DIY Hydrangea Wreath -Almost FREE

I have always loved hydrangeas; they have beautiful blooms that last all summer and that dry beautifully to last all winter. I was overjoyed when we moved into our new home and one entire side of the house was full of these plants.  Our hydrangeas produced beautiful pink and green blooms this year and I could not resist making something out of them. 

 

Our local garden center sells amazing hydrangea wreaths (out of artificial paper type flowers) for a not so amazing price tag of $60 each. Being far too cheap to spend anything close to that price for 2 wreaths, I knew I could make them for next to nothing with my fresh flowers. Grand total for my project $0 for two wreaths!!!!!!!!  I had two wreaths forms and all the other materials on hand.  

I made one wreath three weeks ago to see how it would dry before making the second one and it has dried amazingly well.  I think this wreath, if stored properly in off seasons, will last for years.  The flowers kept their color and have not gone brittle after they dried. 

Materials:

Wreath (Never buy a wreath again...use The Penny Parlor’s trick of using plumbing tubing and duck tape. AMAZING!)

Hot glue or fine gauge wire

Hydrangea flowers

Twine or ribbon

Raffia (if you want a bow)

Method:

I waited until the beginning of fall to arrive so the cold weather made the pink in the flower darken to a deep pink/purple.

I cut off various sizes of blooms that were still packed nicely together and not wilted.

( Use flowers like this)

 (Avoid flowers like this)

Clip the hydrangea stem completely off. Cut right to where the flower starts, this way the flower bulb almost fits perfectly around the wreath.  (Note: I used some hydrangea leaves on the first wreath and they did not dry well.  They ended up browning and shriveling up not very nicely.)

I used a little less than one grocery tub of flowers per wreath.

Loop the hanging ribbon or twine around the wreath before you start and secure it in place.

If gluing, put a lot of hot glue on the wreath and press the flower branches to the glue. Be careful not to burn yourself! If you only glue the flower petals on, when the flower dries they might fall off.

If using wire, just start wrapping the flowers with the wire to the wreath.

I am placing these on my front doors so I did not do the entire back side of the wreath. I knew you would not see the back and it would lay flatter

Keep going around the wreath until you reach the desired fullness.  You can cut the flower balls into smaller pieces to fill in gaps if needed.

Make ribbon or raffia bow and secure to the wreath.

DONE!

 

Let me know what you think.

See My 'Parties I've Linked To' page for some amazing linked parties!

I can not tell you how honored I feel to be featured on one of my absolute favorite blogs Under the Table and Dreaming.  Thank you Stephanie Lynn!

Easy, Low Sew Aprons for Kids or Adults

My daughter has just turned 7 and after much discussion, she decided she wanted a cooking birthday party for her and her friends.  So I decided to rent a local cooking school to teach the 14 girls (gasp..this is why I don’t do it at my home) to teach the girls how to make pizza from scratch (including the dough), fruit salad and how to decorate a cake. It was amazing and I would highly recommend it.

I enjoy easy sewing (I mean straight lines :)) so I thought there would be a project for the loot/goody bags I could make to go along with her idea.  For the take home gifts, I made each of the girls their own aprons using bright colored hand towels, purchased a cookbook specifically for kids and they got to take home the 7 inch cake they decorated during the party.

I purchased solid colored pink, teal blue and orange hand towels at Walmart for $7 for 6 and then some upholstery fabric for $5 a yard at a local fabric shop. I used upholstery fabric for the tie for two reasons, firstly it was wide enough that it fit around the waist so I wouldn’t have to join a number of pieces for the ties and secondly it is a stiff fabric so it is easy to use. Each homemade apron worked out to under $2 and they are adorable, absorbent and washable. 

Materials needed:

Hand towels

Accent fabric for tie and pocket

Thread in corresponding color

Iron

Pins

Method: 

Prewash all the towels to ensure they are preshrunk an the colors will not bleed before sewing them.

I decided to do two small pleats in the apron as the towels were a little wide around my daughters waist.  I measured the width of the fabric and then divided by 3 to determine where the pleats should be located and pinned the spot. I then folded the fabric from the two sides to meet at the pin and then pinned down the pleats. I did a quick sew over just the pleats to ensure they stayed in place and I removed the pins.

I cut the accent fabric into 6 inch wide strips, folded it in half lengthwise and ironed it. I then folded the fabric under on both sides (along the length) by approximately ¼ of an inch and ironed it.

 

Determine the middle of the fabric and pin, then do the same with the towel.

Open the accent fabric and place the towel in the crease of the fold. Bring the top half of the accent fabric back over the towel and pin. Ensuring you catch both sides of the accent fabric.

Sew the accent fabric along the ironed (folded under) edge. Be careful to catch the back side at the same time. I also sewed the top side as well but it is not necessary.

 For the pocket, cut a piece of fabric to the desired size and iron all four sides under. Sew a small hem on the top of the pocket fabric. Pin the pocket to the apron and sew three sides, leaving the top (already sewn side) open.

 

Clean up the loose threads and then you are done.

I think it took me maybe 5 minutes per apron; it is hard to say because I did it in batches, i.e. all the cutting, ironing, etc. at one time. 

I apologize in advance for the changing colors in the photos. I forgot to take pictures of some of the steps as I went along.

'New' Oil Rubbed Bronze Door Handles- I Love Spray Paint

 How many of you have lovely shiny brass door handles all over your house? Can you read the sarcasm in typing? Well, I was right there with you until I decided I couldn’t stand it anymore. 

I priced out the cost to replace all the handles and let me tell you, this was not something I could easily justify.  We have almost 30 doors in my house (lots of double doors into rooms) and since this was not considered to be a necessity, I had to find a way to do it economically or live with them. 

 

So after much research and staring at these shiny, slap me in the face bright handles for almost a year, I decided I was going to try to spray paint them with this wonderful spray paint.  

NOTE: This is not a project you can rush! Be sure to take your time because it will be worth it in the end when you don’t have paint drips or chips. This was the hardest part of the project for me...taking my time :)

Materials needed:

Sand paper

Primer spray paint in gray (Krylon)

Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint (Krylon in Satin)

Method:

I decided to break the project down into two phases…main floor and then upper floor (we don’t have a finished basement).  

I took the handles apart into two pieces and made separated piles for:

• each side of the door knob
• the screws
• the door plates (not sure what they are called)
• door stops.  

I started by lightly sanding each and every piece with scrap sandpaper I had laying around.  Don’t use too rough a grit or you will see the scratches through the spray paint. Be sure to sand the entire knob! This is essential in order for the paint to adhere.

I then wiped down every piece with a damp cloth to remove the dust and then let them dry completely.

I was not able to remove the white plastic stopper on the end of the door stop so I taped it with painters green tape to prevent it from being painted.

I then primed everything (door handles, stops, plates and screws) with a gray color primer (use the same brand of primer as spray paint). I started with the handles upside down on the cardboard to get the underside first.  I found this the easiest way with the best results. 

I found the easiest way to get a good coverage over the entire piece without them rolling around was to stick them into a piece of cardboard. I raised a large piece of cardboard off the ground by placing them on recycling bins and using a screw driver, I punched lots of holes in it. The one half of the handle with the post attached to it, I stuck them through holes in the cardboard so stood up.  I stuck every screw through a small hole and had them stick up half an inch.  The other half of the knob and the plates were placed directly on the cardboard. 

Let this dry for the recommended time.

Next and most exciting step is spray painting. Again, I started with the knobs upside down to get the underside, then they were flipped over and stuck into the cardboard. Remember to do many light coats of paint.  I cannot stress this enough.  It is very easy to get drips of paint on these so do not use much paint.  The coats dry in about 10 minutes so there is no point in putting a lot on at one time.  I think I ended up putting 4 or 5 light coats on these before I was happy with them.   

 Note: If you do get a drip, wipe it off immediately. Chances are, all the paint will wipe off but you can just start over. If you find a drip that has dried, sand it off and start over painting.

 

I did not do a top coat but this is something you can definitely do for added durability.

I let the knobs dry overnight and then I installed them back onto the doors.  When I installed them, I only tightened the screws with my fingers and waited a week until the paint was really cured before I used a screwdriver to tighten them.  If you are anxious to get them back on, you can wrap a towel around the knob to prevent it being rubbed by the screwdriver (which will chip it at this stage).

 Before:

After:

It has been over 6 months since I did this and we have not had a single chip or scratch. I was worried about doors that are the most commonly used i.e. main floor powder room, but we have had no problems.

In total it took me only two days to do every door handle in the entire house (maybe 4 hours of dedicated work from start to finish), 2 cans of primer ($10) and 3 cans of spray paint ($15).  So for approximately $25 I have had the most dramatic change to my house to date.  Almost everyone who comes over notices the change. 

This was extremely easy and has dramatic result but as I said, you must be patient!

Be sure to see the next project I spray painted...My rusty white vent covers! These are just as amazing!!!

Be sure to see my 'Parties I've Linked To' page to the see some of the amazing linked parties I have participated in. 

UPDATE: It has been a year since I did this project and we have not had a single chip, scratch or any signs of wear! For those of you worried about the durability, I have not had any issues even on our most used handles.

Floral Wire Pumpkins for $1

I love, love, love rattan and grapevine shaped pumpkins.  But who can justify the cost (especially Pottery Barn prices!) to buy one? So I decided that I would search out an economical way to make these on my small budget. 

Make-it-and-love-it has created an amazing grapevine pumpkin out of  grapevine garland but the only craft store I have close to me is Michael’s and this too was a little pricey for me. I do love this and will keep my eyes open for grapevine garland on clearance.

So after much searching, merging various ideas and horrible first attempts, I came up with this extremely easy method of creating my own pumpkins out of floral wire.  The grand total for the entire project…$1!  Now that is in my price range.

Materials needed:

1 roll of floral wire (approx. 33 feet long) in your color of choice (I did one in brown and one in cream)

Method:

Determine the size of pumpkin you will like. Remember the larger the pumpkin, the less ‘full’ it will be.

Shaped the pumpkin by either wrapping the floral wire around a bottle  that is the size you want (don’t judge me by the bottle I used) or simple hold one side of the wire and loosen the circle until it is to the desired size.  

 If you wrapped around a bottle, slip the wire off the bottle and bunch into a group by holding the center. 

Take the two ends out of the group and leave approximately one circle length out. These will be used to hold the center of the pumpkin together and to create the vine at the top of the pumpkin.

With one of the floral wire ends, wrap around the middle of the group of wires to form the center or the pumpkin. It is useful to go back over the original piece to hold the shape better. (see the picture)

Once wrapped tightly, start to form your pumpkin by moving the circles around to make the pumpkin shape.

Wrap the second floral wire end around a pencil to make the curly vine top.

You can shape your pumpkin to be fat or squish the sides in a bit to make it taller and skinnier.

Note: If you want a larger pumpkin, you could probably use 2 rolls of floral wire.

Please let me know what you think.

Enjoy!