Finally! A Valentine's Mantel

I'm not really happy with the end result, but I am totally stumped on this. I even went to (gasp!) Home Goods and came up totally empty. Maybe you guys can help. Take a look at what I've got.

I Still love Owls

On my trip to Home Goods this week I was hunting for Valentine's decor. I came up empty on that end, but I did find something I'm in love with. I got this totally adorable owl necklace tree. It's so cute on my dresser.  Don't you love? The owl trend is alive and strong at the Loop house.

Flower Study Part 6: Hair Fluffs aka Flowers

I just came across a new flower tutorial today. They look very fancy and the tute says they are for your hair, but I think they would also work for a classy holiday wreath. Check out my bloggy friend Camille's tutorial.

Flower Study Part 5: Felted Roses Like You Have Never Seen

Just when I think I have mastered the felt rose, I realize I'm an idiot. The Shabby Creek has an amazing flower tutorial. I love this version because it plays into my OCD desires. They look perfect!

Flower Study Part 4: Fabric Yo-Yo Flowers

These are super cute and simple. They would be a great wretah embellishment. I'm not sure how an entire wreath would look with these on it, or how my little fingers would feel trying to hand sew these babies. I think the fact that you could make them any size you want would also be a plus. Maybe a teeny tiny one for a card would be sweet.

Checkout Crafting and Creativity for the tutorial.

I Can Sew! (Kinda)

There's no denying my blogging has been scarce the past few months, but I swear I have actually been crafting. I have been working really hard learning to sew. I had pretty low expectations for my skills and I am pumped I was able to make my first table runner. It's very very far from perfect, but I think it's a good first try.

Amie helped me as usual and we did our best to make it Valentine's-ish with fabric from our stash.

At first you may think I made it too short. Au contraire mon amie. I made it a shorty on purpose so the puppies wouldn't try and pull it off the table.

Also, how do you like my super lazy Valentine's Day Centerpiece? I kept my usual pinecone filled hurricane and just threw in some felt hearts. It's kinda cute in an uber lazy way. 

Flower Study Part 3: Felt Roses

Dianna pointed me in the direction of this felted rose tutorial over at Positively Splendid . It seems like it would take a bit longer than the method that I use, but the roses definitely seem to have more dimension this way. If you are making a wreath with fewwer flowers like her this would probably be worth it.

Flower Study Part 2: Wrinkled Roses

As the quest to increase my flower making skills continues I wanted to introduce you all to a tutorial I have used many times. Check out this tute for making roses from inexpensive crepe paper over at House of Smiths. These are time consuming, but they actually look awesome when they are done. Plus they are much cheaper than using fabric.

Remember to email me your flower making ideas so I can share them with everyong :-)

Fall Shelf Take 1

I love my new shelves, but I am totally in a decorating funk. Here is my first try for fall decorating with just stuff I already had around the house. I don't think this will be around for a very long time because I am waiting until October 1 to make it really Halloween-ish, but at least it's festive, right?

My First Garland

I've been whining forever about how I don't really know how to utilize my Cricut. Thanks for the joy of YouTube I have finally started to do some fun stuff with it. Mostly I've been actually cutting vinyl. I made this cute Fall garland for my new shelves. 

I have to say I hate the green ribbon so as soon as I can make it to Hobby Lobby I will be buying some jute. Oh my jute is also missing. I'm guessing it's in the same place as my fall wreaths. I even used some distressed ink on these babies. Another recent discovery of mine. Yeah I know I am behind the times. 

Second Wreath of the Week!

As I mentioned yesterday, I lost all of my fall wreaths so I am working on replenishing my stash. This one was super simple. I just wrapped a wreath form in burlap strips and used some buttons for embellishment. I think it's pretty cute and simple for fall.

Wreath Study Continued

SoI can't find my beloved fall wreaths. I know this sounds crazy because our house is teeny and I'm pretty organized, but I seriously can't find them. And I loved them! I'm sure I'll find them once I start decorating for Christmas.

I've been wanting a square wreath forever. I bought some big sheets of foam from Hobby Lobby and cut them up to make my own form. I had tons of leaves I bought last year at the dollar store last year, as well. I love the results! I can't wait to make more square wreaths with the leftover foam.

Pumpkins Already?

I was feeling like it was too early to start decorating for fall then I realized it's almost mid-September! I started to really get a hustle on my fall decorating this weekend. I've seen these button designs all over. Plus I need to use up my burlap. Cute huh?

Does this Make Me an Artist?

I'm sure you've seen the new Martha Stewart paint products all over the internet lately. Besides the steep price tag I've loved everything I have seen in this line. I decided to treat myself to one of the stencil packs as I have been searching for a small quatrefoil stencil for a while.

I decided to try everything out on some canvas I got on sale at Hobby Lobby.  I have to say I really love them and I'm sure I will get tons of use out of them. I've had a lot of mishaps with stencils in the past and I will say these are better than some of the generic stencils I have used in the past. What do you think?

Wall Transformation

There are many eyesores in our house that we are slowly trying to improve. One of the worst culprits was this wall smack in the middle of our house. The builders has the brilliant idea of placing the thermostat, the humidifier, and the doorbell right in the middle of the wall. Not to mention, no one in Maryland needs a humidifier!

Anyway here is how it looked before. Attractive huh?

So we had an electrician come out to remove the humidifier and the thermostat. We moved the doorbell and upgraded to a digital thermostat.

See it already looks better. Sorry for the poor light. One of the perils of nighttime home improvement.

Then my husband made these super cute shelves for me since we don't have a mantel and I really needed a focal point to decorate. Doesn't it look much better? The only problem is, I am having some real issues decorating it. I have tons of ideas for Christmas and I can't wait to come up with something then, but I am struggling at the moment. Here is what I have so far...

I am thinking a bookpage wreath, which is what all the little paper rosettes are for on the shelf. Any ideas? Please fee free to link back to any ideas you may have. What are your trouble areas in your house?

BHG Inspiration

Better Homes and Gardens is one of my absolute favorite magazines. I usually find deals and get magazines for free, but I was actually willing to pay for this one. I recommend you subscribe to their email updates. They have such darling ideas and I feel like they are really acheivable on a small budget or in a small space!

Here are a few of my favorites from this week:

I am in love with this faux bois effect. I am heading to Home Depot tonite to buy a Martha Stewart Paint kit so I can give this a try.

Cute and inexpensive puppy bed!