A New Spring Wreath

I can honestly say that Spring time is my favorite time of year!

I was sad to take down my Cadbury Egg Wreath,

I needed something to replace it with.

I wanted something grassy,

something purple,

and something that would be able

to stay on my door till summer was through.....

or until Candace and I come up with another idea for a wreath!

I'm also pretty cheap so I wanted to make it for cheap

but I didn't want it to look cheap.

Does that make sense?

Ya see we have a ton of storage space (the land fill) stuffed with our

previous "cheap" projects that do look "cheap".

We've both gotten to a point in our lives that we don't want to "look cheap"

even though we may be.....:)

~~~So here's the breakdown~~~

Grapevine wreath (40% off coupon) $2.43

Clearance spring grass $2.49

Clearance Easter grass .15 cents!!!

Excelsior (40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby honored at Michael's) $2.43

Clearance spring bouquet $2.49

**Last minute butterflies from the dollar store added on $1.00

Grand Total.........$10.99 + Tax

So I started by mixing together my paper Easter grass and Excelsior,

fluffing it till I got what I wanted.

Then I formed it around the wreath and started hot gluing it in place.

For some extra stability I wrapped it a few times with some green thread

(a brilliant idea I got from Design Dump)

Already it was looking pretty good to me!

Then I started to completely dismantle all my spring grasses and bouquet.

Randomly I started gluing them around the wreath.

Then for some extra whimsy I curled the grasses!

Yes, I said curl!

Another fun tip I learned when I was working for Provo Craft!

By using a knife or a pair of scissors

(and being pretty careful so they don't break)

You can actually curl those plastic grasses as little or as much as you want!

After gluing all the little flowers on with my glue gun

I realized it was missing a little something.

I had picked up these butterflies at the Dollar Store but they weren't the right colors!

So using Candace's brilliant idea, I spay painted them white first.

Then just using some craft paint I got them the right color!

I "freckled" them with some green paint,

gave them some little eyes too....

ya know my little girl would notice that right off the bat

if they didn't have eyes!

And then I ran.....

Outside as fast as I could

before the light faded.....

So I could show you what I'm so happy about!

I did the butterflies each a shade lighter than the last.

You could say I'm "tickled pink"....

Well, purple that is.:)

Flash Back Friday!!!

Sometimes we get a little over zealous with our projects and

our excitement to share them with you all.

So here we are this week with a couple of projects not completely finished.....

but we hope you'll peek back this weekend for the glimpse at what we've been up to.

I'm afraid the only "creating" that was picture worthy were

the Extreme Elephant "mud pies" made by my daughter for the dung beetles to come devour.

Yes, we watch a little too much of the Discovery Channel in our home....

Plus yesterday we went shopping together and check out my score!!!

We love going to import home decor stores and getting inspired!

Especially by the price!  Lookey lookey!

Ahhhhhhhhh.  I don't know which I love more, the stuff I got or the price!

Do you have a favorite home decor store where you live?

Do tell!

SO

Today we are having Flashback Friday for one of our earlier projects!

Candace was the pioneer in learning how to upholster things in our crafty partnership.

On one of her visits she quickly got me addicted!

All I could do was scour, and I mean scour

the thrift stores for a wing back chair to tackle!

This one had been loved by a sharp clawed kitty but the bones where good!

I had some discount fabric my hubby picked out for pillows he wanted me to make.

Before

I carefully took it apart, removed the not so pleasant smelling spots, scrubbed the filthy thing as best I could.....labeled with a marker and meticulously documented with my camera

so I could actually put it back together.

After

When I was done I was almost as pleased as giving birth.:)  I said Almost.....

When we moved here I had to downsize quite a bit and my good friend bought it from me.

I must admit when I visit her family blog, I get goosebumps seeing it being loved in her home!

Thanks Linnea!

Day #5~The Grand Finale of Eggs~Cabbage Dyed Eggs!

I hope this is worthy of the Grand Finale of Eggs ~

inspired by Martha Stewart. 

We tried her natural dye technique using boiled red cabbage. 

And man, did my house STINK last night!

  Just imagine the smells of boiled cabbage, boiled eggs, and vinegar~all in one!  My kids about died! :)

Just so you know, I did try some of the boiled red cabbage, and with salt- it really isn't that bad!

 

It's worth the stink...because the color of the eggs is fantastic! Way more beautiful than any artificial dye!

We placed our blown out cabbage dyed eggs into a glass dome with a little scenery we made ~ that was inspired by Williams and Sonoma.  We saw their glass jars on their website and we knew we wanted to try making them! 

 

 To dye the eggs, first cut and boil the cabbage in two quarts of water for about 30 minutes.

After draining and removing the boiled cabbage, you are left with the most beautiful bluish/purple color!

Martha said to add 4 TB. salt and 4 TB. vinegar.  Add your eggs.  I dyed both boiled and blown eggs.  To get the rich dark blue color, you have to soak overnight!

We used an 8" grapevine wreath for the nest.  

We went into my backyard to gather most of the twigs.  All of my shrubs are budding and are so pretty! I know that after a week the buds will wither away, but hey- we can enjoy it now!

 

We added a few fake flowers

 and

one blue butterfly.

We twisted and wrapped, and wove.  I think I know how a bird feels after making this! :)

I also splurged on this glass dome!

  Hobby Lobby had all glassware 50% off, I couldn't resist!

And there you go....5 Days of Inspired by Martha... Eggs!

Phew,

we are tired!

I think  it's time for a very long vacation from EGGS!!! 

DIY day at A Soft Place To Land

Met Monday at Between Naps On The Porch

Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage