DIY No-Sew Lamp Shade

Here's a new video of a lamp shade my mom asked me to makeover for her. All I used was her lamp shade, burlap, ribbon, scissors, hot glue and gun (and wire because her lamp shade was in 2 parts).

Hope you guys like this. Let me know how yours turns out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pinspiration Sunday: Christmas Balls in a Shadow Box

So I've seen various takes on displaying either Christmas balls or bells in a shadow box with a cute phrase attached in or around it. Well here's my take on it: 

I bought 2 shadow boxes about 6 weeks ago from a local thrift store I paid $3 each for them. Since they were an already made up, manufactured decoration, I had to take it apart first. Once it was apart, I took the cardboard backing and covered it with Mod Podge and pressed the burlap onto it. 

Once that dried, I cut the excess burlap off around the cardboard edges. 

I bought some small ornaments on black friday from Kmart for about $3. I put them inside the frame. Now the frame wasn't quite deep enough from my ornaments so I couldn't use the nails that were located on the back to hold the cardboard in place. Instead, I taped the cardboard back on. Next, the fame was a little beat up with a few spots that had some sticker residue. 

For that I simply took a sanding block and sanded the white frame. Then I took a damp cloth and wiped the frame down. 

Next it was time to decide what to write on the front. I was originally thinking about cutting something out with vinyl on the cricut machine but then I remembered something else I bought on black friday. I got this from JoAnn Fabrics for $5!

I chose the word "peace".

It's a sticker, so I just stuck it on the front glass.

And there you have it....a Christmas ball shadow box decoration. 

Hope this inspires you! Thanks for stopping by!

Twig Tree Decoration

Looking for a last minute gift idea for someone who has everything? Or maybe you just want crafty idea for yourself? Either way this is the perfect thing...a twig Christmas tree!

I found a image of a twig tree floating around Pinterest and had to try it.

Here's what I used:

8 X 10 canvas

burlap

mod podge

sticks I collect from our town park

yarn (which I had left from this project)

berries from a berry garland
wire cutters (to cut the berries off the garland)

Marion Smith's Vintage Trinkets

hot glue & gun

First I attached my burlap to the canvas. I used Mod Podge to cover the front surface and along the sides. I smoothed out a piece of burlap over top the canvas. I then flipped it over and pulled the burlap tight all the way around it and secured it with hot glue. I allowed the mod podge to dry.

Next, I broke my stick pieces and lined them up on the canvas to take the shape of a tree. 

Next I decided to wrap yarn around the "trunk" of the tree. I just wrapped the yarn around it several times and then tied a knot in front. I then glued all the sticks in place. And added some Marion Smith vintage trinkets as the tree topper and some extra embellishments.

Then I made the garland. I took a piece of red yarn and tied knots along it. The knots were made tying them 3 at a time together then moving about an inch (guessing, I didn't actually measure them) away and tied the knots again.

Then I hot glued the yarn in a zig-zag pattern going up the tree.

Next, I finished decorating the tree by adding berries I had from a berry garland I bought awhile ago on clearance from A.C. Moore. I used wire cutters to remove the berries then hot glued them into place.

Here's the finished tree!

Hope you enjoyed this quick last minute Christmas decoration. Thanks for stopping by!

Pinspiration Sunday: Burlap Bubble Wreath with Felt Poinsettias

I saw this crazy cute wreath on Pinterest from See Vanessa Craft and knew I had to make it. Last year I made my yarn ball wreath which I absolutely love and do not want to replace so I made this as a Christmas gift. 

Here's what you'll need:

Foam wreath form

burlap (about 1 1/2 yards)

felt for flowers and BHG pattern

hot glue and gun

pins

You'll need to cut your burlap into 4inch X 4inch squares. Here's how I did mine...First, I measured from the edge over 4 inches. I then pulled one thread of the burlap out at that measurement. Then I measured over 4 inches from there and repeated until I was complete across the entire piece of burlap.

Next, I turned the burlap piece 90 degrees and repeated the steps from above

Now I had a grid where I could easily cut my precise measured pieces. Once that was done, it's to start assembling the wreath. Here's a video to show you how I did mine.

I took left over squares and glued them along the back of the wreath form just as suggested in the original tutorial I saw. However, I would suggest just wrapping the burlap around the wreath at the beginning. But either way, it works. 

To make the pointsettias, visit Better Homes & Gardens to get the pattern and instructions for assembly. Once I made mine, I hot glued them into place. Then I added a small ribbon for hanging that I pinned into place.

This is the finished wreath:

Instead of using more felt for the centers of the flowers, I just used some silver fabric paint.

I hope you liked this tutorial. After all the measuring and cutting, it's actually pretty simple to put together. If you try this one, be sure to let me know! Thanks for stopping by!

Pinspiration Sunday: Rag Wreath

I've seen a lot of rag wreaths floating around Pinterest and I finally decided to make my own. As I'm sure we all know burlap is pretty cheap....however, I decided to buy some orange burlap with gold threading...which looks awesome but was WAY MORE EXPENSIVE than the regular burlap and I was kicking myself for purchasing it. But to be honest...I LOVE the way this wreath turned out using that crazy expensive burlap. 

So here is what I used to make my wreath:

burlap (3 yards purchased but I only used about 2 1/2)

wire wreath form (18in with 4 wires going around)

glitter spiders from Walmart (which I had left from this project)

glitter spider and web from Michael's

hot glue and gun

Made my own "spooky" sign

ribbon for bow

To get started I cut strips of burlap in about 1 inch sections. I used the method of removing one thread then cutting along that line to help the burlap from fraying. (If you need further instructions on that I would be happy to share it...just let me know) Which gave me very long pieces. Then I cut those pieces either into 3rds or 4ths. Next I worked wire by wire, section by section, tying the burlap pieces on. Once I had all four wires in one section filled then I would move to the next section. This is a very long process and cutting and working with burlap is very messy (just a warning).  For a great video explanation on how to put this together, check out this video from Cassie & Co Blog.

After many hours...the wreath was finally covered. Make sure all your knots are in the back and strips of burlap are facing forward. 

Then it's placement of your decorations. I made my bow myself...and I'm amazed it turned out as good as it did...I have never made a "fancy" bow...and I had no idea how to do it. I used a no-wire satin ribbon...very difficult to work with. I would strongly recommend using as wired ribbon and look on YouTube for some great videos on how to make the perfect bow. I attached my bow with floral wire (which is actually still visible...but shhhh!)

Then I added the spiders and spider/web decorations with hot glue. 

I made my "spooky" decoration by using my Cricut machine, scrapbook paper (one piece was glittery) and wet glue. Once it dried, I hot glued that into place. 

Finally I hung it on my front door.

And there you have it...burlap rag wreath. Again I want to stress that this is time consuming and pretty messy. But it's worth it, I think. And it's pretty cheap (as long as you don't buy burlap with gold thread in it). 

REMINDER:

Oh and don't forget I'm giving away my Halloween printable mini scrapbook...you decide how you get your prize...you can get the download for FREE so you can print out as much as you want and assemble it, you can have me send you it in a kit form for you to put together OR you can have me assemble it for you! What an awesome giveaway, right!?!?! To enter the giveaway just go to this POST and leave a comment. I will announce the winner on Halloween morning! Good Luck, everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

Pinspiration Sunday: BOO! Sign

So I've seen a lot of signs on Pinterest that say "BOO!" And I finally decided it was time to make my own. Everything I used in this project I already owned...whoo hoo! So here's how mine turned out:

Mine got a little bigger than I was originally aiming for. Here's my original pin:

This beautiful sign was for sale in an Etsy Shop called PeaceGlitzNGlam but has since sold.

I began my project with 3 wood pieces...I have a ton of these because I came across them one day in ACMoore and they were only 25CENTS!!!!! 

I painted the fronts and sides with black craft paint and a sponge brush. I use sponge brushes whenever I can. They are crazy cheap and great to use and toss especially when working with Mod Podge!

After they dried it was time to cut the burlap. I happen to have a strip cut from a prev project which also happen to be the perfect width. All I had to do was cut the length. Burlap frays so easily...so here's a tip: pull one or two fibers out from the area you want to cut, then cut through that area. See the picture below? I pulled a thread out. then cut along that open space.

I did this for all three wood pieces. Then I covered the wood pieces with Mod Podge and pressed the Burlap on top to secure.

Next, I cut out letters using the Happy Hauntings font on my Cricut Craft Room and some creepy spider paper I had left from a previous Halloween mini album.

I decided then to ink the edges using Tim Holtz distressed ink in Peeled Paint. But after I started inking the edges, I decided to blend and cover the entire letter. I knew that I wanted to use 3D adhesive dots to help the letters stick off the wood pieces, but my paper was really thin. So I decided to laminate them. This also helped me to ensure that my sign could last through the years.

For some reason I decided to take this project even further. I had this picture and frame that I bought at a thrift store months ago for $1 or $2.

I pulled all those staples out.

Then I tried painting the front with craft paint. But I realized it was going to take A LOT of coats to cover it. So I flipped it over and painted the back. 

I had this bottle of crackle medium...it's a very OLD bottle...but I gave it a shot...

After covering the frame with the crackle medium and allowed it to dry, I painted the frame black.

It worked...okay...but it's supposed to look grungy so it worked for me! By the end I went along some ridges and edges of the frame with silver craft paint too. While that dried I finished off the "picture" part. I knew I wanted something else for the background...plain purple just wasn't going to work. I thought about drawing some spiders on...but then I looked through my lace and I had a small piece of black that was just a bit longer than what I needed! WHOO HOO! Perfect! I covered the purple area with Mod Podge and pressed the lace on top to secure. Then I cut the excess off the ends.

Once it was all dry, then it was time to put the background back into the frame. I secured it with nails I had in a tool kit and added a picture frame hanging bar thing (technical name, I'm sure) to the back. Next I hot glued the wood pieces into place. The hands came from a bag full that I got from Michael's (and they have them this year too)!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Thanks so much for stopping by!