Wedding Photography

I've been breaking my back (almost literally) on my newest reveal, so I have nothing new and exciting to show you.
BUT
I wanted to show you my wedding photo's new home: above the entertainment center.

If you live in my Wisconsin/U.P area, then you MUST check out my wedding photographer's website.
http://www.jennphotodesign.com/
Even if you don't live in my area, check out the site anyways.
You will find more pictures of me (my engagement photos), you can check out her blog, or at least get ideas on how to take awesome photos! She does great work!
Now go check it out!
And tell Jenn that I say hi ;)

Faux Shutter Headboard

I showed you these tiny shutters I scored a while ago.
I had to have them! I got busy on this project right away.

I took some existing hardware off the sides and used it to fuse these shutters together.

Don't be wasteful, right? Anyways, this is what it looked like at that point.
After tediously repairing the slats (they were just falling everywhere!) and giving it a few good coats of my trusty white spray paint, it was ready to hang above my daughter's bed. A faux headboard.

It looked a bit bare, so I popped on a wreath that I found while thrift shopping, and it felt complete.

My daughter was given strict instructions not to ruin this, because I'm thinking it will have a permanent place above this built-in bed. Then again, those instructions probably fall on deaf ears, being only a 1-year-old.

This is what it turned out to be:

Much better!

Anyways, after a few nerve-wracking roadblocks, I'm plugging along quite fast on my new reveal. Though I still see the final product to be months away, I already have some sneak peeks for you!
I have a busy week coming up, but I will try my best to complete all my promised projects!

Cookie Cutter Wreath

Yesterday I showed you a cute Powder Puff Wreath for your bathroom. Today I'm going to show you a Cookie Cutter Wreath, perfect for your kitchen (okay, okay, mine's in my entryway, but it leads to the kitchen, so it counts!)




Cookie Cutter Wreath
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Try finding old metal cookie cutters from thrift stores. It saves a ton on this project!



Supplies
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-glue (I chose Gorilla Glue for it's strength)
-metal cookie cutters
-large paper or cardboard (to trace out your perimeters)
-spray primer (make sure it's the stuff for metal!)
-spray paint (I chose white)
-ribbon (I bought a red pre-made bow)





Directions
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1. Using a large dinner plate, trace a circle on your paper or cardboard.
2. Make 1 row of cookie cutters, being careful not to go outside the lines (use two rows if you have small cookie cutters or if you are making a larger wreath)
3. Play with the placement of the cookie cutters until you get a design that you think will not only look good, but be easy to glue (i.e. lots of surface space to glue the pieces together)
4. Once you're set with the design, take pieces out 1 at a time to apply your glue.
5. Once all the pieces are glued together, let it dry.
6. When it's dry, apply a coat of spray metal primer. Don't skip this step! Paint comes off so easily off of metals, and you don't want to take this wreath out of storage and see that it's ruined!
7. After the primer is dried (I had to bring mine indoors to dry, darn cold weather!) apply your spray paint. I chose white.

8. Let the spray paint dry, then attach your bow.
9. Now you're ready to hang!

I want to make two more wreaths for my patio door, but I haven't yet decided how I want to do it. I was thinking of wheat grasses for a Scandinavian look. I'm not sure yet, but I will definitely show you when I get them done!


I'm thinking that tomorrow I will show you what I did with those old shutters. Sound like a plan?

Powder Puff Wreath

I hope everyone's having fun today for Black Friday!

I think the door busters are getting worse and worse. Does anyone agree? It always used to be really cool stuff. I will probably pick up some towels since I have to go to work later on this afternoon, but that will be all. My big Black Friday trip, haha.

Anyways, I'll give everyone a really cool project to do after you're done sorting through your goodies.

Powder Puff Wreath

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The genius of a wreath is obviously made for the bathroom. I'm completely smitten with it.

Supplies

-----------

-cardboard

-powderpuffs (amount will vary with the size you do your wreath. I found packages of 3 at Walmart)

-glue

-ribbon (I did two different colors. One to make a bow, one to hang the wreath. You may only need the bow depending on how you are choosing to hang it.)

-Accents: I chose craft mirrors in assorted sizes and jewels colored to match my bathroom. (Choose your own accordingly)

-Xacto knife

Directions

-------------

1. Lay out your cardboard. Take a large dinner plate, place it on your cardboard face-down, then trace around it.

2. Do the same as above, but with a smaller plate, in the middle of the circle you made with the large plate. Use your Xacto knife to cut on the lines. That gives you your wreath form.

3.Start gluing your powderpuffs, puff side down, onto your wreath form. Continue this all the way around.

4. Glue on top layer of powderpuffs, placing the top layer at the seams of the bottom layer (like laying brick) until you've done in all the way around. (Refer to the pictures if I'm losing you.)

5. Let that dry long enough that when you tug on a powderpuff, it won't come loose. (I used Gorilla Glue.)

6. Start putting on your accents. This is how I did mine, but you're free to do whatever you like:

I alternated the mirror sizes all the way around on the top layer powderpuffs. I had silver and blue jewels, so I alternated colors all the way around the mirrors. Then I placed a silver jewel on the little part that you could see from the bottom layer.

7. Make a ribbon for your wreath and attach it.

8. I then attached a long, thick white ribbon to the back of my wreath to hang it with. I love wreaths hanging from ribbon. It's so classy!

9. Hang it up, and enjoy!

Alright, I have a laundry list of things for you to check out:

-What I did with those old shutters

-A fancy table dressing

-I'm giving a tuturial (with lots of pictures!) on different ways to dress your table, depending on your needs.
-Another wreath (almost done with it!)

-A few different styles of ornaments

-Highlights of the 6th annual Festival of Lights

-sneak peeks and my newest reveal

-tons of holiday recipes

My school semester is ending mid-December, so a girl's got to stay busy, right?

Stick around ;)

Thanksgiving; Whimsical Alphabet

First off, happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Today I'm going to share a fun activity that you can do with your kids after you get done with all your festivities.

Whimsical Alphabet

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I had those fridge alphabets. I'm not a big fan of having my house look like a circus tent. BUT my son's learning his alphabet, so I thought it would be a good idea to get them. Let's make them look better, though, shall we?

Supplies

-----------

-alphabet magnets (I picked mine up at Walmart for only $1)

-spray paint (I picked white to match my fridge. Pick whatever color matches your fridge)

-Xacto knife

-Scrapbook paper

-glue

-spray poly

Directions

--------------

1. Lay out your magnets on a protected surface.

2. Spray paint all your pieces. It will take a few coats. Make sure you use something made for plastic, like Krylon Fusion.
3. Pick out your card stock. I liked this print.
4. Apply glue to the faces of the letters, then press them on your paper, face down.
5. Carefully cut around your letters with an Xacto knife. Then place them on a protected surface, face up. Give them a really good coat of spray poly.
6. Let dry, then place them on your fridge. Sorry, I just had to give myself a shameless plug

Have a great holiday, and remember: stay safe if you are going out shopping tomorrow! Even the nicest people turn ugly tomorrow!