Tag Archives: crafts

Dare to DIY: Deck the Halls

This is the last installment of the Dare to DIY challenge (sponsored by Two Twenty One, Newly Woodwards, Decor and the Dog, and Maybe Matilda), and I am sad to see it go! I really enjoyed each week’s challenge, and seeing all the great ideas that other bloggers came up with. Definitely found some great inspiration and some new blogs to follow! Whoo!

So, without further ado, here is how I’ve decked my halls for this holiday season:

www.twopurplecouches.wordpress.com

I wanted to go for a “Winter Wonderland” theme, full of metallics and whites. It all started with the silver Ornament wreath I diy’ed a few weeks back, and from there, I started envisioning a mantel awash in mercury glass, silvers and golds. I would love to do our entire family room in silvers, golds, and whites (tree included), but… one thing at a time.

www.twopurplecouches.wordpress.com

www.twopurplecouches.wordpress.com

Some items I already had on hand, some are new additions, like the mercury glass pillars, metal reindeer, angel, and silver sequin tree (from Kohl’s and JoAnn Fabrics, respectively).

www.twopurplecouches.wordpress.com

I used the branches on the far end in my Fall Mantel, but wanted to glam them up a bit for the holidays. I added glass vase fillers, a spray of white flowers, and swirly silver twig things that you always see in the floral section of craft stores. I have no idea what the official name is. Then I hung a few ornaments and mini-snowflakes from the branches to give them some festive flair.

The only items that don’t really fit the theme are our stockings and stocking holders, but they are too sentimental for me to switch them out, even for just one season. My stocking is the one on the right – my mom hand-stitched it for me when I was a baby, and my aunt made the Santa stocking holder. My mom also made Tom’s stocking. He’s always used whatever generic stocking we had stashed in with the Christmas decorations. But not this year! He’s finally got a personalized stocking 🙂

Check out more decked-out halls here!

I’m also sharing this at:
HomeforHolidays

Dare to DIY: Give Homemade

I’m reaching back into the “archives” for this week’s Dare to DIY: give homemade challenge.

Over the summer, I pinned this jewelry DIY from the Martha Stewart blog as a way to keep myself occupied during our 12+ hour drive to Florida. I made two necklaces, and nearly lost all of the wooden beads in the car when we made a sudden stop.

All you need is some plastic lanyard lacing (remember all those summer camp crafts??) and beads. You could probably use silk cord or ribbon, and other types of beads. I just went off of the instructions on the MS blog.

www.twopurplecouches.wordpress.com

I ended up improvising a bit when I had trouble looping the two strands back through the lacing.

 

www.twopurplecouches.wordpress.com

www.twopurplecouches.wordpress.com

I had fun playing with the color combos and dreaming up outfits that my new neon necklaces would go with.

Check out the Dare to DIY hostesses: Two Twenty One, Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, and Newly Woodwards. And check out more handmade gift ideas here!

Weekend Recap: Crafty Supermarket Success!

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. The weather here in Cincinnati was pretty awesome (again). Not as warm as last weekend, but still full of sunshine and lightweight-jacket temps. These things make it so much easier to deal with the fact that it’s pitch-black outside by 5:30 p.m. Anywho, I had eagerly been awaiting this weekend for the Crafty Supermarket, an “indie craft show” featuring such awesomeness as is often found on Etsy or Pinterest. This was my first time, but it definitely won’t be my last. I snagged some awesome jewelry and paper goods by local/independent artists. Sorry for the grainy photos; I took them at night, with my phone.

 

1. chandelier crystal + bullet casing necklace by lily in flux / 2. earrings and 3. necklace by audreylaine collection / 4. gift tags and 2013 desk calendar (not pictured) by pinwheel print shop.

Did you go to the Crafty Supermarket? Or to another local crafty event of your choosing? Did you get a head start on your holiday shopping, unlike me?

Autumn Wreath & Front Porch Reveal

I finally had some free time this weekend to put together a new seasonal wreath (doesn’t everyone craft at 10pm on a Saturday night??)…

I purchased a grapevine wreath and fall floral stems from Michaels. I used a roll of burlap that I had leftover from my Spring Wreath project.

I started by wrapping the burlap around the wreath. Then I trimmed the long stems and arranged the flowers before I hot-glued them down to keep them in place (half of my Christmas wreath wound up in our side yard last year due to wind and a lack of more permanent security measures).

And ta-da! A wreath is born!

And now the whole front porch is decked out for Fall, with some mums lining the steps and a new wreath on the door. Still need some pumpkins and squash to finish things off, but it’s definitely starting to look like Fall around the Kennedy house 🙂