Americana Porch Makeover

I've been busy lately, but I really wanted to take a little time to Americanize my porch for the 4th.

Star box makeover (inspired by Craft-O-Maniac). It's supposed to be distressed, but I'm not so sure it shows on camera:

Tin Can Windsock (inspired by Under the Table and Dreaming):

And finally, my new wreath, inspired by no one. Just me! I really like using this same wreath form for all seasons, just dressing it up in new ribbon and embellishments. I like the rustic look it has. For this wreath, I just used wired ribbon and a bunch of red, white and blue yo-yos that I made last year. And flags of course!:

Happy 4th of July!

I'll be linking up here.

Recycled Thread Board



I've been pretty excited about this project for awhile! I bought this (below) frame at Goodwill back in January. It originally had something similar to a foam ceiling tile in it, but I chucked it before I took a picture.

I could just see the potential. Everything has potential at $1.50, right? Anyway, hubby cut me a rectangle of pegboard to fit...then I let it sit for a couple of months. Two vacations and a little burn out later, I finished it! Better late than never, right?

I used my trusty glue gun...

to glue in some wooden dowels I cut up. I couldn't find any pegboard accessories that actually fit the thread hole, so I just bought a very small dowel and cut it in 4 inch sections. Hot glue secured them just fine.

After a bit of paint and some ribbon, I got a great thread board at a great price!

I love that it has room to put my thread and coordinating bobbin on each dowel.

I don't have a large craft area, but I'm working with what I got!

I will be linking up to these great parties!

Counting Yellow Cars

Driving with my children has become sort of an annoyance lately. Let me amend that: driving with KIKI has been sort of an annoyance lately. If she isn't yelling for a book or dropped toy, she is INSISTING that we listen to the same song OVER and OVER and OVER again.

I try to remind myself she's only two. And it will pass. (sigh)

Anyway, naturally we decided it would be a great idea to take a week-long car trip with the children this weekend. Luckily, Stacy at Not Just a Housewife (a daily read for me) had my back. She featured Tammy from She Wears Flowers' Car Game this week! She came up with a wonderful tutorial on how to make a counting yellow cars game for your kids to play in the car. I saw it, and knew I had to make it!

I let the kids pick their fabrics from my stash (guess who's is who's!):

I switched up a couple of things from her tutorial (out of frugality--I was determined to not spend any money on this). I used yellow felt (double layer) instead of clay. Also, I didn't use interfacing to keep it stiff. It's cardboard! I sewed all three sides together, then topstitched, inserted a rectangle of cardboard, then topstitched the bottom shut! I know it sounds cheap, but I was seriously trying to work with what I had. Naturally, mine do not fold up the way Tammy's do.

I hope you click on over and check out her tutorial. It's a good one!

(More) Valentine's Stuff & Say It On the Wall Discount for You!

If you like to craft and decorate (which I assume is why you're here), then you probably love vinyl, right? Me too. Which is why I love Say It On the Wall. Not only do they have tons of great vinyl products, but they also have pictures of each to help inspire you on how to use them.

For example, my Valentine mailboxes. They are kinda exactly like the ones on the website...but they were just so cute on there that I had to recreate them.

I ordered my vinyl (it shipped quick too!), found some V-Day mailboxes at Target for $1, and hot glued a little ribbon on the edge. Easy!

I think I'll gift this one to Finn's teacher on V-Day--with a few gift certificates inside!



And I'm excited to say that Say It On the Wall is offering my readers 30% all Valentine-themed products through the month of February. Just use the code FAST30 at checkout!

Enjoy, and I'd love to see what you create! Make sure you come back and link it up on Linky Fridaze!

<center><a href="http://www.fastdaze.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJh9eDz-VvyF17JAZQhkIjAu0D7ZEzFad-PNTmExUsBTr6Ud2q4bMf1wb205sXzdSCq48E9ngTb4ep2-m8TX0rA6Wltb1qev9gkOlpM6RZUlwWfrC-lBa_9c2nZ6t5saaSP8QwC59qS0t/s1600/linky6.jpg" /></a></center>

I will be linking up with these great parties!

Valentine Wreath

Inspired by Tatertots & Jello.

Felt flower tutorial by A Girl and A Glue Gun.

I will be linking up to these great parties and Mix Tape Monday!

Poinsettia Wreath Tutorial

There was a great tutorial for felt poinsettias (complete with template) over at Infarrantly Creative on Wednesday. It was one of those things that I just knew I HAD to make because they were so cute. Click on over and print off the template to make some yourself!

On Infarrantly Creative, they used button covers for the center (and they look fantastic), but I had neither the time or money to get some (they really are pretty cheap), so I just cut a little circle of felt and stitched that on instead:

Voila!:

Hot glue some hair clips on the back of your pretty poinsettias and set them aside.

Next step: wrap your wreath with yarn. This is pretty self-explanatory, however, I have 2 tips that will make this simpler.

1. Lock up your cat. The temptation will just be too strong for her.

2. Just cut long strings of yarn and tie them together as you go along. If you have children, you probaby don't want to spend hours unknotting your (undoubtedly) tangled yarn.

 Clip your poinsettias on:

 Add a little ribbon, and your done! A beautiful Christmas accessory!

I am linking up with (links to the left):


Under the Table & Dreaming
Tea Rose Home
Embellishing Life
Craft-o-Maniac
Yesterday On Tuesday
Sew Chatty
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Vintage Wanna Bee
Not Just a Housewife

O Christmas Tree

I bought a package of coffee filters to make a wreath, but then it struck me that they might string up to make a fine garland! In all, I used about 400 filters for this (less than $5, and a quick craft to do in front of a movie) and I may add a few more. I really wish I was a better photographer so that I could do it justice, but in person, it really is quite stunning.

To make, you need a couple of packages of white coffee filters (or brown, or you can dye them. Wouldn't a red and green one look cute?). Pinch each filter in the middle and then do sort of tri-fold so that it makes a fan shape. Then just string them one by one onto a piece of thread! So simple and the filters are pretty sturdy. My cat hasn't been able to pull the whole thing apart yet, even though she has tried repeatedly.

Merry Christmas!

A Pocket Full of Posies

I love these easy little flower pins. I finally got myself up to the craft store (I've been a bit sick all week-end) and bought a quarter-yard each of blue and pink satin ($1.50 altogether!) and had more than enough to make these flowers. Just cut out 4 different sized circles of the satin, singe the edges with a lighter (I eventually lit a candle to dip them in because I was sick of burning my thumb) and secure them with a few knots of embroidery thread through the middle. I've seen it done with beads as well to give it a more decorative effect. I hot-glued hair clips on the back so I can give them as gifts.

It almost feels like spring!

Personalized Kid's Books

I've got to brag for a moment. I have some pretty great in-laws. I know some other people who have horror stories about their in-laws, but mine are usually nothing but helpful. My mother-in-law is a teacher, and you would think she'd be sick of kids by the end of the day, but she is ALWAYS up for hanging with her grandkids. This weekend, she watched the kids a bit (okay, she actually does that EVERY weekend) and they made a super cute craft--personalized kids books. A lot of picture companies make a ton of money on these, but my kids like these just as well!

Great rainy day fun!

Fall Crafts

Acorn wreath. So pretty. So simple. So cheap. 'Nuff said. A Thanksgiving blessings board. I saw a tute for this on another blog, and I hate not to credit it, but I can't remember who's it was. For mine, I bought a cheap frame from Wal-mart (wish I had a prettier one lying around the house that I could have painted), then I put large staples in the back of it and tied hemp twine (from the dollar store!) and ribbon on the staples in strips. I embellished it with some scrapbook paper and chipboard pieces. Lastly, I cut out a ton of leaf shapes with my Sizzix (the kids were able to help with that). Now, every night each of us writes one thing we are thankful for on a leaf and I punch a hole in them and tie them on the ribbon with extra twine. So far, I think Finn has had me write down "Kitty" every night, but who am I to tell him what to be thankful for? (Although I am secretly wishing that he might utter "Mommy" one night)

Pre-teen Birthday Gift

I will be linking up this post with Tea Rose Home's Wednesday link party!

It's easy to make gifts for babies, but for 9-year-old girls? I went for a purple & black memo board, personalized, of course!

Family Rules

My family rules chart (originally seen at The Pleated Poppy). I like the way it turned out, but I HATE HATE how the paper wrinkled under the Mod Podge. Does anyone know how to stop that?

One Wreath, Two Ways

My friend Kristal made this cutie a few weeks ago with beans, and I've seen a bunch of tutorials on similar topics, so today I made my own out of acorns. I got a foam wreath frame and ribbon from the dollar store and I put my kids to work gathering acorns on Sunday morning. Finn had the great idea to collect the fat little gold balls that were falling from the trees as well, so I put them around the edge. I should go back for more of them though. I think a wreath made entirely of the balls would be really pretty.
I hot-glued on my "found" objects, spray-painted it all white, added some ribbon and viola! a spooky black and white wreath for Halloween. I hung it over my home-made mod-podged "BOO"sign:

Or, with a change of ribbon, a festive fall wreath (paired with my fabric wreath from a few posts ago):

I like both looks, but I suppose I'll keep the spookier version up for Halloween!

I'll be linking up on Wednesday with Tea Rose Home's Wednesday link party!

SUPER easy fabric pumpkins

Too busy to sew a dozen handmade fabric pumpkins? Me too. Good thing I found this.