Re-Decorate The Old Fall Wreath

Re-Decorate The Old Fall Wreath by Helen Gullett | www.helengullett.com #diy #fallwreath #creatingjoyfully

The cool air is blowing nicely when we sit at our front porch. And I think it is the time to get the Fall decorations out from the box.

I washed, air dried and hang the old wreath we had on the front porch wall but it looked there was something missing. But what?

Then I remember that I have couple chalkboard sign I got from Walmart couple months ago for my daugthers’ going back to school signs. I saw an Instagram post from Emily (see her project here) and I love her Fall chalkboard sign 😊

I cleaned the chalk off that board using baby wipes. Let it air dries completly before start writing on it. And then I wrote the Fall phrase on it using an eraseable chalkboard marker so in the future I can write something else on it 😉

And the re-decorate wreath is now hang up on the front porch wall. But for sure we still need couple things to decorate our front porch.

I hope you like it as much as we do! Thank you for visiting and enjoy the cool crisp air of Fall!

DIY Wavy Blooms Watercolor Muslin Bag

Handmade gift is one of the best way of giving gifts to family and friends. This is one of our favorite way of giving gifts for any special occasions. My daughters and I love creating gifts together for special occasions, like birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and gifts for their teachers.

What is your way of giving?

Today, I’d like to share with you a watercolor muslin bag I made which can be used as a gift bag or storage bag. I learned how to make this bag is from Big Picture Classes.

For this project, you will need these supplies:

  • a muslin bag (you can sew it or use the premade one)
  • a piece of cardboard or cardstock as insert inside the bag
  • watercolor paint (or fabric paint, or fabric markers)
  • watercolor brushes (or Aquash water brushes)
  • some water
  • your choice of stamp set
  • stamping blocks if you use acrylic clear stamps
  • Staz-On ink pad (or any ink pad that won’t face away when it interacts with water while coloring)

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For my bag, I used pre-made 6″ x 8″ muslin bag. I stamped some of the flowers from Wavy Blooms stamp set from Close To My Heart using Black StazOn™ Ink Pad. And then, add the piece of cardboard or cardstock inside the bag to avoid bleeding through on the back of the bag. The next step is to color them with Watercolor Paints. Pick the color one by one with the paint brushes. I used Pentel Aquash water brushes medium and small sizes.

A tip for you, if it is too much color on your images, you can use paper towel to take some away while it is still wet. You can simply dub them away. Do not wipe them off because it will smear them all over.

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You can see there some colors bleed out of the stamped images, that’s okay. But if you do not like that, you can use Craft Heater to dry them quickly rather then leave it air-dry slowly. Some images that do no have colors out side of the images are the ones I dried using my Craft Heater.

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This watercolor bag cannot be washed. I would suggest to paint the flowers using acrylic paint or fabric paint for washable bag. I use this bag as gift bag with some watercolor cards inside. Cards that fit perfectly inside this 6″ x 8″ bag are 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ cards and 5″ x 7″ cards with envelopes.

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Project is done and I hope this project can inspire you to make some pretty things today! THANK YOU for visiting!

DIY Monogram Canvas

It has been a long time I would like to have a monogram decor for our home. As usual I went to Pinterest to find inspirations of course! 😀 So, I had a canvas art that I got from a local craft store and I painted it with white acrylic paint couple months ago. It was just sitting on my craft supply basket and waiting. And then this morning after teaching my youngest daughter letter “A”, I decided to do the monogram canvas project.

DIY Wood Monogram & Canvas by Helen Gullett | www.helengullett.com | #diy #artwall #walldecor #repurpose #monogram #creatingjoyfully #handmade #targetrocks #targethandmademodern

To make this monogram canvas (repurpose the old canvas) is very easy.

I wanted to have the black and white strips background. First, I added painter tape on the canvas to cover the space where I wanted to stay white and then painted the uncover areas with black acrylic paint using small size foam brush.

Let the paint dry for 1-2 hours before the second coating, if you need to. But I only did one coat and it looked good.

While waiting for the paint to dry, I grab my wooden letter and fabric flowers I got from Target. I love Target store even more because they have the craft supply section now! One more reason to go to Target when we go to the city 🙂

DIY Wood Monogram & Canvas by Helen Gullett | www.helengullett.com | #diy #artwall #walldecor #repurpose #monogram #creatingjoyfully #handmade #targetrocks #targethandmademodern

You can use hot glue gun to add the fabric flowers to the wooden letter. But I used Gorilla Wood Glue to add the fabric flowers on the letter, just to make sure they are glued strongly.

After about 2 hours, I checked my canvas and felt it had dried well, I added the decorated wooden letter to the canvas using the same wood glue. And from the instruction on the bottle, it has to dry at least 24 hours or overnight.

I love the finished project! And this monogram canvas will go up on our fire place.

This is a quick and easy way to repurpose an art canvas that you do not like the picture or a canvas you find cheap at flea market or antique store.

THANKS for stopping by today!

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First Day Of School

Today is the day! The day when my Big Girl is going back to school. She is super excited for today, her first day of school as First Grader. For the whole week… literally whole week, she kept saying, “I cannot wait for my first day of school!”

Honestly, my husband and I do not want our daughters to grow so fast, but growing is part of life. They will keep growing physically and spiritually. We cannot stop the process, but we can enjoy and always be thankful for what God has been doing in their lives.

Today, we celebrate their milestone. The Big Girl is going to First Grade and The Little Girl is starting her Toddler or so called Pre-K school at home with me.

We are thankful.

1st Day Chalkboard Sign

Supplies: Chalkboard Sign (Walmart), Chalkboard marker (CTMH), White Chalk (Walmart)

First Day of First Grade

First Day Sign

Supplies: Black Cardstock (Walmart), White Color Pencil (American Crafts)

First Day of Toddler School

And a little gift for her new teacher, too

DIY Gift for Teacher

Supplies: Framed Stamp Set (CTMH), Teacher Appreciation (CTMH), White Daisy Cardstock (CTMH), Cranberry Ink Pad (CTMH), Honey Ink Pad (CTMH), Pear Ink Pad (CTMH), Topiary Ink Pad (CTMH), Pacifica Ink Pad (CTMH), Gypsy Ink Pad (CTMH), Baker’s Twine, Sharpie Markers, Tin Can, 3D Paper Flower (Silhouette Design Store)

How’s your first day of the week? 🙂

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DIY Cross-Stitched Necklace

I learned cross-stitching since I was at fourth grade. It was one of the mandatory school extra activities for Elementary and Junior High students at the girls’ Catholic school I attended. I loved cross-stitching.

After I graduated High School, I stopped cross-stitching for some of reasons. But in the last few months, I got back to try do some cross-stitching using kits. It is just easier that way because all kits include the pattern/tutorial, threads, needle, wooden base, clasp, necklace, and even some tips 🙂 It is good for me to remember again how to do it.

Last winter, I found these cute necklace kits at a craft store. They are cross-stitching necklace with wooden base. Just so cool, I think 🙂 I never stitch on wooden base before, so this is a new experience for me.

Cross-stitched Necklace

I did both necklaces in 2 days. They are very easy to make. I took time when I could during the girls’ nap time. The back of it, I added some Liquid Glass to secure the threads and this glue dries clear. Just love the results!

When you go to a craft store, I hope you will give it a try 🙂 THANKS for visiting today!