Wood Burning Anyone?

Hello Everyone!

I have decided that I want to branch out a little bit, and get a little more creative with my blog about creativity! I have decided to start trying new craft ideas, some more elaborate ones, unique ones, and maybe even a few recipes to help with your creative juices and to give you some new fun ideas. Still with me? I hope so!

Today's post will be a definite baby step, but it is a new skill I have been working at and I'm loving it! For Christmas, my husband, knowing that I was looking for something new, bought me a wood burning set! He is just the sweetest. :)

Now mind you, I have only been at this for less than a month so no judging, but I have decided to show you some of my favorites so far.

The whole gang.

Smile!

Just some good ole' Sweet Home Alabama

And my personal favorite, a welcome home from work present for my husband since Superman is his "thing":

Not bad eh? I know they are a little rough, but hey it's a start! 

By the way I totally recommend this hobby to any and all pyros like myself, or just any crafters looking for a super fun change, just careful not to burn yourself! I will post some new masterpieces every now and then to help with simple, and I mean simple, beginner ideas so that we can learn together. My first tip, draw your design with a pencil on the wood and then trace over it, it saves lots of mistakes!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

Megan

Christmas DIY Advent Calendar

Merry Christmas! I hope you are all having a wonderful time this Christmas season, I know I am! I'm so grateful to be so blessed. I am also grateful for Christmas crafts! I found a new idea on this blog. It was so cute of course I HAD to give it a try! It is this super clever DIY advent calendar.. Ta-da!
 


Want to make it? You will need:

Cardboard
Aluminum foil
Acrylic paint
Scissors
Hot glue
Cardboard tubes. I used toilet paper/paper towel tubes and the cardboard spools that ribbon comes on.
Any type of small treats to put in the tubes. Candy, dollar store gifts, notes, etc.
And any ribbon or glitter you may want to add to make it cute.

Step one: Start by cutting out a circle of cardboard. Mine is somewhere between 16-18 inches around. Then cut out the center circle, about 4-5 inches.

Step two: Cut and paint your cardboard tubes. I painted after I cut so that I could position the tubes and make sure the colors were spread out, but you can also paint before you cut!

Step three: Paint or cover your cardboard circle base. Now, I used aluminum foil for the base. I wouldn't recommend this unless your calendar will be in a darker lit room, because the reflection off the foil, if it is in a bright room, makes it so that you can't see the colors on the tubes. You can also cover the base or any of the tubes in fabric.

Step four: Arrange your tubes onto your base and hot glue them on. This is just a little tricky since the tubes are so thin, but slow and steady patience will be a big helper here! Also, get a piece of ribbon and hot glue it to the back of your calendar for a hangar.

Step five: Wait for it all to dry. While you are waiting, you can find some pretty ribbon or tule, (I used both) and position it onto the calendar wherever you might like it, and tie or glue that on as well!

Step six: Place your gifts/treats into the tubes! You can also wrap the gifts if you would like, I didn't since mine are all the same. You might need to glue some of them to the circle base for them to stay in the tubes depending on how deep you cut them.

Voila! Your very own DIY Christmas advent calendar! I am excited about this one, and my husband is too since he gets a treat everyday! Let me know if you loved it too, and if you try it, I would love to hear how it went for you and what you did differently! Thanks so much for stoping by!

Merry Christmas!
xoxo
Megan

Pinecone Christmas Tree!

Hello everyone!I know, it's been so long!! I've been a little busy with wedding plans and all, but now I am happy to announce that I am officially Megan Yandow! My new husband Sam and I were married on November 23rd and I couldn't be happier! Anyways, now that the wedding is over, it's back to crafting! I have a confession to make.. I haven't make a single craft since my last post. I know I know, but before you totally write me off, check out the project I just finished! Being newly married and students to boot, we are pretty broke, so buying Christmas decorations are on the bottom of the to do list this year :(. Well, that isn't going to stop me from making our humble abode as festive as I possibly can! Here is my very first decoration!

Not too bad, eh? Alright, so it is definitely not store bought, but It was so fun to make and I think it is so cute! It is a very mini pinecone tree!! Now I know you are dying to know how to make it, so I'm gonna tell you!

You will need:
A styrofoam cone
Pinecones (Obviously!)
Hot glue
Ribbon

Step one! Take apart your pinecones. I already had these potpourri pinecones, so I used these. You can use any you might find outside as well. Also, quick side note that took me forever to figure out, start fro the bottom! It is impossible to get the little scales (that's what they look like) off in good shape if you start from the top. Starting from the bottom also requires having an open bottom, not a closed one, like this:

Not like this!!

 So you will have little pieces that look something like this little mess: (Note: it does get very messy, I would recommend putting newspaper under your little workspace for easier cleanup… trust me.)

Step Two! Start sticking your scales into the styrofoam pointy side in, rounded side out. I just stuck mine in and they stay really well, but if you want them to be even more secure, you can put a dab of hot gluon the tip before sticking it in. Note thought that this will at least double the amount of time you will be spending on this project. I started out just doing a row at a time, but as i got higher up, it started getting more and more uneven to where it was a spiral up the styrofoam. I liked the spiral part better because the uneven look makes it look better in my opinion, but of course you can do it however you want! Also, you may want to paint your styrofoam before sticking the pinecones in, to eliminate any white that might show through. I didn't paint mine because I really don't like painting styrofoam.

You will notice in the above picture, some of the scales are broken and scraggly looking. That is just fine! When you are all done, they will either be totally covered, or make it look more realistic. Also, I found it was easier to use the bigger scales at the bottom, and get smaller ones as you go up, otherwise they will overlap too much and look a little funky.

This is what mine looked like when I was done with the pinecone sticking part.

Now you will notice that since i didn't paint the styrofoam ( I hate painting styrofoam) that you can see some white. The way i fixed this was by getting two pieces of white ribbon (I didn't hand any red, and with the first one, wrapped it randomly around the top of the tree, covering up the white spots, and hot glued it in random places as well to make it stay. With the second one, I tied a bow and hot glued that on top for a make-shift "star on top."

For the ornaments, I found some fake flowers I had left from thanksgiving with little berries on them:

I broke of some single berries and hot glued those onto random pinecone pieces, it worked like a charm!

That's all! It is a little time consuming, but super simple, and such a fun little decoration to bring a little more of that wonderful Christmas spirit! I hope you guys liked it, and if you did, don't forget to follow me and comment below! Thanks everyone!

Merry Christmas!
xoxo
Megan

DIY: Wedding Centerpiece

Hey everyone! I came up with a new idea! So I was trying to think of some more good centerpiece ideas for my reception using mason jars, because if you haven't guessed by now.. I love them! I have also fallen in love with making paper flower garlands and such, so I thought, why not combine them?? Here is what I came up with.

Do you love it?? I know I do! So here are your supplies, because I know you want to try it!!

• Paper (colored and white)
• Washable markers
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Mason jar or other type of jar or vase
• Needle and thread

So first! Make your flowers. Using your colored paper, go to my previous tutorial on how to make paper flowers here. For these flowers though, I didn't use paint because it is colored paper and I didn't think it needed more color, but that is just me!

After you have finished making your flowers, set them aside. 

Take your mason jar and fill it to your desired height with water. I would suggest not filling it as high as I did for mine, because it is harder to see the flowers. Just something I learned in the process!

Next, get some of your white paper and color on it with a marker that is the color you would like your water to be. Put that colored on paper in the water and let it bleed. You can do this a few times until you get enough color in the water. You are probably thinking I am crazy for not just using food coloring, but this way I am for sure getting the color I want, and it is not as thick and dark of a color so that you can still see the flowers!

A trick i have found that works very well is instead of tying a knot in the string to keep the flower in place, adding a drop of hot glue to the bottom of each flower where the string comes out keeps it secure and is a much quicker way to do it!

The reason for this step is that for the first day or two, the flowers will float just fine. After that they start to get heavier and sink a little bit. The string keeps them still looking really good even though they have sunk. All you have to do is take the extra tape at the top and either tape or glue it to a lid for a mason jar, or just the top inside of any other kind of jar.

In my opinion, this is the REAL finished product, I love love love the way this looks!! This is a definite yes for being part of my centerpieces at my reception!

Then put the flowers in the water! It might take a few minutes to do this while the paper gets rid of the air bubbles and soaks up the water. But that's it! Now you have a perfect decoration for a centerpiece, a shelf, or any other place you want it! Thanks so much for stopping by. Let me know how you like this craft!!

xoxo

Megan

DIY: Wedding Decoration

Hello! So I do have a fun new craft idea for you all, but first I have some amazing news! I got engaged last night to the man of my dreams! I could not be happier! Here is my ring!

Okay, now that that is out of the way, here is my new idea, which may be the simplest one yet!

So just fyi, from here until I get hitched, my crafts will be ideas that I have for my reception decorations, I hope that's okay! So here it is!

I have seen similar things to this on the internet a such, but I had never seen it done with the bigger pebbles instead of the small gravel sized rocks.

I'm sure you could make this just by looking at the picture,  but just in case!

• A mason jar or jar of your choice
• Pebbles (I got mine from an alaskan beach when I went on a cruise there.. but craft stores have them too:)
• A candle of your choice
• Ribbon

I started by putting the candle in the bottom first, and putting the smallest pebbles I had around the bottom first. This helps to keep the candle in the middle instead of the bigger rocks moving it around.

Then just fill up the jar! I stopped right around the top of the candle, but you can stop sooner if you would like.

Add your ribbon around the jar if you would like, light your candle, and your done! Told you it was simple, and perfect for a table centerpiece! What do you think? Comment and let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

Megan

Paper Flowers!

Paper Flowers!!! Can I just say how much I love these?! I had so much fun making them too, which is a total bonus! I realize these ones don't have stems.. but you get the idea right? So cute!

Since I know you are dying to make them, I will share the secret! You're welcome.

Here are your supplies!

• Computer paper, or colored paper 
• Scissors
• Paint
• Paint brushes
• Hot glue gun

Probably all stuff you already have in your house!

Step One: With your scissors, cut out an uneven circle. The size only depends on how big or small you want your flower to be. This might take a couple experimental circles until you find the exact size you want, but hey, more flowers!

 Step Two: Cut your circle into a spiral, starting from the outside in!Again, the size doesn't really matter, but if you cut the spiral too thin, it will make step three harder.

Step Three: Start rolling! Take the outside end of the spiral and start rolling it up, keeping it as tight as possible. Note, make sure that the edge of the spiral that you cut stays even with itself. The outside edge will be uneen, and that is totally just fine!

When you have rolled the whole thing it should look something like this:

(Notice how the top edge is uneven, and the bottom edge is even with itself, that is what we want!)
Step Four: Let it go! You heard me, place the roll in the palm of your hand and let it go. Because of the tight rolling, the paper will keep its shape, just a little more loose. Here is what you will have!

Step Five: You're getting closer! Take your hot glue gun, fold over the bottom layer of the flower, and put just under a dime sized dot on there. This will be the part of the spiral that was at the middle of the circle where you stopped cutting. Then place the paper with glue back where it was, and gentle push the rest of the flower onto it so that we don't have any loose or unraveling parts of the flower.

Step Six: Paint! Paint! Paint! Take your paintbrush and get some paint just on the end of it, then have at the edges of your flower! Or paint the whole thing, it is completely up to you! Note, this step is not necessary if you are using colored or scrapbook paper.

There are a few ways you can go from here. You can cut out a leaf and attach it, put a stem on it with pipe cleaner or wire, or the one I did, get a needle and thread and string it through the middle of each flower, giving you an awesome flower garland to decorate with! See?

 Cute huh? Way getter than a plain old wall that's for sure! I will definitely be doing some more experiments with these and other paper flowers and when I do, I'll show ya what I find! Thanks so much for stopping by!

xoxo
Megan

DIY Bookmarks

 Hello all! Ready for another simple, quick, yet way cute craft? Good, because that is exactly what this is! Homemade DIY bookmarks! This is a great way to get your kids in on a craft with you, or if you just love to read and want a super cute way to hold your spot in your book! These are just perfect.

 Here are the supplies you will need:

• Paper
• Tape ( I have found that wide packing tape works best)
• Hot glue
• Needle and thread
• Scissors
• Buttons

Step One: Decide the length and width that you want your paper to be, and cut it out. I used card stock and scrapbook paper, but you can use whatever kind you would like!
Step Two: Get your tape, and cover the front and back of the paper. I like the wide tape because it is just one smooth piece on each side instead of having lines of tape, but either way works!

Step Three: This is where your needle and thread come in. After you thread your needle, string on your buttons or beads. Put a dot of hot glue on the back of the first button you string on so that they don't all slide off. when you have all the buttons or beads that you want it should look something like this.

Step Four: Attach your beads to the paper by poking a small hole with your needle and pulling the string through until the beads are touching the paper, like this!

Step Five: Add another dot of hot glue to the backside of the paper where the string is coming out of the hole so that it will stay attached. Note, you can tie knots if you are good at that sort of thing.. but that's not my forte so I'm sticking to glue.

Here is your finished product!

Have fun with them and make a variety for yourself, they can even be used as decorations of some sort!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo
Megan