Mama DIY: Valentine's Day Wreath

Well hello there, everyone! It's February and I haven't been around in a very long time. January was rough! I lost my mojo and honestly, I'm not sure if I've found it yet! I've been down for the count over the past week with some sort of horrible virus that apparently turned into pneumonia! I'm supposed to do nothing, which is super hard for me, so I'm thinking you may be hearing a lot more from me during this laying low period!

Even though I haven't been around, I've been busy. If it isn't being a mama to an active six year old, it's designing a gallery wall in my den or creating fun DIY projects like the one I have for you today! I made a Valentine's Day wreath for the front of my house and I love it! I had so much fun designing my front porch for the holidays that I couldn't just stop at Christmas! I had to spread the love. 

It started with an inspirational search on Pinterest which resulted in these darling wreath ideas.

And then I made this one for our booth in Louisburg! Because of this one, and how cute it turned out, I decided to document the process for the one I made for me. I didn't use flowers for mine, the one below has fake flowers I found at Michael's. The things I used for mine were on sale at Joann's. 

Let me start off by saying that I got the above grapevine wreath at Michael's, but found the one I used for mine at Savers. Check them out, people! Deals are everywhere on every day things you might use for home decor or DIY projects. Just wait until I show you one I found for the gallery wall.

You Need:

Grapevine Wreath, fun Valentine's Day decor like these felt ornaments or the above fake flowers, twine, hot glue, felt, scissors, and puff paint.

Start by stringing your twine across the wreath. You can take it across the center or at an angle. Tie the twine on the back and add a little hot glue to the knots to keep them from slipping. 

 

Now, for the felt, measure the length of your strips based on how big you want to the letters to appear in your wreath. We cute ours to 4" long and 1.5" wide. And my sweet mom used her rotary cutter to make a cleaner cut. But you can use scissors.  

 

 Fold the piece of felt in half. From one corner of the felt, cut toward the center and stop. From the opposite corner, cut to meet the original cut at the center. You are creating a V shape.

To make life easier, lay the cut piece over the additional pieces of felt and cut the V shape for the remaining pieces. Put aside.

I found these darling padded felt hearts on sale at Joann's. They came six to a pack, a perfect amount. I cut the strings off to make them more suitable for the wreath. Place them

 on the wreath before you glue. Once you've used hot glue, you're done with placement! I did this for both the top and bottom of the wreath.

Once you have them where you want them, start gluing! 

 

Next up, place your felt pieces across the twine. Spread them out across the wreath at your desired width. Using the hot glue, glue them shut. And watch out for burned fingers! It hurts!

 Then take your puff paint, in any color you desire, and write out love across the four felt pieces. 

And here is the finished product! I LOVE IT! Pun intended! It's so sweet and perfect for Valentine's Day. This doesn't have to be for outdoors. Place it anywhere your heart desires. Just spread the love where ever possible!

Of the inspired Pinterest photos, which is your favorite wreath? Which one will you recreate? I would love for your to share your creations. It's what inspires all DIY creators!

I hope to be around a lot more in the coming month. I have so much to talk about, so much crafting to share, and a ton of home decor ideas to provide. This house is always a work in progress!

Happy Monday!

XO,

Andrea

Gallery Wall - Inspired New Look

Do you ever look around your house and think, "This room could use something." But, when you look around the room, you can't put your finger on what it needs. A fresh coat of paint? New furniture? A dusting and vacuum? For me, it's more the latter, but I am always on the hunt to freshen up the rooms in my house to make them a little more chic. A little more relevant. A little more like my ever evolving style.

I was watching my daily morning show earlier this week, Home and Family, and Ken Wingard changed my life! Okay, not really changed my life, but changed my view on what I thought I wanted on my den wall. I was thinking originally of replacing the current print with two larger ones of my dad's photography. But then I saw him create a gallery wall on their set and I was done! This is what I have to do over my couch in the den. And I've already started creating inspiration boards on Pinterest and scouring the stores for ideas!

This is currently what my wall looks like. After decluttered all the growing furniture that had been collected in this room, I realized that this print was dwarfed by this large wall. It's been hanging there since we moved in 15 years ago and I just never really thought about changing it out. Again, my style is changing so my house needs to grow with it! Man, look how clean this room is! It doesn't look anything like this right now. I need to get busy..... That dusting and vacuum is a must!

So here's what I'm thinking I need to create!

How amazing are these walls? And I have so many different ideas of how I want to create my wall and I'm overwhelmed by which one I like more! I'm leaning toward the upper left, but I love the center bottom! What I do know is that I want an oversized clock, a mirror, an artistic piece, and then a large photo of something my dad has taken around KC. Either a downtown iconic building or something from the Plaza. I can't wait to see what he has!

While out yesterday, I took some pics of pieces that I like from both Target and T.J. Maxx. I haven't pulled the trigger on anything. Right now I'm collecting ideas. But these are stunners!

 Now, I know that if I were to do the starburst mirror, I wouldn't go with the starburst accent piece. However, with the copper mirror, how gorgeous would those two pieces be together? And, I'm thinking of trying to find an antique clock that no longer works to add to that rustic aged look I'm going for. Seriously, I'm giddy!!

What do you think of a gallery wall? How would you design yours? Any of the above inspired walls have your attention? Let's chat!

XO,

Andrea

Turning the Page

Hallmark Channel has truly sucked me in when it comes to their sweet, romantic movies. Like I mentioned over the holidays, I love their countdown to Christmas, but my obsession has rolled into Winterfest. Take this past weekends Frozen in Love. It was darling! But I think what I loved most was the plot around the family owned bookstore. Which make me think of You've Got Mail. The movies don't have a plot in common, but it's the idea behind being a bookstore owner. Something I've wanted to be for years.

What is it about movies that romanticizes real life businesses or careers? They make them seem so obtainable. Successful even. That anyone could do it. And because of You've Got Mail, I decided that I wanted to own my own children's bookstore. I can see it. I've truly visualized that interior. Marketing ideas. Children's activities that would take place throughout the week and on weekends. Story hours for toddlers and older children. Discussions that could take place with those reading chapter books. And I can smell the pages of the books that we would offer. It's honestly a dream that I would love to make a reality.

Oh, and I even have the name. I'm always so hesitant to share such things because you may just see it in print six months from now. Not that anyone would truly steal an idea, but you never know right? Let's just say, it's the sweetest name and true perfection! What keeps me from taking the plunge? Conglomerates. Barnes and Noble. Amazon. Target and Walmart. All places selling books. All places that have a one stop shop approach. B&N offers books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, giftables, and coffee with the help of in store Starbucks cafes. Amazon, need I say more? And when you're shopping for groceries, household goods, and that cute camo sweatshirt you saw on your friend the other day, you might circle around to the entertainment section to pick up that best seller that's on your book club list. Or a baby gift. Why would you want to stop in that sweet little book store with it's distressed white bookcases lined with titles like The Pigeon Needs a Bath. Or Peppermints in the Parlor. Or any one of the Little Critter books and the antics of brother critter. But on the other hand, why wouldn't you want to stop in?

The little shop is filled with distressed white bookcases, small round table and chairs that are lined with dots of dried glue and specks of colorful glitter, and a reading nook for those that want to get lost on the prairies of Kansas with Laura Ingles and her family or to conjure up wizardry with the students of Hogwarts. Where said nook becomes a place where children participate in story hours that take them to far off places. Or simply allows them to interact with a fairytale. So many ways to help feed a child's imagination. At those round tables, children could get their hands dirty with craft activities stemmed from a recent story hour read or with upcoming holidays. Making sweet Valentine's for their parents, grandparents, or friend. Creating good luck charms on St. Patrick's Day. Maybe even learn a more hands on skill as they grow older with stencils or string art. The possibilities are endless. 

Finally, you take your parcels to the wrap station that is lined with fun pens and pencils, cute erasers, tiny notebooks for scribble or diaries for deep secrets, and little pieces of candy for that sweet tooth in everyone. A shopping experience that you can't get from a trip to larger bookstores or big bulk spaces. This shop would leave you feeling inspired, fulfilled, and coming back for more. This little bookstore specific to children. This little bookstore that evolved from a dream.

It's crazy that something like this would stem from a movie. From a plot. From a romanticized idea. Yet it's something I dream about. Something I would love to explore. Something I think is necessary among all the big businesses. A place that's small but mighty, but also stands out. Makes an impact. Leaves an impression. Because all of us are kids at heart. Because all of us just want to turn the page.

XO,

Andrea

KC Fun: JOCO Arts and Heritage Center

During our last final days of Winter Break, McKinley and I headed to the new Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center. This new facility celebrates the arts and history of Johnson County. You can visit the museum that showcases Johnson Counties local history. It offers guided and self-guided tours, lectures, film series, field trips, family programs, art classes, and behind-the-scene tours. However, we never got around to visiting the museum because we spent two hours playing in Kidscape! When it's freezing outside, or steaming hot this summer, this is a place to escape the elements and let those kiddos run off energy. Let me tell you, McKinley slept like a log that night. Thank you, Kidscape!

So what all did we/he do? Well, everything! You can visit a 1870s farmhouse. Wash clothes from a galvanized tub, get water from a cistern, pick vegetables from your garden, build a campfire, and learn what it was like to grow up in the late 1800s. Oh, and their pie safe looks just like the one in our kitchen! It's like we have an 1870s farmhouse!

Or, you can move on to the local construction zone and build a wonky tour of blocks! Not sure I want this guy working on my next house....

Let's go fishing! Check out this fishing boat complete with fishing poles and local species of fish. Not sure if they are blue gill or rainbow trout, but I bet they would cook up well over an open fire!

Order up! There is nothing like a burger from your local burger joint and the ones being served up at the Kidscape Diner are delish! And they've got some weight on them too! You can get yours with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Just tell the cook how you want it! Get a scoop of ice cream to finish up the meal. So many choices!

Got a boo-boo? Well then head on over to the hospital and get a quick check up! The doctors and nurses on duty are working hard to get you fixed up and back to play!

I hope to never see this photo of McKinley! EVER!

Curtain Up! We headed to the theater for a little show and McKinley, and his other cast of characters, were amazing! I'm not exactly sure what the title of the play was, or what the true plot was, but I can tell you that this narrator did a beautiful job!

 

School days, school days..... 

And finally, it was time to head to the local city market where McKinley peddled his homegrown produce! He's been busy!

We purchased a membership that day and McKinley has asked several times to go back. I can't wait to take him back and actually check out the museum! If you haven't been, go! It's such a fun place for kids, and adults, and you will love how worn out your child is from all the imaginative play!

XO,

Andrea