Another Valentine Topiary

The arrangements I made for our work bathrooms in December that you can see here were still in the bathrooms all dried up looking.  I though it was time to revamp them for Valentines.  I had so much fun making my valentine topiary you can see here, that I decided to make a little one using the same glass vase I used for the Christmas arrangement. 

This arrangement cost me about a dollar to make since the styrofoam balls come in a package of 6 for a dollar and I only used half a bag of rose petals that also cost a dollar.  I used some cupcake liners to fill  in the top.  I typed in some valentine words at http://www.wordle.net/ to create a word cloud that I could use to hide the green foam.  Wordle is so much fun, you have to try it. I covered the wood dowel in crepe paper (Birthday streamer) since I was too lazy to paint it.

This little topiary brings a little life to our ugly work bathroom, it hardly cost anything and it makes me happy to see it when I wash my hands :)  Stay tuned for cupcake liner topiary---my last valentine topiary!

Valentine Topiary

I wanted to make a valentine craft for my mantle this year using a colour I never decorate with...pink!  I figured with a house full of boys it was time to add some feminine flare for this years valentines.

I purchased 2 packs of 250 fake rose petals, a feather boa and a package of wooden dowels at the dollar store.  I already had a container, ribbon, sewing pins, fake pearls and hairpins at home.

I started by taking three petals and folding them in half.  I than folded them in half again and stuck a sewing pin through it and poked it into the styrofoam ball.

I kept sticking these little rose buds into the styrofoam ball for about an hour and a half.   I used a larger styrofoam ball than the one shown above so it took almost the whole episode of watching the bachelor.  I was pretty satisfied on how it turned out but I remembered I had these pearls and hairpins leftover from my wedding day in my craft box and I thought they would look pretty.  I just strung the pearls onto the hairpins and pushed them into the styrofoam ball.  

I than stuck the wood dowel into the ball and filled a pot I had on hand with styrofoam.  I used a piece of the feather boa to cover the styrofoam and tied a ribbon to the dowel.  I still need to paint my dowel white.

 I like my snowy owl next to my topiary, I think its the feathered boa that brings them together.  This topiary would also look so cute in a little girls room.

Linking to: 

http://todayscreativeblog.net/get-your-craft-on-39/

http://gigglesglitzandglam.blogspot.com/2011/01/glam-party-12.html

http://www.thegirlcreative.com/2011/01/just-something-i-whipped-up-with.html

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/01/24/made-by-you-monday-36/

1st Birthday Decor

I have not had much time to craft anything lately being back at work full-time but I did want to create something special for my little guy's 1st Birthday.  I decided to do a puppy dog theme as he loves dogs.  A quick search at  a few stores proved unsuccessful in finding anything party-dog related.  I received a silhouette electronic cutter for Christmas from my husband and decide it would be my first project to make a few little decorations for his Birthday. 

I started with a banner for the mantle spelling out his name. I bought two graphics at the silhouette online store for 0.99 cent each and used 4 sheets of different colour card stock.  I wanted to use mini clothespins to attach the flags to the gift ribbon but I didn't have any so I used paper clips. I had a green bone in between the R and E but it seems to be missing.  

I also made these little dogs to hang on my china cabinet (sorry these are not the greatest photos).

For a frugal centrepiece I bought 2 packs of doggy paw tennis balls at the dollar store and put them into a clear glass vase.

I ordered the cake from our neighbour that does them on the side and I used doggy gift wrap for a table cloth and since it did not get dirty I rolled it back up and will use it again for gift wrap:)

I wish I would have had more time to play with theme as there is so much I could have done.  I was supposed to make dog bone shaped cookies but I just ran out of time.  I also would have liked to have had everyone bring a donation to our local animal shelter whether it be a used towel, blanket or food etc

DVD Jacket Artwork

I have been looking for some Thomas the Train artwork for my son's room as it is his favourite thing right now.  I could not find anything with Thomas so I decided to be resourceful.  I had these old frames from his nursery that he had grown out of.  I pulled the backing off and untaped the artwork that was in the frame.

This is currently his favourite movie...it has played in our house everyday since Christmas.  I used the extra cardboard jacket that came with the DVD to frame as artwork.  I simply cut the front of the jacket and taped it to the frame.

My son loves these in his room as they are his two favourite movies.  I like them because they took me 5 minutes to do, cost me nothing and I can change these up whenever he is into something new.

Favorite DIY Project of 2010

Our favourite DIY project we made in 2010 (after my son that is....)

is hands down our fireplace mantle. It has changed our whole open concept living space and made it much more cozy.

Here is the "Before" that I snapped while we were having the house inspection done in 2008 with the sellers furniture.

Here is the "After" that we completed this fall.

This project cost us around $350.00.  We created the mantle piece by using two different kinds of moulding to cover some scrap oak we had on hand.  By painting  it white we were able to seal the joints of the 2 pieces of moulding and paint it.  I have since spray painted the gold handles on the screen that came with the house black and it looks much better. Our room now has a focal point and I have had so much fun decorating for the different seasons with it.

                                            Halloween                                           Christmas

Linking to: http://southernhospitalityblog.com/top-projects-of-2010/

Festive Fresh Flower Arrangement

I already made a Christmas Centrepiece this year but it was too big to have on the table at dinner.  Luckily my Birthday is right before Christmas and I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my mom.

Tall flowers don't really work at the table for obvious reasons, so I decided to shorten them and copy an idea I saw on Sarah Richardson's Christmas Special.  She used a "Mud Bud" for mudding the walls to put fresh flowers in and I had one in the workshop!  I removed the labels off the sides and put floral foam in the base of it.

I started by adding the baby's breath and than I added the other flowers.

This would look even better with a mirror underneath it so that the tea lights reflect not only in the "Mud Bud" but in the mirror.  Its the perfect size to keep on the table during dinner.

I also sprayed the whole arrangement with floral glitter for a more festive touch.

I used the leftover flowers to put into a small vase for the bathroom. I felt bad at first cutting the flowers, but I can actually see and enjoy the flowers much better at this height. I will be using this mud bud again!