Frames for CHEAP!

Who doesn't need a little more decor for cheap?! 3 bucks and a little love and I had these babies finished! These are the hubby and my initials, which I thought would be fitting for Valentine's or really they could work for any day too. I did the

I bought the frames from the Dollar Tree after seeing this post at Under the Table and Dreaming. I thought they were really cute and for $1 you really can't beat the price!
So I waited til it finally got sunny outside again....(which was probably the longest part!) Whipped out my trusty ol' spray paint and got to work. Did a couple of coats and then sanded around the edges and on some of the detailing. Then I mixed up some Dark Chocolate craft paint from Americana with some water to make more of a runny glaze.I brushed it all over the frame and let it dry for just a bit. Then used a rag and just wiped some of it off. It is probably the easiest thing to do to make it all stand out more.
I printed the letters off of my computer in different fonts and exacto knifed 'em out of the paper. Backed them with scrapbooking paper and they were done. I LoVe how they turned out and they were easy and cheap!! I am thinking of doing some turquoise or maybe even a bright yellow. Apparently those are the "in" colors this year in decorating. I gotta have me some turquoise soon so I am sure I will be posting something...

Linking up at:
The Girl Creative, Persimmon Perch, Making the World Cuter,
Between Naps on the Porch, Skip to My Lou, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,
Keeping it Simple, Twice Remembered, Life as Lori
Today's Creative Blog

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Bottle with a twist

Most of you have probably seen these floating around the web. I swear these things start like wildfires. They are quite possibly the easiest craft I have done lately. But very tedious and time consuming and that is why I wouldn't recommend these for the light-hearted crafter! But I do think the end result makes the whole thing worth it. So maybe even the light hearted ones should join in on the fun!

Take an empty bottle you have around. (I started scouring my fridge for the next one of these I plan to make. I am thinking a square shaped one like an A-1 Sauce or something similar would be cool.)Then take off the wrapper. Tear it, rip it. Whatever. Then use Goo Gone and water. That made this one SO much easier to get rid of!Grab some jute and use either really heavy duty sticky tape (like what they use with carpets) or else use the trusty ol' glue gun. That is what I had around so that is what I used. Just slow and steady is what I recommend. Do a line of glue and then attach the jute. Line of glue, jute. Line of glue, jute. You get it. Seriously, it took me like 3 days to finish this one up. I did it in my "spare" time and could only stand doing it for so long each time before I wanted to chuck it across the room. Well maybe not really, but it isn't the most exciting craft to make.Towards the end though, it starts going faster and you get excited to see how it is going to turn out. Oh, then you could accessorize it with something for the holidays, like a red heart. The nice thing about these is that they seem to go with just about any type of decor. My kind of craft.

Linked up at:

The Girl Creative, Crafts Keep Me Sane, Making the World Cuter,
It's So Very Cheri, Twice Remembered, Cottage Instincts,
The Persimmon Perch, Between Naps on the Porch, Skip to My Lou,
Sumo's Sweet Stuff

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Burlap on the Door

I wanted a Valentine's wreath. No, I needed one. I just wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go with it. I found a lot of cute ones with ribbons tied on it but I have one just like that for Halloween and I wanted something different. I saw fabric roses or other flower ones but I wasn't really up for that either. I thought about doing a heart shaped one but again, just wanted something a little different. I thought outside the usual circle and went for a square wreath. I absolutely love burlap so I jumped all over this wreath. I wanted mine to be my own version though. So first I decided to use a metal hanger for the frame. Since I tossed out all of my metal hangers years ago I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I thought about who might have one and we stopped off at a dry cleaners. The hubby is such a sweet guy that he went inside and asked if we could buy one hanger from them. They just gave it to him. Score! When I got home and started bending my hanger around into a square shape, I realized I actually needed two hangers to get it the size I wanted. So I went deep into one of my closets and remembered that there was a wire hanger back there. Got that sucker out and starting shaping them. My hubs offered to twist it all nice around together for me with pliers. AHHHhhh! What a guy!Meanwhile, I laid out the burlap and got it all straight and started cutting 4" strips across it. (with the raw or cut edges on the right and left sides and the selvage edges at the top and bottom)Once they were all cut out, I zigzagged the strips back and forth about 3 1/2" wide.Then I just threaded them onto the hanger, which proved to be a lot more time consuming than I originally thought. But I think it was worth it.Once it was all on there, I set it on the ground and worked the burlap around so it was a little more "twisted" in some spots and more evenly spaced out.Then I decided it needed a little more Vday love. I planned to make 2-3 hearts out of felt I already had. I was going to make white and red ones but after doing one white one, I decided it was cuter with just white. I made two the same size. I just free handed cutting them out and then put a little bit of batting in between two of them and did a running stitch with a needle and some embroidery floss to finish them up.
I was going to hang my wreath from the door hanger by my ribbon but it was hanging down too low. So I just put the wreath right up on there and tied the ribbon around the end of the door hanger too. Then I placed the hearts where I wanted them to go and sort of "sewed" them to the hanger to keep them in place. My thought is to be able to change out the decor for different seasons if I want. I may do a shamrock/green theme for St Patty's Day. Who knows. Ignore my ugly door, we are renting so not too much I can do about that. But for now, I love the wreath!

Linking up at:
Funky Junk Interiors
Remodelaholics Anonymous,
We are THAT Family, Blue Cricket Design,
The Thrifty Home, Its So Very Cheri,
The Herber Family, The Shabby Chic Cottage,
Poppies at Play, Treasures for Tots

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Capital L-O-V-E

Love is in the air right now or at least it should be with Valentine's coming up and all. I had a few fun ideas to make our place seem a little more lovey dovey this year. I got some chipboard letters at Hobby Lobby (or Hobs Lobs as I like to call them). I got mine to spell love (obviously) but I was thinking you could do xoxo, kiss, smooch, Vday, hugs, etc.I painted the backs and sides of all of the letters. I don't think I really needed to do the backs but I did anyway. If you do, just be sure that it really is the backside of the letter, there are some that aren't really reversible if you mess up.Then snatched up some scrapbook paper and some of this trusty old friend, Mod Podge. I mod podged all of the letters onto the scrapbook paper and let them dry.
Then used some sandpaper to sand off the paper. You could also just cut the paper to fit the chipboard letters but I like the sanded look.
Once those were all done, I drilled some holes into them to attach them. You could also just leave them to sit on a desk, table or shelf, but in my small space, I don't really have those luxuries right now.
Then I just used some coordinating ribbons to tie the letters together.
It is so happy and cheerful looking. I smile whenever I see it. The great thing is that if you don't use "traditional" Valentine's Day colors then you could really use this year round.

Linking up at:
A Soft Place to Land, Today's Creative Blog,
A Silly Little Sparrow, My Frugal Family,
Skip to My Lou

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Smoochy Smooch

Here is a Valentine's Day sign I made last year just out of some scrapbook paper and cardstock, ribbon and printed letters from my computer. It was super easy to make and helped my house have a little bit more of a Valentine's Day feel.
Valentine's can be such a fun holiday not just for couples, but for anyone to remember those that they love. I think it can be made more fun by decorating with more Vday Decor. I still have a few more ideas up my sleeve. So you will have to check out what else I have been up to lately.

Linked up at :
Funky Junk Interiors, Cottage Instincts, The Persimmon Perch,
Making the World Cuter, Its So Very Cheri, Twice Remembered
The Girl Creative, Between Naps on the Porch

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