pinspiration: yarn-wrapped trees

I wanted to pop in this morning and share a quick tutorial for an idea that I found on Pinterest!


While browsing Pinterest one day, I came across these adorable yarn-wrapped Christmas trees. I loved the look but there was no tutorial!

Source: suziebeezie.tumblr.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

I happened upon these paper mache trees at Michael's craft store - you can find them in the Christmas craft aisle. They were available in 2 sizes, so I picked up 1 large one (it measures 13 inches) and 2 smaller ones (they measure 10.5 inches), a skein of mossy green yarn, and a bag of white pom poms.  I loved the look of the felted wool balls in bright colors, but they were no where to be found around town, so I settled for white pom poms!

Here is the cone as you find it at Michaels...

I started by hot gluing the end of the yarn on the inside of the cone to secure it.

From there, I started wrapping the yarn around the bottom of the cone.  I hot glued a few rows to make sure they were secure. Once those three or four rows were secure, I started wrapping the yarn all the way up the cone.  I didn't bother with keeping perfect rows...I liked the way that the yarn overlapped in the original pin.  In fact, I thought I might need to use spots of glue all the way up the cone, but the yarn stayed wrapped pretty tightly since it wasn't in perfect, neat rows.  Bonus!

Here is the smaller cone after it was totally wrapped.  It looks time consuming, but the small trees only took about 10 minutes to wrap each one!

Once the three trees were wrapped, I simply hot glued pom poms randomly around the trees.

All three trees in a little group on our piano! I love the whimsical look it adds without being too over-the-top.  I think I might go back and add wooden stars to the tops to make them look a little more like my inspiration, but I think they look pretty sweet as they are!

Have you started decorating for Christmas yet?  I can hardly wait!

PB’s silver bell swag…my version

I originally saw this Silver Bell Swag in a PB catalog in November…be still my Christmas-decoration-loving-heart.  We hung wreaths on our front windows this year, so I knew I wanted something a little different for our front door.  Enter this beautiful Silver Bell Swag inspiration!

The Christmas decorations in Joplin are a little slim these days – as we have almost an entire town of people that had to replace everything – so the closest I could come to the silver bells were these giant silver jingle bells from the Dollar Tree.

To start making my own Silver Bell Swag, I collected a bunch of sticks from a tree in our backyard that I bundled together with a zip tie…

This poor pup of ours thought that Christmas had come early for him when I brought all of the sticks in the house!  He kept a very close watch to make sure I didn’t drop any sticks in the swag-making process.

To the bundle of sticks, I added 3 faux evergreen picks that I bought at Michael’s – they were 60% off of the $3.99 price!  I was originally going to hot glue them in place, but I just stuck them here and there.  The sticks were bundled together tightly enough that they held the picks in without needing any glue or wire.

I added a burlap bow to the top, tied the jingle bell on, and my knock off version was done!  I originally bought 2 jingle bells, but the sound of the bells suddenly multiplied to sound like a mini version of the heavenly host as I was working on this during nap time!  Ha!  I was so afraid that I would wake Grayson up with my ridiculously loud jingle bells, so I just added one bell.

My version definitely isn’t as full as the PB version – it could use a few more sticks added to the base – but it works for me!  Especially when it cost me around $6 instead of the $69 PB price!

anthropologie-inspired sheet music tree

I’m not going to hide it…I have been browsing for new Christmas decorations to craft since October 1. Can I blame it on my 31 Days of Warming up to the Holidays series? While perusing Anthropologie’s website, I came across this Printed Paper Pine…selling for a whopping $48!

Fortunately I had a few old hymnals that were just gifted to me that I’ve been wanting to include in my Christmas décor for this year.  I knew with a few added elements I could have my own printed paper pine at a fraction of the price.  Here’s my version that cost me just under $3 out of pocket.

To make your own Anthro-inspired sheet music tree, you’ll need:

• A 6 inch round wooden plaque – I found mine at Hobby Lobby for $1.47 plus an additional 30% off!

• A dowel rod  - mine was 3/16 inches wide by about 15 inches tall found at Hobby Lobby for $0.26 plus an additional 30% off.
• Sheet music – mine came out of this old hymnal

• A topper of your choice - I used a wooden ball (with a hole in the bottom) as my topper. I glittered it up using the fabulous Martha Stewart glitter but you could easily use a star or another fun topper.

• White fun foam
• Hole punch
• Pinking shears

Begin by painting your plaque white (or the color of your choice).
Once the paint is dry, drill a hole in the middle of it – the hole will need to be the same size as, or slightly bigger than, your dowel rod – but don’t drill all the way through.
Create “spacers” for your tree by cutting your fun foam in 1 inch x 1 inch squares and punching holes in the middle. The Anthro tree looks like it has some sort of cardboard or fiberboard spacers, which I didn’t like the look of.

I thought that smaller, white foam spacers would be less noticeable in the final product and they definitely are.
Now it’s time to cut your paper. I had about 10-12 pieces of paper in each of the following sizes:

• 6 by 6 inches
• 5 3/4 by 5 3/4 inches
• 5 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches
• 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 inches
• 5 by 5 inches
• 4 3/4 by 4 3/4 inches
• 4 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches
• 4 1/4 by 4 1/4 inches
• 4 by 4 inches
• 3 3/4 by 3 3/4 inches
• 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches
• 3 1/4 by 3 1/4 inches
• 3 by 3 inches
• 2 3/4 by 2 3/4 inches
• 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches
• 2 1/4 by 2 1/4 inches
• 2 by 2 inches
• 1 3/4 by 1 3/4 inches
• 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches
• 1 1/4 by 1 1/4 inches
• 1 inch by 1 inch

It sounds like a LOT of paper, but I only used less than 1/8 of my hymnal because I could get several different size squares out of each sheet.

Once you’re done cutting your paper, punch holes in the middle of all of the sheets.  I gently folded my sheets in half and punched the hole that way.

It’s time to assemble your tree! Insert your dowel into the hole in your plaque. I didn’t even need to glue mine because it fit well, but you might want to add a little glue to make it sturdy. Start stacking your paper onto the dowel, starting with the largest size. I played around with the look and ended up putting a spacer, then 2 pieces of paper, another spacer, then repeat the process until you reach the top of the tree.  Add your topper and you’re done!
So for $3 I have a new piece to add into my Christmas décor! I had been working on 2 other trees to make a little trio…they’re not the same, but they’ll look great together.  I’ll be back later in the week with more tutorials for those!

guest post: Nailhead Headboard

Well, hello again 517 Creations readers! It's Beth from NashvillePug, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be with y'all again! I'm so flattered that MJ asked me! 

 

Today I'm going to share my new headboard with you. I asked my fabulous readers and Facebook friends if I should make a tufted vs. nailhead headboard, and the overwhelming choice was NAILHEAD! I was leaning that way too, so the deal was sealed. I completed this project in one day a couple of weeks ago during my daughter's naptime and then after she went to bed. It really was so easy as long as you have the right tools.

 

Here’s a quick reminder of how the old headboard looked. It was a very pretty headboard, just too big and bulky for the room. I pulled out a really old pic of our room with the old drapes and old bedding so you could REALLY appreciate the transformation! What was I thinking with that bedding? Oh my!

 

 

After! Doesn’t it look so much lighter and brighter (and look great with my new Roman shades)? I am in love with it. I walk by the room and just stare. It has made such a huge difference in how the room feels. Read on for the tutorial, price breakdown, and LOTS more pics!

 

 

We found a piece of fiberboard at Home Depot for $10 and had them cut it to our specifications of 78”x45” for our king size bed. I knew I wanted the headboard notched out on the corners, so I made a template from a piece of standard printer paper and traced it on both sides of the board. The notch is 11 inches wide and 8.5 inches long. I just drew a curve from one corner of the paper to the other.

 

 

Then I got to cutting with my new jigsaw! It is so easy to use and fun. Ben is scared I’m going to get too excited while using it and cut off a finger…

 

 

My fabric for this project was a drop cloth! I bought two of them a couple of months ago with plans to stencil them and use as curtains. That didn’t happen after I realized it would be the perfect neutral fabric for my headboard. And even better, they were only $10 each! To use a drop cloth as fabric, make sure you wash it with a good amount of fabric softener and then iron it really well. I purchased 5 yards of 1/2 inch thick batting from JoAnn’s to use as my padding. Foam is too expensive, and I figured two layers of batting would be plenty (and it was).

 

 

This project is so much easier if you have a nice long work surface. Luckily, our dining room table fit the bill. I laid my drop cloth (wrong side up) down first, then two layers of batting, and then my headboard.

 

 

My batting was barely wide enough to staple to the headboard, so I stapled each piece separately. This took a little more time, but I had to really stretch each piece to have enough material to staple down. After the batting was secure, I went back and stapled the drop cloth down. LOTS of stapling! 

 

 

Here it is all ready for some nailhead trim!

 

 

I ordered my trim from Beacon Fabric, and it was $20 for a 10 yard roll. This stuff is so easy to work with! I am so glad I did not get individual nailheads. I would have pulled my hair out! Do be careful though when stretching out the trim. I think I got a cut on each one of my fingertips on my left hand. Ouch!

 

 

I started at the bottom left of the headboard and worked my way around. You pound in a nailhead with a rubber mallet every 5th head. There’s a small hole so you know exactly where to put the nailhead.

 

 

The corners were a little tricky, but the trim cuts easily with some heavy duty scissors.

 

 

figured out a little late in the game that it was easier to get a straight line with the trim if I went ahead and stretched it all the way across and nailed the end down. I then went back and filled in the rest of the holes. Live and learn, my friends. It’s also easy to go back and pop out any unruly nailheads. You can see a couple in the pic below. The nail stem bent a little when hammered in, so I popped them out and replaced them with a new one.

 

 

To hang the headboard, I used a French cleat. When I asked the guys at Home Depot which aisle they were on, they said “a French what?”! Ben said the only cleats he knew about were the ones on the bottom of his football shoes! I used a cleat because I was not about to hang this bad boy with D-rings. No way was I going to try and line those up straight. A cleat makes things so much easier because you can slide the headboard to the left and right until it’s in the right spot. This one even came with a little level on it, so we knew it was straight. It was $15 and well worth it! They come in different sizes, so you can use them to hang all kinds of things. I went with the 200# cleat because I didn’t want to take any chances of the headboard coming off the wall. It may not look it, but it is heavy!

 

 

Here’s the part of the cleat that went on the top of the headboard.

 

 

And here is Ben screwing the other part into the wall. It had these fancy screws with teeth around them, so you’re not supposed to use a drill. Luckily one of the screws went into a stud, so the headboard is not going anywhere!

 

 

 

Here’s how the back of the headboard turned out looking.

 

 

And here it is hung on the wall! So pretty! The drop cloth did have a seam down the middle of it, but I knew it would be hidden by the bed and pillows, so I was not worried about it.

 

 

Here it is all dressed up and ready for it’s debut!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I’m in love! Doesn’t it look good with the shade fabric? I didn’t even plan that! I literally made the entire headboard, and the first time I saw the fabric in the room was when we hung it! I’m the kind of person who doesn’t even take paint swatches home to make sure they look good. I pick out my paint right on the spot, fabric too. It’s a blessing and a curse. I go with my gut, and it most always works out.

 

 

 

 

One more time…Before and After pic

 

 

And here was my little helper while I took pictures. She saw the headboard first thing when she woke up and said “ooooohhh, new pillow!”! So cute!

 

 

Here’s the cost break down:

Drop Cloth $10

Headboard $10

Batting $20

Nailheads $20

French Cleat $15

Grand Total $75

Not too shabby when stores are charging over $1000 for one of these!

Thanks again, MJ, for having me!! Y'all come see me over at NashvillePug when you get the chance!

 

**********************************

Can you believe that transformation?  As soon as I saw Beth's post, I e-mailed her this picture of a VERY similar headboard from Ballard Designs that sells for WAY more!

 

 

Another awesome knock off, Beth!  Be sure to pop over to Nashville Pug and leave Beth some comment love!

 

curtains for the boy's room...

On a whim, we recently moved our little guy's toddler bed out of his room and the queen-sized bed from our guest room in.  Grayson suddenly had a "big boy room" that needed to be a little more pulled together.  Thank goodness for Pinterest!!

I have an entire board on Pinterest devoted to ideas for my little boy's room.   I wanted his room to be red, white, and blue and have some baseball elements, but with a vintage, pulled-together-over-time look.  Got all that?  Ha! :)

 I bought a navy blue quilt and shams set at Target, had a friend come over and help rearrange the furniture and "art" on the walls, and called it a day.  One of the things that was on the "to do" list was to make some curtains.  Curtains seem to make a room look instantly pulled together and can usually be done inexpensively!   These are the curtains that I kept coming back to and planned to make some similar to this but with red stripes...

                                                                          Source: girlintheredshoes.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

Fast forward a few weeks and our sweet boy decided that his napping days were over and he began waking up at 6:30am instead of his usual 7-7:30am.  My husband said "Do you think curtains would help?"  The question wasn't even out of his mouth before I started planning the curtains.

I nixed the off-white with red stripes idea in favor of red curtains with white stripes...here's what I came up with:

I came across some twin-sized red flat sheets at Wal-mart for $5 and thought they would be perfect.   I bought 2 red flat sheets (I cut one sheet in half to make 2 panels, so one sheet for each window) and 1 white sheet (for the stripes). If I weren't so cheap needed wider curtains I would have bought the full-sized flat sheets for $10.

I apologize for not taking pictures of the steps...I was too nervous about how they would turn out.  So, I'm going to do my best to explain the steps.  If you have any questions, send me an email!  I'd be happy to answer them!  If you're not interested in the "how to", feel free to skip down to the bottom of the post to check out the rest of the pictures!

While the sheets were in the washing machine/dryer, I tried to plan out the size of my stripes.  The sizes I ended up using were 6 inches at the top, 3 inches in the middle, and 2 inches at the bottom.  The white sheet was a little too thin for my liking, so I decided to use a double thickness for each stripe.  So for each stripe, I double the measurement and added 1/2 inch (for a seam allowance).  For the top stripe, I cut a piece of sheet that was 13 1/2 inches x the width of the sheet.  I simply ironed that piece in half horizontally, sewed raw edges together, and then turned it inside out...basically creating a giant tube.  I ironed it well (the iron is totally your best friend on this project) and then ironed a strip of Heat N' Bond to the top of the stripe.  This helped a TON when it came to attaching the stripes.  It held the stripes in place until I could secure them with my sewing machine.

Once all of the stripes were ironed, I decided on the placement of the stripes.  My stripes start 6 inches from the top and have 1 inch in between stripes.  I peeled the paper off the back of the Heat N' Bond and ironed it in place...being very careful to keep the stripes straight.  I used my acrylic ruler as I was ironing to keep everything lined up.

I ironed the top stripe on, the sewed it down on both the top and bottom of the stripe.  Follow the same steps for the second and third stripe.  Here's a closer view of the stripes:

Now that all of my stripes were sewed, I cut the curtain in half to make 2 panels.  It was SO much easier for me to cut them in half after the stripes were lined up...then I knew for sure that both of my panels would "match" when the curtains were pulled shut.  

If you have thick enough sheets, you could hem up the edges and be done!  I decided to line these curtains to help give them more stability and hopefully give us another hour of sleep by blocking that pesky light!  I followed the awesome tutorial by Miss Mustard Seed found here.

Grayson's curtains are hung by ring clips because he's a 3 1/2 year old boy.  I had visions of him playing Spiderman and climbing the curtains...so ring clips it was.

This project took about 2 1/2 hours total and cost about  $35 (including the sheets and curtain rods...I already had the curtain lining and ring clips on hand).  Totally worth another hour of sleep in the morning and a few nap times a week!

In the interest of full disclosure, I had planned on hemming the curtains after they were hung and I had a chance to see how much they needed to be taken up.  They have been hanging up for a week and a half and that hasn't happened.  Seeing as 3 curtains are hiding behind furniture, I doubt it will happen anytime soon! :)

This was the first set of lined curtains I have made...if I can do it, you can do it!

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