Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

December 17, 2013

DIY: Christmas Initial Wreath Tutorial Sponsored by The Wood Station


Every year I buy a fresh wreath from Costco.

They are beautiful.
They smell so good.
They are huge.
The are Inexpensive.

But this year I wanted something a little more fun.
So I decided to spruce it up a bit.

Okay, you...my readers know I'm not super crafty and so do my friends.
It isn't often I get crafty here on the blog but this Christmas Wreath Initial was to fun to pass up.

My friends over at The Wood Station offered to sponsor this post and provided all of the materials to decorate my wreath.

Now, that is my kind of Crafting!!!





My List of Supplies was the following:


  • Costco Wreath $15.00
  • Wood Initial from The Wood Station $7.95
  • Glitter $4.95  (This is one of those items that will last and last!)
  • Paint (Already had this on hand)
  • Mod Podge (Already had this on hand)
  • Rustic Bells 2-pack from The Wood Station $1.35
  • Ribbon (Odds and Ends I already had but probably about $2.00
  • Clear acrylic Sealer (Already had this on hand)
  • Bailing Wire (I love this stuff. I purchased 500 feet for 4.95 at Cal Ranch and it has lasted for years.
  • A small screw.





I used my favorite crafty minion (Kate, see below)  to paint for me. Ikea kids bowls and a big cookie sheet are the support for minimizing the painting mess. Apply one or two coats of paint on each side and make sure to be careful to smooth any thick edges. I didn't even paint my Letter. It came in a great, smooth condition. 


Once the paint was dried we applied Mod Podge the entire Letter. We did this super fast and I would recommend slowing down a little and taking your time. I only applied it to the top Letter and not to the sides.


You will want to glitter your Letter as soon as the Mod Podge is on because it will dry fast. You can apply the Mod Podge in sections if it is easier because I did miss some spots and you can tell where the glitter isn't as thick.

I pour the entire bottle of glitter on the letter and shack and move it around. This helps it disperse evenly. Then I pick up my letter and shake the remaining glitter off and dump it onto a large piece of paper. Then I bend the paper and put the glitter right back into the bottle. I only used 1/5 of my bottle of glitter doing this large letter. It goes a long way!


Let your letter dry for 20 minutes or so.

You can start making your bow while it dries.
There are many ways to make a bow and I did mine like this.






After I tied my bow I attached the bells using some decorative wire, but you can use any kind and I love bailing wire, which is cheap!

I sprayed my Rustic Bells with Sealer first so that the rust wouldn't get all over everywhere. It also darkened the color a bit.



Then I cut up my ribbon into about 7 inch pieces and layered them across the bow. 
I then used two pieces of ribbon to tie around the whole bow to keep them together.


I used a wire to attach the bow to the Letter.


I wanted my Initial to hang slanted a little on my wreath.
I put a screw in the base of the letter so that I could use a wire and tie it to the wreath to help it stay slanted. Oh ya, almost done.



Then I used a burlap ribbon to attach the Letter. This worked great for me because I used an R and a P and both of these allowed me to just tie the bow around the top. You might have to get a little more creative with an W or an X! Maybe use the screw method which I used for my slant.


 Now wasn't that easy.

Simple and Easy.

And guess what. I can just take my initial off after Christmas and store it until I buy my next Costco Christmas wreath!

Let me know if you end up making a wreath. 
I'd love to see your pictures too!

Email them to someoneinmindblog@gmail.com




Merry Christmas!!!!!!

*The Wood Station is Located in Blackfoot, Idaho.
If you are ever stopping by, I suggest you drop in!

June 6, 2012

How To Soften Butter Fast


*I posted this image on Instagram and have already had several phone calls asking me how I do it. So here are the super-dee-duper easy instructions.
  • Put hard butter into mixer.
  • Beat for a few seconds. Stop.
  • Blow hot air from hair dryer onto butter for 5-10 seconds. Make sure to move it around as you do it. you will see that the very thin top layer of the butter will start to melt.
  • Beat again to check for consistency. 
  • Repeat steps carefully 1 or two more times.
  • It doesn't take much so go easy.
And that is how you get soft butter on the fly. (Without melting the heck out of it in the Microwave!)

HAPPY BAKING!


January 19, 2012

J. Crew: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle



Have You seen J. Crew's Chartreuse? 

It is bright, bold, and beautiful.

When my sister Jenna sent me this dress to wear to her wedding I started panicking. The dress came in a size 14 people and that is a lot of chartreuse!

I had to take the sides in and let out the hem and it was barely long enough for me to wear. (Sorry, modesty is the best policy.) But I wore it, and I liked it.  

And ever since the wedding, this poor J. Crew dress has been hanging in my closet. I tried it on recently and it was huge. I knew that I wouldn't be wearing it again so I decided to alter it into a skirt for Kate.



Kate was so excited to be able to help me make a skirt for her. I took out the zipper so that I would be able to use it on another project. Then I simply cut the length off the dress, including the amazing lining, and sewed an elastic in the waist.  


Kate put this outfit together all by herself. She is so independent.

















































It was such an easy project. And it was fun doing it with Kate.

Now the only problem I have is Jealousy.

I wish I had a skirt in that color!

(If you read this post on Tuesday I am sorry for the re-post. The entire content of the post disappeared. Now that is weird. So I tried to rewrite it.)