St. Patty's Day Wreath

So if you know me, you know I love wreaths. I eventually want to have 12 different wreaths, one for each month. It's March and I usually put out my Spring Bunny wreath, but it doesn't feel or look like Spring to me outside. Therefore, I decided to run to my local craft stores and drop $7.00 on supplies to make a wreath. I had a coupon and I brought Scott (who gets a teacher discount at most craft stores) and made an awesome wreath

Much like an earlier tutorial, this is a yarn wreath. They are the easiest wreaths to make in my opinion, while still looking super cute!

Here's what you'll need:

• Yarn - I bought 3 different greens that all go together pretty nicely, they were about a dollar a piece, and I got a discount.
• Ribbon - I got this St. Patrick's Day themed glitter ribbon for less than a dollar!
• Wreath Form - I had this laying around in my home, but I have heard of people using old pool noodles and duck taping the ends together to form a circle (Cut the noodle down first)
• Decorative Letter and Shamrock - Since I'm getting married, I'm ready to plaster my new initials all over the house, but I found really inexpensive novelty items that will spruce up the wreath.

What Now?

• You'll start by wrapping the yarn around the wreath, this is probably the worst part of the project, you'll want to make it tight, start with tying a knot at your starting point. I found it most easy to transition to a new yarn color by tying the end of the old to the new rather than completely starting over. At the end, you'll tie your piece off on the wreath. I found it difficult to keep this smooth like the rest of the wreath, so I put something over it. 
• Next tighten up your yarn. Make sure that there are no white spots, some people will double up, but I find it easier to just tighten up what's already there. 

• Next add your ribbon!!! I wrapped mine around in pieces so it laid flat, and glued the back of it with hot glue. Then I added my letter. I also did this with hot glue, and made note of the weight so it would hang evenly when I added the clover. This had a stake on the end which I used to anchor it to the wreath, then hot glued the top so it was flat against the wreath. 
• Make a ribbon to hang it from, and it's all ready to go!

ENJOY!

Next time, I'm going to show you how to make really inexpensive, but nice looking table number displays for those of you having a wedding or party that might find that useful!

Stenciled Love & Heart Art

Alright. So I'm at Hobby Lobby and I see this ^ and I am in love! I want it, but don't want to spend $30 on it, so I convince myself that I can make it! I buy the bargain canvas boards they sell there as well as a $3 stencil. I already owned the paintbrushes and some red acrylic paint. I wish I had bought some  metallic red paint, but I wanted to spend as little money as possible on this project!  

So there you have it. The stencil was the word love, I connected that to the free handed heart and just swirled around the paint. I think the most important thing is to do this yourself! You don't even have any idea how much pride I get just from seeing this on my wall because I know that I made it myself. :)

  Thanks for reading

~Amanda

Melted Crayon art TUTORIAL! CRAFT MONTH!

I finally have something to report back to you all! A fun new craft! Melted Crayon Art!

So, I found this on Pinterest a while back and made a vow to do this, in heart form because I am a sucker for a good heart. I found lots of photo ideas, but no actual tutorial. I mean sure it sounds and looks pretty self-explanatory, but there were somethings I wish I had known before hand!

 There are 2 majors steps.

1. Attach your crayons to the canvas in the shape you want.
2. Use a hair blow dryer to melt the crayons.

HOWEVER, there are some questions that I had when doing this project... How do you attach the crayons? I stupidly, tried hot glue at first, well obviously the crayon melted and didn't stick to the canvas... I eventually ended up using rubber cement, and it is still sticking today, but I do think that there might have been a better way.

Then, when blow drying, be prepared for a mess! The crayons splatter a bit so I ended up putting the canvas inside of a large box. Tilting the canvas seems to work best also, lying it flat doesn't work as well, and standing it straight up doesn't get all the wax. I rotated the canvas as I went and used the dryer to direct the crayon of where to go. 

Extra tip! If you get melted crayon on your carpet, a good carpet cleaner should do the trick!!!!

Hope this gives you a better idea of how to accomplish the melted crayon art.

Next time, I've got some cute canvas art to show you!

Summer Yarn Wreath

Hey All!

It's craft time! I'm going to give some quick instructions on this beautiful wreath I made last week for my door. As you can see below, it's pretty cute, at least I think so!!! I'm going to tell you how to make the cutest summer wreath! Plus, you can make some changes and do whatever theme you want!

Supplies Needed.

1. Yarn - I used two separate colors, but you can use whatever you want, you don't need more than 1 ball of yarn.
2. Wreath Form - I just bought a simple styrofoam form, but I have heard that you can buy a pool noodle and cut it to size, then duct tape it. This was just easier for me.
3. Decorations! - I actually used a single piece of yellow cardstock for my yellow polka-dot bikini and 'fun in the sun' sign, but you can use flowers, buttons, whatever you want!!!
4. Paper clips - for me, I used paper clips to keep the bikini and sign in place, I just stabbed a side into the styrofoam. 

Directions!

So these are super easy instructions!

• I started a strand of yarn off by tying a knot around the wreath form, and then just began wrapping the yarn around. I used yellow first, and kept it tight. Believe me though, my arms were sore by the end of that.
• I have heard that you can use multiple layers to thicken the look and feel of the wreath. I only did one layer though because my arm hurt.
• To finish the 'tie off' I just threaded the yarn back through the beginning spot and tied a knot. 
• I did this again but much more spaced out with the hot pink yarn. It was a simple weave through.
• I made my bikini with a marker and then packing tape to 'laminate' the bikini so it wouldn't get ruined outside.
• A simple attachment of the paper clip to the bikini, and a stab through the wreath form makes for a super cute attachment.

Honestly, this didn't take much time, and every time I walk through the door, I get all giddy with excitement knowing I created such a beautiful wreath. I'm thinking of making a different wreath for every month, that might be a little excessive though.

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed this wreath-making tutorial, if you have any questions or comments, let me know!!!

I'm thinking next time, I might discuss cooking, or packing properly before a big move, or relationships. What do you think?

~Amanda