Hoop Art Five Ways

For several months, I've been collecting embroidery hoops from thrift stores and any other place I can find a cheap deal on them. I wasn't sure exactly how or where I wanted to use them until I finished my girls' shared room and was looking for art for their walls. That's when I got them all out again and put my creative juices to work. It took me a few days of laying them out on my floor in different arrangements and digging through just the right prints of fabric to get a look that I liked and my girls liked.

After all the rearranging and trial and error, I came up with five ways to make art with hoops. I love how ours turned out so I wanted to share them with you! Maybe these will inspire you to do the same or spark some other creative ideas for your own hoop art.

1. Use fun, coordinating fabric prints in your hoops. I used a few different ones (polka dots, dolls, muslin, etc.) here that went along with my girls' room. It's easy and cheap and you can just do that with all of your hoops if you want. But if you want more variety, keep reading.

2. Add in a couple of hoops with muslin and embroider your favorite saying or quote (or a name, monogram, etc.) with your favorite color of thread. Since this is a shared room, I wanted to include something about sisters.

3. Cover the outer edge of your hoop with washi tape for a little pop of color and pattern. I bought the off brand and it didn't stick too well, so I mod podged it for a little extra hold. I used a red chevron patterned tape and I love it!

4. Put a fun fabric print in the hoop and then use felt to make people or animals that you love. Either sew them on or hot glue them like I did. I also added the names of my girls above the item to make it personal.

5. And, last, but not least - my favorite one! Think outside the box and hand stitch a picture on your muslin and use other methods such as different fabrics/threads to make a picture. I love this London double decker bus and the 'street' made from coordinating fabrics. I want to make more of these!

I hope these inspire you to make some of your own! I love how they turned out and plan on making a couple more to add to this wall. You can use as many or as little as you want and hang them in any way you want. The sky's the limit - or maybe the ceiling - but let's not get technical. :)

Clearance Corner Art

I love a good clearance find, especially when it's useful and has a distinct purpose. Sometimes, those clearance tags can be tricky. You know what I mean. You're walking through the store minding your own business and then you see it. That little tiny bright orange or yellow tag announcing "CLEARANCE". The first thing I do when I see one of these is to quickly browse the shelf to see what jumps out at me. Sometimes, I walk right on by. Other times, it's like a gravitational pull against my will {ok, maybe not completely against my will} beckoning me to the shelf. My eyes quickly look for the price - the marked down price and then immediately after, the regular price. I'm never better at math than when I'm calculating a discount! {Except every morning when the alarm goes off and I calculate exactly how many times I can hit the snooze before I absolutely have to get up.} So, you can imagine how excited I was to come across a little endcap of clearance stuff at Hobby Lobby. I did stop to look at the St. Patrick's Day clearance - 80% off and decided I really had no use for any of it, but as I started to walk off I noticed the next endcap had clearanced wall calendars also 80% off. Now, this being the end of March and all, I really didn't need a calendar for the rest of this year, BUT they had a few Mary Engelbreit calendars and she happens to be my favorite artist ever! I've made lots of art out her calendars - wall calendars, desk calendars, planners, etc. and still have a few framed and hanging in my house.

This one is from a calendar from years ago that I framed and hung in my 1/2 bath downstairs. The frame was given to me and already had a nice white matte in it. The picture I just cut out of the calendar and put in the frame. And voila! New wall art.

That's what I plan to do with this one, too. I've already picked out a few pictures from this one that I can use in my girls' rooms and their bathroom. And I'm pretty sure I've already got frames that will fit them. All for $3.55. 12 possible pictures for $3.55? That's approximately .30 cents/per picture. Can't beat that now can you?

There are so many calendars out there - you can find just about anything you are looking for! My Hobby Lobby still had a good selection of clearance calendars left. I still have a beautiful black and white calendar from years ago of pictures of Paris that I plan to frame and use for my older daughter's room.

Have you ever done this? It's such a great way to add affordable art to your bare walls!

Thanksgiving Favorites Roundup {+ Free Printable}

Thanksgiving is such a beautiful holiday! I love everything about it. Special times with family, acknowledging and giving thanks for all the many blessings in my life, good food, pretty colors, beautiful table settings, etc. The list just goes on and on. I've compiled a few of my favorite finds this Thanksgiving season. I hope you enjoy them! Do you have a Thanksgiving Pinterest board? Leave me a link to yours in the comments and I'll come check it out!

I love a good chalkboard art. And this one is my favorite so far for this upcoming Thanksgiving Day. I'm going to give it a try and see if I can make mine look this good! {source}

This place setting by Giggles Galore is beautiful! I'm loving the gold with brown accents and the turkey on the plate is a perfect combination. I'm really into the gold accents these days and have gold chargers on my shopping list! So pretty, yet not over the top. Check out her post on Thanksgiving Table Settings - you'll be inspired!

This printable placemat is adorable, too. I think it would look great at the big kids' table. Great idea!

And how about these delectable cookies?!? by Coffee Lovin' Mom. I know my kids would love these! These may find their way onto my to-do list. Mmmmm.

And this printable is definitely getting framed tomorrow! Thanks, Stay at Home Artist!

What are your favorite colors for your Thanksgiving table? Do you use printables in your home?

Thanks for stopping by! You can find these and more Thanksgiving ideas on my Thanksgiving Pinterest board.

Art You Can Eat {a birthday recipe}

As promised yesterday, here's the second version of birthday cake for my young artist in residence. I really didn't want to make cupcakes or cake again and while I was brainstorming on something creative to make for my girl's actual birthday, she asked me if I'd make her some chocolate chip cookies. She has been allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts since birth so there are quite a few baked goods that she doesn't get to enjoy. {And plenty of those I've tried to make allergy free and they just didn't pan out.} This time, especially since it was her special day, I decided to find a way to make some for her. Only while I was thinking about it, it hit me that I could make her a giant chocolate chip cookie and decorate it like a cake. I'm all about killing the hypothetical two birds with one stone. Amen? Since I was completely out of 'her' chocolate chips {vegan}, I had to make a trip to Whole Foods. You can imagine how delighted I was to find an allergy-free chocolate chip cookie mix made by Cherrybrook Kitchen in the baking aisle of Whole Foods! This completely made my day because I could use this convenient mix and know that it would most likely turn out well versus trying to make my own from scratch without eggs. So, I snatched it up for $5.99 and was on my merry way.

I love Cherrybrook Kitchen because they make several allergy-friendly mixes, etc. that really help a mom out in situations like these. They are careful with processing and every product I've used of their's has worked out wonderfully and tasted yummy. It makes life with food allergies a little more bearable.

Follow package directions by mixing the mix + 1/2 cup dairy free buttery spread like Smart Balance Light or Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread + 1/4 cup water. Mix until it forms a soft dough.

Spread out your dough onto your greased pan or onto a round baking stone {mine is from Pampered Chef}. I used a piece of plastic wrap to help me smooth out the dough without getting my hands messy. Then, I took my dough roller {also from Pampered Chef} and rolled it on top of the plastic wrap to make it the same thickness all over.

Take the plastic wrap off. Bake at 375 degrees for approx. 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool, then decorate.

It was a big surprise for my girl when she got home from school and saw her giant chocolate chip cookie. The artsy design made with frosting, just made it that much better.

It was a great day! I'm pretty sure she'll remember this one forever.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm sharing this with a few of these friends.

I {Heart} My State Art {Tutorial}

When I started this project, I was planning to make another pillow cover like this one. However, I didn't have enough dropcloth left to make another one. I was going to use the freezer paper method and make a silhouette of my state to replace the bunny silhouette from Spring. It took me about five minutes to change my mind and I decided to make this. It will be a great addition to the living room!

 

I'm sharing this with these friends!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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Patriotic Decoupaged Canvas {Tutorial}

When I found this print on Pinterest, it was love at first sight. I love our country and am proud to be an American! I'm so thankful God allowed me to be born and raised in the USA. And in honor of Memorial Day and the upcoming July 4th holidays, I thought this would be fun to make and hang in my living room. In my opinion, the entire summer could be decorated with the red, white and blue and it would be very appropriate. This is my favorite and I'm sure it will be used in my house for years to come. Here's how I did it:

I'm sharing this with some of these parties!

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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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Framed Birdcage {Tutorial}

I've been on the lookout for a cute, metal birdcage to hang on the wall in my daughter's room. I had seen some at Hobby Lobby, but wasn't sure yet about purchasing one until the other day. The metal art was all 50% off again and I knew it was time to buy. I'm working on updating my oldest daughter's room, but unsure of the whole plan yet. So, I'm just working on it as I find things I like. This is one project I've been thinking about for awhile. I don't know if it's because I saw my sister do a project similar a couple years ago or if I just liked it some much I wanted to do one somewhere in my house, but here it is....

{This room is a work in progress, as you can see, but I decided to swallow my pride and keep it real for the picture. Hopefully, in a couple of months, I can show you an 'After' pic!!}

I'm sharing this with some of these parties.

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Thanks for stopping by!

Pinspiration Hoop Art {Tutorial}

I'm finally back to blogging after a short break. I was helping my sister celebrate her upcoming birthday in Disney World last week! You can read all about it here, if you're so inclined. She has some good tips for planning a girlfriends' trip to Disney there. I highly recommend it!!
If you're like me, and you're on Pinterest, chances are you have hundreds of great ideas stored up in some of those boards you've created or possibly even hundreds of 'likes' that you plan to create....someday. Well, I've decided to try and do some of the things I have pinned and liked on Pinterest. One of them I tried yesterday and love the results!

I pinned this pin that originated here a long time ago. And when my two youngest girls decided to share a bedroom, I knew I wanted to incorporate this into their new room to fit their personal styles. These are two of the ones I made...

{don't forget to tighten the fabric again before you hang!}

To make: Just pick your background fabric and felt for your project. Then, cut your felt into shapes of things you want on there. If you need a guide, print a graphic image from google and use it as a pattern. Use needle and thread to embroider the details on. You could do all black felt for a silhouette look! I may do that for my oldest daughter's room!

 

Now, I just need to repaint their room, move some things around and then I can hang them! Hopefully, the painting will happen soon. Stay tuned!

I'm sharing this with some of these parties.

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