Pinterest Project: Duct Tape Wreath

I saw this on pinterest, and I immediately knew I could do this...and would since it involved animal print.

Inpiration pin:

Source: itsybitsypaperblog.com via Sheila on Pinterest

I couldn't for the life of me find a styrofoam wreath that had the rounded edges. I remembered this pin (below)about using a pool noodle, found one for $2 at Target, and voila! Instant wreath.

Source: mytwobutterflies.blogspot.com via Tatum on Pinterest

I did cut the noodle down so it wouldn't be such a big circle. It also may be a little more oval, but if you work with it, it will become a circle in seconds.

Materials:
Wreath
Duct tape
Flower or other decoration
Scissors

Finished project:



I will probably go back to get a larger flower, because I think this one is just too small. This is one that has a pin and a clip on the back (for hair or clothes or whatever), and just isn't large enough for this size wreath.

I'm also going to use something other than that wreath hanger. It's just not working either. Any ideas what I can use?

Price breakdown:

Wreath Pool noodle: $1.99

Duct tape: $3.99

Red flower pin: $1.99

Total: $7.97

Not bad, right?

What do you think of my duct tape wreath?

What's been going on?

Nate and I at the Chocolate Fantasy Ball

Wine/Craft Night with HollyJ

The product of wine/craft night!

Sweet little things like this make me certain I'm marrying my soulmate...I found this on our front steps a couple weeks ago. it definitely made my heart smile!

My new pretty! I love leopard :)

I've been crossing things off my wedding to-do list..this was one of them. Out family Bible that will be used during the ceremony, and cherished for many years to come

Almost every detail of our wedding will be somewhat DIY. These are the tags for our wishing tree, mom and I stained them with tea, then hand stamped them.

They will have twine at the top to attach them to the Wishing tree :)

I feel like I haven't sat down and actually written a blog post in the longest time, and to be quite honest I miss it. I wish I had the time to be a more frequent blogger, and after this wedding it is something I will definitely try to make a part of my routine will do. Everyday I catch up on my favorite blogs, and enjoy reading about what you ladies have going on :) 

My 1 year blogging anniversary is just around the corner, and I want to do a little giveaway to celebrate! I will also be crossing a couple things off my 30 before 30 list in the next month, so what better way to celebrate than to give away something fabulous to my readers!

Stay tuned for that!

I hope you're all doing wonderful! Have a great rest of the week :)

Pinterest Project: Ornaments

This was obviously a crafting weekend!  I tried another pinterest find: mod podge ornaments.

Inspiration:

Source: Uploaded by user via Melanie on Pinterest

I had seen these ornaments on Pinterest, and knew I had to try them. I love all things animal print, and this looked so easy and cute! I had put some green ornaments on my tree, but  you couldn't see them. They blended in, and when I mentioned it, Mom stated she hadn't even noticed there were green ornaments. Instead of buying some clear ornaments, I just used these green, since I wasn't happy with them.

Final Product:

Materials:
- Set of clear ornaments (I used some I already had.)
-Mod Podge
-Foam paint brush
-Tissue paper

Instructions:
1. I took off the top hook, so I could get as close to the top as possible.
2. Paint mod podge onto ornament.
3. Cut strips of tissue paper and put onto mod podge.
4.  Put a layer of mod podge onto paper after each strip is applied. The edges won't lay flat, since the ornament is rounded, so this helps to keep things smooth as you go.
5. Let dry 2-3 hours.
6. Put hooks back on and hand on tree!

Last thoughts: I'm not sure how they got the paper to look so seamless on the ornament, but I absolutely love these on my tree!

Pinterest Project: Coasters

Hey, gals! I've gone to pinterest once again for this craft inspiration.

I've been looking for coasters for about a year. I don't know what the deal is, but I just can't find any that I like that doesn't cost an outrageous amount and that matches my living room. I found this idea on Pinterest, and had to try  it. 

Inspiration:

Source: lightrefreshmentsserved.com via Megan on Pinterest

Final Product:

What you need:
-coasters- about .44 cents each
-scrapbook paper- .59 cents (with half off)
-Mod Podge- $4.99 a bottle
-brushes
-felt pads
-clear acrylic spray

Instructions:
1. Brush mod podge onto coaster.
2. Cut scrapbook paper to just under the coaster (you don't want the paper hanging over the edge), and lay on top of coaster.
3. Spray a coat of the clear protector ontop of dried coasters. This protects from water, etc.
4. Apply felt to bottom of the coasters so they won't scratch your furniture.
3. Apply 3 coats of mod podge to coaster. (Let each layer dry before applying the next layer.)

I love the houndstooth! That's my favorite part of the coaster. They turned out really well, and I'm so excited. Now, I just need to find a small basket to keep these in when not in use!

What do you think?

Pinterest Project: Memo boards

I love pinning some DIYs on Pinterest, but the real challenge is to actually do them. Yes, it's cool. Yes, it saves money. But I'm not very creative, and I always feel like an idiot when it turns out bad.

I was in Hobby Lobby one day, and decided I was going to make something for my sister and brother in law for their new house (either to give as a housewarming or Christmas gift...yet to be determined). I thought back to pinterest, and had the perfect idea in mind.

Here's my inspiration:

Source: makeandtakes.com via Melanie on Pinterest

Source: fey-next2heaven.blogspot.com via Melanie on Pinterest

I wanted to do a memo type board that they could use for whatever....not just recipes, or menus, or whatever.  So here is what I came up with...

My version:

What you need:
-8x10 frame- These were much cheaper than the 12x12 scrapbook frames. I got these when they were 50% off. I just picked frames (and paper) that would go with their decor.
-8.5x11 scrapbook paper- I loved that there were so many choices of paper designs. The first one is a damask print and the second looks just like burlap. These were about .25 cents each...if that.
-Pack of stickers from the scrapbook section. About $4.
-2 pack of dry erase markers $1.99

I just put the stickers on the scrapbook paper, inserted the paper into the frame, cut off the extra, and bought a small dry-erase marker for each.

What I love: This was super easy, cheap, and I think they will love it. I love that it is personalized, and that I made it! I also love that you can completely change the look for the holidays or a room re-do simply by changing the paper in it. Easy Peasy!

The long story of a wreath

I blog stalk. It's what blog readers do, right?

So one day, I came across a blogger that makes wreaths. Super cute wreaths. Since sometimes I get a wild hair to be crafty, I wanted to make a wreath to support my most favoritist team ever...the UK Wildcats. If there is a UK game on, I'm watching it and I love all things UK.

So I headed to Hobby Lobby one Saturday and bought a grapevine wreath, two spools of wired ribbon and some letters and paint.

Gots to the house, painted my lettes, and tried making a big poofy bow. Then I failed. The ribbon just wasn't big enough and wire wasn't strong enough to make the bow I needed. So later that week, I went to Walmart where I bought some more ribbon and tried making another bow. I failed. The bow just wasn't big enough and looked blah.

So I made my weekly trip to Hobby Lobby again, and finally decided on some deco mesh to make the bow. It was perfect! Score!!!!

I stuck with one color for the bows, and it clashed with one set of letters, so I painted the letters all the same color, super glued them onto the wreath. This resulted in a minor burn on the tip of my finger which went numb. I couldn't use it for a few hours, but all is well now.

After I finished the product, I of course, uploaded it to facebook. I'm please with the amount of "likes" it received.....that's sure to make my little crafty self feel good about my little project. It's not like the wreath that I used for inspiration, but I think it will do.

What do you think?

It's ok, we're with the band!

Hey y'all the weekend is winding down, and Monday is just around the corner but I thought I would take a few minutes to pop in, say hello, and announce a giveaway for my fabulous readers, YOU! 
This past week was good, my friend Kyndall and I went to a concert on Wednesday for this great group Carter's Chord, if you don't know them check them out, they are really awesome! 

They are just as good live as they are on your radio, which is rare! We had a great time, there wasn't a great turnout; the band is fairly new, and it was a Wednesday night so after the concert Kyn and I got the meet the girls and get autographs, they were super nice! Afterwards we went to another club, lets just say about 5 too many vodka and redbulls and you hate yourself on Thursday morning! 

Seriously, the unedited version of this pic is ridiculous! This was 2am (ish) Thursday morning! Hot.Ass.Mess!

Nate and I had a relaxing weekend, didn't really do anything super exciting, last night he went fishing with the guys so Hannah (Hey Hannah, I know you're reading this ;)...Hahah)..., Darrah, and I went shopping, then home for craft night. On my 30 before 30 list I said I want to start painting, not pieces of art, just cutesy stuff, and by no means am I great at it but I am definitely going to keep working on it!

I made this for Hannah, It turned out really cute! I was stressin', I don't do well under pressure! Haha

Go Hogs! I got this idea from Pinterest, I love the way it turned out.

And last, but not least...I promised when I reached 50 followers I would host a little giveaway, and now that I'm nearing 60 I guess I better follow through! I was doing some shopping Friday and the beauty supply had OPI's new fall collection. I picked up a couple colors, then noticed they had a mini collection with 4 gorgeous colors...so....I snagged one for one lucky reader! I was also in Sephora and they had these adorable makeup bags, so I picked up some for Christmas presents...and...one for the same lucky reader! So here's the deal...you'll get this...

Who knows, there may even be some surprises packed in that cute little bag ;)

So...here's the scoop on how to enter...I was going to do this trivia style...but I think I'm going to stick with an easier entry method...I'm not the best at keeping up with Twitter, so all you have to do is follow my blog! Optional: Mention this giveaway in a blog post and get 5 additional entries! So comment below to enter, 1 comment to let me know you're a follower, and another if you mention it in a blog post! I'll close the giveaway on Wednesday evening (6 pm central time) and announce the winner on Thursday!
You guys are the best, I never imagined that blogging would be so important to me! I have "met" some really amazing girls and I look forward to continuing this journey, and documenting all the important parts of my life to share with you all!

I hope y'all had a great weekend! I'll talk to y'all soon!

Oh, how Pinteresting!

Since I'm basically obsessed with Pinterest, I thought this link up would be  perfect.

Today, I'm featuring some pins on my DIY board.



Perfect for summer!



Upside down table as a dog bed!

Color in the states you've visited.

Cards you want to keep.

Tape and paint

Use a bleach pen

Made from a Dawn handsoap bottle

Scrabble letters as an ornament

Wanna follow me on pinterest? Click here!
What are you pinning?

Gettin' crafty for the wine.

One of my close friends is getting married in October, and she has bridal get togethers often. Our latest was a wine tasting to see what wines we like for the reception. My fascination with blog reading and pinterest has introduced me to some DIY painted wine glasses/pimp cups. So I did what any crafter wannabe would do, and I decided to paint some wine glasses for the bridal party. Another friend (and maid of honor) is super crafty and clever, so I got her help to create our awesome glasses.

Whitney working her crafty magic.

First, we came up with a plan. How did we want them to look? We googled tons of photos for ideas, and came up with a plan. Second, we bought the supplies: plain wine glasses, paint pens, crystal rhinestones, and coordinating ribbon. Then, we looked for font ideas for the initials. (This is where Whitney's abilities were put to use!)

Fourth, we came up with nicknames for the bases of the glasses. This was the fun part!

Next, we decorated the glasses with designs. Each person got their own design.

Then we (as in Whitney) cleaned everything up, as in fixing my shaky handed mess on the glasses!

We decided to bake the glasses so the paint would set. The paint could be chipped off or rubbed off before, and I wasn't sure it would last long after a night of drinking testing and then washing. The next morning, after the glasses had all night to cool, I took them out of the oven. Later, we stuck on the rhinestones and tied some coordinating ribbon (which also goes along with the wedding colors) onto the stem.

I have to admit, we were pretty impressed with our project. What do you think?

Coffee Filter Wreath

Well. Let me preface by saying that I am not a crafty one. I enjoy them, but usually end up annoyed, bored, or tired of doing whatever it is I'm doing. After seeing another blogger (I would link to their post, but I can't for the life of me remember who did it...) do this, I was temtped. I wanted a wreath for my front door, but WILL NOT spend $50 bucks for a wreath. I just won't do it. So I bought some supplies, and here is the process and final product. Don't judge the product too harshly; it was my first attempt! :/

[Sorry about the photos and cluttered background. I did this at work. :)]

The supplies

Wreath--$7.99

Ribbon--$1.98

Pins--$2.99

Filters--$1.97

Total spent: $14.93

I used brown ribbon to hang it. I pinned the ribbon to the back with lots of pins. I didn't want it to come off! I would have used hot glue if I had it with me.

I folded the filter in half, then half again.

Then I put three filters on each pin.

After I pinned the filter onto the wreath, I put another pin in to hold them on.

I started with the outside, then the middle, then the inside of the wreath.

I middle was kind of lacking something, so I turned it over and added another round of filters.

You could STILL see some green, depending on how you were standing and the angle, so I added the rest of the ribbon to the edges. (Not pretty from the back, but from the front, you only catch glimpses.)

I left the back plain, so it would hang flat against the door.

And here is the final product  (tested on a wall)....

And here it is on my front door.

It's not like the pictures I have seen online, and I definitely see things that I wish were different, or other ways I should have done it. But for my very first wreath for a non-crafty gal, it's not too bad, right?