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Month: January 2011

Valentine Burlap Wreath

Even though I said goodbye to the Christmas decor days after the 25th of December, I only took down my Christmas wreath from the front door last week . The wreath didn’t scream Christmas, but it was time to say ‘See you next year’!  So the entrance to our home was naked.  My bare apple-green colored door just wasn’t cutting it till Springtime, so I adorned it with a crafty, handmade Valentine Wreath.

DIY: Valentine burlap wreath with handmade felt flowers by @Jenna_Burger, SASinteriors.net

Ta-Da…  The new and improved front door, dressed for V-day!  It’s beautified with the newly created handmade wreath using burlap and a few pretty flowers!

Supplies

  • Wire hanger (from any ole’ laundry mat or cleaners)
  • Scissors
  • Burlap
  • Florist wire (optional)
  • Plyers
  • And some crafty lovin’

Here’s the Process

Start with a wire hanger…everyone has them, right?  NO…not I.  I actually had to get one from my friend, Paula (thanks Paula!).  I am SOOO against hanging clothes on wire hangers and the only way to prevent my husband from hanging his clothes on them is to TOSS EM’.

Total diversion…  Here’s the next step…

Round the wire hanger (you may need two hangers depending on the size wreath you want to create), to look like this.
The wire hanger is probably too difficult to bend with your fingers (unless you’re the Hulk), so a pair of plyers or two, will definitely be helpful!
DIY: Valentine burlap wreath with handmade felt flowers by @Jenna_Burger, SASinteriors.net
1. Cut your burlap (I used 3/4 yard for the whole project / 1 yard was $3+/-) into 4″ wide strips.
2. Fold the burlap strips into an accordian style (as shown).  The fold should be about 3-4″ wide.
3 / 4. Poke and feed the wire through the center of the new accordian bunch.  Just keep on doing this until you create you wreath and you’ve used enough burlap to cover the wire.  I would actually recommend using at least one yard so the wreath is dense.  (I only had 3/4 yard at the time).
5. This step is optional.  If you have to attach two pieces of wire hanger, then follow this step.  I had to piece-meal two pieces together and attached the wire hanger with thin wire (florist wire) is good.

Done!

Well…NOT YET!
???

How about pretty little flowers? Yes, that will do the trick.

Welcome to My home

The flowers are made of felt and I attached them with a safety pin to the burlap, so I can use the wreath for other occasions throughout the year.

DIY: Valentine burlap wreath with handmade felt flowers by @Jenna_Burger, SASinteriors.net

Do you love these little felt flower beauties?

DIY: Valentine burlap wreath with handmade felt flowers by @Jenna_Burger, SASinteriors.net
Check out the Felt Flower Tutorial {HERE}

How do you adorn your front door for Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Mantel Decor

This week has been very busy and I took on WAY too many projects!  One positive result = I have LOTS to share with you.  My main focus was to decorate for Valentine’s (didn’t I just un-decorate from Christmas??).  To be honest, I’m really not into Valentine’s Day (doesn’t everyone say that) and I don’t usually change my decor for this somewhat minor holiday, but I had fun styling my home with a few homemade crafty creations!
Earlier this week, I posted pics of some Valentine’s ideas from other talented bloggers and I gave you a preview of the pillows (and now the mantel) that I pulled together for this LOVEly Holiday!
These cute pillows were super easy to make, especially using my all time favorite stand-by, Stitch Witch!  I own a sewing machine (thanks to my mom), but do not sew (YET!…it’s on my resolution list for 2011).  The other day, I picked up some fun V-day fabrics and accessories (ie: colorful buttons and iron-on appliques) and my creative juices started to floooow….  I had an idea in my head of the kind of pillows I wanted to create and here is the result:

The heart shape pillow is adorable, especially donning some colorful pink, orange, and yellow buttons!

And what about the L-O-V-E pillow ~ What do you think??  I used cheap inexpensive Muslin fabric ($2.50/yd) to create this vertical beauty.  I cut out the letters L, V, & E from felt and ironed them on, along with the heart applique for the O.  SIMPLE!
The other two pillows are basic sizes ~ the pink is 16:” x 16″ (which I’ll put in my daughter’s Honeysuckle colored room after V-day) and the black pillow is 8″ x 16″.  And of course the little mini….4″ x 6″
{The LOVE Mantel} 

Mostly everything on the mantel is repurposed from other places in my home. 


The candle pillars I purchased awhile ago from AC Moore ($5-$8).  The two taller pillars hold candles and the smaller version has newly made yarn balls.  They are so stinkin’ cute!!  Many of you knitters out there probably have a ton of ‘real’ yarn balls, but these are fake using styrofoam balls with yarn wrapping around (shhhh…)Jenn just did a tutorial on how to make them ~ check it out.  

Standing in front, is my latest LOVE plaque that I bought from AC Moore for less than $1.  It’s actually a picture frame, which I removed and added a little love heart. 

Adorable Valentine Subway Art ~ Get it for Yourself.
And of course, our tribute to Philly: a mini LOVE sculpture.
I dressed up the candles on the candelabra (from Willow House) using some burlap strands. 

That’s my wedding bouquet from 7 years ago….how nice to incorporate into my LOVE mantel!

LOVE the garland on my newly retiled fireplace?  I cut out hearts from white construction paper and hung it with two layers of red yarn (used from the yarn balls).
This was a really fun project to work on…I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
Have you decorated your mantel for Valentine’s Day?
I’ll be linking this to Home Stories of A to Z

Valentine’s Mantel Decor

This week has been very busy and I took on WAY too many projects!  One positive result = I have LOTS to share with you.  My main focus was to decorate for Valentine’s (didn’t I just un-decorate from Christmas??).  To be honest, I’m really not into Valentine’s Day (doesn’t everyone say that) and I don’t usually change my decor for this somewhat minor holiday, but I had fun styling my home with a few homemade crafty creations!
Earlier this week, I posted pics of some Valentine’s ideas from other talented bloggers and I gave you a preview of the pillows (and now the mantel) that I pulled together for this LOVEly Holiday!
These cute pillows were super easy to make, especially using my all time favorite stand-by, Stitch Witch!  I own a sewing machine (thanks to my mom), but do not sew (YET!…it’s on my resolution list for 2011).  The other day, I picked up some fun V-day fabrics and accessories (ie: colorful buttons and iron-on appliques) and my creative juices started to floooow….  I had an idea in my head of the kind of pillows I wanted to create and here is the result:

The heart shape pillow is adorable, especially donning some colorful pink, orange, and yellow buttons!

And what about the L-O-V-E pillow ~ What do you think??  I used cheap inexpensive Muslin fabric ($2.50/yd) to create this vertical beauty.  I cut out the letters L, V, & E from felt and ironed them on, along with the heart applique for the O.  SIMPLE!
The other two pillows are basic sizes ~ the pink is 16:” x 16″ (which I’ll put in my daughter’s Honeysuckle colored room after V-day) and the black pillow is 8″ x 16″.  And of course the little mini….4″ x 6″
{The LOVE Mantel} 

Mostly everything on the mantel is repurposed from other places in my home. 


The candle pillars I purchased awhile ago from AC Moore ($5-$8).  The two taller pillars hold candles and the smaller version has newly made yarn balls.  They are so stinkin’ cute!!  Many of you knitters out there probably have a ton of ‘real’ yarn balls, but these are fake using styrofoam balls with yarn wrapping around (shhhh…)Jenn just did a tutorial on how to make them ~ check it out.  

Standing in front, is my latest LOVE plaque that I bought from AC Moore for less than $1.  It’s actually a picture frame, which I removed and added a little love heart. 

Adorable Valentine Subway Art ~ Get it for Yourself.
And of course, our tribute to Philly: a mini LOVE sculpture.
I dressed up the candles on the candelabra (from Willow House) using some burlap strands. 

That’s my wedding bouquet from 7 years ago….how nice to incorporate into my LOVE mantel!

LOVE the garland on my newly retiled fireplace?  I cut out hearts from white construction paper and hung it with two layers of red yarn (used from the yarn balls).
This was a really fun project to work on…I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
Have you decorated your mantel for Valentine’s Day?
I’ll be linking this to Home Stories of A to Z

DIY: Fireplace Surround Transformation

With the second week of the new decade upon us, I have lots of tile projects brewing in my head.  So far for 2011, I’ve accomplished three (of many) projects that have been on my mind since we moved into our home almost a year ago.  My latest project has been re-tiling the surround of the fireplace. 

Here is a preview of the completed fireplace:

{The TRANSFORMATION}
The first step of the transformation took place last year and that step alone was {HUGE}!  We updated the mantel by painting it a dark brown from the original oak finish.  There were decorative faux-appliques on the flat surface that we also removed to create a more transitional look.  Here are picture of the before, middle, and after!
This is a ‘pic’ from when we moved into the house….
fireplace = in need of some MAJOR LOVE!
We painted it a dark brown color, but left the tile.
It just didn’t go with our decor, so we…..
…transformed it to THIS! Voila….The new fireplace surround!
I’ve previously posted a tile project {click here} that I’ve worked on and provided a step-by-step tutorial, but here it is again!
{Step By Step to install TILE}
Tiling seems like a difficult process, but honestly, it really isn’t.  Just take your time…that’s the KEY! To start off, make sure the area/surface you are working is completely clean.  I also want to add that I DID NOT remove the old tile…we tiled right on top of the OLD tile.  Some may say this is a mistake, BUT, I did not want to deal with removing the old tile and it isn’t a surface that will be walked on…what the HAaaaaY…let’s go for it 🙂
Before using any adhesive, do a DRY RUN.  Layout your tile pattern to make sure it will work how you want it. Once you put adhesive down ~ YOU ARE COMMITTED!  Mark off where you want the tile to be cut. THEN….
…Use a WET SAW to cut your pieces!  This is my BEST ADVICE for the whole project….Did you hear me??  Definitely USE a Wet Saw!!!   In previous tile projects, we used a manual tile cutter…BIG MISTAKE.  You will waste sooo much tile and the project will take double the time.  Invest in a Wet Saw….we bought ours for $45 from Home Depot….it’s worth it!
Once the tiles are cut to size, it’s time to put on the adhesive. (Keep on reading for my recommendations on adhesive & grout).  Throw a glob of adhesive on the back of your tile OR on the surface you are tiling.  Because we were tiling a small area versus an entire floor, putting the adhesive on the back of the tile was MUCH easier!  Then using a V-grooved trowel, evenly coat the back of the tile (holding the trowel at a 45 degree angle) and adhere it to the surface. Set the first tile in place, pressing it firmly into the mortar.
For this project and my last tile project, I used a pre-mix adhesive and grout.  What a great product…no need to bother with mixing the grout powder and water.  BUT, this product is costly and is really best when tiling small areas.  For larger tiling projects, I would recommend a separate adhesive and grout mixture (only because of the cost factor).  For this project it worked perfectly.  Forgot to add…it is available in a variety of colors…I used alabaster.
We installed the tile at the top first and due to the laws of gravity, the tile started to fall…GGGrrreat!  SO… we used our son’s skateboard ramp to hold them in place….it worked perfectly, YAY (I knew that darn thing would come in handy)!!  NOTE: If tiling a vertical surface, you may need to use supports to keep the tile in place.
Then we started on the sides of the surround…
Then the floor…
 DONE!
 Because of the area I was working in, I didn’t want the fireplace mantel to get ruined, so using painters tape, I taped the surrounding surfaces.
 
 Tile is INSTALLED and now it’s time to GROUT!

This is the second time I grouted using a Ziploc bag and it made the process SO easy.  Usually the task of grouting is quite laborious, but NOT with a Ziploc bag!  Just like you would frost a cake, put your grout mixture into a Ziploc bag and grout-away!  

Squeeze out the grout and fill each joint with more than enough of the mixture ~ THEN…
….Once all the joints are filled with enough grout, start to wipe it away with a damp sponge (wring dripless) to remove grout residue.  Use a sponge that is specific for tile ~ one side is a typical sponge and the other side has a rough, abrasive surface.  The rough side is important to remove the grout off the tile surface, but DON’T scrub the joints!
Remove the haze immediately; If the tile starts to look like this, wipe the haze with a damp cloth again.  Then buff the tiles with a clean, dry cloth.  This may happen several times. Then…

YOU’RE DONE!
{COMPLETE}
I am SO happy to have finally completed this project.  It’s been on my to-do-list for a long time and I’m very happy with the results.
Do you have any tile projects planned around your house?

DIY: Fireplace Surround Transformation

With the second week of the new decade upon us, I have lots of tile projects brewing in my head.  So far for 2011, I’ve accomplished three (of many) projects that have been on my mind since we moved into our home almost a year ago.  My latest project has been re-tiling the surround of the fireplace. 

Here is a preview of the completed fireplace:

{The TRANSFORMATION}
The first step of the transformation took place last year and that step alone was {HUGE}!  We updated the mantel by painting it a dark brown from the original oak finish.  There were decorative faux-appliques on the flat surface that we also removed to create a more transitional look.  Here are picture of the before, middle, and after!
This is a ‘pic’ from when we moved into the house….
fireplace = in need of some MAJOR LOVE!
We painted it a dark brown color, but left the tile.
It just didn’t go with our decor, so we…..
…transformed it to THIS! Voila….The new fireplace surround!
I’ve previously posted a tile project {click here} that I’ve worked on and provided a step-by-step tutorial, but here it is again!
{Step By Step to install TILE}
Tiling seems like a difficult process, but honestly, it really isn’t.  Just take your time…that’s the KEY! To start off, make sure the area/surface you are working is completely clean.  I also want to add that I DID NOT remove the old tile…we tiled right on top of the OLD tile.  Some may say this is a mistake, BUT, I did not want to deal with removing the old tile and it isn’t a surface that will be walked on…what the HAaaaaY…let’s go for it 🙂
Before using any adhesive, do a DRY RUN.  Layout your tile pattern to make sure it will work how you want it. Once you put adhesive down ~ YOU ARE COMMITTED!  Mark off where you want the tile to be cut. THEN….
…Use a WET SAW to cut your pieces!  This is my BEST ADVICE for the whole project….Did you hear me??  Definitely USE a Wet Saw!!!   In previous tile projects, we used a manual tile cutter…BIG MISTAKE.  You will waste sooo much tile and the project will take double the time.  Invest in a Wet Saw….we bought ours for $45 from Home Depot….it’s worth it!
Once the tiles are cut to size, it’s time to put on the adhesive. (Keep on reading for my recommendations on adhesive & grout).  Throw a glob of adhesive on the back of your tile OR on the surface you are tiling.  Because we were tiling a small area versus an entire floor, putting the adhesive on the back of the tile was MUCH easier!  Then using a V-grooved trowel, evenly coat the back of the tile (holding the trowel at a 45 degree angle) and adhere it to the surface. Set the first tile in place, pressing it firmly into the mortar.
For this project and my last tile project, I used a pre-mix adhesive and grout.  What a great product…no need to bother with mixing the grout powder and water.  BUT, this product is costly and is really best when tiling small areas.  For larger tiling projects, I would recommend a separate adhesive and grout mixture (only because of the cost factor).  For this project it worked perfectly.  Forgot to add…it is available in a variety of colors…I used alabaster.
We installed the tile at the top first and due to the laws of gravity, the tile started to fall…GGGrrreat!  SO… we used our son’s skateboard ramp to hold them in place….it worked perfectly, YAY (I knew that darn thing would come in handy)!!  NOTE: If tiling a vertical surface, you may need to use supports to keep the tile in place.
Then we started on the sides of the surround…
Then the floor…
 DONE!
 Because of the area I was working in, I didn’t want the fireplace mantel to get ruined, so using painters tape, I taped the surrounding surfaces.
 
 Tile is INSTALLED and now it’s time to GROUT!

This is the second time I grouted using a Ziploc bag and it made the process SO easy.  Usually the task of grouting is quite laborious, but NOT with a Ziploc bag!  Just like you would frost a cake, put your grout mixture into a Ziploc bag and grout-away!  

Squeeze out the grout and fill each joint with more than enough of the mixture ~ THEN…
….Once all the joints are filled with enough grout, start to wipe it away with a damp sponge (wring dripless) to remove grout residue.  Use a sponge that is specific for tile ~ one side is a typical sponge and the other side has a rough, abrasive surface.  The rough side is important to remove the grout off the tile surface, but DON’T scrub the joints!
Remove the haze immediately; If the tile starts to look like this, wipe the haze with a damp cloth again.  Then buff the tiles with a clean, dry cloth.  This may happen several times. Then…

YOU’RE DONE!
{COMPLETE}
I am SO happy to have finally completed this project.  It’s been on my to-do-list for a long time and I’m very happy with the results.
Do you have any tile projects planned around your house?

DIY: Kitchen Window Valance

For the past week my world has been filled with shredding, decluttering, organizing, and the start of new projects for 2011.  My mind has been going non-stop about all the things that I want to tackle…of course, I’d love to snap my fingers and it all be done like Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeannie, but that’s not reality.  SO…where to begin… I’ve been working on multiple projects and gave you a sneak peek of one yesterday….here’s my latest….

Since moving into our home almost a year ago, I’ve been wanting to install a valance at the kitchen window.  The window is almost 90″ wide, so I envisioned creating a treatment that was unique, yet one that didn’t compromise the entering light.

{Kitchen Window ~ COMPLETE}

 

{Materials}

I chose a cotton material that has a WHITE background with taupe accents; It has a casual look and complements my taupe-colored, silk dining room draperies.  Not handy on a sewing machine (like me)? Stitch Witch is your answer…create anything using this fusible tape and your iron! Depending on the fabric, this project could cost less than $20.

Supply breakdown:
  • 3 yds of fabric (my window is 89″ wide & I used about 2.5 yards ) = $3.99/yd = $11.97
  • Stitch Witch fusible tape (heavy duty) = $3 +/-
  • Ribbon (18 feet long ~ I used 4 feet) = $3.99
  • 1 x 2 wood strip = $2.99
  • ‘L’ Brackets = $3 +/-
  • Screws (I already had)
  • Iron (hopefully you already have this)
My Project Total:  $25
Depending on the materials you  already have on hand, the project total could be even less!

 

{Breakdown}
Determine the length (drop) of the valance and double it, so the fabric is two layers.  (Hint: I used my wood floor to ‘assist’ in keeping the fabric and wood strip aligned). Once the fabric is positioned at the right length, but the wood strip underneath and pin the fabric to it (so it doesn’t move while stapling).  Then STEP TWO!
STAPLE! Using your staple gun, afix the fabric to the top of the wood strip.
Remove the pins.
Wrap the fabric around to the back of the wood strip, and STAPLE.
Once that’s complete, trim the fabric.
The CORNER! Since the top edge of the wood strip would be against the ceiling, I wasn’t concerned to make it look “pretty”.  I wrapped the fabric around the side to create a boxed corner to hide the side / return of the wood strip.
HANGING TIME! Install the ‘L’ brackets to the underside of the valance.  Then it’s ready to hang.  My window condition was a little tricky and I had to install the valance on the window casing, but it would be best to install it on the wall or against the ceiling. (Hint: Position your window treatment as high as possible on the wall ~ it makes the room feel taller, and also provides close to the same amount of light to enter)
For my valance, I wanted the ribbon to align with the window mullion, so I measured in from the side and stapled one side of the ribbon to the top of the wood strip (This step was done BEFORE installing the valance).
Once I determined the desired ‘swag’ length, I stapled the ribbon on the underside of the wood strip.
{Simple & Sophisticated}
Thanks for checking out my new window valance!  This was a fairly easy project, but it’s always best to have a helping hand, especially with a window that’s almost 8′ long, like mine!
Do you have any windows that need updating with new treatments?

 

You can find my projected linked up to:

 

WhisperWood Cottage
As well as these linky parties