Valentine Door Decor

My front door is a bore so I decided it needed a little love. While looking for fabric at Joann's for my never ending window treatments I couldn't help but notice that all of their Valentine's decorations and such were 40% off. This girl can't resist a good sale!

I purchased a large heart hanging thingy...I apologize for the lack of vocab on this one. Whatever it's called it was cute and therefore mine!. I also grabbed some cute xoxoxo ribbon and fancy shmancy scrapbook stickers that were 30% off.

I used my BFF( the hot glue gun) to adhere the Bliss sticker to the center. Next I tied a cute little bow and glued that to the upper right hand corner. Here's my finished door hanger thingy..

This is obviously the inside of my front door. After I slip on my Ugg's I'll brave the cold and hang this bad boy up!

Valentine Topiary

I've officially been bitten by the Valentine's decorating love bug!

 With all my favorite blogs being full of Valentines inspirations it's no surprise that my to-craft list has grown with each passing day.  This week I decided to attempt some of these ideas starting with a Valentine's inspired topiary. The instructions to make the felt rosette balls can be found HERE. I purchased the base ( a red flower pot), pins, foam insert ( for stabilization), and the foam ball, as well as the pink/red felt at my local Wal Mart.

I used the inner circle of a roll of masking tape as my guide to trace the circles. Then I used my fabric scissors to cut them out and got to sticking. Here's a shot of the project 3/4 of the way done.

This was a very easy  project and came together quickly. Once the foam ball was covered I painted the wooden dowel pink. Then I inserted it into the foam insert I had placed into the pot. I adjusted it to the height I wanted and then covered the foam in sparkly basket fill. This is the end result.

I LOVE how it turned out and have become a topiary junkie. I already have ideas for St. Patrick's Day and Easter!

My fret over a rosette...

While looking for inspiration on decorating my mantle I came across a blog with a tutorial on making a paper rosette wreath. Go HERE to check it out. I've never made rosettes before but I've admired them from afar. I've seen them on headbands and even as jewelry and have wondered if they're as difficult as they look. This blog used tissue paper and basic glue, both of which I already had so I figured I'd give it a go.

In true Shanny fashion I didn't follow the tutorials directions exactly and decided to use the tacky glue instead. Of course, I was wrong. The glue stick worked best but it took a few tries for me to realize this. First I couldn't make any two the same size. Then I couldn't successfully get them to stick together tightly resulting in them unrolling thus giving me a craftastic headache! I regrouped and started over. This time smothering the paper in glue stick on both sides and and twisting it as tight as possible. 

 This was the end result.

In stead of making a wreath I wanted to make a heart shape of rosettes to prop up on my mantle. I cut out cardboard from my recycling box and painted the white side with red paint. I made a few white rosettes to outline the heart in and then fill the inside with red like this...

Next....I quit. Yep, you heard me right, I was a big fat quitter. I just didn't love how it was turning out. There was too much space between the inadequate rosettes and I decided to abort the whole project. As a matter of principal I put the rosettes in a bag instead of throwing them out since after all I had spent a lot of time on them. I'm not in LOVE with them but they're mine!

Pelmet Boxes

Do you know what a pelmet box is? Don't feel bad, neither did I. In my search for window treatments I came across an adorable blog...little green notebook.  On her blog she provided a tutorial for pelmet boxes she'd made for her daughters bedroom. Although I wasn't brave enough to try anything other than a plain old rectangle shape I was inspired to at least try. Here is my finished project.

This was quite possibly the easiest and most cost effective project I've ever done. To create these I used...

• 3 sheets of foam board
• 3 yds fabric( including the extra for the accent pillows and lamp shade)
• white duct tape
• batting
• photo hangers
• staple gun
• hot glue gun

Just cut the foam to fit your windows. Build the box by duct taping the sides together. Wrap it  in batting and fabric and staple along the underside til it's smooth and taunt. Epoxy or hot glue photo hangers onto the short sides of the box and mount.

Yes. It's really that easy!

Please feel free to share your boxes by emailing me pics at shknitsandgiggles@yahoo.com

Window Treatments Project #1

Actually, this post should be titled window treatments project 1, take two. My original plan was to create a roman shade for my sons bedroom window. I had already hung two magnet boards on either side of the window so I needed something that would fit inside the window. A regular roll up shade did cross my mind but that seemed very plain and not my style. I went out and bought a pattern, fabric, ring strips, nylon cording and whatever else the pattern called for. Once I got home and read through the pattern I changed my mind immediately. Lesson learned- step 1. read the pattern first!

I spent the next evening searching the internet for inspiration. Simple inspiration. I found a very cute blog with a link to tutorials on how to spruce up a plain roll up shade. Here it is http://www.myhomeideas.com/decorating/design-ideas/1-window-shade-3-ways-10000001101597/fabric-shade-10001390931008/
So now my plan was to try and cover a simple shade with fabric. I thought this would be a perfect project for the boys room and instantly thought of a starry night or planets fabric. I went out and bought all the supplies and picked up some spray adhesive to try in place of the E-6000 since I've used it before and I know what a sticky, toxic mess it can be.

My adventure begins...


First I rolled the shade out to make sure I had ample room to lay my fabric and "work".

 I ironed the fabric very well so that smoothing it down on the shade would be smooth and flat.

 In place of the E 6000 I sprayed the shade with this spray adhesive. Here's where my troubles appeared. I don't know if it was my lack of patience or if it really didn't stick. In the end I went with the E-6000 glue and it worked well. If I were to do this project again I would spray the shade heavily before applying the fabric and once the fabric was down I'd let it sit and set for an hour or two.

 The yard stick came in handy for smoothing the fabric on the shade. Sort of a scraping motion.

Before....                                                                                         After!

I used the left over strips that I cut from the edge of the covered shade to add a little accent to the basic valance. Overall I'm very happy with how this window came out and am planning on trying some other ideas with roll up shades for a few of the other windows I still have to do in the new house. There's 11 more windows and a set of sliding glass doors still to go!!

Valentine's Day Wreath

Can you guess what this wreath is made of????

Cupcake liners! Yes, seriously.

I was online looking for Valentine's ideas and I came across an adorable blog-tater tots and jello- which had a tutorial for a wreath made of cupcake liners. I just had to make one! I went to Joann Fabrics and found a heart shaped foam wreath and I could not resist. I used a sheer pink ribbon to wrap the form, as well as for hanging. I also decided to hang a heart ornament in the center for a little extra pizazz!

 In case you're interested in making this wreath let me break it down for you.

1. Cupcake liners. I used paper liners that were pink with red hearts. (200 to be exact)
2.You need a foam wreath form...the shape is up to you.
3. Wrap the form in wide ribbon that coordinates with your cupcake liner color.
4. Pinch the sides of the liner together, side to side and top to bottom (looks like a "flower")
5.Hot glue the liner to the form. I did this in spaced out groups of 3/4 and then went back and filled the gaps.
6. Attatch the hanging ribbon with hot glue and add any embelishments.
7. Hang your wreath and let your friends and family oohh and ahhh over your creation!