Mother's Day Plaque

I know Mother's Day for 2012 has come and gone but we thought this project was too good to hold until next year.  Plus, I think it would be a good project for a mom's birthday or any other special gift giving occasion during the year.

This was the gift for D's mom and she loved it so much it made her cry. So I got to tease him for making his mom cry for the rest of that week.

Before we begin, this project took time over a couple of days so if you make one of your own make sure to plan accordingly.

First gather all your materials
This first set of materials were purchased at Hobby Lobby

• heart shaped wooden plaque
• flower shaped photo frames
• narrow dowel
• paint (green and various flower colors)

Not pictured:

• saw tooth photo hanger
• hot glue gun
• drill and drill bit
• dark brown stain
• Green paper or vinyl cut using a Cricut

Paint flowers, stain plaque and dowels

• Cut the thin stem off the flower shaped photo frames
• Paint frames in flowery colors
• Cut dowels into 2 lengths (I think these were cut at 5" and 7")
• Paint green
• Sand plaque lightly and wipe down
• Stain (we used a random dark brown we had that no longer has a label)
• Let dry

Mark and drill holes for dowel in the top of the plaque
Drill the holes so that the "flowers" end up looking like they are growing out of the top.
D used a nail set to mark the location of the holes
He then used a drill bit that was the same size as your dowel
I am not sure how to explain this so check out the photo at the top of the post to see the angles he drilled at

Hot glue the painted green dowels to the back of the painted flower photo frames

Cut out your saying.  
I used my Cricut and my SCAL software.
I had to use paper since I didn't have any green vinyl.

The phrase we used was "Not all seed you plant grow in the garden."
We thought this was a perfect phrase for a gift that includes pics of all her grandkids.

Glue the letters to the plaque.
I used Elmer's glue brushed lightly on the back of the letters and a set of tweezers to place the letters onto the plaque.
I then brushed lightly over top to make sure they were sealed in place.
Let dry.

Seal with a couple of coats of poly spray.
Let dry completely (this step took about 12 hours)

Add a saw tooth photo hanger to the back.

Attach the flowers and insert the photos
Put a bit of wood glue in the holes you drilled at the top of the plaque and insert the green dowels
Cut your photos to size and place in frames
Let dry and you are all set to hang

I think this turned out really cute and it wasn't that difficult to put together, just a bit time consuming.  After seeing the look on D's mom's face when she opened the package was totally worth every minute.

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Carrot Loving Bunny Pillow

Bunny is ready for Easter

Source: Amazon.com

I love Easter candy.  I just had to get that out there. The Whopper Robin Eggs are just the best and I have already consumed one bag full - just a small one but a whole bag none the less.  I am also a fan of all the yummy chocolate treats!  Like this guy. Mmmmm, chocolatey goodness...

Source: Amazon

The chocolate bunny that was the inspiration for my Easter pillow, however I found the image that was just a bit different than the usual silhouette one usually sees.  I loved that he was holding onto a big carrot. I like to think that it is his own post-Easter candy delivering treat.

Source: depositphotos.com

Just like my Lucky Shamrock Pillow, there is little or no sewing involved with this project.  I have embraced the joys of fabric glue! It makes projects like this one so easy.

Materials

• Pillow cover - I made an envelope type cover so I can remove it. There a ton of tuts online.  Just Google "directions envelope pillow cover"and you will find a ton of resources. 
• Felt - dark brown and orange
• embroidery thread - green
• fabric glue
• Printed out image of your bunny
• Pins

Directions
Step 1:  Cut out your bunny

• Once you have your bunny image cut out, lay it on your felt.
• Pin the paper to the felt
• Cut around the paper cut out
• For the carrot, I free hand cut it out

Step 2: Making the "carrot greens"

• Cut 9 pieces of green embroidery thread about 7 inches long
• Separate into 3 groups and braid each group
• Tie a knot about 1 inch from the end and separate the threads so it looks feathery

Step 3:  Gluing

• Glue the carrot greens to the back of the carrot and let dry
• Place the bunny on the pillow cover and move it around until it is just where you want it
• Pin the head to the pillow
• Glue the bottom half of the bunny to the pillow, except for his paw
• Remove the pin and glue the top half of the bunny
• Bend back the paw and place the carrot in position
• Pin the top of the carrot
• Glue the bottom of the carrot
• Remove the pin and glue the top of the carrot
• Glue the paw to the carrot

Step 4:  Enjoy your bunny pillow!

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Jenny at The NY Melrose Family and Amanda at School House Scraps
were kind enough to feature this tutorial.

Lucky Shamrock Pillow - Just in Time for St. Patrick's Day

This project was featured on Skip To My Lou

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner!  The day when everyone is lucky, and a little bit Irish.  Bring on the Bulmers, the Baileys and coffee, the corned beef, pub songs and the craic!  Can you tell I like St. Patrick's Day?

Now, even though I'm a wee bit Irish, I still thought I needed to bring a little bit of extra luck into my home with a lucky shamrock pillow.  The fact that I got to use some felt was an added bonus.

One thing I liked about this pillow is that I didn't need to do much sewing, just the pillow cover.  The shamrock leaves are glued on.  So this makes the project an easy, and quick, one.  The only sewing I needed to do was the pillow cover.  If you used fusible tape, you wouldn't need to sew a thing.

Valentine Pillow

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.  While I am not a full-on “decorate the whole house for every holiday” person, I do like to put a few items out and about.

I ran into a few problems with Valentine's Day though.  I am not a huge fan of hearts, I am not a big fan of pale pink and red isn't a color we use much of in our house.  So I knew that I would have to get creative.  And go bright with some hot and deep pinks.

Fall Front Door and Entry Decor

With the arrival of Fall, I wanted to add some of the season to our entry way.  

I purchased the yellow mums from Costco (2@$15/ea), the scarecrows from Joann's Fabrics (2@$5/ea) and the parts for a pumpkin wreath at Hobby Lobby ($20).  For about $60 we have a colorful and welcoming entry for our guests.  Of course, closer to Halloween we will be carving pumpkins for the front steps. 

The wreath was a fun project to make and was very easy to complete.  I think it took me about 20 minutes.   The idea for the wreath from Better Homes & Gardens (http://www.bhg.com/).  All you need are a grapevine wreath, some plastic mini-pumpkins, ribbon and a hot glue gun.

Apply the hot glue to the bottom of the pumpkin and place on the wreath.  Press down and hold for several seconds to ensure that the glue makes contact with the vines.  Continue adding pumpkins until the front of the wreath is covered.  Leave a small space for the ribbon and bow at the top of the wreath.  Once the glue has hardened completely (just a couple of minutes) tie on your ribbon to create the bow.  You are now ready to hang on your front door. 

Welcome Fall!!