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**

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 ❤

My Little Red Wagon Decor

On September 19, 2015December 7, 2015 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas6 Comments

Hi Y’all!

As is quite often the case, I tend to stumble upon the best country craft decor items when I’m not really searching for them. This red wagon was one such item and I found it at our local Plow and Hearth Outlet. Trust me, it took me about 10 seconds to decide to shell out the $$ for this. And yes, to let you know, it was a little pricey, <sigh>, it cost a bit over $100, but it was well worth the cost as I will utilize it greatly as each Season passes for many years to come.

To say that the creative juices started to flow when I laid my eyes on this beauty is an understatement. I knew that this awesome find would take permanent residence on our front porch and it would become one of my “staple” (my word for an item that remains in place as an anchor piece within or on which I build Seasonal decor) pieces moving forward in time.

It didn’t take me long to get this sweet little wagon out onto my front porch and decorated up for the winter months. Notice the gerber daisies, I swear I use those puppies all through the year because I love them so much. 😉 Regardless, I did utilize my grandmother’s milk can by placing a wooden crate on top of it to help me add a bit of height and structure to my grouping. (You can see a milk can on the left side of the front door in the picture below–the one behind the wagon looks exactly like that one) I also placed another wooden crate on the back corner edge of the wagon, again to help with height and to add interest and depth to the final decor. Those crates and that milk jug have become staples for each and every wagon grouping that I’ve created so far. Knowing me though, I will eventually use different staple items to change up future groupings within the wagon, but for now, I’m quite happy with the diversity that the milk jug and crates provide while bringing all of the finalized creations to fruition.

As far as the grouping inside and around the wagon goes, I truly just gathered a bunch of stuff out of bins that hold all of my extra generic country decorating items, hauled them all out to the wagon and started placing them in the wagon and on and in the crates. I placed the red and white plaid throw blanket first, then the wreath and bear which is sitting on a little red stool, and then I added the other items. A couple of lanterns (one of which is solar and I have a battery operated candle in the other one) rounded out this grouping. Oh, one more thing, there is a battery operated candle sitting on the large burgundy candle stick that is sitting on the crate and in front of the big star.

**A little note**– I did make that burlap wreath that I placed in the wagon. I had some ribbon left over from making the front door wreath so I decided to make one to match to use in the wagon. Here is a close-up of that wreath:

Patriotic decorations are some of my very favorite items with which to utilize. And there are times of the year that I will pull out the patriotic decor just to have something different to gaze upon.

I decorated the front of our home with a patriotic theme starting on Memorial Day and I left it up until after the 4 of July. The first thing I did was to make a new burlap wreath.

After the wreath was completed, I used some of the left-over chevron and burlap ribbon and added it along with flags, stars, hearts, and red, white, and blue flowers to create the wagon decor. **And yes, I did indeed mix checks and stripes…;) 😉 **

I think I should let y’all know that I am forever taking pictures of my pups and this day was no exception. I brought all three of them out front and clicked off a few pictures of them in front of the decorated porch. They were so good, and they actually obeyed me when I told them to “stay”! Yippee skippee!! 😉 Here is just one of the photos I clicked off of Sophie, Samson, & Gracie. ❤ ~~~>

To finish the off the front porch, we added a patriotic bunting to the porch overhang. Notice I said “we” ^^^, I should have said “my hubby” as I do not climb up very tall ladders no matter how badly I want something placed somewhere..haha. Thank goodness, my hubby is willing to take care of such precarious tasks. 😉

Here is a shot of the house decked out in its patriotic garb right at dusk:

Between Seasons Decor:

What did I do when I found myself between Seasons (after Labor Day but before Fall decorations go up) and I was itching for a change of decor for out on the front porch? Well, to start with, I decided to make yet another wreath, there it is on the door behind Samson and me.

I then decorated the wagon with some more generic feeling items using the left-over wreath ribbon as an accent. This decor held me over until it was time to decorate for Fall…

Fall!

The first thing I did was to start digging through my old Fall accent pieces. I found that throw, and I had made that wreath last year, so those were two of the first things that I placed in the wagon, and then I added scarecrows, a fall leaf garland, some pumpkins, a couple of scarecrows, and a picture/plaque with a Fall theme depicted. Then I added that “Welcome” pumpkin plaque on the ground in front of the wagon and it was done, done, and done. 🙂

I found that large “Count Your Blessings” fence plaque (sitting on the left of the front door) in Hobby Lobby for 40% off. I made a new burlap wreath to finish everything off and it all came together quite nicely.

The pups and I took advantage of another photo opportunity…haha…They are such sweet, loving puppy doggies! ❤

Here are a couple of pictures of the Fall adorned house at dusk.

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As y’all can see, I have already utilized the little red wagon in 4 different ways for 4 different Seasons so to speak. I can’t wait to decorate it for Christmas! The creative wheels are already turning as I contemplate what might end up in there to celebrate that glorious Season! 🙂 The possibilities are endless…

Fast forward 3 months…

AND I finally got to decorate my little red wagon up for Christmas! YaY!! Here are some pictures, and here is a link to show you how I arranged it and the other Outdoor Christmas Decor:

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

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

A Lantern Centerpiece For All Seasons

On September 17, 2015December 9, 2015 By ArlynnIn Lanterns11 Comments

I cannot express to y’all just how much I love lanterns; they provide a wonderful basic piece with which to create so many pretty groupings. I use them to accent my decor inside and outside as well. I felt so fortunate when I stumbled upon the lantern that I will be highlighting in this post; actually I own two of the exact same lanterns and I purchased them in two different local craft stores, unfortunately, I cannot find these lanterns anywhere online or I’d leave y’all a link…my sincere apologies… <sigh>. I buy my share of lanterns in places like Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, and Michaels, all three stores usually have a wonderful selection and I can almost always find one on sale. I use them in several different ways; some for centerpieces, some for accents in groupings, and some for side or accent tabletop decor. For the purposes of this post, I am going to focus on this one type of lantern and show you how I use it to create my kitchen table centerpieces.

I will start with the very first lantern centerpiece that I created; last January. In addition to the lantern, I’ve used a metal mirrored tray, and a black candle holder as the anchors of every one of the centerpieces. Here is the lantern, (it is metal btw), I’ve measured it for you so that you can see that it is quite large, I love to have a big centerpiece on my kitchen table, I’ve also measured the tray for you:

The first thing that I did was to place the candle holder and a battery operated candle inside of the lantern, then I started to build the surrounding decor. I realize that gerber daisies are more of a Spring flower, but I love them so much and I found some made out of burlap, so I went ahead and used them along with a few burgundy and gold ones, and I added a resin cream colored daisy at each corner as well. I nestled all of the accent pieces in a bed of pip berries–I used a pip berries garland that matches my stair decor highlighted in my Staircase Railing Ideas blog post. OH, btw, I did cut a section of pip berries off of the garland and I wrapped it around the candle holder inside of the lantern before I started to create the surrounding decor. (I plan to give you a basic step by step “how-to” below):

That centerpiece stayed up through the winter months until it was time to switch out the centerpiece accents to match my Easter decorations. Here is what I came up with:

As you can see, I used the very same lantern, tray, and candle holder…and I actually did use the same pip berries garland as well. I changed out the battery operated candle and the flowers. I purchased the tablecloth, the plates, and napkins at our local Home Goods store. I made the little napkin rings as well, I chose a pretty ribbon and tied a bow around the napkin and then hot glued little flowers to the tips of the bow…easy peezy. 🙂

A close up of the Easter lantern:

After Easter, I simply removed the “Happy Easter” words, but I did leave the rest of it alone until it was time to switch things out for the family reunion/summer centerpiece:

I changed out all of the decor accent pieces for this centerpiece and I created and added a top bow/pip berries piece which I’ve found that I love now. I feel as if it pulls it all together. I used a red and white pip berries garland (trimming a section off to go inside the lantern and another small piece that I added to the bow topper), gerber daisies, a “Family” wooden word sign, and I threw in a couple of burlap birds for something a little different.

That centerpiece stayed in place until it was time to decorate for Fall. Now, I will walk you through how I created that Fall centerpiece…Here goes:

Here is the lantern, tray, and candle holder. I used a new pip berries garland for this arrangement and again, I trimmed off a section so that I could wrap it around the candle ring inside of the lantern and another small section to be used on the bow topper:

Next, I wrapped the rest of the pip berries garland around the lantern:

Then I created the bow topper and pip berries design:

I made the bow and simply attached the small section of pip berries into the pipe cleaner that I used to hold the bow together (behind the bow). Then I took a piece of the same ribbon and attached it to the back of the bow with the pip berries. I kind of held it up to the lantern and figured out how big of a “loop” I wanted and then hot glued it shut to that size. I then slid the entire bow topper onto the top piece of the lantern. You can see what I’m talking about here:

Then I arranged some glass pumpkins at each corner and filled in the spaces in front, back, and on either side with Fall floral picks and a few Fall colored sunflowers:

And here is the finished centerpiece:

I have really enjoyed creating a new centerpiece as each Season has passed while utilizing the same basic designs and design pieces. I will admit that I spent a good chunk of change on this particular lantern (and I use one just like it on my dining room table, but, it was so worth the cost. I’ll write another post showing you all of the different Seasonal centerpieces I’ve created for the dining room table). I was able to get the tray for 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby, and I’ve been able to get each Season’s accent pieces for a discounted price. It hardly costs me anything to change out the decor and of course from now on, it won’t cost me a penny because I will reuse the same accent pieces in the coming years. That said, I know myself and I’m sure I will be adding or changing some things out for new things, but, I’ll already have all of the basics that I need. 🙂

Fast forward 3 months and I have now completed a lantern centerpiece for Christmas utilizing the basic pieces that I’ve used for all of the other centerpieces. Here is a link to my new Blog post describing how I created the Christmas Lantern Centerpiece. Here is a picture of the finished product:

I hope upon hope that one of these ideas inspires y’all to try something like this for your home. They are not hard to create and all you need to do is to trust yourself to choose accents pieces that look pretty to you and hence would look amazing in your home. I’m always here if anyone has any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section. 🙂

Let me take a moment to thank every one of you who has stopped by to take a peek at this blog, feel free to look around at my other posts; I have found that I am really enjoying sharing my creations with you and if one person is inspired to try their hand at creating something similar to what they’ve seen here…well, that would just touch my heart of hearts!!

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

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

Staircase Railing Decor Ideas

On September 7, 2015January 5, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas8 Comments

Greetings Everyone!

As I have mentioned before, my hubby and I just moved into our retirement home a couple of years ago. We went through the entire building process and waited 7+ months for our new home to be built. The reason we went with the new build is because we found a pretty piece of property with a good many acres (hubby’s wish) in a neighborhood, in a cul-de-sac (my wish) and we were also able to make every single choice that would make it our own. There were many reasons why we chose this model to build not the least of which was this pretty staircase.

I had had staircase railing decorating ideas flying around in my head for the entire time that the house was being built. One of the first ideas that came to fruition was a burlap swag idea that I’d seen somewhere on Pinterest. We did it our way and we started with a bolt of burlap fabric that I found at Joann’s Fabric. My hubby and I laid out burlap on the floor (I wish I could remember how many yards I purchased, but I’m sorry to say that I cannot–we did use an entire bolt though) out into one long piece and folded it accordion style and wrapped masking tape around it every so often to keep it folded in place until we hung it up. Once that was completed (no easy task honestly) we evenly draped it like you would a swag curtain between each post on the staircase and then took the masking tape off and tweaked each swag until it looked like we or I had envisioned. I also made a flower arrangement and attached it to the bottom and on top of the bullnose section of the staircase; that pulled it all together nicely. I then made bows and attached them to all of the swag points; I loved how it turned out and I kept it up for quite some time.

Then Fall rolled around and I decided that I would keep the burlap in place but make new Fall themed bows and a new arrangement for the bullnose. This is how that turned out:

Of course Christmas decorating was next. We removed the burlap and replaced it with pine garland wrapped in white lights, I made new Christmas bows, and a new arrangement for the bullnose. I really loved how those lights looked, so, so pretty. My hubby also attached a remote control to the lights so that we could turn them on and off at will; that was so convenient.

After Christmas my daughter and I were chatting and she reminded me of a new and different staircase railing idea that she and I had discussed around Christmastime. That idea is what my hubby and I brought to fruition and what we have hanging on the railing now. I purchased pip berry garlands from The Pip Berry Barn and this is the garland that I chose to pair with my everyday home decor, it has worked beautifully. (I highly recommend purchasing Pip Berry Garland from this online store; the strands were so full and beautifully made, absolutely awesome) I also purchased strings of 100 white lights with a brown cord and plugs at both ends. These are the white lights that I purchased. We used two strands to do the stair decor, but I purchased extra strands for the inevitable, eventual, and necessary replacement parts. My hubby has attached the same remote control to the lights so that we can turn them on and off at will (I usually turn them on after dark and turn them off when we go to bed)

Of course I made new bows out of burgundy checked wired ribbon which matched the ribbon that I’ve used in many a centerpiece, arrangement, and wreath throughout our home. I purchased the ribbon online too because I couldn’t find what I knew I wanted around here. This is the ribbon that I purchased. And then I made a new flower arrangement out of burgundy and burlap gerber daisies and pip berry picks, wrapped white lights around that arrangement and tied it all together with a bow. This is what hangs in our house for my “regular” or “generic” decor. I only change out the bows and flower arrangements for Fall and Christmas now-a-days; I love the look *that* much!

When I decorated for Fall, I simply changed out the bows and made a new arrangement for the bullnose. Here is that finished project:

I came up with a different idea for the staircase decor for this Christmas (2015). I’ve wanted to create an ornament and pine garland for a couple of years now, but, I knew that it was going to cost me a fortune to do so…not to mention give me a headache or two because yes, I’m a pretty patient person when I’m creating, but the patience required to create such a garland might just push my ‘envelope’ a bit. 😉 Anyway, here are some pictures of what I came up with this year. If you’d like to see how my hubby and I put it together, you can check out my Blog entry entitled: Staircase Ornament and Pine Garland. Here are some pictures of this year’s creation:

Keeping the staircase decorated throughout the year really helps to warm up our space. And with the addition of the lights in the evenings, it really feels comfy and cozy in here. I’ve been so very happy with each and every change that I’ve made to the original idea and I’m sure I’ll continue to tweak and hopefully improve the look as time marches forward. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take care! ❤

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

Burlap Wreaths and More Burlap Wreaths

On September 4, 2015October 15, 2015 By ArlynnIn Wreaths2 Comments

Hi to all of you lovelies out there!

I am like the energizer bunny, I hardly ever sit still and I am always planning my next project, event, trip, decor change, etc… One of my hubby’s nicknames for me is “The Planner”; I know I must drive the poor man crazy at times! 😉 So, when I was gathering pictures for this blog post, I surprised myself with the sheer number of wreaths that I’ve made this past year . I’ve created some of these for my own use here in our home, and I’ve created a few to give as gifts. My plan for this blog entry is to just *show* you the different wreaths, if you would like to know how to make one you can reference one of my earlier blog posts here. 🙂

So here goes:

This one hangs in our “mud room”, I hung it on the door leading to the garage–I added that wreath hanger that you see in the picture on the left, it is awesome. You can find it online here:

I made this one for one of our guest bedrooms…

I threw this one together because I wanted a little something more for on that corner shelf:

I made this one for a dear friend who loves owls:

I made this one for a friend…She asked me to make her something to hang on her Mom’s nursing home room’s door:

I made this one for another one of our guest bedrooms, I actually utilized an old Boyd’s Bear Bunny that had been stuck in a box in my basement for years:

I hung this one in the laundry room…:)

I made this one to go with the family reunion decor (red and white gingham, gerber daisies, and mason jars):

This one was to add to an Easter grouping that I had put together out on the front porch:

I made this one to be hung on the front door from Memorial Day through July 4th. You’ll also see our pups in one of the pictures below. The Newfoundland dogs names are Sophie and Samson (brown), and the Golden’s name is Gracie. I love them like crazy! ❤

And last but not least, I just made this one the other day. This is for a very dear friend of mine who lives in another State. My hubby is constructing a box for me to pack it up in for shipping…it is 30″ in diameter (as wide as some front doors, in other words, it is huge). 🙂

Well, that does it for the burlap wreaths that I’ve made in the past year. I’ve also made some grapevine and deco mesh wreaths as well–subjects for another blog. 🙂 I hope that one of these wreaths will inspire one of you to try to make one for yourself. You can do it! And I’m right here if you have any questions at all, feel free to leave me any questions in the comments. Happy Crafting!! ❤

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

The Lantern Centerpiece Gift

On September 2, 2015October 15, 2015 By ArlynnIn Lanterns6 Comments

Hi Everyone!

I always enjoy giving homemade gifts to people that I know will appreciate the planning, preparation, and plethora of work it takes to create an entirely new concept just for them. My dear friend Karen is one such person. Karen and I have been friends for over a decade now, our daughters were in the high school marching band together and Karen and I were very involved in the Band Parents Association. She and I had much more in common than just our girls though, she is also a crafter and she can create beautiful things that I admire greatly. So, when she and her hubby built a beautiful new home my wheels started turning and I tried to come up with a new and different Housewarming gift. What does a crafter give another crafter? It can be tricky…luckily, our ‘talents’ lie in different realms of the crafting world. Karen herself actually gave me the idea of what I ended up making for her. She texted me one day to ask me if she could borrow my red gingham tablecloth to use for an upcoming get-together. Well, when she asked me that the light went on in my head and the bells started ding, ding, dinging, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for her; a lantern centerpiece 🙂 First, I purchased her a red gingham tablecloth of her own. Then I made a lantern centerpiece with a red gingham bow, pip berries garland, red and white gerber daisies, black metal stars, a red battery operated candle, and a “Family” wooden sign, all arranged in and around a cream colored wooden tray and cream colored wooden lantern. I also put a red gingham placemat in the tray to serve as a nice decorative base for the design.

**Side note–I love arranging my lantern centerpieces in trays, the tray provides an anchor for the entire design and *bonus* it is easily picked up and moved from place to place**

Here is that finished centerpiece:

I then thought, well, I don’t want to pigeonhole her into having to use the red gingham accents all of the time, so I took it a step further and supplied her with the necessary materials with which to change out the red gingham accents and insert a more neutral design; utilizing the same metal stars, lantern and tray. I made a new bow out of chevron and burlap ribbon and supplied a different colored pip berries garland, a cream colored battery operated candle, different colored gerber daisies, a different “Home” sign, and a neutral placemat. Also, I made it so that she could easily change out the bows by hot gluing velcro on the ends of a piece of the same ribbon and attaching it to the bows; they were then secure when in place, pretty, and functional. 🙂

Here is that version of the centerpiece:

I packed up all of the neutral design materials along with a picture of how she might want to switch out the red and white gingham elements and replace them with the more neutral elements.

I delivered the red gingham version of the centerpiece to her with the neutral version packed in a gift bag. I immediately knew that I had chosen right in giving her a homemade gift because when I handed it to her, her sweet eyes welled up with tears and I got the very best hug ever! My day was made, completely made!

In my opinion, it is *always* better to give than to receive, and when it comes from your heart and is made with love and with the receiver in mind, it makes for a good day all around.

**LOVE you Karen** ❤

Front Door Burlap Wreaths

On September 1, 2015October 15, 2015 By ArlynnIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Good Afternoon!

As is typical of me, I woke up one morning with the idea in my head that I wanted to make something. What I chose to do on that particular day was to make my aunt a burlap wreath for her front door. The only problem with that was that I had never tried to make a burlap wreath and I had no idea where to start. So, I took to google search (one of my best friends…lol) and I started reading and watching tutorials; this gave me the basic idea of how to, at the very least, *start* to make my wreath. I will admit that I spent a bit too much time searching “how-to” blogs and videos and not enough time trusting my own abilities to accomplish my goal on my own. So, I put my computer down, got in my car, and headed to my local go-to craft store Hobby Lobby. We also have a Michaels and an AC Moore here in our town, but I am usually successful at finding exactly what I need to bring a project to fruition at Hobby Lobby. So, anyway, I started walking through the store collecting my needed supplies. When all was said and done, I was successful at making my aunt a wreath and then I made my cousin one too; I gave them to them for Christmas last year. But, I wasn’t exactly satisfied with those two wreaths even though my aunt and cousin loved them and were so sweet with their compliments regarding just how much they loved them. Here are pictures of those two wreaths:

I decided I would try again (I am nothing if not determined to try and try again until I’m satisfied with the end result) and so I set myself to the task of making a burlap wreath for our front door, I wanted it to be quite large because our home sits pretty far back from the road and I wanted to be able to see the wreath on the front door from our cul-de-sac. So off to Hobby Lobby I went yet again and I began to gather my supplies. The first thing I picked up was a 24″ metal wreath form with the twist ties already attached. I then collected all of the other things that I thought I might need to make my wreath. I will try my best to put into bulleted form how I constructed not one but 2 burlap wreaths for my front door…yes, I said 2…lol…I made one for the inside of the door too. We found a wreath hanger that we could manipulate over the door that provided a hook on either side of the door. I was very happy with what I ended up with and I have made many other burlap wreaths since, so many that my hubby has made me a wreath hanging station in our basement. In another blog, I will post a bunch of pictures of the burlap wreaths that I’ve made, some for my own use, a few for gifts, and one or two for friends who sweetly asked me to create one for them.

The two specific wreaths featured in this blog are wreaths that hang on my front door at times of the year when we are not celebrating a Holiday or for times when I am not using a specific seasonal decor…in other words, these are my “everyday” wreaths. I switch out the outside front door wreath A LOT… 🙂 Here are pictures of the finished wreaths:

Here is how I put all online tutorials out of my head and created my own version of a burlap wreath:

*Supplies needed for a very large burlap wreath: 24″ wreath form with the twist ties or pipe cleaners already attached, or you can attach your own pipe cleaners at regular intervals around the form–not hard, 2 rolls of burlap–for these extra large wreaths, I used burlap “runner” rolls, a coordinating colored burlap or ribbon, any accents that you might like to add such as pip berries, silk or dry flowers, wooden words, wooden or metal ‘pictures’, wooden or metal initials, seasonal decor, and so on…Let your imagination run wild

*Find a large surface with which to work and lay out all of your supplies

*Plug in your hot glue gun–I try not to use too much glue on these types of wreaths, but I do glue pipe cleaners to the backs of pictures and/or other accents (wooden initials, pictures, etc…) so that I can tie them onto the wreath frame. And when necessary, I do glue certain things into place if they just won’t stay by attaching them with the pipe cleaners

*Work your way around the wreath form starting on the outside ring gathering and catching burlap into each pipe cleaner and then moving to the inside ring and doing the same thing. I’ve seen some people online who measure the length of burlap that they put between each pipe cleaner, I do not do that, I just eyeball it and go for it. So once you have your outer and inner rows of burlap attached to the form, add your coordinating colored burlap or ribbon catching it into one of the outside pipe cleaners (by untwisting the pipe cleaner and adding it to the burlap that you already caught) and working to the next inside pipe cleaner, then back to the outside and so on all the way around the wreath.

*Take a moment to glue pipe cleaners to the back of anything you might want to attach to the wreath form as you see me doing in the picture below.

Instead of gluing, I just threaded a pipe cleaner through the metal clasp on the back of the picture

*Then start attaching anything else that you’d like to put on your wreath either via the pipe cleaners that you attached, or directly into some of the pipe cleaners (you’ll see what I mean in the pictures below–SO hard to explain). I chose slightly different things for each wreath, I chose to put our last name initial on both wreaths as well as a bow (that I made…I’ll need to do another blog about how to make a bow huh?) on both. Then I chose other specific items for each wreath consisting of pip berries, gerber daisies for the outdoor wreath to match our red door and the coordinating ribbon, other silk flowers and a wooden framed picture for the indoor wreath to match my room decor.

Here is a link for the Wreath Hanger that we used

So there you go, I was finally successful at making burlap wreaths that met with my own approval…haha. Give a burlap wreath a try! Nothing is perfect in the crafting world, that’s what makes it so much fun and unique to just you! 🙂

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

Hi Everyone!

On August 31, 2015 By ArlynnIn Uncategorized4 Comments

My name is Arlynn and I’m a housewife and crafter from Virginia. I moved here when I married my soulmate 33 years ago; for the 20 years prior to that I lived with my parents in Maryland. My hubby and I have two beautiful daughters who are now out on their own and thriving in this big world of ours. I’ve done many things in my life, but, most of them revolved around raising our girls and involving myself as a volunteer in their schools. Also, we have 2 Newfoundland dogs named Sophie and Samson and a Golden Retriever named Gracie all three of which I absolutely adore.

A bit about my background, I come from a very loving, God fearing family whose traditions run deep and love runs strong; they are all (aunts, uncles, cousins–I’m an only child) very special to me! Unfortunately, we are all scattered and live in different States, but when we are together we make the most of every moment (we just had a family reunion here at our home last May–a blog for later). Both of my parents were educators, and they raised me up to be a loving and honest woman. My family shaped and molded me into the woman I am today. Sadly, we lost my precious Mom a couple of years ago. My Dad is still going strong, he plays golf daily, travels extensively, and is as healthy as can be.

All of that said, I’ve been crafting for decades…literally…haha. I decided to start this blog because when I would post my newest crafting or diy project on my Facebook page, it seemed like folks were interested in what I was doing. A few friends and one of my daughters have encouraged me to try and start a blog because they feel that I have a lot to offer; I hope that they are right and that there is someone who might take one of my ideas and utilize it in their home. I have no formal education in interior design, but I love to create warm cozy spaces and I love to decorate my home in a welcoming manner. I make wreaths and centerpieces among other things and I utilize my very symmetrical nature to create spaces within my home that are pleasing to the eye. I love to craft and create! All of that said, I am completely new to blogging, so please be patient with me as I am learning as I go.

My hubby and I moved into our retirement home a couple of years ago and I’ve been diligently working on decorating our space. I change the decor as the Seasons change. I’ve included some pictures of just some of the things that I’ve created since we moved in.

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

⚜️ Arlynn's Country Craft Corner ⚜️

Tag: Burlap

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

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

Easter & Springtime Transitions

My Little Red Wagon Decor

A Lantern Centerpiece For All Seasons

Staircase Railing Decor Ideas

Burlap Wreaths and More Burlap Wreaths

The Lantern Centerpiece Gift

Front Door Burlap Wreaths

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