How I wear my hair (almost) everyday
How I store my cleaning supplies
How I dress (I’m including how to wrap scarves, how to tie oversized belts…well, buying thrift store oversized belts, and how to make infinity scarves in this category)
How I take pictures, cook, clean, organize, store,… and just about everything else (scroll over each picture to see what it is).
For those of you that don’t know me that well, I can probably be characterized as extremely competitive (think board games, trivia, design, decorating, thrifting… anything outside the physical activity realm). My husband who played D1 Collegiate baseball is also pretty competitive (think anything inside the physical activity realm). After we’ve put Hudson to bed he will watch me ‘surf’ Pinterest and he gets a crack out of my comments to the computer. Either “I’ve been doing that for years!” (i.e. hanging my boots on skirt hangers) or “Why didn’t I think of that!" (i.e. toilet paper roll art and earrings from paper clips; because of course that’s SO me). My competitive nature makes it a little hard to follow the Pinterest rules. I’d like to pin some of my own ideas, but that is ‘frowned’ upon. I will have to settle on trying to “one-up” Pinterest ideas.
Wow, did I mention that I also ramble (… a lot). Back to the updates.
The burlap bubble wreath…
From Pinterest:
My version…
The full tutorial can be found on the site above. I will note where I differed from her instructions.
Instead of a floral ring, I used a pool noodle. My dollar store did not carry the floral ring and the noodle ended up making a larger wreath.
Also, I noticed that in the tutorial the blogger used fabric burlap. Mine is outdoor, garden burlap from Lowe’s (you get more for less). I didn’t really notice the difference until I went to pin my bubbles. The fabric burlap is tighter (basically you can sew or pin it). With the garden burlap the threads are spaced further apart, so there is no way you could really sew it and to pin it you would need pins with huge heads so they don’t pull through. I remedied this by putting painter’s tape or masking tape on the end and then pinning through that. This stopped the pin from pulling through the burlap. Since you place each “bubble” on top of the previous pin you can not see the blue tape peaking through at all.
Now for my “just one step better”… I wanted to add a bow. Part of me wanted a bright colored bow. Although I couldn’t really figure out what color because I like that this can be a fall and/or winter wreath. I spent a day trying to dye the burlap using food coloring, but that did not work and I didn’t want to buy any more materials, so I ended up with a monochromatic wreath which I absolutely love.
I stopped ‘bubbling’ with enough room to add a bow.
This is a picture of my favorite ‘tool’. It is a large screw that I believe is the only reason that I have any fingerprints left (no, I’m not planning on being hunted by the FBI one day so I’d prefer the hot glue gun not completely burn my fingers raw).
I cut one strip the length of the burlap roll (about 8 inches across). Because this burlap came on a roll, the sides naturally curl together.
Next I folded the ends together (they overlap just a bit) and then secure a rubber band in the middle. This makes the top of the bow.
Next cut another strip of burlap the entire length of the roll. Once again it will naturally curl together. Simply fold the middle around the rubber band and tie.
Then I glue gunned the bow onto my blank spot on the wreath. I wanted it to be a little off center (kinda like me).
After the bow is attached, I completed the bubbles until the wreath was finished.
And remember how I mentioned that the wreath wouldn’t go on my front door? So, where did I put it? Smack dab in the middle of my windows… Right next to my tree. What do you think? I L-O-V-E it!
This is one where I want to say, “take that, Pinterest”
Moving right along, homemade ornaments.
From Pinterest:
and 
My version:
Let me start by saying this a loose interpretation on two different ornament ideas. When I saw the handprint ornament I started to doubt how long the glitter would actually last on the outside of the ornament. I always like the idea of glitter ornaments until I pull them out and I’m sweeping and vacuuming impossible-to-get-rid-of glitter even more often than I’m sweeping up the needles from a real tree. I also liked the glass ornaments with a squirt of paint (acrylic) inside and then swirl. I used homemade mod podge (Elmer’s glue and water) and glitter.
First, pour mod podge into ornament (don’t scrimp).
Swirl, so that the entire ornament is covered on the inside.
Drain back into the mod podge container. I let mine sit for at least 30 minutes to an hour. The ornament is almost completely clear again. This causes the glitter to stay once you add it. I didn’t really drain the first ornament I did, and when I added the glitter it rolled around with the glue. I couldn’t get it to stay in one spot. This is how you would do it if you wanted a ‘swirl’ effect inside.
Add glitter. I demonstrated with gold glitter, but I like the white glitter the best. I am not left handed, so this is staged. I had to use both hands when pouring the glitter, because as you pour you will turn the ornament so that it goes all the way around. If you poured too much, just shake. Too little? Just add more. You really can’t go wrong.
Leave your ornament open to dry overnight (it may take longer if you had excess glue). The glue dries completely clear and the glitter stays put. Voila, a no mess glitter ornament. (Well, no mess AFTER they are made).
Now the no-sew ruffle tree skirt. This has been bouncing all over Pinterest in several different forms, but here’s the one I used.
I used burlap instead of the linen and in order to do that I had to fold the burlap in half lengthwise and glue both ends to the canvas drop cloth.
I wasn’t loving how this was turning out, so I decided to stop after 3 rows. First, I don’t believe 4 1/2 feet is large enough circumference for a tree skirt. Because of this, mine became more of a square because I didn’t want to sacrifice the length by cutting off the corners. Second, it used a lot more burlap than I thought it would. I only bought one roll at Lowe’s. I was able to finish the entire burlap wreath and 3 rows of ruffles on the tree skirt. I have a little left over, but not enough for another row. Third, I couldn’t use the skirt where I had planned to use it. In my mind I wanted the burlap skirt around the real tree and I wanted the fake tree inside a galvanized bucket. The room where I put the fake tree has a sloping ceiling and it was too low for the tree inside the bucket. We saved money on the real tree by buying shorter than we wanted and then lifted the tree by a foot and a half. Think of platform heels for a tree (more room for presents). This all being said, I wasn’t even going to get to use the burlap skirt in the burlap-esque room.
Here’s a lower case ‘ta da’ (I completely lost my umph for this project)
I had one more item on my wish list: mercury glass
I picked out my glasses from the Dollar Store. I was very excited about this project, and then I went to Lowe’s. No Krylon Looking Glass spray paint. Then on to Michael’s- no Krylon Looking Glass spray paint. So I tried Walmart- once again, no Looking Glass spray paint. Finally I found out that it is only offered online. Somehow no matter how much time I have spent on the computer, I still have not caught on to ordering items online. I still have not ordered the spray paint, so I replaced this to-do with fabric garland. Hopefully we will see the mercury glass soon.
Pinterest version:
My version is all white.
While doing my sister’s apartment I accidently bought a full size bedskirt instead of a queen. It was only $1.99 at a thrift store, so I wasn’t out very much. I don’t have any full beds, but I knew I’d find something to do with this. I didn’t think I would cut it into a million pieces and use it for Christmas decor, who knew?
What I love: It’s different. And I have garland to use year after year.
What I didn’t like: It’s one of the most time consuming projects I have ever done. This literally took me forever (ok, maybe not ‘literally’). I’m more for instant gratification projects.
What I would change: I actually would not put this on a string of Christmas lights. I would make this on a wire and then attach a string of white lights to it (with ornament hooks or more pieces of the sheet). As I was making this my mom kept asking me what I would do if the lights don’t work next year. Well, I don’t really want to think about that.
