Make Your Own Tree Swing Our first house in Springfield had a huge Oak tree in our wild, rambling backyard so I made Sebastian a tree swing once he was big enough to enjoy it. We were so sad to leave it behind when we moved, especially since our second house had absolutely no trees large enough to support even a family of squirrels much less a toddler. Our new place came with a good-sized apple tree right in the middle so as soon as the weather warmed up I decided it was time for another swing. 1. Supplies needed: 1 - 2x4x8 piece of wood for the seat, 1 - 1x2x8 piece of wood for the top, rope long enough to hang from your branch and strong enough to support adult weight (just in case). I suggest at least 40 ft. The kids and I love having a swing again and it adds a lot of charm to our backyard.
It's Elementary-Avant Garde Art Made With Crayons This is a very fun project to make for yourself or with your kids when they get a little bored with reading, writing, and arithmetic and need a creative outlet. This time of year I always get the urge to buy school supplies. When I was growing up I loved getting new pencils, notebooks, and folders along with some new shoes and clothes to start the new school year off right. Since I have no need to buy school supplies anymore I came up with a project that would have me needing to take a stroll down the school supply aisle to buy some very elementary school supplies – crayons. I recently saw a very avant garde canvas where the artist melted crayons to create art. This is what I ended up with. Stretched Canvas Crayons Cheese Grater Wax Paper Iron Optional: Ribbon, Thumbtacks, Hammer 1. 2. 3. 5. 6. 7. At first I was thinking – YIKES that didn't come out as I thought it would and then the image started growing on me.
Song Lyric Wall Art / D.I.Y. Project A couple weeks ago, I found a paint-by-number at an unbeatable price. I can't pass these things up even though I already owned this particular design. I thought that I could maybe use it to make a fun D.I.Y., but my new rule is that all thrifts that I purchase with the intent of restyling need to get done right away. I have way too many half finished projects in my life. With that little bit of motivation I came up with a fun D.I.Y. to display some of my favorite song lyrcis in our newlywed home. Enjoy.... Here's how I did it... I displayed our piece in our bedroom, on Jeremy's side of the bed.
Nine Things Successful People Do Differently - Heidi Grant Halvorson Learn more about the science of success with Heidi Grant Halvorson’s HBR Single, based on this blog post. Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. 1. To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. 3. Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. The good news is, if you aren’t particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. 7. To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you’d honestly rather not do. 8. 9.
Pallet Vertical Garden Today Rachel is sharing an adorable project she recently created; a vertical garden from recycled pallets! The chain link fence in our yard provides a few unsightly views of our lovely neighbors' weed-infested parking lot of a backyard. Since we are renters a new wooden fence was not an option and I didn't think I'd have the patience to wait on a dozen bushes to grow tall enough to block the view so I schemed an inexpensive way to at least draw attention away from the eye sore(s). A few trips to the hardware store and a local dumpster and I had created a new focal point that helped cozy up our little yard with bright colors and a bit of texture. 1. I added bricks under my pallet to give it enough height to be flush with the top of the fence and to keep the base from rotting.
Make Your Own Canvas Portrait! I love the look of family photos printed on canvas, but I never knew I could make them at home! After transferring photos to fabric, I was super excited to try some pieces using stretched canvas. I hope this inspires some of you to make something special for your home... Here's how I transferred my photo to canvas: 1. ), paint brush and the image you want to transfer (laser copy) and a spray bottle filled with water. Note: You can expect an imperfect transfer. I'm so excited to have this little keepsake for our home. Wedding photo courtesty of Arrow and Apple. EDITED TO ADD: Wow, guys! I love the look of family photos printed on canvas, but I never knew I could make them at home! Here's how I transferred my photo to canvas: 1. Wedding photo courtesty of Arrow and Apple. EDITED TO ADD: Wow, guys!
Best Friend Wall Art: Weekend Project I love to decorate my home for each season. This time of year it's a celebration of L-O-V-E! I used some Queen song lyrics (a song from our wedding) to make a simple, graphic piece of art for our bedroom. Would you like to play along? 1. You will need: Vinyl letters (I used 3 inch), a large canvas (mine was appx. 4 feet tall) and craft paint. 2.
Heart Jeans D.I.Y. If you haven'tnoticed, I have a bit of an obsession with hearts. I even designed a pair of high waisted jeans with hearts on the knees recently. This got me thinking... it would be super fun (and easy) to add hearts to the knees of almost any pair or jeans! I'm enjoying gathering new pieces for my fall and winter wardrobe, including a few DIY pieces like these jeans. I'll share how I printed mine below... Outfit Details: Jeans c/o Levi's, Blouse c/o ModCloth, Shoes/Jeffrey Campbell, Necklace/My design for ModCloth. Here's how I hand printed the hearts on my jeans... 1. Kitchen Wall Art Lately I have been working on organizing and decorating in the kitchen/diningroom of my house. Even though these spaces are pretty small I have somehow managed to keep them really minimal (read: bare) since I moved in last year. :) I really wanted to create some kind of string art ever since I saw this one from Elise's blog. There are so many different takes on string (or yarn) art. I got this piece of wood at Hobby Lobby and then had Elsie helped create the outline of a fork and spoon. I really like how it turned out, and I can't wait to hang it in my kitchen this weekend!
Make Your Own Canvas Portrait! I love the look of family photos printed on canvas, but I never knew I could make them at home! After transferring photos to fabric, I was super excited to try some pieces using stretched canvas. I hope this inspires some of you to make something special for your home... Here's how I transferred my photo to canvas: 1. ), paint brush and the image you want to transfer (laser copy) and a spray bottle filled with water. Note: You can expect an imperfect transfer. I'm so excited to have this little keepsake for our home. Wedding photo courtesty of Arrow and Apple. EDITED TO ADD: Wow, guys! Heart Blanket DIY I love this blanket! I'm always looking for new ways to decorate our living room without spending too much. This design is bold, but still cute. 1. , paintbrush, scissors, cardboard, and cork. 2. I'm not the only one who likes our new blanket.... When I walked by several hours later, this is what I found!
Make Your Own A-Frame Tent We love a-frame tents, so we invited Rubyellen to share her method for making your own. Are you excited? Here's how the magic happens- 1. Making the cover: Since the cover is made using a vintage crocheted cloth, what you have readily available to use may be a different measurement. (Hint: A twin sized sheet fits this tent frame almost perfectly!) 1. TIPS: For a little extra detail and to keep the tent cover taut, I fed twine through some holes of the cover and tied it to the legs of the frame. Again, how you make this tent cover will vary depending on the size of the crocheted cover you find and decide to use. Thanks so much, Ruby!
Hank and Hunt - HOME - HOW TO MAKE A FLOATING HEART BACKDROP You will need: clear fishing line, heart punch, card stock in fun colors, tape (regular and painter), and scissors. Use the punch to punch out a ton of hearts. For this set up, I needed 20 garlands with 6 hearts each. Since I used 6 colors, I only needed 20 hearts of each color, plus a few extra to mix and match. Once all of your hearts are cut out, make 20 sets of 6. Cut a piece of fishing line and strand your garland on the table with tape. Then take a small piece of tape and attach each heart to the line. Hang your garlands one at a time, starting five feet from the wall, and hang one garland to the edge of your photobooth area. Make 5 more garlands on the floor and hang the first one one foot closer to the wall and six inches left to where you placed the previous row's garland. I made five garlands and immediately hung them, but you can make five and store them until you are going to hang them. Once they are all hung, pop in the middle of them and smile!
Instagram Canvas Wall Art I whipped this project up for our home last week. We have moving on the brain, so all of the home decor projects I'm taking on this summer will be super easy to transport to a new space! I think summer is a great time for home decor project, don't you? 1. and a paint brush. 2. There you have it!