diy: snail garland

 

I have had the idea for this snail garland for a few years now, and what better time to make it than for a fellow snail fan and swap partner? I used vintage neckties, wood dowels, bendy wire, and beads to complete the whole shebang. LOVE! 

diy crepe paper and faux flower backdrop {a dollar store do}

All you need to create this pretty bit of fun is an assortment of crepe paper party streamers, faux flowers w stems removed, and small wooden clothespin. Cut crepe paper and hang onto wire or string with clothespin, add a de-stemmed faux flower and that's it! Time for pretty! Most of these items or variations of could be at your local dollar store. My flowers came from our local dollar tree and I often find larger clothespins and crepe paper streamers there, though not so much in these colors.

scrumdilly diy: festive foil garland

 

For the may bed, I whipped up this super easy, super colorful foil garland in under thirty minutes (give or take time for glue to dry). And now you can too! Give the pics a gander to see how I did it and if yer not a visual learner keep reading and I'll show you how.

Materials:

*foil pizza pan from supermarket or dollar store
*permanent markers such as Sharpie or Bic
*junky scissors
*1.5" circle punch
*yarn/embroidery floss
*Aleene's tacky glue (white glue should be fin but tack glue is so much better)

Step 1: Use a pair of junky scissors to remove the outer rim of your pizza pan. Take care, the new edge may be sharp. Make sure to use junky scissors so as not to ruin a good pair.

Step 2: Color all over one side of your pizza pan with your permanent markers.

Step 3: Punch out your circles using your circle punch. You can also cut by hand but that might take forever. My original plan was to do this in my classroom to create pieces for a wind chime but the cut foil is a bit on the sharp side (and the fumes from the Bics are STINKY) so this became my bed garland instead.

Step 4: Lay a line of foil circles out face down with two inches or so space in between. Next, lay your length of yarn/floss out on top of the circles (I actually put my yarn/floss down first having cut it so to match the space between posts on my headboard). Add a small blob of glue so that it blobs over the yarn/floss and also touches the circle. Top off with another circle with the happy colors facing out/up.

Step 5: Allow to dry or hang in a happy place after ten minutes if you are impatient like me, enjoy!

diy: tinkle bell garland

Last year I fell in like with a sweet bell garland at World Market. It was made from twisted wire and had beads and bells intertwined that tinkled so sweetly my heart really really wanted it. It was however not a necessity nor was it cheap enough for me to justify the spending so I walked away from it many times (it's now on sale), thinking of it ever since. On one of the many days I attempted to assemble order to the scary room, I came across a pack of small bells which made me think of the garland which had me tearing up the newly(ish) assorted piles in search of my spool of wire. Once I found the wire and recovered from the messier mess I just made, I put the materials aside to make a garland for the holidays.

Flash forward a week or two after my mad dash I find I have a $10 coupon for World Market and head out in search of holiday gifts. As I wander the store I discover the garland hanging out with the ornaments and swoop in to pick it up.

After bringing it home and winding it around the dining room light I decide I really need to make one so I pull out my materials thinking I'll find the time to make if before Christmas. I even manage to rifle through the metal drawers in search of beads to add.

Christmas came and went and I found myself with some time just before New Year's. I grabbed the wire, beads, scissors, and bells and plopped them down on the table to get to it. The bells are your average jingle bell, only smaller, and while cute in size they lack the happy tinkle of my store bought garland. Nonetheless I cut two lengths of wire bout two yards in length and twist a loop into one end and get to stringing.

Aim smaller if you can, the twisting of the wire causes your ends to tangle up which is a big old pain in the arse to untangle. Loop your end then thread five or so beads onto each strand. Add a bell to one of the strands and give the whole party a little twist or two before adding another round of beads.

I took a break to look at the store garland and wished I had some prettier beads but decided to try just twisting wire then adding a bell before twisting the wire again. I did this three times before I got frustrated with my ends getting all twisty so I added more beads, ten on each strand this time and turned the whole motley crew into  pattern f sorts.

By the time I pooped out of twisting and beading, I had enough of a garland to go over the bed and so I cut the leftover length leaving enough to twist into a loop and called it a day.

 

I really like the way it looks all by itself across the bed. I think I will make some more using come other beads floating about my bead drawer. I may even ge one or two up in my shop. Happy stringing!

sweet november: leaves

We have a lovely non-fruiting grapevine on the back patio here at the homestead. It curls around and around our shaded table peeking in and out of the metal fencing that arches over the tabletop and bench seats. It's what we use to track the seasons as it betrays the weather much better than any temperatures tell us.

 

While the week's forecast shouts out temps in the Hi 70s and we groan and groan because it is November and we could really use a break from this six month long summer already, the leaves on the grapevine begin to change. First the bright green dulls to dark then spots appear in a deep bergundy that spreads across the entire leaf blushing blushing away. The deep bergundy fades to coral and then yellow and then the wind takes advantage of them and carries them away in a dance of swirls and twirls.

So while it has been hot like summer during the day, the dark brings a chill that tickles those leaves so that they show all their colors. And with the variety of leaf sizes I thought I would also take advantage of the show.

 

 

 

 

To make this garland you will need 4-6 leaves in various sizes, a stapler, needle and embroidery thread. Layer your leaves according to size and color with the largest leaf on the bottom. Use a stapler to anchor them all together.

To cover up the staple mark, top the whole bit of frilly pretty with an even smaller leaf and lace along a length of embroidery thread.

Continue until you have a happy leaf party and hang in cheery space. If you have the time preserve the leaves in glycerin first so that they last and don't give off any allergy inducing fungi. This may make an appearance for the November bed photo but it won't remain up as this bit of pretty has not been treated and is full of all sorts of allergy inducing ick for me. But boy, isn't it pretty?

scrumdilly diy: day of the dead painted paper garland

Oh how I had grand plans for Day of the Dead this year but then this month happened and well...I'll take what I can get. This diy is more an inspiration post than a true step-by-step diy. I used a good old fashioned Sharpie to draw my bones and sugar skull and then used neon colored acrylic paints to add color to the whole party.

I used a large sheet of heavy weight paper and freehanded the bones and sugar skull. I think the paper was about 11 1/2"  X 17". The quality was really nice and played well with the sharpie even though my first sugar skull looked positively cranky. The second one did as well...the third one worked like a charm and so I stuck with it.

My original plan was to make crepe paper flowers but I got lazy and my back got angry. I really like how the flowers turned out. I used four-colors and alternated which color decorated which part of the flower to make it a bit more mix-happy. I could have planned it better but again I blame it on my back.

 

 

I used silver thread in my sewing machine and stitched one side of bones and flowers first, then the other. I almost made this is a mobile instead but went ahead and got all stitch-happy so that I could make the darn bed already!

I have another garland diy coming up. It might be sans the steps as I took those photos many months ago and may not be able to find them but it is another stitched paper garland this time using bias tape...stay tuned and Happy October!

make a 4th of july garland with popcorn bags

 

Happy almost-july friends! This garland is 8 ft long! I used four different styles of popcorn bags. The classic red and white stripes bag came from The Dollar Tree and the white bag with red and blue stripes came from Cost Plus. The other two bags were etsy finds.

I used my sewing machine to zig-zag stitch the paper bags to a wide grosgrain ribbon. I quite like the differences in their sizes. Since the bags are paper, you could easily use a fold and glue method to create your own garland.

Have fun!

just in time for solstice, it's a garland giveaway!

Remember these? Leave a comment on this post and one of these lovely festive beauties may be yours!

Along with the three festive garlands I also have this lovely origami papel picado that would look lovely in your home. When you leave a comment, let me know which one is your fave and I'll do my best to make sure it is yours. You have until Saturday, June 22 to enter! Happy almost summer if yer in the western hemisphere!

fiesta diy: tiny crepe paper lantern garland

Oy! Well, this was supposed to be up before Cinco de Mayo but since it is still the month of May I won't beat myself up too much. Here is another fun garland project you can make in a jiffy, and even your kiddos can whip up a few.

Follow the same instruction for the crepe paper papel picados but instead of using large sheets of paper, use smaller, narrower sheets. I did not manage any progress pics but you can fold a sheet of plain white paper into fourths from top to bottom, cut strips out then layer your scalloped streamers on top. Once dry, cut each strip into thirds and roll those into tubes, sealing with  dab of glue. Use a needle and thread to string up and enjoy!

fiesta diy: painted doily garland

 

This happy bit of color is so simple it is silly. I cut my doilies in half and taped them to their yarn. To make it even more simple fold your doilies in half, add a line of glue on the fold and fold the doily over your length of yarn. These pretties can be painted up any which way you choose. I went for bold fiesta-happy colors.

I think I might just keep a bowl full of painted doilies hanging around as they make me that happy! Have fun!

fiesta diy: crepe paper picado

I think I can officially be called a garland-maker. Maybe it's my calling. Stringing up bits of arted up paper makes me very, very, happy. For Cinco de Mayo, I created three different garlands. I am a big fan of the beautiful papel picados that hang all over Olvera St. in Los Angeles and wantd to infuse that kind of happy into the tiny casa.

To create this garland, you will need a few different colors of crepe paper which can be found in the party aisle at most supermarkets, drugstores, big box stores, party stores, etsy, and online. I used a large sheet of white paper to start (you tend to have these things when you teach kiddos art) but I think this could translate onto index cards as well. Truth told, the large sheet of paper will create four flags quicker than using index cards but any type of paper will work...even old magazine pages will suffice.

Materials:

*11 1/2" X 17" paper or other large/scratch paper

*5-6 colors of crepe paper streamers

*scissors

*glue

Gather up your large sheet of paper and cut in half lengthwise. Roll out a length of streamer so that is matches the length of your paper, cut. Gather up the remaining colors of streamer and trim to match.

Roll up a length of streamer so that is about two to three inches across. Use your scissors to scallop, fringe or zig-zag the bottom edge. When you unroll it, the whole length of streamer will be happily festive. Repeat for each color and vary your trimming. I made a few scalloped, a couple trimmed and one was left alone.

Working from the bottom up, apply a line of glue about an inch from the bootom that travels from one end of your paper to the other. Gently press down your first choice of streamer. Next ,add another line of glue in the same manner about half and inch from the top of the first streamer and press your next layer down. Repeat for all of your colors. If your paper is too tall, simply trim the top blank edge. Set aside to dry.

Once dry, flip over paper and trim excess crepe paper. Next, cut fringed sheet in half to create two happy flags. Repeat entire process until you have the number of flags you like. To create your galrand, stitch across the top of your flags with a sewing machine or staple a length of ribbon or bias tape across the top. You can also glue a wide width length of bias tape or ribbon along the tops. There are many ways to turn your flags into a banner. Take a look at what you have available and run with it. Clothespins and paperclips will work as well.  Dîas Felices!

diys aplenty...

I've got three garland diys and one cupcake project coming yer way! Prep your doilies and grab some crepe paper, it's gonna be a festive week!

diy dillydilly: make a painted pom garland

 

This super easy pom garland packs a neon punch! All you need is a handful of white pom-poms, an eye-dropper, large eyed needle, thread, and neon acrylic paints (though liquid watercolors would probably work as well). 

I set out a sheet of wax paper and tossed a handful of poms onto it. I then filled my small paint palette with a squirt or two of neon paints then added an eye-dropperful of water and gave them a little swirl. The water is to water down the thick acrylic paint.

 

Give each pom a squirt or two of color and keep adding until the splatter makes you happy. The poms need a long time to dry though so make sure you begin the day before if you want to use your garland for something special.

String together on doubled-up thread or embroidery floss and hang in place that could use a little happy. My extra poms were added to my beaded pom-pom garland. Enjoy!