt Flowers

This post needs no introduction. Just go read my last post. Then, let's agree to disagree that I'm certifiably insane, and just get on with our lives.

I got this idea off of Pinterest, of course. But what made me the most happy was that it came from one of my favorite blogs out there, Mrs. Priss (seriously, check out her blog). She is a super crafty, ultra fashionable and unapologetically hilarious lady, who can blog the crap out of anything.. in a great way! I also love following on Twitter. I only wish we could be friends in real life. And with that, I am officially riding the creeper train all the way to Creeperville.

So hey.... yeah! Let's do this!

I'm going to show you how to make your own yarn wreath. It's really simple, I swear. And a lot of fun. This was my first one, and it took me about two hours to complete. I blame that on the fact that a) I'm a perfectionist and b) my iPad was really distracting when I kept getting frustrated at myself for being a perfectionist. 

 

Here is what you need:

 

A straw wreath - KEPT IN THE PLASTIC PACKAGING

A ball of yarn for wrapping (note: I did not use this whole ball of yarn)

Felt to make your flowers

Scissors

& not pictured:

A glue gun, a pencil and a CD - or any circular object

(the last 2 can be omitted if you wanna freeball it)

 

Oh, hey yeah... listen up. This wreath does not have to be perfect. My final result is bumpy and some pieces of yarn are out of place.... but I love it! I probably could have knocked a half an hour off my time if I hadn't been trying to get each piece to lay flat.

1) Wrapping the Yarn

Start by wrapping your yarn around the wreath. This takes the most time, is the most aggravating and seriously will unearth any OCD tendencies that you didn't know you had. [Luckily, my OCD tendencies are very much present on the surface, so this wasn't an earth-shattering experience for me.]

 

This step is not difficult, so don't over-think it. Take the beginning (or is it the end? Crap, there I go, over-thinking it...) of your yarn and tie it around the wreath, leaving a bit of extra yarn. A tail, if you must. 

Then, slow and steady, just weave your ball of yarn in and out, pulling tight with each turn.

 

This is halfway through the wrapping process. See how straight the yarn is? HAHA YEAH

Eventually you'll have covered the entire wreath with the yarn and you'll want to go run a mile or something. Go do that now.

But first! Take the ball of yarn and cut it from your wreath, leaving a couple inches. Take the end and tie it to the tail from the knot you tied originally. Snip the excess and voila! You're done!

2) The Flowers

I got these tutorials from a mix of places. I've made the felt flowers before for a different wreath, but the pom pom flowers come from Mrs. Priss, so I want to make sure she gets the credit.

This step is the most fun, in my opinion. The color choices are endless. Make it classic with just one color. Make them green and red for Christmas... or pastels for Easter! Red and pink for Valentine's Day, maybe...?

Or pick a ton of colors like I did and go CRAZY!

Simple Rose

 

Take your CD, or other circular object, and trace around onto the felt. ** The bigger the object, the bigger the rose. Same goes for small roses - use a small object. (Remember before, this step could totally be freeballed if you have the capabilities of making a circle happen out of thin air and aren't ridden with these pesky OCD tendencies....)

 

Cut the circle out of the felt and then, starting anywhere, cut a spiral into the felt. I don't know how I don't have a picture of this. Basically just cut and keep moving the felt in circles until you've made the spiral.

Then take one of the ends of the spiral and start wrapping it around itself. The picture above shows how it started to resemble a rose halfway through. Pretty, right??

 

Once you are done and you have your cute little rose, hot glue the end of the spiral to the bottom.

Simple, right? I told you!

 

Here's a pink one! Awww *squish*

Pom Pom Flower

This one is just as easy, but a little more.....um.. frustrating?

Take a piece of felt in the color you want and cut a 2" or so strip down the side.

Then, glue each end together. Not the middle! No! Just the ends.

 

Like so.

After you've done that, and then realized that cheap $.25/sheet felt will never, ever, ever in a million years fold flat and you've had a major panic attack and totally scrapped the whole project, take a deep breath. And don't get out the iron, that's just dumb. 

Just... relax.

 

Cut little snippets along the folded *ahem* side of the felt. Do not cut through all the way, I'd say go about halfway through. Remember, this is on the folded side, not the open side.

 

Then, just take one end, doesn't matter which one, and roll and tug like you would a sleeping bag. This was the most annoying part for me. If you roll it too tight, you don't get a good pom pom shape. But if you don't roll tight enough, you just get *plop* (I don't know what *plop* is).

 

Pretty flowers! The pink one is bigger because I made a pink flower, then made another pink strip and wrapped it around the first one. A double flower! :)

3. ASSEMBLE!

Lay out the flowers how you want them on your wreath. Stagger your big roses against your pom poms and tuck the small rosettes in as fillers. Do it however you want! The best part about it being a wreath is that you can do anything with it. I like my flowers on the bottom at an angle, but if I wanted to hang the wreath with them at the bottom, it looks just as good!

I took a picture of how it looked and then went to my hot glue station. I hot glued each rose to the wreath and then went around and poked each one to make sure the glue held during the making of each rose, and I glued them together so they wouldn't droop.

 

Here is a bigger picture of how I laid mine out. This took me a while, and I ended up making 2 more flowers because I felt there wasn't enough to make it stand out. 

I love, love, love my final product!

For fun, I used the ones I made today and turned them into a bouquet of roses.

It's another cute idea for Valentine's Day!

Just get some wooden skewers and hot glue them to the center of each rose (before you would have hot glued the bottoms on). Use green paint, or floral tape, to decorate the skewers.. and make them staggering sizes since they are so bulky. Put them in a vase or tie with a ribbon and give to your special someone!

How cute! ;)