Category Archives: Tutorials

Fall Decor Galore

Posted on by
Reply

I have been a bit busy the last few days creating fall decor. Some days are just like that. You can’t stop. We’ve had some beautiful fall days in Missouri this week so I took advantage of the weather. It felt good to be outside working on my projects.

First up…. I was going through my fall decor boxes and ran across a box with a bunch of wood cut outs I hadn’t seen since I stored them. It was a jackpot of pumpkins, ghost, cats, and a few other goodies. One pumpkin had a very unique wood grain on the front and back. I just saw someone posted one very similar. It looked like an ostrich! I could see an ostrich in this one, too! Not only that, I saw an owl on the back!

I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but finally settled on using Howard’s Restore-a-Finish to bring out the grain and then I sealed it with Wise Owl salve. I named the Ostrich in a Pumpkin Woodette and the owl Woodsy. Soooo cute!

Then my friend, Midge, had an idea: flowers, a tiara, or crown for Woodette. I happened to have some small sunflowers and with just a dab of glue, they will come right off. I can change them out for each season! I think I might need to make Woodette a princess for Halloween and find a little crown for her.

In the same box as my Ostrich in a Pumpkin, I ran across this little shelf sitter or hanger. I passed over it at first, thinking….Wow! The 80s!

But then, I got this fall dish drying mat out of the Dollar Tree bag I just purchased. I realized some of the colors went so well with it and the other fall things I have in the corner of my kitchen. So..now, it is out of the box and in the corner of my kitchen counter. 🙂

Oh no! Another gnome …. after I said no gnomes this year! But the Gnome and Backyard lady had this idea I couldn’t resist. She made a quick and easy gnome out of the small plastic ghosts from Dollar Tree. I spray painted one for the hat with a copper color because that’s what I had on hand and added tiny Dollar Tree sunflowers for embellishment. The other I left white and glued it upside down to the hat. I gassed a wooden bead for his nose. I bought two big ghosts, too, to make a larger gnome.

I spray painted a Dollar Tree wire pumpkin form white with a green stem and attached my cute little gnome to it with jute twine and now have a cute fall door hanger for my front door. He hangs from a magnetic hook on my stork door by the stem

Here’s Gnome and Backyard’s tutorial!

https://fb.watch/fNGj7CnIBk/

This awesome creator also had a tutorial for making a pumpkin out of a Dollar Tree soap saver. What? Check it out! https://fb.watch/fOIcejAF2x/

Of course I had to make one, too. This one I left gray and put it inside a Dollar Tree shadow box. It looks so cute with my gray pumpkins I made (the striped fabric came from DT), but I bought a few more to paint! 🙂

I still hadn’t gotten to my other pumpkin cut outs, so onto more decor!

I made this arrangement in three different sizes and used a Dollar Tree napkin decoupage technique. I was going to add embellishments but I love the rustic vintage look of them just as they are. They stand up on their own and are perfect for shelf sitters or tiered trays.

I also decoupaged a little 3 1/4” square natural wood trinket box. I made the little leaf ladder tall last year. It goes perfectly with this arrangement.

This next project is one of the larger pumpkin cut outs and will stand alone. I glued one of the Dollar Tree faux tin panels to it.

For this finish I did a kind of an aged terra-cotta color I’ve been seeing others do. I painted it with a color I mixed and added just a bit of baking soda to it. Then I sprinkled more baking soda on it while still tacky. After the paint dried I blended the baking soda on with a bit more paint then sealed with a matte sealer. I used a bit of the napkin I was using earlier on the stem.

So pretty! I really enjoy creating a more neutral look for fall decor.

And finally, I ended my marathon crafting this morning. Maybe. Lol I started this project last night and finished today. I still had more pumpkin cut outs in 3 different sizes so painted the face of each with the terra-cotta color I mixed. I used a bit of left over napkin for the stems.

I distressed them a bit with sandpaper and then used the new Dollar Tree brown parchment paper rub on transfers on them. I apologize in advance for finding more of these transfers in different designs. They are so hard to find, but I found these in the same store I found the others in Ballwin, MO on Manchester Road. But, oh how I love working with them and hope they make more. I’ve not seen them online yet, either.

That’s not all! I’m now working on a natural wood napkin decoupage riser and it should be finished soon! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Update: The last of this grouping is complete. 🙂

I had this 12” round wooden plate. I had the fall napkins. I had the decoupage medium. I had some little rub on transfers and the wood beads from the foot exerciser I bought a couple of weeks ago at a yard sale to use for feet. I have items to display.

So I made a riser.

You Made a Pumpkin Out of What???

Posted on by
2

I am always amazed at the things people can create. I often wonder if they just walk around Dollar Tree thinking how they can turn say….a couple of soap savers (never even knew they had these but there they were back in the back with the bath things) paint them, then turn them into pumpkins.

So…had to do it. I decided to just leave this one gray. And, you know what? It turned out pretty darn cute.

Soap savers. Two in a package.

Here’s the tutorial from “Gnome and Backyard.” https://fb.watch/fLfzdny7tj/

Loving my gray pumpkins!

Update: I wasn’t finished yet! Later, I made another and painted it orange. Love his Winking Owl wine cork stem. Lol

Updated a DT painted pumpkin with a Rub On Transfer

Posted on by
Reply

I’m a little obsessed with the Dollar Tree parchment paper rub on transfers. They are a bit different than other transfers as they seem to rub on ink rather than vinyl. I’ve used them on several things, including drop cloth!

I painted this DT pumpkin last year to look like galvanized metal with copper to go with my copper kitchen tin backsplash. The copper leaf was from something I had thrifted.

This morning I applied this transfer. What a difference! I love it.

The last pic shows what one looks like on a drop cloth tag I made.

A Rustic Dollar Tree Pumpkin

Posted on by
Reply

12” w x 12” high

I transformed a wood cut out Dollar Tree Pumpkin by adding a Dollar Tree faux antique tin to it. I added a picture frame to the back so it would stand up.

I painted it a cream color then distressed it with watered down brown paint and a brown ink stamper.

I added a messy bow made from paint dyed drop cloth strips with a wood leaf added to it.

I painted the metal Harvest wording brown and added cinnnamon while it was still wet to give it a rusty look.

Fabric Sunflowers

Posted on by
2

This sunflower is beautiful, don’t you think?

I follow an awesome lady on YouTube….Teresa Greene from Our Greene Acres. She has excellent tutorials. Most of her ideas are shabby chic/farmhouse. They are not always my style, but the things I make from her tutorials usually sell well around my area of Missouri. This one sold within minutes after posting it in my personal Facebook page.

Basically, all you need to make the sunflowers are some type of fabric (the one above is drop cloth for the petals and burlap for the center). You will also need scissors, a little poly fill for the center, some hot glue, and ….. a canning jar lid and ring. This one was a regular mason jar size.

I’m not going to recreate the wheel here for making the sunflower. I will just share Teresa’s tutorial. This project starts at the 16:48 mark. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8wzvB-seb3I&t=616s I will share how I made the stem of mine below.

I wanted to make a sunflower with a long stem but wouldn’t flop over. I wasn’t sure how I would do this so started looking around. Invention truly is the mother of necessity.

I had some faux tulips from Michaels that had long green flexible hollow stems.

I took one of the tulips off and removed the little plastic thing that went into the stem. After finishing my flower, I hot glued it to the back and then hot glued a strip of fabric over it so it would stay in place. I just needed a stick to go inside so I remembered the whittling my dad used to do (I specifically remember him making whistles). So I just whittled the stick to size. Lol

I pushed the stick through the tulip stem (I used two of the hollow stems and pushed them together. I left a little room at the top so I could fold it over and glue it down to the flower.

That still wasn’t strong enough. Then I remembered these green metal hollow sticks I used around my rose bush. One was broken so I broke it off all the way and I had a sturdy stem. I think I originally got them at Lowe’s. They are stakes made to look like stems of plants so they blend in.

I then dropped the stick covered with the tulip stem down the green tube and hot glued it in place. I then folded over the stem at the top and glued it down. That worked just fine. The drop cloth was strong enough that the sunflower didn’t flop too much.

I had this very strange pitcher/mug thing I thrifted several years ago because it was cool and I loved the color. It was perfect for my one long stemmed sunflower. I filled it with left over burlap and added some greenery and wedged my sunflower in place. I love how it all came together!!

The first sunflower I made from Teresa’s tutorial was a hanging one. I used flour sack cloth (from Walmart Craft department) I dyed with left over coffee for the petals and fabric from an old valance for the center to match a pumpkin I had made earlier (another Teresa tutorial). I love how it turned out and how it looks in a fall centerpiece I put together.

Boho Wall Hanging

Posted on by
Reply

Last night I made a simple macrame boho wall hanging….while I watched TV. It was fairly time consuming so I recommend TV watching while you do this. 🙂

I had a dowel 16” long by 3/4” diameter. A slightly smaller one would work as well. A cut down plunger handle from Dollar Tree would be perfect.

I unraveled the whole nautical rope from Dollar Tree. It made 3 strands. Then I cut those strands in half and I had 6. Then I cut those in half and I had 12.

I attached the 12 strands to the rod with a larks head knot (a basic macrame knot). That was the quick part. Here’s a tutorial on how to attach the strands to the dowel rod: https://www.macrameuk.com/amp/2018/03/02/beginners-macrame-knots-1-larks-head-knot

I know had 24 strands to unravel. The time consuming part was unraveling all the strands until I got the look you see in the photos. Take your time and do just a few strands at a time or you will get it all knotted at the end. Trust me… I know. I did use a dog brush I bought at Dollar Tree for macrame projects and brushed the strands out as much as possible after I separated them. Then I trimmed the bottom a little trying to go at angles toward the center.

I attached a flower and foliage with hot glue. I bought four flower pots with a variety of high end flowers and foliage through an online auction for just $8.50 for all four after fees. They were originally priced at $10 each! What a bargain! If you haven’t tried online auctions, you should!

I then used some of the burlap trim from Dollar Tree to make the hanger. I wrapped some around a small metal book ring from Dollar Tree, hot gluing it as I went around. I took the length of one of the pieces in the package and cut it in half. I wrapped one end of the piece completely around the dowel rod, securing it with hot glue. I did the same for the other side. Then I brought the ends together, put them through the covered ring and hot glued them to the ring on the back side. I did that twice to make them very secure.

I took photos hanging from my fireplace and French Door. I especially love how it looks hanging from a fireplace for summer!!

A Boho Greenery Arrangement in a Oui Jar

Posted on by
1

This beautiful boho greenery arrangement is just another way I have found to use a Oui yogurt jar.

  • I sprayed the inside of the jar and the top edge black.
  • I cut a styrofoam ball in half and then trimmed down the edges and glued to the bottom inside of the jar.
  • The boho fringe was a left over piece of a Dollar Tree hula skirt, trimmed to fit the jar and glued in place. The original hula skirt was too yellow for me, so I dyed it with coffee grounds. Love the color now.
    *I cut two stems of high end greenery and stuck them into the styrofoam.

I love taking photos of the projects I do outside on sunny days.

For more ways I’ve used Oui jars:

* Faux Depression glass

* Christmas Decor

My Reward for Cleaning My Kitchen – a small DIY woven rope vase

Posted on by
Reply

It all started this morning when I decided to give myself the incentive I needed to start some deep cleaning I’ve been putting off….so I started with my sink area.

I saw an idea for adding a pedestal to your sink area for your dish soap, etc. I just happened to have one I made.

I glued a round piece of glass I had to the bottom of a small bowl. I’ve been using it in other places. I had this thick round piece of glass I got at a flea market one time, but a wood round would work, maybe even the plate from an old microwave.

Then I cut a placemat to fit it. I had a plastic hand soap dispenser I already made and cleaned off the label on another one.

Of course, I just had to add some small transfers I found at Dollar Tree just because.

Then I was ready to start deep cleaning……

My kitchen is now clean! Yay! So my reward to myself was creating this little boho woven rope vase!

I’ve been seeing similar rope vases all over. In fact, I could buy one for $50 from this vendor. Or…. I could create one myself, which is so much for fun and cost saving, too! 🙂

I saw this woven rope idea and tutorial on Pinterest.

https://pin.it/bxRLiUf

I had already spray painted a little red glass vase I had with metallic gold paint.

The rope was from a Dollar Tree mop head I cut apart. I used 15 strands of it and hot glued each strand side by side from bottom to top, laying the vase on its side to work. Then I separated the strands into groups of 3 and wove them over and under (spot gluing ever so often to hold them in place) until I got back to the beginning. I cut each group of 3 even with the beginning edge and hot glued in place.

Whew! Oh! And my clean kitchen. Here you go!

Now, for a late lunch and a much needed rest before I tackle another room. 😂

Air Dry Clay Bud Holder and A Couple of Birds

Posted on by
Reply

I saw an idea for making a bud holder using air dry clay so I just had to try it. I had a bit of clay left over so I made a couple of little birds, too.

Amazing how fast air dry clay dries on a hot, sunny day. 🙂

I made a bud holder to fit the small red glass vase I had, painted the bud holder white, sealed it with Mod Podge spray, then used watered down gray paint to bring out the detail of the stamp. If you look carefully, you might be able to see the image of a bird imprinted into the clay. Then I sprayed it with Mod Podge Pearlized Spray for a bit of glimmer.

I painted my little birds a dark blue and distressed them with white wax.

Then I added some Mimosa blooms from my tree. Beautiful!! And Wow! They smell sooo good!

Contemporary Boho Feather DIY

Posted on by
Reply

I think one of the reasons I’m liking Contemporary Boho decor, besides the fact it will fit into almost any style, is the nature aspect of it.

I saw this idea https://pin.it/7nmdV6n for making boho feathers with rafia and starch to make it stiff.

I didn’t have either of those this morning, but I did have a Dollar Tree hula skirt 🙂 and I found a recipe for making my own spray starch. https://www.thespruce.com/spray-starch-recipe-4155709

You can find anything on Google. It worked perfectly.

I cut off strips from the hula skirt. The idea video above explains how to attach the strips.

Once I had enough strips tied on, I put down a sheet of parchment paper, placed my piece on it, sprayed it with my homemade starch, then added another piece of parchment paper, and ironed it dry.

It came out nice and stiff. I was able to peel off the top piece of parchment paper easily. I left the back piece on at that point because I thought it would be easy to cut the shape of the feather with it attached. And it was!

I then used glue. The gluing isn’t shown here but I spread tacky glue on the back across the top and bottom and down the seam to hold all the strips together and so they wouldn’t shift up and down.

One it was cut out, I peeled each piece apart as they were all stuck together from the starch.

I will say this wasn’t a quick project, but it was easy to do. And I made it outside in this beautiful weather we are having!

And that green glass vase! I thrifted it long ago. I never knew how I would use it until now.