Saturday 24 November 2012

Snowy Trees in Vintage Crown Jars



Hello everyone on this very snowy, Saturday morning!

Today, I was totally inspired by our recent snowfall that I decided to get crafty and make a snowy, Christmassy, craft! Today’s craft was easy to create and looks so pretty. These These Snowy Trees in Vintage Crown Jars look great on the windowsill, fire mantel, or used as holiday centerpieces.

Items you’ll need to build this craft:
Vintage Crown Canning Jars/Mason Jars
Epsom Salt
Small Village Décor Trees

**You can find old jars from your grandma's basement, or buy new ones from Wal-mart or Target. Epsom Salt can be purchased at a drug store and Small Village Trees can be purchased at Canadian Tire or Wal-mart.

Step 1: Find a Crown jar, older Crown jars can be purchased at flea markets or garage sales or new ones can be bought at Wal-mart or Target. I like using the Crown jars for this craft because I like the blue tint that the jars have, it gives the craft a snowy look. However, Mason jars will also work. I then used bleach and hot water and washed each jar out.

Step 2: After each jar was clean and dried, I add in the Epsom salt. Put about 2 scoops of salt into each jar, making sure that the bottom of the jar is covered, then place your mini trees into each jar. Now Sprinkle a few more scoops of salt into the jar to make the trees look like they’re covered in snow. The salt also packs down each trees base so that the trees don’t move. Once your jars are looking nice and snowy its time to put the lid, on and place the jars wherever you’d like!

Hope you guys enjoyed the DIY Pine Trees in Crown Jars craft!
More Christmas crafts to come! 





Monday 19 November 2012

Holiday Peppermint Candy Candle


This weekend I started to watch some Christmas movies, pin some Christmas ideas, and started to dig out some of the Christmas decorations. After going Christmas crazy I decided to make a really easy Christmas craft, Christmas candles! These Christmas candles can be placed on fire mantels or used as festive centerpieces for Christmas dinner.These Christmas candles are very easy to make and a lot cheaper then purchasing them from the store.

Items you’ll need to create these Christmas Candles:
Plain white candles, any size.
Hot glue guy and glue sticks.
Peppermint Christmas Candy 
Spray Varnish 

Step 1: Go to Wal-Mart or a dollar store and purchase a white candle. Then go to the Bulk barn and purchase some peppermint Christmas candies.

Step 2: Once you have purchased your candle and the candies its time to plug in the glue gun and start gluing the candies onto the candle. Make sure to do one row of candies at a time, starting at the bottom so that you will know how many candies will fit evenly onto the candle. Be careful, this can become very sticky!

Step 3: Once the candies are glued onto the candle you can take spray varnish or any type of clear spray that seals, and spray the candle. The spray helps the candies stay onto the candle longer, gives the candle a shiny finish and decreases the stickiness.

Step 4: Once the spray has dried your candle is ready to burn and look festive! Hope you guys enjoyed this easy Christmas craft! More to come.



Saturday 17 November 2012

Diy Barn Board Headboard


Over the past few weeks I have been putting together a headboard for my double size bed. I came across this idea through Pinterest. I was looking into purchasing a new headboard but they were too expensive, so I did some researching and came across a DIY headboard. I choose to create a rustic look using old barn boards that I found at my grandad's farm.

This project is really inexpensive and easy to do!

Items you’ll need to create a DIY barn board headboard:
9 Barn boards
Saw
Screw Gun
Screws
Wire brush
Electric Sander
Chestnut Stain
Varnish
Paintbrush

Step 1: Once you have 9 barn boards, set 2 aside. Use the other 7 boards and measure them to be about 1 foot longer then your bed. Once the boards are measured at the same length cut them. Use the other 2 boards and place them vertical on the back of the 7 boards. Use a screw gun and screw each board into the 2 vertical boards.

Step 2: Once the boards are all screwed together you can now see the outline of what your headboard is going to look like. My barn boards were dirty so I used a wire brush, kind of like a bbq brush and brushed all the dirt off.

Step 3: Once all the dirt is completely off the headboard you can start sanding. Now plug in your electric sander and sand the entire front of the headboard and all its edges. Sand until the headboard is soft and smooth.

Step 4: Once the headboard is completely sanded you can now start painting. Grab your paintbrush and chestnut stain and do 2 to 3 coats of stain each time a layer has dried.

Step 5: Once all the stain is dried, do 1 coat of varnish. You can also do 1 coat of varnish on the back of your headboard too.

EXTRA: There are multiple ways to hang the headboard against the wall. You can screw 2 large hooks in the back of the headboard and mount the headboard on the wall or you can add legs to the headboard.

Hope you guys love this project just as much as I did!





Wednesday 7 November 2012

Vintage Wood Candleholder Centerpiece


Hello all!

This week I decided to create another DIY candleholder. I was browsing on Pinterest and I came across a candleholder made out of a thick piece of wood. I then went to my grandparents in search of a similar piece. After hunting for a few minutes I was able to find the perfect piece of wood. Next, I got down to work in hopes of creating a vintage wood candleholder centerpiece! 

The supplies you’ll need to create this wood candleholder are the following:
Thick piece of wood
Drill press with a round bit.
Sander
Paint Brush
Chestnut Stain
Varnish

**Majority of these supplies can be purchased at a hardware store.

Step 1: Once you’ve found a thick or long piece of wood, take a drill press with a round bit and drill 10 or more holes depending on the size of your piece of wood. Drill the holes in a pattern onto the wood. The round bit is the same size as a tea light, so the candles will fit perfectly into the drilled holes.

Step 2: Once all the holes are drilled, I used a palm sander and sanded the piece of wood down until it felt soft.

Step 3: After the wood was sanded down I used my paintbrush and chestnut stain and painted on 3 coats of stain. I wanted my candleholder to look very shiny. Once the stain was dry I took another paintbrush and painted on 1 coat of varnish. The varnish is a final coat that leaves the piece looking sealed and shiny. Once the varnish is completely dry you can now place the candleholder anywhere you’d like. I placed mine on top of my dinning table and used it as a centerpiece. I also place it on top of my fireplace mantel.

EXTRA: I eventually carved my boyfriend’s, and my name into the piece of wood. I did this with a stencil and a electric wood carver. This is very easy to do and adds more to the piece.

Hope you guys enjoyed the Vintage Wood Candleholder Centerpiece tutorial!