Category: DIY


Feb
2024

A Special Valentine’s Day Frame

categories: DIY, Valentine's Day

I love Valentine’s Day.

I love that this is a special day set aside to tell those in your life just how much you love them.

I love that it is a day for couples to show their love in sweet, loving, and romantic ways, but most of all I love this special day to let my family and friends know how special they are to me.

I love to make cards and send simple gifts, or call, or text, just to say “I love you”.

I love to decorate just a bit for this day, and today I want to share how I turned a dollar store wood frame into something special.

I love how easy and fun it was to update a simple wood frame with just paint, glue, and some flat wood buttons glued around the heart opening.

The flat wood buttons were $1 a pack at Hobby Lobby, I used two packs.

Using a sponge brush I painted the entire frame, front and back, with white paint.

When dry, I started gluing the buttons around the heart opening using E6000 glue.

When the buttons were completely dry and secure, I painted them and gave the entire frame one more coat of paint.

I love the finished frame, especially when I added a photo of me and my sweet husband taken on our wedding day 54 years ago.

It is certainly a special frame for Valentine’s Day.

I love you all for stopping by today, please remember to say “I love you” to all those close to you tomorrow.

Hugs.


Jan
2024

My Momma Started Something

categories: DIY, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting

Hello friends, Happy New Year!

I have been busy putting away, and trying to organize my Christmas decorations, but I took a well needed break to finish upcycling some thrift store items.

When I was a child, my Momma gave me a shoe box.

I loved my simple box, filling it with my favorite things, pencils, crayons, scissors, and papers.

So funny, these are still some of my favorite things.

With that simple gift, my Momma started a crazy thing I have for boxes, all kinds, with or without lids, no matter.

Wood boxes are one of the first things I look for at the thrift store.

I found these 3 wood nesting boxes and an old recipe box on one of my visits.

The nesting boxes were already white, but after cleaning I still gave them a couple coats of white paint to freshen them up.

The recipe box needed a bit more work.

I cleaned and sanded it to remove the lettering, and then painted it as well.

To make them special I added white and gold knobs to each one.

I added the same knob to the nesting boxes, but selected a larger one for the recipe box.

Now that I have them fresh and new, what to do with them.

I used the recipe box to hold and display all the Christmas cards I received this year.

I remember my Momma would always display all her cards around a doorway during Christmas.

There are so many other ideas for my boxes.

On my desk.

I surrounded a candle with some snowy berries, evergreens, and pine cones, in one of the boxes, for a winter piece in my living room.

I am getting ready to update my linen closet and I have an idea they will work well to hold so many things and give the area some much needed order.

They would be perfect on a dresser as a catchall, or to hold towels or pump soaps in the bathroom.

Just so, so many ways to use them.

Hope you all liked my first post of this new year.

Thank you Momma for starting this crazy fun thing I have for boxes.

New Year’s blessings to all.


Oct
2023

Cute Halloween Treats Using Peat Pots

categories: Crafts, DIY, Halloween

It is so hard for me to believe that it is just a few days before Halloween.

Where did my October go!

This pack of really cute Halloween napkins gave me the idea for today’s post.

I usually decoupage on pumpkins in the fall, and love to decoupage on peat pots at Easter, but this year I decided to paint and decorate peat pots for Halloween.

For this project you will need peat pots, black craft paint, a sponge brush, Mod Podge, scissors, and some Halloween napkins.

My first step was to paint the pots black, I did paint the inside as well. They are easy to paint using a sponge brush.

While the pots were drying, I cut out the skeleton pieces from the napkins.

Because of the size of my pots I was not able to use the entire skeleton, only the upper portion of them.

When cutting the images I left a bit of the black around the edges.

I brushed Mod Podge on the pots and added the skeleton pieces, taking care to gently pat them down.

When the pieces were completely dry I did add a thin coat of Mod Podge to each pot to seal.

They turned out soooo cute!

I filled the cups with colorful shredded paper.

The paper adds more color and can be found at Hobby Lobby.

To finish up, I filled cellophane bags with treats, tied with an orange ribbon, and placed one in each cup.

How cute these would be as favors for the kids, or on a table, at parties, or as a treat for coworkers on their desks, what a surprise when they come in to work.

I love working with peat pots, they have a vintage look to them. The look you all know I love.

You could add wire to the cups for a handle, I did not on mine.

Peat pots come in large and small sizes and can be found at garden centers or ordered online.

We are enjoying what may be the last of our warm fall days. Our trees have changed and are so beautiful.

Pray you all are also enjoying these days.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you liked this, not so scary, Halloween treat project.


Oct
2023

Brown Paper Leaf Garland

categories: Autumn, Crafts, DIY

With the season changing I have been pulling out and dusting off all my decorations for fall and Halloween.

I wanted to add something new to my collection of white jack-o-lanterns this year, so I tried a project I have seen on many Pinterest posts, brown paper leaf garlands.

You just need brown paper from bags, wrapping paper, or cardstock, a hot glue gun, scissors, and wire, I used grapevine covered wire I found at Michaels.

I started by making two size oak leaf templates, which I traced on the brown paper.

The next step was fun for me because of my love as a child of cutting paper and paperdolls.

My box of paperdolls brought me so much joy.

Did you have paperdolls?

A wonderful childhood memory for me.

I cut several leaves out at a time, while watching TV, until I had a pile of about 30 or so.

My next step was to glue each leaf stem to the wire with my hot glue gun until I had the length I wanted.

I placed the garland on my family room mantel, and added my white jack-o-lanterns.

How cute!

Not my usual fall colors, but I love the neutral look

I glued a few leaves to some branches from my yard to fill in around the jack-o-lanterns.

If you didn’t want to make a garland, branches with paper leaves glued to them, could be used in many places around your home.

Of course, the little girl in me loved this project, hope you all did too!

Happy Friday!

Love and blessings to all.


Oct
2023

DIY Colorful Chunky Pumpkins

categories: Autumn, DIY

It’s that beautiful, colorful, time of the year, the change of seasons.

Fall is here!

Cool weather came this past week, and the leaves are beginning to fall in my area.

Today I would like to share a very simple DIY fall project using Dollar Tree pumpkins, and chunky yarn from Hobby Lobby.

I purchased the yarn at 40% off, less than $5.00 each.

Look at the wonderful colors, the colors of fall mums.

I started by cutting a hole in the top and bottom of the pumpkin using a knife, removing the stem.

Please take care when cutting.

Start by wrapping the yarn in and out, around the entire pumpkin.

When I started, I secured the beginning of the yarn with a little hot glue inside the pumpkin.

You will need to guess how much yarn you will need to cover the pumpkin, and cut it from the bundle of yarn.

Once the entire pumpkin was covered, I cut some stems from a stick in my yard, and also added some twiggy curls and a leaf.

I love them!

They are like pots of fall mums around my home.

There is enough yarn in each chunky bundle to make at least three pumpkins.

Spread some fall colors around your home, and try this simple project.

There is no way you can mess this up, seriously, it is that easy to do.

Hope you all are beginning to enjoy this beautiful season of the year, it is truly a gift from God.

Happy colorful fall!


Aug
2023

A Really Simple Sunflower Project

categories: Crafts, DIY

If I were asked to make a list of my favorite things, sunflowers would surely be there.

I have always thought sunflowers were fall flowers, but no, they actually bloom in summer and on into fall.

When shopping at my local Meijer’s store, I noticed these tea towels.

Loved them, but thought they should be more than a decorative towel hanging in my kitchen.

So, I cut them in half and made placemats.

No, not such a crazy idea, look at them!

Could not be any easier to do, I just cut them in half, turned and ironed the edges under, and stitched across the towel.

I took care to make both sides the same.

As I have mentioned before, I do not sew a bunch, but on this day my sewing machine loved me and they turned out perfect.

They are plenty large enough for a simple place setting.

A pretty table would be on my favorite things list too, just fun to bring color to the everyday.

You all know that I am retired and spend most of my days at home with my husband.

Simple things like using these placemats when we are sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast, help to make our everyday routines special.

I find that when we sit at the table together, instead of just having cereal in front of the TV, we take more time to talk.

Yesterday I was at that same Meijer’s store, spotted some really wonderful fall tea towels, lots of pumpkins and beautiful colorful leaves, hmm…

I will keep you all posted.

Happy Monday!


Aug
2023

Making a Decorative Bee Skep

categories: DIY, Spring, Summer

I have always been drawn to any vintage garden item, and one of those is a bee skep.

If you have never heard of a bee skep, it is an old man-made bee hive created by using an upside down basket with an entry hole near the bottom. The bees would make their honeycomb inside.

These skeps were beekeepers go to hives for years, but because of the difficulty getting the honey out without injuring the bees, and as new hives came about, these skeps became obsolete.

People still love the skeps today but as a popular feature in gardens and home decor.

I have always wanted one for my garden area, so I made my own.

If you love garden inspired decor, as I do, let me show you how to make these easy DIY bee skeps.

I simply used an old plastic flower pot as my form, a glue gun, and several packs of jute from the $ store.

Using the hot glue gun, I attached the jute around the entire pot.

Apply a stream of glue and press the jute to it until the pot is covered.

When I reached the top I made a loop and secured it with more glue.

Since this is a decorative piece I made a circle of jute and glued it on the front as an opening, and painted the inside with black paint.

Oh my goodness, I love it!

It is so darn cute.

Hope all you garden lovers try this project.

It is still summer to me even though the stores are full of pumpkins and fall decor.

I realize it is almost September, but can’t we give each season it’s time.

I want more days to enjoy my bee skep.

Love to all you sweet folks, until next time.


Aug
2023

Don’t Throw That Old Wreath Away!

categories: Crafts, DIY

Hello everyone, it has been a very long time.

Forgive me.

I will not go into all of the whys, but life, as it does, changed my priorities, my simple life was not so simple anymore.

Struggles stopped me from doing all that I love to do.

As I prayed for clarity, taking life one day at a time, I am beginning to see sunshine in my life once again, looking forward to sharing many projects with all of you.

Our weather has been very hot and humid this summer.

The sun and heat are very hard on me, wearing a hat when I am working outside, is a must.

I have had this hat for some time and I love it, but I thought I would give it a little makeover.

Using flowers from an old wreath, I glued several to my hat, along with some greenery, using a hot glue gun.

Just a few flowers, that’s all my old hat needed.

How cute is it now?

Love this hat, the brim can be up or down, kinda floppy, just so many ways to wear it, keeping the sun from my face and neck.

I keep it on my porch where I can grab it when working in my yard.

It’s not just some old hat now, it’s special!

With the rest of the flowers from the old wreath, I decorated a bead ring.

These bead rings were on sale at Hobby Lobby 50% off, just $5.

Again, I just used my hot glue gun to add flowers and greenery to the ring.

Simple, colorful, and lovely.

I hung the bead wreath on a mirror in my living room.

It has given me lots of colorful joy through spring and summer.

I am always telling a friend that I am a hoarder.

We laugh about it, but I must say I am glad I did not just pitch that old wreath.

These two simple projects have helped to bring the sunshine back to my life and home.

So happy to be back.

Thank you for reading my posts.

Blessings and hugs to all!


Apr
2022

Hippity Hoppity Easter’s On It’s Way

categories: DIY, Easter

Although the weather isn’t cooperating, it is spring, and Easter is on it’s way.

It will be here in about two weeks, April 17th.

Bunnies are multiplying around our house as I decorate for the season.

On my last trip to Hobby Lobby I bought this grapevine bunny shape, 40% off.

All the way home I was thinking of just how I was going to decorate this bunny.

Less is always more for me.

Simple is what I like.

So using some flower picks, and a bit of moss, I glued them to one of the bunny’s ears, and also at the neck with my hot glue gun.

Simple for sure.

I thought of adding some ribbon, but no, just not needed.

A lovely transformation.

Perfect on my front door for Easter, with maybe a couple of pots of pink tulips around the door.

Hippity Hoppity, Easter is on it’s way at my house!

How about yours?

Hugs.


Mar
2022

Old Tray to Amazing

categories: DIY, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting

Hi folks!

I love my adventures at the thrift store.

Digging through stacks of treasures hoping I will find that something I can turn into a wonderful piece of my very own.

Sometimes I see an item for a great price and just bring it home, not knowing what in the world I will do with it.

This was one of those items.

Until I saw this photo.

I love these trays, I would love to have them, but they are $75.00 for both.

Yikes!

Well, that was not going to happen, and then I remembered that old tray in my garage stash.

It was pretty scratched up so I sanded it several times.

Gathered the right size wood beads, and 4 wood pieces for legs, found at Hobby Lobby.

Painted the tray, and when dry, I used E6000 glue to add beads all around the inside edge of the tray.

When the beads were dry and secured, I painted the beads, the tray, and the legs, with several coats of paint.

Not exactly like the $75.00 ones, but pretty darn close.

Love the final results of this project.

It really is amazing when you look back at that beat up old tray I started with.

I am sure my decorative tray isn’t the quality of the ones shown in the photo, but the fact I could take something someone discarded, and turn it into something beautiful, gives me so much joy.

Have you been thrifting lately?

Hugs, until my next post.