Fall Wreath Tutorial and Roomspiration-Nursery's

Have you seen this wreath floating around Pinterest(or maybe on my blog post last week)?

Two Inspire You- Etsy

Well, I had no idea until yesterday where the original image came from, but I knew I loved it
and I had to have it for my front door!

I recreated it for less than $20.00 with items on sale from Hobby Lobby.

You will need:

*wreath (I used grapevine, but straw may work better)

*moss (first round: I used peat moss, but re-covered with spanish moss-spanish worked better).

* small pumpkins (I used real, but recommend fake)

*glue gun

* floral wire (if you use the real pumpkins)

*ribbon

How I Did It: Don't worry, it's easy!

Step 1: Cover the wreath with the moss, glue it down as you go with hot glue.

Finished with the moss.

However, it looks awful because the grapevine is not smooth and it looks like the bottom right has a huge growth!

Step 2: Buy spanish moss and re-cover. Glue the spanish moss down with hot glue.

It's going to look much better, I promise.

Step 3: Add the pumpkin(s).

This step would be super easy if you used the fake pumpkins with the stick, but I of course made the project harder on myself by using real pumpkins.

Poke two holes all the way through the pumpkin and feed the floral wire through. Twist the floral wire together at the bottom of the pumpkin.

Step 4: Secure the pumpkin(s) to the wreath.

Feed the floral wire through the grapevine wreath, and twist to secure the pumpkin to the wreath.

*I only used one pumpkin on my wreath because being real, they are 1) pretty heavy and 2) a little larger than the pumpkins in the 1st wreath image.

Voila!

I think it still turned out cute with only one pumpkin.

Thank goodness I was able to cover the large growth with the spanish moss.

Ready for a couple more photos of our fall front porch...

If you're not in the mood to DIY your wreath, the original wreath (which I found on pinterest) you can buy from Two Inspire You, on Etsy.

Today, Shelli from alamode is hosting Roomspiration-Nursery's. If you have a nursery, or need inspiration...head on over the alamode and link up.

Abode Love - entryways Sept. 12th
View Along the Way - living rooms Sept. 14th
Homemaker on a Dime - bathrooms Sept.16th
DIY by Design - guest bedrooms Sept. 19th
Family Brings Joy - craft rooms Sept. 21st
Involving Color - dining rooms Sept. 23rd
All Things Bright & Beautiful - kids bedrooms Sept. 26th
a la mode - nurseries Sept. 28th
Just a Touch of Gray - master bedrooms Sept. 30th
The Blooming Hydrangea - closets and nooks Oct. 3rd
The Mustard Ceiling - laundry and mudrooms Oct. 5th
The DIY Showoff - kitchens Oct. 7th

I am participating in these parties this week: Whassup Wednesday's, Wow Us Wednesday's, Swing Into Spring, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Hookin Up With HoH, Get Your Brag On, Thrifty Thursday's, Somewhat Simple, Transformation Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Suzy's House Party, Delightfully Inspiring, Flaunt it Friday, Simply Designing, My Repurposed Life, Feature Yourself Friday, Frugalicious Friday, New Friend Friday, Weekend Wrap Up, Saturday Spotlight, Sundae Scoop, Crafty Day, Sunday Showcase, Just Something I Whipped Up, Making the World Cuter Monday, Amaze Me Monday, Make it for Less Monday,DIY Project Parade, Party Time, Market Me Monday, Motivate Me Monday, Tip Me Tuesday

A Simple Renovation

Today, I would like to welcome back my wonderful husband to The Mustard Ceiling. He is here to teach you how to replace electrical outlets and light switches. I cannot tell you how nice it is to finally have 3-prong outlets throughout our home. For months we had to carry around plug adapters for the computer, coffee maker, etc.

Welcome back Alfred!

Our home is old.

How old is it?

The wiring in the house has circuit breakers, screw in fuses and the Bar fuses in the electrical system.

Yeah it's really old, and yes I am getting middle-aged myself.

A quick cheap way to update any room is to replace the electrical outlets and light switches.

You will need:
1- Flat Head screwdriver
1- Flashlight
1- Needle Nose Pliers
1- New cover for each plug/switch replaced ( I recommend splurging on the unbreakable kind)
1- New Switch or Plug for each one that you want to replace.

Step 1: Turn off circuit breaker to the switch that you want replace. (Otherwise you may kill or seriously hurt yourself.)

Step 2: Check to make sure the circuit is off. You can check this by plugging in a light and try to turn it on. If you can't turn it on then you should be ok.

Step 3: Remove the old cover and remove the screws on the top and bottom of the plug.

Step4: Pull the plug out of the wall. Don't go hulk and just yank it out, but it should have enough slack in the wires to be pulled out of the wall a few inches.

Step 5: Loosen one of the wires, remove it and replace the wire on the new plug on the same corresponding location.

Step 6: Repeat step 5.

Step 7: If the plug has more than 2 wires, then refer to this link.
http://www.ehow.com/wall-socket/

Step 8: Replace the Switch/socket and replace the cover.

If you don't feel comfortable trying this project then do not. Calling an electrician is always an option.

Good Luck,
Alfred

Thank you for stopping by today, and for changing out the plugs and light switches in our home. I also want to thank goodness for handy husbands, they help with so many projects and always seem to have it figured out.

This week I am linking up our dining room at Houseography.

Melissa hosts a link party every week, featuring a room in the house, this week we are linking up dining rooms.

Also, check out this amazing giveaway at Just Dandy.

Multi-Pocket Bulletin Board Tutorial

Happy Thursday, the weekend is almost here!

Today, I wanted to share a tutorial with you. As you know, I have been trying to get our cloffice organized and remodeled. The last piece to that puzzle is this multi-pocket bulletin board.

Originally, I decided to build it to help us with mail organization. Overall, it serves as a bulletin/inspiration board, has pockets to organize the mail, and pockets for pens and pencils...very multi-functional.

Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to hang it yet (I finished late last night), but I did want to go ahead and share the tutorial with you.

Materials:

* 1/2" thick Homasote Fiberboard, cut to size
* canvas, or other thick/sturdy material (enough to cover board and make pockets)
* ribbon
*fabric glue

Step 1: Prep

* Cut your board to size, my size 30 1/4" x 42 1/2" ( I used a golden ratio rectangle, which is why the size is odd) Don't worry about the ratio, I learned it while studying classical design. I try to incorporate it into my work, but it will not affect the end result . My goal was to have a substantial enough size to fit multiple pockets and have room to hang inspirational photos at the top.



* Wrap the fabric around your board and tape into place.



* Place and mark the location and size of your pockets. I wanted two pockets to hold file folders. I laid the two folders on the board to get size and spacing. I also wanted another larger pocket and two smaller pockets (one with space for pens/pencils) . I used pieces of notebook paper to represent and play with sizes for the pockets. In my opinion, I like when the pockets line up in a straight line horizontally and vertically, it is more visually pleasing to the eye. Therefore, I made all of my pockets line up and have even spacing throughout.



Step 2: Prep Pockets

* Measure your pockets. Cut pocket fabric 1" wider and and 2" longer than desired pocket size. (My measurements were pocket size: 2 @ 14 3/4" x 9 1/4" fabric size: 2@ 15 3/4" x 11 1/4". pocket size: 2 @ 10 3/4" x 4" fabric size: 2 @ 11 3/4" x 6" and pocket size: 1 @ 10 3/4" x 9 1/2" fabric size: 1 @ 11 3/4" x 11 1/2").


* Double Hem the top. Fold top fabric over 1/2," press. Fold over again 1 1/4," press.

Repeat with all pockets.

1/2" Fold

1 1/4" Fold, marked with disappearing fabric marker to hem

* Topstich. Mark 1/8" and 1" from the top to stitch. I am a beginner, so I actually draw a line with a disappearing ink marker, to practice sewing straight lines.



* Remaining Edges. Fold the remaining three edges over 1/4," pin, and press.

Step 3: Assembly (I forgot to take pictures for these steps)

* Pin pockets to board cover. With right side of fabric facing up, pin to cover, where your pockets are marked.

* Stitch pockets to board cover, 1/8" from outside edges. Stitch along one side, across the bottom, back up the other side and finish with backstitching at the end.

* Make pocket slots for pens, etc. Lay out the pens/pencils you want to store on top of the pocket. Mark spacing with a ruler and disappearing fabric marker. Start at the bottom of the pocket and stitch towards the top (making sure lines are perpendicular to bottom and parallel to top). Backstitch at the end. Repeat.

By this point, my canvas had a ton of marks with the disappearing ink pen, so I through it in the washing machine, dried and ironed.

Step 4: Attach to Homasote Board

* Line up your pockets. I opted for 1 1/2" spacing between the edge of the board and the edge of the pockets on either side.

* Spray Homasote with spray adhesive. My canvas was not laying flat against the board, so I sprayed it with spray adhesive and smoothed it out before stapling it to the back.

* Staple fabric to the back of board.

* Add decorative ribbon to sides with fabric glue. This gives it a finished appearance.

Overall, it turned out great, and was pretty easy for a beginner. I love it because it is a terrific way to stay organized with the pockets and provides a nice bulletin board for inspirations. I can't wait to hang it. I will post a final picture when it is in place.

PS: Don't forget to sign up for my appreciation giveaway, it ends Sunday, April 3rd at 11:59 pm.

Can I Get a Do Over?

I cannot believe it's the end of February (we are almost into the 3rd month of 2011). Wow, where is time going? I feel like I need a do over. It is OFFICIALLY time to get busy on my house goals for 2011. I have been in a blog bubble since I started my blog January 8th. I realized yesterday that I have not even been to Lowe's in a month! That is a record, Lowe's is usually at least a tri-weekly stop for us. I think I am starting to have withdrawals.

What have I been doing the past two months? Learning how to blog, trying to be consistent in my posting, and learning photoshop and how to design a blog....but now it is time to get serious.

Here are some of the projects I have planned for the house in 2011. Hopefully, this will get me motivated and help me stay accountable.

Dining Room:

Entry:

Additional Entry:

* maybe I will build a bench similar to this storage bench from Ana White
* I love this mudroom locker idea too, but our entry is too small.
*new rug
*new window treatments (we have two glass block windows flanking the front door, I would love to hide them)....maybe something like this from Isabella & Max Rooms: No-Sew Window Treatments would work.

Kitchen:

TV Room:

Cloffice:

Additional Cloffice projects:

*diy- storage/organization for mail

I've started on the cloffice, hopefully I'll make progress this weekend.

Laundry Room:

*paint
* DIY drying rack- maybe something similar to this one by Centsational Girl.

Master Bath:

*new floor tile (we reglazed the sage and pink wall tile, but still have sage and pink floor tile that is coming apart).
*DIY disaster mirror (we tried to add molding to our mirror, but when my husband hung it he didn't center the mirror). It needs to be taken down and re-centered.

Garage:

Isn't it funny how a designer's work is never complete? Whether it is interior design or blog design. My poor husband was ecstatic when we "finished" our renovations. I still see so many things that need to be done. When we started renovating two years ago we were focused on the "big ticket items." Now, I am in nick pick mode. Overall, I am happy with our home, but there are so many things I still want to change and upgrade.

How are you doing with your New Year's Resolutions? Do you have any fun DIY/renovation projects going on right now? I would love to hear about them!