Horn of Plenty Wreath

I started with a standard "horn of plenty" which I found at a local thrift shop and decided to repaint.  I used a Rustoleum spray paint for wood surfaces and spray painted them thoroughly.  Also, I made sure I used a quick-drying spray paint.

And here's a picture of the painted horns.  The supplies I used for decorations are laid out in front.
I used the styrofoam cone to pack in the center of the horn and hold items in place.

Next, I picked out some more floral items to go in the horn.  You can see the pumpkin, an ear of corn and some fall leaves.  I also added a fall colored bow to the horn because I wanted to use it as a wreath for the front door.

A side view of the Horn of Plenty Wreath.

Front view of the Horn of Plenty Wreath.

I used a command hook (which you can see at the top behind the flowers) and a pipe cleaner to hang it on the front door.

Fall Burlap Wreath

If you're looking to make a simple burlap wreath for Fall and not quite sure how to put it all together this is my blog's attempt at a tutorial on the easiest way (in my opinion) to make one. 

 However, if you have an easier method I would LOVE to hear about it as making wreaths can sometimes test my patience.

I started with a work wreath which comes with ties affixed to the wreath frame... this is much easier than using chenille stems/pipe cleaners to tie down the material to the frame.

How "poofy" your wreath is will be determined by the LENGTH of material you use between each tie.  I used about 12 inches of material between each tie.. it is important to keep the length EQUAL between each tie....  If you do not keep the length consistent it can lead to a lop-sided looking wreath.

This picture is a look at the burlap after it has been tied down to the outer ring.  Once you finish tying everything down to the outer ring, use the same method and tie your material down to the inner ring.

If you are using ribbon in your wreath, cut your desired length and using the same ties, tie the ribbon into place.

This picture shows all of the burlap attached to the outer AND inner ring of the wreath as well as the first ribbon I chose as decoration.

I opted to use a second ribbon which I tied down (at the same tie as previous ribbon) over the first ribbon in a 90 degree angle to add some contrast.

This picture shows all of the burlap and ribbons tied down into place.  Now it's time to add the rest of the decorations.

And this picture shows the rest of the added decorations.  The larger items near the bottom of the wreath were tied to the actual wire frame of the wreath for added security...I used pipe cleaners to secure them to the frame and made sure to position them around the burlap.

In this picture I tucked the ties behind so they wouldn't be sticking out or in the way.

The pumpkin in the center was originally meant to be a wall hanging however, I used a pipe cleaner to attach it to the wire frame near the top.  If you look closely, you can see a wire arch above the pumpkin which is what is attached to the wire wreath frame.

Save A Lost Candle Wick & Make Your Own Candle

I love candles.  I like the way they smell, the way they look and especially the subtle light they add to a room.  So, I'm reluctant to get rid of them just because the wick has burned down too far.

This is a common problem for me.  The wick burns down the center and before long it's buried underneath the wax.

I used a spoon (and at times a butter knife) to slowly chip away the wax above and around the wick until the wick was visible and far enough above the remaining wax to light with a lighter.

(This picture doesn't exactly show the visible wick but you can tell by looking I've slowly been chipping away at it.)

Once I have the wax cleaned out from around the wick .....I take the wax I chipped away.....

And put it in a microwave safe container...

Microwave a few seconds at a time, it will start to look like this until the wax is fully melted

And now it's fully melted.....

Work quickly and place a wick in the bottom of whatever you want your candle in... (I put chapstick on the bottom of the wick to 'stick' it to the glass candle holder)

Pour the melted wax into your container...(the pink stuff you see is the chapstick I used to set the wick in place).

And... because I'm lazy, clearly I'm not going to hold the wick in place until the wax is dry... hence the fork... and because it kept sliding on the granite surface... I steadied it with a pot holder

And Finally!... the finished candle!  Just trim the wick and there you have it.  Another useful candle made with recycled wax from the candle with the burned down wick!

And here's the candle with the lost wick which is now back in action.

Mason Jar Sewing Kit

Making your own DIY sewing kit is super easy.  Although none of my pictures include an actual sewing kit inside the jar that's only because I haven't gotten around to it yet but…. thought I'd show you how I used a jar to make a sewing kit with a pin cushion attached to the top.

Adding the pin cushion to the top of the lid is the trickiest part to this craft.  Other than that it's a super easy craft to make.

I cut my fabric to size (about 1.5 inches around the lid) and then used some quilt batting (because it's what I had).  I shaped the quilt batting into a ball…the picture to the right isn't exactly a nice round ball but it is very difficult to hold the batting and take a picture.

I used a touch of hot glue and glued the batting to the TOP of the lid.

Cover your lid and batting with the fabric and use hot-glue to secure it to the back of the lid.

And once your fabric is secured you're done!

Personalized Clip Board

This project was by far one of the easiest ones yet!  It's just a personalized clip board that I mod-podged with scrapbook paper…. then I added a personalized luggage tag which I found on sale for approximately $1… and since the clipboard was only $1 (from the Dollar Tree) the entire craft was a little over $2 bucks!

You can tell from the picture there are "bubbles" in the mod-podge which you will want to smooth out BEFORE it dries with either a squeegee or your fingers.

I used the backside of the scrapbook paper to trace an outline of the clipboard and then carefully cut out before I mod-podged everything together.  I applied the first coat to the clip board then attached the cutout scrapbook paper and applied another layer of mod-podge over the top of the scrapbook paper.

I added the luggage tag to personalize the clipboard for "J" my college roomie and possibly to hold her business cards as well as a pen for the clipboard.

Picture Frame Message Pad

This is also a gift for my college friend J.  Since we are both graduates of UA I couldn't resist the houndstooth ribbon…. along with a $1 picture frame and $1 note pad from the Dollar Tree I think this made a super cute and inexpensive gift.

I started with the $1 picture frame and removed the matting and the frame separating the glass from everything else.

Since I opted to use ribbon as the background I needed 4 strands of it to cover the entire glass front.  You can't really tell from the picture but I laid the glass over the ribbons to ensure I had the right width and length.

This particular ribbon is wire-edged…. and because I needed to mod-podge the ribbon to the glass the wire needed to be removed.

Ribbon is relatively easy to mod-podge… but the wire is NOT!

Once the wire was removed… I used mod-podge to adhere the ribbon to the glass front frame.  I used a coat of it on the glass front… adhered the ribbon… then made sure to add another coat of mod-podge on top of the ribbon INCLUDING the ends!

I allowed it to dry completely before moving on to the next steps.

Once it was completely dry I used some scissors to snip the ends… because the ends of the ribbon were mod-podged (from the previous step) they didn't fray, tear or frazzle after being cut…. which can be common with fabric.

I used hot glue to adhere the back of the picture frame to my glass/ribbon mod-podge.











For the finished project I made a bow and super-glued it to the frame and then used velcro to attach the note pad.  If you decide on making this project make sure your frame and note pad are the appropriate sizes.  They don't necessarily need to be the EXACT same size…. personally, I prefer a slightly bigger frame.  However, picture frame sizes and notepad sizes tend to be completely different!

DIY Memo Board

As if I didn't have enough crafts with cookie sheets from the dollar tree I've decided I would add yet another one!  This time however, I'm turning it into a DIY Memo Board for a dear friend from college.

It's a relatively easy project it just takes patience to finish the entire craft… especially if you plan on adding the embellishments I have added.

I started by painting the edges of the cookie sheet black with a craft paint.  This process took 3-4 coats for me as the cookie sheet seemed "slick" and the paint had difficulty adhering to the pan.

But, all in all after a few coats I think it turned out great.

I decorated the cookie sheet with scrapbook paper and used a box cutter to cut the scrapbook paper to the specific measurements I needed.. I didn't really measure, just cut it like you see in the picture to the right.

And here's my final scrapbook layout!  I mod-podged all of the scrapbook paper to the cookie sheet.  Also, I painted the cookie sheet with mod-podge…. placed the scrapbook paper on it….. then mod-podged over the top of the scrapbook paper.  I used a stencil to trace out the "W"

And here's the final product

Also, I made my on mod podge using glue and water… I used about 3/4 of glue to 1/4 of water for a somewhat thick mod-podge

I found some 3D "sticky letters" which I used to spell out "MEMOS".   Then used magnets to attach the notepad and glitter clothespins.

If you don't have any magnets… you can easily find those "photo magnets" used to turn a picture into a magnet and then cut it to size which is what I did.