DIY Twine Balls

Yoo hoo, bloggers! ;) How are ya'll?! We were hit with some minor setbacks these last two weeks, but we are slowly picking ourselves back up and brushing it off. Adoption hasn't happened yet... was postponed until Monday. We were notified 2 hours before it was to happen, so naturally we had this huge cake we had to eat. Couldn't throw it away right? Hahaha.

Anyway, to ease my frustration, I was finally able to work on some crafts! I've seen these done before and can't remember who did it first, so if you know, please tell me so that I can give credit where credit is due. ;) It all started with an inspiration that I found at GW. A dirty lonely platter seeking a table:

For $4, it was mine. Now, I had someone awhile back leave a rather... rude... comment about how my thrift stores finds seemed pricey. I recently discovered a thrift store on the opposite side of town that priced their items significantly lower. However, since I don't want to be making that 30 minute drive there and back, I will take my over-priced items instead. Thankyouverymuch! To me, the price STILL beats new, store-bought prices.

Anyway, after a couple of coats of some brown spray paint, it looked better:

Remembering the post I read ages ago about creating twine balls, I wrapped some jute and twine around balloons and coated them with my tacky glue spray can.

Once they were dry, I popped the balloon and removed it. The twine looked great and held strong, but the jute turned white and easily lost shape. I purchased that particular twine months ago at the dollar store.

LOVE the crazy looking twine ball, not so much the jute. Throw in some dollar store moss balls, jute wrapped around styrofoam balls I made here, bada bing, bada boom, and you have yourself a cute table centerpiece:

Remember that burlap table runner? I promised I would wait until fall to use it, but I couldn't resist! I blame it on the BHG magazine that was delivered to me today. Did anyone else see it? The fall leaves on the cover? *sigh* Be still my heart...

I had nearly all of these supplies on hand, except for the platter. Total project cost: $4! Yeaaa buddy!

Twice Owned Pail

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking at some decorating projects, posted on a link party. It was during my "craft rut" and I was looking for anything to light the fire in me again. At that time, I was so exhausted from all the home renovations that the last thing I wanted to do was something for fun. I just wanted sleep.

 Well, after some R&R, I was finally able to work on a project that was inspired by The V Spot. Check out what she did to a pail using spray paint, sticks, butterflies, and crepe paper streamer:

Seriously, I was hooked on how cute and easy this was. LOVE!! Remember this metal pail I found at a thrift store for $3.99?

I spray painted the whole thing with 2 coats of primer, followed by 2 coats of "Harbor Blue" by Rustoleum. I gathered some sticks around my neighborhood and stuck them in some floral foam that was placed inside my pail. I didn't have paper streamers, so using coffee filters, I rolled them in little "buds" and hot glued them to my sticks.

 I didn't add too many flower buds because I thought they looked more like spit balls than delicate buds. I attached a burlap bow to the side and voila!

Cute outdoor spring decor for our front porch! I want to add a farmhouse sign next to the pail. The front door is a dark (fading) brown and I'm desperate to paint it white to match the inside. Perhaps when that's done, you will get a "bigger picture" of our cute porch.

I already had most of the supplies for this project, so the total cost was $3.99 for the pail. Sweet spring!

Linking to: A Vision to Remember, Christina's Adventures, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Hookin Up With Hepworths, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Young and Crafty

Burlap Table Runner

Fall is creeping up all over our home and my husband and I are loving it!

I had been wanting to do this project the moment I saw it done by this lovely lady, but figured it would get lost/ruined/damaged with the "big move." Now that things are settled and we're down to 2, count 'em, 2 moving boxes that need unpacking, I was finally able to tackle this super cute and inexpensive project.

Wait for it....

Be Still, My Heart!

Here is what you will need to make your own burlap table runner:

Scissors

Glue gun

Charcoal pencil OR exacto knife (I'll explain)

word or phrase printed in a font you like

burlap

For this project, I needed 6 feet of burlap from Joann's Fabrics, which came out to $1.50. I kept the length at 6 ft. to allow the table runner to hang off each end of our table. Width wise, I trimmed it down to about 16 inches. Next, I glued down the sides to make a nice, neat trim. You don't have to do this but my husband didn't like the sides looking "messy." I don't know, go figure, so I glued the sides down. Next, I printed out the word "blessings" because it reminds me of all the people in my life who have been such a blessing. Usually, those people are gathered around the table, so I printed that word in a font I loved. Here is where things get kind of tricky....

The lovely lady I stole this from was inspired by, traced the back part of her word and filled it in using a charcoal pencil. Then, she pressed the paper down firmly onto the burlap and rubbed across her word so that it became imprinted on the burlap. Well, when I tried this... nothing showed up. I tried rubbing with my hand, then a hard object, and then the edge of a glass... and only then did I see the faintest hint of a word.

Plan B: I cut out the letters with an exacto knife, placed the word onto the burlap, and colored it in using my charcoal pencil. Once I was done, I traced over that with a permanent marker to make it, well, more permanent.

I did the same thing to the other side. It was an easy project, minus the one hiccup, and I spent a total of $5.50. I already had the scissors, glue gun, and permanent marker, so other than buying the burlap, I had to also buy the charcoal pencil ($3.99 at Hobby Lobby).

Since we haven't unpacked our vases and other breakables, I threw together this centerpiece using small pumpkins (cuz I love 'em so stinkin much) and a large vine pumpkin from Target's dollar bins.

I am linking this to Allison's Link Party and Somewhat Simple