Birthday Balloon Wreath

I'm starting to prep for my son's first birthday party in April! I have a pretty long list of crafts I would like to accomplish - not sure I will get to them all, but I will sure try. I took a nice big trip to Hobby Lobby this morning (and thanks to the Hobby Lobby iPhone App, I got some good deals) and stocked up on supplies.

I've been obsessed with making wreaths since moving to Colorado. So, the first project is a birthday wreath. I have plans for a wreath that goes with the birthday theme, but I also wanted a generic birthday wreath we can use year after year.

The balloon wreath is simple and the perfect project for a few snowy, cold days. I started with the largest bags of cheap latex balloons I could find (Walmart and Hobby Lobby were the big winners), a large bag of floral pins, ribbon, a straw wreath, and a glue gun.

I started by wrapping the straw wreath, with the plastic still on, in ribbon. This is helpful so the back looks nice and if you don't cover every space it is not as noticeable. Secure the ribbon with hot glue. I always have trouble attaching the hanging ribbon at the end, so this time I attached it first, using hot glue to secure it,

Next put on a movie and start sticking the balloons into the wreath using the floral pins. You should quickly get a grasp of how close together you need to place the balloons for good results. Then spend the next 20 nap times repeating this step. Seriously, this takes forever.

But in the end, you will have a cute and festive birthday wreath!

Playroom Art Area

It's nearly the end of January and I am still in a holiday crafting slump! I did finish the basement art area - spurred by the immanent arrival of dear friends and their three children. I wanted them to have plenty of space to play while they were here, and it's been on my list to finish for a while.

The art area has lots of space for drawings or inspirational pictures. Old frames from our local frame shop (they gave them to me, since they were going to toss them) found new life with a coat of spray paint. I found some smaller frames on Etsy through TheBumbleintheBee. Some fun binder clips from Target hung on nails provides a way to clip all sorts of items into the frames. 

We ended up with two rather large frames. One was filled with a piece of leftover board from our garage organization project, which I painted with MANY coats of chalkboard paint. It works great - as long as you use a wet cloth to erase the chalk and not an actual chalk eraser. 

The other frame was filled with a piece of sheet metal from our local Home Depot. (Thanks to all the nice folks who helped us find the right kind of sheet metal - i.e. walked around the store with us trying out different magnets!) We covered the sheet metal with a piece of fabric before gluing into the frame. 

And of course there is the crayola project and the dog painting. (The dog painting was completed at a girls night with Paint the Town .) 

Tree Trunk Ornament

Easiest Pinterest Project Yet! (If you don't count cutting down the tree.)

We decided to cut down our own tree from the National Forest this year. It seemed like a very "Colorado" thing to do. With our $10 permit in hand and good friends at our side, we headed into the forest to find the perfect tree.

It took a while. My husband was darting through the forest and every time we thought we found one, we would see another one off in the distance. Finally, we found it way up on a hill. Our first tree as a family of three. Husband cut it down, while I held little H, supervised, and photographed the whole ordeal.

I love a good fat tree. This tree is not fat - but it is cute. I'm not going to lie - it's a little sparse in the middle - but it's trunk was straight and it was the perfect height.



So to make the ornament.
1) Cut piece off trunk & drill hole (in my case - have husband do this!)
2) Let Dry (ours was all sappy)
3) Use a Sharpie to write on it (The front of mine is pictured and the back says "Pike National Forest)
4) Modge Podge to Seal
5) Use a chopstick to force the ribbon through the hole and hang from tree. Ta Da! Simple.

Happy Holiday Crafting!

Christmas Banner Garland

This is another project I really thought about purchasing from Etsy. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. I wanted something bright to match the rest of my house decor   A trip to Hobby Lobby and a 50% off Coupon inspired me to take a crack at it. I figured if mine didn't turn out I could always just buy one.

Here is what I ended up using.
Banner Pieces (Something like this or cut your own) Modge Podge 
Foam Brush
Ribbon
Scrabpook Paper ( I used sheets that were already small. similar to this)
Scissors
Single Hole Punch
Stick on Letters

This project is very simple, although it will take you a full day since the Modge Podge takes a while to dry.

First I glued the scrap book pages to the banner using the Modge Podge. I found it was easier to glue them on as whole sheets and trim once the glue had dried. I also noticed that my banner pieces were curling slightly. Before I trimmed them, but after they were dry, I stacked them under a large book and that seemed to solve the problem.

After each one is trimmed you will need to re-punch the holes through the paper.

Next apply the stick on letters. Now using a foam brush (a regular brush will leave stroke marks) apply a thin layer of Modge Podge over the entire banner and allow to dry. This will protect the paper and make your banner look nice and shiny.

Finally, run the ribbon through the holes and hang. Mine were light enough to hang with just a piece of scrap paper.


I think I may use this same technique to make a birthday banner.... one all my holiday projects are complete.

Happy Crafting.

Christmas Yarn Wreath

I've become obsessed with wreaths after my fall football wreath turned out so well. (I swore off wreaths a few years ago when I tried one from Martha Stuart and it was a hot mess!)

I was trolling Etsy and saw this adorable Christmas Yarn Wreath. I almost pushed the purchase button, but couldn't get over the sale price. I knew I could get all the "ingredients" for so much less! So I took a stab at making my own. It was a quick and easy project. I may even consider knocking out a few more for gifts.

All you need is a wreath form, either foam or straw (with plastic on) will work, yarn and coordinating felt, scissors, and a glue gun.

First, tie the yarn around the wreath form and start wrapping the wreath foam in yarn - and just keep wrapping. You want it to be very tight. Every once in a while push it all together to make sure it is nice and tight. (For this one I wrapped red and white yarn at the same time.) Once you have the whole wreath wrapped, tie of the yarn again and cut it loose from the spool.  (This is where my little one thought it would be fun to help out and unrolled a whole spool of yarn. He was laughing so hard the whole time I just couldn't stop him!)

Now all you have to do is add decorative felt flowers, or other establishments. There are lots of video and blog tutorials out there on how to make felt flowers. I cut circles of varying sizes into spirals and then wrapped them back up, secured with hot glue and a straight pin. I looped some ribbon around the body of the wreath, secured with one straight pin, and hung it on the front door.

Go get some yarn and make your own.
Happy Crafting!

Basement Office Complete with Window Seat and Corner Desk

The basement office is complete... Well, I need to get a few more things on the shelves, get the computer in there, procure a chair, make roman blinds...  Yea. It is not quite done. But, my husband is reading to my little one on the floor and  little one is pulling all the books off the shelves. Basically. all is right with the world!  (Sorry about the pictures, they are from my phone.)

I've moved all the sporting items we have into the window seat boxes and that really cleared out our storage room. This room is right by the back door so its the perfect location for all our sporting goods. 

Diplomas and other academic items that have been on the floor around the house are finally hung.  

I found adorable blue pillows at Target - On Sale! 

Update: 

I've had a few requests for before and after pictures of this room. 

Before We Purchased the House 

After. 

Swoon: Animal Prints for Playroom

The only work I seem to be getting done is ordering things for the house. (Not that I'm complaining!)  Thanks to Black Friday and Cyber Monday and a variety of saved up coupons I got a few cute deals for the house the past few days. 

Today's Obsession though was sent to by inbox by B from Practically Crafty. She sent me the link to The Animal Print Shop. They are having a holiday sale to buy 3 prints and get one free. These are just what I have been looking for to finish off the Playroom. (I'm using the word "finish" liberally because I always seem to find something else to include!) Even if you don't need any animal prints you should head over there to check them out - they are sure to make you smile. 

Anyway, these are adorable animals and my little one is totally obsessed. They also recommend some frames to achieve the look they have. The recommendations range from Ikea to Restoration Hardware  (Just click the "framing help" link on the lower left hand side of the page.)  Pottery Barn had free shipping yesterday and I had a 10% off coupon that was about to expire... so I ordered some cute white frames for my little animals. You will have to wait and see which ones I ordered. 

 Now if they would just finish the carpet downstairs I could move on with my projects down there... 

Happy Crafting!