Autumn Fireplace Penant Banner: Tutorial

Y'all, we had a blast at this Pumpkin Patch yesterday morning!  I'll share pictures later, but trust me.  Little kids and petting zoos, make cute pictures and heart throbbing moments.  

But this:

is what we're talking about today.  

What you'll need:

:: Mailing Paper or card stock

:: Raffia

:: Twine

:: Glue Gun and glue sticks

:: Cutting Board - Scissors would do the trick if you don't have one

:: Scissors

:: Computer and a means to print

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Cut paper to 8.5 x 11inch size.  I just used a plain piece of paper and cut around.  

Because I used mailing paper on a roll it was curly.  

If you're using card stock, you won't have to do this step.

So I ironed it.  Yes.  You can do that.  Just don't put on super high heat and burn the house down.

Type up whatever word you are spelling out on your banner on the computer.  Mine was "Autumn".  I typed up each letter on 6 pages in word, font Cambria, size 375.  I note this, because I originally typed it up too large and couldn't make a decent triangle out of my page...so I had to resize.  

Now you're going to cut your pages into triangles.  My ruler is pointing to the center of the bottom of the page and the pen is pointing to the right corner - that's the line you want to cut.

See???

See my honking big letter on the other side of the page?  Yep. 

That would be my mistakes speaking loud to you.

Then cut the same line, but on the other side. 

See my top corner?  Gotta line this up right peeps.

Okay!  She's done.  Now do the rest of your letters.

Now, leaving some extra room on the side with the twine, begin attaching your triangles.

I hope you've got your glue gun warmed up.  

Run a bead of glue along the top edge of your triangle.  Attach twine.

Do this with all of your letters.  I left about 2.5 inches of space between each triangle as I glued.

Grab a few strands of raffia.

And tie into an imperfect bow.  Or perfect.  Whatever works for you.  I gave that up a long time ago.

Dab a squirt of hot glue in the center of your triangle on top of your twine line.

 And press bow down into glue.  Now do the rest of your letters.

And hang up banner!!!

I just tucked the ends of the twine underneath of a picture on one side and a vase on the other...

...and I was good to go!

 Now this is a photo of my fireplace - pre fluffing.

I want you to believe I don't have babies eating twine, fingerprints on my tv, projects lounging around on my hearth, and stacks of wall hangings piling up in the right of this picture.

Nah.

But I do fluff.

And I shoulda fluffed that TV a little.  

Fingerprints and streaks are definitely bothering me now.

{Linking up to this fun blog party here.}

Fall Wreath: Tutorial

 

 As promised, more fall goodness coming your way this week!  

Forgive me if I'm a little slow though.  

I planned to get a bunch done this weekend, but Steven had finals and my baby had spiky fevers on Friday and Saturday.  He took it like a champ and slept a lot of the days away, but mamma was a tad worried and snuck some time away just to rock him.
That boy is the best cuddler let me tell you.  If anyone needs an instant heart soothe, come over and you can rock my little buddy.  He'll let you hold him as long as you want.
I'm pleased to report he's doing much better and acting happier than ever...maybe more teeth are in?

Anyway, fall decor...

If you've been reading here for a while, you know I'm not super traditional with my decor - holiday or not.  Fall does not have to scream loud oranges, reds, and greens.
And don't even get me started on Halloween decorating...sculls, witches, coffins?  In your yard, people?!

Give me muted tones, nature, earthy, harvesty...that's me. 

And that's where these wreaths came from.

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They are earthy and natural and look like fall...to me.

Best part?  I used everything I already had on hand.

You want to make some too???

You'll need:

:: Bag of moss
:: Viny garland {mine came from Hobby Lobby's garland section}
:: Wire wreath form
:: Scissors
:: Burlap Strip {mine was 3.5 in x 46 in}
:: Glue gun and extra glue sticks
:: Nail and Hammer {not pictured}

Start by hot gluing a small section of your wreath form with hot glue.

Attach some moss quickly before the glue hardens.

I would peel bigger chunks of the moss back and add more glue underneath if needed.  

My wreaths were being hung outdoors {on a covered porch} so I wanted them pretty durable.   Oklahoma winds can get fierce!

Keep going with gluing your moss around until it looks like this.  Isn't it pretty???
Now, I'd be totally ok with mine looking just like that, but because I like layers, I kept going.

I took my vine garland and wrapped in a circle so it fit to the size of my wreath nicely.

Twisting the ends together so it would stay secure.

 I worked with the vine a little to get it looking the way I wanted.

Cut the burlap into a nice long strip.  Mine was 3.5 inches wide and about 46 inches long.  One 3.5 inch end should preferably be the finished edge so it won't unravel when you hang it.

 Nail your nail in {wherever you want to hang your wreath} at an upward angle.

Loop your burlap through both wreaths and hang.

 

 I made two for my front window...

I have a real live florist friend who should give me her 2 cents worth. ;-)

Wood "LAUNDRY" Sign Project

I'm going to share a project with you today from my Laundry Room Redo in the making.

As you know, my challenge was to do this room for under $50.

After buying a gallon of paint, I went into our newly organized garage and rooted through all of Steven's "stuff" to see if I could find anything usable or inspiring. 

Boy did I ever!

I took lots of pictures of my process, thinking you might want to make one of these easy signs too.

~ Painted Wood "LAUNDRY" Sign ~

You'll need:

::Piece of wood - any size will do depending on how big you want your sign - mine was about 2.5 inches wide and 17 inches long.

::Paint {I used Black for my base and White Primer over that}

::Sandpaper or sanding block

::2 paint brushes - 1 small for painting the letters and one medium for painting your wood

::Paper or Cardstock to print on

Computer to print out your letters for stenciling

::Scissors {not pictured}

::Pencil

:Something heavy that you can bang up your piece of wood with - I used those red handled pliers

Take your piece of wood and give it a good sand with your sanding block.

Next, paint a coat of black paint on the wood and let dry.

Then, paint over with a coat of your white primer.

 

Take whatever heavy tool you've got on hand and bang your painted wood up pretty good.  I especially wore away all of the edges and used my pliers to even stip some big pieces off to give it a really weathered look.

 {Photo taken after sign complete.}

Paint another quick and light coat of the white primer over the top of your newly distressed wood.

Sand down the whole thing now - I wanted mine to allow the black paint and some wood to show through in spots.

Find a font you like and type up "LAUNDRY" {or whatever word you are using} on Word on your computer.  Decide how big you want them.  I needed my letters to be 2 inches tall to fit comfortably on my piece of wood, so we took a ruler and just measured the letters on the computer screen.  Print it out, cut out the letters individually and used them to trace onto your wood...

Fill in your traced letters, using a small paint brush, with black paint.  

This part is relaxing!  So put some music on and enjoy the moment. :-)

Once the letters dry, give it one final light sand and step back and admire your work!!!

If you're only wanting to prop your sign up somewhere on a shelf, dresser, etc.  no need to to anything more to it.  However, if you want to hang it on a wall, you can just nail it in for a more rustic look or you could do what we did.

Steven drilled 2 partial holes at an upward angle...

 ...so it could be hung on 2 nails...

 ...and voila'!!!

I love it! 

Let me know if you make one too!

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