How to make a Burlap Wreath

It's been awhile since I have made any new decor for my door.  When someone posted on FB asking if anyone could make them a burlap wreath, I took that as a challenge.  I actually went shopping for the supplies the very next day with coupons in hand.  Fortunately, everything I needed was at Hobby Lobby so it was indeed a one-stop shop.  How did it turn out?  I really love it.  I love the colors and I love the rustic look the burlap gives.

  

Here's what you need:  A wire wreath, pipe cleaners, and whatever color burlap you want.  I ended using 30 feet of the base brown burlap and 5-7 feet of the other colors. 

  

Use wire cutters to cut the pipe cleaners to 1/3.

 

Insert the burlap into the wire wreath, attaching with the pipe cleaner.

 

Once attached, make another loop by inserting the burlap through the wreath again.

Scrunch up the burlap and tie the loops of the burlap together using a pipe cleaner.

You can then use your fingers to fluff the burlap.

  

Continue until the entire wire wreath is covered.

 

Add your second color weaving between the loops.

  

Next, comes your third and so forth.

I used 5 different variations of burlap for this wreath.  I added an "H" to the bow just because I thought it would be cute.

    

I love the end result.  Total cost was just shy of $30 for all the materials (only because I had 50% off everything).  Therefore, without coupons, it would be around $60 for all the materials.

I had so much fun, I made myself a couple of more wreaths.

 

The more you make, the more materials you can reuse (the pipe cleaners, the base burlap, etc), and the cheaper it gets.  The color combinations are unlimited.

I'm glad that I took on this challenge.  My sister is too because that is the wreath I made her for fall.  I love the yellow flowers!  I think I have to make myself one, but alas, I'm out of doors ;).  Maybe next year.

Building a Cubby Organizer

My boys LOVE legos.  We have pieces in every nook and cranny of our house.  I'm sure some have found its way into our vacuum.  When I saw this cubby organizer at my neighbor's house, I knew I wanted it.  At the time, they didn't sell the cubby organizer any longer so I was a bit disappointed.  However, a couple of months ago, I was mentioning to my other neighbor about the organizer and she said she saw online.  It was a modified version of the one they sold a few years back, but the concept was the same.  I waited patiently for a friends and family sale and voila, it finally came.  Did I buy it?  Nope.  I was so disappointed they didn't sell it in the store and when I tried to purchase it online, adding in the shipping and surcharges didn't make it worth it to me.  I decided to build it myself.  Do I love it?  That's a BIG whopping YES!




I measured E.'s wall where the cabinet would hang and decided to make it to the dimensions of the one that was being sold.

I drew out how I was going to build it and it just so happened my dad came to visit that week and saw my drawing.  He decided to help me out.  We bought 1x6x8's and ripped the edges so they would be around 5 inches deep.

 

Then, he made notches in the wood so that the shelves would slide into place.

We contemplated if we wanted the shelves to be removable, but in the end, I decided to nail them in permanently.

 

One row done, 4 more to go!

I then puttied all the nail holes and then sanded everything down.

 

  

It sat in my garage for the longest time because I knew the next part would not be fun.

I had to stain, polyurethane, sand, then polyurethane and sand again all 25 cubby holes.  This was so tedious and I seriously contemplated whether or not it needed a second coat of polyurethane.  Of course, the perfectionism in me would never allow me to skip that step, but I was pretty drained with all the work that went into this project and that thought did cross my mind.

The total project was $17.  That's a great savings, but I did spend about 10 hours from start to finish.  In hind sight, I would have to say this would be a project that is WORTH purchasing over making.  If you have the time, its a great project to do.  If you don't, it's SO worth cost of the item plus shipping and surcharge.  I only say that because what I made is basically what was sold.  Had it been a custom piece that needed certain specific dimensions, that would be a different story. I did build a cabinet for E. on the other side of the bed that was custom and SO worth the time and effort, but that project will be saved for another post. 

 

For now, my kiddos have a place to put all their Lego creations.  Currently, it's home to all their Mixel creations.  I think it is super cute and I LOVE LOVE LOVE how it turned out.  I'm happy that all the hours I put into building it created a piece that I am proud of.

The bed and all cabinets are built!  3/4 of the room is done.  Only 1/4 to go!  E.'s room is turning out to be simply a hand-built room and I love it!

No Sew Baby Infant Tutu

Before my niece was born, I was off on a mission to figure out how to make a baby tutu for our first photo shoot.  Most tutus I found in the store were too big for what I needed so when I found this simple method, I was ecstatic.

 

I used my 50% off coupon at Michael's to pick up a roll of tulle.  I had 1/4" elastic at home already that I cut to 13 inches.

 

I sewed the elastic ends together so that it created a 12 inch band. I didn't know how big she was going to be so I just measured a newborn onesie.

 

Next, I cut strips of the tulle, folded it in half and tied a slip knot in the middle of the tulle.

 

I continued until the entire bolt of tulle was gone, placing the tulle evenly spaced around the elastic band.

 

I made a little tulle flower on the waist for a little extra touch.

 

Then, I made a matching headband.  I didn't know how to present it to my sister so I found one of A.'s teddy bears.  I thought it looked ridiculously cute.

And the final result of our photo shoot with the tutu turned out to be simply adorable.

Not bad for a 15 minute tutu I made during A.'s piano lesson.  Total cost for the tutu is $1.50 for the roll tulle.

After the blue tutu came a pink one which turned out to be just as cute.

Introducing Miss Madeline

I am excited to say that I am officially an aunt!  I am so thrilled to introduce my very first niece.  Miss Madeline was born July 5th, 2014.  She so graciously let us celebrate the fourth of July and then decided to come into the world after 16 hours of labor.  I was there for the 16 hours, but I am so happy I wasn't the one in labor.  She definitely was well worth the wait because she is the most adorable baby in the world.  At only 5 days old, here is Miss Maddie. 

 

 

Isn't she adorable?

 

Less than a week old and she definitely already shows a personality.

 

I love all her faces she makes.

 

 

I tried different filters on the images.

 

 

You can definitely see the difference.  These are the same images, but with different filters.

 

To set up for this photo shoot, I used a coffee table with a couch cushion on top.  I love couch cushions!  Lets zoom out and see what it looks like.  What a world of difference a little zoom can do, huh?  Yes, my son was watching cartoons while I was snapping pictures.

 

Snap and this is what I got.  She's wearing my blue tutu I made for her.  Tutorial will be coming up soon.

 

 

My brother in law took a picture of me working.  Doesn't she look so tiny laying there?

 

Once again, here's the close up of the picture I shot.

 

I've taken a picture of a babies before, but she was the best baby model ever.  I can't say that she cried once.

 

 

 

 

I'm ready for Halloween!  Can you guess who I am?

 

 

Taking a break, I placed her in this basket and then decided it would make the perfect photo.

 

 

 

 

 

Love.

I took hundreds more, but this post would be too long to show you all of them.

I'll end this post with M. giving a little sass!  Thanks so much for being such a wonderful model for me.  I had a great time.  This is only the beginning of many photo shoots I will have of you...next one will definitely be you and your cousins! 

I want to congratulate my beautiful sister and brother in law on their new addition.  Thank you so much for giving me the most perfect niece in the world and thank you for loving me so much that you gave her middle name my name.  Love you.