DIY Witch's Broom

I saw these witches' brooms from Pottery Barn the other day and loved them!! I figured they would be pretty simple to duplicate and they ARE! I decided to forego the lights on the ends though. They make the perfect addition to porch for fall/Halloween!

The supplies you will need ... 2 large branches (with character!), a bundle of small sticks, jute rope, and a hot glue gun. I bought both the birch branches and bundle of sticks which I cut shorter from Hobby Lobby but you could easily gather them from outside to use in this project.

S T E P   O N E | put a line of glue on either side of a large branch about 3 inches from the bottom.

S T E P   T W O | firmly press two sticks over the glue holding them there until the glue dries. (Tip :: use the thicker sticks against the branch first and save the really thin ones for the outside layer!)

S T E P   T H R E E | continue gluing thicker sticks around the base of the branch until your first layer is filled in completely. (Tip :: line the glue against the previous stick you added as you fill it in like in the pictures below)

Once the branch is filled in, you are ready for the next layer, this time using thinner sticks!

S T E P   F O U R | gather two or three thin sticks and bunch them together in your hands. 

S T E P   F I V E | glue the bunch of thin sticks partially sideways across the base layer of thick sticks. This will create a more full look at the end. Don't worry about any hot glue showing when dried because we will cover it up in the next step. :)

S T E P   F I V E | when you have attached all of your thin sticks and the broom is as full as you want it, place a line of glue just below the ends of the sticks near the branch. Glue the ed of your jute rope across the sticks. 

S T E P   S I X | continue wrapping the jute rope around the sticks, keeping it tightly wrapped and close together about three inches.

 S T E P   S E V E N | after about three inches of rope, place a drop of glue underneath the existing jute rope and slide the end underneath to be glued down. AND you're DONE! Find a cute new spot to put it on your porch! :)

fun and festive 4th of july banner

With 4th of July coming up next week I decided to get my craft on this afternoon and decorate our new shelves for their first holiday. I'm already in love with having the extra shelf space, especially when it is very limited around our apartment.

A fun and festive red, white, and blue star bunting banner... perfect for the fourth!

I bought red, white, and blue poster board at the dollar store for fifty cents each. Pocatello doesn't have many options for cute craft paper, especially of the cardstock value, so even though I had a TON of poster board left over, it would have been just as much if not more to buy scrapbook paper in these colors. I used a small star shaped cookie cutter to trace an even number of stars in each color and then cut them out.

*** Note :: My bottom shelf measures 49" across but I made the banner about 56" to allow for extra hanging room ***





Another reason why I wanted a thick cardstock type paper was for this next part. I stitched the stars together in a red, white, and blue pattern. I ran 7 stitches in between each star so that they were spaced slightly apart from each other.



All that was left to do was use double sided tape to hang the banner on the front of the shelf.
Here is a sneak peak......



Come back tomorrow! I will be sharing the rest of the shelf decor. :) I had so much fun decorating for this holiday and already have lots of ideas swimming around in my head for Fall decor.
Too soon??? ;) HA

It's beginning to look a lot like

CHRISTMAS!!

I know, I know. It is only Thanksgiving tomorrow but I am SO in the Christmas spirit this year {and yes} it came early!

I saw this several weeks ago...

via

and I was inspired to make this...

Just in case you want to make one too...

You will need

- Styrofoam Wreath {Joann's}

- Glitter Reindeer {$1 store)

- Krylon White Semi-Gloss Spray Paint

- Berries {$1 store}

- Ribbon {$1 store}

- Pine Cones

Funny Story I thought I should add :) - Several weeks ago when I decided to make this wreath, husband and I went on an adventure to the foot hills to gather some pine cones. Great idea right? WRONG! Long story short, we ended up bringing home 2 full bags of spider/ear wig/ bug infested pine cones... and in the car non-the-less. Yep, go ahead and imagine finding a spider on your husband's head rest while he is driving and you see another black dot on the back seat. Spider infested car people. It was not a fun drive back home.

My point, it is probably cold enough outside that you should be fine gathering them now but just in case, you might want to buy a couple $3 bags of the cinnamony ones at Walmart or Fredmeyer. It really is worth the extra few dollars. Just go ahead and take my word for it would ya! 

1. Lightly spray paint pine cones for the "snow" effect. Do two coats to get a pure white otherwise they turn out a yucky grey color. 

2. Arrange pine cones on the wreath placing your ribbon where you want it to go to make sure you leave enough room. I found that the bigger pine cones work better toward the inside and use the smaller ones around the front and outside so they don't stick out as far.

3. Add a few holiday berries here and there with a cute little reindeer and you have yourself the perfect Christmas wreath!

I am linking up this project to these great blogs: Crafty, Scrappy, Happy; Tatertots and Jello, The 36th Avenue, One Artsy Mama, Merry Indie Christmas Party, Happy-Go-Lucky