Whimsical Christmas Wreath

My two naked front doors forced me to do it. (Yes, we like to buy houses with two front doors, rather if we own them or to rent them). The front doors had basically been ignored during the decorating process for years. So, they locked me in until I came up with something cute, modern and above all, ‘Christmasy’.

I made two different types of wreaths-this being the first in a two-part intense wreath series I will be sharing with you.
Ok, truth be told, it’s not intense. It’s rather easy.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:
Styrofoam wreath
Metallic Spray Paint-I used silver, but you can go gold, red, whatever!
Hot Glue gun
Scissors
Brown Paper bags, drop cloth, etc
(ignore the rest of the stuff in the photo. I didn’t end up using it.)

Also:
Beads (these were from Mardi Gras)
Handful of small twigs
Metallic discs (found in the hobby section)
-OR-Any other decor you have laying around-tiny feathers, bells, sequins, gems, etc

Lay out the brown paper sacks or some sort of a drop cloth. Spray the styrofoam wreath and the twigs with the metallic spray paint. Don’t inhale…

Shove the twigs into the wreath until they fit snuggly. Show those suckers who’s boss. Hot glue the metallic discs (or the decor you have on hand) to the wreath with a bit of whimsy on your side.

Lay the beads around the wreath, intertwining them with the twigs. Hot glue the beads at various points around the wreath, so that they are secure but still have the capability of movement.

Proudly display your one of a kind ‘Whimsical Christmas Wreath’ on the door of your choosing-if you have more than one, like we do. ‘Cuz, we’re weird. And we buy weird houses.

But watch out-the neighbor’s with the boring old evergreen wreath might be jealous.

Retro Christmas Tree Skirt

I cherish Christmas.
It’s my absolute favorite time of the year. I anxiously await a reasonable time to launch into new crafty Christmas ideas, as soon as the first leaf begins to turn. This year I made it to the second week of October before I pulled out the decorations.
Ridiculous-I know. Fun-definitely.

This tree skirt was made out of scraps of felt fabric, an hour of my time and a bit of vintage inspiration.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own Retro Tree Skirt:
2 Christmasy colors of scrap felt (I had red & green on hand)
1 circle piece of felt-about 2’-3’ in diameter (I used black)
Hot glue gun or ‘Heat n Bond’
Scissors
Ric-rac
Card Stock with your desired image drawn & cut out

Pin the cut out images to the chosen Christmasy felt. Cut out 4-6 of each image, depending upon how they are distributed around the skirt.

I cut out four felt deer for my tree skirt. And named them (from left to right: Template Deer “Ed”, Prancer, Dancer, Blitzen & Rudoplh).

And, I cut out five sparkly felt Christmas trees for my tree skirt and named them, too (from left to right: Gerry, Edna, Harry, Bob & Alice). But, I ended up only using four of them, however.
‘Alice’ was very upset.

Cut out a 2’-3’ in diameter tree skirt base. Then, cut a slit from one corner of the circle to the center, so that it can wrap around the tree. Using either a hot glue gun or the ‘Heat n Bond’, distribute the images around the tree skirt however looks best.

I added red noses to the deer and a bit of ric-rac around their necks for that extra vintage feel.

I hot glued two different colors of ric-rac around the edge of the tree skirt for some Christmasy pizzazz

And Tah-Dah! A one-of-a-kind, vintage-inspired tree skirt.
The deer were happy, the trees were happy, my wallet was happy…Now, all I need is the tree.

Marbles and Copper Wind Chime

Nothing is more pleasant on a windy fall day than enjoying the melodies of wind chimes as you cuddle the one you love. However, most wind chimes are rather pricey and I can’t justify paying for noise-when I can make it myself.

With a little creativity and a few leftover bits, I invented my own rendition for under $5.
And it is music to my frugal ears.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own wind chime:
4’ + feet of copper tubing (found in the plumbing dept. in home improvement stores. I had a scrap laying around.)
Kitchen twine or any thin waxed rope
Drill with drill bit comparable to the size of rope you use
Thin, bendable wire (I used 20 Gauge, galvanized)
Wire cutters
Needle nose pliers
Marbles or a replacement striker (a small piece of solid wood, etc)
Paint Can Lid
Spray Paint of your desired color
Skill saw with metal cutting blade
‘S’ hook for hanging the wind chime

Evenly spray your paint can lid in your desired color. Let it dry and do some other stuff to keep busy.

I divided my 4’ of copper tubing into 5 segments; 4”, 6”, 8”, 10” and 12”.
Using the skill saw with a metal blade, cut the desired lengths from the copper tubing.

Here are my pretty little copper tube segments. They remind me of churches and pipe organ and fancy lacy socks…but I digress.

Measure 1” down from the top of each segment, marking it with a sharpie.

Using your drill with the bit the same size as your rope; drill all the way through your copper tubing.

Lightly sand any burs from the drilling and cutting process off of the copper. Be careful-copper scratches easily.

The circumference of my paint can lid was 15”.
I divided the circumference equally among the five segments of my copper tubing.
For example, my circumference was 15” and I had five segments. This means that I could equally space each tube three inches from each other.
I wanted the rope that held each piece of copper tubing to be attached to the paint can lid 2” apart. This left 1” to space between the next copper tubing. Are you confused yet? Sorry…
Next, drill a hole in the center of the paint can lid. That’ll give your tired brain a bit of a rest.

Thread only the smallest piece of copper tubing. Then thread this piece to the paint can lid, allowing it to hang about 3” from the lid.
Continue this pattern, using the next longest piece of copper tubing.

This is what the top of your paint can will look like once you have threaded each piece. I used electrical tape to tape down the ends of my kitchen twine.

This is the bottom view of how the copper tubing has been threaded together. By threading it this way, it prevents the tubes from being tangled up with one another in the case of high winds.
And if you live anywhere close to the Dust Bowl area, you know what I mean.

Encase your marbles (if you haven’t lost them, haha…) with your 20 gauge wire, leaving a loop on the top and on the bottom. I used a larger marble to be the striker and the smaller marble to hang on the very end of the striking rope to weigh it down.

Thread the larger marble through the paint can lid, leaving a 6” excess on the top side of the paint can lid in order to tie it onto the ‘S’ hook. Make sure that the larger marble will strike your copper tubing. Mine rests at about 5” down from the paint can lid. Tie the smaller marble to the larger marble. My smaller marble rests at about 17” from the paint can lid.

Tie the excess 6” of rope onto your ‘S’ hook and find a super duper spot and hang that sucker up.
Then, sit back and enjoy the melodious sounds of your brand new, frugally made but gorgeous wind chime while snuggling your favorite pal or cat or dog or stuffed dolphin…
Hey, I don’t judge. Well, maybe a little.

Mod Log Table

I have been dreaming of an outdoor end table for quite some time. When my neighbor decided to chop down his very dead pine tree, the opportunity afforded itself.
I love neighbors with chainsaws.
Here’s a view of the finished Mod Log Table. Yes, it’s inside my house. No, it hasn’t spent a day outside yet. I think it’s kind’ve pretty inside…

In order to make your own Mod Log Table, you’ll need a dead tree-preferably very dead. I hopped the fence into my neighbors yard and picked out my victim from amongst the carnage laying before me.

I let my Little Mini chainsaw rest while I borrowed the neighbor’s beefier chainsaw. I tried to make the cut as even as possible, knowing I would have to sand down any high points on the wood later on.

I had some vintage legs laying around, but you can use pre-made legs that you can buy at Lowe’s. You’ll also want lag screws to fasten your legs to the log, polyurethane, a foamy brush, and gloves. You’ll want some steel wool & a microfiber cloth for in between your poly layers.

You’ll need a drill with a drill bit slightly smaller than your lag screw and a belt sander with 40 & 80 grit sandpaper, a socket set and a level(not pictured-sorry!).

Sand the top and bottom of your log until it’s smooth, starting with the 40 grit. Use the 80 grit for your fine sand.
That’s fine, baby, that’s fine….

Once your log is smooth, use small set screws to temporarily attach the legs to the underside of the log. Outline the table legs (so when you remove them later on, you’ll know where they go) and flip your table over to check for it being level.

Using your level as shown, ‘shim’ up your table leg until the table sits level. Measure the amount you will either need to router out of the underside of your table, or shim up with scrap plywood.
Or you can choose to sand it even more until your shoulder falls off.
Flip your table back over and remove the legs.

I cut out pieces of plywood with a jigsaw to make up the difference I had measured earlier in order for the table to be level. I chose to shim up my legs, mainly because I do not own a router. This doesn’t look quite as finished, but for an outside table, I was ok with it.

Drill pilot holes for your lag screws or for your pre-made table legs using a drill bit that is slightly smaller than the screw you’ll be using.

Use a socket set to insert your lag screws, if you have legs like mine (tee hee). If you have pre-made legs with the screw already sticking out of the end, just screw them into where you drilled your pilot holes.

Wipe the table down with a microfiber cloth-get all the nooks and crannies. Now it’s time to make it pretty! Enough of the functional stuff. WOO-HOO!

Apply your first layer of polyurethane and let dry according to the manufacturer’s instructions. It’ll be so purty when you’re done with the first layer!

Use your steel wool to get any of the bubbles out by ‘sanding’ it lightly.

Use your steel wool to get any of the bubbles out by ‘sanding’ it lightly.
Wipe the entire thing down again with your microfiber cloth. Apply another coat of poly and let dry.

You now have such a cute table, you may not be able to bring yourself to put it outside. Mine hasn’t made it outside yet. I keep telling myself to let go…but I’m worried it will be lonely outside…