No Sew Valentine's Day Burlap and Felt Banner

In case you haven't noticed I love banners.  Recently I've been making flag banners for every season and using them to decorate my mantel.  Apparently, I'm not the only one who loves bunting because I sell a decent amount of them through my Etsy shop.  Today, however, there's no need to buy - you can make this one yourself in just a few minutes. 

You'll need: 

Burlap

Felt in a few different colors

Scrap material (optional)

Jute rope

Spray adhesive

Hot glue gun 

Start by cutting out your first burlap flag.  You can make them any size you want.   However large you make them, use the first flag as a guide for the next three.

Valentine's Day Handprint Crafts for Kids (Door Hanger or Wall Art)

I'm always a sucker for handprint crafts so I thought I'd share one I made with the kids two years ago.   At the time, my now-squirmy two year old was just an infant so he didn't have much say in me putting paint all over his piggy toes.  My daughter was three at the time and she couldn't get enough paint on her hands and feet - she loved it so much we actually made three of these Valentine's Day Hand and Footprint crafts to give to each of the grandparents.

What you'll need: 

• 3 pieces of cardboard cut
• 3 pieces of cardstock paper 
• Scrapbook paper in two coordinating patterns
• Hole punch
• Ribbon
• Acrylic craft paint 
• Paper plates (for the paint)
• Tape

To get started put a glob of paint on a paper plate. 

Dip you child's hands in the paint and, if necessary, use a paint brush to fill in any spots on their fingers and palms. 

DIY Pom Pom Yarn Wreath on a Wire Hanger

Ah ha, you're back! I knew you'd be back to check out this awesome idea of what to do with all those yarn pom poms you made.   In case you missed it - I shared the tutorial on how to make poms poms from yarn here yesterday and now I have the perfect answer to 'what to make with pom poms?'

I made about 50 (or maybe it was more, I lost track....I was up to my eyeballs in yarn by the time I was done) pom poms in white, red, fuchsia and gray for a Valentine's Day wreath.   Of course, you can make them in any color and make a wreath for any season.  I was inspired by Britany at Just B Crafty's wreath.  She made a beautiful yarn wreath that's great to have up all winter long.   I think pom pom wreaths are perfect for the winter months because they've got that cozy sweater-like feel to it.

How to make pom poms from yarn

So you want to know how to make yarn pom poms...for perhaps garland or a wreath.   Today I'm going to show you how to make these easy pom poms and tomorrow I'm going to share a great way to use them.

You can make yarn pom poms in many different sizes by varying what you wrap the yarn around.  I wanted mine to be about the size of a baseball so I wrapped the yarn around a large serving fork.  I also made them by wrapping the yarn around four fingers (sans the thumb) and they came out about the same size as the fork method. The only drawback to that method is your hand is quite literally tied up so it's a little more difficult to work one-handed.

For the sake of this post, I'm going to assume you're using the fork method so I'll be referring to that throughout.  Start by looping the end of the yarn through the fork spokes keep the loose end to the side. 

How to make 3D paper hearts for Valentine's Day crafts

Don't curse me for already bringing up the V word...but when it comes to holidays, especially, I try to work ahead to give all of my lovely readers time to make and enjoy their homemade decorations.

With that being said...today I present you with my first Valentine's Day DIY project.  This is one of those basic craft projects that, once made, can be used in so many different ways.  Are you ready to make some 3D paper hearts? 

Making 3 dimensional hearts out of paper is actually pretty easy.  First you're going to want to make a heart stencil.   This part is important because for each 3D paper heart, you'll need to cut out four hearts that are exactly the same size.

So...go on....make your stencil.  I'll wait (tapping, tapping, tapping).

GIVEAWAY: Valentine's Day 'Be Mine' Burlap Banner

Hey Guys! We want to thank you so much for helping Two It Yourself to a major milestone. Today we passed 1,000 followers on Facebook. We can't thank you enough! And because you've 'LIKED' us, we want to show our LOVE to you!

To show our love and appreciation for reading, sharing, clicking, pinning, tweeting, commenting yada yada yada we're giving away a 'Be Mine' Valentine's Day Burlap Banner!

There are several ways to enter and you can gain as many entries as possible through the giveaway form below.

Thanks for stopping by 2IY! If you like what you see, we'd love for you to pin it!

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DIY 'Let It Snow' Burlap Banner (Free Printables)

Alright, you guys..I know you're gonna be shocked, but I'm back with another burlap project.  I made a little Let It Snow burlap banner to get me through the winter, even after I take all the Christmas decorations down (that's the worst, isn't it?).

I'm making this bunting super duper easy for you, by giving you the free printables.  Even if you don't have burlap, this would look awesome printed on paper.  Alright, lets get started.

DIY Faux Chalkboard Menu Board

My husband and I recently hosted a small dinner party for about four other couples.   Since I wasn't doing much in the way of decorations - my house is already decked out for Christmas - I decided I would just do a few extra special party decorations.  I had been given a free trial upgrade by PicMonkey to use their Royale Package I decided to make a Faux Chalkboard Menu Board.  It came out awesome - despite my misspelling on Nutella (sorry 'bout that, 'Tella- I hope we can still be BFFs).   More on why I didn't fix it in a minute...but first how I made it using PicMonkey.

I started by "creating a design."  Since I was printing it at home and wanted it to be as large as possible, I selected the 8 x 10 canvas.   Using the chalkboard background in the 'School' theme, I was able to make the entire canvas a faux chalkboard.  Then I added an overlay at the top and made it transparent before adding my "Menu" text.

Then it was time to start adding my menu items.  I used all the different chalkboard-like fonts available on PicMonkey.  Some of them are part of the standard free package, and a few like Sketch Block and Stroke Dimension I could only gain access to because I had the free trial of PicMonkey's Royale (indicated by the little crown).  

Merry Christmas to ME! The one gift I got myself...

I'm not really a 'one for you, one for me' kinda girl when it comes to Christmas shopping.  I rarely self-indulge, but there was one thing I just couldn't pass up this holiday season. As I was walking rushing through Kohl's I spotted this beautiful white faux fur Jennifer Lopez throw.   It was marked down from $59.99 to $17.99 and with a coupon I was more than sold...I was in love.  

When I got home, my kids instantly fell in love, too.  My five year old begged me to let her sleep with the most cozy blanket in the house.   Note the other blanket right behind her...

Sorry, mommy's gonna be selfish for a hot minute, and say NO! When the kids are finally tucked in bed, the lunches are packed, the dishes are done and the fire place is roaring...I curl up under my new throw and go to my happy place.  See...I even had to do a happy place selfie so no one would get too close and steal my blanket.

Did you buy yourself anything this holiday season? Please share in the comments below! 

Thanks for stopping by 2IY! If you like what you see, we'd love for you to pin it!

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Salt Dough Recipes for Ornaments: Handprint Santa and Christmas Gift Tag Ideas

Sure, so Mother Nature gives us a 70 degree day smack dab in the middle of December - along the Mid-Atlantic- and makes it RAIN? What is up with that? That's like the worst tease ever.   Wah Wah Wah...and so we were stuck in side...again.  And guess what this mom had up her sleeve...another kids hand print project!  I have a whole board of handprint art ideas on Pinterest..and I have to say they are very popular!  The one we made today is different than anything we've made before because it's actually a 3D ornament, instead of just a paint hand print.

The are a few different salt dough recipes for ornaments floating around out there, but I did this one <<<.  To make one Santa handprint ornament and eight other small to medium size ornaments I went with 1 cup of flour and half a cup each of salt and water.

This is a toddler-friendly craft and since I had a pint size helper, he helped me mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.

Christmas Tree Handprint Art (Toddler-friendly)

 

Looking for a fun little project while your kids are off for Christmas?  You've come to the right spot!  Last week mine had two snow days coming off a weekend and by Monday 8 am we were all going majorly stir crazy.  So I broke out the finger paint and let them have at it...yup jammies and all!

{10 Minute} DIY Christmas Ornaments

Clearly I like to create and decorate, but I'm not a big DIY Christmas Ornament maker.  Today, however, that changed. I had about 10 spare minutes....I kid you not, that actually happened. Somehow between two kids, two snowdays, a minor medical procedure, the craziness of Christmas, and filling countless Etsy orders I actually had a few minutes to create. 

Anyway, when you have 10 free minutes, a scrap of burlap, and a small wood embroidery hoop, what do you do? You make your own ornament, of course.  At least that's what I did...and it was so easy which makes it that much more exciting.

First I designed the ornament in PicMonkey.   Don't be intimated by "design" because by that I mean I opened up the free photo editing software, I clicked "Design" and picked 4 x 6.  I took it up to 100% view picked a wreathery design I liked and added a V.  That part took me about 2 minutes. 

{Easy Printed} Merry Christmas Burlap Banner

A friend of mine asked me to make her a burlap banner reading 'Merry Christmas' that she could hang on her mantle.   There are tons of variations on the Christmas bunting, but she wanted her pretty simple: just a red letter per flag with a Christmas tree separating the two words.

She also requested that all of the flags be in one straight line, not two tiered like many Merry Christmas banners are.  But as it turns out making the single row of flags required the rope to be 75 inches long - way too long for the mantle.  Obviously, we reverted to plan B and went with two banners.

I turned to my trusty Powerpoint to design the flags.  I always start with a simple triangle outline and copy and pasted it repeatedly, to ensure that all of my flags are the same size.   Then I just changed the letters and moved them around slightly to center them in the flags.  For this project I put two flags per slideshow.  They are still a good size - about 6" x 6.5".

I grabbed a Christmas tree icon from my favorite PicMonkey and used it to design a flag the same way I did with the letters.

DIY Log Tea Light Holder Center Piece

Finally, I can share my log tea light holder center piece for my Christmas dining room table with you.  The project is actually pretty straight forward and fast, but for some reason it took me months to figure out how and where I wanted to use it.  But now she's ready for her 2IY debut just in time for Christmas.

I had been wanting to make a log tea light holder ever since this huge branch fell off a tree in our backyard.  Instead of making it then, I made a set of tree branch candle sticks.  I was waiting for another branch to fall but unfortunately (or, I guess, fortunately) one never did.   So I did the next best thing...I raided the wood pile.

Easy Gingerbread House Idea for Toddlers and Kids

A few years back I had this great idea to buy a gingerbread house mold to make it 'easier' to make gingerbread houses with the kids each year.  It was after the holiday and the Wilton Gingerbread Mold Pan was on super clearance at the craft store.  I should have known there was a reason it was still available.  There's no way any person in their right mind - who wants to stay in their right mind - would attempt to make a gingerbread house from scratch alongside a toddler and a five year old.

My husband looked at me like I was crazy when I brought the kit home.  Not that that's too out of the ordinary, but this time I did think he had a point.  I promptly returned it - but with the mindset that my kids would not go through their childhood deprived of making Christmas-time gingerbread houses.

Then last year my aunt told me her little secret - use milk cartons (and Halloween candy) to make easy, kid-friendly, and inexpensive gingerbread houses.  How freaking genius is that?

My 2 year old and I set out to get all our supplies: 2 pint-size milk cartons, some kid-friendly candy (none of those tiny rock hard bead-like candies that come with the gingerbread kits), what remained of our Halloween candy stash, a container of pre-made icing, and a box of graham crackers. 

20 DIY Burlap Ideas: For the love of all things burlap!

I may be slightly obsessed with burlap for the moment  month  season year....but I promise you there is a good reason why.  Burlap, while it can be a real mess to work with, is one of the most versatile mediums (did I really just write 'mediums'?? Just trying to up my game from my usual 'things') I use to create.  I have made everything from toilet paper napkin rings to wreaths and pillows with burlap.

Since I love it so much I thought I would share my love of all things burlap today with a great big roundup of some really cool DIY burlap crafts and projects we've featured right here on 2IY...so here goes.  You can click each photo to be taken directly to the tutorial.

10 Christmas Front Porch Ideas {On The Cheap}

In case you haven't picked up on it yet from all my recent posts, I have been slightly obsessing over my Christmas front porch decorations.  We typically decorate with icicle lights and a pretty wreath, but this year I really wanted something more Pottery Barn front porch-ish - ya know with lots of textures, layers, and personality...something really welcoming and inviting.  Of course, I didn't want the PB prices so I've been slowly working on creating a budget-friendly Christmas front porch and I think I've finally got it!

I spent less than $60 to create this entire front porch and all I started with was the wreath - which I made-over this year.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: To keep your decorating budget down, shop your house before the store!

DIY Christmas Wreath with 'Merry Christmas' Burlap Bow

If you're a wreath in my house you better look out.  I've been on a mission to make over every wreath this year...my fall wreath got an update and this week I tackled my Christmas wreath.   My Christmas wreath had great bones, it was just tired and worn and weathered.  The ornaments were falling off, the bow was smushed, the berries were sagging.   It needed a makeover about as bad as I need a manicure...but I digress.

If you've been following Two It Yourself for any length of time you know that I like to shop my house as much as possible.  That's exactly what I did for my wreath update and I didn't spend a penny on it.   I gathered some of my cleaned and dried pine cones, I recycled a few of the ornaments and gold berries that were on the wreath originally, and I made a 30 second no sew burlap bow from scrap burlap. 

I plopped myself and my wreath in front of my fire place and got to work disassembling the wreath.

Large DIY Outdoor Christmas Trees from Tomato Cages

This Christmas I'm taking my front porch up a notch.  The icicle lights and wreath are just not gonna cut it this year.   Along with my Pottery Barn-inspired 'Be Merry' sign, I'm decorating my Christmas front porch with three DIY lighted Christmas trees - all of which I made from tomato cage and dollar store garland.  I shared my impromptu mini potted Christmas Tree earlier this week....

Well now, I have the details on how to make large lighted Christmas trees.  If you're looking for inexpensive DIY Christmas decor (for inside or outside) this is your project!  The tall tree are 54" and cost me about $15 each to make - a major bargain considering how much tall lighted Christmas trees sell for..think triple digits for a pair.

How to Make a {No Sew} Burlap Bow in 30 Seconds or Less

When I shared my mini tomato planter Christmas tree earlier this week, I promised I'd shared a quick and easy tutorial on how to make a burlap bow and so, my friends, here it is.  This burlap bow takes like 30 seconds to make...a minute tops and has to be up there with one of the easiest DIY bows ever.