St. Patrick's Day Porch Decorations

I really haven't done much in way of crafting since my last post in December.  I've done a few things around the house in the decorating department and eventually I would love to do a house tour.  For now, I'll just post some monthly or seasonal porch decoration pictures.  I don't know if anyone else has a love/hate relationship with St. Patrick's Day, but I sure do.  First of all, I'm not of Irish descent.  So the fact I 'celebrate' the holiday at all is kind of silly.  Secondly, I actually work with a lady from Ireland (it takes some getting used to her talking to get past her thick accent) and she find the American St. Patrick's Day customs very strange.  That said, I remember the excitement I had as a child hoping to find that elusive pot of gold.  As I've gotten older, I've decided to embrace the sentiments of 'Irish Blessings' as well as, for me, it is a symbol of the change from winter to spring.

 Anywhooooo......how about some pictures? I live in a townhouse and have a long entrance to my front door.  I like to keep some cheap pillows that I switch out the fabric and don't care if they get wet or dirty. I don't sew them at all, just tie a knot on the square one and tuck under the ends on the round one.  It really is quite simple.

The ladder I have was quite the investment but over the years I've purchased one or two of the kits and now I am definitely getting my money's worth.

The biggest change in this year's porch is the new wreath I put on the door and cute door mat (from Wal-Mart!!! I was quite surprised, lol).  It is so hard to find cute decorations that aren't bright green, tinsely looking things so finally I decided to make my own.  The floral options I used were mostly from Wal-Mart, so definitely not the best quality, but for something that is on my front door in March where it rains (like today) or snows, I don't want to spend a fortune on something.  Enjoy!

P.S.  I have no idea if they saying on the 'chalkboard' sign is actually an Irish Blessing.  However, if it is, I used an example off the internet and only AFTER I had finished making it did I see other examples that had different wording.  I don't know which is correct.  Unfortunately, I liked the other alternative better which read:  Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live (mine says, .....and love as much as you live).  I might have to remake that little sign.

But maybe later.  I'm all crafted out for now.  ha ha

A Fall Wreath Version 2012

Howdy, Howdy!

You know how sometimes you are blog hopping/stalking/spending-all-your-free-time-at-night-looking-at-crafts-on-the-internet-and-you-wonder-why-your-house-didn't-magically-clean-itself and you stumble across something that you want to make right away?  Well, that happened with me the other day while on Pinterest.  It is such a simple idea and it was super easy, although a little time consuming.  But still, this is easily a make-while-you're-watching-a-movie kind of project.  Now, because I wasn't in blog mode while working on this I didn't take step by step pictures.  So, I'll give credit where I saw it and link back to Becoming Martha's website so you can see her tutorial.  I would like to add a little more information though.

1.  She doesn't ever say how much burlap she actually used.  I think I added more 'bubble's to my wreath than she did and ended up using exactly 2 yards.

2.  Don't take the time to perfectly measure your burlap.  It will NOT be worth it in the end since the burlap frays, and the bubbles are not supposed to be perfect or the wreath would get boring.  I really just eyeballed my cuts and some of them were more like 4 x 6 and it doesn't matter at all.

3.  I used an 18 inch straw wreath from Hobby Lobby.  I liked the $4.99 price tag much better than the $11.99 price for the styrofoam she used.  I didn't even bother taking the plastic wrapping off so the straw would not get all over.

4.  I obviously used a different letter and paper than she did.  This is why I love crafting.....one idea leads to so many different versions!

I took this pictures at night so they're not the best but you can get the idea of what it looks like on my door.  I am thinking about maybe doing this for a craft club in the next week or two.  If you live in the Utah County area and would be interested in attending leave me a comment.  The cost will be $25.00.  If I can get a few people signed up at this late notice I will get a date planned!

P.S. Let's just ignore the 9 month gap since my last post, shall we?  Let's just say, it's not for a lack of projects.  But mostly, I have been working on some personal issues and since I don't blog to make money, it kind of took a back seat.

An Ornament Wreath...

Hey everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  My Christmas celebrations were stretched out over about 4 days and then I've been back at work so I'm sorry it's taken me so long to finish all my Christmas stuff.  But hey, it's still December so it's okay to be talking about Christmas right?  I wanted to show a few more things that I made this year.  Mostly what I gave to some of my family and friends.  If you happen to follow the Maple and Vine Craft Club posts you'll know we made Ornament Wreaths in December.  I absolutely loved mine but I have no where to put it.  Literally, I have no space.  I know a lot of decorating fanatics like to replace their stuff all the time but for some reason I don't change mine around that often.  I guess I get really attached to what I like and have a hard time changing it.  So, what I usually do is give stuff away to people so I can still see it every once in a while.  Maybe I'm weird but it makes me happy to know I helped make someone else's home a little prettier...I wonder if that makes me a decorating stalker.  Hhmmm....I just might have a problem.  Anywho, I ended up giving my wreath to my sister.  I can't wait to see it on her door next year!