Cream and Chocolate Brown Burlap Wreath

On January 29, 2017January 29, 2017 By ArlynnIn Burlap Wreath4 Comments

My sweet cousin Donita and I were chatting on the phone earlier last week, and in conversation, she asked me to make her a wreath (that she said she’d pay for…uh huh, like I’d ever accept payment from her…haha…the girl had a little brain hiccup when she suggested that obviously…lol). 😉 First of all, here is a picture of me (in the middle), my cousin Stacey (on the right), and our cousin Donita (on the left):

We are 3 of 7 first cousins on our Dads side of the family. I am the “middle” child of the family as Donita is a little bit older and Stacey is a little bit younger than I am…I won’t say how many years going either direction. 😉 Suffice is to say, it is easy for us to remember how old any of us are.

Okay, I digress, back to Donita’s and my conversation. I asked her what she wanted her wreath to look like, and she told me that she has been redoing some of her decor to match some furniture that she just got, her main colors are chocolate brown and cream…Ooooooh, I just love that color combination! Okay, so we know that I had just discovered cream colored burlap when I created Stacey’s Cream on Cream wreath — the one I gave her for Christmas…Here is a picture of how that one turned out:

Donita also like how I arranged the bow and accent pieces on my large Valentine’s Day wreath. Here is a picture of that one:

So for her wreath, I kind of meshed both wreaths together, here are the supplies that you’d need if you want to try to make a wreath like this for yourself:

1-16″ Metal Work Wreath with the Chenille Ties already installed
1-14″x 10 yard skein of Cream (or off-white) Burlap Runner
1-5.5″ x 15′ roll of brown burlap (for a craft bow)
3 Sprigs of brown flowers of your choosing
1 Cream and brown Burlap Sunflower
1 Wooden Cross
Hot glue gun, Scissors, Wire Cutters, & Pipe Cleaners

Here is a picture of the finished wreath:

I have created a YouTube tutorial video showing you how I used that brown burlap to make a craft bow, and then I move on into a wreath tutorial. Here is that link:

Chris will most likely be making me a box so that I can ship this wreath to Donita in the coming days. 🙂 They just don’t make boxes to fit my wreaths…haha…even though this one isn’t as large as some I’ve made, it is still about 24″.

I hope upon hope that Donita loves this wreath, one thing is for sure, I made it with a ton of love in my heart for her!!

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

In crafting there are no mistakes, just unique creations…

~Arlynn ❤

Little & Quick: Valentine’s Day Burlap Wreath

On January 26, 2017January 26, 2017 By ArlynnIn Burlap Wreath, Seasonal Decor6 Comments

Okay, go ahead, call me anal retentive, you’d be smack dab on the money if you did…lol. 😉 All right, so some of you may have seen my blog post about this my Large Cream and Red Burlap Valentine’s Wreath:

I made that wreath to hang on my front door for February…Here is my YouTube Tutorial if you are at all interested btw….

ANYway, I knew that I’d be changing out my Little Red Wagon decor for Valentine’s Day as well, so I decided that I would make a matching baby wreath to go along with that big one to use as an accent piece in the wagon. I’ve made a YouTube video tutorial of me making that little wreath as well, I’ll post a link below, but first, here are the supplies that you’d need if you’d like to try one for yourself–it really is very quick and extremely easy, I promise:

1- 12″ Metal Work Wreath
White Pipe Cleaners (to add to the work wreath)
1 Roll of 9″ x 10 yards of Off-White Burlap
1- Roll of Red Wired Burlap Ribbon
1 Stem of Red Flowers
1 Cream Burlap Flower
5- Valentine Heart and Berry Picks (I got mine from AC Moore)

Here is the finished wreath:

And here is me holding both wreaths together:

And here is how that little wreath looked when I put it into my little red wagon:

And a picture of the front porch done up for Valentine’s Day. **BTW**, I’ve made a brand new Home Tour Series for my YouTube channel–I’ll be writing a separate post and I’ll give you all of those links in there, but, I will stick a link for the one where I show you more of how I decorated the outdoor spaces for Valentine’s Day.

Okie dokie…Now for those links:

Here is the link for this sweet little red and cream burlap wreath:

And here is a link to one of my Home Tour Series videos that show you my other outdoor Valentine’s Day decorations and also tells you about the other outdoor choices that we made when building this home:

Stay tuned for the rest of my Home Tour Series videos as I’ll be writing that little blog soon (you can always find them in my “Country Home Tour Series” playlist on my YouTube channel if you’d like to go and take a peek. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care!!

~Arlynn ❤

Whimsical Summer Wreath: Burlap, Mermaid, Starfish, Metal, & Pip Berries

On June 16, 2016June 16, 2016 By ArlynnIn Wreaths3 Comments

I was at my sweet cousin Stacey’s house a few weeks ago helping her prepare for her son’s Graduation party. She had told me about some of her summer decor before I arrived, but, her words didn’t do her creations justice; I was in awe of how she had redecorated, her home looked amazing. She has used mermaids, sea horses, shells, and all sorts of warm summery accent pieces all around her home, and they inspired me to try and make her a wreath that would blend in nicely with her creations. Let me start by saying that I had made her a burlap summer wreath a couple of years ago and well, it didn’t quite fit in with her new theme (also, my wreath making skills have improved since I made that other one and honestly, I wasn’t happy with it…haha).

Here I am with Stacey (in the middle) and our other wonderful cousin Donita (left) when we were at the Grad party. 🙂

Okie dokie…So first, let me show you the supplies that I collected to make this wreath:

24″ Wreath Form
2 1/2 Skeins of Burlap Runner
1 Roll of Burlap and Polka Dot Ribbon
2 Pip Berry Garlands
Scroll’y’ Accent Piece
2 Metal Starfish
A Large Resin Mermaid
Sea Shells
3 Large Cream Burlap Sunflowers
A Few Small Silk Flower Accents
Hot Glue Gun, Pipe Cleaners, & Floral Wire

Now to explain how I pulled all of those pieces together to make one pretty huge wreath…Here goes:

I attached the burlap to the wreath form by catching big tufts of the burlap into each chenille twist tie…I started on the outside ring and worked my way around, I transitioned to the inner ring and proceeded to work my way in the same way around the entire wreath form. I went through 2 entire skeins and finished up with 1/2 of another skein.

This is how far one skein of burlap runner got me, I wanted this wreath to look like it was large and in charge, so my loops were quite big.

When I finished with one skein and started with a new roll, I simply started literally where I left off; I added the burlap right on top of where I had just finished and continued tufting on around. I completed the entire outer ring finishing by again adding the last tuft right into the the same chenille tie as where I started, then the next tuft was in the inner ring. I continued to add until I had completely finished both rings.

The next thing that I did…Well, honestly, my hubby helped me with this part…I flipped the wreath over and centered the scroll’y’ accent piece (got it for half price at Hobby Lobby)…

And my hubby attached it to the wreath form using floral wire…By the time he was finished, that scroll’y’ piece was rock steady.

Now, I paused for a second and took some time to hot glue some pipe cleaners onto the back of the mermaid:

The metal Starfish:

And onto several Coral Starfish Shells:

Then I took a moment to create one pretty huge bow out of the burlap and polka dotted ribbon (BTW, I have created a video of me doing a bow tutorial, if you’d like to try to make a bow for yourself, click here) I used the entire roll to make this bow:

My daughter mentioned that the tails of the bow actually matched the mermaid’s tail…I told her that that was by design <~~~ I fibbed…LOL…I always cut my bow tails that way, it just so happens that my bow tails look like a mermaid tail–who knew? 😉 😉

Next, I started to add the pip berry garland to the outer ring (only) catching it in each chenille twist tie. I worked my way around the entire wreath form–I used 2 garlands and I only had about 3 inches of length left. Here is where I purchased this Light Teal and Vanilla Cream Berry Garland.

Now, I was ready to start placing and adding all of my accent pieces. Of course I used the glued on pipe cleaners to attach the mermaid, metal starfish, and coral starfish. I also used hot glue to anchor them in place. I can’t really explain I how pull a wreath together, it is just a trial and error sort of approach. I’ll place an item, stand back and look and decide if I like it there or if I want to move it. I do this with each accent piece and eventually it all comes together and when I’m satisfied with how it looks, I anchor everything down with hot glue (well honestly, I don’t *always* use hot glue–I’d rather not really, but, with wreaths this size, I often need to add the hot glue to give it more stability). Sometimes this entire process happens quickly & and sometimes I will tweak for hours…haha…I really wanted this wreath to be special for Stacey, so I will admit that I did a bit of tweaking for a good amount of time. 🙂

By being able to see Stacey’s home decor in person, it made this wreath easy to create. I ‘felt’ her house while I was there, it was warm, cozy, and whimsical in places–I *think* I managed to create the same ‘feel’ with this wreath…Here is the finished product–It measures every bit of 32+” around:

Stacey squealed when she saw it…hahaha…Bless her heart, I just love that girl to pieces!! And this is where she hung it when she got it back to her gorgeous home–I LOVE it here, and I am reallllly happy to see that those sunflowers, creamy pip berry beads, and the coral starfish match that frame around that beautiful mirror…gosh, how pretty does that combination look?!! YAY!! 🙂 GREAT place to display that wreath Stacey!! You go girl!!

I cannot tell you how special my entire family is to me–I would do ANYTHING for them, and this particular wreath was made with tons of love and with Stacey on my mind while creating it. ❤

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

~Arlynn ❤

Burlap & Birdhouse Wreath & Room Decor (Soft Green and Cream)

On May 31, 2016June 2, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas, Wreaths4 Comments

As y’all know, our living and dining rooms sit on the front of our home <link to home tour> and are separated by our foyer & front door. I have found that I really enjoy putting a wreath on the inside of the door. I have a pretty large foyer and that wreath helps to carry the decor theme from one room to the next. I use a pretty green color–I see it everywhere–along with cream & burlap as my accent colors in those rooms. These colors lend themselves to a soft, pretty, warm and cozy design that I have fallen in love with since moving into this house. Also, using these softer colors while incorporating my other favorite design accents into these rooms presents me with a bit of a challenge being that they are not necessarily your typical country themed colors. In this post, I will highlight a wreath that I made while on a ladies craft day last March; I made it especially to hang on the back of my front door. I will also show you some other soft country design elements and techniques like I’ve used in my family room/kitchen area (that are decorated in the more typical country colors of burgundy, green, blue, etc…) and carried into these softer hued rooms.

Okie dokie…So, first, let me list some of my very favorite accent pieces that I usually will use to augment my decor:

Pip Berries (picks and garlands)
Lanterns
Burlap
Gerber Daisies
Dickens Houses
Candles
Family Pictures
Rod-Iron Accent Pieces

As you will see, I’ve tried my best to try and incorporate some of my favorite things into my room designs and into that huge wreath on the door. Speaking of the wreath, let me describe how I made that real quick…

Here are the supplies that you’d need if you wanted to try to make this wreath, also here is a link showing you a bit more detailed directions as to how to make a burlap wreath:

24″ Work Wreath
2 Skeins of Burlap ‘Runner’
Pip Berry Garland
Accent burlap ribbon (or whatever accent you might want to use)
Wooden Birdhouse
Resin Flowers
Burlap Daisies
Rod Iron Flower & Accent flowers
Floral wire

The first thing that I did was to glue pipe cleaners onto the back of the birdhouse and the wooden daisies:

And the Birdhouse:

Then I added the burlap to the work wreath:

Next I turned the wreath over and attached the rod-iron flower using floral wire:

Then it was time to make it pretty, so I went about adding the pip berry garland simply by adding it in on top of the burlap, attaching it into each outer ring’s pipe cleaner…

Then I added the bow, birdhouse, all of the daisies and other accent flowers…

And here is the finished wreath:

Here I am at Karen’s house in the middle holding the wreath, I’m flanked by my sweet friends Karen and Katrina who worked on their lovely crafts on that nice day:

Here are a few more pictures of that wreath in place:

And of course, the pups always love to pose prettily for a picture–Left to Right–Gracie the Golden, and the Newfoundlands, Sophie and Samson. ❤

Here are some pictures of some of the other wreaths that I’ve made to go on that door at different times of the year:

And now to show you how these rooms are pulled together using that pretty green color, cream, and burlap. I’ll start in the dining room with the tablecloth, lantern centerpiece, flanked by rod-iron candle holders and green candles. OH I also made that wreath hanging on the wall between the windows…

The table runner on my Sideboard matches the tablecloth. I also was really happy when I found those sconces that are on either side of the mirror at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 price:

And then a few decor elements in the living room:

If you’d like to read more about these rooms, here is a link to my Living & Dining Rooms blog post describing them in more detail (like where we got those rugs from, and more about the living room furniture, that lamp on the side board, etc…<here is a link>.

I’ll tell y’all, I’ll just go into those rooms and drink in the softness of the design…I love it, truly. It calms my very soul. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

And remember!

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

Pick A Theme & Carry It From Room To Room

On March 23, 2016March 25, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas4 Comments

I’ve spent a ton of time here in my Blog showing you how I transition from one Season/Holiday to the next via my decor. But, I have not shown you how I came up with my generic/every-day decor and how I made it work through-out our home. When we were building our new retirement home…

I spent the months that it was being built trying like heck to figure out how I was going to decorate. In my other home, I admittedly went a smidge overboard with my decor–in other words, I filled every single wall/corner/shelf that was blank and available. Don’t get me wrong, I think I did a good job, I just think I didn’t need to do quite as much…less is more and all of that you know?! 😉 SO, I knew that I loved “country” decor, but not the primitive everything looks really old kind of country–I do love that look too, but, I didn’t think it would be appropriate for this home. Okay, so I was getting frustrated trying to hone in on exactly where to start, after all, I was going to have to recreate the wheel so to speak–start from scratch–pull my hair out and…well you get my drift. One day, I finally sat myself down and listed the things that I love and things that I’d used throughout my many years of decorating that always turned out nicely. My list included:

Pip berries (garlands and picks),
Lanterns
Gerber daisies
Fleur-de-lis
Baskets
Willow Tree Figurines
Dickens Houses
Wooden Plates
Mini-lights

That was rather an eclectic little list I had going, but, as you’ll see, my “theme” became all of those things rolled into one cohesive design that has worked out beautifully in this home. I will highlight the back part of our home in this entry where I’ve used burgundy, khaki, & cream as my major color scheme. The staircase separates the family room/kitchen/eating area from the living and dining rooms that sit on the front of our home. I’ll do a separate post describing those rooms at another time; I use khakis and creams in there as well, but my main accent color in those rooms is a soft green.

Instead of explaining each and every decor element, I think I will just show you some pictures and give you links to my blog entries that will show you how I put certain things together.

Let’s start out with the kitchen, as you can see by the pictures below, I incorporated lanterns, baskets, wooden plates, and dickens houses among other things to create the Above The Kitchen Cabinet Decor…

I love to work with those kitchen windows; I’ve incorporated wooden plates, gerber daisies (wooden and silk), pip berry picks…Here is my The Ever Changing Kitchen Window Decor post:

Moving on into the family room area, our staircase is such a focal point, and my daughter actually gave me the idea to hang pip berry garland wrapped in white lights onto the railing. Talk about warming up a large space, adding that lit garland and then making bows to go at the swag points has become one of my favorite design elements in the house (we do switch it out for Christmas with pine garland); the entire idea started by me using burlap and swagging it onto the staircase). Here is a link describing all of the different ways in which I’ve switched up the Staircase Railing…My most recent design is pictured below…

I made all of those bows, and then I made a swag our of pip berry picks and gerber daisies to attach to the bullnose…

The fireplace is another focal point; I typically decorate the mantel and hearth. I have utilized, a pip berry garland, dickens houses, willow tree figurines, wooden plates, and a few other accent pieces to pull it all together.

I made the wreath that is hanging on the mirror above the mantel…If you’d like to try one for yourself, here is a link as to how I created it…

Creating Cozy Corners is another little design trick that I’ve honed over the years…I implemented my little trick on either side of the hearth as shown above, and also in the corners on either side of the credenza as shown below…

As seen in the picture above, I have found that adding Rod-Iron Scroll’y’ Pieces and Accent Lighting to my space helps to pull everything together nicely…

Lanterns are some of my most favorite things with which to work…I use them to create table centerpieces and have them scattered about throughout our home…

I found that flour-de-lis candle holder in Hobby Lobby and I used it much like I do my lanterns…

Here is the Powder room, I have tried to decorate it in much the same way as I did the kitchen and family room areas as it is close by. I just made this wreath right after Christmas, I tried to pull in all elements of my decor, i.e. gerber daisies, rod-iron (owls), pip berries (I used a pip berry garland)…OH goodness, why don’t I just give you a link, here is how I made that Burlap, Pip Berry, & Rod-Iron Wreath. 🙂

Lastly, one other way that I pull all of my decor together is my incorporating some of the same accent elements into my little flower arrangements, for this decor theme, I’ve used pip berries, gerber daisies, and that same burlap ribbon that I used to make the staircase bows.

I made these little arrangements for the kitchen window decor:

I made this basket arrangement to sit up on a shelf in the family room:

And one more, I made this arrangement to sit on a table in the family room:

My goal is to always create a warm, cozy, & welcoming space and I think I’ve accomplished that goal nicely–I sure stressed for a long time while trying to pull it all together in my head though. It wasn’t until I got moved into this home and started to work with the different spaces that it finally all came together into one cohesive design. I hope that I’ve helped to maybe give you an idea of how to incorporate your favorite things into your home decor and in turn how to make one cohesive design–You can do it, all you need to do is to start compiling a list of the things that you love. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

~Arlynn ❤

Lady Friends Craft Day: Crocheting, Embroidering, and Burlap Wreath Creating

On March 4, 2016March 14, 2017 By ArlynnIn Special Occasions, WreathsLeave a comment

Lady friends <~~~ I am one very lucky and blessed lady to have these 2 lady friends in my life. We’ve been friends for a long, long time now; all of our kids went through high school marching band together and we three along with many other wonderful volunteers worked diligently and tirelessly for the Band Parents Association. Oh the memories that those years evoke…<sigh>… Let me introduce these two lovelies to you; Karen is on the left of this picture and she was our hostess for this craft day, and Katrina (Trina for short) is on the right, and I’m in the middle.

The one thing about time is that it marches on, all of our kids are now out in this big world of ours and they are all thriving and doing well. The three of us try our best to get together and continue on with a tradition that we started years ago called “Craft Day”. We all *used* to be avid Scrapbookers, and in years past that is usually what we did for our “craft” on Craft Day, but, we’ve kind of moved away from Scrapbooking and are honing our skills in other craft forms. These two ladies are very talented and can craft in many different arenas–and dare I say, I might be able to do so as well. 😉 Regardless, when we get together now-a-days, we bring with us whatever craft we’re working on at that moment in time. For yesterday’s Craft Day, Karen was crocheting, Trina was embroidering, and I made a large wreath for the inside of my front door.

The first thing one must do before one begins crafting is of course EAT lunch. 😉 And as the sweet Southern women that we are, Trina and I brought something to share. Karen provided the YUMMY chicken wraps…my gosh they were good. This is what she did to prepare them. She cooked up a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a couple of bay leaves in her crock pot. After a couple of hours, she shredded up the chicken and mixed in this luscious caesar salad dressing…

…and set out shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, and wraps for us to create our own tasty wrap. 🙂

I had brought my Fruit Salad to pair with the wraps…I did want to let you know that I added some grapes to the recipe that you’ll find in that link (need to update that actually).

And Trina brought all of the ingredients and made us dessert…Boy oh boy was it ever tasty!! NOT so wonderful for our diets, BUT, who doesn’t splurge once in a while…I know I sure do! 🙂 Here is what Trina made:

Okay, so now that our bellies were full, let me show you what we were working on as we wiled away the afternoon hours chatting and enjoying each other’s company…

Trina was embroidering, she is in the process of working on about 13 different ‘squares’ that will all be combined into a quilt that she is creating…wow, wow, wow!! She called it “Redwork” that can be stitched in any color. She told me that she is using a variegated blue DMC floss and doing a backstitch. You should see this lady work her magic! She is a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!! This talented lady has made some of the most gorgeous quilts that I’ve ever seen, she has a gift that is unsurpassed!

That is going to be one awesome quilt!

Here is an example of what the final quilt will eventually look like:

Karen was crocheting, let me tell you a little bit about what Karen does for others, she has such a giving heart and works diligently to improve others lives, she is a very special spirit! She crochets for two different groups, one is her church group and it is called the “Prayer Shawl Ministry”. Here is an example of some of the things that she makes for them…some things include blankets and little hats for premature babies at local hospitals…well, let me show you what she showed me that she works on for this wonderful ministry:

Here are a couple of things that she is working on right now…A little washcloth (or this can also be used for a preemie’s blanket…bless their little hearts… ❤ (It was about a 8″ square…)

And here is a lovely blanket that she has started as well (she has one of the prettiest crocheting stitches that I’ve ever seen):

Karen also helps with the “Hand’s Up” ministry, here is a link to their Facebook page if you are interested in seeing what wonderful things they do for the community. Karen has been making winter toboggan hats for the homeless–in sports team colors. Here is an example of all of the hats that she has finished…this is her second batch, I believe she told me that she has already made 20 and they’ve all been given out already. 🙂

OH so many wonderful things that this lady does for her community!! Such a loving, giving, heart…WTG Karen, you are touching so many lives!

As for me, well, I created a wreath for the inside of my front door. I will not bore you with every detail here in this post, but, if you’d like to see how I create this type of burlap wreath (with a rod-iron scrolly piece and pip berry garlands), here is a link describing the process…

Here is a list of the supplies that I gathered for this wreath:

24″ Work Wreath
One Wrought-Iron circular piece
1-1/2 Rolls Burlap Runner
2 Pip Berry Garlands (purchased from the Pip Berry Barn)
1 Bolt of Burlap and White Polka-Dotted Ribbon
A Wooden Birdhouse
3 Wooden Daisies
3 Cream Burlap Daisies
Small bunches of green and cream silky flowers

I did a little preparing before I left to go to Karen’s house as this process can take a little while–not to mention a little bit of concentration…here is what I completed and then put into my trunk to take with me to her house:

The first thing I did was to attach the burlap to the wreath form…

Then I used floral wire and attached the wrought-iron scrolly piece to the form being careful to center it…(on the back side of the form)…This is what I had completed and carried with me to Karen’s house…I gathered up the rest of my supplies…In addition, I hot glued pipe cleaners to the backs of the bird house and wooden daisies…

Then I packed all of that stuff up readying for transport. I finished putting the wreath together at Karen’s house starting with attaching the pip berry garland to the outer ring’s pipe cleaners–I added the garland right on top of the burlap

Then I made a bow and attached all of the rest of the decorative pieces where I thought they looked nice:

Here are the three of us holding our crafts for the day:

Here I am holding Karen’s precious little Gretchen…What a sweetie pie she is!!!

We felt like we had a pretty productive day! It was getting late in the afternoon and Trina and I knew that we had to head on out to our own homes (quite a distance away), so HUGS were given all around, and we talked about setting a date for us to get together with our spouses in the coming weeks–all 6 of us will go out to dinner very soon….What a wonderful day we had!!!

***THANK you Karen for opening your home and welcoming us with your sweet outstretched arms!!! ❤ ***

After I got home, I carried in my wreath (which ended up to be quite heavy by the way…haha) and hung it on the back of my front door…Here it is in place:

And here it how it looks in the light of day…

I must say one more time how very blessed I feel to have these two lovely ladies in my life…still after all of these years. Lasting and endearing friendships are the very best kind and they should always be nurtured and well cared for. There is one lady that used to join us for our Craft Days but has moved away now; we miss her terribly! Kathy if you’re reading this…MWAH ❤ . I so wish that she still lived around here so that she could join us once again…<sigh>, maybe one day. ❤

Anyway, I will close for now–Not sure what I’ll be posting next as we are fixin’ to go on an Hawaiian cruise at the beginning of April so I’m deep into “planning mode” for that trip…haha. 😉 I plan on blogging that trip though for my “Vacation” category (AND I’m so grateful to our daughter who will be house/pup sitting while we’re away…)…***Thank you Christin!!!***

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes, just unique creations**

~Arlynn

Easter & Springtime Transitions

On February 22, 2016February 22, 2016 By ArlynnIn Transitioning Seasonal Decor2 Comments

“Lazy” is not a word that is *ever* used to describe me, “procrastinator” is not either, but, this year, the thought of switching my decor around for Easter and then Springtime has evoked both of those words into my swirling brain. My hubby and I are leaving for a Hawaiian cruise in April and well, I’d have to decorate for Easter then tweak said decor for Springtime all before we left. NOT interested in doing that in any way, shape, or form, not to mention the fact that I am quite enjoying the redecorating that I did after Christmas, truly, I’m loving it ‘as-is’. SO, I will show you what I did for Easter/Springtime last year. 🙂

The first thing that I did last February was to create a new Easter wreath:

I will not bore you with the details as to how I made this wreath, but if you’d like to know the basic process by which I create a burlap wreath, click here and that will take you to one of my burlap wreath entries with a bit of a tutorial included. 🙂

When I made this wreath, I wasn’t sure where it would end up, as you’ll see in this post, it made it’s way from here to there until it landed on it’s final resting place through Easter. 🙂

This is the very first place that I place it:

It didn’t take me long to move it to another location, it was way too bright (for lack of a better descriptive word) for the fireplace space. So I moved it to my dining room and I made a lantern centerpiece to match…

Here is a closer look at the centerpiece…

Again, I will not bore you with all of the details as to how I put this centerpiece together, but, if you’d like to do one for yourself, click here for some more detailed instructions. I was really happy with how this turned out; so airy and whimsical, it sure brightened up that room.

Next, I moved to the family room and to the hearth and mantel…

This decor lends itself to more of a country feel and I honestly didn’t remove any of my everyday accent pieces, I simply moved things around to accommodate a few bunnies (ceramic, wooden, stuffed, and muslin), an easter egg garland, and I made a bow or two to match…

Next, I moved over to the kitchen table…

I had never purchased “Spring” dishes before in my life. But, last year I found these plates at Home Goods for $5 a piece, the tablecloth for $15 (60×104), and the napkins for $5 for 8…awesome prices. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up some flowers (to redo the lantern centerpiece to match the tablecloth and napkins) all of which were 50% off that week. Oh yes indeed, I made out like a bandit. I also made the little napkin rings…easy peezy, I just tied a ribbon around the napkin and hot glued sweet little silk flowers to the tails of the bow.

After Easter, the tablecloth remained on the table for the month of April and I replaced the “Happy Easter” sign in the centerpiece with some pretty metal birdies and some wooden daisies…

Okay, so the inside was tweaked for Easter and a wee bit for Springtime (although honestly, my basic decor doesn’t change all that much for Spring except for that all of the gerber daisies that I have scattered about starting at right after Christmas finally come into Season…haha). 😉 I DO love me some gerber daisies!! 😉

ANY hoot, I digress, I set my sites on the outdoors…The first thing that I did was make a pretty Spring deco mesh wreath to hang on our light post. Again, I’ll not bore you here with the ‘how-to’ details, but if you’d like to see how I put my deco mesh wreaths together, click here… These are the materials that I gathered up for this particular deco mesh wreath:

And here is what I created:

I also replaced the decorative flag to match that wreath.

Next, I decided that I wanted to add a little Easter’y’ somethin’ somethin’ to the front porch. So, I grabbed that wreath off of my dining room wall (replaced it with a picture) and grabbed up some crates from my basement and utilized my grandmothers milk can that is always sitting out there and created this little “cozy corner”. (If you would like to see my basic instructions for cozy corners, click here). Here is what I came up with, that wreath had found it’s final resting place…;) …

I did this before I purchased my little red wagon. Click there if you’d like to see my little red wagon and how I switch the decor out to match the Season. That little wagon will be an awesome tool when I go to decorate for Spring *next* year. 🙂

Last but not least, I redecorated my mailbox utilizing the same basic idea that I describe in my Seasonal Mailbox Decor post.

As you can see, we didn’t have our driveway paved last Spring, that big project happened this past summer. 🙂

Here is the house with the driveway paved…

I’m a little bit sad that I won’t be switching things out for Easter/Springtime this year, but, some years are just busier than others, and this year we have other things happening. Thankfully, our daughter will be staying here while we are away watching the house and the pups…I’m sure they won’t mind that the decor is going to be staying in the more generic realm. 😉

Until next time, y’all take good care!! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes, just unique creations**

~Arlynn ❤

Burlap, Pip Berry, and Owl Wreath

On January 12, 2016June 14, 2017 By ArlynnIn Wreaths1 Comment

It has become obvious that I have a real affinity for adding owls to my wreaths…after all they are cute little creatures. 🙂 Here are the wreaths that I’ve made in the last year that I’ve adorned with an owl…or two… 😉

Of course, I don’t have all of these hanging up at one time, and the one on the bottom right was given as a gift to a dear friend. BUT, as you can see, owls are often my choice with which to build an entire wreath. 🙂

That said, I did not surprise myself when I picked up these two wrought-iron *looking* owls (they are really resin, still pretty heavy though) and started formulating a plan for a wreath that I wanted to make for my powder room.

Here are the other supplies that I collected so that I could bring the wreath that was in my mind’s eye to fruition:

Work Wreath (90% off at Hobby Lobby)
Burlap ‘Runner’ (1 – 1/2 Skein)
Pip Berry Runner
5″ Burlap Ribbon (for a bow)
Burgundy and Khaki colored daisies
Sparkly Butterflies

The first thing that I did was to hot glue pipe cleaners onto the back of those owls…they were pretty heavy and pretty big so I knew that glueing them onto the wreath was not going to be an option, the pipe cleaners provide a nice sturdy way with which to attach the owls to the wreath…

The next thing that I did was to make a bow out of the burlap ribbon…This was not wired ribbon, but it sure did make up into a pretty bow. I just taught myself how to make this kind of bow at Christmas time, check out this link to see how I learned: Big Beautiful (Christmas) Bows…

I then started to build my wreath; so as not to bore you with the “how-to” details here, if you’d like to know how I put my burlap wreaths together here is a link to my Front Door Burlap Wreaths post, in there I describe my process…

As you see in the pictures of the wreaths that I’ve made, I usually will attach a contrasting colored burlap or ribbon to the wreath to add interest. But, I did a little something different with this wreath in that instead of a contrasting burlap or ribbon, I used a pip berry garland. I attached the garland to each of chenille pipe cleaners on the outer ring of the wreath (I just added it right on top of the burlap that I had already attached)…

After that, I tied the bow onto one side of the wreath and the owls onto the other side and I placed the flowers and butterflies where I thought they looked nice and hot glued them in place. I took a moment to fluff out the pip berries and the burlap. I pulled one of the bow tails up and around the top and caught it in a couple of pip berry twigs and I did the same thing under the bow and around the bottom of the wreath; I cut the tails of the ribbon into an inverted ‘v’.

In the end, this is what I came up with:

And here it is hung up in its spot in the Powder Room:

I truly do love the creative process and am very happy with how this wreath turned out. It fills up that wall nicely and it will be a lovely every-day wreath. It will most likely hang there until next Fall.

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes, only unique creations**

~Arlynn ❤

Transitioning: Living & Dining Rooms

On January 5, 2016January 5, 2016 By ArlynnIn Transitioning Seasonal Decor2 Comments

Now that the decor in the back of the house including the staircase was completely transitioned over to my every-day decor, it was time to tackle the two rooms that sit on the front of our home, the living and dining rooms that are separated by a foyer. I was able to complete these rooms in one day.

The first thing that I did was to change out the dining room table’s tablecloth and the sideboard’s table runner. I was thrilled that I found a matching set last Spring (I found the tablecloth at Home Goods and the table runner at World Market). 🙂

I love the paisley pattern, it pulls in all colors that are in the room and highlights the green color that I use in most of my accents; they couldn’t be more perfect. 🙂

The first thing that I decorated was the sideboard, I started with that pretty lamp…

**A bit of a back story on the lamp, it was my Grandmother’s and she passed it down to my Mom who cherished it for many years. My Mom, bless her heart, passed away a few years ago and now the lamp belongs to me and I will cherish it for the rest of my time on this earth. It is a very special family heirloom**

That said, I placed the lamp on a mirrored tray and I built a flower arrangement around the lamp, much like I do with my lantern centerpieces.

As you can see, I also added a strand of timed battery operated mini warm white lights…Here is a better look at it in the evening hours:

I added some family pictures, a lovely bowl displayed on a plate holder that my aunt and uncle got us as a housewarming gift, and I threw together a little flower arrangement in a mason jar to match the arrangement around the lamp:

Then I moved on to a lantern centerpiece that I would place on the dining room table. I won’t go into great detail as to how I put it together here, but if you’d like to know more about the ins and outs of creating a lantern centerpiece, check out my A Dressier Lantern Centerpiece post.

That said, there is one thing that I want to tell you about before showing you pictures of the completed centerpiece. I found these LED bendy branch lights at Michaels and I just couldn’t pass them up. They glow a blueish green color and look beautiful lit up in the evening hours. 🙂

Here are the lights that I purchased (if you search for these, please be careful to make sure that the the branches bend, they do sell ones where the branches are stiff and those of course wouldn’t work in a flower arrangement):

I decided to use one of my Luminara battery operated candles in this lantern, it came with a remote control, but, actually I have set the timer on the candle itself, it comes on in the evening and stays on for 5 hours…

Here is the finished centerpiece:

And in the evening with those pretty bluish lights on:

Then I moved to the foyer, I simply replaced the Burlap Snowman Wreath with this one:

If you’d like to know how I put this wreath together, check out my blog post entitled Front Door Burlap Wreaths:

Here is my ever vigilant helper Samson the Newfoundland, this boy is never too far from my side, he is great company and I just adore this fella!!

And here are all three of our pups, the Newfoundlands Sophie and Samson and the Golden Gracie. ❤ ❤ ❤

I finished my decorating by moving to the living room and placing just a few accent pieces and pictures on my secretary and on a glass table grouping. I also redid the lantern centerpiece on our little coffee table:

Here is a look at the finished rooms:

And with that, I had completely transitioned all of my indoor decor from Christmas back to my every-day theme. I do love Christmas but, I will admit that I was quite happy to get everything back to normal. 🙂

I have one more post to do in this little block of entries and that is one describing what I did outside…and that wasn’t all that much honestly, but, it did include redoing my little red wagon decor…

There it is from a distance:

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

~Arlynn ❤

Burlap, Pip Berry, & Rod Iron Wreath

On December 30, 2015January 10, 2016 By ArlynnIn Transitioning Seasonal Decor, Wreaths3 Comments

I bet the title of this little entry was a bit confusing, who in the world uses rod iron as an accent piece in a wreath? Well, I have found that I do…haha. 😉 Seriously, my three main decor accents in the family room of my home are burlap, pip berries, and rod iron (as in scrolly pieces that I have scattered about on the walls). I have decided to create a new category entitled “Transitioning Seasonal Decor” and this is my first post in that new category. That said, I am in the process of transitioning my decor from Christmas to a more neutral decor theme that will take me through the winter months and in some cases beyond. I do this sort of thing a few times a year, so I thought a special category was in order to capture the transitions.

ANYway, I started taking down all of the Christmas decorations the other day; it takes me quite a while to get everything down and packed away–I will say that I’ve been quite organized in my packing this year taking time to label boxes and bins carefully…go me. 😉 ANYway, I realized that I wanted to make a wreath to replace this wreath that I had hanging on the mirror for Christmas:

I decided that I wanted to make a large wreath, one that would include some of those accent pieces that I mentioned above. So here is what I gathered:

24″ Work Wreath
2 Skeins of Burlap Runner (15′ x 18″)
Pip Berry Garland (1-6’garland plus a little more)
Burlap Ribbon (for a bow)
One rod iron circular piece
3 fleur-de-lis pieces
Silk daisies in burgundy and dark cream
Sparkly butterflies

If you’d like to see how I put the burlap on the wreath form, check out my post here.

It was time to attach the pip berry garland, so I simply used the wreath’s twist ties…I only attached it to the outer ring.

Next, I added the accent pieces, first I made a bow out of a new burlap ribbon that I found online at The Paper Mart…

Then I attached the fleur-de-lis and the rod iron piece, I used floral wire to attach both things to the wreath form…

Then I hot glued the daisies where I thought they looked nice and called it done. 🙂

And then the hubby was sweet enough to climb up that huge ladder and hang it on the mirror…

And there it is in its final resting place, I doubt if I will change it out until next Fall. The accent pieces will pair nicely with whatever little changes I make in the coming months.

There it is from a distance, as you can see, it is a huge wreath, it measures about 32″ across…

And check out my poor mantel and hearth, they are quite barren at the moment; it is not often that they are like that, but, as you can see, I change out most of my decor for Christmas. Whew, I’ve got my work cut out for me in the coming days…stay tuned. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes, just unique creations**

~Arlynn ❤

⚜️ Arlynn's Country Craft Corner ⚜️

Tag: burlap wreath

Cream and Chocolate Brown Burlap Wreath

Little & Quick: Valentine’s Day Burlap Wreath

Whimsical Summer Wreath: Burlap, Mermaid, Starfish, Metal, & Pip Berries

Burlap & Birdhouse Wreath & Room Decor (Soft Green and Cream)

Pick A Theme & Carry It From Room To Room

Lady Friends Craft Day: Crocheting, Embroidering, and Burlap Wreath Creating

Easter & Springtime Transitions

Burlap, Pip Berry, and Owl Wreath

Transitioning: Living & Dining Rooms

Burlap, Pip Berry, & Rod Iron Wreath

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