Patriotic Yarn Wreath

So, I had been seeing a lot of yarn wreaths on Pinterest, and decided to give one a try. I wanted a patriotic one for the summer and saw this one at Naptime Crafts. Here is my version, inspired by hers.

I started with a floral wreath that I got from Wal-mart. The main reason I went with this was because I got it on clearance for $1.50. I think the straw wreath probably would have been easier to work with, but I like the different shape this floral wreath gave the finished product. I measured the diameter of the wreath and marked out where I wanted my red and white stripes.

Then I started wrapping the yarn. I didn't want to cut the yarn with every new stripe, so instead I kept the red and white yarn balls attached and would loop them around each other as I started a new stripe. I would do a rough pass, just to mark out the edges of the stripe. Then I would do three slow passes with the yarn. First pas make sure I covered all spots of the inner side of the wreath, second pass covered all bare spots of the front side of the wreath, and the last pass to cover any remaining bare spots on all sides.

Next, I added the loop to hand the wreath with. I used some of the blue yarn and tied a large loop. Then I wrapped it around the top of the wreath and l made a slip knot. I put some hot glue under the knot, after it was tightened, to keep it from sliding.

Finally, I painted an assortment of wooden stars white and hot glued them to the blue portion of the wreath.

After it was dried, I hung up the final product!

A Summer Wreath

With Easter done and the decorations down, I needed something to hang on my front door. I wanted something with bright colors that would work until time to start putting out harvest deco in late September. After looking at door wreath ideas at Paper Wings and A Glimpse Inside, I tweaked their ideas and combined them to make a wreath all my own.

First, I headed to my local D.I. (kind of a Goodwill type store) to find a frame I liked. Then I searched all over town for a wooden S. Let me tell you, not easy to find. Had to wait a week for JoAnn's to get some in. Meanwhile, I found some small wooden letters that I thought would be nice for a 'welcome' sign on the wreath.

I also got some yarn on sale at JoAnn's and rounded up paint that I had laying around the house and got started. First I sanded and painted all the wooden pieces, using a spare pizza box to protect my carpet.

Then I wrapped yarn around the edges of the frame, attached the S and hot glued on my 'welcome'.

Then I added silk flowers for some color.

While I used mostly blues, greens & yellows, I decided to throw in pinks and purples with the flowers to reflect all the little girls living in the house. I am happy with how it turned out. It did rattle a lot on the door when I first hung it up and I was afraid it was going to fall off. My dear hubby suggested gluing some magnets on the back (we have a metal door) and that did the trick to give it the stability I wanted.

St. Patrick's Wreath

So, I wanted a St. Patty decoration for my front door. Something simple. But was on a very tight budget. Most of the ideas I saw online used a lot of fabric, which was $7 a yard at my local fabric store. As I would need several yards, not within my budget. And the few (very few) decorations I was able to find, were too expensive. In the past, I've been able to get very cheap craft supplies from the dollar store. So off I went to see what I could find.

Supplies Purchased:
string of ivy (3)
wooden wreath
gold ribbon w/ wire edge (2)
shamrock foil wire

Supplies on Hand:
Gold Glitter Spray Paint
Hot glue gun and glue sticks

I wrapped the ivy around the wreath first. Then the shamrock wire. Then I used one spool of golden ribbon to wrap around the wreath. The second spool of golden ribbon I formed into a simple bow. I glued as needed to hold things in place and to hold the ribbon on. Then I sprayed it with the glitter paint. And voilà, I had a $7 wreath that I am very happy with.

Jewelry Box

I wanted Rose to have a jewelry box for her 9th birthday, as she had recently gotten her ears pierced. But I didn't like any of the ones I could find for sale. They were either too old for her, cheaply made, too expensive, etc. So I decided to make one of my own. I decided to go with a lady bug theme because Rose loves them, and used coordinating paint, paper and embellishments.

Supplies:
wooden jewelry box
craft paint
scrapbooking paper pad (I used 5" x 7")
mod podge
3D stickers
letter stickers (for her name, edited out of pictures for privacy)
gem stickers

I painted the box lime green and allowed it to dry completely. While it was drying, I cut the paper I planned to use to size. I covered the sides and top, and placed cutouts on the drawer fronts. To attach, I applied a thin layer of mod podge to the box and added the paper. Then I applied a thin layer of mod podge over the top of the entire box. Allowed to dry completely. Then I added embellishments.