Beverage Bottle Citronella Torches

If you compulsively browse Pinterest the way I do, you've no doubt seen this DIY in a million different ways. I didn't really pay it a second look until I came up on these adorable San Pellegrino bottles at my local fave for pizza. I just COULD NOT throw them away! I decided it was time to hop on the bottle tiki torch bandwagon. Then I found this GORGEOUS Absolut bottle I had been hoarding and added it to the list of torches. I have a ridiculous amount of torches now. I'm pretty sure there will be no mosquitoes within a 25 mile radius of my deck. I HIGHLY encourage you to do what everyone else on God's green Earth is doing and make these! They're so freaking cute, easy, and can we say sustainable??

What you need: 

citronella torch fuel

tiki torch replacement wicks

bottles and bottles!

3/4" x 1/2" Copper Couplings

Now just follow along with the photos!

DIY Classy Travel Bottle Labels

So tomorrow I go to Hawaii!!This is my first time and I am so super stoked. You will be seeing lots about the trip on my various social media sites, so be sure to check back! Anyway, I've been planning and packing for months. In the normal OCD fashion of my packing tendencies, I had to order all new travel bottles that match. I got these from HM for about $3 each. Yes, they're a little pricey when it comes to travel bottles, but I like how simple they are... and they all match. But, since they're all the same color, it's next to impossible to tell the contents apart. Labels were a necessity.

A long long time ago, Epson sent me their LabelWorks Printable Ribbon Kit and let me tell you... it's SO COOL! You buy pre-filled cartridges of ribbon and ink. It isn't adhesive, but that's nothing a glue gun can't fix. You can also print regular labels on this, as well. I'm smitten!

I used it to make the seriously most classy travel bottle labels ever!

#MichaelsMakers: Floral Dry Erase Floating Frame

I don't think this project could be any easier!  This is what we love, isn't it?  Easy DIY's with big impact!  All you need is a floating frame, some leaves of a sort, and some chalk markers!

I broke the leaves off of these palms below and arranged them in a pattern between the plates of glass.  All found at Michaels, of course!

Now for some exciting news!  You could win a trip to the Michaels Makers Summit with me this year!  Go here for all the details!

An InLinkz Link-up

#MICHAELSMAKERS: DIY Faux Marble Tray Using Shaving Cream!!

This month's challenge was "Make It Your Own".  So, what did I do?  I took a craft that my mom does with her preschool class and made it my own. But, even though I turned this fun craft into a classy piece of home decor, this is still a GREAT craft to do with your kids. It's the perfect DIY if you want to get a little messy, but it has an easy clean up and the results are SO cool!  I mean, who would have thought to use shaving cream as a medium to make a marble pattern?

Supplies:

1. Wooden Tray (this one is actually considered a plaque, but serves my purpose!)
2. Cardstock
3. Shaving Cream
4. Black Ink (or watercolors)
5. A ruler or a square
6. A paint brush
7. Scissors
8. Paint or stain for your tray
9. Mod Podge (I chose the dishwasher safe gloss)
10. Leather scraps
11. Screws and a drill
12. A dropper
13. Tiny jar or vessel to hold ink / paint

1 - Lay down a piece of parchment paper and cover an area the size of your card stock with shaving cream

2 - Use your dropper to disperse your color on top of the shaving cream

3 - Press your sheet of card stock into the shaving cream, moving it about

4 - Peel up your paper and set it on a fresh sheet of parchment paper

5 - Now you are going to squeegie the shaving cream and color off of the paper with your ruler or square

6 - Now I wanted a little more variation with my layers and shades, so I did this a second time, but used a more diluted mixture of ink and water.  If you are using colors, you can do more than one color at a time and forego the repeat

7 - Once you have your pigment on your page the way you'd like, lay it flat and cover with something heavy to keep the edges from curling while it dries

8 - Next, paint or stain your tray while the page is drying

9 - Take your leather scrap and cut two strips to use as handles and screw into sides with a drill and small screws.

10 - Once your page is dry, cut to size and then Mod Podge the heck out of it!  

An InLinkz Link-up

Vintage Christmas Lights Wreath DIY

I've had this box of vintage christmas lights laying around for about 4 years.  I got them at an estate sale because... it was a box of beautifully colored vintage light bulbs.. why else??  And for four years, I've had the intention of making this with them and never did it until now.  This is such an easy project and such a great way to use lightbulbs that don't work anymore!

All you need is a high-heat glue gun and sticks, a foam wreath and a strand of twinkly lights.

Once you glue the bulbs to the foam, wrap it with the twinkly lights and hang!  It looks like a super expensive Christmas decoration and in reality, it cost me MAYBE $10.  

Love you all!! xoxox

A Christmas-Y Rosemary Tree Floral Arrangement DIY

Fresh flowers are my favorite thing. Ever. I also love fresh herbs and the absolutely heavenly aromas that come along with live fresh herbs.  So I decided to combine those two to make the perfect holiday arrangement.  

The Rosemary Tree was purchased at Trader Joes.  So cute, right??  The rest of the flowers, so beautiful, you can find here.  They have the perfect selection for the holidays!

I encourage you to step out of your floral comfort zone and play with different ways of displaying your favorite flowers for the holidays.  They may not last as long, but will be such a show-stopper for your Christmas gatherings!

#handcraftedxmas