Fall Yarn Wreath

I am so ready for fall. Partly because it is my favorite time of the year and partly because it is still so hot here making me even more uncomfortable! I LOVE fall. Here are a few of my favorite aspects of fall:

-the colors. Golds, reds, orange, brown. Warm colors that look good in any home.
-the leaves. There is nothing better than the streets lined with orange and red fall leaves. Raking the leaves into piles and jumping in the pile is one of the best fall activities.
-PUMPKIN. I love pumpkin. I love the color, I love the shape, I love the smell, and I especially love the flavor. I have recently seen a few pumpkin recipes here and there on pinterest and it makes me want to bust out my canned pumpkin and make something yummy to eat and fill my house with amazing pumpkin smells.
-Halloween. A day when every person can go back to childhood and dress up in whatever they like.
-the smell and feel of a crisp day. When you need a jacket but can still take a stroll without freezing.
-Jackets. I love light jackets. There are so many cute styles and colors that can complete an outfit.


It is not quite fall yet but I am getting a head start by making a new wreath for my front door. I choose some of my favorite fall colors: wine red, plum, sage green, gold, grey, and beige. I made a variety of felt flowers some of the tutorials can be found here. It is a simple yarn wreath but a great transitional piece that will get me through the late summer into early fall.

I did add a few embellishments like buttons and decorative brads to give it a personal touch.

Do you have any great fall crafts you are currently working on?

How to make hair like Jack's!

About a month ago I was at Costco with my kids and we browsed the Halloween costumes for ideas. Jackson immediately wanted the Jack Sparrow costume. At that time it was only $15 so I figured "what the heck" and bought it expecting him to change his mind by Halloween. Well he didn't. He loves it and wears it almost every day. Talk about getting my money's worth.

The costume is decent but needed a few adjustments. One thing that I noticed first off was the hair. It was stringy and light brown. SO NOT JACK SPARROW. So I changed it. I used this beautiful brown yarn that had hints of red and black. I cut it into long pieces and bunched them into groups of 10-15 strings. Then I used clear rubber bands to hold the yarn in place. Some of the bunches I braided, and some I just made into loose pony tails. In the front I left a few loose strands that I strung beads onto.

 Then I took a bandanna and some red felt. I took strips of felt that I sewed the yarn to, sandwiching the yarn in between two strips. Then I sewed the felt strips to the bandanna in four clusters; two on the front and one on each side going towards the back.

It is perfect and he LOVES wearing the hair. He is officially Captain Jack.

Fabric Bangles

Welcome to the first week of our INSPIRE US series. We will be making several items that are just for you. Sometimes as mothers and crafters it is time for us to make some special for ourselves. We will have a few special guest hosts popping in next week so stay tuned and enjoy all the creations. We hope something will inspire you!


When I found out our series would be based on crafts and projects for us I was flooded with ideas. There are so many great crafts and sewing projects out there. I wanted to make sure that I created a variety of projects that anyone could make. So I browsed through my jewelry looking for inspiration when I came across these.

Old bangles that I never wear. They are still in great condition physically just not aesthetically pleasing. So what to do with them....recover them.

I toyed with paper, fabric, ribbon, yarn, lace. There are so many options. I decided to go with yarn for the large one and ribbon for the smaller ones. Here is what I did.
For the thin bangles:

I have a lot of ribbon in my stash so I tried to decide between this thin green and an orange scallop. I went with the orange. I used about 3ft.
I wanted the bangle to be thicker so I glued the three thin bangles together using my hot glue gun.

Then I began wrapping the ribbon around the bangle. Make sure it is really tight and straight to avoid wrinkles.
Once the whole thing is covered cut the ribbon off and glue the end in place.

Finally I put mod podge all over the bangle to keep the ribbon in place and give it a finished look.

For the thicker bangle:

For this project I used a tarnished bangle, mustard yarn, and gray ribbon. (Word to the wise use yarn that does not fray or ball up. I don't use yarn a lot so mine turned out really fuzzy.)
I began by tapping the mustard yarn to the inside of the bangle. Then I wrapped it around the bangles making sure to pull tight and place each yarn wrapping close to the previous one.
I glued the end in place.
I think the bangle is really cute like this and the yarn is great for fall. I really like mustard and gray so I went 1 step further. I began wrapping the gray ribbon around the bangle in diagonal lines and then criscrossing the other way.
I glued the end on the inside. (It doesn't look as nice as I would like but nobody sees the inside right?)

Here is what the finished product looks like.
Two new pieces of jewelry. Total cost=$0!

FUN FIND FRIDAY-Yarn Valentine's Day Wreath

Ever since I took down my Christmas wreath my door has been missing something. I guess I just got used to seeing the beautiful Christmas wreath on the door every day so now it just looks plain and boring. Therefore, I decided to do something about it. Now I could go and buy something for my door which would be fine but why not take the opportunity to make something spectacular. So I looked around and got a lot of great ideas, but the one I fell in love with is yarn wreaths. These are adorable and there are some many colors and themes to choose from. But the best part is they are super cheap to make. All you need is...

-a straw or green foam wreath ring (Michaels $6.00 on sale with coupon $4.00)
-yarn (Michael's $3.50)
-felt pieces (4 pieces at .25 cents each)
-paper flowers (Michael's scrapbook area for $3.50)
-ribbon to hang it (used some from my ribbon stash)
-hot glue gun

TOTAL COST: $12.00

I found a great tutorial on how to make them so check out this site for step by step directions:

http://www.danielleburkleo.com/2010/10/diy-yarn-wreath-with-felt-flowers.html

Here is what mine looks like:


I am planning on making another one after Valentine's Day that is more neutral colors. Here is a great etsy shop that I love that has some fun ideas.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnaHailey?ref=pr_shop_more

Anna Hailey has a really unique style and I love the quirkiness of her designs.

I hope all of you go out and make your own yarn wreaths now!