Make Your Own Easter Egg Wreath for just $7

I just couldn't wait until April to make an Easter wreath. Although I thought about making a St. Patty's Day wreath, I'm not Irish and it wouldn't be on my door for long. So I opted to make my Easter wreath early.

Once again my inspiration came from Pinterest. I'm addicted to that website and have decided that if I'm going to waste my time surfing the site for craft and sewing projects, I better actually make some of them. Here's what I saw that inspired me: http://pinterest.com/pin/61150507412674397/. My inspiration wreath was made using Washi tape. I had never heard of this stuff, nor did I want to buy it just for this one project and then never use it again. So I opted for what I had in my numerous craft bins.

My supplies:

1. One pool noodle to use as the wreath form. Just cut it to size and adjoin it with packing tape to make a circle. - $1.00 (Can be found at Dollar Tree)
2. Five packs 18 plastic eggs - $5.00 (Can be found at Deal$ or other Dollar Store)
3. One spool of wired ribbon - $1.00 (I got mine at the Dollar Tree)
4. Left over curling ribbon found in my stash of craft items - $0 

TOTAL COST: $7.00!

I really liked the look of the Washi tape around the eggs so I decided to add a stripe of ribbon to each egg with my handy dandy glue gun, before attaching them to my pool noodle base. It took some time to get through all 5 packs of eggs, but it was worth it.

Then I started gluing away with my glue gun. Keep in mind that you want to use a pool noodle that is a coordinating color since you will see it behind the eggs. Or you can just cover it by wrapping ribbon around it. Mine was a red-ish pink, so I didn't have to cover it.

I covered just about ever visible spot, but only the front and sides since the back will be against my door.

Once I was done, I wrapped a single piece of wire around the top if the wreath and made a loop in the back to act as my hanger. Wrapped another piece of wire around the bottom to attach my bow.

Ta-da! All done and ready for the Easter Bunny!

Chili cook-off voting jar

I'm participating in a chili cook-off next week with 15 others. In planning this, the group realized that we needed a voting mechanism.

So, I'm proposing that we use a voting jar placed next to each batch of chili. Each person voting will get a few dried beans. They can drop their beans into the jar of the chili(s) they like the best.

Check out my proposed voting jar. Just made a mock up to see if everyone likes it. Love that it can double as table decor.

I used burlap and twine to cover a mason jar. Drilled a hole in the cap, was careful to sand the edges of the hole and covered the cap with plaid paper. Made a tag from card stock and printed the number on my printed. Super easy project! If we decide to use these for the cook-off, I'll be looking forward to making 15 more.

On a side note, my cat is obsessed with the burlap I brought home. He immediately started attacking it over and over and it was hanging off my cutting table. After shooing him away several times, he decided it would be even more fun to take a running start. Once he got tired, he laid on the burlap and then started attacking it laying down. Can't wait to finish these so I can the burlap out of my house.

DIY bracelet - painted in miniature

I decided to try my hand at painting beads to make a bracelet for my sister's birthday. Who knew painting round 1/2" beads with brushes way too big for the project would be so hard? If I ever try this again, I'll need to invest in some smaller brushes. I used cheap acrylic craft paint found on sale for $.50 each, a pack of wooden beads, metallic stretch cord, metallic accent beads and gloss Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic spray. Not bad for a first attempt, huh?

Resources: Krylon 1303 Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating Aerosol Spray-11 Ounces (Google Affiliate Ad)

Bangles, Bangles, Bangles!

I am obsessed with funky, chunky jewelry! My sister wanted these really cool adjustable bracelets for Christmas, but they were really expensive. So, I decided to make some. She liked them so much that she suggested I sell them online. So, here you are. Made a bunch an posted on my Etsy store.

I made these out of memory wire and a variety of beads. I really like each of them. It's going to be hard to let go of them.

Hugs and Kisses Valentines

My daughter has a really small class at school so I thought I would make some cute valentines filled with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses. I used some scrapbook paper I found at A.C. Moore, Aleene's Tacky glue, scraps of ribbon, a Marvy heart hole punch and Valentine's Day cards. Check it out:

1.  Cut 12"x12" scrapbook paper in 2 measuring 6"x9". Glue edges so you make a tube. Glue the bottom edges together.

2.  It should look like this:

 3.  Fill with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses

 4.  Glue the open end. It should look like this:

 5.  Punch a hear through the top:

 6. Tie your Valentine's Day card with some ribbon.

Heart-tastic Valentine's Day Felt Wreath

I searched high and low for a Valentine's Day wreath that would look good on a dark red door. Um, most wreaths are red, so they were no good. So I gave up and bought a few sheets of $.29 felt from A.C. Moore (also scored some $.99 polkadot felt!), found some heart shaped cookie cutters hidden in my cabinets, grabbed a sharpie and went to work. I used the cookie cutters to create my heart patterns, altered slightly to suit my project. Took forever to cut these babies out of the felt. Then I needed a backing for my wreath. Found an empty diaper box and cut out a big circle. Hot glued my hearts on top. Added a hook to the back with a pipe cleaner and attached a ribbon tied in a bow. Glued an old magnet to the back of the bow so the bow would stick to the door and not ruin it.

The final product:

Here's pics of my patterns and pieces:

Putting it all together:

Handmade Baby Shower Gifts

It's baby time! I have a baby shower to attend for a little boy. I struggled on what to make. Decided to make a taggie blanket, plus a baby bib and burp cloths I found on Pinterest. I dug through my massive collection of scrap fabric and found a bundle of fat quarters I purchased years ago. LOVED how they all turned out.

Here's a closer view of each:

I altered the bib pattern from Chickpea studio by adding a contrasting fabric to the bottom:

I didn't have enough fabric to make a continuous top, so I had to piece it together.

I've been making taggie blankets for years. Just used left over fabric from the burp cloths and miscellaneous ribbon I had lying around. Lined it with flannel. Cute, right?

And these are the burp cloths. I've made these from scratch and lined them with terry cloth in the past. This was so much easier! Simply sewed fabric to cloth diapers. Now why didn't I think of this before?