Once Upon a Time Thursday

 This week, I became an addict. After one episode of Once Upon a Time, I'm hooked. & with this hot weather, I'd rather be indoors anyway. I hate to say it but Rumpelstiltskin is my favorite character, and I'm about tired of Snow and Charming's drama!

I decided to spend my day cleaning, a usual habit before my work weekend, & trying to get wreath ideas for our front door since. It's about time for the Fourth of July wreath to come down anyways. Also, spending time making a wreath will give me an excuse to log on to Netflix for a little more Once. 

When I got home from Hobby Lobby, there was a package at my door! I am actually looking forward to getting to work this weekend....

Just had to show these bright red babies off! :)

So on to the most constructive thing I've done today. No lies, this is probably the best looking thing I've made. I think I surprised myself a little. I was a little conflicted by the type of wreath I wanted to make. It's getting to be fall soon, but making something with fall colors and pumpkins seems too early. I decided to go with flower-less stems. It looks a little more natural, plus 50% off at Hobby Lobby. :)

I bought a medium straw wreath, 4 feather bunches, 2 bundles of the wheat straw, 1 pack of dyed Eucalyptus and 1 package of thin black faux cat tails. 

I wanted to get that layering look so I began by inserting the cat tails around the outer part of the wreath.

Then I layered the Eucalyptus stems.

I added the burlap to the middle as a filler as well as wheat straw buds on the left side of the wreath. 

Comment for questions. After making, I realized it was too big for the front door so be aware. 

Tomi

                                                                                

Beer Button Magnets

I think we've been saving our beer pop tops for about a year now. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, only to stress to my husband to keep them! So I threw out a mason jars and we collected!

So here's a little of our collection, mostly consisting of Founders. We are big Founders fans! So we had plenty of those tops to choose from. 

 I tried to pick out one of each. They are each so different and unique in itself. I have never really taken a good look at those little tops.

I bought two packs of Walmart circular magnets for $2 each. 

A few of the bottle tops needed a little hammering since most didn't twist off. 

I glued two circular magnets on the back of each bottle top.

Ta-da. We've been needing some new magnets! They are so adorable and easy!

Where have I been??

 Hi All!


It's been about a week or two since I've posted anything, but I haven't been home! Last week, my cousins, Miss and I drove to Mobile to visit my mom....only after I worked 3 nights in a row. We left right away Monday morning. I'm pretty sure I was up 28+ hours, but I just wanted to get down there! My older little brother took the bus down a few weeks before to put in new floors for ma so it was nice to have us all together!

  

Ma had our week filled! Bowling, eating, shopping, eating, and more good eating. :-)
We played lots of games and spent a little time, weather allowing, on the coast.

I've got a bunch of new craft ideas. We did go garage-saling while I visited and I got three free frames! So I'm pondering all frame ideas...thinking on starting early Christmas decorations.....? Stay tuned.

How to Chevron-ify your lap t

After another 3-day work weekend, I'm back with last week's latest creation.
I've had my Macbaby for about 3 years and it was my best friend in nursing school. Now that we're done with all that, it's time for a makeover. What better was for a facelift than Chevron?!

I have a subscription to Real Simple magazine. I was excited when I found a coupon flyer in it for a free Valspar sample at Lowes. The most exciting color was this bright purple called "Satin Dazzle." I had no idea where I was going to be putting this, "Satin Dazzle," anywhere in my house, but it was the perfect inspiration for this makeover.

Supplies:
Paint brush(es)
Paints of your choice
Paint tape
Chevron stencil
Permanent marker

1.) I easily found a chevron print in a Google search and printed it off on paper. Trace with permanent marker, not too dark so it won't show through the paint. 

2.) Ta-da! Chevron stencil outline complete. 

3.) Apply painter's tape around the base of your lap top. Don't be stingy with the tape. Apply plenty so you can go wild with the paint! :-) 

4.) My paint colors. You can see my free Valspar choice on the right and two other paint choices I've had around the house. 

5.) I bought a lot of Washi tape earlier. This tape was perfect for edging each row. Make sure to do rows in shifts. I did 2-3 rows at one time, applying 3 coats of paint and then 1 coat of Mod Podge just to secure it. 

This process did take a couple of days. 

Hopefully you have some help like I did!

Apply paint to a pattern of your choice. I wanted to use more of my "Satin Dazzle' than the other two colors. At this point, you're ready to add other colors but make sure these first rows are dry. I put Washi tape on top of the new painted rows to keep the lines nice & straight. 

                                                                                         

Left: Red rows applied.

Right: Once red was dry, Washi tape added and green painted. 

You'll notice that once your rows are all painted, there will be some white gaps in between each row. I didn't want to colors overlapping (I did it on purpose ;-)  ). To fill in the white gaps I added a navy line/border and it gave a nice accent. 

As if this makeover isn't crazy enough, I added glitter glue that I found on sale for $1.07. The glitter outlined the middle row and makes a nice golden apple! 

There you have it! 

Big difference, huh?

Thanks everyone, comment if any questions!

Tomi