I can't stop...

Making flowers that is.  The burlap flowers I made brightened my day so much that I keep making them.  But, not just burlap flowers.  I've been making all sorts of flowers:  cute fabric rosettes like the ones I made here and now yarn pom-pom flowers.  The latest Country Living layout using pom-pom flowers inspired me.

 I bought a pom-pom maker from the craft store and this is the result:

How stinkin' precious are those?!  Oh, and I also bought the yummy "Petites Fleurs" vase set while at Joann Fabrics as well.  I love the worn, shabby, vintage French feel.  It was on sale.  I justified it in my head.  It now lives at my house.  :)

Valentine's Day Mantel Fun

Okay, I know I said that I don't really decorate for Valentine's Day, and I usually don't.  BUT...Beth from The Stories of A-Z is having a Valentine Mantel party on Monday.  I'm a sucker for any excuse to decorate a  mantel so I couldn't resist.  I really just added a couple of things to what was already on my mantel.  I'm still not completly satisfied...it just doesn't seem right yet, but I gave up. So here it is, my mercury glass Valentine mantel:




"Love Notes" banner made from old sheet music.

 



LOVE  old stamping blocks

 



faux vintage bottles filled with pom-pom flowers

    

My branch tree over on my ugly buffet has been empty since I took all the Christmas ornaments down so I added in some coffee stained tags embellished with romantic touches.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Simple Wall Art

I scored a bunch of old sewing hoops a month or so ago at a local thrift store. 

I don't sew but I thought they could be used to hold fabric wall art.

Something like this:

So one down, about 10 more to go.  Some hoops are big, some are small and some are oval.

I don't think I want to use them all this way.  Any ideas on what else I could do with these?

I'm taking a leap

Sorry if some of you are getting this post twice...I'm trying to activate the Networked Blogs Application and I'm just not sure it's working. I should say that I'm just not sure I'm techie enough to figure it out.

Not off of a bridge or anything remotely that drastic. I'm talking about a leap of faith. I decided to open up an Etsy shop to try to sell some homemade goodies. I am starting with only 3 item to "test" the waters. I know a lot of people are successful on Etsy but I also know that a newbie like me could easily get lost in the shuffle...there is SO much on Esty, not to mention some seriously talented people. So, here goes nothing. I'm starting with the three heart shaped wreaths below (they also now appear on the left hand side under "My Esty Shop").

I thought with Valentine's Day around the corner that they would be appropriate.

They may sell, they may  not but I guess I will never know unless I try.

Have a great day!

Is it Spring yet!?

I'm getting a little twitchy.  I'm ready for warmer weather, trips to the park and picnic lunches with my little punky.  So to tide me over I've been making these scrummy little burlap flowers. 

Is it rude to say that I think they are really CUTE?  I think that if I saw these in a store I would buy them.  I think that's a good sign.  And they were really easy.  Seriously...really easy. 

1.  Find a twig or stick the length you desire.  Make sure it is thick enough to hold the flower (remember the flower will be heavier once you add hot glue).

2.  Take scraps of burlap and cut out rough circles in varying sizes.

3.  Glue the circles together and then glue a button on top.



4.  Cut out a piece of felt in a similar color.

5.  Place hot glue all over the felt then center the twig in the glue. 



6.  Place the burlap flower over the top of the felt.



Ta Da....a cute little burlap flower.  I can't think of a sweeter way to use up your scraps.

Beware:  THEY ARE ADDICTIVE!  See evidence below.





Change of pace

So I told you that I needed a break from Christmas, so that is just what I did.  I took a quick look around my craft room and spied a stash of wreaths so I decided to make just a few of the non-Christmas variety. 

I started with a few of these:

I dug out some scaps of burlap, osenberg and one thrift store skirt that I bought a while back.  This skirt was cute (in a 13 year old girl kind of way) but I bought it for the fabric and the cute fabric flowers already on it.

I tore up the skirt into strips like this:

Then I got busy wrapping that ugly wreath just tucking and gluing using This stuff:

You could also use a glue gun.

When I finished wrapping I glued the fabric flowers from the skirt onto the wreath.  I don't really decorate the house for Valentine's Day but I thought this would be cute on my front door as a Valentine's wreath.

Next up was the scrap Osenberg.

I love these old clip-on earings as buttons!

I also had some left over burlap from these cute little trees so I made one last wreath.

I did have just a tiny bit of burlap left after making this wreath so I'll show you what I did with it next time.

Have a great week!

What did I do!?

For most people Christmas is over and has been for a while.  All the Christmas stuff is shoved into plastic bins and trash bags packed away nicely until next year, their tree is down and the house is once again in order.  Not the case for me.  Why?  Because being the insane person that I am I thought doing a craft show next November (for the first time by-the-way) would be FUN.  Well, that meant that I spent the week after Christmas scavenging like a desperate rat shopping the "after Christmas sales" at just about every store you can think of for goodies.  I bought WAY too much stuff...to, wait for it...CRAFT with!  Yep.  I can tell your shocked.  So, while everyone in their right mind is over Christmas (or at least Christmas stuff) I am in the midst of it.  I'm sick of Christmas stuff.  I may need to take a break.

I've made over 70 of these:

And 56 of these:

And just a few of these:

Not to mention about 100 gift tags like these:

So, if they don't sell you all know what you'll be getting for Christmas next year from me.