Lil' Bits of Spring!!

Spring is slowly making its way to Virginia...sheesh...took long enough this year.  This shall be known as the endless, snowy winter I think. I'm glad to see winter on its way out the DOOR!  

But all my trees and shrubs have buds and the grass is turning green. This week is in the 70's and I have my windows open...can't beat that!  Whoo Hoo!!!  I even got out to take the dogs for a quick walk which they loved.  When I'm better I will do some Spring Cleaning but it'll have to wait for the moment.  I am going to schedule to have all the windows/screens cleaned after the pollen levels go down a bit, but before Alexa's graduation so they look nice for the party. They are sooo grimy...ick!

Thought I'd share with you my new wreath I got from Etsy store "Autumn Wren Designs".  Its my lil' touch of Spring for right now and I just love it.  It turned out exactly like I wanted and she did a great job.  Could I have made it?  Yes, but not with the way I'm feeling currently and sometimes its fun to just order and have it delivered..KWIM?!  Next to tulips, hydrangeas are my favorite flower and how can you not love a fabulous monogrammed letter right?  And the burlap bow...LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!

Yup I did get my door painted red this past fall and hubby got the new door hardware put on.  I love the red pop of color...makes me so happy! I probably will do one more coat on it when I'm able but then it should be good to go. I did it while watching football games this fall and we tarped the door so the cool air couldn't get in and cats stayed in too.  I will share more of the porch as soon as hubs gets the new lights up...we have them...just waiting on the umm procrastinator handy-hubby ;)  They are lanterns that match the dark finish of the rest of the hardware.

Enjoy your Wednesday!!!

DIY Rustic Holiday Banner!

Happy Day to you all!  So here is Part 3 and the final phase in my Holiday mantel project.  A rustic holiday banner made with canvas, jute and paint...super easy & inexpensive to create!  You can see the other parts of my mantel:  Christmas Mirror HERE and Frosted Glass Holiday Hurricanes HERE.

Here is the entire mantel in all her glory...dressed with some burlap and greens from my yard!

Phase 1 of Holiday Decorating done :)

You can buy banners in many materials ready for you to use at most craft stores...but they are pricey.  Simply measure them if you like the size in the store (like me heehee) and then buy a 1 yard of canvas material yourself (mine was $2.89 for a yard on sale).  Or you could use a canvas drop cloth...many inexpensive ideas for material depending on what you want.  However I did buy the canvas flowers pre-made at Hobby Lobby...they were $2.99 each but on sale 50% off each!

Then you need to decide how many banner flags you will need depending on your saying or holiday word!  I went with BELIEVE because on my mirror project HERE I used "Believe in the Magic of Christmas" and liked the repeat of the word!

Supplies I Used:

Stencil

Sisal twine or Jute

Acrylic Paint in Color of Your Choice

Banner Material

Embellishments

Stencil Brush

Elmers Glue

Hole Punch

Once you've cut your material into your triangles for your banner you are ready to paint them.  I cut letters with my Silhouette Cameo to use as my stencil. I cut one out of inexpensive cardstock first to check the size...then cut them all out of thicker cardstock once I determined the size was correct.  This way my stencil was a tad thicker and better for stenciling in with.  Then I sprayed the back with my handy-dandy Crafters Companion Stick-n-Spray and smoothed the letters on each banner flag to stencil.  I used a stencil brush because its much better at pouncing which is what you want to do...you don't want your paint to bleed under the edges by wiping the brush back & forth. (no no no)

Here are my letters all done and drying...I wanted them really dry before I started handling them. Red paint is highly pigmented no matter what form its in and it can just smudge and spread...yuck.

I used just a regular hole punch to punch holes in each corner of each flag.  You could use a Crop-a-Dile tool if needed but this worked fine for me.  Now canvas likes to fray kind of like burlap so it is best to reinforce your punched holes.  You could use Modge Podge or a fabric non-fray product...but I used Elmers Glue...cheap and easy.  I squirted some on my finger and wiped around the punched holes on both side.  Then let it dry completely before you start stringing the banner.  The canvas flowers are pinned on at the end and I used 3M Command Hooks under my stone mantel to hook the banner on.  Those hooks are A-MAZING..they stick to most things and are super strong...and they come off when you're all done!

And here it is all done up!  I wanted something that might have been done in the 'olden' days around their homes, not anything fussy or fancy.  Not a lot of materials or embellishments used.  Simple yet pretty and so fun!  This is a fun project to do with your kids too if they want to help...mine are teens...they rarely want to help with such things ;)

Hope you enjoyed and are busy doing your own holiday decorating too!

I will be doing that all weekend once I get through Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!!
******

Entering this banner into the following fun Linky Parties:

36th Avenue
The Fun In Functional
Common Ground
The Tablescaper
The Charm of Home
A Peek Into My Paradise
Make It Pretty Monday
All Things Christmas Linky Party
Alderberry Hill/Make The Scene Monday
Simple & Sweet Fridays
Hi Sugarplum/ Holiday Cheer