Easter Front Door Wreath

OK, this can't be any easier and I LOVE how it looks on my front door!  Have a bunch of plastic Easter eggs lying around?  Do this and feel like you have put them to use!  Since I am sans children, I did not have a bunch of Easter eggs lying around - however I got a ton for very little money at Big Lots.











You will need:  1.)  Straw wreath (mostly if you put this outside), can use foam if you are making yours for inside.  I personally prefer the straw wreaths - they last longer.  Leave the plastic on.  This was an 18 inch wreath....you can always go smaller.
2.)  Floral wrapper or sturdy ribbon to hang.  I just grabbed a cute ivory and gold one on clearance to match the eggs.
3.)  Plastic Easter eggs!  I got this bag full of 100 for only $5 at Big Lots.  The cheaper the better...you are after all, covering these things in hot glue.  I have about 30 left!
4.)  Hot glue gun and about 4 large glue sticks is what I went through.

 The only tricky part of this project is securing your hanging ribbon.  I hot glued both sides of it, as it was wrapped around the wreath. I then also hot glued two eggs purposely on top of the ribbon to keep it securely in place.

After this....just keep filling in wreath with plastic eggs, alternating their direction....I did about three rows of eggs going around.

Once you have filled in the wreath, then you can place additional eggs on top of that layer, scattered here and there to give more dimension to the wreath.  And, you're done!  Hang it somewhere everyone can enjoy it!  I plan on keeping mine up throughout April.

Put a Cork In It Part II - Wine Cork Ornaments

It's truly never too early to think of Christmas.  It's March and I am well under way for Christmas Fair season 2012!  Here are my wine cork Christmas ornaments.  You could use them as ornaments or you could use them as wine bottle decoration when you bring a bottle of wine to a party.  The possibilities are endless; as are the items you can use to decorate.  Don't just do what I do, do whatever you like!  I plan on selling these for $2-3 each, depending upon the complication of them.  This featured set is $2 for each.   I find it funny how "trendy" wine corks are right now.  You can make anything you see that you like yourself.  YOU DONT NEED TO PAY EXORBITANT PRICES!  I can't believe what some places charge for items with corks.

You will need a smaller, delicate rotary drill.  I got mine as a gift for Christmas (many thanks to my father in law) - but you can get these at hardware shops, or even some department stores.

You will need a cording or jewelry wire.  I used mostly jewelry wire for these.  The cording is slightly harder to fit in the hole, so you would want a slightly larger drill bit.  Then, other than the corks, you will need embellishments.  I used a combination of items...I talk more about that down below.

 First, I drilled holes in each of the corks I was planning on using.  I used the smallest bit I had.  The second up from that one would be one to use with your ribbon cording.

 I had saved acorn tops while hiking for various projects...these worked out super cute on top of a couple corks!  I was able to drill through the top of them with the same drill bit I used for the corks.  I also used holiday buttons.  I used some hemp cording for one ornament as well.  Like I said possibilities are endless.

 For decoration around the center of the wine cork, you can use the jewelry wire and small beads to make some really intricate and pretty looking ornaments.  (You may convince others you spent much longer on this than you actually did).  I used a combination of small beads, and charms...all of which I found in the jewelry section of the craft store.

 It is very hard to explain how to do this in writing.  I do promise to do a video in the near future as I work to perfect that on my iphone...but for now...I just have my simple and silly photos.  You will want to fold whatever you are using as your base hanging material (ribbon, wire, etc) in half, and fit that through the middle of the cork hole you have drilled.  For decorating the middle/body of the cork, you will want to just put on piece of jewelry wire through the middle, and stick it in the side of the cork to secure. As you bead, you will want to make a tiny knot every 1/4 inch or so, to keep your beads where you want them.

Honestly, this is a project just to fool around with and come up with your own style and taste!  I plan on doing more in another blog post....I will have a video, and I will show how to get really complicated with multiple corks!  For now, here is your start!  Save those corks!!  Good luck!

The Luck of the Irish: St. Patrick's Day Pins

Upon learning last year that there is apparently an ounce of Irish in me, I have taken to searching for fun St. Patrick's Day ideas.  I created these pins myself and plan on giving them to coworkers, my boss, and family just for fun.

I won't say they are exactly "easy" as you do have to be delicate with a glue gun and if you lack experience (heck, even if you are a veteran glue gunner) - plan on being burnt a couple times.  Towards the end of the 12 I made however, I was not burning myself at all!  This takes the "just a dab will do you" to a whole new level. Be careful!!

You will need:  bar pins, buttons that are at least a nickel size (smaller than this and it's too tricky), a decorative middle piece to hide your gluing.  I used both these mini flower decals, and I also used a smaller green button for some of the clovers.  And finally, ribbon.  Ironically the ribbon I used is not any of those shown here.  I found it easier to work with a skinnier ribbon.

To make the clover:  you will make repeated loops of the ribbon.  What I did is I got my first loop (shown to the right) and hot glued that down - just a dab!  Then once your first loop is secure, you can keep making loops to the right and left.  I apologize for lack of pictures of the looping process.  I take these photos on my own and hard to snap a photo whilst holding down a hot glued ribbon!  One day, I will get fancier and step up to the video aspect.

You can repeat dabs of hot glue for each loop, making your last dab of hot glue for the decoration in the middle.  Then once dry, turn over and hot glue your bar pin on!  Voila!