Burlap Ribbon Wreath

I fell in love with this wreath when I discovered it on Stonegable's blog last year, and finally got around to making it for fall this year.

It is so simple to make and can be used year round by just changing the embellishments added to the burlap wreath base.

Materials Needed:

• Wire wreath form (three slat type)
• Burlap ribbon (20 yards of 4" wide)
• Fall embellisments
• Wire to assemble embellishments on wreath

First start by folding your burlap ribbon in thirds and weaving through the wire form.

Pull a loop up throuth each gap in the wire wreath form, and I like to do either 3" or 4" loops.  

It helps tremendously when Chance, our laborador retriever, helps with the assembling.

After each row of three loops, twist the burlap two times and then weave the loops going the opposite direction.  Continue to weave the loops back and forth and make as full or loose as you would like, depending on how full you want for the final look.

The more full you want your wreath, the more burlap material you will need.  Make sure to plan ahead, as I initially started to pack the loop rows tightly for a fuller look and I ran out of burlap. Since I had purchased my ribbon last year, I could not go back and buy more ribbon, so I had to undo all my loops and start over.  My final wreath used two 10-yard spools of 4" ribbon. 

Tuck the end of the ribbon inside the wire form, and secure with wire. After you're done, twist each loop until you get the desired messy look and to cover any wire wreath form that is showing through loop gaps.

I adhered seasonal embellishments with wire (I used pine cones, leaves and fall berries).  That way, you can easily change out these additional decorations for each holiday or season. 

 

 Happy Fall!

Crayon Art Easter Eggs

This is an artistic and fun way to decorate hard boiled eggs with materials on hand.

All you need is:

• Eggs
• Egg carton
• Crayons
• Plastic pencil sharpener

It's very important to ready the crayon pieces BEFORE boiling the eggs.

First, peel off half of the paper wrapped around the crayon colors you want to use.  Then using the pencil sharpener, make crayon shavings by twisting in the sharpener.  (Note: I recommend using an inexpensive plastic sharpener from the local drugstore, as the crayon wax residue is difficult or almost impossible to clean off, so we threw ours away after this project).

You can mix any combination of crayon colors you like, working either with a color theme, or a mix of the entire crayon box.  The more variety of crayon colors, the more varied the result will be for your unique abstract colored egg blend.  Once you have a good mix of shavings, set aside in containers on a work surface.

Now it's time to make your hard-boiled eggs.  The key is working with the eggs IMMEDIATELY after hard boiling, while egg shell exteriors are extremely hot.  I put my eggs in a pot of tepid water and bring to a boil.  Once the water is boiling, I reduce heat, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.

Once eggs are boiled, using kitchen tongs, quickly move the hot eggs back into the egg carton with the pointed side of the egg faced down. 

Immediately sprinkle the crayon shavings on the rounded top side of the eggs and watch the crayon wax melt instantly from the heat of the egg shell .....

Haydon's egg art

 Continue sprinkling shavings until you get your desired egg art colors.

Debbie's egg art

Janet's egg art - I Love how the blue tones add a rich feel.

Let the crayon wax dry until completely cooled and remove from the carton.  There will be some crayon wax built up adhering some of the eggs to the carton, but it's easy to pull off and you can remove any unwanted clumps of wax and not hurt the artistic results.

Place in simple Easter baskets and enjoy the display of modern egg art.

Mason Jar Snow Globe

If it's cold outside and you're looking for a simple Christmas project for any age, this Snow Globe out of a mason jar is perfect!  It's easy, quick to put together and you can be as detailed or minimalistic as you'd like.

 

Following are the materials you will need:

• Mason jar with lid and band
• Small Christmas tree
• Plastic or silk pine greenery
• Small pine cones
• Holiday sprigs or berries
• Any small holiday décor or embelishment
• Snow flakes (they come in a bag at most craft stores)
• Glue gun
• Ribbon or jute





Make sure your mason jar is clean and dry.  You don't want any moisture inside for the snow flakes to stick to the inside of the glass.  I prefer the quart size but the smaller pint size can work as well.

You can use a wide variety of holiday décor, the only requirement is that it has to be small enough to fit in your mason jar. 

Once you choose your materials, glue them in position on the underneath side of the mason jar lid. The items must be secure as you will be turning the lid upside down for globe assembly. Also remember to keep the shape of all décor smaller than the jar so it will fit and not scrunch against the glass.

 

You may need to trim any greenery or holiday branches, but you can always use a glue gun to position branches in the desired position. 

 

Once you are satisfied with your arrangement and the decorations are glued in place, fill the jar with 1/4 inch high of fake snow.  I found the iridescent snow flakes work best as they do not stick to the inside walls of the jar.  Some dust particles in the more natural colored snow flakes will leave some dusty residue on the inside glass.

 

 

 Assemble the lid in place on top of the snow-filled jar, so the décor fits neatly inside your jar (globe).  Screw the mason jar metal band to secure the lid in place.  Add some jute or ribbon around the band for a finishing touch.

Shake the globe upright and you have your own snowy

winter wonderland in a jar (oops globe)!

 

 

Gingerbread Houses

I can't believe how fast this year is speeding by ... and I feel so blessed to have married the man of my dreams in October.  Thank you all for sharing in our magical day by either being there with us or sending your thoughts and love our way.

I love a great Christmas project, so am starting our December blog on decorating my first Gingerbread house.  Mom, if we did gingerbread houses growing up, I don't recall, so Tim & I made an evening of decorating houses last night with his nieces, Molly & Emma.

I decided to purchase the pre-made gingerbread house, to save time ... and maybe next year I'll actually "bake" the gingerbread, as I'm sure many of you have done before.  I found boxed sets at Target and Costco for $9.99.  These are the three sets I bought and found Costco's house to be larger with more candy included (far right), which I would recommend to all. Target also had a build-your- own (set on left)... maybe for when I have more time and patience :)

The set included a bag of white frosting and green frosting, but I made additional frosting for all the extra candy I bought. 

FROSTING RECIPE (Kate, I'm sure you have better, but this was quick and easy!)

1. Blend 1 Cup Powdered sugar to 1 Tbls milk, which you can increase depending on quantity desired.
2. For stiffer frosting needed (trees below), add 2 Tbls softened butter to above ratio

I didn't realize how much candy already came with the set, so I also scored additional treats at CVS (great prices on sale) and the 99 Cent Store if you make your own house.

I used this Sweetopia blog for her video tutorials in making, assembling & decorating gingerbread houses.  It was a great resource for a first timer or just for new ideas.

Here is the result of my first decorated Gingerbread House:

I used Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheat cereal for my thatched roof and Bit-of-Honey's for the chimney.  Icicles were easy to add with a small tip for the frosting.

This Ice cream cone frosted tree idea is from Sweetopia, as well.  All you need is pointed ice cream cones, green colored frosting and a cake decorating leafor star tip for texture. 

I used the least expensive generic cones, which kept breaking, so I recommend buying namebrand for sturdier quality base to hold the frosting.

Back side

Molly decorating

We had such a fun evening on the last night of November, to start our first married Christmas season in a very festive way... shared with my Husband's (that word sounds so cool) nieces.  Here are Molly and Emma's handiwork with Uncle Tim.

Emma decorating

Emma and Molly's houses

 Let me know if you make a Gingerbread house this year or whether your family has a good Gingerbread house story. 

Burlap Placemats DIY

Burlap is popular this season, so I wanted to make something and found these simple placemats at StoneGable and they were so easy (I'm not kidding)!

 

These are great for fall table settings, but all you need to do is change the accents and you could use them year round.  Add some blues and seashells as a center piece and you can use all summer too.

 

All you need is some burlap ribbon (10 yards per place mat), tape measure, scissors and glue gun.  I used 1-1/2" wide burlap ribbon with wired edges for a 13.5" x 18" placemat.  Wired edges gives the ability to reshape when needed and I like a border along the length of the ribbon.

 

Cut 9 pieces of burlap 20" long for the horizontal strips

Cut 12 pieces of burlap 15" long for the vertical strips

        

 

Lay all horizontal strips down in rows and weave the vertical strips over one horizontal strip and then under the next until you have woven through all 9 horizontal lengths.  Repeat this with the remaining 12 vertical strips and tighten the strips close together to minimize any gaps.

 

 

I found it easier if I started in the middle and worked from either end.  You will want to leave 1/2" on all ends for gluing. The extra length of each strip allows you to trim the ends to an even measurement after you have completed weaving in case the burlap has frayed during the weaving.
 

To glue the edges underneath, the method depends on whether it's a top row or bottom row edge.  On the strips that end on top of a strip, apply hot glue and fold the strips 'over' and glue underneath on the back side.  For the strips that end the row "under" a strip, first glue the end back on top of the same strip so the fold butts up flush with the outer edge of the strip lying on top.  You then glue this folded end up under the back side of the top layer to give an even edge. 

 

 Even if it's not perfect, it looks good once you add your place settings.

 This was such an easy project and I LOVE the results !!

 

Balloon Bouquet Centerpiece

Here is a fun and simple idea to make any celebration festive with a balloon bouquet centerpiece!

 

These are great for kids parties .... or just to liven up any table décor occasion.

Mia Grady wanted her own balloon bouquet to take home

All you need:

•  260Q latex balloons (long thin balloons used for balloon animal shaping)
• Air
• Time

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fill only the top 3-4 inches of each balloon with air...no more than twice the length of your thumb (you'll see why below).

 

With your left hand, tightly pinch the 'tale' of the balloon underneath the portion with air, so no air can escape into this tale.  Then place the tip of your right thumb on the top knotted portion, and push this knot with your thumb down through the center of the air-filled portion until you can grab this knot with your left hand's thumb and index finger.

(This process rarely pops the balloon since the entire balloon is not air-filled)

 

 

Once you have a firm grasp of the top knot in your left hand, both your thumb and index finger will have both the top knot and balloon tale in between the same pinch. 

This is what forms the blossom.

With your free right hand, proceed to twist the balloon above this knot and pinched tale portion.  Twisting a few times will secure this "bloom" in place with the tale becoming the bloom's stem.

Voila!  Repeat this process... and you have a fun bouquet!!

NOTE: Mayflower Distributing is source I use for these long balloons.  I prefer Vibrant & Neon Color Assortment).   Here is their Cerritos, California store location address