Spring Awakening

So, I know that spring does not officially come until later in the month, but I am ready for it now! And, with the way the weather has been lately, I'd say I am not the only one. It has fluctuated between high forties and low sixties with both rain and sunshine over the last couple of weeks, but usually on the warmer side of that range.

Because I am so ready to welcome in spring, I made a new wreath to hang on our door to celebrate the changing of the season (although Rory won't let me actually put in on the door until next week). I also got Rory into a craft store this weekend (and even helping me with craft projects) so we decided to spruce up the apartment to get it ready for its very own spring awakening!  Today's post is all about our fun craft projects.

First, the wreath. Last time I made a wreath it was with the beautiful autumnal colors that the fall season brought. This time, I wanted to highlight the brightness and life of spring by making a colorful, quirky wreath. Unlike the last one, I will actually give you some directions for making it, if you feel inclined to try your own hand at some home spring sprucing up.

Here are the supplies you will need:

• foam circle (any size you wish)
• various colors of ribbon (can use up some scraps this way) 
• 2 rolls of green ribbon (I used two different colors)
• Colorful buttons in a variety of sizes
• Dressmaker pins (just pins without any knobs on the end)
• Needle and thread
• Hot glue gun

First, take the foam circle and wrap the two green ribbons around it, coming from different sides with each color and making sure the colors twist in an alternating way around the circle. To start, pin the end of each ribbon into the circle and make sure to pin occasionally as you go to hold the ribbons in place.

Second, you will need to make the ribbon flowers out of the scraps or various colors. I made these ribbon flowers for our wedding; here is a good tutorial on how to do it: Ribbon Flowers. You can use whatever type of ribbon you would like, and even sew two types together as you make them to get a two-toned effect, or put them together after the fact. Also, you can save money by binding the ends of the ribbon with clear nail polish rather than buying the ribbon glue. 

Third, you will attach the flowers to the ribbon covered ring with the pins. Play around with how you want to place the flowers. 

Fourth, using a hot glue gun, attach the buttons to the middle of select flowers to add an extra punch of color. If you'd like, you can glue buttons onto the ring where there are no flowers just to spread color into the rest of the wreath. 

Finally, step back and admire your work. You are now done and can hang it on your door. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

I also had some fun making two other projects for the apartment. I even got Rory to help with one of the projects (and the picture below to prove it).

We wanted to add some extra color on the walls, and I had found a neat idea when I was looking for pin cushion ideas and thought it would work on our wall. So, these are actually dual purpose - decorate your wall and have a place for pins or tacks. Check out the canning jar pin cushion directions here. And, look at how ours turned out:

The final project came to us through Pinterest. Everyone had been posting these color crayon artwork ideas and it looked easy enough to do so we decided to try it. A tutorial for that project is here. Ours is definitely not as straight and pretty as the one in the tutorial, but maybe it's because we didn't keep the wrappers on the crayons? Anyways, we picked out some colors that matched the bathroom and tried it out (I didn't get a picture of the final work):

I hope you all enjoyed the project ideas. Let us know if you decide to try any of them out yourself. And, try to bring some early spring into your lives.

Love,

Danielle