St Patrick's Day Wreath

Valentine's Day is over and the next holiday is right around the corner: St. Patrick's Day! Here, in Savannah, St. Patrick's Day is HUGE! We're talking one of the largest in the country. We're talking 400,000 visitors a year large! Every year they have a huge parade including pipe and drum teams from around the nation, marching bands, floats, military, and more. The city turns green! It's green everywhere from people, animals, foutains, and beer. Depending on what part of the route you're standing, you could be watching a 3 hour parade. The parade is so big and there are so many people, that the county has to close the schools for the day because the buses can't get downtown with all the people and activities going on.

Two years ago, some of my friends went down for St. Patrick's Day (this was when I lived in Beaufort, SC). We had a blast and you can definitely meet some interesting people. For us it was a day trip, and we were not able to stay and enjoy the crazy night of St. Patrick's Day drinking that follows the daytime, more family oriented festivities. I have experienced the crazy night time festivities but that was four years ago. Here are a few pictures from St. Patrick's Day 2010.

We do not know this leprechaun but we just had to have a picture with him

Me in my St Patty's Day gear!

 Even the horses get all dolled up.

 All the fountains in Savannah, and there's a good amount are dyed green. The used to dye the Savannah River green but the EPA got involved and so now the city is not allowed. 

OK, I guess that's enough for my trip (and apparent plug) about St. Patrick's Day in Savannah. The real reason you stopped by my blog today: a St. Patrick's Day craft. To help get in the St. Patrick's Day spirit, I decided a wreath would be the perfect project! I had seen this wreath over at The Idea Room and new I wanted to make a wreath like this. It was perfect for a St. Patrick's Day wreath. All I needed was green felt and a shamrock-shaped wreath form. I looked everywhere; in any store I thought would sell wreath forms, online, and even sent my mom in Atlanta looking and you know what we found: NOTHING! Big bummer.

After finally giving up, I decided it would still be cute if I made this wreath in the traditional (traditional sounds so much better than standard, don't ya think?) circle shape. So this what I set out to do. I will continue to search for a shamrock-shaped wreath form, or eventually try my hand at making my own.

Materials Needed

Foam Wreath Form

Green Felt (you can use any shade of green you feel is appropiate for St. Patrick's Day. I chose a Kelly Green, But I know some people feel a darker green is better. That choice is up to you. Also, it is probably more cost efficient to buy the felt by the yard. The fabric store by my house was closed when I went to by my supplies so I bought the pre-cut sheets instead, but next time I will definitely wait for the fabric store to open)
Scissors

Straight Pins
Circle Template (this can be anything: a cup, a jar, a can, a stencil, etc. I used a circle template that I already owned which made the process easier, but it's definitely not necessary. The link provides you with one very similar to what I have
Gold Ribbon

***Note: This can be a very time consuming project, so I chose to work on this after the kids went to bed to help complete this project faster. Pop in a movie, grab a glass if wine (or tea, coffee or whatever you want to drink) and get started

1.   I started out by using my circle template and creating TONS ( and I mean tons) of 3" circles. I don't know how many I created but it was a lot. I used a green washable marker so that lines could wash out and were less likely to be seen.

2.   After creating all my circles, I cut them out. This was definitely the most time consuming part.

3.   Now that all the circles were cut out, it was time to put them on the wreath. I began by folding a circle in half.

4.   Then I folded it in half again, so you have folded it into fourths

5.   I then stuck a straight pin through the tip of what no looks like a pie piece.

6.   Take your pin and circle and stick it into the foam wreath form, pushing all the way down.

7.   Repeat steps 4-7 for each individual circle, placing each pin close together so it fills in any holes and gaps. I did not put any on the back, but I did put them on the top and bottom. I figured it make it easier to hang on the door without all the puffiness on the back.

8.   After finishing the wreath, I took some gold ribbon, cut it the length I wanted and then attached to the back of the wreath with a few extra straight pins. You could also hot glue as well.

I LOVE how it turned out and I'm already wanting to make another for other holidays and/or shapes!

Have you made anything for St. Patrick's Day yet? How about any wreaths?  Share it with me. You can upload your pics and links (if you have a site) via email, the Flickr group, or on my Facebook page and you could end up on Show Me Saturday!

Make It Monday: Tissue Pom Poms

Oh, Martha Stewart, how I idolize you! OK, not completely but I do idolize her craftiness and home decor, just not the criminal activity. lol.

Browsing the Marta Stewart website, I found these tissue pom-poms. They are super cute and she shed some light on how easy they are to make. I immediately thought this would be a great decoration for Jordyn's birthday party.

Tana (you know the fabulous friend from this post and this post) was recruited to help me make these pom poms. She was the one suggested making a post about them (feeling frazzled about the party, it completely slipped my mind, so yet another HUGE thanks goes out to her)

Make It Monday: XOXO Canvas

The Valentine's Bug has really hit. Last week I shared this with you. And this week, I have another Valentine's Day decor project. I first saw this post on Tatertots and Jello, which is a fantastic blog I follow. I loved the idea  of three canvas pieces coordinating into one.

I knew I wanted to do something Valentine's Day related and I knew I wanted to attach them together. Using Tatertos and Jello's post as my inspiration, I created a piece of art to fit my style.

Organize It Friday: Media Organization (and my first FREE printable!)

My husband and I love movies. Our kids (ok mainly our son, our daughter is too little) like movies too. And the Wii. Over the years, our collection of movies, TV shows and video games has grown. It has grown SO much that we don't have enough room on our 2 (mismatching) DVD stands. While they are organized (and slightly categorized and alphabetized) the extras stack neatly on the floor next to the stands.

I love my husband but he can be cheap sometimes. I have been asking, no begging, for this for about 2 years. I love the color, I love the fact that it has doors so you can't see the cases. I love everything about it. He keeps saying no and coming up with reasons why not to get it. A few months ago, we moved from out apartment to a house and in that move, one of the DVD stands broke. Not heartbroken at all, I finally had an excuse to get me media cabinet. We had decided to wait til after Christmas since it wasn't an absolute neccesity.  Besides, my parents had hinted that maybe they would get it for us for Christmas (they did not but us a freezer instead. WAY better). I had also decided that I wasn't going to pull the movies out of the two large boxes we have for two reasons: a) With only one stand, it would leave even more DVDs on the floor, and b) we have an adorable little monkey (aka daughter) who finds it absolutely entertaining to pull them off the stand and throw them on the floor and then mess up the ones stacked neatly on the floor (another reason to have a cabinet with doors). The holidays are over, and I still haven't gotten the cabinet. At $119, it's not to expensive, but my car needs new tires so the cabinet would have to wait. 

I, on the other, can not wait even longer to empty these two boxes and have easy access to our movies. I needed to come up with another alternative that is cheaper, yet still organized and stylish. Where can I go for something that would work and be in my budget? Yup, Target!

Make It Monday: Valentine's Blocks

I've never been very excited about Valentine's Day but this year I am. I don't know why. Maybe it's because my husband will be home for it this year, so this will be our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife. With two kiddos, we won't be going anywhere, but we can have our own at-home Valentine's Day and tell each other how awesome the other is and how much we love each other. No, really, my husband isn't the mushy gushy type, so he'll probably buy me a joke card and candy in a heart-shaped box, while I'm at work on Valentine's Day and call it a day. HAHA! Gotta love him!

Repurpose Wednesday: Lego Table

I am super excited to share this project with you today! I found this project when I first joined pinterest. It's from a FABULOUS blog, Skip To My Lou. If you haven't checked out her blog, you should. It's great!

When I found her Ikea Table turned Lego Table I knew I had to make one for my Lego-loving 6 year old.

We don't have an Ikea close to us. The closest Ikea is 5 hours away in Atlanta. I know, it's horrible. I looked for the side table they used online but it is only sold in stores, so ordering online was out. Originally I was going to have my husband build the table, thinking it wouldn't cost that much to build the table. And it's not terribly expensive but more than I thought or was hoping it be. We instead found this Parsons side table from Walmart. Online it shows it for $18 but we paid $12.99. This was definitely cheaper than building the table ourselves. Plus we had already spent enough on the base plates. Those suckers get costly.

Make It Monday: Christmas Card Display

I love Christmas cards and I love to display the cards we receive from our friends and family. But this year I wanted to display them in a different way than in previous years. I was looking around on the internet for some ideas when I came across an idea where a piece of wide ribbon was attached to their wall and then the cards were attached to the ribbon.

I like that idea but I need to change it around slightly. Having a long ribbon attached to the wall won't work in our house with a 10 month old who likes to get into everything. Yes, I could have made the ribbon stop just out of her reach, but the moment someone would pick her up get near the display it would be hers. So, where could I display my cards? 

The kitchen cabinets! It's perfect! They are out of reach of little hands and my kitchen isn't usually decorated much for Christmas. What makes this display even better is how simple it is. Try it out for yourself!

Materials Needed

Wide ribbon 

Packaging tape

Clothes pins

Paint (optional)

1.   I painted all my clothes pin. This is an optional step you skip if you don't have time. Don't have any paint? Try decorating your clothes pins with scrapbook paper and mod podge.

2.   While the paint is drying on your clothes pins, cut your ribbon so that is is long enough to wrap from the top of cabinet to the bottom of cabinet with the ends being taped inside the cabinet door

3.   Once your clothe pins have finished drying, if you painted or decorated them, you can hang up your cards!

DONE!

Time for your thoughts, comments and suggestions! What did you think of my card display? Would you change anything. I'd love to see your card displays. Did you use my tutorial, or did you come up with a totally different way to display your Christmas cards. Submit your photos (and any comments about it if you choose) to the Flickr page and then look for your submissions Saturday. I can't wait to see yours!

Closet Dividers

I LOVE to organize our closets. Except for our daughter's closet, they are organized length of sleeves followed by color for shirts and for bottoms, by length (shorts, capris, pants) followed by color. Yes, I m aware that it's crazy but our clothes look good in the closet. HAHA! And it is very easy to keep up with. Anyhow, with Jordyn, her clothes are a little different. Since she (and every other baby) changes sizes so often the first year, I have her clothes divided by size and within those sizes by color. I have many different sizes hung up in her closet and my husband just doesn't get that they are organized by size. He thinks if it's hung up, then it must fit her now. So I have come home from work many days with 7 month old baby wearing 12 month clothes. It's quite a site to see.

I have decided I needed to do something so that Jordyn is wearing the right size clothes, and what better way to make it easier for my husband to pick out clothes when I am not home then Closet Dividers.

These dividers are super simple, and inexpensive.

Here's what you need to get started:

Thin cardboard (I used a cereal box, but you can use a gift box too)

Scrapbook Paper

Scissors

Pen, Pencil, or Marker

Something round to help make your dividers (I used a formula lid)

Smaller round object for the hole in the center (needs to be slight larger than the pole for the closet rack)

Mod Podge and Foam Brush ( Can you believe I forgot to put that in the picture?)

1. Take your large round object and trace it onto the cardboard.

2. Slide your round object up some but be sure to overlap your first circle and trace your object

3. Using a straight edge connect the edges of circles together so that you form an oval on the outer shape.

4. Repeat Steps 1-3 for as many dividers as you want.

5. Cut out your dividers on the outer lines for all your dividers

6. Next use your smaller circle to trace a circle that will be cut out for the hole that will hang up the dividers.

7. Use your straight edge to draw a a line from the inner circle to the edge of cardboard. (This is what will allow you to hang up the dividers.

8. Cut out the holes and cut the line of your dividers.

9. Take your scrapbook paper and trace your dividers on the papers of your choice. Be sure you trace your divider once on each side. After tracing your paper, cut out the paper and match them up with each divider.

10. Place a thin layer of Mod Podge on one side of your divider. Line up your paper and apply the paper. Flip your divider over and repeat the process for the other side. Repeat this step for all of your dividers.

11. Lastly, label your dividers. You could be more creative than I was on this step. You don't have to write on them. You could use scrapbook stickers or anything else you choose. Use your imagination.

Wooden Wall Letters

I love the wooden wall letters you see in a baby's room, but they can be so expensive especially to have them customized and match your room decor.I'm not really a painter but I knew there had to be something I could do to make my own letters for my daughter's room. Then it hit me....I could put some scrapbook paper on them.

It was off to Michael's to buy my needed materials:

Unfinished wooden letters

Scrapbook paper

Paint (optional)

Masking Tape (optional)

Mod Podge

Scissors

2 Paintbrushes (a foam brush for the Mod Podge and a regular paintbrush for painting)

Step 1: Cover the front of your letter with masking tape. This is totally optional but I did it so I wouldn't get paint on the front of my letter. I chose a dark paint and a light colored paper for the front so I didn't want the paint to show through the paper if I accidentally got any on the front.

Step 2: Paint the back and sides of your letters. Again, this is an optional step as well. You won't see the back and sides all that much once the letters are one the wall but I, personally, think they give the letters a more finished look.

Step 3: Trace your letters onto the back of your paper. Also make sure the front of your letter is touching the back of your paper.

Step 4: Once you have traced all your letters, then cut the letters out.

Step 5: Your next step is to apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to your wooden letters. (Note: It's hard to see the layer of Mod Podge, but I wanted to show you how thin I made it)

Step 6: Carefully place your cut out paper letter onto your wooden letter and let dry. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each letter.

Step 7: After the Mod Podge has dried, you want to seal your paper over the letters so they don't peel. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge over the paper and let dry. (Again, you may not be able to see my layer too well but hopefully you can and it will help)

Step 8: Once the Mod Podge dries, attach your ribbon to the back of your letters, or wall hangings to the back if you choose not to use ribbon. And then hang up your letters.

Don't have the time to make your own? Contact me here for information and pricing on letters for your home, whether it's for a nursery or just for home decor. We can customize the letters the way you want including colors, certain fonts, and size of letters as well as hanging options!