DIY Paper Flower Decor

Hi y'all!

Being obsessed with Pinterest has once again inspired me to create another DIY project.  This one involves paper flowers that I've seen several times while pinning on Pinterest.  I love how simple paper flowers are, and how they can make a beautiful piece of art in your home.  The best part about them is that you can make them out of almost any type of paper.  After my brain was in flower overload, a light bulb went off in my head, and I came up with this fairly simple project.

What you'll need

Scissors

Floral tape

Colored cardstock or Paper

Pen & Green marker or sharpie

Paper Plate

Paper clips or Floral wire

Glue
A pin or something thin and sharp to make holes

Step 1

Make your flowers.  I found some great tutorials through pinterest!  The flowers that I made can be found here (rolled flowers), here (accordion flower), and here (parchment flower).  Even though I followed their directions, my flowers were no larger than three inches in diameter.

Flowers in grey, yellow, and black.

Black rolled flowers

Don't worry about the stems at the moment, just make the main flowers.  The rolled flower was fairly simple, and makes you feel really proud of yourself after you've finished it!  Okay, maybe that's just me...

The accordion flower was the one that took the most work.  For that flower I cut a one inch strip out of a 12" x 12" paper, and a one inch circle for the center.  I made the accordion folds and glued the two ends together.  After letting that dry I put glue on the circle, pushed the center together as shown in the directions, and placed it on top of the flower with a heavy can pushing it down.

The parchment flower was pretty easy as well, and would have been easier if I had used a lighter paper instead of cardstock.  So I recommend using something light for this flower.  For the center, I cut a circle and folded it just as I did the larger flower but I did not round off the edges.

Step 2

Now take your paper plate, you can cut a circle out of your plate or leave it as is.  I cut off just enough to take the lip off of the plate.  You can also cut a large circle out of heavy cardstock instead of the paper plate.

Step 3

Now it is time to take your floral wire or paper clips and make hook at one end.  For the paper clips make sure to straighten them out as much as possible.  I used color coated paper clips for this.  But if your wire or clips are not the color you like, just take some floral tape, place it over your hook, and twist it a little to secure.  Once you have a hook, carefully push the straight end of your wire through the center of your flowers.  You could also glue your flowers to the plate, but I used wire to get the flowers a cute center.

Step 4

Take your plate or cardstock circle and make small holes with your pin where you would like your flowers to be placed.  Push the wires through the holes and begin wrapping them in a spiral to secure them to the plate.  Repeat until you have placed all your flowers, then press each wire down so that they are as close to the plate as possible.  You could also tape them down if you wish.

Step 5

Draw stems on your plate with you green marker if you wish.  Or add other decorations to make it unique.

Step 6

Nail it to the wall, or place it anywhere you like and...

Enjoy!!!

You can make this project your own in many different ways.  Change the colors, types of flowers, fill the whole plate, or just use one simple flower.  This project can be customized very easily.

Have you made paper flowers before?  How did they turn out?  Let me know what you think, I love comments!

Until next time...

Pinteresting Wednesday!

Hi all!

I feel like I have been MIA in Pinterest land, but when I found my way back I more than made up for the time lost.  I've pinned a little bit of everything in the past couple of days, and I think I even fell asleep pinning from my phone last night.  That sort of makes me sound addicted, huh?  Oh well, there are tons of great things to find and I'm on a mission to discover them!  I hoped to make this another themed week like "Spaces" from last week, but this time it will be just a bit of everything.  And of course I'll be linking up to the wonderful "Oh, How Pinteresting" link up over at The Vintage Apple.  So let's get this party started!

Creative Clock

Say Whatt!?! Awesome idea!

I was never this creative with chalk

Perfect for a kid party

I'm usually shy, which is why I blog! lol

I must have this closet

And this bedroom, just more color!

So cute! A must try.

Don't forget to head over to The Vintage Apple and link up if you're on Pinterest!  If you're not, let me know in a comment (and make sure you enter your email in the box) and I'll send you an invite.  You can follow me here!  Let me know if you've pinned any of these as well, or what you've found that gave you some inspiration this week.
Until next time...

Guest Post: DIY Terrarium

Hi all!  Today I'll be sharing my first ever guest post.  It comes to you from Modern Buttercup, who I had the pleasure of meeting on etsy.  Over at her blog you can find several fun DIY projects (the fireworks in a jar is my favorite!).  And at the Modern Buttercup etsy shop you will find cute & quirky handmade jewelry.  So please welcome today's guest, and show some love.

Modern Buttercup

Hello! At my blog Modern Buttercup, I love to post about DIYs, handmade goodness, and inspiring photos.  Today we are doing an easy project that is fun to do, and can be easily personalized. This project is great for people with "black thumbs" and is easy to maintain. I present to you Moss Terrariums.

Before we start, you might want to get an idea of what these little gardens look like and get some inspiration:

I created this terrarium out of an old perfume bottle I had.
It's simple and pretty to look at.

Photo from: flickr.com

Photo from: poppytalk.blogspot.com

Now we begin our project. Here’s what you’ll need:

Materials

• Moss 
• Dirt 
• Glass Jar 
• Pebbles 
• Shovel
• Any little plants you'd like to include

Step 1: Put a thick layer of dirt about 1/3 full of the jar.

Step 2: Place your moss anywhere you want! In patches or in a full layer. You can also start placing little plants in your terrarium.

Step 3: Decorate your terrarium with any decorative rocks, figurines, or any other little items.

Step 4: Lightly mist your terrarium with water. Make sure not to over water though- too much water can cause mold AND algae, which is not a good combo.

Then you're done! Place your terrarium in a shady place with no direct sunlight or excessive heat. You can just sit back and enjoy your pretty little world in a jar.

I hope you enjoyed today's guest!  And don't forget to stop by and check out her blog and etsy shop!

Until next time...

DIY Home Decor: Paper Towel Edition

Hi All!

Woo hoo!  The weekend is almost here, and I know many of you may be excited about that.  Some of you may use the weekend to relax, but others use that time to do projects around the house.  The other day I had a light bulb go off in my head while changing out the paper towel roll.  I know, "a paper towel roll, really?"  Well it happened, and now I'm glad it did.  I hear about school teachers using the cardboard rolls for class craft projects often.  So I thought why not make a more adult project, and the best thing about it is...it's pretty CHEAP!  So today I'll be showing you how I made a simple L-O-V-E home decor sign , and hopefully give you inspiration for some future decor ideas.

What you'll need

1 Cardboard Paper Towel Roll (cut into 4 pieces)

Scissors

Tape

Pencil

Hole Puncher

White or Colored Paper

Spray Paint (your choice of color), only needed if you wish to paint them

Rubber Gloves (if you are painting the cardboard)

Step 1

You are going to want to make sure that you can get your hole punch to reach the middle of each cardboard cylinder.  Trim each of the four pieces down a little more if you need too.  With the pencil lightly draw each letter out.  For each piece you can make as many or as little punches as you like, but you can see how mine turned out below.

L- Four vertical punches, and two horizontal.

O- Six punches

V- Seven punches

E- 9 punches; the E was tricky because I realized that I could not reach the center to make the E look right.  I had to score it, and stick a screw driver in it instead.  So make sure you space the holes out before punching this one.

Step 2

Put your gloves on and start spraying!  Let them dry completely before moving on to the next step.

If you choose not to paint them, skip to Step 3.

Step 3

Cut strips of paper to fit inside each cylinder.

Secure them by taping them inside

Step 4

Place them anywhere you like and enjoy!

Some recommendations for this project would be to have the paper inside be a contrasting color.  So if you are going to keep it the plain cardboard, then have a bright color behind it.  If you decide to spray them, I'd suggest you wear gloves and keep a finger on them while you spray.  They move easily when you spray, and you don't want them to move around.  

That is all for today!  Let me know if you like it, I love comments!

Until next time...

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday! Spaces

Hi Ya'll!

It's time for "Oh, How Pinteresting" again.  It is only my second week, but I know I am going to love this!  Pinterest has helped me find so many creative ideas, and this week I thought I'd make it all about Awesome Spaces.  Once the hubby and I move into the house we're going to build our family in, I know that I'm going to want to decorate and remodel to make it our perfect little space.  Or should I say big space, since we hope to have a few children.  That is, if we don't go completely crazy after the first one!  So I'll be sharing some spaces that have given me some big inspiration.

Awesome Spaces

Wouldn't you love this bathroom?

Awesome storage under the stairs

Great space to read a book or even just nap

I can't say how much I love this!  Looks so relaxing.

Outdoor space that looks very comfy.  It'd be a great entertaining space.

Isn't it adorable?  Perfect for play time!

You can find all of these pins and more on my "Awesome Spaces" board on Pinterest.  And don't forget to check out The Vintage Apple to see who has linked up this week.  Go link up yourself if you haven't already!
There are lots of great things out there just waiting to be pinned.

Are you remodeling soon, or have something planned for the future?  Let me know, I love comments!

Until next time...

Pretzel and Peanut Crusted Chicken Strips

Hello All!

It's that time...time for another great recipe.  And if you don't know already, I love FOOD!  As mentioned in an earlier post I've been surrounded by women that love to cook, and they do it very well.  So when I come across great recipes I can't wait to share them.  Today's recipe I found back in March while watching the Rachael Ray Show.  It looked so good and perfectly cooked on TV, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  The end result was very yummy, and much prettier than I expected my non-professional version to be.  Without further ado, here is what you need to do...

Ingredients

1 bag salted pretzels, any shape
1/2 cup coarsely chopped honey-roasted peanuts
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
Salt and pepper
2 eggs
16 chicken tenders or 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips half an inch thick
1/4 cup EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil (eyeball it)
Honey mustard or barbeque sauce, for drizzling

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place pretzels and peanuts in a food processor or blender and grind until fine. Transfer to a shallow dish, add thyme, season with salt and pepper, and mix well.  I'd recommend using a rectangle or square shallow dish, just so the strips lay better.

A little blurry, but these are the 2 dishes I used.  And the pink gloves as  protection from the chicken.

Beat 2 eggs in a second shallow dish with a splash of water.

Coat the chicken in the ground pretzels and peanuts, then the egg, then the pretzels again.

Preheat a large skillet with EVOO, enough to go 1/4 inch up the sides of the skillet, over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces to the hot oil. Cook in a single layer, in two batches if necessary, about 3-4 minutes on each side, until juices run clear and the breading is evenly browned. Transfer finished chicken strips to the oven to keep warm as you cook remaining strips.

Ok, so they are not all pretty.  But a majority of them were.

Serve topped with a drizzle of honey mustard or barbecue sauce.

Mine

Rachael's

Substitutions

For this recipe we did not add the nuts, and used about 1 teaspoon of  dried thyme instead of fresh.

If you're like me, you agree that EVOO is expensive!  So when adding oil just eyeball it, start by just covering the bottom of the pan, and add more later if needed.

They really are very tasty, and can be served with pretty much any side dish.  Maybe some fries, a nice salad, or a simple veggie.  What is your weeknight routine?  Are there any favs that you like to have every week?  Let me know, I love comments!

Photo & recipe credit

Until next time...

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

Now that I am on Pinterest I decided to join The Vintage Apple's "Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays."  It is a great link up where bloggers can go to show off all the great finds they found during the week.  If you don't have Pinterest, I hope you join.  I've found so many awesome things that have given me so much inspiration.  Although, it is invite only; so if you'd like an invite let me know in the comment section.
I know this is a late post but it is technically still Wednesday for me for about another hour.  For my first week, I thought I'd stick with the theme from my previous post, Scrabble!

Scrabble Love

Lovely Pillows

Cookies!!!

Anyone need a coaster?

Cake, Cupcakes, and Cookies!

Table Numbers

That is all for this week.  Never thought I would see so many different uses for Scrabble letters.  I love it, I hope you do too!  If you are part of the Pinterest craze, you might want to go link up at The Vintage Apple as well.

Until next time...

DIY Scrabble Tiles

Hi All!

Lately it seems that tons of people are becoming addicted to using scrabble tiles for other uses than just the board game.  For all of the Pinterest addicts, if you do a search for scrabble you'll come up with many different results from Scrabble nails to Scrabble pillows.  If any of you have smart phones that allow you to purchase apps, I'm sure you have heard of "Words With Friends."  Basically it's another form of Scrabble.  My mother recently got an iPhone and she is addicted to it and even I have to admit that I find myself playing it more than I should.  So to go along with this scrabble craze I made a simple DIY Scrabble tile project.  Once you're done you'll have tiles that you can use for numerous projects.

To get started you'll need some kraft or tan colored cardstock paper (I used a 12 x 12 inch sheet, but 8.5 x 11 inch works fine), a paper cutter or ruler and scissors, and a thin sharpie or pen.

Step 1

Take your paper and cut off 1 inch strips, and then cut those strips into 1 inch squares.  Keep cutting until you have enough squares to make at least 2 of each letter.  Cut extra squares if you'd like more of each letter.

Step 2

Now it is time to begin labeling the squares with letters and their values.  I used a thin sharpie so that the letters would not be too thick, but I did go over each letter a second time to make it slightly thicker.  The letter values are as follows:

1 point - A, E, I, L, N, O, R, S, T, and U
2 points - D and G
3 points - B, C, M, and P
4 points - F, H, V, W, and Y
5 points - K
8 points - J and X
10 points - Q and Z

Once you reach Z, you're done!  Now you have Scrabble tiles that you can use however you like.  Try using them in a scrap booking project or attach a magnet strip to the back and place some words on your fridge.

What do you think?  Are you loving the different ways people are using the Scrabble theme?  Let me know, I love comments!

Until next time...