Easter Egg Wreath

I love hanging wreaths on my front door for the different holidays, however that can get very expensive, so I decided to start making them! You can read about the Lemon wreath here and my Coffee Filter wreath here. 

Now on to my Easter wreath....

This project cost me about $5. Here is the break down...

$1- Wood wreath- Dollar Store {I already had this on hand}

$1- 18 count, Small eggs- Target $ section

$1.99- 48 count, Large eggs- Target Easter section

$1- Teal Paper Shred- Target Easter section {didn't even use half the bag}

Ribbon {had it on hand}

Hot Glue Gun/sticks {had it on hand}

*If you want to make one for next year wait until Sunday or Monday to buy your eggs/shred and you will pay even less than that! 

This project was pretty easy but did take a little time. So grab your glue gun and turn on Netflix (I watched Clean House while I made mine!)

Start with your wood wreath. Tie some ribbon on top or fish line. I used a light purple ribbon. I first tied my ribbon around the wreath nice and tight, then tied a second piece the other way so it would lay flat against my door. 

Next take your large eggs and start hot gluing on the top and work your way around. I started in a pattern and by the end it didn't really matter. 

{first layer done}

Then I went on the outside with the smaller eggs and worked my way around, filling in any big gaps. 

After that layer was done I took the large eggs again around the inside. 

{here it is with all three layers of eggs}

I thought about just leaving it but didn't LOVE it, so I grabbed the shred for E's Easter basket and started filling that into the gaps and to cover up the hot glue. 

As you can see the shred is out of control so I went around and trimmed it all down until it was the length I liked it at! *Warning: if you have a cat as crazy as mine he might start attacking it*

After trimming the shred pick out where you want it to go...

Happy Easter!

I am linking up at these parties: Tatertots & Jello, Simply Sweet Home

Lemon Wreaths

I am so excited to share with you my Lemon Wreath!! 

My friend Bert from FTM, sent myself and another friend, Rawney from Mishaps and Mayhem, a link from The Adventures of Ordy and Joon to make this Lemon Wreath...

                                       

Joon's Wreath

We gathered at Bert's house and got to work. However, we had a HARD time finding lemons that were not $1 each. Finally Bert and her mom found some at Hobby Lobby. Each bag came with "large", medium and small. The large wasn't very large...at least not compared to Joon's!! But after some debating, rearranging, and dividing we split up the lemons and got to work on our wreaths. 

Joon has a WONDERFUL tutorial so check it out here! I will let you know what we did different so if you have any of the issues we had you will have a little help. I mean what's better then learning from our mistakes and mishaps! 

The first thing was our ribbon...yep we all ran out! You think we would have learned from Joon!

Rawney working on gluing on the ribbon.

Bert had a thicker wreath and ran out after only half! 

I missed just a little...but still sad! 

Then we got to work with our lemons. Here is where we also ran into problems because we didn't have the LARGE lemons that Joon had! Our "large" was more like her medium. So we had to make do. 

Each of us decided to do our own pattern with the lemons we had. I placed all my larger lemons on the outside. Then added my medium ones on the inside, spacing them out quite a bit. After that I added leaves to fill in the gaps. Once I had leaves all around I added the smallest lemons to fill in. 

Because I ran out of lemons I made a little cluster to place at the bottom of my wreath. I really liked the way it turned out!

Here are our finally projects...

Bert's Wreath

Rawney's Wreath

My Wreath

I still haven't found her a home yet...maybe the front door...maybe the dinning room...not quite sure! 

****Where I purchased...****

1. Wreath and leaves at the Dollar Store ($1 each/3 items)

2. Ribbon (1 spool...should have gotten 2) at Walmart ($2 something)

3. Lemons at Hobby Lobby (used a 50% off coupon) (had 5 bags for 3 wreaths and should have had 2 bags/per person totaling 6 bags) ($3/per bag after coupon)

Cost of project: $10

See where I like to link up by clicking here. Cherished Bliss

Homemade Laundry Detergent

This weekend I got a lesson on being a thrifty homemaker from Susie Homemaker...AKA...my mom (who really is Susie)cdd!! My first lesson was on how to make Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent.

1. Grate the Fels Naptha Soap in a sauce pan. (use 1/3 of the bar)

2. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts.

3. Add the Borax (1/2 cup)

3a. Add the Washing Soda (1/2 cup)

E was helping Grandma...

Stir all ingredients until dissolved.

Remove from heat.

Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket (about 2 gallon size bucket).

Now add your soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon + 6 cups of water and stir.

Let the soap sit for about 24 hours it will gel. You use 1/2 cup per load. 

*Full Recipe for Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha

1/2 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax Powder

Bucket (about a 2 gallon size)

*I used an old cat litter container

Grate the soap and put it into a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soap and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap stir for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use 1/2 cup per load. 

Enjoy!

*Some of the products (Fels Naptha and Washing Soda) can be hard to find. However, I did find them both on Amazon.com and at my local Walmart. 

Dial Corporation 5.5Oz Fels-Naptha Bar 4303 Laundry Pretreaters

Arm & Hammer Super Wash Soda, Detergent Booster 55 oz (1559 g)

Dial Corporation 00368 "20 Mule Team Borax" Natural Laundry Booster & Multi-Purpose Household Cleaner 76 Oz.

I also want to show you how much money you are saving by making your own laundry detergent (*All prices are from my local Wal-mart).

Here are the prices of each item:

1 bar Fels Naptha (5.5oz): $.97

Washing Soda (55oz/3lbs 7oz.): $ 3.24

Boarx Powder (76oz/4lbs 12oz): $2.98

Water: FREE!

Here is the price break down per batch:

1 bar Fels Naptha: $.32

Washing Soda: $.24

Boarx Powder: $.16

That’s a total of $.72 a BATCH, which is $.02 per load (if using 1 cup).

Check out who I like to link to...Linking Up

Flower Frame

Here is the latest Flower Frame I made! 

I forgot to take pictures during the project, so I will just let you know what I did.

You will need...

1. A frame

      *I used a frame I already had and spray painted it white, then sanded the edges to give it the worn look

2. Material for flowers

     *I used some left over black material that I already had

3. Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks

First I cut strips of material and folded them in quarters, length wise (to make it thicker...you could skip this step), then when it was a thin strip (about 1/4-1/2 inch) I rolled it from one end to the other creating the flower. I added hot glue as I went to keep it in place. Use just a little hot glue otherwise it will come out the edges. I made three flowers of different sizes and then glued them together. After that, I picked a corner and glued them on! 

This would be a great project for Mother's Day or a Birthday gift. I was going to add my son's hand prints and create something like this...

Via: ActivityMom

However, he did NOT want me to put his hands on the paper...he only wanted the paint on his hands! 

I would love to know if you tried this project! 

Fabric Flowers: Tutorial

Today's DIY project...Fabric Flowers!

I first saw how to make two different kinds of Fabric Flowers on Delightful Order and also on Beach House in the City. I attempted to make one of each with a few variations of my own.

Here is the first flower I attempted from the Beach House in the City tutorial. I have to admit, Natalie's turned out way cuter than mine.

I cut some fabric (*Fabric: I used an old denim dress and bought some black cotton fabric in the remnants section) in long strips and then into shorter strips. 

I layered them. hot gluing in between each layer. 

At the end I crinkled up the last piece of fabric and hot glued that on.

Here is my second attempt at a Fabric Flower, this time using Delightful Order's tutorial. I must say I personal like this pattern better. Probably because my first attempt didn't turn out using BH in the City's tutorial. (Well it didn't turn out as cute).

For this flower I cut out "circles" and purposely did not make them perfect circles. I made each circle smaller. 

Then layered each circle, hot gluing them in the middle. The first flower I just laid flat. The second one I kind of crunched up as I hot glued, making it more dimensional. (I like the second one better...with the more dimensional look). At the end I scrunched up a piece of fabric for the center of the flower.

I then hot glued on a "jeweled button" I had laying around the house. I haven't decided what I am putting on the back yet...maybe a pin? Maybe a Hair Clip?

Have you made any Fabric Flowers? What did you use for the back?