DIY Monster Wreath

So I saw this wreath on this fabulous ladies blog and thought, hey I can do that too. So here's my version of the same thing with LOTS of pictures because I love taking pictures. I'm going to tell you how you can learn from my mistakes, bottom line I wanted to get this little guy done, and didn't want to go back to the store.

What you're going to need for this craft:

1. Styrofoam wreath, mine was 16in diameter, but you could get whatever you wanted - Michael's Crafts (This was about $5 not using a coupon, I didn't have on on hand)*
2. Styrofoam balls (mine came in a 6 pack, the ones that came in two were too small  - Michael's Crafts  (This was about $4 not using a coupon)*
3. 2 Foam boards - Michael's crafts (I found this in the kids craft section), these were $0.89 each
4. Tulle, I couldn't find the same spool with 100 yds like in the tutorial I used, all I could find was small spools that had 10 yds for $5.99 and to get up to 100 yds, yikes, that would add up! So I got creative and went to Joann's and bought some tulle fabric on a bolt, I bought what was left (8.5 yds, which worked, but I wish I had more, maybe 12-15 yds or so. Will make for a fluffier wreath). Don't forget to use your 40% off coupon (my 8.5 yards cost about $7)*
5. Fabric for the bow, I bought a 1/4 yard, but I could have gotten away with just buying an 1/8, if you can do that (it was about $2)* 
6. Toothpicks
7. Black paint and paint brush
8. Glue gun
9. Good sharp scissors

                          *  I don't have the recipts any more (the Mr. is a compulsive reciept thrower 
                              awayer, really, I mean to point that he throws away the receipt with the order 
                              number for food, before we even get the food!) so I am looking at my bank 
                              statement and estimating what I remember

Okay, let's get started!

First we're going to paint the eyeballs. I used some plastic cups to hold them so they wouldn't roll away.

I painted sort of small circles. I tried making them really big, but it made them look really awkward and strange, good thing I had some extra!

Next, let's cut the tulle up!

Here it is still on the bolt

So I took it off the bolt and then started to "roll" it up, I wasn't thinking long term and just randomly started to roll it up, but when I was finished and had cut everything I realized I should have rolled it to the size that I wanted to make it, so I would make the "roll" 12-14", mine ended up being 16" and I had to cut a lot of it away in the middle so you would be able to see the teeth.

Here it is all rolled up, 16" width, but remember you're going to do something shorter 12"-14"

I cut them into 4 even sections and the last section is going to be about half the size of the other sections. The reason being is that tulle comes folded in half on the bolt. So when you cut them into strips, one side is going to have a fold, so when you unfold it, it's going to be the same size as the other strips.

The section on the very right, you can't really tell, is smaller then the other sections.

Okay, now you're going to make your strips, since you've "looped" the fabric, you want to cut both ends to make your strips. So cut both sides as shown below

Here's the stack of tulle strips. At the bottom of this pile, those strips have a fold down them middle.

Okay, now the "fun" part, if you consider this part fun?

Now you have to tie all of those bad boys to your wreath. I did the square knots (right over left, left over right)

One down, 50 million more to go, okay not really, but you get the point. 

You're going to want to line up the knots in the middle like this

To get the fluffy look, every once in a while, you'll want to push the tulle together like this

So that those line of knots go away and it looks like this:

So keep knotting away, and keep pushing it together every once in a while

It's starting to take shape.

So this is where I failed. I did not have nearly enough tulle, but I made it work, I just spread the tool strips out a bit, again I was just eager to get it done and used what I had.  Notice the center of the wreath, it's really cluttered and you wouldn't be able to see the teeth like this.

So I gave it a little trim

Oh that's so much better!

Next for the eyes, insert toothpicks in the wreath and the eyes, I hot glued the eyeballs to the toothpicks. The styrofoam wreath is pretty dense, so I didn't think they would fall out.

Next up the teeth. You could probably use just 1 foam board, but I didn't want to freak out by not having enough, since they were $0.89 I bought two, but you could definitely do this with just 1 board. Cut the foam board to fit the wreath, cut out your teeth, I just used a triangle pattern. After you cut them out, then hot glue to the wreath.

 
Almost done!

Now for the bow tie. Cut out two strips, my larger strip was 16" (there's that 16 again) long, and about 2.5"-3" wide (this is up to you), and the smaller strip was about 4" and 0.5" wide.

first you're going to want to fold in thirds, just so that the two ends meet in the middle.

Then we're going to do a fanfold of sorts

After you fold, grab your small strip to wrap around the middle

Glue the center strip together, and here you have your bow!

And now for the finished product! I took this picture at night, so ring you see is the light coming from inside of the house, I couldn't get a picture during the day.

And that my friends is all there is to it! Easy Sunday afternoon project. So get to it and make yourself a monster wreath and make all of your neighbors jealous!

Halloween Cupcakes

So this weekend, my sister and I made some cupcakes for a little Halloween parade we were throwing for my grandma. I have to add, nothing was homemade, everything was from a box or a can, we're not THAT fancy. If the box works, then why make from scratch?

Fresh out of the oven, yum (or would be, if I could eat them)

Cooled and ready for frosting

The decorations, some frosting, sprinkles and a "pastry bag". We didn't have any pastry bags, but a baggie with the corner snipped off and any pastry tip will work just as good, you really don't need all that fancy stuff. I think the ONLY advantage in using a pastry bag is that it's a little more sturdy and durable, but other then that, no difference.

First step: put frosting on cupcake

Second step: Sprinkles! Lots and lots of sprinkles, don't sprinkles just make you happy?

I'm not sure where my sister found these, most likely Homegoods or Target (her two favorite places to shop), but you can find some here or here.

Finished products, so cute and the kids LOVED them. Mostly I think she makes them for herself and the other adults, since the kids are 3 and under, haha.

Decorating cupcakes can tire a girl out...taking a break. She told me not to take a picture of her, I figured, a picture without her face in it counts as not taking a picture. Yep I just rationalized that.

 

Now that I told you how to make awesome cupcakes, go make them this weekend for your friends and family!

Just Add A Blazer

I'm relatively new to this fashion thing, but one thing I noticed a lot in the fashion blogging world is blazers. Everyone just adds a blazer, and BAM put together awesome outfit. I thought I would give it a try. I found this blazer at H&M, I fell in love with the polka dots really, I can roll the sleeve and get those cute polka dots on the outside, yes please! Since it's "Fall" around here, I decided to take my summer dress and make it Fall.

The Mr. said, be sassy...

I think I need to find some cute tights to go under all of my dresses and skirts, doubles my wardrobe in the fall/winter, why didn't I think of that sooner?!

I'm Just Going to Go Ahead and Call It Fall

When you think Fall, you think leaves changing colors, colder weather, hot pumpkin spiced lattes, but over here in these parts, I'm going to call it Fall, the weather during the day is in the low 80's and getting down to the low 60's at night. So now that Fall is here I thought I would show you some fall decorations. This isn't my house, I'm not that put together to have an almost 2 year old and decorations up as well. But I am working on a project that should be done today that I'll post later this week. But my Mom is a rock star and decorated her house, so I figured, I used to live here, so that counts, I'll post her house instead.

Sidenote: When imagine this house, the first floor goes in a circle.

When you walk into the entryway, this is what you're greeted with.

Then walk to the left and you're in the family room and greeted with this:

Up close and personal on the entertainment center above:

Coffee table decor. Why Mom thought it was a good idea to put a ceramic pumpkin on a table for my kid to reach, I'm not sure, of course this was the FIRST thing he went to.

Walking towards the kitchen, you find this little gem. You may or may not find this same skull/cat thing on my front porch.

On the kitchen pantry door

Walking through the kitchen into the living room.

And that's it folks, I didn't take pictures of everything either. Maybe when I go back this weekend, I'll take the rest of the pictures.