DIY Fall Wreath Tutorial

Today I have an awesomely easy fall wreath tutorial for you!  Just in time to beautify your door from now through Thanksgiving.

Here are the materials I used.  I had two colors of burlap ribbon (you could have just one) and I also used pumpkins, but you could use any light weight plastic craft-type fall decoration you choose.

 

So let's get started.

 

 

STEP 1:  Hot glue one edge of the burlap ribbon to the back of your wreath.  Wrap and twist loosely, leaving space in between, all the way around and secure again on the back with hot glue.

 

 

STEP 2:  Repeat the same procedure with your second color of burlap, and each ribbon color that you have chosen. 

 

** Don't worry too much about how it looks as you wrap.  I loosely made sure to cover the wreath with the burlap and then roughly placed the ribbon where I wanted.  Since it is only glued at the beginning and end, there is still a lot of wiggle room to fluff your wreath how you want it to look before the next step and again at the end.

 

 

STEP 3:  Take time to fluff and place your burlap and ribbon more how you want it.  Hot glue your decorations in place.  I placed mine in a cluster at the bottom and off center.  I moved the burlap and ribbon aside slightly to glue the pumpkins directly to the straw wreath to make it more secure.  This step took the longest because I had to hold each one in place while the glue dried.

 

STEP 4:  Use your wire cutters or strong scissors to cut the flowers from the stems, leaving about 2-3 inches of stem.  Weave the stems through the holes in the burlap to secure the flowers in place.  I let the burlap hold them in place, but you could also add a little hot glue here as well. 

 

 

STEP 5:  Fluff your burlap and ribbon one more time until your wreath looks how you want it to look.  Use ribbon or twine at the top so you have a loop to hang it from.  And that's it! 

I think this is my favorite wreath to date.  I also have a summer wreath tutorial that can easily work for fall if you prefer a sleeker look to your wreaths!  Let me know what you think and happy fall everyone!



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Our Armoire Makeover!

You guys!  I'm so excited to finally show you our armoire makeover!

Remember when we scored this handsome fellow for $13 at a local thrift store?!?

Look what he became!  Yesssss!  We are in love.

This was our most time consuming project to date, and during the process, I was thinking I am never doing this again.  But by the time we had it inside, all the frustration was forgotten, and we think it was totally worth it!  I think that kind of means the armoire is our baby.  Yep, I definitely birthed a painted armoire.

Wanna give it a try?  Here's some suggestions of what you'll need.

Because this guy was laminate wood, we had to take some extra steps to make sure it would hold the paint, thus the special primer and throw away set of painting supplies (thank you internet and fellow DIY blogs for this tip!)  The oil based primer would be very difficult to clean, so we chose to buy cheap supplies and toss them instead of trying to clean them.

Some other extra things we had to do:  buy wood for an extra shelf and new backing, and use wood filler on some parts of the trim that had come apart a bit before painting.

Ready to get started?  Here we go!

We started by taking it all apart.  You could tape off the hardware if you prefer, but since we wanted to spruce those up with some spray paint, we went ahead and took everything off.

Next, we sanded it.  Here's another part you could skip (according to the primer label), but again, we decided to be thorough.

And then primed it all.  Twice.

We took a break after this step.  A two week long break.  Whoopsies.  But then we had a fresh start when it was time to paint the darn thing.  We decided on a white inside and greenish outside.  I have fallen madly IN LOVE with the color- Dusty Miller by Glidden.  It goes perfectly with our basement walls, which are a lighter greenish gray color. 

The hardware spraying contraption was all Andy, of course.  What a smarty.

After letting it all dry for a day, we Andy put it back together and we filled it up with all our junk nicely organized office supplies!

It fits perfectly in our basement, holds everything we need it to hold, and is a nice light piece of furniture in the midst of all the other dark wood we have in there.  Just ignore that top shelf that we still need to paint...

I LOVE being able to have all the cluttery stuff put away and hidden.  And those canvas bins in there?  Another thrift store find!  I think they were $2 each!  Amazing.

I think this whole project was completed for well under $100, which is an awesome price for a big armoire!  I mean those can break the bank if you buy one new.  Even other ones we saw at the thrift score cost $200.

So, what do you think?  Was it worth the hours and hours of work?  Has anyone else completed some furniture makeovers recently?

Happy weekend, everyone!

Linking up to:
Becoming Martha
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Simply Designing 
Homemaker on a Dime 
The Dedicated House

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DIY scallop paint sample canvas wall art

This wall art is another great one for those extra paint samples you have lying around!

Here's all you need.  I used my cricut machine to cut the circles just because it was easier for me.  But you could also easily trace a circles and cut them out, or use another circle cutter that you may have for scrapbooking.

First I spray painted my canvas (no pictures for this step, but I did several light coats like always).  If you want clean white edges, tape them off during this step!

While the paint is drying, you can cut out your circles.  I cut as many as I could with the samples we had left over from painting some rooms in our house when we first moved.

Next, you need to decide on your arrangement.  I spent a while playing until I had one I loved.  Okay, let's be honest... I had my circles cut for about 2 weeks before I finally decided how I wanted the layout.  But that's just me... I'm particular sometimes.  This was one of those times.   

Once I had my arrangement, I headed out to the garage to spray glue it all together.

Then I came back inside to trim the parts that went off the edge, and put a layer of mod podge on top just to give it a nice shine all over.  You can skip that step.  Actually, I forgot to include it in the supplies... whoopsies.

And there you have it!

Here are all my recent canvas wall art projects.  We're planning to hang them together as part of our basement project that's in the works.

In case you missed these projects...
DIY chevron wall art
DIY quote canvas

Fun projects for the holiday weekend, right?  Hope you have a good one!  

Linking up to:
Simply Designing
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Chase the Star
AKA Design
Homemaker on a Dime


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DIY Quote Canvas

You're probably getting the feeling that I like making wall art.  If so, then you're right :)  I also love sharing it with you so that you can try it yourself and make it fit your family!  Here's my easiest wall art yet, and the best part is that you can change it up any way you want.

I originally saw an idea like this from pinterest last winter, and we made some little canvases with Christmas tree stickers and little stars and created winter scenes.  I can't find that pin right now, I apologize.  But if you search something like "paint and sticker canvas" you'll probably find some other great ideas.

The quote I chose is from my hilarious husband, Andy!  I wanted to make a surprise for him so bad, and the original quote I wanted to use (Charlie's hit song from LOST "You all everybody," read more here if you don't know what I'm talking about and want to know... it's pretty funny I think) wouldn't fit on the canvas, so I had to regroup.  I also didn't have enough Ys in my letter package.

The story behind this quote is that Andy has a very funny sarcastic sense of humor.  MOST of the time, you'll find me cracking up at everything he says, but every once in a while, either a joke falls flat or I'm not sure if he's joking or not.  That's when I give him the look, and he says "That was a joke, you know?  Jokes are funny?"

Cue my laughter.

His other line is "The best jokes are the ones you have to explain."  But I didn't have enough letters for that either.

Anyways, please choose a quote that is meaningful/ funny for you and your family!  It's so easy, so let's get started!

First, I coated my canvas with some nice bright white spray paint.  I think this step helps the tape and sticker lines turn out crisper.  Crispier?  Nice and crispy.  What does that remind me of?  McDonald's fries or something?  (Side note:  I just googled the word "crispier" and was given the definition "a pleasingly firm, dry and brittle surface" and the example phrase, "crispy fried bacon."  Ha... that's funny to me for some reason.)

Okay, back to the canvas.  The next step is to stick on your letters.  I wanted mine straight, so I marked a faint line with a pencil and ruler, making sure to stick my letters above the line so it would disappear when I spray painted over it.

If you want stripes or another pattern, tape that off now too.  Now is also when you should tape off the sides, if you want them to remain white.  Or you can make the stripes continue over the edge- it just makes the spray painting part slightly more tedious to make sure you get all around.  I actually forgot this step and ended up going back later and covering the whole front to repaint the sides white. 

I painted several light, even coats and then let it dry before peeling off the tape and stickers.

Here's where you can see one of my mistakes (see the next photo)- I bought felt stickers.  Some of the fuzzies got plastered down to the canvas when spraying, and those parts remained fuzzy white.  I didn't like that.  Cue my crazy perfectionist attempts to touch up the letters with a tooth pick.  I also had a chunk of semi-dry purple paint fall off onto the white stripe and make an ugly purple spot, so I touched that up with white paint and a Q tip.

Actually, touching up wasn't a big deal, and I'm glad I spent the time doing it.  No, it's still not perfect if you inspect it close up, but it looks great from a few steps back. 

But I hope I'm saving you the trouble- don't buy felt letters!  There are lots of other kinds that will work.  Those thick foam ones might be nice because they're smooth but can be gripped easily when pulling them off.
 

And you're done!  Easy, right?  Especially if it all comes out crisp and clean the first time.

Has anyone else tried the old tape and sticker spray paint canvas trick?  I LOVE it!  Please leave a comment with a link to your project if you've done it before, or if you decide to try it!

Linking up here:
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
AKA Design
Chase the Star 
Simply Designing 
Homemaker on a Dime


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DIY Foam Board Wall Art

I want to show you guys how to do this pretty simple, pretty inexpensive, and just plain pretty DIY wall art!

I saw this once on HGTV I think, when they needed some art to fill up a wall before the open house.  When we bought our house, I gave it a try and it turned out great!  This bad boy is hanging above our guest room bed (it's about the same width as a queen mattress).  It's a great way to fill up a large space. 

Here's what you need.  You could substitute spray glue for the mod podge (I've used both), and probably some other glue instead of the hot glue.  Whatever suits your fancy.  But this is what worked for me.

Start by cutting your foam board.  I decided to first cut four large squares, each 12x12 inches to fit a full piece of scrapbook paper.  Then I used the remainder of one piece of foam board and cut three smaller squares and two rectangles.

Tips I have for cutting foam board, if you've never done it before, are to make sure your blade is sharp and to make two cuts- one to cut through the top and the second to cut through the bottom.  I think it cuts cleaner that way.  I used a big piece of thick particle board to cut on top of, because of course the knife will cut all the way through- so please don't ruin your floors or cut yourself!  My husband would add: "Always cut away from your body." 

Once the pieces were ready, I tried some different layouts until I was satisfied with how it looked. 

Next, I laid the paper over the boards to see which patterns and colors I liked together.  Then I cut the paper to fit the board, and attached them together with mod podge.  Here's where you can use spray glue instead, or whatever you prefer.

I was glad I took pictures along the way, because I used the camera to check back and see my layout!  Everything got all mixed up when I was modging and podging, so I was thankful to have a guide.  I let the pieces dry and then got them all set up to hot glue together.  Then I hot glued and that was it! 

Here's the final product, ready for hanging.  I think he's going to live in the basement above our couch.  We're brightening up the kinda dark basement with some new paint this weekend (yesssss), so I'll have to wait to hang it up for a few days.  I think it'll be be-yoo-tee-ful, so I'm excited to see it up on the wall!

 

The total cost for this project was only about five dollars!  The foam board was on sale (two for $2.99 I think) and the paper was on sale (25 cents each) too.  Everything else I already had. 

The total time spent was probably around an hour, maybe even less. 

So what do you think?  Does anyone else get some great ideas by watching HGTV?  I'm so glad I caught whatever episode this was on, because I love the way this project turned out!

Linking up to:

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

AKA Design

WhipperBerry

Simply Designing

Homemaker on a Dime

Destination: Craft 

The Dedicated House

 

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Thrift Store Find turned Guest Room Decor

Yesterday, after seeing this awesome project, and also table top decor like this one,

I headed to Goodwill to search for glass items. 

Here's what I came home with.

I paid just under $4 for these guys.  Then I picked up a sprig of flowers at Michaels for $1.

And used some wire cutters to cut off little branches to be used in each vase.

Next up is to find an old tray to set them all on. 

And probably add pretty scrapbook paper to the bottom of it. 

Simple, and inexpensive.  What do you think?

Linking up to:

My parents are coming to visit this weekend!  LOVE!

 

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DIY Tissue Paper Wall Art

Want a project that takes very few supplies and not a lot of moolah?  Try this tissue paper wall art!

Here's all you need.

I picked my tissue paper up at Party City for about $1 each.  The decorative one was around $2.  I chose yellow and gray because those are the colors of my sister's wedding next summer, so if she likes the way this turned out, she can use it at the reception. 

The steps for this project are really easy.  First, you need to cut out squares from the tissue paper.  Mine varied in size from about 1 inch to 2 inches square.  You can see I kept the paper folded over and cut strips first, then squares.  That really helped to save time. 

Once I had cut squares out of one piece of tissue paper per color, I started putting them on the canvas with mod podge.  This step is also called "mod podge your face off." 

(Sidenote:  I have always called this "modge podge" but I recently looked at the bottle and it's actually called "mod podge."  Whoa.  This blew my mind.  How long have I been saying this wrong?) 

Sometimes, less is more. With this project, I found that more is more. The more I layered, the better it looked. You can do any pattern you want, but I wanted to group my colors a little bit. 

The last step was to line the edges with the decorative paper.  I chose a wedding-y pattern just in case it shows up at the reception somewhere. 

Total cost of this project?  Less than $10 with coupons and sales.

Total time spent?  Probably an hour or so, along with some wait-time in between mod podge coats.

My verdict? I like it, but I don't love it. I won't be offended in the least if my sister doesn't like it. I think what I don't like is the gray- it's too dark for the yellow. The gray was also technically silver, so it was kind of metallic, which made the blending not as pretty.

I would love to try this again with different colors! I have a package of pastels (light pink, light yellow, light purple, light blue), which I think would look great together for some nursery art, but since I don't need any nursery art yet (sorry, mom), I didn't use those colors. Maybe I'll try it for my next friend who has a little babe :)

If you DO have kids, I think this would be a fun project to do with them!  You parents know better than me, but I would guess that depending on their ages, they could go from just helping place the squares, to doing it all themselves.  And how cute would it be if you cut out letters and put his/her name on top? 

If you try it, let me know!  I would love to see your versions- especially ones with a better color scheme than mine!

Linking up at:
Someday Crafts
Beyond the Picket Fence
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
AKA Design
Simply Designing
Homemaker on a Dime
The Dedicated House
My 1929 Charmer



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