Made this Monday - Paint Swatches Wall Art

Hello Lovelies!  I hope you all had a splendid New Year's Eve and Day.  We've just been taking it easy over here.  The boy's been playing a lot of X-Box and I've been doing a lot of reading!  (Yep, I said reading!) 

But in my New Year's down time I also managed to create a project from my list of things to do before I turn 30 - create something from paint sample swatches! And here she is:

Hanging colorfully above the blackboard in our kitchen! I think it fills the space so nicely and was so easy to make!  I got the inspiration from here and during a lunch break last week walked over to Home Depot to collect paint swatches.  I was a little concerened someone would ask what I was up to because I was choosing so many, in so many bright colors, but no one did.  I walked out of there with a lovely array of paint sample cards, and the best part?  Their free! 

Then to make, I simply layered the cards in the order I liked over a piece of card stock fashioned to fit the size of the frame.  Once I had the design I wanted I went back and attached the cards to the paper with double sided tape. 

Finally, I cut basic block letters out of white copy paper, outlined them with a colorful sharpie and attached them with double sided tape to the design.  And there you have it! 

It's so nice to already have completed a project from my list....It makes me feel like the year is already off to a productive start! 

I Made this Monday: Holiday Tea Towel Pillow Cover

I saw this package of totally cute vintage tea towels back in March and I simply had to buy them.  I knew that when the holiday season came around I would figure out some cute way to display them.  

And lo and behold- I refashioned them to create cute pillow covers!  This way, I can use the throw pillows I currently own, but give them a festive makeover just for the holidays.  Also, this allows me to show off the cute vintage print more than if they were just hanging in the kitchen getting dirty!  

Here's the how-to:

Fold your tea towel in half and simply sew a 6 inch ribbon on each of the corners.  I used a bright merry red! 

Flip over and do the same on the opposite side.

Then place the towel over your pillow and tie the ribbons tightly and that's it!

If you want the pillows to be a bit more closed you can either add more ribbons in the middle and bottom sections or you can do what I did and just add a few hand-stitches to the edges to help keep it together.  These can be easily ripped at the end of the season and will help to give your pillow a perfect more refined look! 

Happy crafting! 

I Made this Monday: Pumpkin Poptarts

My contribution to our Thanksgiving Feast this year:

I absolutely adore poptarts!  Check out the whole story and the recipe on DIY Dancer!

I Made this Monday: Christmas Yarn Trees

Want to create your own magical Yarn Tree Forest?  No?  Well you should, and that's precisely what I did.  I promise it's fun!

I saw a picture of one of these trees online and I thought the project looked so lovely and simple I just had to try it for myself.  I am happy to report that it was just as easy and fun to make as I anticipated.  And I was thrilled with the finished results of my first set of trees.  So much so that I decided to make 3 more sets of 3 to give to my family on Thanksgiving....Kind of like a thank you to my mom and her sisters for never actually making me cook!

You will need - Yarn (in a color and in white, the fatter the thread the better)

                          Foam Trees

                          Sewing pins

                          Assorted sizes and colors of gem and pearl scrapbook embellishments

                          Glue gun

                          Pretty ribbon for a bow

                          White felt

Take your basic foam tree forms (aka cones) which you can find at most craft stores.  I got two different sizes from Michael's.

Then simply pin the end of your color yarn to the bottom of the cone and start wrapping, vertically first to cover the top of the tree then start winding horizontally from bottom to top and back again.  Wrap it completely so none of the form shows through.  Secure on the bottom with another pin and cut the yarn. 

Do the same with your white yarn, but only wrap horizontally and don't wrap as tight...This is supposed to look like snow on the boughs of your trees.

Next attach your gems and embellishments to the tree in a random pattern.  Be sure to arrange the colors and shapes in various ways to add some diversity and sparkle.  I just decorated one side of the tree.  Some embellishments will stick just with the glue included, but you may want to glue them down with your glue gun for extra staying power.

Then tie your ribbon in a pretty boy and use a similar colored pin to stick the bow on top of your tallest tree.  Trim the tails to your liking. 

Finally, trace the bottom of your trees onto your white felt.  Cut out the circles and glue to the bottom of your trees with your glue  gun.  This not only finishes off the tree and hides the bottom of the foam form, it also conceals all the pins. 

To display, I placed my trees on a piece of sparkly white foam paper which I cut in a scalloped circle to look like freshly fallen snow.  Magical.