MPDtribe

Check out my new to me up-cycled decor! I found this piece at Hobby Lobby over a year ago marked down 90%! To be honest, I wasn’t really crazy about it but it was less than $3 and I was in that mood! LOL! And now I am so thrilled I didn’t pass this gem up! Supplies I Used for my Up-cycled Decor Decor of your choice Dixie Belle Products: Cotton, White Lightning Painters tape, small to medium paint brush PREPPING MY UP-CYCLED Prepping my up-cycled clearance decor was a little bit of a challenge. If you notice there are three clear bottles hanging from jute rope, and I can only tie simple knots. Plus the bottle needed a cleaning after sitting in my craft closet for over a year. I carefully loosened the rope around the bottles and took them to kitchen to wash them. Then I used painters tape and carefully taped around the rope where they were close to any wood. I was also careful not to loose my loops in the jute rope where my bottles would fit in and hang. Once I had those taped, I carefully wiped down all the wood to remove any fingerprints or dirt so my paint would adhere to the surface PAINTING MY UP-CYCLED DECOR This was the fun part, I decided to go with Dixie Belle’s Cotton, their white-white paint. Currently the wall decor had a yellowish tint to it that I do not like, it also was distressed along the edges but I decided to go with a cleaner look. I grabbed my square artist brush, really any smaller to medium size brush will do and I started painting my up-cycled wall decor. Once she was all dry, I decided not to seal her. Technically with Dixie Belle, sealer is not required since there is sealer in their paint products. I loved the matte look just as is! Next I grabbed my three clear bottles and carefully put them back in the jute rope loops and tighten them up. I used the knot on the top of the box to pull up the rope and readjust how the bottle hung. For the final touch for my up-cycled clearance decor I added my favorite faux flower from Mustard Seed here in Albia and she was perfect!

Do you ever check out those unfinished wood signs at Hobby Lobby and wonder what to do? When I first saw these beaded white signs, I was hoping these weren’t a short lived product and I bought a few on the spot. I’ve added transfers to them and stenciled them but this one I think really stands out. Check out how I deconstruct it and completely change the look! Supplies I Used for my unfinished wood signs White Beveled Beaded Wood Wall Decor from Hobby Lobby Jute rope, scissors, 2 paper plates, scotch tape or large eyed needle Dixie Belle Products: Caviar, Cotton, Coffee Bean, Mud Puddle and White Lightning Join MPD Tribe and get access to my library of free cut files including Bless This Home from this project! PREPPING MY UNFINISHED WOOD SIGNS Before I get started, I remove the wooden beads from my unfinished wood sign. I used scissors to cut the knots from behind and I place the beads in a safe place. Normally I don’t use the same jute rope string since the rope is cut pretty tight and I have trouble retying a knot so I use new jute rope later. As always, we need to start with a clean surface. Any fingerprints or dirt will prevent any paint from sticking to the surface they are painted on. My favorite product to use is Dixie Belle’s White Lightning. I mixed a small amount, approximately a tablespoon in a spray bottle and use this for small projects. Once the project is clean, make sure to use a clean wet cloth to wipe off any White Lightning residue. And now we are ready to start! PAINTING MY UNFINISHED WOOD SIGNS First I divided my wood beads into two groups and placed them on two different paper plates. On one plate I added a very small amount of Coffee bean, maybe 2 teaspoons worth. You can always add more paint as you go, once the paint was on the plate, I swirled my plate around to cover the beads. I kept swirling until the paint was dry on the beads. The next plate I added Mud Puddle and repeated the same process. Check out my video short below to see my process. This way of painting beads if very satisfying, my version of a fidget spinner. If you check out my YouTube channel I have two more videos on painting wood beads also. I choose to use Dixie Belle paint for these beads because the paint contains sealer in it. This will provide extra protection for my painted beads, but we are not done yet! When the beads were good and dry, I then placed all the beads on one plate and added a small amount of Cotton to the plate and repeated the process. Why? Because I wanted a speckled look to my wooden beads! STENCILING MY UNFINISHED WOOD SIGNS I love these unfinished wood signs and I have been using them in other projects. Check out my other White Beveled Beaded Wood Wall Decor to see how I personalized them. I have several blog post and videos on how to stencil on different mediums, click here to check this out! Once I have my design figured out on my Silhouette Cameo software and cut using contact paper, click here to see how, it’s time to start stenciling. I used Caviar first to burnish the stencil to help prevent bleeds. Once this was dry I then used Cotton over my stencil. Before the Cotton was dry, I pulled my stencil up slowly and carefully to prevent the paint from being pulled up. Usually I wait until the paint is dry and then lightly sand it before pulling up the stencil, but we have a lot of humidity here in Iowa so I’ve found pulling it up when still wet works best for me. Once completely dry, you can use your favorite sealer, or you can leave unfinished for a chalkboard look, which is what I choose to do this time. ASSEMBLING MY UNFINISHED WOOD SIGNS Now it’s time to reassemble my unfinished wood sign. I grabbed my role of jute rope, added scotch tape tightly to the end. Then I threaded the just rope from the backside up, then I started adding the wood beads back onto the rope. I alternated the dark brown/white and medium brown/white speckled beads until they were all threaded on the jute rope. Then I pushed the jute rope down into he other side of the sign and tied two knots on each side and then cut the excess jute rope. That is it!

Garden Stakes! I love my new garden stakes. My only regret, I didn’t grab more of these when they were in stock! Just a little painters tape, spray paint and something to stencil with and we can personalize these however we want! Supplies I Used for my Dollar Tree Garden STakes 4 Round Dollar Tree signs on a stake. These garden stakes measures 7″ diameter and were a dollar each! Outdoor Spray Paint: Rust-oleum White and Navy Blue Painters Tape, Dental pick PREPPING MY GARDEN STAKES Before I started I made sure the signs were clean and then I taped the jute rope loops to the back of the garden stakes so they were out of the way. Then I taped the stakes to protect them from the spray paint and took them outside. My favorite large piece of cardboard to spray paint on was missing, thanks to my hubby, so I found an out of the way place in my backyard. Of course, my hubby spotted the area when he got home from work. I sprayed two coats of white paint over the round garden stakes, letting them dry in between each coat. Once dry, I brought them back in the house and started working on making my garden stake stencils. STENCILING MY GARDEN STAKES Did you know I have a free growing library for those who join my MPD Tribe? I put these Garden Stake designs in the library in a new column, marked “Summertime”. To join, click here. I used the PVPP method to craft these garden stakes. Paint, Vinyl, Paint, Peel. Click here to see my other projects I used this method with! If you don’t have your own personal cutter, you could always use vinyl decals from the scrap book section also. Once the stencils are in place on my four garden stakes, I took them back outside. I picked Navy Blue, because that is the color I had on hand. A few years ago, I turned two pallets into outdoor flags, so I keep this color on hand to freshening those signs up. This color only took one coat, I went over them just enough to cover the entire surface. As soon as my garden stakes were dry I took them back inside. I grabbed my favorite dental pick and started pulling the stencils off. Since I used outdoor spray paint for my Dollar Tree Garden Stakes I didn’t seal them, just took them outside the placed them in my garden! And that’s it! I image I’ll need to refresh these every year or two, so I’ll keep you updated on how long they last! Make sure to check out my Short YouTube video!

These are my first Birth Stat Signs! I was so excited when I was asked to make my version of these and when I saw these adorable unfinished wood signs at Hobby Lobby, my wheels started spinning! Supplies I Used for these birth stat signs 2 White Beveled Beaded Wood Wall Decor Dixie Belle Products: Cotton, Soft Pink, Peony and Satin Clear Coat 1 Hello Baby Transfer, specifically the flowers, by ReDesign with Prima Jute Rope STENCILING THE BIRTH STAT SIGNS Before I got started, I removed the wood beads and string from the signs and put the beads in a safe place to reattach later. Then, I flipped the signs over and added my special touch to the backside. This Spring, I was inspired to add a start adding a little prayer on the backside of my personal requests. Some are stenciled on, sometimes I apply them as vinyl decals. For this particular project, I used my Silhouette Cameo 3 to cut this design and used clear duck contact paper as transfer tape to apply the decals to the backside. Click here for more details on how to apply vinyl decals. Once this decals were applied, I used some Mod Podge to apply my business card and also seal the vinyl decals in place. Next, I turned my sign back over and applied one coat of Cotton over the entire sign. When this was dry, I grabbed my stencils I designed and applied them onto the signs. For more ideas and blog post on how to use contact paper as stencils and painting signs, click here. Now the pink was another matter! We had the flower transfers figured out and Dixie Belle’s Soft Pink matched wonderfully with one of the flowers, but I was worried it was going to be too light. So we decided to do a little paint mixing. For these Birth Stat signs, I mixed a little Dixie Belle’s Peony to Soft Pink. It was about 1/4 Peony to 3/4 Soft Pink blended together. I painted them on, and since it’s pretty humid here in Iowa, I pulled the stencil before the paint had time to dry. When pulling the stencil “wet”, as always, do it slowly to help prevent splattering wet paint on the board. APPLYING TRANSFERS TO THE BIRTH STAT SIGNS Once the paint is dry, I was ready to add the flower transfers to the Birth Stat signs. Before we get started, to get more ideas on how to apply transfers, check out these blog posts! These are so easy to apply, once you have an idea where you want them to be applied, take the backing off, line them up where you want them. And put them in place. Pretty much, once you lay them down you’re committed to that area. Grab the squeegee the transfers come with and start pressing or rubbing the transfers on. I’ll start pulling up one layer to see how well it’s adhered, if part of it pulls up, lay it back down and keep rubbing your squeegee over it until it’s adhered. When the transfers were all applied, I applied three coats of Satin sealer over the signs. I think with transfers, satin sealer works best since the transfers have a little shine to them also. And once I grabbed some new jute rope, I threaded them back through the holes of the sign and reapplied the beads and tied the ends in a double knot to secure. That’s it!

Are you ready to make a Patriotic Gnome? I am! I can not believe how easy these are to make! Let’s dig in! Supplies I Used for my PATRIOTIC Gnome Styrofoam cone: Dollar Tree is my source! Fabric: I used one Patriotic sock I found at Hobby Lobby Hot Glue gun and glue Scissors Wood bead: for nose, click here to see how I painted my wood beads. Chunky yarn: I had some cream-white yarn on hand from Hobby Lobby Medium birch discs: this is optional Embellishments: I used Patriotic cupcake toppers (flag and stars) as embellishments ASSEMBLING MY PATRIOTIC GNOME To start with I grabbed one of my patriotic socks and used my good scissors to cut straight across at the ankle and then again straight across at the foot. I have a short video below you can watch to see what I mean. Next I choose the foot part of the sock to cover my base. I inserted the cone in, I should have added some glue at the base of the cone to secure the sock.. Next time! Then I glued on a birch disc to the bottom of the gnome to be the base of my Patriotic Gnome. Next I estimated how long I wanted my Gnome beard and started cutting yarn strips. I glued five pieces to the cone, then I glued the wood bead in the middle for the nose. Then I roughly measured a piece of yarn to go over the nose and beard as the Gnomes eyebrows. I then decided I wanted a fuller beard, so I cut a few more strips of yarn and glued them on top of the first layer of yarn. Finally the hat! I grabbed the other part of the sock and placed it on the gnome, and to cinch or close the top of the hat, I rolled it down once and then applied some glue inside and pressed the top of the hat together until the glue set. Then I grabbed a cupcake flag on a pick and glued it so it looked the my Patriotic Gnome was holding it. Finally I glued some metallic stars on the hat for a special touch. AND THAT IS IT!

I LOVE how this Forrest themed growth chart turned out! This is the second time I’ve done a mountain view in the background and this was even easier than the first time! All I needed was a pencil, a picture of mountains and a little imagination! Let’s get started! Supplies I Used for my forrest Themed Growth Chart 1″ x 10″ x 72″ Pine Board, sanded and clean Dixie Belle Paints: (from top of the forrest growth chart to bottom) Haint Blue, Cotton, Savannah Mist, Dusty Blue, Yankee Blue, Midnight Sky. I used Hurricane Gray mixed with Midnight Sky for the Forrest animals. Dixie Belle Sealer in Flat Sandpaper or sand block Paint brushes: I used regular artist brushes, fan brush and my favorite large round watercolor brush. acrylic ruler, pencil Contact paper to make my stencils in my Silhouette Cameo 3 DESIGNING OUR FORREST GROWTH CHART Grab a sharp pencil, maybe a picture of a mountain scene and lets get started! I started towards the top, drawing a silhouette of mountains, and worked my way down the growth chart. As I drew a jagged mountain shape, when I came down to the next level, my goal was to make sure the shape did not mimic the mountain shape above. Also, as I worked my way down, the mountains shapes were getting spaced a little farther apart from the previously drawn mountains. And yes, I used my eraser to go back and erase certain lines and add a hill there or adjust the hill elsewhere. This is super forgiving! Then I grabbed my favorite watercolor paint brush and start painting! PAINTING THE FORREST GROWTH CHART This is pretty much “painting within the lines”. But much more forgiving, because I intentionally painted the lines here and there where I feel it may look best, or even when I messed up and just went over a little too far. In the supply section, I listed the colors in order that I painted the background. Haint Blue for the sky, Cotton for the top mountain tops and so on! The last two rows were supposed to be more mountains but I decided to turn them into Evergreen trees with my fan brush. Check out my short video below to see how I did this! PAST GROWTH CHARTS Each growth chart I do, is my favorite and this Forrest Growth Chart is no exception! Technically, this growth chart would have looked great without the forrest animals too! Just a thought! For my first take on doing some free-hand painting, check out my Whimsy Growth Chart. And my recent Woodland Growth Chart, click here! Also, these blogs go into more detail on how I laid out the stencils for a long project and how I layer stencils to get a different look! I hope you enjoy these examples and I hope I inspired you to create too!

PREPPING THE “GUEST BOOK” Once I brought home the Galvanized Metal Letter from Hobby Lobby, I cleaned all the surfaces. I keep a bottle of White Lighting and water mixed up in a spray bottle for small projects. For a small spray bottle I put in about 1/2 tablespoon of white lighting and then fill the bottle with water and mix well. I’ll either spray the project or my cleaning rag, wipe down really well and then use another clean damp rag to wipe off any of the residue left behind. Once the surface is dry, I grab my craft brush and start painting the surface with Slick Stick. I use Dixie Belle’s slick stick on any surface that is non-porous or I’m concerned paint may have trouble adhering too. Once the first coat is on and completely dry, I’ll add a second coat and let it dry then I usually wait a day before moving on to painting! PAINTING THE “GUEST BOOK” This project is going to be a guest book for a young mans’ graduation party and mom wanted this one done in black and she wanted a soccer ball added. Since I decided to add the soccer ball in the PVPP method, I painted the metal letter in white or Dixie Belle’s cotton first. PVPP is an acronym for Paint, Vinyl, Paint, Peel ADDING THE SOCCER BALL PER PVPP Once the white (Cotton) coat is completely dry, I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut a 4″ soccer ball design. I actually cut two designs side by side, just in case I messed up and weeded the wrong part of the stencil. Next I applied the stencil to the “guest book”, making sure there were no areas of the stencil not adhered to the metal. Then I grabbed a clean craft brush and my Caviar paint. I carefully painted over the stencil the first coat, while this was drying I started painting the remainder of the letter in cross-hatch pattern. Cross hatching in painting is moving your brush in a criss-cross pattern. . When the first coat of Caviar was dry, I went back and repeated the process, so the galvanized letter had two coat of paint. Once dry, I used my 220 grit sandblock and lightly sanded over the stencil and the letter. Then I carefully removed the stencil and with a small detail brush I painted over any areas that bled through, sometimes that happens. SEALING THE “GUEST BOOK” When it comes to sealing, when I paint with white, red or black paints I usually (not always) wait one day. This is just a personal preference, I just want to make sure the paint is good and dry and won’t smear when the sealer is being applied. Just as with my canvases I paint in my distressed style, I also applied the sealer in a cross hatch pattern. Why? I liked the look. When painting on slick surfaces sometimes brush strokes are hard to avoid and for some reason this give the finish a nice muted or matte look that I wanted! Once she is cured, she is ready to be signed by friends and family with a white permanent marker! And that is it!

I had a blast painting this Woodland Tree Growth Chart! Part stenciling, part free-hand, oh my! Let me show you how I, with the help of my daughter, put this all together! Supplies I Used for the Woodland Growth Chart 1″ x 10″ x 72″ Pine Board, sanded and clean Dixie Belle Paints: Haint Blue, Coffee Bean, Caviar, Putty, Fluff, Driftwood, Palmetto, Rebel Yellow, Terracotta, Rustic Red. DIY Paints: Monets Garden, Fancy Farmgirl Mod Podge Sandpaper or sand block. Paint brushes: I used regular artist brushes and my favorite large round watercolor brush. acrylic ruler, pencil Contact paper to make my stencils in my Silhouette Cameo 3 Growth Chart cut file (minus woodland animal): click here to join MPD tribe for access to this design on others in my free library. Woodland Animals: set of four, owl. PREPPING THE GROWTH CHART My daughter and I came up with a vision of a woodland growth chart and she wanted a sky blue background. For the sky like color, we went with Haint blue by Dixie Belle. One of my idiosyncrasies, is to paint, seal and apply the hanger to the backside of my personalized signs, first. I applied two coats and sealed the backside with Dixie Belle’s Flat sealer. Before I was finished I added a special touch to the back, Psalm 91:11. A few days later, I flipped her over and painted two coats of Haint blue to the front side. DRAWING AND PLACEMENT OF THE WOODLAND TREE Our woodland tree has a faux sign hanging on it, so I set up my design to cut the top of the overall design to help with the placement of this on the board. My board is approximately 9″ x 72″ long, so in my Silhouette design program, I made a rectangle using one of the shape tools and with these same measurements. After I had added the growth chart measurements to the design, I figured the placements of the tree sign, plus the five woodland animals. I then figured out how to divide this into two separate stencils. The first stencil is where the top of the tree is that includes the sign, the bottom stencil includes the growth measurements and woodland animal. I cut my first stencil, weeded the outline of the sign and placed this on the top of my pine board, then I grabbed my pencil and traced around the inside of the tree sign. Next I removed the stencil. Now I’m ready to work on a rough draft of my tree. I grabbed my acrylic ruler and measured 2″ in at the bottom but then moved my ruler in 1/8″ and used my pencil to draw and line along the ruler. Repeat this process on the other side of the board and this will be the base or bottom or the tree. Next, I grabbed my ruler and lined it up with the pencil marking, then brought the top of the ruler 1/8″ in and again marked it with the pencil I kept repeating this process until I reached my tree sign outline and also above the tree sign. Finally, I marked where I wanted the woodland branches to be and penciled then in. PAINTING MY WOODLAND TREE I started painting the tree in Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean. When this was dry, I grabbed my round watercolor brush and some water and Dixie Belles Caviar. In a disposable bowl, I watered the paint down a little and outlined the woodland tree, I also added some vertical lines, inside the tree. Next i grabbed Dixie Belle’s Putty with a little water to use as highlights on the tree. All these highlights and lowlights were random going vertically along the woodland tree to represent bark. When this step was completed, I added two coats of sealer and let my project set until the next day. STENCILING THE WOODLAND TREE MEASUREMENTS & ANIMALS Now it’s time to cut the bottom portion of the long rectangle stencil that includes the growth measurements and the base of the woodland animals. Each Woodland animal will be painted in layers, and this first stencil will only include the very bottom layer of each animal. Once the stencil is prepped, cut and weeded, I use the hinge method to apply this to the pine board. APPLYING THE WOODLAND STENCIL Next I grab my transfer tape, which is about 12″ x 18″ and apply it to the very bottom part of the stencil, I lay the stencil on top of the board where I want the stencil to be placed, grab two small strips of painters tape and tack the stencil to the board just above the transfer tape. Then I removed the backing, only where the transfer tape is applied, cut the backing off and then apply it to the board. I removed the transfer tape carefully and then worked my way up the stencil in the same manner until the stencil is all applied to the woodland growth chart. Once the stencil is applied, I burnished with Mod Podge to help prevent any paint bleeds. PAINTING THE WOODLAND ANIMALS The raccoon base cutout, I painted in Dixie Belle’s Driftwood. Next I painted the other four animal base cutouts in Dixie Belle’s Putty. Then I painted the measurements and numbers in Putty also. I decided before I removed the stencil to add some highlights and lowlights to the measurements with Dixie Belles Fluff and Caviar. Once the paint was all dry, I lightly sanded the stencil with my 220 grit sand block before removing the stencil carefully to avoid pulling any paint. LETTERING THE WOODLAND TREE SIGN USING PVPP METHOD This method is very simple. As you can see below in the pic how I weeded my stencil for this part of the Woodland tree sign. Once I applied this with transfer tape, I grabbed my Dixie Belle Putty and painted in vertical strokes. Before this layer was dry, I added some watered down Fluff to give it a streaky or aged wood look. When this area was dry, I lightly sanded with a 220 grit sand block before slowly removing the stencils. Click here and here for more examples of how I use the PVPP method. ADDING LEAVES TO THE WOODLAND GROWTH CHART These are so easy, especially with my large round watercoloring brush. For the leaves I used Palmetto, Monets Garden and Fancy Farmgirl I started with the dark greens first and then the light ones. My leaves are basically oval shapes and I use the end of my brush to start the end of each leaf. My daughter came over to help finish this growth chart and took over the task of painting the remaining leaves. I had her practice on a plain sheet of paper first, the trick it to make sure your brush is loaded with enough paint. After about four tries, she was good to go! And she did a GREAT job! PAINTING THE WOODLAND ANIMALS I like using contact paper for my stencil material with my Silhouette. Before we get started, I have a quick video showing you how I set up my SVG designs in Silhouette to cut my stencils on 12″ x 18″. To keep my stencils straight, or to help me from getting confused, I worked with two animals at a time, and I made sure to label each stencil with a pen, the animal names. I have another blog post on how I layered the stencils to paint certain cartoon characters, click here to get a better idea of how it’s done. Now you don’t have to use the color of paints I used, or even mix paint like I did. PAINTING THE FOX The fox’s head and body were approximately two parts Terracotta to one part Coffee Bean. And the fox’s nose and feet were Coffee bean and the eyes were Caviar then Fluff. PAINTING THE DEER While baby deer’s body was Putty and the antlers were Coffee Bean, along with the eyes being the same as the fox, Caviar and Fluff. PAINTING THE OWL The Owl was two parts Coffee Bean and one part Terracotta. This leftover mixture was also used to paint the squirrel’s nut. Back to the owl, the wings were equal parts Coffee bean and Caviar and the feet were Rebel Yellow. PAINTING THE SQUIRREL The squirrel was equal parts Terracotta and Coffee Bean, but the squirrels hands and feet were equal parts Rustic Red and Coffee bean. For the nut, I used some of the leftover paint mixture from the Owl for the bottom portion and Coffee Bean for the top portion. PAINTING THE RACCOON Finally, the raccoon’s base was Driftwood, so I mixed equal parts Driftwood with Caviar to paint the body. Then I added a little more Caviar to this same mixture to paint the raccoons mask, for his feet, stripes and nose I used straight Caviar. The key to painting or stenciling in layers, is to make sure the previous layer is good and dry before adding the next stencil on top of it. FINISHING OUR WOODLAND GROWTH CHART When everything was all painted and dry I lightly sanded the woodland growth chart and added three coats of Dixie Belle’s Flat sealer.

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My Spring Tree reveal! I think this may be my cutest Easter tree yet! And I have the cutest surprise towards the bottom of the tree poking out! Check it out! Bunny Butt and ribbons for my Spring Tree The adorable ribbons, bunny butt and ears came from Decoexchange! I’m afraid the last I looked, the bunny butt is no longer in stock but I’m wondering how hard (or easy) it would be to de-construct a bunny rabbit to use the butt and ears? Hmmm….. The bunny butt was the first thing I placed in my Spring Tree before adding other decorations. My bow for my Spring tree was a simple combination of three different ribbons that I plan to use for my next project, my spring wreath. Coming soon! I had enough room at top of my tree and bow, where I added three carrot picks to top it off. My bow topper, was the very last touch to my Spring tree. FLOWERS AND PICKS FOR MY SPRING TREE At Hobby Lobby, I found my tinsel garland in the Spring section and grabbed two of them and saved some money since they are 40% off. The garland was the second decor I aded to my Spring tree. I think Dollar Tree is becoming my new favorite craft and decoration store! For my Spring Tree, I found a dozen pink Hyacinth florals bundles at Dollar Tree, grass picks with Easter eggs and berries bundles. In all, I probably spent $20 in florals. I love using bundle flowers, before I add them to my tree, I spread the flowers out to add dimension. Each flower bundle was fluffed out and then placed randomly in my Spring Tree. Next, I added my Easter egg and berries picks throughout the tree. For my Spring Tree skirt, I am using my same skirt box from Christmas project. I have two bricks in the bottom of the box to secure the tree and then I filled the Tree skirt with faux grass and faux Easter Eggs I can tell you right now, I am so thankful I have those two bricks securing my tree! My cat Reeses almost pulled the tree down trying to play with the bunny butt! Plus I added a ‘Bunny Crossing’ sign from my Easter stash and called it good! If you decorate for Easter, I’d love to see it! You can follow me here and feel free to share your projects and crafts!

This is my first year decorating a St Patricks Tree! And I even surprised myself on how I was able to use mostly Dollar Tree goodies to accomplish this! My St Patricks Tree I was determined to have a St. Patricks Tree and not break the bank! And what better way than to find my supplies at Dollar Tree! ST PATRICKS TREE DECOR I found these large Shamrock-shaped glittered styrofoam, garland, necklaces, flowers and picks all at Dollar Tree. My “Welcome if your Irish” sign is something I’ve had for years (decades). So my sign doesn’t really count. (right?) DECORATING MY ST PATRICKS TREE First I loosely wrapped three green garlands around the tree. I had 12 carnation flower bundles with gold coins. After spreading the flowers out, I placed them into my tree making sure to leave room for my large sign. My sign has a wire hanger so I used that to secure it to my tree. If you find a sign that doesn’t have a hanger, you can always staple wire pipes to the back and use them as hangers. Then I hung my large styrofoam shamrocks. And those St. Patrick Day necklaces? I hung them like tinsel around the tree, and I love how they look! Then I added my small shamrock picks throughout the tree to fill in any gaps. For my tree skirt? I simply used my Christmas tree skirt and added a few more St Patricks carnation flowers from Dollar Tree! Next year, I may do something different? We’ll see! So in all, I think I decorated my whole tree for under $30? Not to bad!

Spring crafts? Who’s ready for Spring? I found some adorable craft ideas you can try! I hope you’ll check them out and be sure to show some love to the creative bloggers showcased here! Spring Craft #1. How to make easter Gnomes (diy sock gnomes) How adorable are these spring gnomes from It’s Always Autumn? Personally, I can’t wait to give this craft a try! Have you ever made your own gnome? If you have, I’d love to see them! SPRING CRAFT #2. DIY BUNNY POM POM CRAFTS FOR SPRING I love gnomes and especially bunnies and how cute it this one from Birkley Lane Interiors? Perfect for your Spring decor! SPRING CRAFT #3. DIY EASTER BUNNY BUTT This spring craft is by me! I wasn’t sure how well she would turn out, but she did! And several items I used for this craft were scraps! The faux greenery and supplies I used for my Messy Bow for the bunny tail. SPRING CRAFT #4. AN EASY DIY SPRING HOOP WREATH Hello Central Avenue show us how to embellish a wreath she purchased (ON SALE) for her spring decor! SPRING CRAFT #5. HOW TO MAKE ADORABLE STRING CARROTS IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS Decorative carrots make great fillers for your spring decor and Surrounds by Debi shows you how to craft your own! And it looks so easy! Thank you! SPRING CRAFT #6. DIY SPRING FLOWER ON BURLAP CANVAS This is another one of my favorite crafts from last year! It was tough deciding which flower head to use for this project but I am so happy I chose this light green faux hydrangea! SPRING CRAFT #7. AN EASY TULIP WREATH DIY Tulips are the perfect spring flower! And this adorable wreath by Chatfield Court looks so easy to make. I’m definitely going to have add this to my craft-to-do list! SPRING CRAFT #8. MASON JAR EASTER CENTERPIECES These mason jar centerpieces by Crafting Morning are perfect for your spring decor and so easy! I bet these would also be perfect on my mantle! SPRING CRAFT #9. EMBROIDERY HOOP EASTER BUNNY DIY Did I mention I love bunnies? Check out this cute bunny by Just That Perfect Piece! I hope the collection of crafts here inspired you to do some projects of your own! If so, please join me on Facebook and share away! I’d love to see them!

What do you do when you have left over Christmas supplies, Pom Poms and Valentines Day is coming? Craft of course! Supplies I Used Mini Christmas Trees: I found mine in the clearance section at Target Mini Pom Poms of your choice: I found mine at Hobby Lobby in the Valentine section Chunky yarn of your choice: I found this cute loop yarn in white and pink, click here! Scissors Hot glue and glue gun SUPPLY SHOPPING FOR MY VALENTINE CRAFT The day after Christmas my daughter, son’s girlfriend and I went shopping and we found some cute clearance items at Target. But thats not all we found there. I also found a craft kit of unfinished wood houses, click here to check it out how they turned out! And I found mini white trees for $2.50 and I grabbed two! One thing I love about crafting, is being able to save scraps or left overs from previous projects and incorporate them into other projects. So I grabbed my loop yarn from my previous craft, my Valentine Trees and I am all set! DECORATING MY VALENTINE POM POMS TREE Once my glue gun is hot, I’m ready to get started! First I started with the loop yarn first and started gluing and applying yarn as I go around the trunk of the tree bottom. Working my way up until I get to the top of the of the tree trunk, I glue the end of the loop yarn and camouflage it a little. Next, I grab my Hobby Lobby Pom Poms, do a quick sort by size and start hot gluing each Pom Pom onto a brand, starting with the bigger Pom Poms first and then gluing the smaller ones next. That is it and I love how these turned out!

My first Valentines Tree reveal! I’ve been playing with bows, ribbons and swags and what better way to practice than decorating my tree! Let me show you what I did! Valentines Gnomes I found three gnomes during my recent shopping spree at TJ Maxx and Home Goods and I had to bring them home! Today while decorating my tree I decided to add them into the decor! I grabbed a couple of pipe cleaners, made a few small snips in the bag and threaded the pipe cleaners through my valentines gnome and I was able to use this to anchor them to my tree! VALENTINES RIBBON The Valentines Ribbon? I purchased them through Decoexchange! Recently I had made a Valentines wreath and I had some left over ribbons and what perfect use than to made a big bow and a couple of swags. To make my bows, some time I use my EZ bow maker and sometimes I just use my hands. I’m still working on my technique! 😉 Technically, I will probably keep adding and taking away from my tree over the next couple o weeks, depending on what I can craft or find when I go shopping! Do you have a tree for Valentines day? If so, I’d love to see it! You can follow me here and fee free to share your projects and crafts!

What easier way to personalize a tumbler than with vinyl decals! I came across some new red Rae Dunn tumblers at TJ Maxx and grabbed three! One for my daughter, my son's girlfriend and me! For full blog post and supply list go to my website! https://melissapetersondesigns.com/tumbler/ #ValentineDIY #valentinecrafts

I have found some of the cutest crafts and DIY's from some creative and talented bloggers for us to check out and hopefully entice you to add to your to-do-list! Make sure to show the bloggers showcased here some love! For full blog post and supply list go to my website! https://melissapetersondesigns.com/valentine/ #Valentine Crafts #ValentineDIY

Have you ever crafted a pillowcase? I've made pillow case covers from seasonal kitchen towels, but I've never taken a blank pillowcase and personalized it! Let me tell you, it's super easy! Let's do this! For full blog post and supply list go to my website! https://melissapetersondesigns.com/pillowcase/

If your tired of burlap but you love texture in your decorating, adding a wrap of chunky yarn to your Christmas decor will definitely accomplish this goal! https://melissapetersondesigns.com/yarn/

If your tired of burlap but you love texture in your decorating, adding a wrap of chunky yarn to your Christmas decor will definitely accomplish this goal! For full blog post and supply list go to my website! https://melissapetersondesigns.com/yarn/

I've found some awesome DIY Christmas Tree decor from some of my favorite crafters and DIYers and some new ones too! Full blog post available with links at https://melissapetersondesigns.com/tree/

Ever wonder what to get for the crafter in your life? Here are 15 ideas that are perfect! Check out my blog post for all the referral links! https://melissapetersondesigns.com/gifts/

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