He Is Risen Easter Wreath

Once St. Patrick's Day was over I knew I'd need to get the Easter decor out quick or else I'd miss it and since Easter is one of my favorite holidays I couldn't have that! So this last week I got it all out and had everything just right except one thing.  A wreath for the front door. Over the years I've just used a pink berry wreath that I think came from Home Interiors but it has seen better days.  

So perfect time to make an Easter specific wreath!

I looked for supplies at the Dollar Tree to no avail....nothing stood out to me. So I looked at Dollar General and found a metal wreath form and the flowers.  I had the lacy burlap leftover from a wedding I helped with in February and then made the sign in PicMonkey.  Didn't take long at all to whip it up!

Supplies.....

 ....plus my trusty hot glue gun and some lace for a hanger. I mod podged the He Is Risen print out to some glitter scrapbook paper.  

I simply wrapped the burlap around the form and hot glued the end down, see the end to the right bottom side?

Then I hot glued on the sign first, the flowers second over the end, and then lastly the lace loop. 

Isn't it so sweet?  Lil' Hunkie picked out that big purple flower so made it all the more sweet!

Hope you are enjoying the Easter season!

Have a happy day!

{See my Link Parties page for the shares.}

Easter Project Group-Cross Canvas

I'm sooo excited to take part in an Easter Project Group today!!  One of my all time fav bloggers, Bethany of Pitter and Glink, invited me to her 'party' and it sure sounded like fun to me! 

In a nutshell, a group of bloggers have completed some type of crafty, Eastery, goodness and we are all sharing our projects today.  You'll find photos and links at the bottom of this post so you can just click away!

When thinking about what I would make for today's post I knew I wanted it to be a canvas.  I actually had a different idea in mind but I was doing laundry and saw a box of vintage clip on earrings among my craft mess.....I mean craft treasures!.... and thought to myself  "I need to do something with those to get them gone!" And immediately thought they might make a pretty cross. 

So I gathered up the supplies and printed off the words (from a worship song I first heard long ago at Acquire the Fire!) from PicMonkey and got started.

Supplies:

11x14 canvas

paints

foam brushes

vintage clip on earrings

hot glue gun

fine point sharpie and pencil

word printout

The first thing I did was remove the clips from the back of the earrings so they would glue down flat. I did have to use pliers on a few! See my pile of clips? ☺

Next I painted the canvas using a metallic blue, purple, pink, and green.  I wanted the blue to be 'sky' and the green to be 'grass' in a watercolory way.  Didn't take much paint to do this! Then I laid out the earrings and glued them down.

Finally, I cut my words down and used a pencil and colored the backside of the words, then I was able to position the words and then trace over them with the pencil to transfer them to the canvas. I went over the words with a fine tip sharpie, taking my time. Such a neat trick!!

All done!!

I loved how it turned out!! And so did my 'sounding board' sister!

Pretty sure it will find it's way to this year's Easter mantle!

Make sure and check out my follow groupies below!

Have a Happy Day!

 From Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Pastel and Gold Painted Flower Pots by Happy Go Lucky Spring Chick Wreath by Fynes Designs Simple Bunny Garland by Lil Mrs Tori DIY: Peek-A-Boo Bunny Bag by Minted Strawberry Pom Pom Tail Easter Bunny Printable by TitiCrafty Easter Bible Verse Printable by A Cup Full of Sass Felt Bunny Pouch for Easter Treats by Do Small Things with Love Gold & Watercolor Geometric Bunny Art by Spool and Spoon Moss and Twine Wrapped Easter Bunny by The Southern Couture Spring Keychains by The DIY Dreamer Cross Canvas by Vintage Gwen DIY Ribbon Bunny Easter Wreath by Sweet Tea & Saving Grace Floral Chalkboard Easter Prints by Dawn Nicole Quilted Easter Decor by Nap-Time Creations Crochet Egg Garland by 4 You With Love Easter Bunny K-Cup Sleeves with Free Cut File by Pitter and Glink Paper Easter Baskets by Crafting in the Rain

Dollar Tree Valentine Wreath

I don't know about you but crafting is sure therapeutic for me! This past week we put up all the Christmas decor in our little building and got out the little bit of Valentine stuff that I have.  Lil' Hunkie was so adamant that I had so much more than just one box! Due to crafting and reusing what I already have in different ways it really was just one box.  So I decided to make a new wreath for the door and spent Tuesday afternoon in my warm, sunny craft room enjoying making a cute, easy decoration with Lil' Hunkie making a mess behind me.....oh I meant playing!! Actually, he wanted to help me so I let him pull flowers off stems.  Then he went back to his 'playing'. ☺








Dollar Tree Valentine Wreath
Supplies:
Round metal serving tray
3 rose bunches
both bought at Dollar Tree so my total spent was $4 plus tax!!
Mod Podge and foam brush
ribbon
hot glue gun
Picmonkey graphic that I made!

I know you're so surprised that I used Picmonkey!! It's probably my favorite 'crafting' tool!
Here's the image if you'd like to use it!! Right click and save!

I simply cut the circle out and then had to trim just a bit to fit inside the tray. I then Mod Podged it on.

Next I got to hot gluing flowers around the rim. Finished by hot gluing the ribbon on and done!  The first picture is the wreath on my back door in my craft room which is also a sun room and that's why it's soooo bright! Here it is on my front door......

I'm lovin' it against that red!! I smile every time I look at it!

Here's to a Happy Thursday!!

{See my Link Parties page for the shares.}

Pineapple Mason Jar Gift With Tag

Hey lovelies!!! Here's my Pineapple Mason Jar gift idea in case you missed it a couple of weeks ago at Tatertots & Jello! This was so easy to do and required no fancy craft machines!!

Lovin' the pineapple right now, such a great symbol of welcome, hospitality, and prosperity. You could totally fill this with what ever you want....dried pineapple might be fun! Chocolate is always a hit in my books!

The quilted mason jars reminded me of a pineapple.  So I took some gold glitter paint and painted on some dots at each 'intersection'.  Here's a closer look....

To make the pineapple leaves I took the top part of this template and printed it out and traced onto green glitter card stock adding about 1/2 tab at the bottom.  I cut 4 for each jar so I could glue 2 together to have glitter on all sides. Then I traced the lid and cut out a green circle.  Using an Xacto knife I cut slits in center of the circle.  Then I cut a slit in the bottom up to the center of one leaf and then from the top down on the other leaf.  Slid them together and pulled tabs through the circle and folded back.

I gingerly pulled the leaves through the lid ring and wallah....a pineapple top! 

The finishing touch is a 'Welcome 2015' tag.  Add a gold wrapped candy and done!

Here's the tag....

Here's to a great 2015!

Happy Weekend lovelies!

{See my Link Parties page for the shares.}

My DIY Sharpie Mug Experience

Ok lovelies.  DIY Sharpie Mugs are nothing new.  But since I made some I thought I'd share how the process went for me.

I joined a Fall Mug Swap on Instagram last month and could not find what I thought was the perfect mug for my buddy.  So I thought it'd be cool for her to have some scripture mugs in my handwriting. 

I found a great post at Crafaholics Anonymous (via Pinterest) with some great tips.

I picked the tips I thought sounded the best basically!  

And those were to clean the mug with rubbing alcohol, let dry for 24 hours after decorating, place in cold oven, turn oven on to 450, once heated to 450, bake for 30 minutes and then completely cool. 

So here's how it went....

First of all writing on a mug is not as easy as it seems! Using the rubbing alcohol I started over so many times! Once I liked them, I let dry overnight then did the 450 oven baking and let them cool in the oven. 

Well that was too hot for the pink sharpie! It faded! I was so sad! So I went back over the pink parts and did the baking at 350 instead and it was much better! 

The only thing I didn't do was see how they stood up to the dishwasher.  I did use the rubbing alcohol after the first failure baking and the green was set so I'm sure that with hand washing they should be just fine!  I don't know about you but I don't put 'special' mugs, even store bought ones, in the dishwasher. Just one of those 'Jennifer' things!

Despite the writing part being tricky, I love how easy these are! And the possibilities are endless! 

Have you made some of these? I'd love to hear about your experience!

Happy Thursday!!

Easy Bandana Garden Flag

The last garden flag I had out was an Easter one,  so I wanted to craft a fun summery one.

I dug through my fabric and found some bandanas and thought why not? Pink is my favorite color!

To keep this easy I didn't cut on the bandana at all!

I 'measured' using a store bought flag and centered it up. I then measured the sides making sure there was 4 1/2 inches on both sides. Next I folded the sides in and ironed and then folded the top down and ironed. If you use an iron on your folds, most times you don't need straight pins! Then I sewed the top where there was thread already, just straight across, this makes the opening for you to slide onto your flag pole. Then I sewed the sides along the thread too. So there are two thread lines running down the center of the flag.

I didn't have a hot pink thread, I just used what was on my machine! Finally, I sewed across the very bottom and done! It is a little longer then my store bought one so if you want to shorten it just fold it up, iron and sew!

So the sun was shining a bit when I was working on this....it probably only took me 15-20 minutes and while working it started to rain,oh for about 5 minutes.  That's why the porch is wet and got the bottom of the flag wet while I was putting it on my pole! I think it's supposed to rain tomorrow too so that's why I didn't wait for better weather! Still a cute flag, rain or not!! And easy and thrifty! Ha!

Happy Thursday!

{See my Link Parties page for the shares.}

DIY Coasters Using PicMonkey

Remember this?

My 20 year high school reunion favor....a diy tile coaster!

Well I had a request from my niece to make some for her band banquet to use as gifts for the band teachers. Just like last time I used PicMonkey to design the graphic and thought I'd share just how easy it is!!

What you need:

Computer

paper and ink

tiles (can get at Lowe's or Home Depot for around 20 cents each)

Mod Podge

foam brush

square cork (can get at Hobby Lobby in a 6 pack)

glue such as E6000 or hot glue

sealant

Here we go!

Open up PicMonkey and choose collage.  You'll have to choose just any photo you have on your computer.

It will automatically bring up a 3 box collage.  X out of all but one, it will leave you with one big square.  Resize the square to 400x400. (See red circle.)

Next choose 'Swatches'. I used the red polka dots found under Winterland. 

Drag the swatch to the square.  

Then click on 'Background' (see arrows) and make the corner rounding 100%.  

You now have a circle!! Click on 'Edit' at the top.

Choose 'Overlays' and add a music note. Resize so that it fits from top to bottom in red circle, it will be black.

Then in the Overlay edit box, click on 'Blending Modes' and choose 'Overlay' to fade it.  

Now you can add words by clicking on the double Tt's. Once you have your words, save and print out.  

Now you're ready to make a coaster!

Trim graphic to be just under 4x4.  I don't have a fancy cutting tool so I did it the old fashioned way....fold, fold, fold, and tear. Then apply a layer of Mod Podge to the tile and smooth on your graphic. Put Mod Podge on top of the graphic and let dry overnight. Apply a second coat of Mod Podge in the opposite direction of your first layer.  Let dry for at least 2 hours. Then glue cork to back of tile. Seal the front of the tile with sealant and let dry for 24 hours. And done!

So, so easy and easy on the wallet!! 

 I've been using my high school reunion coasters and they still look the same!

Happy Thursday lovelies!!

{See my Link Parties Page for the shares!}

Cross & He Is Risen Wood Shim Art

 

 

Back today with more easy wood shim projects!

The amount of Easter/spring decor that I have compared to my Christmas, well.....it's just sad!! So yes I utilized the shims I bought!

 

Cross

Since there's two different sizes of shims, I thought they were perfect to make a cross. I went with a cross/floral theme for my mantel so thus the reason for making a fabric covered cross.  All I did was take Mod Podge and some scrap fabric and covered the two shims, once dried I then hot glued them together. The cross is just leaning against the He Is Risen Art!

 

 

 

He Is Risen Art

 

Just like my Flower art I took 2 shims and then hot glued on more shims the length of the anchors. Next I used some leftover stain and used a sponge brush to brush it on. Once dried I painted on the  "He Is Risen."  I actually made two of these!! One for me and one for my sister! So that's 4 projects out of the 2 packages of shims.  And I still have a handful left!

The first one I used chalk and did all caps and then used a metallic taupe to paint over the chalk.  The second one I free handed and decided to make the 'Risen' in cursive.  I then let my sister choose which one she liked best and she chose the all caps!

 

 

Really loved working with the shims!! Can ya tell?

 

Happy Thursday lovelies!

 

{See my Link Parties Page for the shares.}

 

 

Spring Flower Wood Shim Art

I've been working on my Easter decor this past week and have everything done but the mantle.  Can you believe I still had a box of Easter stuff at my mom's house? Yep! So I had her bring it to me and it was just like opening up some thing new since I couldn't remember what was in it! Come to find out there wasn't as many decor items as I was hoping for so once I went through everything I only had one thing on my mantle.   I had seen wood shim projects around and wanted to give it a try. Well I must say....easy, easy, easy! I made 3 things! (I've already shared one on Instagram for the Photo A Day challenge I do!) Today I'm sharing some Spring Flowers!

The idea for this Flower Art came to me after I made my He Is Risen Art(on Instagram)....I loved it so much I wanted to make a smaller one but have it be a little different. So out of the longer wood shims I found 2 that were not as long as the majority and used them as the anchors.  Then I hot glued 8 smaller shims to the longer ones, rotating the thick and thin edges.  Next I painted it a metallic off white and decided it either needed 2 coats or I needed to use a different color! So I took my metallic taupe and painted every other shim. It doesn't really stand out in the picture but it turned out really pretty! Then I turned it on it's side and took a metallic pink, blue and green....all the paint I had already....and free handed the flowers. 

I just wanted something simple!

Can't lie...this makes me smile!

And by the way those 2 packs of shims cost me 6 bucks and some change at Home Depot. 

Budget friendly and easy...they best kind of crafting!!

Have a happy Thursday!

{See my Link Parties page for the shares!}

Handprint Dinosaur Art

 Today I'm bringing some dino-love!
I shared this easy art earlier this month at A Little Slice of Special  and wanted to share today!
Last December my family welcomed a new nephew and his nursery is decorated in dinosaurs! My sister in law asked for help with some decor and this is what I came up with!

My nephew was born early...it was a little hairy him getting here...so I thought it would be special to use his big brother's hand print and make a dinosaur!  And it was so easy!

First I painted 2 16x20 canvases.  One a metallic blue and one a metallic green and did 2 coats.  Next, I printed off a speech bubble using PicMonkey and cut it out and the hand print.

Then I cut the speech bubble out of the word fabric and mod podged it in place.  Next I traced the hand print and then painted it in and added feet, tail, eye, mouth, and 'hair'. Finally, I added mod podge on top of the speech bubble. And done!

Moving on to the green canvas I simply printed off "Roar!" from my computer and then traced and cut it out of the blue chevron fabric and mod podged it on.

Custom, fun, easy, inexpensive nursery/kid art!!

I'm excited to be sharing an update to my craft room at Today's Creative Blog! 
Click HERE.

And have you entered my Diamond Candle Giveaway yet?
Go HERE now!

Happy Thursday lovelies!

{See my Link Parties Page for the shares!}