Bunny Bunting

I had seen some cute bunny bunting on Pinterest lately, here and here. So I knew I wanted to make one of my own. Plus, Little O is completely obsessed with bunnies right now (goats are still her number one favorite, but bunnies are a close second).

I didn't want to spend a fortune on a Spring mantel. With Easter being so early this year, we won't get to enjoy it for too long. So I sifted through my stash of scrapbook papers to find any that represented Spring and Easter.

I also checked out my Cricut cartridges for a cute bunny silhouette. This one came from the Noah's ABC Animals cartridge. I cut each bunny out at 5.5 inches (the largest my Cricut cuts). For the width of my mantel, I needed 21 bunnies. After cutting them out, I laid them out on the floor of my craft room to decide the order in which to place them on the ribbon.

Once I had them placed the way I wanted them, I hot glued them to the ribbon and attached little white pom poms to the tails. I had these on-hand from a toddler busy box I created for Little O.

I originally planned to drape the bunny bunting on the mantel, but it just didn't look right. Instead I used Tacky adhesive to attach the ribbon flush along the edge of my mantel.

I'm really pleased with how my bunny bunting turned out, but it made me realize that the rest of my mantel looked so naked! I decided I needed to do something about that.

Check out what the finished Spring mantel looks like here.

Spring Mantel

After finishing my Bunny Bunting, I realized just how naked the rest of my mantel looked. I knew I had to do something to make it look finished, but I didn't want to spend a ton of money. The bunny bunting didn't cost me a penny. I had everything I needed to make it on hand already. Score!

So I scoured my craft room for other bits and bobs that I could use to complete my Spring mantel.

I found a really cute Spring Subway Art printable that you can customize by Janet over at Today's Fabulous Finds. I chose Olive and printed it out, but I needed a frame to put it in. I found one I really liked over at Hobby Lobby. It wasn't on sale, but I had a 40% off coupon, so it cost me $11. This is the only thing I purchased for this mantel.

In one of my random craft supply boxes, I found some fake flowers leftover from last year. The pink ones were from Little O's first birthday portraits and the white ones I used on a gift basket for a friend's birthday. I also found small Styrofoam balls from way back when I was in grad school. They've been in that box for five or six years. Time to use them up! I stuck the flowers around the Styrofoam ball to make two pretty pompanders. I used hot glue on a few of the flowers that wouldn't stay put. Then I placed them onto two candle holders I found in my basement. They used to be black, but I spray painted them with some yellow spray paint I had.

The other two things on the mantel are a purple floral bunny my mother-in-law bought for us last Easter and a pink and white tea set I usually keep in my craft room.

And here is the finished product. I'll post a little bit more about the Bunny Bunting on Monday, so check back!

Liebster Award

Heather at Love to be Busy, Daniela at Pretty Elements, and Jeanne at I Dream of Jeanne Designs nominated me for a Liebster Award! I'm excited to share some facts about myself and my blog with you. And to nominate some of my very favorite blogs too. Thanks, ladies!

The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to other bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers (like me!).

Here are the rules:

1. Each blogger should answer the questions the tagger has set for you.  
2. Choose eleven new bloggers to pass the award on to and link them in your post.
3. Create eleven new questions for the chosen bloggers.
4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.
5. Each blogger should post eleven random facts about themselves.
6. No Tag Backs!!!

Here are the questions from Heather:

1. What is your favorite treat? Anything chocolate. But it has to be GOOD chocolate.
2. Where is your dream location to live? Warm. I'm so sick of this Midwestern weather. I'm a Southern girl at heart. 
3. What is the favorite place you've visited? Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. I want to go back. It's warm there!
4. What is your favorite scent? It has to be my baby's hair after a bath. 
5. Do you prefer flats or heels? Heels. I'm only 5'3" if I stand up really straight. But I have recently found a pair of flats that I like.
6. Favorite meal? Chicken and waffles.
7. Favorite movie or TV show? I think my favorite TV show right now is The Following. So creepy!
8. Best thing about yourself? I really try hard to like everyone and see everyone I meet as a potential friend.
9. Cooking or Take out? Since we're trying to cut out processed foods at our house I'd have to say cooking.
10. Sweet or salty? Do I really have to choose? I like them both together. But lately, I'd have to say salty.
11. What is your favorite part of blogging? I love sharing what I make and finding other bloggers who like to craft as well. People who are not crafters who I know in real life think I'm some sort of superwoman, but those who are crafters know this is how we stay sane! (Through this award, I learned I need to check out my fellow small-time bloggers, and I found a bunch of new ones to follow!)

Here are the questions from Daniela:

1. Why did you start blogging? I started blogging as a way to keep a written record of my life with Little O when she was a baby. Then it morphed into what it is now. A little bit crafting, a little bit kids' activities, and recently a little bit about our switch to whole foods. Pretty much everything that consumes my life right now.
2. If you could relive any moment, what would it be? I think the birth of Little O. It was really amazing. It didn't go according to plan (she was 6 weeks early and I had to say goodbye to the idea of a completely natural water birth), but it was as unmedicated as possible and made me feel like a superhero. And I got a really awesome, sweet, funny little girl out of it. Nothing could be better.
3. What is your favorite place you have visited so far? That's so hard! Probably the Dominican Republic. It was fantastic.
4. What is your favourite treat? Chocolate. I probably eat a little every day.
5. Who inspires you? Little O.
6. What's your dream job? I'd love to be back in an elementary school classroom teaching one day. But for now, I think being a stay-at-home mom is pretty awesome. It would be better without laundry or dishes. 
7. Do you prefer flat shoes or heels? Heels. I'm a short one.
8. Do you have any pets? Lots! Three cats, a dog, and a bird.
9. What is your favourite season of the year? Summer.
10. What was your first craft? I have no idea. My mom used to be an art teacher, and I've been surrounded by craft supplies my whole life. Maybe it was the shoulder pad quilt I made when I was three. I took them out of her trash can. Hey. It was the 80s.
11. How would you describe yourself in one word? Busy.

Here are the questions from Jeanne:

1. What is your favorite color? Orange
2. What describes your style? Mom. Ugh. It's terrible.
3. Cowboy boots or stilettos? Stilettos
4. How long have you been blogging? A little over a year
5. Favorite place you have traveled to? Dominican Republic
6. What is your favorite food? Anything chocolate.
7. Describe a perfect day. A quiet day at a private beach with sand dunes (no condos!)
8. Tell me you favorite craft or DIY project. That's so hard! I love so many crafts. My favorite one is whatever I'm currently working on.
9. Do  you have a garden? I have an almost garden. We built two 4'x6' raised beds last weekend. This weekend we filled them with straw bales. This coming weekend we will add dirt and manure. So hopefully we will have a garden before long!
10. What inspires you? My daughter. And Pinterest.
11. What is your favorite season? Summer

The bloggers I'm nominating are:

1. Erin @ Chicken Babies
2. Jodie @ Mummy Musings & Mayhem
3. T'onna @ Navy Wifey Peters
4. Jessie @ The Children's Art Group
5. Ashely @ Casa de Castel
6. Cathy @ Lemon Tree Dwelling
7. Amanda @ Jedi Craft Girl
8. Rachael @ House of Noise... I Mean Boys
9. Jocelyn @ Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows
10. Jess @ Structured Play
11. Lisa @ Stubbornly Crafty

Here are your questions:

1. What is your must-have crafting supply?
2. What is your one guilty pleasure?
3. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
4. What is your favorite season?
5. Lake or ocean?
6. Are you a cat person or a dog person?
7. Where is the furthest you've ever traveled?
8. Where do you wish you could travel?
9. What is your go-to dish to bring to a potluck?
10. When do you find time to blog?
11. What was the last gift you gave to someone?

My random facts:

1. I am a Gator at heart. I bleed Orange & Blue.
2. We are transplants to the Midwest, and I'm not sure I'll ever get used to winter. It's so LONG!!
3. My favorite color is orange (duh!)
4. My first car was blue, and the car I drive now is orange (sensing a theme?).
5. I have a 2-year-old daughter (already!! How did that happen??)
6. My husband and I collected pets before our daughter was born. We have 3 cats, 1 dog, and 1 bird.
7. Mint is the most disgusting flavor on the planet.
8. I don't mind fresh mint in a mojito, however.
9. The first room I painted when we bought our house was my craft room. It's called Raspberry Sorbet, and I love it.
10. I often wonder what people who don't craft do with all that time I spend crafting.
11. I'm a really fast reader. I belong to 3 different book clubs, and I still read other books on my own too.

Thanks again to Heather, Daniela, and Jeanne for nominating me!

Tutorial: Spring Wreath with Fabric Flowers

I made this wreath last week with the hope of bringing on some warmer weather. I also promised a tutorial. Without further ado... here it is!

You will need:

• grapevine wreath
• letter
• twine
• an assortment of fabric strips.  2" x 16" (for the small flowers and some of the inner petals on the medium flowers), 3" x 18" (for the medium petals), and 4" x 24" for the large flower. Mine weren't exact. Just close enough.
• an assortment of buttons
• hot glue/glue gun
• floral wire
• felt

First, I covered the letter with twine. I already had my letter. It was leftover from a monogram decoration from my baby shower. It doesn't matter that it had previously been painted purple, the twine covered it all up anyway.

I put a dab of hot glue on the back of the letter and left a little tail to hold onto while it dried. Then I started wrapping.

And wrapping.

And gluing. About every few inches. Except when I got to the corner areas. See how it is curved on the bottom and straight on the top. That made it a bit tricky to wrap neatly without the twine slipping around. So I glued along both the curved and straight edges for each time I wrapped the twine.

I wrapped it all the way up to the corner. Then I glued it down on the back and trimmed the tails.

Then I wrapped (gluing almost the entire length of the curved and straight edges) the next section.

I repeated this process on the bottom of the letter as well. Then just wrapped up the middle. I didn't use much glue on the middle part. Maybe a drop every few inches.

After I finished the letter, I started cutting and assembling my fabric flowers. I used scraps leftover from quilts I have made, so the fabric didn't cost anything either! Love using up leftovers!

I cut out an assortment of squares from the fabric strips. The inner petals are 1/2" small than the outer petals. So if I cut 2" squares for the inner petals, I cut 2.5" squares for the outer petals. I also cut out 3" and 3.5" squares and 3.5" and 4" squares. Each set of petals takes between 6 and 8 petals (fabric squares) depending on how full you want it to be. I found 6 not to be enough.

I used the lid of a mason jar to trace my first set of circles (I flipped it over and traced the inner ring for the smaller circle). But I found freehand worked better because the flowers looked fluffier if the circles weren't perfect. However, if you're a perfectionist, trace away! You'll have to find something else to trace for the large and small flowers. This is the perfect size for the medium flower.

Once I finished cutting the circles, one at a time, I created the petals. First, fold one circle in half like a taco.

Then fan fold it. Bring one corner up the front and the other up the back.

This was really hard to get a picture of, but when it is finished it will look like a cone from the front. But from the top (where you would put the ice cream if it were really a cone) it looks like an S.

I put a very small dab of hot glue in the tip of the cone on each side to hold it in place. Repeat for each of the circles.

Now it's time to assemble the petals to make a flower. Cut out a piece of felt into a tiny circle. It needs to be big enough to glue the petals onto, but small enough that it doesn't show outside the edges of the flower.

Glue the outer petals on first, slightly overlapping them for fullness. Then glue on the inner petals.

 Finally glue a coordinating button in the middle.

After assembling all the flowers (it took a while!), play with the arrangement on the wreath. And don't forget to make a few flowers to put on the letter. Oh, and it's cute to mix it up by including some flowers that only have one row of petals.

Once you've found an arrangement you like, start gluing the flowers down. Attach the letter using floral wire. I also used hot glue for the letter anywhere it made direct contact with the wreath.

The wreath is the only part I had to buy for this project. With my 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby, that makes the Grand Total: $3.60! Not bad!

Spring Wreath with Fabric Flowers

Spring is almost here! There's still quite a bit of snow on the ground here, but it's supposed to warm up this weekend. I wanted to help welcome Spring (and maybe convince it to come a little sooner) with a cute floral wreath for my front door.

I had everything except the wreath itself already on hand. With my 40% off coupon, the grand total for the project cost me $3.40! Stay tuned for a tutorial on Monday!