DIY Boho Placemat Wall Decor

Boho wall designs are very trendy and popular especially on sites like Pottery Barn and Anthropologie. Most are handmade by talented weavers from Africa and Vietnam. I was looking at a few and noticed that some of the woven bases looked like placemats I have but no longer use. They had become a bit discolored and tattered in places. But not too bad to use for this month's Do It Over Designers upcycle project. DIY Boho Placemat Wall Decor

Purple and White Checkered Ornaments

Christmas in July is one of my favorite times of the year - it's when I get to

create adorable Christmas ornaments free of any stress and hassles! You know I love purple, so most of the ornaments I create have some type of purple color
going on, lol! For this project, I pulled out my checkerboard stencil, wood rounds, silicone molds, and purple and white paints to create a simple but beautiful ornament to hang on my tree. And the best part - you can make some too using any paint color you like to go with your holiday decor, just like I have!

Tattoo Clear Ornaments DIY

 

It's Christmas in July and time to get an early start on making Christmas crafts! Have I got a fun way to decorate clear glass ornaments using temporary tattoos! And the best part, you won't believe how easy it is to make your very own tattoos in any design and color. All you need is a inkjet or laser printer and plain tattoo paper - and of course, clear glass ornaments! Does that sound cool to you? It does to me!

Tin Can Flowers Wreath Copycat

One of my favorite past-time is looking at upscale online stores to get inspiration and ideas on how to re-create an item for far less than what they're asking!

Who doesn't love saving money by making a good knock-off or copycat craft? Take a look at this group of iron roses wreaths I found on Anthropologie and its' sister off-shoot, Terrain:

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

Right now, they're on sale for $28.50-$43.50, but were originally $38-$58.00. Sale or no sale, sorry, I would never buy a door wreath - especially one that cost this much! They're too easy to make! And having made lots of flowers from soda and beer cans like here, here, here, here, here, and here, re-creating one similar  is right on time for this month's theme of High End Dupes or Look for Less for our DIY Challenge hosted by Terrie @Decorate and More with Tip! 

In case you don't know about this DIY Challenge, on the 1st Wednesday of each month, a group of talented bloggers create something based on a theme or material that's selected by Terri!

Check out how I made my look for less:

Materials:

• Clean Aluminum Soda Cans 
• Utility knife/craft knife
• Craft Scissors
• Flower Petal 3" punch
• Flower paper template
• Ball stylus
• Foam (thick)
• White Chalk, lavender, yellow, orchid acrylic craft paint/brush
• Quick Hold - all purpose quick dry adhesive
• Wire floral hoops - 14" and 10"

 How to:

Begin by washing out the soda cans to remove any sticky residue and let dry. Using a craft or x-acto knife, make a slice near the edge of the can big enough for a scissor blade. *CAUTION:  Be very careful handling the sharp edges of cut cans.

Using craft or old scissors, cut around top or bottom to remove.

Then cut through the length of can to .  .  .

remove the remaining end. Finish sides by cutting off any slivers or jagged edges.

Next, insert the aluminum can piece into the flower puncher to punch-out one large flower with five petals!  

I was able to punch out four flower petals per can.

I think I used 15 empty soda cans (which I got from my son) for this project. But I lost count.

Since the base of the flowers were larger and had more petals, I had to make a paper template to manually cutout .  .  . 

enough larger flowers to fit around the wire wreaths.

Next, paint flower petals with white multi-surface acrylic paint first to cover lettering that's on the back and to help with adhesion of the acrylic paint colors. Let dry. The petals will take on a different feel and texture, almost leather-like, by painting them! 

Then, paint the flowers three different colors and let dry. The colors of the wreaths at Anthropologie were quite muted with what looked like blemishes throughout. But I wanted to have more vibrant shades for mine - so I used lavender, orchid and yellow!

Once dry, roll the top flower petals on thick foam  with a ball stylus to mimic the dimensional look of the top petals. You can also use the end of a cooking utensil or round handle if you don't have a ball stylus.

To assemble, start with the larger petal and then one of the smaller petals, gluing on top, straggling it in between petals.  Then glue on the curved shaped petal using Quick Hold contact adhesive from the makers of E6000.

I glued on this one on the wire floral hoop to see how it would work.

And then placed flowers around the hoop. But I didn't glued them down like this, but.  .  .

glued down each flower separately, petal tip to petal tip, alternating colors.

The wreaths at Anthropologie were pictured individually - a larger one, by itself and .  .  .

 then with a smaller wreath inside the larger one.

I love creating something for less money, and making these wreaths costs me the price of the floral hoops @$3.99 and $2.99 each. The empty soda cans were throw-a-ways from my son which were free!  Everything else, I considered free since I already had them on hand. Not bad - if I say so myself!

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful High End Dupes projects from the participants in this month DIY Challenge:

Decorate and More with Tip - Terrie

Through a Vintage Door - Teresa

Sweet Southern Grace - Shae

Patina and Paint - Tammy

Purple Hues and Me - Gail

LeCultivateur - Emily

Reusable Cleaning Wipes DIY

Before paper towels, there were cleaning rags. A little history on how paper towels originated - paper towels were created by the Scott Paper Company which manufactured toilet tissues back in the 1930's. I won't go into the lengthy background details, but paper towels came about from an entire railroad car full of toilet tissues rolled too thick for toilet use. After some thought and research, Scott ordered the thick paper perforated into small towel-size sheets and sold them as disposable paper towels.

From that incident, it would take many years before paper towels replaced cloth towels for kitchen use, but they resulted in the creation of a large new grocery category. Given the convenience they brought to the average household, paper towels gained acceptance before replacing cloth towels." Today, it's hard to think of life without paper towels.

Bumblebee Wall Decor DIY

 

There's something about bumblebee crafts that offers a refreshing feel of nature for spring and summer- and who doesn't love the look of those adorable handmade bees! Celebrate your love of bumblebees with this whimsical bumblebee wall decor diy! I know you've seen quite a few ready-made bumblebees just waiting to adorn a wreath, but how about instead of buying one - which can be somewhat costly - why not make your own! My adorable DIY bumblebee is made of corrugated cardboard covered in paper vinyl from the Dollar Tree and trimmed in grapevine garland. It's an adorable upcycle craft!

Floral Hoops Decor DIY

 

I've fallen in love with floral hoops decor!  Hoop crafts are quite trendy these days! But I was into it way back in 2012 when I first started blogging! Back then, I created a Ballard Design Knock-Off using embroidery hoops that I still have on my bedroom wall today. And you won't believe the item that I knocked off is still available from the store today! I never would have thought that! And then I made a Macrame Mail Stand recently out of 12" wood hoops that comes in real handy for incoming mail!

Floral hoops decor is the perfect addition to your summer decor! They are pretty, trendy and quite budget friendly! And are also very popular to use in decorating celebrations like weddings, anniversaries and birthdays!

There are quite a few ways to decorate and customize hoops - choosing flowers and colors that suit your taste and style and even the size with all the different hoop sizes available - including the hula hoop! Lol! And the best part, this easy to make decorative piece can be used as a centerpiece or hung anywhere in your surroundings - indoor or out!

Materials:

• Wood hoops - (2 of the same size)
• Tape measure/pencil
• Rapid-Fuse Glue - (quick grab permanent glue)
• Clamps
• Wood circle - 4"
• Asst. Florals and greenery
• Hot glue
• LED candle

How To:

Insert one hoop into the other in a criss-cross or intersect pattern. Use a tape measure to make sure the hoops are evenly spaced and centered. Mark spots where they intersect with a pencil at the top and bottom of the hoops. Add a permanent, quick drying glue like Rapid-Fuse to the spots to secure the hoops together.

Then add a 'shelf' to hold a candle or small planter by placing a wooden circle on the bottom of the hoops and securing with permanent glue. Use clamps to hold in place until dry. 

Once the glue is dry on the hoops and wood circle, begin attaching the lambs ear greenery to the hoops. At first, I used wire to secure the lambs ear but didn't like the look of the exposed wire, so I switched to using hot glue.

I decided to let the lambs ear fan out naturally along the base of the hoops - then gluing in place.

Adding a bit more!

And of course I had to add florals in my favorite color, purple .  .  .

using the heads of the flowers to make a bold statement, gluing them along the lambs ear foliage.

And then adding a few pink peony-like florals to the mix! I didn't want to crowd the base with all the florals and greenery I had selected earlier so I kept things at a minimum. It certainly looks lovely, as is .  .  .

but adding an LED candle to the center completes the look!

Now it's perfect!

Although, it can be customized to suit the occasion! Like adding remote control twinkle lights, and a hook to hang from above! Have fun creating your own!

A super simple DIY that will surely leave a lasting impression!

 I hope you enjoyed my tutorial on making an adorable Floral Hoops decorative piece created especially for this month's Summer Crafts Blog Hop, hosted by Beverly @Across the Blvd. Joined with a group of creative bloggers to bring you a themed monthly challenge blog hop on the 2nd Monday of each month! 

Meet this month's co-hosts:

Beverly | Across the Blvd

Gail | Purple Hues and Me

T’onna | Sew Crafty Crochet

Marci | Stone Cottage Adventures

Niki | Life as an LEO Wife

SUMMER CRAFTS BLOG HOP PROJECTS:

Patriotic Triple Frame Wall Hanging

Floral Hoops Decor DIY

Prepping our Patio for Hot Summer Nights

Reversible Bucket Hat

DIY Nautical Buoys