Flag Art {Tutorial}

I love decorating for patriotic holidays for a few reasons. 1) I love the red, white and blue color combination. 2) You can use it all summer long from Memorial Day through Labor Day. 3) I'm a patriot. I love our country and the principles it was founded on. There is still much freedom here and so many blessings to be had. I love the USA!
I made this flag art which hangs in my living room right now, but could be used anywhere in this house really. Here's how:

You can find the patriotic printables for free here. See how I made the Land that I Love art here and the I {Heart} My State art here.

I'm sharing this with some of these friends.

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Painted Silhouettes on Canvas {Tutorial}

{I took these pics at different levels - Rest assured, they are evenly hung on the wall!}

Pardon the pink wall in the background, it will be painted soon! I am working on redecorating my girls' rooms and painting has to be done at a little later date, but the other stuff is in full makeover mode. I have all the plans in my head and some on paper, however, a few little things are done and waiting on the room to be put together. This is one of those projects! I had so much fun making these and their cute little silhouettes melt my heart. Especially those little noses. Here's how to make your own if you feel the urge! It couldn't be simpler!

 

I'm sharing with a few of these parties.

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Chevron Canvas {Tutorial}

It's no secret that one of my favorite patterns is chevron. It comes in so many colors and widths and variations and looks great on art, clothing, home decor, etc. I've used it on curtains, throw pillows, skirts, baby items and now art. I'm planning a room redo for my 9 yr old's bedroom and she's been begging me for a Paris room. So, I'm slowy - very slowly finding things for her room and will be changing everything from the wall color to the bed skirt. The other day I came across a blank canvas at Goodwill for $1.50. I knew I'd use it for something but by the time I got home I knew its purpose. Here's how I made a personalized chevron canvas for her future Paris room.

Now, you can leave it or you can personalize it with a monogram or a picture or whatever you feel like doing! I chose to do an M for my daughter's name. After a few texts back and forth with my sister, I decided to paint the M gold. {Stay tuned for more gold painted accents for this future Paris room!}

 I had a big chipboard M laying around from Hobby Lobby so that's what I used to make this. I had also bought Antique Gold craft paint for another project so I was able to make quick work of this.

 Or if monograms aren't your thing, hot glue a smaller canvas to the center and personalize it any way you want! Decoupage a picture to the top canvas or have your child draw on it or whatever you want! Be creative! There are tons of ways to use canvases.

Check out my other chevron tutorials here.

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I'm sharing this with some these parties.

Diaper Clutch {Tutorial}

I don't have babies in my house anymore, but I have lots of friends who do. I decided to make something baby-related because it's Spring and lots of baby showers happen in the Spring. It's been awhile since I did a baby-related post so here you go! This diaper clutch is very practical for throwing in the diaper bag or car to keep a few diapers and the travel wipes in. Just grab it and go when you don't need the whole entire diaper bag. This is perfect for the quick trips into the store or for keeping in the car or stroller for those unexpected diaper changes! I decided to make this one to match the tote bag/diaper bag I made here. {And you may see these in my etsy shop real soon.}

First, take your chosen fabric {I used leftover dropcloth from these projects} and measure one piece - 20" long x 8" wide.
Now, fold fabric longways with right sides together. So, you'll have a folded piece that is 10" long x 8" wide.
Pin sides together. Sew or serge the sides.
Turn right-side-out.
Follow directions below.

Make the strap by taking a 2.5" wide strip of fabric, folding it in half. Iron. Then, fold rough edges under 1/4" and iron. Finally, sew a straight seam down the open edge. Strap is done. Sew it as pictured above.

 You can find the freezer paper method here.

I'm sharing this with a few of these parties!

Art as a Window Treatment {Before & After}

Spring is here {as far as I'm concerned} and I'm ready to give my whole house a makeover. For 6 years, we've endured a darker color palette and although I loved it at first, I really don't love it anymore. The browns are really bothering me lately. So, my downstairs has been slowly getting a facelift with brighter, more current colors and I love it! The biggest problem on my first floor {besides a big brown accent wall that will be changing soon} was my sliding door window treatment. I've googled, checked out Pinterest, etc. and no one has any good ideas for dressing up a sliding door. I had to dig way down deep into the creative recesses of my mind to find something I now really love to look at. Here's the before.

While I loved it in the beginning, the big overbearing brown burlap valance just had to go. And the curtains...well, they were dirty and I shrunk them in the dryer so they were about 3 inches above the floor before I finally took them down for good.

Here's the after.

I posted here about how to make these no-sew 30 minute dropcloth curtains. I absolutely love them and honestly, it didn't even take 30 minutes to make them. However, I wasn't sure what to put in the blank space between the door trim and the curtain rod. We have 9 ft ceilings and the space just felt too empty. Here's where the digging down into the recesses of the creative mind comes in. My talented brother made me this art of one of my favorite verses {Jeremiah 29:11} for Christmas a year ago and it just hit me that they would fit perfectly in that space. Not only that, but I would be able to see them and enjoy them every single day, multiple times a day. Serves as a great reminder and a perfect way to accessorize my sliding glass door. I only wish I had thought of it sooner!

This is probably my most favorite window treatment in the house right now! I can't wait to show you more. I've been taking down all the dusty old curtains and making new ones. Stay tuned for more!

 

I'm sharing this with some of these parties.

No-Sew 30 Minute Dropcloth Curtains {Tutorial}

A few months ago while shopping at Big Lots, I came across dropcloths and decided to buy one. I knew I'd use it for something at some point, but didn't have any plans right then. They had different sizes, but I chose the 4ft x 15ft one for no reason except that it only cost $10. My sister is always doing some project with canvas dropcloth {aka. painter's dropcloth} and I knew I'd find a good use for it. You can see all her projects with dropcloth here. Well, last week I decided it was time to get new curtains for my breakfast area and remembered the dropcloth. I went to find it and realized the size was only enough for one panel. So, off to Big Lots I went. I bought another one the same size and began planning out my new curtains. I searched Pinterest, but didn't see a lot that interested me for that space, so I called my sister. She suggested putting a couple of stripes on the top to match my chevron curtains in my living room. I thought about it and decided that ribbon would work better than painting the stripes that I had originally thought to do. It took me all of 30 minutes to make these two panels and I absolutely love them! They turned out even better than I expected! {Although, I may add another stripe to each panel about 2 inches below the first stripe.}
Here's the How-To:

I recommend using these products for this project:
Canvas Drop Cloth
Acrylic Craft Paint
Foam Paint Roller
2 inch Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by! I'm linking up with some of these parties.