Monday 30 March 2015

Spring Thaw with Brittany: DIY Glitter Easter Egg Picks for Flower Arrangements!

Hi Everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Monday afternoon! I'm back with another post for those who are getting into Easter decorating. This is a simple and affordable project. It is also not all that time-comsuming. The most time spent is waiting for things to dry. Today, we will be making our own glitter eggs for flower or plant arrangements. I couldn't find any I liked in the Dollar Store so I figured I would make my own. Let's get into it!

Things You Need:
-scissors
-skewer sticks
-plastic eggs
-fine glitter
-white glue
-paint brush
-clear sealant spray (you can also use hairspray if you don't have sealant spray)

Step 1:
Cut the skewer sticks in half. I made 8 eggs so you will need four skewer sticks.

Step 2:
Stick the skewer stick into the hole at the bottom of the egg. Push it through to the whole in the top. Try to get it in the top hole but not so far that it sticks out noticeably.

Step 3:
Take your paintbrush and white school glue and cover the egg. Be sure to apply a generous amount (Because of the plastic the glue will separate and so not all of it will be covered in glitter).

Step 4:
Take the glitter and pour it all over the egg. Be sure to be turning the egg to get all of it covered. Put it aside. Repeat the last four steps with all your eggs.

Step 5:
Once you have completely glittered all the eggs, take your sealant (or hairspray) and coat it with a thin layer. Be sure to get all areas of the egg. Set aside and let them dry.

And there you have it! You have lovely glitter eggs to put in your flower or plant arrangements. You could hot glue little loops of string on them and hang them on your mantle from a string as well. You can really do a lot with these little guys. Well, I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know if you tackled this project by leaving me comments, pictures or links to your posts in the comments box below. I love hearing from you guys! Until next time, Happy Easter! xoxo

Friday 27 March 2015

Spring Thaw with Brittany: DIY Easter/ Spring Wreath!

Hey Everyone!

So I'm back with another DIY post and with Spring having just arrived and Easter coming up fast, I figured I would start writing about some Easter and Spring DIYs.

This DIY will be an Easter/ Spring Wreath and is a pretty time consuming project. It has taken my awhile to finish and I've changed it and added to it because I wasn't happy with it. With that, let's talk about the things you will need for this project!

Things You Need:
-some sort of wreath (I used a gold ring that was similar in diameter to other door wreaths)
-scissors
-pencil
-chalk marker
-mini burlap banner pieces
-glitter foam sheet
-tulle in your preferred colour
-flower clips
-bird clip (optional)
-chalkboard clothes pin
-yarn or ribbon
-mini clothes pins
-butterfly clip (optional)
-velcro stickers
-fabric marker

Step 1:
Take your tulle and cut it to the size you want. Remember that you will be folding it in half and attaching it to the gold ring so make sure you double it when you figure out the length. I think I made mine about 3 inches (so 6 inches doubled). Cut about 50-100 pieces. It will depend on how big your gold ring is.

Step 2:
Take each piece of tulle and fold it in half, making a loop on the one side. Wrap it around the ring and pull the loose ends through the loop. Pull it tight to make sure it is secure to the ring. Do this until the entire ring is full and covered.

Step 3:
Once you are finished putting the tulle on, take your glitter foam and cut a bunny out of it. If you aren't so great at free-handing animals, you can always go on Google and search 'bunny silhouettes' like I did. If you do this option, trace it out on the back of the foam sheet and then cut it out. After you have cut it out, take some of the velcro stickers and put one on the back of the foam bunny and the other on the tulle where you want the bunny to sit.

Step 4:
Next, take all your flower clips (and your birds and butterflies if you opted for these clips as well) and arrange them on the wreath by clipping them on the tulle. I found you have to attach the clips to one or two pieces of tulle to make it more sturdy.

Step 5:
Next, take your chalkboard clothespin sign and your chalkboard marker and write 'Happy' on it. If you aren't good in the calligraphy area, you can always print something out or use alphabet stickers instead. Clip it to the wreath (make sure you figure out where you want to place the sign first, so that you write on the sign right side up!)

Step 6:
Finally, take the little burlap banner pieces and take a fabric marker and write the letter to spell out "Easter" on each of the pieces. Let it set for a few minutes. Then take the string and run it through the holes in each banner piece. Once everything is strung through, take your mini clothespins and attach either end to the wreath.




That's it! You have completed your very own Easter Wreath. What I like about this wreath is that I can take things off and use it again for another season or holiday. I used the wreath for St. Patrick's Day and just took everything off, packed it away and started from a (nearly) clean slate. Like I said, this wreath was rather time consuming, but is definitely more affordable than those wreaths you can find at places like Michaels. If any of you decide to make an Easter wreath, be sure to leave me a picture or a link to your own posts down below in the comments. I would love to see what you come up with! Until next time, Happy Easter! xoxo

Tuesday 17 March 2015

St. Paddy's Day with Brittany: DIY Wreath for the Front Door.

Hello Everyone! 

Hope you all are having a fabulous St. Paddy's Day. I'm bringing you my last DIY post having to do with this Irish Celebration. This one is fairly simple and fairly cheap to do. It probably took me, like, an hour tops! Let's get started!!!

Things You Need:
-scissors
-velcro circles
-tulle
-metal ring
-foam shamrock 
-wire garland

Step 1:
Decide how long you want your tulle to extend out. Cut a lot of strips of tulle. I'm not sure how many I cut... I would say something like 50-75 strips. 

Step 2:
Once you have the strips cut, start tying them onto the metal ring. To do this, you need to fold the strip of tulle in half, forming a loop. With the strip still folded in half, put it around the metal wire. Then slip the two ends of the tulle through that loop that you made. Pull it tightly!

Step 3:
Next, do Step 2 until the entire metal ring has been covered. Once you have finished, fluff it out if it needs it. Place one side of the velcro on the tulle and press it down firmly. Press the other piece of the velcro pair to your foam shamrock. Place the foam shamrock on the wreath (I did this so I could reuse the wreath for Easter/Spring). 

Step 4:
Finally, take the wire garland and cut off a strip of it. Wrap one end around one side of the wire ring and then take the other end and do the same on the opposite end. Once it is secure, you are finished. One thing I will mention is to make sure you don't secure the garland too securely, if you are going to repurpose this into a Spring/Easter wreath! 

And that is how you make this simple and cute St. Patrick's Day Wreath! Wasn't that easy? I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial. If you make this yourself, be sure to leave me pictures or links so I can see your creativity! Until next time, Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! xoxo


Sunday 15 March 2015

St. Paddy's Day with Brittany: DIY "Lucky" Banner

Hi Everyone!

Wow! Can you believe St. Patrick's Day is nearly here?!?!?! I sure can't! In the spirit of the month and the awesome holiday of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I would bring to you a DIY to help you, if you were thinking about decorating your house for the occasion. You will need to have some time to kill because it is a tad time-consuming. It is a fairly inexpensive project and it turned out really good!
Shall we get started?

Things You Need:
-scissors
-green card stock
-ribbon
-foam 4 leaf clovers
-alphabet stickers
-glue gun
-glue gun sticks
-hole puncher
-ruler
-pencil

Step 1:
Take your green card stock and divide it into four equal rectangles. Do this with the second piece of card stock as well. Cut out each rectangle.  You want to end up with 7 rectangles.

 Step 2:
Once the rectangles are all cut out, take a hole puncher and punch two holes in each rectangle. If you want, you can cut a triangle shape out of the bottom of the rectangle cards. This will change it to look more like a banner. To do this, I folded one of the cards in half, lengthwise, and cut on an angle starting at the outer corners. Unfold that first card and then use it to cut the rest of the cards by placing it on top of each of the other cards.







Step 3:
Plug in your glue gun. Once it is ready, start gluing your foam four-leaf clovers onto the card stock. Let them dry.



Step 4:
Once the foam four leaf clovers are all glued on the card stock, start putting the alphabet stickers on five of the four leaf clovers. I spelled the word LUCKY. I found these stickers weren't great for sticking on foam so I actually hot glued them onto the foam.
Using the ribbon you have chosen, string it through the holes you punched out earlier. Be sure to space them evenly apart.





And there you have it! You have made your very own St. Patrick's Day banner. I hope that you all enjoyed this post! If you decide to make a banner, be sure to leave me pictures or the link to your post in the comments below. I will be sure to check them out! Until next time, Happy St. Patrick's Day! xoxo

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Crafting with Brittany: DIY Blanket Ladder

Hi Everyone! 

Hope you all are doing well today! Today I have an exciting DIY project for you. I am super excited to share this with you. I found it a month ago when I was browsing through Pinterest and having received a few throw blankets for Christmas this year. I also own a few already and they are really taking up a lot of valuable storage space in my linen closet. So why not display them in my living room? On a blanket ladder? So let's get into it shall we?

Things You Need:
-2x4 pieces of wood [x2] (I actually used long stakes for mine. It really is up to you and how thin or thick you would like it to be). 
-2x4 pieces of wood [x1-2] (These are to make the rungs of your ladder. I made six rungs but only needed 5 of them).
-wood screws
-power drill
-sand paper
-sander (if you have one).
-paint or stain (I used Miniwax PolyShades in Classic Black Satin)
-paintbrush
-saw
-pencil 


Step 1:
Take your pieces of wood and take the sander (or sandpaper) and sand down each piece. Make sure it is smooth. You don't want to get any slivers during the making of this beautiful home decor piece. 

Step 2:
Once everything is sanded, set aside the two pieces you are going to use as the rails. Then take the other one or two pieces of wood and measure how long you want each rung to be. This will depend on how wide or narrow you want the ladder to be. 

Step 3:
Once you have measured out and marked how long you want each rung, take your saw and cut on the lines. Once you have cut everything, sand the edges to smooth them out.

Step 4:
Next, take the two rails you set aside and mark where you want the rungs to be on the rails. 

Step 5:
Take your drill, the screws and the rungs and start to screw the first rung in. Repeat this step until all the rungs are screwed in on both sides. Once I finished this, I noticed the ladder was a bit too tall so I had my husband saw off a small portion of the bottom of each rail. 

Step 6:
Next, take your stain and do the first coat of stain (or paint). Let that dry and then do another coat if needed. Let the second coat dry. If you are happy with it, and once it is dry, you can start placing your throw blankets on it. (NOTE: I actually had to do four coats on stain for it to be almost opaque black). 

So that's how to make your very own blanket ladder. It is pretty time consuming but definitely worth it. I love how mine turned out! It looks so good in my living room and definitely helps in de-cluttering with the living room and the linen closet. I hope you enjoyed this post. Leave me pictures or a link to your blog post or video for me to check out! Until next time, Happy Crafting! xoxo

Friday 6 March 2015

Planner Decor on a Budget: Personalized binder clips!

Hi Everyone!

I am back again today with another planner decor DIY! I have been really getting into decorating my planner and finding new ways to do so on a budget. Today, I am going to show you how to make some regular, old binder clips go from blah to gorgeous! The best part is, is that it is cheap and affordable and not very time consuming. Let's get started, shall we?

Things You Need:
-Washi Tape
-Scissors
-Binder Clips (you can buy these cheaply at places like Walmart)


Step 1:
Cut a small piece of washi tape, a bit bigger than the length of the binder clip. Carefully, place it on one side of the binder clip. Press it down so that it has stuck to the binder clip.

Step 2:
Where the excess tape curves, cut a slit along that fold towards the edge of the binder clip. When finished, you want to have to separate pieces that are still attached to the part that is stuck on the binder clip.

Step 3:
Carefully, tuck one of those pieces into the inside of the binder clip. Use your scissors to carefully press down on the washi tape to make sure it sticks. Do the same thing with the other piece.

Step 4:
Repeat the above steps for the other side of the binder clip.

There you have it! Wasn't that so simple. Be sure to use Washi tape. It sticks the best and steer clear of Glitter washi tape. It won't stick very well to the other side of the binder clip. I hope that you enjoyed this post! Be sure to leave me a comment in the comment section below. If you do this project, be sure to send pics or leave the link to your own blog or video post in the comments below. I definitely want to see what you guys created! Until next time, Happy Crafting! xoxo


Tuesday 3 March 2015

Planner Decor on a Budget: DIY Page Flags

Hi Everyone! 

So I'm back with a cool and easy DIY project for those who have become obsessed like I have with decorating your planners! Sometimes, planner supplies can be pricey but if you have some spare ribbon and some paper clips you can make your very own page flags! Even if you don't have these two things, you can find these things fairly cheaply at places like Dollar Tree and Walmart. Let's get started! 

Things You Need:
-paper clips
-ribbon
-scissors
-lighter
Step 1:
Take your ribbon and cut no more than 10 cm of ribbon.
Step 2:
Fold the ribbon in half. The loop you created on the one end goes through the loop the paper clip has. 
Step 3:
Pull the ribbon loop out far enough that you can pull the two loose ribbon ends through the ribbon loop. Pull tightly. Your piece of ribbon should now be attached to the end of the paper clip. 
Step 4:
Cut the ribbon to the length you desire. Then take the lighter and carefully hold it near the loose ends so that they ends melt a tad. This will stop the ribbon from unravelling over time. 
That is it! You are done! Wasn't that so simple? I plan on doing a variety of these little DIY planner decor posts so be sure to come back and see if there is anything new. I hope you enjoyed this post! If you attempt this yourself, be sure to send me a pic of your creation or the link to the post you did on it! I really enjoy hearing from you all! Well, that's it for now! Until next time, Happy DIY-ing! xoxox