Feeling Crafty Again...

Maybe it's fall coming on (at least - I'm dreaming of fall temps, tall boots and being able to bake/cook in my house without overheating the entire place...), but I'm starting to feel a little crafty again and I was inspired by this great post from one of my favorite blogs, Home Stories A2Z, on how to find color palette inspiration. Beth provided some amazing examples and tools for selecting color palettes and my mind is spinning... I'm going to be spending lots of time on Design Seeds for sure!

Image: Design Seeds
I would LOVE this color palette in our bedroom, which we just painted grey like the color on the bottom...

I was also inspired by this post from Jane at Modern Jane. Isn't her front door (below) the cutest thing you've ever seen? We need a new front door (hoping it can be a Christmas project when my father-in-law is in town...) and it would be awesome to paint it a fun color. I'm thinking something in the yellow family. Thoughts?

Photo: Modern Jane

I feel a craft coming on...

The list of crafts I'd like to complete is growing... if only I had unlimited time and resources! This jewelry holder idea from Peace, Love, 2 Sisters (found by way of Ucreate), however, has me thinking it would be an easy, affordable, unique gift idea for friends...

Photo credit: Peace, Love, 2 Sisters

I have been inspired by a few ideas that involve repurposed frames lately (see here what Dana from House Tweaking did with some mirror frames from Goodwill). Do you have any ideas for using old frames - or maybe a few old frames that need a home? I will start looking at garage sales and thrift stores...

Inspired!

I love, love, love the blog The Stories of A2Z. If you like crafts and home decor, this blog is for you, too! I just took a peek at Beth's latest post about the trend in decorating with pallets (who knew?) and I am TOTALLY inspired! My favorites are the toy boxes from Ana White, a meaningful head board from House Tweaking (I can see this in our master bedroom or the guest room!), wall coverings and a cool toddler bed. Truth be told - I think I love them all... I feel a craft project coming on!

Ana White

House Tweaking

Crafty - Spring Wreath

So it's been Spring Break at our household for the past week so I've taken a bit of a break from blogging - although there have been lots of blog-able things going on in our lives including a getaway trip to the mountains, Baby F's first haircut, lots of Baby F "food firsts" including quesadillas (hit) and cottage cheese (miss - just like his Mommy), and planting our spring garden - including spinach, peas and several varieties of lettuce. Stay tuned for updates on that project...

Recently when I was fighting an ear infection I found myself up late one night perusing craft blogs to try to take my mind off the pain. Who knew I would have so much success - having identified a few new favorite blogs that led me to a craft project tonight! I started with Young & Crafty - a great blog that I literally could spend every day being inspired by! Hannah from Young & Crafty made this cool spring wreath, and I knew I had to have one... I followed Hannah's link to UCreate which led me to the original tutorial at StoneGable. If you've clicked on any of these links I dare you to tell me you weren't inspired by something you found there...

Wreath parts - most expensive was the twiggy willow wreath,
but all materials were half-off at Hobby Lobby.

Just before gluing - lavender stems in place!

The final product. I think I want to add some more lavender stems...
The color is more vivid in person, too, but overall I'm happy!

Although my creation isn't nearly so beautiful as what Yvonne created at StoneGable, I am pretty happy with it and considering I got all of the materials half-off at Hobby Lobby, the total end cost of about $15 plus about 30  minutes worth of work makes it worth doing again! Enjoy my photos - but for the real how-to please visit StoneGable, UCreate or Young & Crafty. Now for my next project. This one from Modern Jane has me thinking... We do need a new side table in our TV room!

DIY Bulletin Board

I am a co-room parent for Baby F's class and as such, I signed on to help update the classroom bulletin board. I have to admit, my first pass at jazzing up the board was pretty lame (just stapled some 8x10 print-outs to some scrapbook backing...) After his teacher told me she wanted to add some fabric, I went into full creative mode...

I did a quick Google search from my Droid while at JoAnn Fabric and quickly came across the idea of using felt on the board. Did you know that there is a such thing as eco-friendly felt? It's made in part from plastic bottles. Awesome. In addition to being eco-friendly, I thought I'd so something a little springy, so my mind went to flowers.

I tried my skill at hand-cut flowers, which quickly turned out to be a bad idea... So I did another handy Google search and came across this darling pattern for felt flowers.

It took me a few hours - but the outcome was awesome! I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Step one: cut petals

Step two: arrange petals

Step three: glue flowers

Step four: assemble flowers

And fast forward (aka: I forgot to take pictures of other steps...) final product including pipe cleaner stems and some cute felt leaves.

Can't wait to tackle a refresh of the board in a few months - and maybe repurpose this idea for a gift or two... I'm thinking something along the lines of an ocean/fish theme for the next class board. Suggestions?

Down the blog rabbit hole...

Picture credit: The Stories of A to Z

Thanks to Momspirational for pointing me toward The Stories of A to Z, a blog that has my brain in overdrive about DIY projects... Check out this darling idea for a boy's room! Will have to do this for Baby F as his room has bead board and would be perfect for this design when he's bigger.

After clicking on The Stories of A to Z I started clicking on some of the links within that blog and found some other awesome craft ideas from blogs like Hidden Sisters and A Thoughtful Place.