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September 6, 2014

DIY: Fall Wreath Tutorial

It has been far too long since I've posted a tutorial, or even just posted anything! Anywho... I'll try not to slack off for so long this time!

It's that time of year again, where pumpkin everything is coming back into our lives. Stores are starting to put out Halloween and Christmas (what???) items. It's just about time for the leaves to change colors and the weather to cool off.

To celebrate, I've made myself a Fall wreath to liven up my apartment door.

Here's the finished product
Unfortunately, I did not take photos while I was building this beauty, so here are the materials needed, and then I will walk you through the steps taken (there's not too many, don't worry).

Materials Needed:
- Wire Wreath Frame (I used a 10" frame)
- Twine (I used a heavy duty jute twine)
- Burlap Ribbon (I used a natural color, burlap mesh ribbon with wire in it)
- Fake Leaves
- Fake Flowers
- Hot Glue/Glue Gun
- Over the Door Wreath Hook

I found all of my materials at Hobby Lobby, but I've also found them at Michael's and JoAnn's.

Once you have all of your materials, you're ready to start!

Using your hot glue, twine, and the wire wreath frame, start glueing and wrapping the twine around the frame. I used a little glue, would wrap about 10 times, and then use another dob of glue.
This part was the most time consuming simply because of the thickness of twine (there are thicker twines out there, in hindsight I should have used larger twine). 

Once the frame is completely wrapped, you'll start to work with the leaves and flowers. Using scissors and some creative bending, twisting, and pulling of the fake leaves off of their stems, I placed a small dob of glue on each leaf stem, and slid the stem in between the twine (this will ensure that the leaves are glued underneath a layer of twine so the stems do not show)

After the leaves were in a formation that I liked (all of mine are heavily on the right-hand side of the frame), I placed small dobs of glue behind the leaves themselves so they would lay flat (some of them were sticking out strange, and I didn't like that - so I made sure they all laid mostly flat).

Next are the flowers, these were pretty easy to just pop off the top of their stems. I then did the same thing with the glue, and placed a small amount on the tiny part of stem that was left, and stuck it into the twine, partially covering the bottom of the leaves.

I only used a handful of flowers until I was satisfied with how it looked. As you can see in the photo above, my flowers are mainly at the bottom of the frame.

To balance out the brightly colored leaves and flowers, I used a small amount of the burlap ribbon to make a bow on the left-hand side of the frame. With the wired ribbon, this made it easier to tie and shape into the perfect bow - I was also able to twist it so it was tilted in a way I liked.

That's it! This was a fairly simple project to complete, and it motivates me to make seasonal wreaths to decorate my door with :)

Enjoy and please ask me questions if you have any!

Happy crafting!



 

 





November 2, 2013

Insights

Woah Woah Woah... where does the time go? I've been at my new job for a year (and 4 days but who's counting) and I haven't posted in a very long time.

Now that Halloween (my favorite holiday) is over I figured I should start doing things that I love again - mainly crafting and writing tutorials on some of my favorite crafts :)

My 2013 Costumes:
- Ventriloquist Doll (kind of creepy but I loved it - thank you, Pinterest, for the idea)
- Devil (easy, I know - but fun nonetheless)

Sit back and enjoy. If you have any questions or would like to see any specific tutorials please let me know and I will see what I can do!

Tutorials Upcoming:
- Fall/Thanksgiving Wreath (I know it's getting a little late but hey, Fall is still around for awhile)
- Upcycled Tile Coasters
- Push Pin Canvas Art 


August 24, 2012

Severe Slacker

Yowza! I haven't posted on here in over a year! Let's hop on the fast track and let me break down anything of importance that has happened...

  • Last summer after backpacking through Europe for 5 weeks I found out I had a severely deviated septum (from breaking it of course) and needed surgery. That was a fun 3 week recovery.. 
  • I quit my serving job in the Chicagoland area and started looking for jobs out of state.
  • Visited a friend in the Denver metro area, and started applying for jobs in December. 
  • Came back out to Denver for 2 interviews, and was hired 2 days later. 
  • I MOVED TO COLORADO! 

I love it here and couldn't be happier :)
I haven't been keeping up with my Etsy much lately, but plan to start again now that I'm completely settled into a routine.

With the addition of Pinterest in my life I plan on posting pictures and projects that I was inspired to do via Pinterest! Get excited! It's going to be a wild ride! 

August 9, 2011

New Etsy Listings and a Factoidz Article!

All right, everyone! I finally listed 6 new items on Etsy! After vacation I had hopes of crafting a lot and making a ton of jewelry and hair pieces, but then I got sucked back into my old, boring routine of waitressing and sleeping when I had the chance. I've also been thrown back onto the horse of job hunting for a "real" job, AKA one that I would enjoy and uses my Bachelor's degree... we'll see how that works out. Good thing I already have a few things that I love... such as my Etsy, my Factoidz article, and this (when I actually update!)

So here goes nothin'... and these, my friends, are new to my shop




The Autumn Owl (Click Here)





Pretty In Pink Bow Necklace


Gunmetal Irish Necklace


Those are my newest listings! I'm hoping to get some more up today or tomorrow, so we'll see how the weather is (I need to take more pictures first!) I hope you enjoy them :) 
I also still have a SALE section with about 11 items in it, so get those before they run out! I am going to start a promotion tomorrow, August 10, for a free gift with purchase again... you're hearing it here first! 

I made a new treasury list last night as well.... called Little Woodland Creations  which I think is very fun and cute, so get check it out if you're interested! 



New on Factoidz: I published an article titled "Healthy (and Delicious) 'Banana Split' Breakfast" which is basically a recipe for a deliciously healthy breakfast involving bananas, yogurt, peanut butter, granola or grape nuts, and a few other ideas :)

I know there's a lot of links in here, and I'm sorry about that... but this is my promotion page today I guess! If you have any questions, comments, ideas, etc... please feel free to send a comment my way! 
Have an amazing Tuesday!


July 27, 2011

"If You Don't Give Back, No One Will Like You"

For anyone who knows where the title of this post is from, good for you! :) I recently discovered Crowdrise, an online fundraising website. You can sign up, create your own pages to raise money for charities of your choosing, or join a team already in progress of reaching a charity goal.

I joined the movement for To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA). I've known about TWLOHA for a few years now, and fully support what they are striving to achieve. They're raising awareness for people suffering from depression, self-injury, addiction, and suicide. They're campaign slogan is "Love is the Movement"... which is the best way to describe what needs to happen. So many people feel that they are alone in this world, and what they need is to know that they are loved.

My own mantra (adapted from the TWLOHA movement) is "Love and be Loved" which is pretty strong. We all know people suffering, and we're all in this together. I've joined the movement, and would love to help raise awareness with anyone and everyone's help.

If you are able, and if this moved you, or at least intrigued you, I urge you to visit my fundraising page here:

http://www.crowdrise.com/LisaBland#projects

There are tons of projects, charities, and groups raising money for any and every cause on this site! Do what moves you... 

The more we know, the better we are. We can make a difference, we just need to do it together.