Fall Wreath Tutorial

Leslie here again. First off, can I just say that I love Clarissa? How cute are those Tinkerbell slippers? I can't wait to see Little #1's Halloween costume! But, in the meantime, since Clarissa is a busy and amazing mother, I will post a wreath that I made today. I bought most of my supplies at a local thrift store, except for the leaves. I got a huge (well, not huge, it was little, but probably had over 25 leaves in it) bag of leaves from Target for $1. I love that store! I mostly only buy the items in those discount bins when you first come in (well, at my store at least), but it's still a great store.

So, Step 1: Buy and gather supplies. A wreath, some ribbon, some leaves, and a garland (or you could do picks, flowers, etc.)
Step 2: Disassemble garland and place leaves, flowers, etc. in individual piles.

Step 3: Make a bow. I didn't take a picture of bow making, but it's pretty simple. You start with a small loop first (this will become the little loop in the center of the bow), then make progressively bigger loops behind/underneath it until you get to your desired fullness. I did three on each side. Then, before cutting the ribbon off the spool, leave a tail on one side. For your other tail, you will cut another piece of ribbon, of equal length and attach it with wire. I used a tie from a bread bag, but took the paper coating off. That same piece of ribbon is used to tie the bow together, so it doesn't fall apart. Use one end of the center loop to hide the wire under. Voila! You made a bow!

Step 4: Arrange your pretty things into desired design. I didn't quite do this, which I should have done.

Step 5: Start gluing things on. I started at the center, which was kinda good, kinda not. The smart thing would have been to arrange everything first, then glue, starting with the bottom layer, but I forgot to do that, as illustrated by my picture.
Voila! You have made a cute fall wreath.
The awesome thing about this wreath is that when I added up how much I spent on this wreath, it came to $5, and I didn't even use everything. I only used about 1/4 of one garland (I got two four foot garlands for $2), less than a yard of the ribbon, and six leaves from the bag from Target. So now I have a ton of leaves from the garland, and a few flowers and stuff to make a centerpiece. I want to make one of those horizontal wreath things to go around a raised bowl I have on my table with a candle in it right now.

My chic trunk!

Remember my junk find? The beautiful trunk from Goodwill? Well, I finally finished the outside of it! I know your dying to see what it looks like...but first you have to listen to me ramble about beautification process...or you could just scroll down and check it out. My original plans for this trunk were altered twice-but I am so happy with how it turned out! Originally I was planning on doing the brass hardware a silver color-because I think that is soooo classy. I roughed it up a little bit with sandpaper and found that it was extremely difficult to get the paint to stick in any way where it didn't look painted...so I decided to go with the flow of it and painted the trim white, I was hoping it would turn out to look vintage chic-or purposely obvious that I had painted it. The rest was a breeze to paint-just took a little bit of sweet time, and 2 coats. I sealed it with a spray sealant so that it wouldn't get roughed up too bad in the toy room. After all---poor girl has been through a lot! I think she turned out lovely-and she matches my LR couches, so when she has retired from the baby toy business I will move her in to be a coffee table or a blanket storage for those cold Houston nights. LOL. As if that ever happened!
Before:After:
What do you think?

Floral Window Treatments

I made these cute floral window treatments to dress up the windows in my living room a little bit. It was super easy to do and I made the arrangements myself-Of course my dear husband hung them up for me--(I hate hanging things above my head!) If you are looking to make something like this--the big flowers end up looking the best, they have more "bang" and are usually more detailed and draw the eye. Love it!
The Cost of this project was:
The baskets were 50% off at Hobby Lobby and came to $4.00 each
The Flowers (also 50% off) came to around 10.00
Styrofoam adjuster was .75 cents
Total cost: came to $10 a basket.

It didn't end up being as cheap as I was hoping for--I think I picked some more expensive floral sticks...but it was definitely cheaper than purchasing the pre-made arrangements. I love Hobby Lobby. The first time I went I think I drooled a little...but there is no need to buy anything there at full price. If you are patient the price will come down for you, I promise. The sales there rock!

Cutesy Coat Hangers

If you are looking for a cute and *cheap* way to dress up an entry wall-these coat hangers were super easy and fun to make and cost me $3.50! I bought the board, and knobs at my beloved Hobby Lobby, at 50% off. I think they turned out totally loveable. I simply painted the boards, used a spray adhesive to put the scrapbook paper on, and drilled holes for the assorted knobs.
The top picture I made to hang my purse/diaperbags on at the back door. I love it!

My baby girls room is cream and purple and I hung this up by the door for her jackets, but she likes to put her necklaces, bracelets, hats, socks, purses and dress-ups on it. The possibilities are endless with a little bit of imagination and a lot of girly things ;)