It takes me a while to decorate.  I am not one of those super talented people that can shop for 2 days and …. ta da … new room!  It takes me months. I shop everything from antique sales, garage sales, discount stores and more.  Sometimes I am not actually looking for something to buy but for inspiration.  The good news for my family is that the inspiration finally hit me a couple nights ago … and I finished my corkboard wall … mostly.  I am sure I will add something in a couple months but for now … it is done!

Have a great Wednesday!

These are actually the valentine’s that Ava Kate did last year.  They are easy and fun … and can be made with items you likely already have!

You will need …

• card stock …. any color
• scrap fabric
• fabric stiffener or spray starch
• sewing machine & thread
• printer
• circle cutter and/or scissors

Using fabric stiffener, I treated my scrap fabric.  You could use spray starch and iron the fabric as well. I used a shabby floral and a pink polka dot for my fabrics.  The amount of fabric you need depends on the number of valentines you are making … but about the size of an 8.5 x 11″ piece of paper should be enough fabric.

After treating my fabric, I created a simple “Happy Valentine’s Day” word document.   I used a labels template that was already on my computer and then printed it on card stock.  Each “Happy Valentine’s Day” is spaced perfectly and makes cutting your paper easy.

I used a circle cutter to cut my circles out of the fabric.  The circle cutter will only work with fabric that has been stiffened.  If you don’t have a circle cutter, you can always cut circles the old fashioned way:)  Find a couple jars around the house to trace the circles.  A spice jar or sprinkles lid are perfect for this.  You will want 2 different sizes.

My circle sizes were 1.5″  and 1″  … and work perfectly for layering!  I cut the valentines to size and had Ava sign her name to all of them.  Here is what they look like with the fabric circles layered over each other.

A simple straight stitch on the sewing machine completes them …

I love the how the fabric circles give the valentine a little dimension.  You can fold them forward a bit to make them stick out even more …

Attach these to your little one’s favorite candy and you are done!

I have thought about buying vintage striped linen fabric many times … probably more than I should.  I tend to obsess over stuff and that stuff is often out of my price range.  My obsessing often turns into me trying to figure out how to make … without it being too much work!  I was still in the obsessing stage when I came across some linen blend fabric in the perfect color at Ikea.  It was already cut to be a runner which is what I wanted.  In addition to being cut to runner width, it was also hemmed on opposite sides… Huge Time Saver!

It was $3.99 per yard … DONE!  After buying my fabric, I dug around in my craft supplies for what I would need…

• 1″ blue painter’s tape or masking tape
• runner fabric
• fabric paint … I used black fabric screen printing ink by Speedball
• dense short paintbrush for dabbing (not sure if this is a word, but more on that later)
• sewing machine & white thread

The first step is to measure the length needed for your runner.  Once you have measured and cut your runner to your desired length, you will need to iron your hem on both of the unfinished edges …

Once ironed, sew each unfinished edge to create a runner that has 4 hemmed edges.

Next, tape off your fabric.  I used 1 inch painter’s tape.  Lining the tape up with the hemmed edge, I ran tape along the length of the runner.  Allowing for a 1/2 inch separation, I ran another length of tape parallel to the first.  I repeated this step again so that I had 3 strips of tape running parallel with a 1/2 inch separation between each.  Your taped runner should look like this …

After taping, it will be time to dab.  I am not sure what the actual definition of dab is … for me it is an up and down blotting motion.  You shouldn’t be using a brushing stroke to apply the paint.  Get a little paint on your brush.  Have a papertowel or rag handy and dab your first couple times on that.  You don’t want too much paint to end up on your fabric or you will have a sold black line … instead of the faded, antique look.

I hope you can see in the pictures that my black lines aren’t solid and are definitely not even.  The uneven look gives them a more vintage feel.  This is the longest part of the entire project. It’s a lot of dabbing … blotting … whatever you want to call it!

Now for the most satisfying part of the project … pulling off the tape.  You can wait until the paint is dry to pull it off which is probably better.  If you are impatient like me, you can pull the tape off when it is still wet.  Be sure to not smear the paint when removing the tape if it is still wet.

And you are DONE!  I love the way my runner turned out …

I had a little bit of runner fabric left over so I decided to make some placemats …

Happy Crafting!

linking to …

With some lovely inspiration from Dear Lillie and ARMommy, I decided to make a few handmade ornaments.  I only used items I had around the house … hoping to avoid any store trips with my ear infection infested 5 year old.

All you need is…

• card stock in a light/white color …  I used a white linen card stock
• printer
• darker color card stock for the backer
• twine
• scrap fabric
• hot glue gun
• scissors
• hole punch

After printing my images on card stock, I made a couple fabric embelishments to add to the ornaments.

The fabric tassel idea came from ARMommy … so easy and fun!  I used a green jingle bell on my son’s ornament … so it wasn’t “too girly” per his suggestion.

How are you spreading Christmas cheer?

Over the past couple weeks, I have seen lots of amazing DIY wreath on different blogs and on Pinterest.  With all that inspiration, I decided to make my own.  I found a fabulous felt flower tutorial over at I Am Momma Hear Me Roar.  These are fun and easy to make.  30 minutes and 12 flowers later …

Now for the wreath…

I bought a couple wreath forms, white yarn and some twine.  I couldn’t decide if I wanted a white wreath or a twine wreath … so I made both!  I started with the white yarn.  Wrapping the wreath is simple…a little hot glue to start and you are good to go.  You will need to wrap the entire wreath 2 times.  The second time goes faster as you are mostly covering up spots that you missed.  After wrapping for what seemed to be years, I was done.  Every 5 minutes I would put another spot of hot glue.  Wrapping while you are watching TV is a good idea … it is time consuming.  Do your hot glue spots during commercial breaks:)

The twine goes faster … as long as you buy the thick bulky twine.  I started with a thin twine and then switched.  See below for the difference.  Thin twine on the left … thick twine on the right.

With the thicker twine, I wrapped the wreath in about 25 minutes…much faster!

I played around with the flowers using a stick pin to hold the flower in place.  You could also hot glue the flower in place, but I plan on changing out the flowers with the seasons.  Stick pins work great for this!

Here are a few photos of my twine wreath…

And my white yarn wreath with lots of color…

Happy Wreath Making … and Weekend!

p.s. If you are a family member of mine … you may or may not be receiving a wreath as a gift this Christmas:)

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I had good intentions of sharing my completed wreath with you today … it just didn’t happen.  I was feeling slightly under the weather … and maybe a bit lazy!

I did turn this…

Into this …

More details coming soon!

I love the idea of changing out my kids artwork, fun quotes and family pictures.  I have a couple places to hang my kids work in the kitchen but it appears to be overtaking my house.  Then I saw these…

[via Pinterest and this website]

I love them.  Love the idea of using old frames.  I decided to create a whole wall of corkboard frames for our gameroom.

After a digging through a couple closets and visiting a couple thrift stores, I was ready to start laying it out…

It looks a bit ugly laying it out as the frames don’t work together … yet!

A little matte finish ultra white spray paint … they looked much better!  I picked up a couple sheets or corkboard at my local craft store.  I tried cutting them down with a jigsaw first but it tore up the corkboard edges.  I switched to a dry wall saw which cut the corkboard perfectly.  I cut each piece a tiny bit big so I could wedge the corkboard in.

With the help of my handyman (husband), we hung them on the wall…

The before and after …

I added a few photos and prints …

Now to gather some artwork by my kids and big photo of my son … to fill in the rest of the empty spaces!

happy happy print … from Farouche

play nice print … from Modern Frills

linking to …

I am almost done with a project that has been on my To Do List for months!  Here is a sneak peak …

I am finished it up today!

Happy Monday!

After looking for a tablecloth for several weeks and Ava’s birthday party getting closer and closer, I decided to make my own … the day before the party.  Nothing like waiting to the last minute!  I purchased a pre-made white tablecloth from Target.  The key to this was buying a tablecloth that was larger than I needed by about 25%.  The extra 25% is for making your ruffle.

The supplies are simple…tablecloth, thread, scissors, sewing machine …and about 30 minutes!  I am not kidding about the time.  This is a very easy tablecloth that looks fabulous!

The first step is to trim your tablecloth to the actual size you will need to cover your table.  Once you have done this, pin the edges…

and sew a straight hem.  Take your extra leftover piece and cut it into strips.

Figuring out the strips of fabric …

I cut my extra fabric into 2.5″ strips and layered 2 of them on top of each other when I made the ruffle.  The width of the strips will depend on how much fabric you have left over and how big your table is.  You will also need to consider that the strips of fabric will shorten a bit when ruffled.  The amount they shorten will vary based on different sewing machines.  I recommend ruffling a small sample piece to get an idea of how much your fabric strips will shorten when ruffled.  Figuring this out sounds a lot harder than it actually is….don’t be scared!  You can do it.

I should also mention that being the lazy person that I am…I did not do a sample piece.  I just cut everything into strips, layered them and ruffled while saying a short prayer that I had enough:)  I did!

Ruffling the Fabric Strips…

I almost went out to buy a ruffler foot for my sewing machine.  I changed my mind after reading about ruffled streamers on MADE and decided to give this technique a try with fabric…and it worked!  Here’s how….

To make the strips of fabric ruffle, I placed 2 strips of fabric on top of each other.  Setting my machine to the longest stitch (4 on my machine) and the highest tension (9 on my machine), I stitched straight down the center of the 2 strips of fabric…

As I stitched, the fabric magically ruffled slightly.   So EASY!  Disregard the edges that have been done with pinking shears…I changed my mind and used regular scissors to cut the strips.

Adding the ruffle…

Once the ruffles were sewn, I lined up the edge of the ruffle with the edge of the tablecloth.  Then, I sewed a straight stitch down the center of the ruffle to attach it to the tablecloth…

I added the ruffle to all 4 edges of the tablecloth and DONE!  Remember to adjust your stitch size and your tension back to normal before sewing the ruffle on to the tablecloth.

A few more photos…

The final product on display…

and a very happy birthday girl…

The backdrop of Ava’s dessert table was made up of the Happy Birthday banner from Anna and Blue Paperie and simple fabric flowers…

I found some amazing kitchen towels and loved the vintage look but wasn’t sure how I was going to use them for the party.  Then I came across this simple tutorial over at Jones Design Company for gathered flowers.  It clicked…love that feeling.

Using the kitchen towels and some scrap fabric I had, I created these…

The only change I made to the tutorial was the addition of fabric stiffener, since  I needed my flowers to hold their shape while attached to the wall (another fabric stiffener idea here).  I treated the fabric with the stiffener before cutting the petal shapes from the tutorial…it worked perfectly!

See more of Ava’s Strawberry Lemonade party here …