Men's Necktie Bracelet

I pinned it. Then made it.

After raiding my husband's tie collection (who wears ties anymore?!) 

 I crafted up a couple necktie bracelets in less than an hour with just a few supplies I had on hand.

Of course you'll need to start with a tie. I chose four ties that 

1) I knew Ben wouldn't wear anymore 

2) Something that would be a great compliment to my wardrobe.

In addition to a tie, you'll need something like an empty yogurt container. 

This is to put inside the tie to make the bracelet stiff. 

Grab some needle & thread, a button to match the tie and a metal snap.In order to get the right size for my wrist I did a rough measurement 

by wraping the tie around my wrist. 

For the purpose of this project, we are using the skinny side of the tie. 

Cut the tie to the measured length.

Cut the yogurt container into a strip that will fit inside the skinny side of the tie.
Oh, but save the other side. Maybe we'll figure out something to do with it!

I was able to get four strips out of this one container.

You may need to do a little trimming after you get the whole thing apart.

Insert the plastic strip into the tie.

Hand stitch up the end.

Hand sew on a snap.

And there you have it!

How cute and easy is that?!

Now go raid your husband's closet and see what you can do!

Burlap State Art

I LOVE BURLAP! 

 In celebration of our newest move, I created some art with a silhouette of the states we've lived in.

For this project I used some of my favorite supplies:

• Mod Podge
• Foam Brush
• Burlap
• Canvas (these are 10 x 10)

 I started out by cutting the burlap into a square that was about 3 inches larger than my canvas, 

so 13 x 13.

I painted my Mod Podge all over the front of the canvas.  

I then placed a couple magazines on top to help the burlap to adhere to the canvas.

 With my staple gun in hand, I went to work covering the canvas with the burlap.

The corners were a bit tricky because the burlap is quite thick. 

I worked at it a bit to try and create clean looking edges.

 I didn't worry too much about how the backside looked, just as long as everything in the front was flat.

 I created a stencil with my Silhouette. Vinyl worked well to keep all the states details in place.

Using some black craft painted and my foam brush I painted inside the stencil. 

Making sure to get in all the deep groves.

Using upholstery tacks from Lowes (I used 1 box for each canvas)

 I marked off 4" inches from each corner and pounded the tacks in with a hammer. 

(*a little tip: if you have a rubber mallet, use that instead otherwise put something soft over the face of your hammer so you don't ruin the head of the tack).

 I think the tacks give it a nice complete look.

My new art is so lightweight and the perfect addition to our screened in porch!

 In our 17 years of marriage we've lived in Virginia, Michigan, Ohio and now North Carolina.

We're enjoying it out here, sure wish you could come over and hang out!

Epson Salt Pumpkins

I love the look of sugar covered fruits around the holidays. 

I'm going to show you how to get the same classy look for very little money!

I started off with some of my favorite supplies (Mod Podge & a foam brush!) 

and some leftover pumpkins and gourds from my Coffee Filter Wreath. 

And my new favorite addition to my craft supplies; Epson Salt.

Both the pumpkins and Epson Salt can be purchased at Wal-mart.

I put about 1/2 a cup of the Epson Salt into a small bowl inside a big bowl 

(this helps contain the salt).

Using the foam brush, paint on the Mod Podge.

Making sure to cover with a nice thick coat.

And then pour salt all over the painted pumpkin.

Make sure to turn the pumpkin while you're pouring...

You want to make sure to cover the entire surface.

You can see the color still comes through with the salt layer on top. 

The color is dulled a little bit 

(which is good-cause the colors on these pumpkins were a little obnoxious!)

I love the way they look with the soft glow of a candle.

I can't wait to try these at Christmas time too. Maybe with some pears, pomegranates or how about plums (surely that's what makes them turn into sugar plums!)

Mod Podge Pantry Word

Do you remember my blog post about The Great Pantry Makeover a while back? You can find it here.

Anyway, I said that I would blog about how I made these cute Mod Podge letters that spell E A T.

I started out with the following supplies:

• large thick chipboard letters (I think I found them at Hobby Lobby-go figure!)
• 3 pieces of patterned paper (I used 12 x 12 scrapbook paper)
• paint
• foam brush
• Mod Podge in matte finish

I traced the letters onto the back sides of the patterned paper.

And then I cut them out with my Exacto.

I painted the letters black first (because the sides will be showing).

I used the Mod Podge and painted the front of the letters 

 Stuck my cut out letters on top and then put another coat of Mod Podge over everything 

(even onto the sides).

I used some of those 3M sticky's on the back of each letter and adhered it right to the wall!

Just a fun little addition to the pantry! 

You could do something like this in your bathroom and spell W A S H. 

Or in your child's room with their initials. 

Or how about the letters P R A Y! We all need that reminder!