*New* Snowball Wreath to Ring in 2013

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Since our Snowball Wreath from nearly 2 years ago has been so popular and featured in the Dec/Jan 2013 issue of Ladies Home Journal, Andrea and I decided to do a spinoff of the original.  See the orginal post here.   I went back home to WV this past weekend to do a Crimson Clover jewelry show and we were able to get together and craft with our friends to create this new version.  We love how they both turned out.  I did mine with a neutral palette since that is how I decorate for the holidays and Andrea's version is in traditional Christmas colors.

➸ Here is how we made them:

1.  We started with styrofoam wreath forms and wrapped them. I wrapped mine in jute webbing and Andrea wrapped hers in ribbon to match her yarn.  We used burlap on our original wreaths.

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2.  Then the fun part begins....wrapping yarn around styrofoam balls of varying sizes.  Be sure to have lots of snacks on hand because this takes patience and a lot of time.  Did I mention it takes a lot of patience?  Use hot glue to secure the yarn.

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3.  Since we both have a love for paper, we decided to make paper lollies for the center of our wreath.  You need 2 pieces of same sized paper and fold them accordion style.  We used 12"x12" scrapbook paper.  Once you get one piece of paper folded accordion style, you fold it in half long ways and hot glue it to secure. It will make a paper fan.  Remember those from when you were a kid?  You make your second fan  and all you do is hot glue both fans together to form a full circle.

4.  We used a cardboard cake plate as the base of our paper lollies and hot glued it on the front of the wreath.  Then you just start randomly gluing your yarn balls to the wreath form.  We also added bells to fill in the spaces but you can use ornaments or whatever you like depending on what theme you go with.  And voila.....a gorgeous spin off of the Two Junk Chix snowball wreath!!

I used a grayish Houndstooth paper for the center of my wreath since I went with a neutral palette.  And then added one of my favorite elements....coffee filters!

Andrea used two sizes of paper lollies {thanks to my mad folding skills} and layered hers on top of one another.  I love how this turned out.  Andrea used a metal star and glitter snowflake on top of her lollies.  Gorgeous!!

Here is how they look on our front porches.  We are so happy with how they turned out.  We took something that we and everyone else loved and changed it up a bit to create these unique and original wreaths to adorn our home.

Giddy up and Happy Crafting,

tia & andrea

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Up cycled Glittered Christmas Bulbs

So I had an old strand of C7 Christmas lights that didn't work anymore and instead of throwing them away and ending up in a dumpster somewhere, I decided to give them a new life and some BLING! This is so easy to do. My kids even helped!

We brushed glittering glue on each bulb and then poured German glass glitter on them. You could use any glitter but I prefer German glass glitter because of its sparkly factor.

Once they dried, I thought I could put them in a glass vase or a glass cloche but why? That would be expected. So instead, I adorned this vintage stamp holder that my mom gave me. I gave it a quick paint job with my favorite robins egg blue paint from Design Master. I just love how it adds a little touch of unexpected to the Christmas decor.

Bling on!!!
Tia and Andrea

*Happy Fall Y'all*

I LOVE fall! And here in Virginia, we have a gorgeous fall. Every year I look forward to my husband's fried turkey. Yum!!! I have a little collection of vintage turkey candles but never know what to do with them.

So this year, I proudly displayed one of these little guys in a fun and easy DIY project. I had these quirky turquoise candle sticks and permanently attached an old glass jar lid to one of them. Added my little turkey candle, some burlap ribbon, coffee filters, and old flash cards and voila....a cute fall display. After Thanksgiving, I think a cute glittered snowman will replace the turkey.

Happy fall y'all!!!
Tia and Andrea

What? Thanksgiving is next week

I am really having a hard time believing that Thanksgiving is in a week!!!

I keep thinking didn't we just do this?!?  LOL

 

 

 

Anyways I'm trying to get with the program and do a little decorating for the holiday!

I made this burlap banner using some burlap ribbon from Hobby Lobby. The ribbon is woven tight and that made it easy to stamp on.    I love love love my Mr & Mrs mercury glass Pilgrims that I picked up last year.  Everything else is an mix of thrifted items and pumpkins. 

 

Andrea

 

Happy Homemade Halloween....a few days late!!!!

 

Even though Halloween is over, we wanted to share our costumes from this Halloween.

Tia and I both made our costumes this year!!!!

 

I was an owl.  I love owls so it was a perfect choice for me.   My mask was all feathers and makeup that I did.  That's my son in the picture with me.  He made the cutest Waldo.

 

 

Tia made a loofah and soap costume for her and her husband, Brian.   It was great and they won a trophy at a Halloween party that they went to.   

 

Love,
Andrea & Tia

CaNDy CoRN

A little over a week ago, I made a fast craft with my friend Valerie.     We made the Candy Corns out of cream burlap.   Valerie made us templates to use to trace out the Candy shapes onto the burlap.  Once the shapes were cut out, we painted the burlap with craft acyclic paint in candy corn colors.   Once the paint dried we added some jute to hang them from.    I already had the feather wreath on my door and I added my Candy Corn that I made to the wreath.    

    Happy Halloween!!!! 

Love Andrea



Crow pillow tutorial

Halloween Silk Screened Crow pillows

 

Supplies

Fabric

Pillow forms

Die cutting machine

Yudu machine

Vinyl

Cutting mat

fabric scissors

Rotary blade

Ruler

silk screen paint

heat tool

cardboard

 

Not to worry if you don't have a diecut machine or a yudu machine.  I will add cheats on how you can do the same look with out them.

 

Tinker my cat wanted to help make the pillows  :)

I used my used my silhouette machine to die cut a crow on sticky back vinyl.   Doesn't matter what color you use because you will be using it a mask to silk screen the image.  Cheaper version: cut out the shape that you want using an exacto knife or scissors in the vinyl.

I didn't take a picture and really wished I did but I will try to explain the best I can of the next step.  I  I used my yudo machine and a screen to silk screen the crow image on the fabric.  I stuck down the vinyl to the top of the screen and made sure that it was stuck down to the screen well so that no paint will leak under the image.  Not so pretty when paint leaks!!!    Cheaper version: If you don't have a yudu machine you can just stick the vinyl directly to the fabric.   You will just need to be careful when you apply paint.  

If using the screen you can silk screen the image following the directison with the machine.  I used cardboard tshirt forms under the fabric to hold it in place and so that it wouldnt bleed through.  If you are going to cheaper route used a paint brush and fabric paint to fill in the image.    Remove the vinyl and you will have your silkscreen image.

We used a heat tool to speed up the drying process. 

Silk screened Crow on the fabric that is the front of the pillow. 

I used black fabric and cut the fabric large enough for the pillow form that I was going to use.   Pinned the two pieces of fabric for the pillow and did a fast single stich to close all sides.   I pretend to sew so don't judge my skills.  LOL!!!    I added the form and did a fast stitch to close the pillow.   I pulled and frayed the fabric around the edges for a Halloween look once the pillow was completed.                              

Happy sewing or pretend sewing in which ever is your case. ;)

 

Happy Halloween!!!

Love,

Andrea