DIY Summer Paper Wreath

I’m on a real paper crafting kick as of late. Working with paper is cheap and easy and there are so many beautiful things you can create. And between Google and Pinterest, I’m never short on inspiration. I bought this paper pad on clearance from Michaels for only $5 and knew right away that the colours and patterns would lend themselves very well to a cheerful wreath. I used this wreath as a jumping off point and came up with a pretty wreath that looks like it took a lot of effort but was really super easy to make.

Want to make your own? You’ll need:

• 6 sheets of double sided 12x12 scrapbook paper (you can use single sided but you’ll end up with 6 patterns instead of 12)
• 18 inch wreath form (mine was straw but foam would work just as well)
• Hot glue
• Straight pins
• Ribbon

Start by wrapping your wreath form with ribbon. You’ll only be covering the front of the wreath with paper and the ribbon will hide the sides of the wreath form. Leave yourself long enough tails that you can tie them into a bow for hanging once the wreath is finished. If you’re ok with your straw or foam showing you can skip this step or you could paint the wreath form.

Next cut your paper into strips that are 2 inches wide by 4 inches long. Each sheet should yield 18 strips so you’ll have a total of 108 strips. Take each strip and fold it in half (but don’t crease it) and secure the ends with hot glue. What you’re trying to create are flat-ish 2x2 paper loops like the ones below. If you’re using double sided paper make sure to fold half of each page in the opposite direction so all your patterns will show.

 

Once the glue is dry all you have to do is pin the loops to your covered wreath form with straight pins. You could use hot glue for this step but, if you’re like me, you’ll end up wanting to rearrange a bit as you go and you won’t have that option if you use glue. My basic pattern was to alternate rows of three and then two loops, fanning them out to cover the wreath form and to hide the pins. I didn’t have a pattern for using my papers, I just tried not to put the same ones too close together.

Once you’ve got all your loops in place just tie the tails of your ribbon into a bow and you’re done! Gluing and pinning all the paper loops takes a bit of patience but it’s pretty mindless work so you can get lots of thinking done ;) This wreath is definitely not weather proof so if your front door gets exposed to rain then you’ll have to hang this inside. Mine has actually found a home in our kitchen and it makes me smile every time I pass it!

Clothespin Wreath

Recently while hunting through the crafting supplies clearance at Walmart (seriously, I find the best stuff there!) I came across the Berry Sweet paper pad from K&Company. With all its pretty and bright summer colours I just couldn’t pass it up and, having recently seen a clothespin wreath on Pinterest I knew exactly what I’d use it for. Our front door was still sporting my Spring Wreath and it is now decidedly summer so I got to work and created my own Clothespin Wreath.

While a bit time consuming, this project was actually pretty easy. All you really need is a wreath form (I used a metal one that I happened to have in my stash but you could just as easily cut a circle from a cardboard box), clothespins, paper and mod podge. The ribbon for hanging and the letters strung in the centre of my wreath are completely optional.

I started by cutting my paper into little strips the same size as the fronts of my clothespins and then using mod podge to both glue the paper on and then weatherproof it. I used 10 different papers and decoupaged 100 clothespins. All told it took about 2 hours but I did it while watching tv so it didn’t seem too bad.

 

Once the mod podge was dry – I left it overnight - I started clipping my clothespins onto my wreath form. I just repeated the same pattern 9 times around the wreath and ended up using 90 clothespins for my 18 inch wreath. I used my Silhouette to cut scalloped circles and letters to spell out “Welcome Summer”. Then I used mod podge to attach the letters to the circles and strung everything on some baker’s twine. The last step was tying some pink ribbon on to the top of the form and the wreath was ready to hang!

I ended up with 10 leftover clothespins and decided to put them to use as well. Those of you who follow Sugar and Shimmer on Facebook will have already seen that I turned them into handy dandy fridge magnets. I hot glued magnets to the back and then glued stickers on to the front.

I love how welcoming the wreath looks on our front door – it makes me smile every time I pull in the driveway!

 

P.S. Linking up to:

Someday Crafts

Free Pretty Things for You

Tatertots & Jello

Caramel Nut Pie

It is hot outside! So hot that we haven't turned our oven on in weeks - everything gets cooked out on the grill. And since we now have a Traeger Grill I can bake outside too as it uses wood pellets and provides even temperatures across the cooking surface. And before you start wondering, no I'm not being paid by Traeger to endorse their product, we just genuinely love our grill. Recently I made a Caramel Nut Pie. The following directions are for use on a Traeger but I'm sure you could adapt them for use in a regular oven as well. It would be worth the effort as this pie is delicious!

Ingredients:
1 prepared pie crust
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 tsp. flour
3/4 tsp. vinegar
3 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup walnut halves

Directions:
Arrange pie crust in heat resistant pie plate; set aside. Combine all of your ingredients except the walnuts in a mixing bowl; beat well until blended. Spread walnuts evenly over bottom of pie crust; pour sugar mixture over nuts.

Start your grill on smoke with lid open until fire is established (about 5 minutes) allow grill to pre-heat for 10 minutes; switch setting to High (450 degrees on thermostat). Place pie in centre of grill; close lid and cook 10 minutes. Switch setting to Medium (300 degrees on thermostat), cover and cook 30 minutes or until pie is set. Remove from grill and cool.

This pie tastes like a giant butter tart. I served it with whipped cream and fresh strawberries from our garden and it was so good that it didn't last the weekend! And it was so simple to make that I already had all of the ingredients in the house. Definitely give this one a try - and even better if you make it outside!

Magnetic Calendar - July

Well I've been completely MIA for a while with a week of vacation and then family obligations and somehow July arrived! I can hardly believe that it's already July 7 - I didn't get a chance to wish my fellow Canadians a happy Canada Day or my American friends a happy Independence Day. I'll assume you had a great one all the same :)
Now that we're in a new month it's time for another magnetic calendar!

This month was all about summer, sunshine and the beach! Here are some close ups so you can see some of the stickers and other elements I used. I think my favourite is the little pitcher of lemonade!

For more information about how I made my calendars or to see the months I've completed so far just click here. And if you decide to make your own please be sure to comment here so I can check it out!

Something for Nothing - Summer Printables

The sun is shining, the temperature is climbing and blogland is full of fantastic free summer printables! I've rounded up a few of my recent favourites here.

Love this print from The Arial Rose Blog. It might just end up framed in my living room!

Via

For those of you with kids, how cute is this summer reading kit from Creative Mamma? I devoured books as a kid (still do) and would have loved keeping track of them here (still might!).

Via

You can't have a round-up of printables these days without some subway art - it's everywhere! My favourite is this multi-coloured collection from Simple Crafter.

Via

Last, but certainly not least, are these adorable mini notepapers from Trillustrations. Be sure to visit this site for tons of cute free printables!

Via

 I'm really in the mood for summer now - happily it's just around the corner!