Pumpkin wire form hanger

 That title is a mouth full, eh? Ha ha ha! Seriously, this was another super fun craft!! I had so many ideas that I had to post a poll on my Facebook Craft Group page so my crafty followers could help me decide!  One idea I had was to put two wire forms together to form one big pumpkin and create some type of stand to display it on my kitchen table.  I may still do that because I have more forms.  But for this craft I decided to make it a hanger.  Maybe down the road I'll create some type of stand for it using the mini Jenga blocks!  Stay tuned for that!! 

My inspiration for this one came from a couple different places.  One of the crafters I watch had posted a craft with the metal pumpkin wire forms and then I saw it popping up in some groups I follow on Facebook.  I decided to give it a whirl and of course, make it my own.  I had a super hard time finding the wire forms so a couple awesome friends picked some up for me.  Super awesome girls!! Love them!! I ran to Hobby Lobby and picked up a few more embellishments and even stopped at Dollar Tree again and picked up some small pumpkins, which I didn't end up using. Oh well. I'll find a way to use them, promise! 

Here are some of the supplies I used:

I wanted to cover the wire in jute knowing it would be a lengthy and daunting process.  It took about an hour.  That's not as bad as I had anticipated!! I wound the jute around each piece of wire, hot gluing as I went to reinforce and make sure that if a piece of jute came loose, the whole thing wouldn't just fall apart!  

Much like the splatter screen pumpkin, I wanted to add flowers and leaves to the bottom.  I arranged them on the table in front of me to try to get an idea of where I wanted to place them. I didn't want to just start gluing them on all willy-nilly.  He he! Here's the thing.  I don't want anything I create to fall apart.  I LOVE glue.  But often times it's extremely hard to remove without damaging the craft.  I only had so many leaves to work with and jute isn't always forgiving either!  One by one I got the leaves where I wanted them, sneaking in a couple of the buffalo check leaves and the burlap leaves.  I was so excited to use those!! The leaves were very vibrant and good quality. I got those at Hobby Lobby for $2.50 a twig.  I know that's not the proper name for it, but it wasn't a bag, ok? They were better than the ones in the bag.  Kind of a velvet texture, almost.  I had a little wooden pumpkin that I wanted to incorporate so I covered it with fabric that I also found at Hobby Lobby, on clearance!  I managed to get the words almost perfectly displayed when I glued it down, much to my amazement! I added little green floral wire vines around the stem too! I even covered the little stem with twine, to match the stem on the bigger pumpkin. It's the little things, folks.

The bow was a little bit of a challenge.  I've never made a decent bow in my life!  However, I watched several people online using a bow maker so I decided to make my own!  I bought one of those long, rectangular decorative box frames from Dollar Tree (see the one pictured above in the supplies photo that says 'Harvest Blessings').  I painted over the stock photo with white chalk paint, drilled a couple holes and then painted to fit my fancy.  I glued wooden dowels in the holes and added a green pipe cleaner.  Don't ask.  I mean, it's kind of there to cover up all the hot glue I had to use to keep the dowels in place. Don't judge me. I'm not one to use a ruler or measuring tape often so it's not perfect.  But I did add lines for guidance so I'm not a complete flake. 

I  decided to use some decco mesh on the back of the bow which wasn't entirely a good idea, but I made it work! In hindsight I should've used a little more of the larger decorative ribbon instead. All in all it turned out cute, I think. And that bow maker...worked like a charm! I know it's not as fancy and functional as the one you can buy but it worked for me!! 

I found some little sunflowers I bought a while back and decided to add a few to the frame.  They just twisted on so I knew I could take them right back off if I didn't like them. It works!! So I left them. 

Another fun, super cute craft in the books.  Thank you to everyone who voted in the poll to help me decide which one to make.  Here is the sketch I drew of the different ideas I had.  Again, I may still make the table top one but I'll have to experiment a little with that too.  So I probably won't do that one live.  Unleeeeesssss I give it a Halloween vibe!!! Ooooohhh! Now there's an idea!! 

Next craft will probably be the witch hat.  You'll have to jump over to my Facebook Craft Group page for more details!! I found out about something super cool that we can do with that witch hat that is not Halloween related at all!! So excited!

Thank you once again for stopping by my blog and being a part of my crafty adventures!  I can't wait to get started on the next one!! 

Happy crafting!!

Splatter Screen Pumpkin

 

Splatter Screen Pumpkin magic! That's what I say.  This is another craft that I saw on Pinterest and in some of the craft groups I follow.  I had to try it.  Dollar Tree splatter screens, leaves, metal 'welcome' sign, jute, flowers and a whole lotta fun! I'm in!! 

This was so easy and so stinkin' cute!! I bought 3 splatter screens and used Rustoleum rustic orange indoor/outdoor paint to coat the frame and the screen.

Once those dried, which didn't take long at all.  I initially hot glued a few spots to hold the screens together to form a pumpkin but as I started working with it, that glue didn't hold very well.  So, I wrapped the handles with jute, hot gluing it as I went.  I later put a few dabs of hot glue on the screens once again, just for stability.  I saw in other posts and pictures how some people took the two outside screen handles, flipped them so they were at the bottom and bent them backward to create a 'stand' so the piece could be displayed upright on a table or shelf.  Super cute! But I didn't see that until AFTER I made this.  Ha! Either way, I wanted to hang it on my front door so it worked out. 

For the center part, when I lined it, I just glued the glue right on top of the screen to make it look like it was lining the frame of the overlapping layers under it.  That worked out perfectly. Now it was time to place some leaves and flowers!  I loved the lighter colored flowers with the burlap petals on the inside! So cute and such a great accent!

Once I placed the flowers I decided to create a few little spiral vines coming off the stem of the pumpkin. You know those little green twirly thingys? What do you even call them? I had some green wire and decided to wind it around a pencil to create the spirals. Then I fed them into the twine, and twisted to secure them. 

Because I wanted this to hang on my door I knew I'd have to find a creative way to incorporate a 'hanger'.  So let me back up just a little.  Before I wrapped the stem of the pumpkin with jute, I created a loop to hang it from.  I wrapped the bottom of it around the base of the stem and then kept it centered while I continued to wrap the whole stem with another piece of jute.  The idea was to keep the piece for hanging secured in place for more stability.  I didn't want the pumpkin to teeter back and forth if the hanger wasn't secure.  Make sense? I added some green leaves around the base of the stem as well. 

I couldn't decide easily where I wanted to place the 'welcome' sign.  It's a little metal sign.  I also couldn't decide if I wanted to leave it raw metal or paint it. I decided to leave it raw.  I really liked doing this one and I hope you all like it too! It was simple, not too busy (like I usually tend to be with my crafts) and the perfect size for my front door! 

If you enjoyed this blog post, please check out some of my other posts with other cute, easy, inexpensive crafts that I've done.  My next blog will be another hanging pumpkin craft that I made using the Dollar Tree pumpkin wire wreath frame.  A little busier than this one but so, so cute!! 

Please share with your friends and family and be sure to check out my Facebook Craft Page for live videos and more!! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today and supporting me in my crafty adventures!! 

Happy Crafting, y'all!! 

Baby name blocks

Often, I get my ideas from crafts other people have made, craft shows, commercials, ads on FB, or even someone else’s house, like at a party of some sort. I rarely follow a recipe or instructions and my crafts are no different!! 

THIS idea was one I saw on Pinterest while looking for ideas for the diaper cake in my previous blog entry. It’s for the same momma but this was a gift from me. I knew she was having a girl and I knew she was doing baby’s room in a feminine, jungle theme. Again, I shopped several different stores over a matter of months and this little beauty is what I came up with. 

I had no idea what direction I was going with this when the idea struck me.  This was the picture that I saw on Pinterest (I have no rights....it belongs to bitsyblocks)

I love these blocks and this idea so much you guys!!! But I wanted to make it match her theme so I knew I had some brainstorming to do!  I was at Target one day and saw the cutest 3-block set.  They were made to display the days/weeks/months/years of a baby's life.  You could flip/arrange the top two blocks to the desired numbers and the bottom one you could flip between days/weeks/months/years.  I knew I was going to paint them because it was unfinished wood.  But the rest I was just going to have to figure out as I shopped!  I found a lot of what I needed at Hobby Lobby but also shopped Michael's, Joanne Fabrics, Dollar Tree and Walmart. (You may recognize some of these things from the previous blog as they were used for both the Baby-Q diaper cake and this block craft).  Here's most of my haul:

You can see the blocks they way I bought them, above.  I was determined to make this into something incredible and I don't think I missed the mark! I sanded down the blocks so that when I painted over them you wouldn't be able to see the numbers/letters.  I knew that was going to be tough and boy was I right!  I didn't have the right kind of sand paper. And what I think I should've done was use a primer.  That took some time...and SEVERAL coats of white chalk paint!  After the paint dried I decided I was going to do different designs for each block.  I covered the sides with different patterns using the scrapbook paper that I picked out at Hobby Lobby, above.  Those little honey comb stickers were too cute to pass up but I didn't end up using those.  

I didn't have gold paint, nor did I think it would work well to try to paint these letters so I used a gold paint pen.  It was NOT cooperating with me at all but once I started I was ALL IN!  I was determined to make this work!  I didn't do this one in a live video so I'll try to explain a few things the best I can, for those that may be interested in how I did it.  You won't be surprised to hear that I didn't measure anything.  I honestly don't even know why I own a ruler of any kind. Seriously.  

I randomly picked which paper pattern would go where, as I went along.  I didn't preplan how many of what pattern or anything like that. Totally winged it, as usual.  Instead of measuring, what I decided to do was coat the side of the block I was working on with mod podge and lay it on whatever paper I was coating that side with. Then I used an Exacto knife to cut around the block.  If more than one side of the block had the same pattern of paper, I left one side 'uncut', coated it with mod podge and rolled it to cover that side and so on. Does that make sense? Maybe I should've used the word 'turned' instead of 'rolled'.  Once I had the individual blocks all covered with paper I set those aside. 

For the bottom blocks that have babies middle and last name, I put two of the long blocks together, adhering them with hot glue.  Once they were dry, I hot glued a ribbon around the top of the two I glued together and another ribbon around the bottom.  This helped hold it in place.  I wrote the words on those blocks after I adhered them and before I wrapped the ribbon.  

The ribbons were adorable!! But when I reached the point of adding them I really wished I'd picked up a few more patterns.  I chose the giraffe ribbon for the top block because it was kind of wide and I didn't want that to detract from the rest of the blocks if I had it somewhere in the middle.  It was also too wide to wrap around the bottom blocks.  In order to create another pattern I decided to wrap some lace around one block and accent with twine. THAT turned out super cute!!  

I kept one set of blocks to use for the calendar and put those on the very top, above baby's name.  I really hope momma liked this gift. I sure had fun creating it!!  

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog once again! I hope you enjoyed this short little description of this super adorable and fun craft!  

Don't forget to check out my Facebook Page and share with your crafty friends and fam!! 

Have a wonderful week and stay tuned for more super fun crafts here in my blog and on my Facebook Page, where's I'll be doing another live video VERY SOON!!! 

Happy Crafting!

Baby-Q diaper cake fun!

Hello crafty friends and followers! Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by to read about my most recent crafty adventure, a Baby-Q diaper cake! Isn't that the cutest theme ever? 

"Bun in the oven"

"Burgers on the grill"

O. M. G. 

You guys!!!! When my friend asked me to make this for her daughter I was so excited!!! I had never heard of this theme before and frankly was a little upset that I didn't think of it first!! They have since changed the BBQ to a drive by shower (Thanks COVID!) but are sticking with this theme, which is great!  I just think it's SUPER DUPER cute!!!  

With a global pandemic, shopping was a little challenging for this one!  I had to go to 7 different stores in about the last 2 months to find everything I needed.  Dollar tree, Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Joann Fabrics, Meijer, Walmart, and Rite Aid!  Whew!!!  My friend sent me a photo example of what she had in mind, knowing, I'm sure, that I would make it my own.  I'm SO glad she trusts me because this turned out super cute, I think!  

First we had to start with a base. I looked EVERYWHERE for cake rounds. You know, the little cardboard circles you use to put your cake on? I finally found the round, silver, floral ones at Walmart. That was gonna have to do! I think I paid a little over $2 for a pack of 5!

In order to have something to keep the layers of the cake lined up, we needed put something in the center and adhere it to the cake round.  My go-to for this is usually the cardboard inserts in rolls of wrapping paper.  I rifled through my Christmas wrap and found one! I'm hoping that paper holds up until I need it for wrapping gifts at Christmas! Ha ha! 

In true Sambo style I did not measure and instead eye-balled the center of the cake round. I used my hot glue gun to secure the roll.

 

I rolled a box of 100, size 3 diapers and secured them with ouchless hair ties from Rite Aid. Box of 200 for around $2. Can't go wrong with that! I put two ties on each diaper to keep it from losing form.  I've noticed in the past that the diaper will slide around a little and lose shape if you only use one. Either way, I knew once the cake was assembled I'd be covering up that part of the diaper so the ties, however many I used, would not be visible.

Building the cake was probably the most time consuming part.  But fun and very interesting!  In hindsight I probably should've bought a bigger box of diapers!  When I got to the top and final layer I realized I was a little short on diapers so I had to improvise!  I decided to take a couple paper towel rolls I had and cut them into toilet paper sized rolls. I used those as make-shift diapers to take up space in the center of the top layer, which I knew I would be covering with a big flower on top.  I put the remaining diapers around the outside, essentially hiding all the rolls I had just used. Not ideal, but it worked in a pinch! lol 

Now it was time to add the embellishments!! First, I measured the burlap by winging it, you know, Sambo style!  Ha ha! Look. I just feel like most of the time, measuring takes too long and I'm never too far off with my eyeballs so it works for me.  If you feel better using a measuring tape, go for it! The burlap I had was a little too thick for the height of each layer so I had to cut it lengthwise to make it thinner.  I didn't want to cover the whole diaper!  After wrapping each layer with the burlap I secured it with hot glue, placing a little piece of cardstock behind the seam so the glue wouldn't stick to the diapers.  Hot glue has a way of seeping and I was, after all, using burlap, which is porous! lol  After securing the burlap, I put a piece of lace ribbon and a thin red check ribbon on the top layer and a piece of lace ribbon and a thick red check ribbon on the bottom layer.  Time to line up those seams so I could prepare the bows!

I made the sign on my computer using Microsoft Word.  I printed it out on cardstock and didn't really know what I was going to do with it from there.  That was weeks ago! lol  I found a cute set of napkins and decided to experiment!  The napkins are two ply so I separated the layers. I glued the napkin, design side up of course, to a piece of white cardstock.  I then glued the sign I made and had already cut out at this point on top of the napkin. I cut around the sign, leaving a border with the napkin.  I glued that to the black cardstock, cutting around the border once again to leave a frame. I placed the sign on the middle layer of the cake, gluing it at the seam where I had secured that little piece of paper so as not to get glue on the diapers.

The bows were the really fun part!! I went with a smaller bow on the top layer.  This layer is the smallest so it only made sense! Right!? I decided to put a little white flower in the center of that bow. I made a larger bow with the larger red check ribbon for the bottom. I left the ends pretty long because I had this brilliant idea that I wanted it to look like the ribbon was flowing around the cake.  I like doing that when I bake cakes and use fondant as well.  I don't know what my fascination is, I just like it. A lot. 

The flowers took a little more time than I thought but only because deciding on placement was so difficult.  I had an idea in my head but when I had the flowers in my hand, they had different plans entirely! I used the big flower for the center.  I cut it to the height of the cake, inserted it into the center paper roll and glued around the top of the roll to adhere it to the underside of the flower head. Then, I placed smaller red flowers around and sort of under the petals of the big flower to give the appearance of a bigger flower or bouquet of flowers, but also to hide those rolls a little better!! The sunflowers were so cute and I had far too few!! I wanted them to sort of cascade around the cake.  I finally had them all situated where I wanted them and even added a couple more little white flowers, just for accents.  

There were a few hiccups along the way but nothing major and the Baby-Q cake was a success!! I am so pleased with the way this turned out and I hope you enjoyed the tutorial.  

Hop on over to my Facebook Page to watch the video!! If you like it, please let me know and share with your friends who might love it as well! I really appreciate you all so much and can't wait to get started on the next crafty adventure!!!