Yarn Wrapped Wine Bottles

I have been looking on Pinterest to find ideas for my new living room and I came across this pin. I loved the idea and wanted to incorporate my new colors using this idea. I saved old wine bottles and did my best to strip them of their labels. Some residue was still left over, but most of the label was gone. I actually had to soak one in water for a bit first before the label would scrape off. Once the wine bottles were ready, all I needed was:

1. Mod Podge glue

2. Yarn

3. Buttons/Accessories

4. Foam Brush

I started with the wine bottle turned upside down and used the foam brush to put a layer of glue on the wine bottle. 

I then worked the yarn tightly and carefully across. Once I reached the curve of the bottle, I skipped the yarn over to the neck and did that first before then finishing down the curve of the bottle. 

Once the bottle was completely wrapped, I cut the yarn and glued the stray piece to what I would have be the back of the bottle. Once all the bottles were done, I let them dry for a while.

I used buttons and yarn to spell out "love" and finished it off with some sweet little white flowers. 

I think it will really add something to my living room! :)

Easy Customized Wall Art

Last week as I was looking on Pinterest for crafts I could make to decorate my new living room, I came across this pin: DIY Scrapbook Paper Wall Art. I thought it would be powerful on the wall above my sofa and the best thing…I could completely customize it to my new living room colors!

I went to Home Depot and purchased a 10 ft by 12 in board for $23. For free, I had the employee at Home Depot cut the board into 12x12 squares for me. Because the wood wasn't exactly 12 in (more like 11.8), I just asked him to make sure they were square. When all the cutting was finished, I ended up with 10 squares which was perfect because I only needed 9 and now I had one extra :)

For the rest of the wall art, the supplies I used:

1. black acrylic paint

2. foam brush

3. Nine pieces of scrapbook paper (in your chosen style/color)

4. Mod Podge glue (bottled matte)

5. Razor Cutter

6. Mod Podge SPRAY glue (glossy)

I started by painting the edges of the squares with the black paint. I used three coats of paint so the wood would be completely covered.

As the edges were drying, I measured and cut the pieces of scrapbook paper for the squares. Once the squares dried, I applied Mod Podge to the wood and attached the scrapbook paper squares. I made sure to add glue to the edges if they were coming up.

I am by no means perfect, so I had to use a razor cutter to trim any extra paper hanging from the wood.

I also touched up the edges with black paint if they needed it.

I laid all 9 squares out to dry (face down). Once they were dry, I finished them off with two coats of glossy spray Mod Podge.

I'm looking forward to hanging this customized art in my new place. I will most likely buy hanging brackets from Home Depot that I will screw into the backs to hang them with. 

Easily Adding an Accent Color

So, as I mentioned in this previous post, I am re-doing my living room in grey, white, black, silver, and my pop of color... which is this emerald-turquoise color. Because I have been having difficulty finding items to decorate my living room in this color, I decided to craft some of my own items. I found this basic wood frame at Michael's and used my 40% coupon  (woo hoo!) to purchase it. 

I already had some acrylic paint at home, so in order to get the perfect color, I mixed green, blue, white, and black until I found the perfect mixture. 

(elephant inspiration)

I then used a foam brush and applied two coats of paint to the basic frame and let it dry.

I love the way it turned out and how easy it was! Slowly but surely, I am acquiring more and more items in my "pop" of color!

Yarn Wreath for Baby's Room

A good friend (and co-worker) was having a baby shower and I wanted to do something special. Her and her husband had been in the process of adopting a baby from China for over a year and a half and finally the time was coming near for them to pick up their baby girl! Once I received the baby shower invitation and found out the colors, I decided I should make a yarn wrapped wreath. The baby's room is grey, coral, and turquoise. Using those colors, I purchased supplies:

1. 8 in styrofoam wreath

2. grey/silver yarn

3. felt sheets (coral, turquoise, and white)

4. colored cork sheets (I found them a Michael's in a little book)

5. hot glue & gun


I decided to do something a little untraditional and wrap the wreath in the grey/silver yarn. I made coral, turquoise, and white felt flowers (go here to see all of the different flower types you can make). 

To finish the wreath, I traced out a "W" (baby's initial) on a coral cork sheet, cut it out, and glued it onto a square piece of turquoise coral. 

I love how the wreath turned out. It meant so much to me to be able to give my friend something that came from my heart, that was personalized for her precious miracle. 

Two Colored Yarn Wrapped Letter

I will be moving soon into a new apartment and I have decided I would like to completely re-do my living room. Everything out...the armoire, the coffee table/end table, the couch, the lamps, the curtains…everything. With a trip to the furniture store, my inspiration began. I absolutely fell in love with this sofa:

Hadly Grey Sofa

I love the color, I love the chevron accent pillows, I love the 60's style lines it has. I LOVE THIS SOFA.

Thus my living room colors began to form…grey, white, black, silver…and I knew I needed a POP of color. I was walking around a local home decor store (Garden Ridge) when I spotted this vase:

I knew instantly that this was my color. Sort of like emerald and turquoise had a baby…amazing. A few aisles into the store, I found this elephant and I knew these two pieces were destined to live together in my living room:

As I began planning my new living room, I quickly discovered how difficult it was to find this emerald-turquoise accent color. Nothing I could find was quite like it…nothing. Luckily, I have my crafting abilities to rely on so I decided I would make some things myself. :)

The first thing I wanted to make was a large cardboard letter "C" wrapped in the emerald-turqoise yarn. I couldn't find a yarn to match perfectly (yes, I actually took the vase INTO the store with me), but a friend helped me pick out two green yarns that if mixed together would work perfectly!

My supplies:

1. wooden letter (I prefer the blocky cardboard ones because they are easier to wrap and I like the look of them better. Any wooden letter should work. Because I want my letter "C" to be a big accent piece in my living room, I bought a 12 in. letter.)

2.  Mod Podge glue (my standard is matte)

3. yarn of choice

4. foam brush

To begin, you simply apply Mod Podge to the end of your letter and start wrapping, adding more glue along the way as you wrap more and more.

Curves and ends can be difficult to wrap, but just continue working carefully until you have the area covered. It is okay if the yarn wraps in different directions and is bulkier on some parts of the letter. 

When I finish wrapping a letter, I always turn it over and put a lot of glue on the backside to hold it all into pace. I also cut the extra yarn, tie it into place back there, and glue it down.

I love how my accent "C" turned out and I can't wait to put it in my new place!