BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve once again everyone. Can you believe we're already halfway through July already?! What a difference a month makes. This time last month, I was just out of the hospital and we were in the process of getting a move underway. Now, pretty settled in and finally getting back to being able to make some things. 

This week I shared my new Craft Room as well as a Layered "Moonogram" (Moon themed Monogram) project. 

The craft stores are filling up with Fall themed goodies and you know that means that Halloween and Christmas won't be far behind! 

Let's take a look at some ideas from last week's party! 

There is a LOT of Christmas in July inspiration in Craftworld (as well as The Hallmark Channel) and I love this idea shared by The Apple Street Cottage using a wood round to make a festive and beautiful wreath. 

Even if you're not yet making Christmas crafts, it's the perfect time to start thrifting for pieces and supplies that you will want to incorporate into your decor. I've noticed some thrift shops have gotten in on the theme by highlighting their Christmas items. Master Pieces of My Life has got a post full of inspiration and ideas for things to start looking for  NOW! 

Switching gears...check out these desserts that are perfect for any time of year because chocolate is year round! This No Bake Caramel Coconut Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert from The Kitchen Is My Playground is perfect for a hot Summer day!

Finally, what is better than a perfect fudgy frosted Brownie? This is just how I love them...with that bit of gooeyness in the middle. No wonder these are a favorite of Cindy's grandson from Cindy's Online Recipe Box! 

Now, let's see what all of you wonderfully creative people have been up to this week! 

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Papercrafting: Layered "Moonogram"

 

I mentioned that I'm going to be a "Fairy Grandmother" since my bestie's daughter is having a baby. The nursery is coming together with a very cool ombre wall done by one of our other friends and has Moon elements. I made this layered "Moonogram" to complement that theme. 

Supplies: 

• Black Cardstock
• Lavender Glitter Cardstock
• Coordinating Scrapbook Paper ( Let's Wander Stack by Recollections from Michaels)
• Shadowbox Frame (Michaels) 
• Moon SVG (Creative Fabrica) 
• Digital Cutting Machine ( I used my Cricut Explore2) 

As always, I needed to choose what papers I wanted to use. I had a general sense of what I wanted to do but the papers were key! I went with black, since like me, the mom to be is non-traditional and has a lot of black and white in the nursery, a lavender glitter paper and a sheet of very celestial looking paper from the Let's Wander Stack by Recollections. 

The next step was to design the "Moonogram" so I popped over to Creative Fabrica (disclosure, I am an affiliate there) to look for a Moon themed SVG and found this bundle which was perfect: 

I uploaded the "Man in the Moon with Stars" and the "Man in the Moon" images to Cricut Design Space. Then I chose the letter of the baby's first name in a font that would work well with the Moon images and used the Slice function in Design Space to make the cut out layer of the letter adding stars as well. 

I assembled the "Moonogram" layers using foam squares. 

Then I cut the background paper to fit the frame and attached the "Moonogram". 

The paper, with the gold foiling was already pretty but I'm a more is more person so I wanted to add some more bling and when I saw these jewels at Michaels ( on sale for $5!) they had to come home with me for this project. 

I like how they almost look like raindrops. To finish, I used the interior of the star images from the top layer of the "Moonogram" and attached those with foam squares. 

I need to adjust the letter ever so slightly to straighten as I look at these pics but I'm so happy with how this turned out! 

Sharing At: 

Craft Room Reveal

 

I've never really posted a "Craft Room Reveal" mostly because mine have been a combination work from home office and craft room and usually when I've moved I haven't had the time to be really intentional about it. I've also been intimidated by all of the gorgeous rooms I see on other people's blogs and Pinterest.  But since I'm retired now I wanted to take the opportunity to make it special and even though I have a couple of things I still want to do ( eg replace or cover the desk chair shown), here 'tis and I'm really happy with it!  I have a dedicated space for both my Cricut  Explore and my Cameo, as well as a desk to hold my sewing machine. 

I'm really happy with this wall that features the oversized floral wreath I shared last week (and yes, I'm still going to do a tutorial on the coffee filter flowers!) along with a couple of paint poured canvases and Quilling projects I did. 

We had these racks elsewhere in our previous house and I knew we wouldn't need them here so I claimed them for my paper stacks and they fit great against the wall as shown.

My desk, which at some point I want to paint, now only has to hold one laptop instead of my personal and work laptops so yay...more room when I'm papercrafting etc. 

My paper punches and Washi tapes were previously thrown in a couple of  baskets but I love them on display with easy access that doesn't require me to paw through the punches to find the right one! We had two shelf units that used to hold other things that we realized we no longer needed and were Goodwill bound when I realized hmmm I could maybe use them. The other one holds my Funko Pop collections. 

I have all of my jewelry making stuff in storage containers that now all fit together on a shelf in the closet with another shelf holding what Mr. Chocolate calls "Michaels Annex" but you know...we all need extra supplies right? And on either side I have shelves and was able to fit a dresser that holds more "stash". 

The best part of all? I didn't spend a penny on anything new and was able to use things we had to get a look I'm very happy with. 

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve all and I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth of July. It was a late night for us because the illegal fireworks people were shooting off did not agree with the dog nor she with them so it was a "howler" of a night. Given the high fire danger here in the desert that was also a concern but fortunately, all is well.

I also had a chance this week to create something for my new office and because I've had interest in the coffee filter flowers I used in this Oversized Floral Wreath, I will be doing a future tutorial on how to make them so stay tuned! 

Let's take a look at some of the creative projects shared at last week's party! 

Who grew up with one of these Better Homes and Gardens Cookbooks? I know they've updated but this looks so familiar and everyone I know had one of these in their family kitchen. Lisa, from Fresh Vintage by Lisa S took one and altered it, making it fun while keeping the nostalgic feel. 

If you have a fireplace you don't actively use, Kathleen from Our Hopeful Home has a wonderful way to cover it using a beautiful Botanical Print. 

Artsy Va Va shared yet another STUNNING piece of furniture she made over. Just GORGEOUS!! 

Finally, on a hot Summer day, what's better than lemonade except this delicious looking Frosted Lemonade from the Lou Lou Girls?! 

Thank you to everyone who linked up and let's take a look at what you've been up to this week! 

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Home Decor: Repurpose Paper and Coffee Filter Flowers Into Giant Wreath

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Fourth. I'm hoping we get some peace and quiet tonight because the dog was not happy last night. And when the dog's not happy, no one's happy! We're getting organized in our new home and took a few minutes this morning to whip up something for my new office. 

In my last office, I had an accent wall for which I'd made a border of flowers that ran along the top. I couldn't bring myself to toss them when I took it down and knew I had an oversized wreath form that I was going to use for something in our old house but never did, so it was pretty easy to visualize this oversized wreath. It was quick, easy, and a great way to re-purpose a bunch of rolled and layered paper and coffee filter flowers I'd already made. 

Supplies: 

• Giant Wire Wreath Frame ( I don't remember the dimensions but it was the biggest one Michaels sells)
• Rolled / Layered Paper Flowers. You can design your own or use patterns for your cutting machine. 
• Coffee Filter Flowers. I made these freehand. I love coffee filters because they retain their shape and don't wilt like tissue papers. 
• Glue gun and glue. 

 

I started with the largest of the paper flowers. I had three this size so I did kind of a triangle shape to evenly disperse them. 

Then, I took the smaller paper flowers and distributed them in between, just kind of eyeballing the spacing. 

When I made these, I intentionally made different styles of flowers because I didn't want everything to match. After I had all of the paper flowers placed, I started adding the coffee filter flowers which again, I didn't make all the same. 

These were easy to fluff back up since they'd gotten a little squished being boxed up! I filled in the bare spots, fluffing along the way until the wreath form was filled in. It went very quickly and now is the first thing I've hung on the wall in my new office! 

Sharing At: 

BFF Open House

 

Whew!!! Our move is OVER! Woo hoo! And my new office is coming together so cannot wait to be able to start playing again. 

Keeping things short and skipping features this week because I'm wiped OUT. Wishing everyone a safe and happy LONG weekend. 

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