Wining & DIYing - A Girls' Night In

I have the two best friends that anyone could have! Unfortunately, now that we don't all work together (we met while teaching about 8ish years ago) and we all have thriving careers and conflicting commitments, we don't see each other nearly enough.

After reading How-To Start a Wine Club from Hosting and Toasting, I begged my girlies to take a shot at it with me. We decided that we'd combine two of our favorite things - wine and crafts - and turn it into our monthly, no-exceptions, can't-miss-it Girls Night In. We call it Wining and DIYing (playful take on wining and dining) and rotate hosting each month.

In March, I hosted the first visit and we made Spring Embroidery Hoop wreaths inspired by AKA Design+Life's spring mantle and paper flower wreath. I shared this photo on Instagram:

The following month, Meg hosted and we created tea-cup bird feeders similar to these by Something Wonderful. That was also the night that I got share with my besties that Joe and I are expecting! So, please don't worry - no vino for this lady.

Then, in May, Trish hosted and we did ceramic mugs:

It's my turn once more and I posted a little teaser of a hint on Instagram yesterday afternoon... Check it out! Any guesses on what we might be making tonight? I'll share soon!

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Candy-Free Valentine - Cupid's Arrow Pencils

Does your child's school require candy free Valentines for the class exchange? If so, I've got just the DIY for you!

This DIY Arrow Valentine is pretty enough for you to claim the credit but easy enough for the kids to do. Enjoy!

2014 Memories & Blessings Mason Jar

On New Year's Eve, Joe and I were chatting about our resolutions and plans for the year. I was telling him about how I wanted to choose a word for the year and about this really cool memory jar idea that I stumbled upon on Pinterest. 

Have you seen them? If not, here's the rundown: Throughout the year, you toss in notes of the good things (big or small) that touched your life. Then, at year's end, you pull them out together and reminisce.  To my surprise, he thought the jar was an awesome idea. Almost three weeks later and I finally have the jar done. 

What I like most about this is that while it's obviously a fit for the New Year, it could also work just as well to record what happened between birthdays. 

Need some ideas of what to share? Try some of these:

Surprise gifts

Daily blessings

Happy moments

Special memories

Momentous occasions

Life's little pleasures

Milestones

Accomplished goals

Flashback Friday: Snow Globe Shadow Box Tutorial

This post was originally posted  last year but it's one of my most popular holiday projects and most-pinned... Definitely worth a re-share! If you missed it then, take a look-see!

>> So far, this is definitely my favorite tutorial of The 25 Projects of Christmas. Maybe it's not just a coincidence that these Snow Globe Shadow Boxes happen to be my lucky number eight! It's vintage-y, pretty, wintery, and cute. Really, there is nothing you won't love about these. 

If you're around these parts often, you probably realized that I prefer very traditional and rustic decor at Christmastime and these are not that at all. Still, I adore them. The boxes turned out so whimsical and retro due in major part to the color scheme. I was inspired by the original theme of Cocalores and I must say, Anja knows what she's doing with the blue and pink combo because it worked like a charm.  Read on for the full tutorial!

Flashback Friday: DIY Faux Sweater Trees

These DIY "Sweater" Trees are my absolute favorite project from last Christmas. Easy, thrifty, and timeless. I was so glad to get to pull them out again this year. In case you missed the original post last December, here's a step-by-step tutorial to create your own warm and fuzzy Christmas Trees.

<<Have you seen those adorable sweater trees floating around the blogosphere? I have and I adore them. The only problem is that I love all of my sweaters too much to cut them up. Oh, and our local thrift stores are closed on the weekend so no snagging them on my time off either. Instead, I came up with a nice fake option, but I'm fancy and I'll call them faux instead. These "sweater" trees are sweet sixteen of The 25 Projects of Christmas.

These are super easy and involve a technique that you probably mastered in day camp -- Finger Knitting.

Team Colors Football Wreath

E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES!

We are definitely one of *those* football households. Beginning in September, there is never any question of "what are we doing on Sunday?" We already know. We run out for special hot wings early in the afternoon. Cheese and crackers have a special place on the coffee table. Only during commercials do we dare have a conversation. With a beer in hand, we cheer way too loud. We rep our teams colors with pride... even though we are having a pretty crappy season so far. 

A couple of weeks ago, I thought that a wreath would be the perfect way to dress up our Hunter Green door with a bit of [Chip] Kelly Green. Fly, Eagles, fly!

It's nothing complicated... just a basic styrofoam wreath form, wrapped in white yarn, with touches of gray and green for our beloved Birds. 

DIY Pet Rocks - Chalkboard Style!

How flippin fun are those little guys? Ahhh. I sorta loved pet rocks as a kid... googly eyes and all. These are bit more grown up and oh so modern with their chalk art styling. You already know that I heart woodland creatures so I made little cartoony owls on this set but you could do whatever you like. Oh and did I mention these are super easy and virtually mess free??

Menswear Easter Bunny - Tutorial

Happy Easter, everyone! This post was originally posted Easter of 2012, but since the blog has grown quite tremendously since then, I thought it deserved another shot at the big time :) Enjoy!

"We're going to be seeing the in-laws later this afternoon and I cannot wait to see our nephew. Julian is a bit shy of 2 years old and such a little cutie. His parents are trying to limit his candy intake, so rather than a normal chocolate bunny, I decided it would be nice to make him a teeny tiny stuffed animal -- perfect for his little hands.

Bird & Nest Mixed Media Canvas Art

I haven't posted a craft fail ever. Well, that's about to change. Usually I can tell when it's time to just toss a bad project but this was the first time where I just kept going and going and it just got worse and worse. Don't believe me? Take a look.

Even the Mr., with his heart of gold, couldn't say anything nice about it. It started as a "well baby, it's not that bad -- I like it." And gradually (after a ton of coaxing from me to tell me the truth) it became "well maybe you should change the big bird, and that little bird just doesn't match, and add something up there, and maybe change up the nest a bit." So pretty much, start over. HAHA.

DIY Mini Felt Gnomes

Last week on Instagram, you probably noticed a few nods to gnome culture. It's probably got something to do with my fascination with all woodland things but I adore those little guys. I looked everywhere for miniature gnomes but besides ordering them online (which I don't have the patience for when I'm crafting), I decided to create my own. 

These gnomes were born from materials that just about any craftaholic would have on hand: felt, yarn, a toilet paper roll, and a pompom. 

Mini Bunny & Chick Burlap Sacks

We had a gorgeous weekend -- sunshine, warm weather, and birds chirping. It is Spring at last! I guess that means that Easter is right around the corner. We don't really decorate for Easter but I try to get some Spring stuff out around the house. First thing was a bouquet of tulips, then I made the mason jar photo frame, and now onto some mini burlap treat bags.

Glitter & Leather Bunting Necklace

On Monday I mentioned that I was auditioning for Season 15 of the So You Think You're Crafty competition and simply having the opportunity to do so kind of made my day/week/month/life. Just in case you missed the good news on Facebook, I made it through the auditions and will be a Season 15 Crafter!! To any of you who went and voted, I really truly appreciate it!

For my audition craft, I sort of procrastinated.. wait, I lie. I DEFINITELY procrastinated. The day the submissions were due, I had yet to create anything so I had to limit myself. It had to be something small and it would have to use things I already had on hand. I decided that adding a pretty little necklace to my collection was the best route to go.. That's where this glittered leather pennant necklace comes in!

Bottle Cap Memory Matching Game

Remember when I got my Pick Your Plum grab box way back when and did that awesome video? It took me awhile to decide how to use those decorative bottle caps and I finally came up with a great kid-friendly project. Remember the memory card games from when you were little? Now your kiddos can have this handy-dandy travel-sized bottle cap memory matching game in their stash.

Springtime Mason Jar Photo Holder

I recently took part in the Martha Stewart Glass Painting Program and had a blast creating an assortment of things. You see, Plaid Crafts has these great new Martha Stewart paintable clings that pair perfectly with their liquid fill glass paint. The clings are awesome simply because they are repositionable so you can change out your decor season after season, year after year. Since Spring is right around the corner (or so says Mr. Punxsutawney Phil), I used the Martha Stewart Crafts Butterfly and Blossoms clings and a few different shades of blue and green paint to create a new decor piece -- a Springtime Mason Jar Photo Holder.

Isn't it kind of the best thing ever? That might be a slight exaggeration, but then again, I'd have to agree that it's slightly more than just plain awesome. Do you remember that picture of craft supplies that I shared on Instagram about two weeks ago? Well, this is one of the projects I used with those babies!

Woodland Spoons

I made these little babies over the weekend and they are sort of my favorite. Decorated cooking tools are always so eye catching to me but it's not like you can just paint onto something that will be in regular contact with food so what can you do? If it's wood, you can carve or burn it in. Since I have no idea how to whittle wood, I went with the latter.

Paper Flower Gift Topper Tutorial

There are a ton of crepe paper flower tutorials out there, that I know. Unfortunately, all of them seem to be for super amazing realistic flowers. Sure that is generally what you want, but a flower on a stem is not necessarily the best gift topper out there. I wanted something classy and fun to put on top of the bridal shower gift to my sister-in-law and a big floofy flower was just what the doctor ordered.

The materials were less than $3 (and with that, you could make SEVERAL large flowers) and the whole process took less than 15 minutes. Let's get started!

DIY Woven Camera Strap

You may remember that when I first got my DSLR, I had these huge aspirations of making a ton of DIY camera accessories. Yeahhhh, about that. In the last 6 months all I made was my camera bag. It's a pretty sweet camera bag if I do say so myself but still, that was the only thing I managed to put together. After checking out Yellowcloth's tutorial for a braided baby headband, inspiration struck and I went off to plan my newest DIY: a woven camera strap! 

It took less than an hour to put together and I happened to have everything on hand already so it was pretty much free (from scratch, this would probably cost less than $10). Maybe it's boastful to talk about how much I love something that I made with my own two hands, but I can't help it! The Mr. has been teasing me because he keeps catching me admiring my handiwork, but again, I JUST CAN'T HELP IT! It's pretty and cushy and durable and just plain awesome. Read on to learn how to make one yourself!

Pinspiration: Gilded Glass Vases

I've been trying to take a break from Pinterest lately. WHATTTT?! I know, it's crazy. But, I'm trying to practice some self-control. As much as I love it, I go a bit pin crazy at times. I can't even remember the last time I actually created something from the bountiful inspiration. That was, until this weekend! I made these pretty vases from recycled Starbucks glass bottles:

Framed Valentine's Day Wreath

I'm going to be honest: we don't decorate for Valentine's Day... before I started trolling blogs 1+ years ago, I didn't really think that *anyone* did. Turns out they do and I seem to be in the minority. Since we still have our Christmas decorations up, I decided to try my hand at a Valentine's Day themed something to encourage me to box up the holiday stuff. That something turned out to be a replacement for the Star of Bethlehem wreath that should have vacated our front door a couple of weeks ago.

I found all of the materials for this in the Christmas clearance bins at Michael's for a whopping $3.50. Quite a steal if I do say so myself.

Spread the Word: 2013 Craft Challenge

One of my absolute favorite people in the world (Anja at Cocalores) told me about an amazing little thing she and a few of her friends (Rosie and PJ) have put together and I wanted to share with all of you as well: The 2013 Craft Challenge! Me, myself and I love a crafty round-up and this one is not only laid out for the entire year but there will be linky parties at the end of each month to showcase the fruits of your labor!

This is a great way to gather inspiration, meet new people, and see some amazing talent. I'll definitely be participating each month and can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with. I encourage you to tag along too and share your finished projects on the last Monday of every month!