Tag: Gingham

Burlap Wreaths and More Burlap Wreaths

On 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:

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I made this one for one of our guest bedrooms…

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

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

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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:

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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:

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I hung this one in the laundry room…:)

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

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

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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! ❤

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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). 🙂

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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 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:

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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:

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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.

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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** ❤