Christmas ornaments on a branch

I needed a cheap Christmas decoration that took up some serious wall space. Here's what I came up with.

I swiped a branch and tacked it to the wall. Then I made paper ball ornaments that are all over Pinterest, and with my SIL's help (and beads) added string to them. I took red wired ribbon in about 3 yard lengths, pulled out one side of the wire on that length, and then gathered the ribbon into a spiral. I hot glued the spiral to a cardboard circle, and POOF!

A rose! I then hot glued the roses to the branch. Cheap. Sorta quick. And disposable if I want it to be!
Merry Christmas!
Summer

Caramel Apple Wedges -- Yum!

 Need a treat for the Festivities?   I tried a different version of the Caramel Apple.....

I made a wedge.


You need:


Caramels
apples
milk
lemon juice
craft sticks
wax paper


Prepair the apples first by cutting them in fourths and taking off the core parts.  Line up the apples on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.  Next unwrap the caramel and melt the caramel and the milk in the microwave.  I used a 2 cup glass measuring container. When the mixture is smooth, pour over the apples.  Poke a craft stick into each apple slice.  Refrigerate to solidify.  Eat!!!


Too Good!  


Tara--

To see more pictures and more details on the instructions, please visit the link below.

Caramel Apples - Whimsyfunk

Spider web

My dd is insisting on decorating for Halloween this year. In the past two days we've made spiders, ghosts, a spider web, a cat, and candy corn bunting. Today is plastic bottle luminaries day, from choosetothrive blog.  But I just wanted to show you our spider web that has pretty good curb appeal.
We put small nails in the large octagon shape and one nail in the middle. Then just wrapped black yarn around the nails and tied it off. We hung plastic bag ghosts (bags over plastic balls) and pom pom spiders (with pipe cleaner legs) from the web.
The candy corn bunting was a paper plate painted with a yellow circle and an orange circle around the edge. We cut the plate into 8 pie pieces, hole punched the edges and laced yarn through it. We hung it with sticky tack.
Last is the cat she drew and cut out. We used a glue stick sparingly to adhere it to the inside of the window.
She is have a spooky good time.

Umbrella Redo ... Wahoo!

I have had an umbrella in my back yard long enough that it had started shredding. Embarrassing, I know. It was time to get a new one. However, I wanted something special and I didn't necessarily love what was being offered in the store. So I decided to sew my own custom umbrella.  Here is a picture of my finished project. 

I did a complete tutorial on my other blog. Go here to see the tutorial with more pictures.

Pop bottle top -- Hangers?

I had a Big problem

My Beautygirl needed to be able to hang "whole" outfits up for school. If we do not have complete outfits, there is a fight in the morning....no thank you!

So I wanted to attach a skirt/pant hanger to a regular wooden hanger. But I could not find any good solutions. I looked on line and they wanted a buck each for the connectors.... again, no thank you!

I found my solution. The top of a soda can.... You know, the little pop top tabs.







They worked like a charm!
















See how they line up so nicely. Now the clothing is not all bunched up. The skirts/pants are hanging in plain sight. The tops are also in full view. This is really important when you are dealing with pre-teen girls!







To see more of what we did in Beauty girl's closet, click herehttp://whimsyfunk.blogspot.com/2012/10/organize-little-girls-room.html.

-Tara

Ribbon Flip Flops

Just thought I'd share these little flip flops on which I added ribbons.

Pretty easy. Great for summer.

Cut a few ribbons and tie them onto the straps.

Add a few embellishments.
I also used some tulle.

You need to put some glue on the knots to make sure they last.

Another chalkboard upcycle idea

I have a thing for chalkboards lately. It's not so 'lately' because it's been an interest for at least 5 years. But, something about the function and form of a cute chalkboard really appeals to me.








I found some old cabinet doors for $1 about a year ago. And they've been waiting for some new clothes.  So, I painted the inside with chalkboard paint, and taped it off to paint the outside frame a cream color.

Then I added hardware I found on clearance at Anthro 4 years ago that were just waiting for a use.

  I needed a way to hang it, so I popped of the little pull tabs on these soup cans and screwed them into the back of the cupboard door.

At Anna's request, here are some pics of exactly how I screwed in the pull tabs and the drawer pull. On the back of the chalkboard, I took very short screws and screwed them into the small spot on the pull tab.

I did this on both sides. And put dry wall screws into the wall to hang it just like a picture. Before I hung it, though, I found a stud in the wall to center the chalkboard on, because I wanted to screw the drawer pull into a stud for more stability.

I got a long wood screw (about 4 inches) and found a stud. Then screwed in the long wood screw through the drawer pull and through the hole in the cupboard door where the original drawer pull was drilled.

 That way the screw would hold the chalkboard into a stud for more stability.

There it is. Another idea to keep you up at night.

--Summer

Turquoise lamp redo

 I found a lamp for $5 at a thrift store a while back. It was an awful fake gold color. I don't have a pic of that, but I'm sure you all know exactly the color I'm talking about. First order of business: paint it turquoise. I first wanted to make a new lampshade for it, but after three failed attempts, I bagged the lamp idea, so I ripped out the cords. I then had just an empty lamp and the blue was too bright. See above.

 So I sanded the blue. Some of the gold came through. Then I smeared dark brown paint over it to soften up the color.

 A few stems of forsythia and it sits pretty happy in my bathroom by the tub.

Happy redo-ing!
Summer

Easy and Inexpensive Window Valence

I came across these adorable little gift bags at the store one day and I thought they went perfectly with the theme and color scheme that I am doing in my little girl's room:flowers in pinks and greens. So I bought a few bags. I also had several cardboard boxes just laying around. They had held picture frames so they were all the same size:

about 9" X 13" and 2" deep.

Then my glue gun and I sat down and got to work

and this is what we came up with:

First, I glued several boxes together end to end. Then I cut one box in half and glued a half on each end perpendicular to my box chain. Then I unfolded the bags and glued them around the boxes. I covered the end caps with tissue paper and added a few ribbons to smooth out the seam lines. Then I poked a hole in each end and slid the curtain rod through.

Because it is so light weight, the curtain rod is strong enough to hold the valence up on its own and I didn't have to punch any new holes in the wall to hang it up.

Gifts - Make 'Em Stand Out!

I had a realy fun present... with a very boring presentation. I wanted my creative bridal shower gift idea to shine a little - maybe even stand out. :)

So I took a boring blue box and covered it with some cute striped wrapping paper using elmer's glue (I was out of good stick glue). Then I tied a simple brown ribbon around it.

It was cute, but not sassy enough for a bridal shower.

So I found some hot pink feathers, buttons, beads and a little hot glue.

Now we're talking!

But don't forget to make the card cute too!

I just glued wrapping paper to cardstock and pulled the same centerpiece trick on the card that I did on the box. It was a hit!

And of course, I filled it with games, candy and a little "eye-candy" for her fiance. :)

~Jannie

Harvest Radish Seeds

Have you ever wanted to plant something, but did not have the seeds. Well, you can harvest your own seeds. Here are some steps to gathering radish seeds.


First: let the radish turn into pretty lil' white flowers












Next, the flowers will turn into green pods.
Leave these alone until they turn...











Crunchy. They will be a creamy white color.











Snap off the pods...













Take your thumb nail and slice into the toasted pod.












You will have several little brown seeds.












I like to store my seeds in glass jars with the most beautiful labels you have ever set eyes on.








Plant the seeds next season.

**Note** if the pods are green and the seeds are not a toasted almond color, they will most likely NOT produce anything next season.... so be patient and let them dry on the radish stock.

--TARA