Nautical Mini Vases DIY

With moving to a new house last month, I definitely have had a case of the DIY/ decorating/ nesting bug so I'm going to start sharing a few projects and recipes on here!  With a yard full of fresh blooming flowers, I realized I had nothing to put them in.  Rob had brought home a case of cute little Sessions bottled beers, so I decided to clean & save a few of the empties to hold little fresh cut flowers.  I added the white nautical rope as to give them a more finished & summery vibe!

Project Cost:
About $2 for the rope, I already had all of the other materials.

Supplies needed:
Glue gun
Glue Sticks
Recycled bottles of your choice
Rope (from craft store)

 Step 1. Put a dab of glue at the end of the rope and start rolling it into a tight circle.  Put dots of glue intermittently to hold it together while rolling.

 Step 2. Once the rope circle is approximately the size of the bottom of the bottle, attach the circle to the bottom with glue.

 Step 3.  Start wrapping the bottle with rope, making sure to intermittently put dots of glue every inch or so to hold it in place.

 Step 4.  Cut off end at the height you would like, securing the frayed end in place with extra glue.

Note: I did half of my bottles wrapped to the base of the label, and for the other two I removed the label and wrapped the rope higher.  Whatever you think looks best!

And there you have it: cute little vases to put buds in!  These would look super cute on outdoor tables for a 4th of July BBQ.  Have you been doing any summery projects lately?  If you've posted a DIY, link to it and I would love to take a peak!
xo Hannah

Jungle Fever {Makeover Monday!}

Hello and happy Monday! Hope you guys are ready for another little clothing makeover I did recently! 

Sometimes when I am on the hunt for vintage treasures for the shop, I spot something that is quite frumpy in its current form, but then an idea pops into my head about how to spruce it up for the modern day gal.  So was the case with this Jungle Parrot print blouse and shorts set.  I instantly fell in love with the wild print and knew it would look even cuter as a crop top and high waisted shorts set.  Then, the idea to add pom pom fringe came to me and the rest is crazy.  Beware, this makeover is not for the feint of heart ;)

Outfit Details:

Jungle Parrot Set - Vintage/ DIY

Vintage Oxfords - for sale in the shop here!

Sunnies - Lulu*s

    Anyway, this outfit may be more appropriate for a tropical beach than the mountain road trip we took this weekend, but you've got to work with what you've got.  And here in Colorado, there's no beach in sight (unfortunately).  To do this makeover, I took up the length of the blouse and the shorts a few inches each, hemmed them on my sewing machine, and then added the pom pom fringe mostly by hand, since my sewing machine wasn't being very cooperative.  I got the pom poms from Jo Ann Fabrics, and now am thinking about a whole line of cute crop top with pom pom fringe for the shop.  What do you guys think? If only I could figure out how to make my machine cooperate with the thick materials a bit more, because this took me hours and hours to do by hand!

     This set should be up in the shop later this week!  And in other exciting news, I am doing a giveaway over on Southern (California) Belle today!  The winner will get a custom designed floral crown in the colors and size of their choice, handmade by me! All you have to do to enter is be a follower of this blog, so head on over to enter here!

xo Hannah 

DIY Rustic Spring Wreath

Hello!

     I don't even know if this can be called a DIY because its so simple and self explanatory, but today I am going to show you how I took a Christmas wreath I had laying around and turned it into a Rustic Spring Wreath.

This is what the wreath looked like before.  It was a basic evergreen wreath with a few pinecones and red berries. 

The supplies needed are:

• Basic Green Wreath
• Faux Flowers
• Scissors
• Tape (Floral or electric)

I then cut individual flowers and went around attaching them sporadically throughout the wreath.  I originally was using green floral tape to wrap the base of the stems, but the tape wasn't sticking very well so I switched to black electric tape (which looks ugly from the back, but is completely invisible from the front).

And this is how it came out after! I stayed with a pink and red color scheme to play off of the red berried that were already present on the wreath.

Now my little sewing nook behind my desk is ready for spring!  Have you been doing and spring cleaning or projects around the house lately?
xo Hannah

DIY Heart Pillow

In the midst of helping R move into his new apartment all weekend, I actually found a bit of free time on Sunday to do some crafting that has been on my list for forever.  Around Valentines Day, I saw an oversized plush heart pillows at target that I really wanted but wanted to try making myself.  I immediately went out and bought red fuzzy fabric, and now three and a half months later, I actually sat down to make the pillow!

Supplies Needed: Fabric, pillow stuffing, scissors, ruler, marker, pins, needle, thread, sewing machine (or you can hand sew it if you are feeling ambitious and don't have a machine!)
1. Draw out a large heart on the back side of the fabric.  I did mine by hand and use a ruler to draw in some center lines so it was even. 

2.  Cut out the heart, but cut about a 1/4 or 1/2 and inch on the outside of the line. This way, you can actually use the line as what you will be following for your seam.

3. Sew along the line, slowly turning the fabric as you go around the curves.

4. Leave an opening in the bottom of the heart so you can easily stuff the polyester filling inside. 

5.  Turn the fabric right side out and stuff, trying to make sure it is even.

6. Hand sew the bottom opening closed with a needle and thread.

TA DA! Now you have a cute throw for your bedroom or couch!

This was my first time trying something like this and it was really easy and more affordable than buying pillows from the store.  I love me some throw pillows, but man can they get pricey! Have you guys ever tried making your own pillows or plush toys before? I think I want to try a kitty stuffed animal or something next! Any recommendations?

xo Hannah

p.s. I am posting over on Flock Together today and would love if you guys stopped by to say hello!

DIY: Spring Painted Pots

A few months ago I realized my plant-babies were outgrowing their homes, but didn't want to pay big bucks for some fancy new planters.  I headed to Jo Ann Fabrics and grabbed three plain terra cotta pots that were a bit bigger than the previous ones to try my hand at painting them myself!  This is so easy that it basically doesn't even need directions, but I took a few pictures of my process along the way so you can see what I did!

Ta Da! As you can see I chose a few prints I thought I could freehand: stripes, polka dots, and chevron.  They are surely not the most perfect thing ever, but hopefully my plants will revive a bit now that they have more room to grow! I would also like to say that there is probably better paint and sealer to use specifically for pottery of this sort, so I might to a bit more research into long term durability if I ever repeat this project!
    Even though its still cold in Colorado, I got the Spring cleaning bug last weekend and am excited to fix up some more things around my room! I realized I have never really shared pictures of my little bedroom/ studio on here so I am going to share a little peek soon if thats something you guys would be interested in?
Hope you're having a great week!
xo Hannah

Holiday Greeting Letters DIY

Hi guys! 

     Recently I was invited to be a guest blogger for a group of awesome gals who call themselves Ladies of the Mountains (LOTM).  They have asked me to share a holiday craft DIY with you, so after some thought I decided I would make some festive holiday lettering decor, which was originally inspired by these monograms from Anthropologie!  I don't know about you, but I can't currently afford to pay $48 for a wooden letter!  This DIY cost me a total of, drum roll please, ZERO DOLLARS, because I already had all of the supplies!  And I quite like my new room letters!  I will walk you through the simple steps I took to make the holiday greetings decor below.

1. Pick out your phrase! I originally was planning to do the phrase "Merry & Bright" but realized I needed quite a large amount of space to fit those letters! Some other fun options would be "Peace", "Joy", or "Fa La La".  

Supplies Needed: Old magazines, ruler, scissors, exacto knife (box cutter), markers, craft glue, and cardboard.
2. Rip out some of your favorite pictures from magazines.  The magazines I used for this project were Free People, Anthropologie, Swell, and Urban Outfitters.  I tried to choose images that had a lot of colors or textures that would show up well.

 3. Draw a letter onto each magazine page.  Make sure to use a ruler so you can keep your letters relatively the same size with straight edges.  My letters were all approximately 7"x 8.5". You can look at different fonts online for guidance!

 4.  Cut out your letters, but if there is an inside cutout on the letter, like on a "B", leave those for now.

 5. Using your exact knife, cut out cardboard mounting squares for each letter.  Make sure to be cutting on at least two layers of cardboard so you don't ruin whatever is beneath what you're cutting.

 6.  Glue your letters to the cardboard squares.  Make sure the letters have a light coat of glue completely covering the back, and use your finger to smooth down any bubbles or lines once the letter is in place. Let dry.

 7. Lastly, use your exacto knife to cut out the letters!  Curved letters are harder to cut, but still doable.  Practice making some curves on scrap cardboard first, and remember to press hard and point the knife away from you! Smooth solid lines of cutting movement make the best edges. And voila! Now you have your pretty holiday greeting letters to put anywhere you please!  Below are a few examples of different ways I tried arranging them in different places around my room.  Which is your favorite?

For now, they will be living in the little picture window above my bed!  Whew, I have not done a craft project in such a long time, it felt so nice to be creative after work instead of my typical slumpy ball of hatefulness! Also, I would like to point out my new digitally printed "barn wood" floor mat that I asked my parents for for my birthday! I am planning to use it as my flooring for my vintage listings on etsy, but it worked really nicely as a display area for this project too! So much better then the lumpy carpet that's actually in my bedroom!
    I hope you guys enjoyed that little DIY! If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment and if you decide to try out making your own letter or word yourself, let me know!  Now I will be heading over to see all of the holiday crafts from the other lovely Ladies of the Mountains, and you guys should too!
http://www.gentrilee.com/

http://www.lenamusings.com/

http://acrookedtrail.blogspot.com/

http://nicolescoffeeshop.blogspot.com/

http://www.ontheadventure.net/

http://theeggoutwest.blogspot.com/

xo hannah