Making it Lovely

Category: Projects

  • Autumn Leaves Napkin Rings for BHG

    Autumn Leaves Napkin Rings for BHG

    This is the second craft project I’ve made for Better Homes & Gardens this fall (the first was the Halloween mask). I, along with the other three bloggers, was tasked with creating something out of real or fake autumn leaves. And just as last time, you can vote for your favorite at bhg.com.

    Wouldn’t these be great for setting the table on Thanksgiving? Here’s how you can make your own.

    Supplies

    • faux fall leaves
    • faux berries on wire stems
    • felt
    • ribbon
    • pinking shears
    • hot glue gun and glue

    Instructions

    • For each napkin ring, cut a 3″ circle out of felt with pinking shears. I find it’s easier if you make an outline of the circle with chalk before cutting.
    • Glue a single leaf to the felt circle, leaving 1/2″ of the stem hanging down.
    • Glue a few sprigs of berries to the leaf, wrapping the end of the wires around the leaf stem to strengthen it.
    • Cut a 24″ length of ribbon, and tie it at its center to the stem of the leaf.
    • use the ribbon to wrap around a napkin and tie the ends in a bow.

    And remember, you can see the other three projects made with autumn leaves and vote for your favorite at bhg.com!

  • How to Make My Halloween Mask for BHG

    How to Make My Halloween Mask for BHG

    I mentioned last week that I would provide you with the instructions to make the same Halloween Mask that I made for Better Homes & Gardens. Halloween will be here in just a few weeks, but there is still plenty of time for you to create your own version of this mask!

    Supplies

    • plain mask
    • wooden dowel rod
    • green acrylic craft paint
    • leaves and finely textured faux flowers for the main part of the mask
    • taller faux flowers for the floral pick
    • wire (preferably green florist’s wire)
    • hot glue gun and glue
    • small hole punch
    • green embroidery floss
    • small fake bird

    Instructions

    • Start by punching holes along one side of the mask. This is where you will eventually attach the dowel rod to support your mask.
    • Paint a base coat of green on the mask and wooden dowel rod.
    • Glue faux leaves around the eyes and nose of the mask, leaving room along the outer edges.

    • If you wish, create eyelashes out of spindly petals (faux allium work well) and glue them around the eyes of the mask.

    • Use hot glue to attach the fake bird near the top of your mask.
    • Cut your finely textured faux flora into pieces and glue these to the mask, covering as much surface area as possible and tucking under the edges of the leaves and around your bird.

    • Next, create the floral pick that will attach to the support stick for the mask. I chose three branchy faux flowers of differing textures and used hot glue to attach them to each other.

    • Once the dowel rod is dry, attach the floral pick along the top with hot glue, then wrap with wire to secure.
    • For a more finished look, wrap green embroidery floss around the dowel rod where you attached the floral pick.
    • Attach the dowel rod to the mask with wire, and you’re done.

    * If you like my mask you can vote for it every day at BHG.com until October 10.

  • Painting the Built-in Hutch

    Painting the Built-in Hutch

    The baseboards and trim in the dining room have been painted white. The windows have been primed and painted, but are awaiting a second coat. The built-in hutch however, has only been partially primed.

    Painting the Dining Room Hutch

    I left the beadboard backing untouched because I thought it might be a nice contrast to the white (and nice to maintain just a touch of the original wood). I like it, and I think I’ll leave it, but what about the shelves? Do you think they should go white or stay natural? I can’t quite decide, and I would love to finish painting soon.

  • My Mask in Better Homes & Gardens

    My Mask in Better Homes & Gardens

    Hooray! I knew in an abstract sense that my mask would be in the October issue of Better Homes & Gardens, but it was thrilling to actually see it in the magazine.

    You can vote everyday for your favorite mask at BHG.com. I also created three more projects for BHG that I’ll be sharing with you in October, and I’ll post instructions for making your own version of my mask next week.

  • Revisiting the 30 Before Thirty List

    Revisiting the 30 Before Thirty List

    Yesterday, I celebrated my thirtieth birthday. I’m truly looking forward to this next decade, and I think my thirties will be the best years yet! So now that my birthday has come and gone, it’s time to see how I did with my 30 Before Thirty list. I had given myself six and a half months to do everything.

    I finished all of these…

    • 1. Visit the Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago. (Done!)
    • 2. Dye my hair red. (Done!)
    • 5. Stop drinking soda. (Done!)
    • 6. Lose 20 pounds. (Not drinking soda should help.) (Done!)
    • 8. Sew a dress for Eleanor. (Done!)
    • 10. Donate some of our books to the library. (Done!)
    • 11. Cook Pad Thai from scratch. (Done!)
    • 12. Organize the catch-all closet in my office. (Done!)
    • 13. Get good at applying liquid eyeliner. (Done!)
    • 14. Print the bajillion photos I have stored on my computer and put them in albums. (Done!)
    • 15. Alphabetize our CDs and finish putting them into sleeves. (Done!)
    • 16. Landscape the front of the house. (Done!)
    • 17. Make an origami paper crane. (Done!)
    • 18. Visit the Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe. (Done!)
    • 19. Learn how to use my camera in manual mode. (Done!)
    • 20. Find my perfect shade of lipstick. (Done!)
    • 21. Decide for good whether I want a tattoo or not. (Done!)
    • 22. Pay off my credit card. (Done!)
    • 23. Make a video montage of Eleanor’s first year. (Done!)
    • 24. Have a date night with Brandon at least twice a month. (Done!)
    • 25. Grow tomatoes. (Done!)
    • 26. Have an adorable family photo taken. (Done!)
    • 27. Sing along perfectly to “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”. (Done!)
    • 28. Take Eleanor to the Shedd Aquarium. (Done!)
    • 29. Reduce (or eliminate) my reliance on paper towels. (Done!)

    I didn’t finish these…

    • 3. Finish redesigning my Smart & Lovely portfolio. (It’s in progress.)
    • 4. Launch my design service. (I need to finish the portfolio first.)
    • 7. Repaint my office. (I’m going to wait and see how the white trim looks first.)
      * 08.16.11: Done!)
    • 9. Clean out the basement. (It’s getting scary down there, but we’ll get it done.)
      * 11.02.10: Done!
    • 30. Paint all of the trim in our house. (I made progress, but the dining room took forever.)

    But here are a few things that I did finish in addition to the items on my list…

    Along the way, many of you made 30 Before Thirty lists of your own (and many variations thereof, including a 30 Before Seventy list by a 67 year old woman). That just makes me incredibly happy. After a weekend spent concentrating on achieving dreams and goals, it seems fitting to wrap things up today. Next, I’m going to have to get going on my life list!

  • Halloween Mask for Better Homes & Gardens

    Halloween Mask for Better Homes & Gardens

    Remember when I mentioned that I would be crafting four Halloween projects for Better Homes & Gardens? Well I’m thrilled to finally be able to share the first project with you: a Halloween mask.


    Above is the mask as it appears on BHG.com and as it will be in the magazine. It looks great, but I actually had to cut it in half at the last minute. See, it originally looked like this:

    The other three bloggers each used masquerade masks (which I did not know until after I had completed mine), so as the odd duck out I was asked if I could cut my mask down to size. You have no idea how nervous I was as I took scissors to it! Looking at the others I suppose I should have cut into the nose more, but I didn’t have a reference to work off of so I winged it. Luckily I managed to pull off the last-minute alteration without destroying the mask in the process. Phew!

    You can view all four masks at BHG.com, and you can vote each day for your favorite until October 10. After that, there will be three more Halloween craft projects, with a winner for each. One overall winner will then be chosen to commission an exclusive design for the October 2011 issue of Better Homes & Gardens! That would be amazing, but I’m honored just to have taken part and thankful to Better Homes & Gardens for this fun opportunity. And I can’t wait to share my other projects with you.

    { click here to view my mask and vote for your favorite at BHG.com }