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!

 

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My Baby's Room - Part I

In honour of my first day of maternity leave I thought I would share some pictures of the baby's room. I'm calling this post Part I since we still have to hang his art (from the wonderful Etsy seller Mateo & Tobias) and because there are some additional DIY projects that haven't made their way into the room yet so I will definitely have to follow up with a second post. I've already shared these pictures on my personal Facebook page so I apologize to all my friends who are also readers who aren't getting anything new out of me today!

This is the view from the doorway. It's not a large space so we kept furniture to a minimum. There is a dresser but it's just around the corner to the right - you can just see the end of it in this picture. The moses basket you see beside the crib has moved into our bedroom and we now have a wicker toy chest there - I'll be sure to include a picture of that in the next post.

I think one of my favourite things in the room is the jam cupboard in the picture above. It belonged to my Grandad who passed away last summer and I knew I wanted to make it a part of the baby's room. My mom had given me a set of woodland wall decals that I applied all over the cupboard which I think made it really cute and appropriate for a baby's room. The best part is that as my son grows we can just peel off the decals and he can continue to use the cupboard.

Hope you liked the peek into my little one's room. He's due to arrive in just two weeks so we'll be putting the finishing touches on the room soon and I'll be back to post Part II!

DIY Baby Closet Dividers

Now that the holidays are over I can start focusing on projects for the baby's room. Which is good since my son is set to arrive in about 7 weeks! Yesterday I organized all his clothing and, since he already has so much in so many different sizes, I decided his closet needed some dividers. There are a ton of cute ones for sale on Etsy but I was pretty sure I could make them myself on the super cheap and I was right!

I used this tutorial from Fresh Crush as my inspiration and then added some touches of my own. I started by cutting oval shapes out of a gift box and then covering them with scrapbooking paper (in the same oval shape) on both sides. Next I traced a circle on each (I used the cap from a carton of half and half but you can use anything as long as it's bigger than the bar you'll be hanging the tags on) and cut them out by cutting into them on an angle. This angle cut is what will allows them to slip them over the bar in the closet.

Next I used my Silhouette to cut out the numbers for each divider as well as little hearts. I glued those on and then, as a finishing touch, added cute little stickers to each divider.

This project only took me about an hour and a half, used all materials I already had on hand, and I'm so pleased with the results. Even my husband thought they were pretty cute and it's not easy to get him enthused about closet organization ;). The best part is that I think these will really come in handy once baby has arrived. And to save you from wondering, I'm left-handed and I hang all my clothes up backwards - if you're going to try these yourself make sure consider which way your clothes will hang when labelling your dividers!



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Winter Wreath Inspiration

I've written before that we have a "no Christmas decorations until December" rule in our house - my husband's idea, I assure you! I don't mind waiting until December 1 but I do find that the house looks a little bare during November once I've taken all the fall decorations down so I've been working on a pretty winter wreath to dress up our front door. I had hoped to have it completed to share with you today but I got sidetracked painting the baby's dresser yesterday and ran out of time. Instead I bring you some winter wreath inspiration courtesy of Pinterest.

1. Yarn Ball Wreath 2. Wrapped Winter Wreath 3. Red & White Wreath
4. Snowflake Wreath 5. Pine Cone Wreath 6. Sweet Gum Wreath

Aren't they pretty? The effort to make a winter wreath is well worth it as you can use it leading up to the Christmas season and then again during January and into February before you put up your cute Valentine's Day wreath. I'm crossing my fingers that mine will be finished this week!

DIY Planters

Here in Canada the weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer and the flowers are in full bloom.  We have a flower garden in our front yard and a vegetable garden out back but we've got nothing like these awesome DIY planters!

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Love that these are made with such ordinary objects that you probably have the materials to make one of your own tomorrow. Happy weekend, everyone!

Gorgeous Yarn Wreaths

If you're a regular reader then you know I'm into wreaths. I've shared mine here, here, here and here. But I have to say that nothing I've ever made comes close to the beautiful creations of Agnes Blum of Knock Knocking. Each of her yarn wrapped wreaths are so original and unique and they make me want to replace the one on my front door as soon as possible! Just take a look at a sampling of some of Agnes' work...

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You can buy these lovely creations on Knock Knocking's Esty shop or check out Agnes' blog for inspiration and even a tutorial so you can try your hand at your own unique wreath. I can't wait to make my next one!

DIY Ribbon Message Board

If cork is not your thing or you want a message board that matches your space then this simple project is for you! It takes very little time, money or effort to make yourself a pretty ribbon message board.

This came together so quickly that I didn't even think about progress pictures so hopefully my explanation will suffice. I started with the back of a picture frame - the board part that has the clips for hanging. Then I covered it with a layer of cotton batting underneath pink fabric and stapled that in place. The board is 24 inches long so I marked 6 inch intervals along the back and then wrapped pink ribbon around the board on a diagonal, hitting the 6 inch marks. I pinned the ribbon down and then want back the other way to make the diamond pattern. Again, I finished the ribbon by pinning it to the back of the board.

Next I used my Silhouette to cut little flowers in two different colours and then layered them on top of each other. I just used regular straight pins to attach them to the board and create "joints" so that my messages wouldn't just slide to the bottom.

And that's it! Seriously, this could not be easier and it's so much nicer than a cork board with pushpins. And because I used the back of a picture frame it will be super easy to hang up. I'm putting it up in the room with my craft supplies so it can be my inspiration board.

DIY Spring Wreath

I'm so excited to show you the newest addition to my front door - my bright and sunny, flower covered, super pretty Spring Wreath!

I'll admit that this project was a bit time consuming but I'm so happy with the final result. I started with an old straw wreath that my mom didn't want anymore and I covered it with plastic wrap so the straw wouldn't poke through. Then I wrapped it with fluffy white yarn.

Next I made what felt like a million flowers. There are three types. The fabric rosettes were made using this tutorial from NatSprat. The felt flowers were made using this tutorial from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar.

Last I made my little banner using triangles of fabric, letters that I cut out with my Silhouette and some pink ribbon. I just mod podged it all together in an attempt at weather proofing - we'll see if it works!

The last step involved a lot of hot glue to put it all together and tying on a ribbon and it was done! The best part is that I made it on the super cheap. The wreath was free, the yarn was about $3, the scraps of fabric for the rosettes and banner were free (also from my mom) and I spent $2.50 on sheets of felt. Not bad!

It makes me smile every time I pull in the driveway :)



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Hurry, Spring!

I've been on the run today having special scans of my jaw joints (long story best saved for a forum other than my crafting and baking blog) and didn't really have time for a proper post but wanted to share a little bit of Spring with you in the form of some lovely pink tulips that just begged to be photographed.

I "planted" them in a vase that we picked up at the local dollar store a while back. I knew I would find a good use for it!

I think they're just the right pink to inspire thoughts of Spring. I'm told it's just around the corner.

I love that I can plant the bulbs outside and enjoy these every year that we're in this home.

And I love that they add a little sunshine in my living room.

And while repotting tulips in your kitchen is not a great idea (I am speaking from experience here)...

...beautiful flowers that make you smile when you walk into a room are definitely one of the loveliest ideas I've had a in while.

Are you counting down the days to Spring too?



Upcycled Bottles

I mentioned in a previous post that I was headed to the antiques market to hunt down some old bottles for a project I saw on Martha Stewart's website. As luck would have it, I found quite a few and at really great prices so I busted out the enamel this weekend and gave upcycled bottles a try.

I'm very happy with the results but it wasn't as easy as Martha had me believing. After washing with soap and water and then prepping with the surface conditioner, the instructions said to pour in the enamel and swirl to coat. Sounds simple but the enamel was much thicker than I'd expected and mostly refused to budge from the place it was poured. I ended up having to use a paintbrush to try and spread it around. This proved especially difficult with the shape of the big vase but I managed it - using way too much enamel in the process.

Once I turned the bottles upside down to dry that enamel that didn't want to budge suddenly decided to move and soaked through the layers of paper towel to coat our kitchen counter. Luckily I was checking frequently so it was all wiped up before it had a chance to dry.

All told, I would try this again but with different expectations. It did create some pretty vases and I especially like how the little jar turned sort of green because of the tint of the glass. I wish I had some better photos to share with you but it was nighttime and I couldn't put anything in the bottles because, after more than 48 hours, the enamel is still wet!