31 Days of Home Projects: Day 31

It's late. I'm tired. I've been in 'go' mode since I woke up this morning and haven't had a chance to sit down to write this post till now. I apologize and hope that you don't miss out on this last post, because its so late. Especially because, I have something special that I created just for you!! I want to thank all of you who followed along with me on this journey. It was hard to get my post in some days, but I made it through and only missed three days!

Now the weather is starting to get colder, and before you know it, it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I don't mind the cold on special occasions or when I am really bundled up, but most of the time, I would rather just stay in during these months. Sometimes there is nothing better than cozying up on the couch, with a cup of coffee and a blanket to watch a good movie. I don't have to get ready or anything. I can just relax by the fire and enjoy my family and my home. I thought this saying was perfect for the next few upcoming months. I printed mine as a 16x20 and have it framed on my mantel. You can download this print for free by following this link --> Let's Stay Home.

I had so much fun participating in this challenge and I look forward to meeting with all of you again next year! 

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 30

Today's project isn't really something that you are going to make or assemble. It is about styling certain areas of your home. I love creating vignettes in my home. I have many that I change up depending on the season. The one that I am going to focus on today is the one right by my front door when you walk into my home. It is very simple, but adds just the right touch to that room and hopefully makes others feel welcome and cozy when they come over.

Styled Fall Vignette

What You Need

1. Large basket
2. Variety of pumpkins (real or fake)
3. Cozy throw blanket
4. Decorative pillow (I choose one that goes well with each season)
5. Boots (optional)
6. Large decorative Vase/Jug
7. Branches or wheat grass

Step by Step

1. The instructions for styling your fall vignette are really based on how you want to arrange your
    items and where in your home you want to do this. This type of vignette is styled on the floor,
    opposed to other types that are created on tables or mantles. Feel free to copy mine or arrange
    yours however you like. I started with my basket and put the pillow on one side and had the cozy
    blanket on the other side with part of it hanging out. I then added the pumpkins around inside the
    basket. I placed my boots on the outside of the basket on the side so you can still see everything.
    Finally I placed my large milk jug behind all of it in the back corner. You can add other items to
    your vignette or you can leave some out. Whatever captures that Fall season.

Many Blessings,


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31 Days of Home Projects: Day 29

After today we will be all caught up! I can't believe that we are almost through October!! It's been a great month so far and I can't wait for Monday when my little gets to dress up.  He is so excited! This project requires a little help from him, really just his feet. I love adding art work to my home that my
son gets to help create. This project is very easy and fun!

Love Feet Sign

What You Need

1. Acrylic Paint (Any color) I used light blue, and white
2. Wood Piece I used a 1x8 piece of wood that was 18 inches long
3. Baby feet
4. Small art paint brush

Step by Step

1. Sand the edges of the wood if you want, so they aren't sharp and pointy.

2. Paint the wood whatever color you want the background to be. Mine is naturally grey. I like the
    the way the wood looks without any paint.

3. Using a pencil I lightly drew the letters /L/ and /O/ before painting and filling them in. I did those
    in white.

4. Next, the light blue color for the feet, paint your baby/toddlers feet, one at a time, and stamp
    them onto the wood in the shape of the letter /V/.

5. The last step is to draw the /E/ with a pencil and then fill in with paint.

That's it!! I want to eventually hang mine in our kitchen above the sink!!

Many Blessings,

Five Minute Friday :: Eat

Every Friday, a few teachers will take turns bringing in goodies for breakfast. Some like to bake. Others will bring in donuts and coffee. Most of the time, because of my allergy to gluten, there is not much for me to eat. I'm used to it by now though and I don't get upset.

Well today, I almost didn't go down to the faculty room, because I figured that there would be nothing  for me to eat. I decided to go and at least say hi. When I walked into the room they all stared at me and smiled. The one woman said, "I wonder if she will notice". I walked over to the table and there was a sign that said, gluten free brownies! I was so excited.

The kind woman who made them walked over to me and said, "I remembered our conversation a few weeks ago about you having Celiac's Disease and being gluten free. I felt bad for you, because there is never anything for you to eat on Fridays when we bring stuff in. I didn't want you to feel left out, so I made them just for you!"

I was almost in tears. How kind of her to think of me when we really don't even know each other that well. It made my day and I am so thankful for the simple act of kindness that she showed towards me today!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 28

Today was a good day! Not just because it's Friday, but because I have so much to be thankful for. This morning I was reminded of how blessed I am to be where I am in my life right now. So often we forget to give thanks, when it should be a daily practice. I find that on days when I make it a habit to give thanks, I am in a better mood. I feel more content and I take a different perspective on life. Back in January, I starting counting my gifts (giving thanks) each day for the things that would transpire. This was started by Ann Voskamp, who wrote the book, One Thousand Gifts. She talks about how she began writing down all the gifts, even the hard stuff, every day that she could think of. At first, it was a little difficult, but as she continued to do this, she found more and more gifts to write down every day. How amazing!! So I started the same journey and everyday I would sit down and write out 3 gifts that I could think of that day.

Here are a few from the past couple of days....

September 26th: letting go of perfect, when He provides the unexpected, life insurance

September 29th: fun new things to try, freedom to be, flexibility at work

October 6th: choosing to laugh, capturing the moments, a completed project

These are just a few, and as you can see there is no right way to do this. You just start to think more about your day and what was gifted to you from Him, because really, everything in this life is a gift.

1,000 Gift's Cards 

What You Need

1. Blank 4x6 cards from Michaels or AC Moore. You need 365 of them, one for everyday.
2. Month Covers (free download from me)
3. Small box to hold your cards (see a few posts back about the one I made)

Step by Step

1. Print out the free covers I created for you and cut them out. I decorated mine with stickers, and
    some I hand-lettered my favorite quotes onto. I want these to last for a while since I will be doing
    them every year.

2. Every month, before it starts, I write the dates on each card. I told you that you need 365. That's
    one for each day of the year. Starting at the top I wrote the month, day, and year. Next to that I
    wrote the three gifts for that day. I did not write them very big, because I want to be able to fit as
    much as possible onto each card. Each day I would do the same thing. Next year, I will start over,
    but use the same cards. I will just write the month, day, and new year underneath what I wrote for
    this year. I am excited to go back through and read what I wrote for each day last year. When you
    total up all of the gifts for one year, it comes out to one thousand!

Some may say that this is not a home project, but I felt that it is just as important to give thanks about
our homes and things we create for them, as it is to actually make them. Have a great weekend!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 26

When we first looked at our home, I fell in love with the brick fireplace. Its a lighter blonde color and it is one of my favorite things about our home now. The only thing I did not like however, was the orangish/tan mantel on top. Not a fan at all! I knew that it wasn't something that I would be able to do right away, but it was on my list of priorities. This past Summer I found some time to repaint it! I loved how it turned out so much, that I wanted to share it with you. I just know it's on the top of everyone's to-do list!! In all seriousness though, it is something that I really wanted to do, and I am so glad I finally found the time.

Repainted Fireplace Mantel

Before

After

What You Need

1. A hand-held powered sander or a manual sanding sponge (this one will take a little longer and may
    not work as well as a powered sander.
2. Semi-gloss white paint (be sure to get a paint that is the primer and color in one)
3. Paint brushes (regular & angled)
4. Small foam roller & rod
5. 3M blue painters tape

Step by Step 

1. First, you need to sand your fireplace mantel really well. You want to make sure there is no shine
    left. It is also a good idea to lay a tarp of some sort down to collect all of the dust. You can vacuum
    what's left, but I would not recommend vacuuming all of it. It will mess up your vacuum.

2. With a damp cloth, wipe down the mantel. Make sure there is no debris left on the surface. Tape
     off all the edges, so that you don't get any paint on your walls.

3. You can now start to paint your surface. I used the brushes for the first coat, making sure to get a
     pretty good layer of paint. I let it dry for an hour and then went back in with my small foam roller
     and did a second coat. The foam roller is good, because it covers the paint lines from the brush &
     makes the color more even/darker. Since I used a semi-gloss I didn't need to put a sealer coat on
     top. However, I have noticed over the last few months, there have been some marks to the paint.
     This doesn't really bother me, because I am thinking of possibly adding a brown glaze over top
     to make it look a little worn, and you don't want a sealer on top for that.. You can watch this -->
     tutorial if this is something that you might want to do!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 25

Awhile back, I had one of our wedding photos printed out as a poster and I wrote our wedding song lyrics over it with a gold paint pen. FAIL!!! It didn't turn out too good and I can't really tell you why, except, I just didn't love it. Something was off. I am so glad I didn't spend a lot of money on that project, but I didn't give up on the idea though. I just had to try out a few different ways before finding which one worked the best. After some trial and error, I just decided to create this on my computer, and I loved it! Maybe I will try the actual writing on the photo again sometime, but for now this is perfect! I am going to have it printed on matte photo paper and framed to add to my gallery wall.

Lyrics Photo

What You Need

1. Photo of your choice (preferably one that has a high resolution)
2. Keynote for Mac or Powerpoint for Windows

Step by Step 

1. I will be giving instructions for Keynote on the MacBook, but I am sure that they are similar to 
    Powerpoint. First open Keynote and in the upper right hand corner select the document button. 
    There should be a tab that you can click on that says 'slide size'. Click on that, and then select
    custom slide, and enter 700 for the width and 500 for the height or vice versa if your photo is 
    vertical. Mine was a horizontal layout.

2. Next, go to the top and select 'Insert'. The option to choose your own photo is at the bottom of that
    menu. Select which photo you want from your computer and open in Keynote.

3. Next, you want to make sure that the photo fills up the entire space. All you need to do is click on 
    the photo and four little boxes will appear in each corner. Click on them and drag them to make 
    your photo a little bigger. You don't want to expand it too much though, or it will be pixelated.

4. Finally, you can click on the 'text' button at the top and a text box will appear on your photo. You 
    can click on the box and move it wherever you want depending on your photo. The rest is up to
    you. What style and size font you want and what color you want the text to be. I suggest black for 
    lighter backgrounds and white for darker backgrounds. You can play around all you want. I did a 
    new text box for each line on the left and on the right. The format turns out better that way.

5. Once you have finished your project you need to save it as a 'png' file. Click on 'File", and scroll  
    down to 'Export to'. A list will appear. You want to select 'Images' from that menu. A separate box
    will pop up in the center. Don't touch anything with the slides, just click the drop down box next
    where it says 'format' and select PNG. Click the next button to save it where you want on your 
    computer. Probably documents or desktop. That's it!

I will be doing another post shortly to make up for missing the other day. Then we should be all caught up!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 24

We are just going to pretend that I didn't completely forget to post yesterday and do a double post one day this week. It was just one of those days. Stay in bed all day, missing work, until you HAVE to drive to the airport, and sit in traffic, to pick up your mother, who is staying with you for 2 weeks. It's all good though, I love my mother dearly and she will be a big help! Today's project is fairly easy. I started writing three gifts on cards back in January after reading 1000 gifts by Ann Voskamp. Everyday I try to focus on three gifts or blessings and then log them on a card for that day. As you can imagine, I have a lot of cards. I needed a cute little box to store/display them in, as I plan to do this every year. You can create your box for whatever you would like to use it for, but that is why I created mine.

Painted Verse Box

What You Need

1. Small wooden box (try dollar stores, Target dollar section, yardsales) My father-in-law made mine.
2. White paint marker medium tip (sharpie white oil-based paint marker is great)
3. Verse template as a reference (see below)

Step by Step

1. Print out the template above that I created. This is a reference for you to follow. If you have good

    handwriting then feel free to letter this saying on your box however you like. I free handed mine

    so the lettering in the template will be a little different than mine. I tried to match the styles to 

    make it easier for you. I choose fonts that were fairly easy to copy with straight lines and little 

    detail.

2. You can also use this template as a guide to your spacing. This is exactly how I wrote this saying 

     on my box (see the photo above). Using the paint pen, I started by just writing the words. Then I 

     went back and added a little more to each letter to make them a little thicker. You probably will  

     only need to write the smaller words once. They are not as thick as the two bigger words. Take  

     your time, there is no rush. I did one word at a time and took breaks in between to give my hand a  

     rest. It seems hard, but if you take your time the letters will turn out great, because they are a very 

     simple style font. Honestly, if you mess up on one side, you can always try again on the other side.  

     You can even practice first on a piece of paper until you feel comfortable.

I will being doing a double post later today, since I missed yesterday. Be sure to catch that one too!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 23

Happy Sunday Funday! I hope everyone is feeling better than I am. Yesterday, I did absolutely nothing, which is why you didn't see a post from me. Today, I was able to get a few things done and I am now writing this post, while laying on the couch, with some hot tea, watching football. Sometimes your body just needs the rest. Today's home project is another link up. Although, I did mine a little different than Cami does hers. Head on over to her blog, Tidbits, if you would rather do it her way!

Pumpkin Decal Pillows

What You Need 

1. Pillows without pillow cases
2. Burlap
3. Colored fabric of choice (needs to be a light color though or you won't be able see the pumpkin)
4. Jolee's Easy Image Iron On transfer pages
5. Safety pins
6. Iron

Step by Step

1. First you need to cut out two burlap squares that are a little smaller in size than your pillows.

2. Next, safety pin your burlap squares to the pillow, in all four corners, and in the middle of the edge
    for all sides.

3. Print out two of the pumpkins that you are going to iron on. Head over to Tidbits for the free
    download of the pumpkins. Follow the instructions at Jolee's Easy Image on how to print your
    image from your computer onto the iron-on transfer paper.

4. After the pumpkins are printed, cut out two small squares from your colored fabric of choice. They
    need to be a little bigger than the pumpkins.

5. Next, continue following the instructions at Jolee's Easy Image, on how to iron your pumpkin to
    your fabrics squares. It's really simple.

6. Once they are cooled, peel off the backing. Now all you have to do is safety pin the squares to the
    middle of the pillow. I did all four corners.

As you can see mine are a little different than Cami's, but the idea was all hers, and I am so glad she shared this idea. It is one of my favorite projects!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Only 8 more days left in this challenge!! And if you have not entered the DaySpring giveaway yet, there is still time! Follow the link below to enter.

Many Blessings,

a Rafflecopter giveaway

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 21

Centerpieces are my fav! I could spend hours on Pinterest looking at all of the different arrangements.  It is so much fun creating them for each season. The possibilities are endless and there is no right or wrong way to do it. This season, I had several ideas that I wanted to do for my dining room table. I had a list of things that I wanted to buy (I am dying to get a three tiered tray), but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't really need to buy anything!! Sometimes it's more fun to use what you already have! I was so happy with the way mine turned out and I am even more happy that I didn't have to spend any money.

Fall Woodland Centerpiece

What You Need

Here's the thing, you can use whatever you want for your table centerpiece. There is nothing that you absolutely need to have to create one. Now, if you want to buy something for your centerpiece that you don't already have, that's totally fine. I challenge you though, to try and use what you already have. It's ok to rearrange a few things if you need to. Get creative and go grab some pine cones or acorns from outside. I used a decorative serving dish I had in my kitchen cabinet. I am serious though, there is no right or wrong way to create a centerpiece. Below are some of the items that I used to create mine.

1. Wooden serving tray (You could also use a cake stand)
2. Decorative Creme Dish (Any other plate or dish will work too)
3. Candles/Jars/vases (use all different sizes)
4. Flowers/foliage/pinecones (succulents are great too)
5. Pumpkins (real or fake)
6. Any other little decorative items that you want. I stayed with the fall/woodland theme

Step by Step

1. Gather what you want in your centerpiece. Be creative!! If it doesn't look right you can always
    rearrange stuff, take stuff away, or add stuff. You really can't mess it up!

2. Start from the middle and work your way out. It doesn't always have to be symmetrical, as you can
    see there is nothing symmetrical about mine. Start placing items around and see what you like. I
    have a few jars with flowers, arranged randomly. Some pinecones and other tchotchkes.

Happy Friday and Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 20

Today will be doing a 'link to' for our home project, so I can't take credit for this one. I wanted to make some sort of fall banner to hang in my husband's office. It's one of the first rooms you see when you walk into our home, and it really isn't decorated for fall. I stumbled across this one, while checking out a link up post for fall decor. The only thing that I did differently with mine is, I used music pages instead of a maps for the flags.

Fall Banner

It really is so beautiful and it's super easy to make. It took me about 20 minutes to make. Follow the link here ---> Finding Silver Pennies to get all the details on how to make one. Danielle even provides the flags for you to print out. All you have to do is cut out and assemble!

I hope you are enjoying your week! Tomorrow is Friday! Woo Hoo!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 19

I have a collection of the letter /K/ in my living room, and I am always looking for new ones to add! I have one small /k/ that was used for a previous project and needs to be recycled into something new. I love using stuff from nature, so when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I just had to make one for myself!

Stick Letter

What You Need

1. A bunch of sticks
2. Wooden letter of your choice
3. Hot glue

Step by Step

1. Using your letter as your guide you want to break your sticks into little pieces to cover the front of
    the stick. You will be gluing them on horizontally. Depending your letter, certain parts will need
    bigger/longer sticks than others. I glued mine one stick at a time. I held up the stick to the area I
    needed covered and broke off whatever came past the edge (see photo above for example)

2. That's it! Hang your letter wherever you like. I added mine to my shelf collection.

I hope that you are enjoying these projects! We only have 12 more days left in this challenge! I can't believe that I have made it this far!!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 18

My new obsession is creme and mint colored pumpkins/gourds. The are just so beautiful! I love that they have just a hint of color. They are perfect for my decorating style. However, some of those big guys can get pretty expensive. I had a few small dollar store pumpkins and an orange pumpkin bucket that weren't being used in my closet downstairs. I decided to spray paint them using two gorgeous colors I got from Target (see below). I used the pumpkin bucket as a planter for one of my mums and I hot glued the smaller ones to my burlap wreath I have on my front door.

Spray Painted Pumpkins

What You Need

1. Devine Color by Valspar spray paint --> satin white & flat cove
2. Dollar store pumpkins
3. Cheap pumpkin bucket --> like this one
4. Brown bags to lay your stuff on when you spray paint

Step by Step

1. First, lay out a bunch of brown grocery bags outside. I cut mine apart so that they would lay flat
    and they covered a bigger space. Put your pieces on the brown bags leaving enough room to
    maneuver around them.

2. Next, following the directions on your spray paint can, cover each item in your desired paint color
    choice. I did two coats on each piece I was painting. Let them dry completely.

3. For the planter, I had the cut a few slits in the top to peel back so that I could fit my mum inside the
    pumpkin bucket. The top opening wasn't large enough. Once the mum is inside the bucket, you
    see the slits in the top. You don't need to do this if your plant pot is small enough to fit in the
    opening.

4. For the small pumpkins you can use them as part of a centerpiece, place them around the house in
    different areas, or you can add them to a wreath, like I did. I purchased my burlap wreath from a
    craft show awhile back and I am constantly changing it/adding stuff to it, depending on the season.

These are so easy and look so pretty, and they wont break your bank!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 17

I love decorating for the Fall, inside and out. It is so much fun to come up with new ideas every year. I am not a huge fan of the brass lights out front of my house. Unfortunately, I don't plan on redoing them until we redo all the siding on the house and replace the front door. I needed to find something to make the lights a little prettier. I found some extra burlap ribbon I had from a previous project, and a bag full of pinecones from a centerpiece I made last year. 

Pinecone Ribbon Light 

What You Need

1. Burlap ribbon 2 inches wide.

2. Pinecones

3. Thin jute rope

Step by Step

1. First, tie your ribbon into two fairly large bows. Follow this ---> tutorial if you aren't good at tying
    bows.

2. Next, cut a really long piece of jute rope. One by one, tie each pine cone to the rope. Starting at one
    end of the jute rope, I wrapped it under the top layer of the pine cone and tied a double knot.
    Moving down the rope an inch, I tied the next pine cone onto the jute the same way. I did this for 5
    pine cones on each rope.

3. After the pine cones are tied to the jute rope, cut an extra piece of jute to tie the pine cone rope to
    the back loop of the bow. You want the pine cones to hang down the middle of the long bow ends
    (see the top photo for an example of how to assemble).

4. Finally, cut one long piece of jute to tie the assembled bow and pine cones to your light. Dependin
    on how big your light is and how far you want the bow to hang down, that's how long you need to
    make the rope. I measured the rope before I cut mine.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway from DaySpring!! All the details are a few posts back.

Many Blessings,

   

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 16

Last night we hosted small group bible study at our house. It's always a great time when we get together, but I am always exhausted afterwards. Long story short, I did not get to do my post yesterday. No worries though, I just skipped that day, and continued right along. I even have an awesome giveaway for you! Today's project sort of piggy backs off of the previous post. I loved my book page wreath so much that I decided to create book page angel wings. These aren't very big, roughly 8x10 in size. 

Book Page Angel Wings 

What You Need 

1. Small Old Book (try your local library book sales, estate sales, or yard sales).

2. 10 x12 piece of cardboard

3. Hot glue 

4. Scotch Tape

5. Command velcro strip

Step by Step

1. First you need to rip out about 20 pages and cut them in half to form squares.

2. Then you want to roll the squares on an angle to form your cone shape and then tape it off. 

3. Next, you want take your angel wing template and cut it out of your card board piece. This is 

    what you will glue your book pages to. Click ---> here for some template ideas. I drew mine

    free hand, but I didn't save it. You can find many different styles on Pinterest though.

4. The last step is to start gluing on the cone shape book pages. You want to follow your template 

    having the pointed end towards the middle and the open ends towards the edge. I let about half

    an inch of the open end part, hang over the edge of the card board template. You don't want the

    cardboard to show. I only did two rows of layering with the pages. You can do more, building 

    inwards, making sure to stagger your cone pages as you glue (see the photos above as a guide).

5. Finally, you can add a Command velcro strip to the back of the cardboard so you can hang it on

    your wall. I also added a small starfish to the middle of mine, but you don't have to add anything.

Make sure you enter the giveaway below that is being run by DaySpring! And thanks to you, my awesome followers for joining along on this journey!

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Many Blessings,

Old Book Page Wreath: Day 14

Whoever thought that old book pages would look so good! I saw my first ever book page project, done by a blogger that I follow. She created a wreath made of old book pages. I was taken back at how beautiful it was and I could not believe that it was made from old book pages. It actually looks like a huge dahlia, which is my favorite flower. I decided to create my own, just like hers, and now I want to share how to make one with you! 

Book Page Wreath

What You Need

1. Old Book 8 inch length & 5-6 inches width. You don't want the pages to big or the wreath won't
    look right (try your local library book sales, estate sales, or yard sales).
2. Hot glue
3. Straw wreath for your base
4. Scotch tape
5. String to hang from the top
6. Command velcro strip to secure the bottom of the wreath to the wall

Step by Step

1. I want to start off by saying, that this is more than a one day project. It took me several days to
    complete. However, I did not try to complete it in one day. I needed to take breaks, because of my
    son. If you have a large chunk of time, you might be able to complete this in one day. First, you
    need to rip out a lot of pages from your book. Even when you think you have enough, rip out some
    more.

2. Next, you want to start to roll them to form the cone shape. Be careful that you don't roll the page
    straight down or you will just have a rolled up piece of paper that looks like a tube shape. You need
    to start with one of the corners and roll up on an angle. This will create an open look with a longer
    back and a shorter front. You want the end to come to a point and the top to be open. Once you
    have it rolled properly, tape it in place. Do this to all of your pages.

3. Before you start to glue your pages on, tie a string at the top of your wreath. I first glued a row of
    petals to the back side of the straw base wreath. I made sure to glue the very tip of the pointed end.
    These will be my longest petals. I then started to glue rows on the inside of the wreath. I made sure
    to move where I was gluing the pointed end to, in just a little bit, so that it was a little shorter than
    the ones I glued to the back. You may have to over lap some of the petals as you go. You want to
    have more than less. See the top photo, to get an idea of how I staggered the petals. Every row I
    created, I made sure that it was a little shorter than the row behind it. If you don't do this, you will
    just be gluing one on top of the other and will not get the layered affect. Think of an actual flower.
    The petals get shorter as you get to the center.

4. You will get the point where you can't really layer/stagger the petals on top of each anymore. You
     will have to start filling in the holes by gluing the petals in straight up an down. For example, if
     you look at your wreath while it is flat on the table, being assembled, you will see that the outer
     rows are glued on their sides. As you you move up and towards the center, they need to be glued
     more straight up and down. You will need to add glue to all sides so that the petals won't fall
     through and will connect to the other petals around it. I know that it sounds complicated, but as
     you start to glue them, and piece it together, it will make more sense. You will see that center
     petals just fit better in different spots.

5. Once your wreath/flower is completed, carefully hang it on your wall. Be careful when you pick up
    the wreath. Some of the petals on the back may flop down, because they are only glued at the very
    end point. Once it is up, you will need to add a Command velcro strip to the back of your wreath,
    at the bottom. This is so that it doesn't pull away from the wall. You want the back of the wreath to

    lay flat against the wall. 

I hope that I did not confuse you too much with my instructions. Please feel free to leave me any questions that you have in the comments section. This is a long and tedious project, but I promise that it will be worth it! Happy Friday!

I linked this home project up to Tatertots and Jello for their Linky Party Palooza that takes place every Friday! Click the picture below to link up your project and check out some of the other awesome bloggers who have linked up theirs!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 13

So it is almost 9 o'clock and I am super tired. It's been a very long day, but I am determined to get this post out. For the sake of time, I decided to link back again to a previous project post that I did months ago. I had planned on rewriting the post with more in detail steps, but I just didn't get to it today. These ties are very pretty and simple and one of my favorite projects I've done.

Flower Curtain Ties

Follow the link here to read more about how to create this look ---> flower curtain ties

Tomorrow is Friday friends!! I am so ready for the weekend!!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 12

I really want to purchase a pair of chevron wooden arrows, like these here ----> arrows. I don't know why, but I really love the look of them. I saw a really nice pair once, from a small shop owner on Etsy, but I was too late in claiming them. I have tried Home Goods, but they never seem to have them, or when they do, they aren't quite the style that I am looking for. I have also seen a few others from home decor stores, but most are way too pricey. I am determined to find a set eventually, but until I do, I came up with an easy, and cost free way to create some cute arrows of my own. 

Cork Arrows

What You Need 

1. Corks from wine bottles (As your saving your bottles for Monday's project save the corks for 

    todays).

2. Hot glue

3. Paint (any color)

4. Command velcro hanging strips

Step by Step

1. So I may have lied to you in Monday's post, when I told you that the project for that day was the
    easiest. This one is. You only really need two items that you hot glue together to form an arrow.
    Just follow the pattern in the photos above and glue together as you go. The painting is optional
    when you are done. I may even do another one and move them closer together.

2. After you finish gluing and painting, just add one of the command velcro strips and press to the
    wall. You only need one little one though, these arrows are very light. You can also make them a
    little bigger, just add more corks to each row and make more rows.

So simple and fun, and even though they aren't like the wooden ones I really want, they will do for now! See you tomorrow!!

Many Blessings,

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 11

I am a sucker for memory keeping projects, if that is such a thing. I guess some would call it keeping a photo album or scrapbooking, but I like to document my memories in other ways. It's not that I dislike photo albums and memory books, I have some of my own. I just like to find unique ways of displaying & documenting my history and the memories we make as a family! 

I am sure that you have probably seen some version of the heart map photo frame before. I choose to make one for our anniversary dates. Our first year married, we went to Baltimore, MD. We had so much fun!! The year after that I was pregnant with our son, so we could do anything too crazy. We went into Philly for the night and had a fantastic dinner. During our 3rd year, we were still getting used to being parents, so we dropped our son off at our in-laws and just came back to our place for a night alone. Our fourth year was the best by far. We went to Mexico for 5 days and it was amazing. Just this past year we stayed local, but decided on a mutual anniversary gift that we both had been wanting to have done with the house. What a better way to document all these years, then to have a cute heart map of the places we have been to celebrate!

Heart Map Photo Frame

What You Need

1. A nice 11x14 frame with an inlay. The inlay gives the project a more finished look. You can
    probably only fit about 9 hearts inside though. I plan to start a new one after this one is filled.
2. Maps from different locations you have been. I just googled mine and then printed out the map.
3. Heart hole punch (Michaels sells them).
4. Glue stick

Step by Step

1. Print out your maps from Google and punch a heart around the cities that you visited or stayed at
    for each anniversary.

2. You can also cut them out by hand, if you like. Just fold the map in half and then cut half of a  
     heart. The hearts turn out even this way, although each individual heart you cut out may differ
     slightly in size, unless you are a really good heart cuter outer, lol.

3. Glue them inside the framed inlay, directly onto the frame backing that comes with the frame. If
    you don't like that look, feel free to glue them to a nice piece of card stock, just make sure they are
    centered.

I love this project, because whenever I look at the little hearts, I think about our little trips and the memories we made there for each anniversary! I still need to do one for our 5 year!

Many Blessings,

SaveSave

31 Days of Home Projects: Day 10

You guys, today's home project, is so easy and fun!! It's probably the easiest and quickest one out of all the home projects and I love it! All you need are two items and some hot glue to create this project!

Recycled Wine Bottle Vases

What You Need

1. Empty wine bottle

2. Jute rope (I got mine from Michaels)

3. Hot glue

4. Tag (optional)

Step by Step

1. Take your empty bottle, and starting at the top, glue the rope around the bottle. Work your way down until the entire thing is covered with rope. I didn't glue the rope all the way down. I would wrap it around the bottle two times and then add some glue in one spot. I repeated this all the way down. Make sure to keep the rope tight as you go. You don't want it to sag.

2. I added the chalk tag later on, but I feel that it completed the look. You can use any tags you would like to add a special message or word. Then just fill it with a couple stems of whatever flowers you like.

*Note: There are a few other ways to decorate your wine bottle. I saw a really pretty clear one that was dipped in modge podge and then gold glitter. It was so simple, but so beautiful. I am going to do a few like that for Christmas. This is really the easiest project and you can decorate it however you like. Be creative! See you back here tomorrow for another awesome home project!

**Update: Just saw this on Pinterest and had to share! I really love what this person did with her bottles. --> Upcycled Wine Bottles Home

Many Blessings,