Before & After...

Five years ago, my awesome mom had these metal packages that I designed come to life by having them cut in metal. And for five years, they have been lime green and cranberry to go with my Ballard Design Christmas look. And as much as I love that look, these metal packages have seen better days before going through a bunch of Chicago winters. Now that I'm back in the South (yee haw) with much milder temperatures, I decided to bring them back out and revamp them. Since my favorite combination is robins egg blue and gray, I decided to paint them those colors. Many of my Christmas decorations are robins egg and silver, so I thought this was the perfect compliment.

I just love how they look now! It's still not finished.....gotta get the hubby to drape lights down the urns for that cascading effect. Revamping is the Two Junk Chix way!!

xoxo,

tia

Slowly but surely...

the morning/breakfast room is finally coming together. My sweet friend, Wendy made these gorgeous black and cream panels for me. I love how they compliment the gray walls. Once the plantation shutters go in, the fabic is going to pop even more! I just received these beautiful gray latte bowls from Anthropologie as a gift and thought they were too pretty to put in the cabinet so I decided to display them in the 3 tiered stand.

Thanks Wendy for doing such a fabulous job on these!! I'll post the bedroom curtains you made for me as soon as I can get on the ball. Now I'm off to look for Christmas decorations!!

xoxo,

tia

Scored Flower Tutorial

These flowers are really easy and only take a couple of minutes to make each one.

First you need to strips of paper cut in the same size. You can cut them in what ever size that you want your flowers to be. For this flower I cut the paper in 12 x 2 inch strips.
Next score the paper strips in equal measurements. I used 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch increments for the flowers. I scored this flower in 1/2 inch increments. I used the Martha Stewart Score board. Makes scoring super easy and it has the measurements right on it. Once your strips are scored, fold them into accordian folds.
Glue both strips together. I used hot glue. I like to use hot glue because it fast drying and it holds well. Glue the other end to form a circle.

Flatten the circle and form it into the flower shape and add some hot glue in the middle. Hold the flower until the glue dries.

Add an embellishment in the middle of the flower to accent the flower and create the center.

For the flowers that I created on the wreath, I used punched circles, burlap circles, and buttons to accent them.

Enjoy!!!

Andrea

Door for hope

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month along with Juvenile Diabetes Month.
I was asked by a friend of mine from school that is asking everybody to "paint" their door purple during the month of November for awareness. In January of this year she lost her mother, Sherry Shumaker to Pancreatic Cancer. This month she wanted everyone to decorate their front door for awareness and to show support to those affected by this cancer. So I created this wreath for my front door.

I wanted to add some orange and greens for the season. The leaves also made it more seasonal too but still kept the majority of it focusing on the purple.

I used a green Styrofoam wreath as the base. I covered in in burlap fabric that I cut in to strips and wrapped around the wreath. I created all the flowers from scrapbook paper then scored and folded the paper to form the flowers. I added buttons and burlap circles to create the center. I die cut leaves and added some distressing ink on the leaves for some texture. Then I layered the flowers to create the surface of the wreath. I added a berry wreath behind it to add some more texture. I am so pleased with the way that it turned out. I can see myself making one in Christmas colors for next month. :)

Check back this weekend I will post a tutorial on how to make the flowers.

Thanks for looking!!!

Andrea

November is Juvenile Diabetes Awareness Month!

November is national juvenile diabetes awareness month and this month is a very busy month for me. As most of you know, my son, Bryson was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes 4 years ago at the age of 8. Like any other parent, the news of this was devastating....it still is. But as we go through life, we have choices to make. And the choice I made for myself was to be proactive and this is when Crimson Clover was born. I have spent the past 4 years making jewlery and donating a big portion of the proceeds to the JDRF in my sons name and every year we create a special piece where 100% of the proceeds are donated to the JDRF research project. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with my 5 children and create pieces for all of you to enjoy and know that I'm doing what God has put me on this Earth to do. This is my mission and my passion in life and I won't stop until we find a cure!


I wanted to take the time to share with you some of my favorite diabetes products on Etsy. You can buy the Crimson Clover diabetes necklace HERE.
I just LOVE this awesome cuff bracelet! It is so cool. I think I'm going to have to get one for Bryson. You can check it out HERE.

This diabetes bracelet is simple yet eleagant.....so pretty. Check it out HERE.

This diabetes bracelet is very cool, as well. I love the rustic feel of it with the pearls. You can find it HERE.

This shirt is just fun. Bryson laughed when he saw it. Sometimes you just have to have fun in light of a not so good situation. You can find it HERE.

What a great solution for sleeping!! Bryson's clip that holds his pump is just not comfortable when sleeping. This is fabulous!! I love it!! You can find it HERE.

This is such a cute necklace and it has my favorite black and white damask print! So so cute!! Check it out HERE.

And this necklace is just beautiful! I love how it is very unisex feeling and reminds me of the Lucky Brand jewelry that I love so much. Just gorgeous! You can find it HERE.


Help us find a cure for this devastating disease!

For more information on juvenile diabetes, please visit JDRF and ADA

xoxo,

tia

Halloween Decorating

Every neighborhood always has that one house that is decked out for Halloween where they have transformed their yard into a graveyard and their garage into a haunted house. I have to say that I absolutely LOVE those houses. And all the kids flock there and it turns into a neighborhood gathering. Well, that just isn't my house....maybe one of these days. I've always wondered where those people store that stuff the other 364 days of the year. I'm more of a vignette kinda gal with simple Halloween touches scattered around. Meet Helga Henson! Isn't she fab?! She is the witchiest of all witches. My mom just had her cut out of metal for me and surprised me last weekend with her. She is almost life size and even holds a real lantern!

The Witching Hour by the front door

Vintage inspired paper mache masks

Even the butlers pantry gets a little spooky!

Happy Haunting!

xoxo,

tia

I ♥ Halloween

Hi y'all! This is my favorite time of year and I L♥VE to decorate for Halloween. But with the recent move, I'm not doing a ton this year. My crafting buddies are in WV and Chicago and oh how I miss Janae stopping by my house with a big ole Starbuck's and helping me put up my Halloween decorations. We had so much fun together. I miss you, Janae but can't wait for you to come and visit and we can play decorating! :) One of my biggest dilemmas is that I can't find all of my Halloween decor because of the move, so I'm keeping it simple this year. I did manage to find my awesome vintage paper mache cat. She is so cute on the vintage plant stand that I found with my girl, Janae at the antique fair in Illinois and I can't wait to fill her with tons of candy. Well, not a ton considering my son is a type 1 diabetic but the cat will definitely be filled with some fun things. You get the idea.

Not sure if you all remember the huge white pumpkin I had out last year with the orange damask print.....well, can't seem to find it in all the boxes in the attic. So this year, since my walls are painted gray and everything is muted in the house, I decided to go with a black pumpkin and put this adorable white witch on it. I think I'm kinda lovin' it!

So I'm off now to the attic in search of more Halloween decor. Hope I find some more treasures!

xoxo,

tia