Keep Calm and Carry Garlic: Halloween/Fall Front Porch, Halloween Wreath

3 different projects are in this picture. The wreath on the door, the aspen or birch branches, the tiny ghosts hanging from the top.

This post only covers the wreath. I will post on the trees and ghosts soon, though you could probably figure it out without any of my help.

 Parts: (All from a craft store):
Glitter Raven,
"Keep Calm and Carry Garlic" sign,
Yellow and black silk "feathers" (in the silk flower section, I think they were meant to be leaves...),
Green floral wire
Wire cutters
Hot glue gun
Hot glue sticks
Burlap ribbon

 I had 4 branches of feathers and I laid them cross-wise.

My pictures are horrible, I'm not a photographer. But the pics help, right?

 Turn the sign upside down and hot glue the branches to the center of the sign, fanning out the feathers to frame the sign. I used TONS of hot glue because my branches were pretty thick.

The back of the sign had hangers, so I wired the raven's legs to one of the hangers. I also strung the green floral wire from one corner to the other, just like a picture frame, leaving some bend in the wire so it would hang over the wreath hook. Then I hot glued the burlap bow to the wreath and hung the wreath up!

Keep Calm and Carry Garlic!
-Summer

Ripen Green Tomatoes at the End of the Season

 Forgive the quality of the picture, but it's worth a thousand words.

To ripen green tomatoes at the end of the season, cut off the stems holding the green tomatoes, and hang them on a string in a warm place.  They will ripen on their own over a few weeks.

My very good mother did this in my storage room. She used a clothes line tacked into the wall studs. Then she draped the vines over the line, no clothes pins or clips or anything.

2 weeks later, ripe tomatoes were waiting for us! And I didn't have to lose the fruit to cold weather!

All the best!
-Summer

Painted Dresser Revamp!

Here's another simple dresser refinishing project.

My husband's bachelor dresser needed a makeover in a serious way. It was brown. It was ugly. It was water damaged.

You see? Ugly.

Time to refurbish that dresser! Elephant Gray was the paint color choice, with accents of Brilliant White. With a little PINspiration (which my husband really liked), I chose to add a white pinstripe around the drawers and top. 

This was seriously SO easy! Paint it your solid color (gray). Once it dries, tape off some squares and paint them white.

And there's the finished beauty. I love it. I love, love, love it.

Next up: MY Dresser :)

Happy DIYing!  

~Jannie

A Bouquet of Freshly Cut Hearts!

Here's a fun, easy craft idea you can do with your kids for Valentine's day... Make a bouquet of freshly cut hearts! Simply cut hearts out of differently colored and patterned papers, then make 2 slices in the centers.

Slide the hearts onto a skewering stick. Repeat until you have enough hearts and sticks to make a full bouquet. You can also tape together some of the skewers to make some hearts taller than others. We made several of each. You could also use popsicle sticks, or make a miniature bouquet with toothpicks.

Place them in a vase (if you stab the skewers into styrofoam and put it at the bottom of the vase, the hearts stay put, but it isn't necessary) and put them out on display! Add a little note from little hands, and you're done. :)

They could be used for your child's class valentine party, a teacher's gift - or in our case, a fun surprise for Daddy or Grandma. These are also a great little idea for simple home decorating.

Happy Valentine's Day y'all!

Mix up some Laundry soap!

Help with laundry is GREAT... but sometimes the "helpers" use too much soap or laundry booster.  Yes I have to use the laundry booster to get the clean smell. 

So, I mix the two!

It is a two to one ratio.  Two parts soap, one part laundry booster.

In the end, I only have to scoop from one bucket and I get just the right amound of everything.

Happy nose.... the laundry smells springtime fresh.  I have made my own laundry soap in the past.  Stay tuned for a post on that one.

Tara

Pot Rack from Art?

YES!! 

Go to your favorite home decor store 

and buy 1-2 metal wall-art pieces.

If you buy two, bolt them together.  

Hang from "s" hooks and chain segments.

Make sure you use ceiling anchors for your eyebolts 

to secure them. 

Use more "s" hooks to hang the pots.

And Voila! 

POT RACK!!

I'd been wanting a pot rack since I moved in, but I couldn't find exactly the right one. I wanted a HUGE pot rack, but it seemed that all the the ones I could find were tiny. As you can see, I have a substantial island in my kitchen, and I needed a pot rack to match.

 So, the idea came to me that I needed to look beyond the kitchen to find my solution. And there it was... staring me in the face.

Wall Art = Pot Rack

I absolutely love it, and use it every day!

Leather Peter Pan Collar -

I have been so inspired by the fun little accessory that has become very popular.  The Peter Pan Collar necklace.  Looking at all of the styles that are out there, finding exactly what I wanted escaped me.  Well, this caused the little voice in my head to say...you can do that!

That is exactly what happened.  I drew up a pattern, used some scrap leather and some jewelry embellishments.  Viola.  New statement piece.  Love how lightweight it turned out and  the simplicity of it. 

If you want to do this project, instructions and the pattern for this Peter Pan Collar of Leather are at www.whimsyfunk.com.  Or click here for the link to the pattern. 

-Tara
Bring a bit of whimsy to your funky world.