Americana Banner

 Hello everyone!  It's Monday once again and I am happy to be here after a few day's absence.  I was down with the creepy crud for the second time this spring.  Guess that's what school aged grandson's give you when you are not looking.  Whew.   Glad it's over and I'm more than ready to move on with life.

The day before said "crud" set in, I spent the entire day outside working on a project for our mantel to celebrate Memorial Day.  I was "in the zone" as they say, working away while enjoying the beautiful weather.  I had my paints, brushes, glue gun, and huge box of craft sticks (better known as popsicle sticks) and I was on a creative bent.

I started making stars and flags galore and had absolutely NO idea what I would do with them, but I liked them and they were fun to make.  That was enough reason to continue, so I did.  I simply hot glued sticks together in a pentagram shape for the stars.  For the flags, I put two sticks parallel to each other vertically with about 1.5 inches between.  Next, I glued 9 sticks across them horizontally.  I decided on 9 because it made the best looking "flag."  It took a bit to put them all together, then it was time to paint.

Since I was going for patriotic Americana, red, ivory, and blue were my colors of choice, with brown paint used to "antique" everything.   First, it's necessary to paint everything in the color and design you want before "antiquing."  Americana is about simplicity.

After letting the paint dry, I dipped a paper towel in some water just to dampen it, dipped the same towel in some brown paint and rubbed the entire flag or star with the brown paint.  While still wet, I then used a dry paper towel to rub the entire surface, actually removing some of the paint to get a really vintage look.

Makes quite a difference.  If you like the true colors, stick with them.  As for me, I like the rugged, worn, vintage look.  The bottoms of the parallel sticks were clipped off with cutters after everything dried.  This is how the stars and flags looked when finished.

 All painting was done just as it was time to prepare dinner, so everything was left to dry overnight.  Then, the - dun, dun, dunnnnnnn,  creepy crud laid me low for a couple of days.  Gave me some time to contemplate what to do with said stars and flags.

The banner on the mantle is what I came up with.  Glad I had time to contemplate, because I really, really love the way it turned out.  All I used was a length of burlap ribbon that you can buy at craft stores.  I laid out the pattern of flags and stars I wanted to use and hot glued them to the burlap.  Easy. Then, I stenciled USA in red, white, and blue between the flags and stars.  The banner is hung with some clear push pins.  Done.

As a major lover of all things Americana, this banner is one of my favorite projects I have done in a good while.  This banner will hang on the mantel until after July 4 and maybe longer.

You can get a big box of craft sticks very reasonably at any craft store or Wal-Mart.  They come in the popsicle stick width or tongue depressor width, it just depends on which size you prefer.  There are lots of things you can do with them and they are great fun for kids to use.  It's almost summer vacation time, so they can be a great way to keep kids occupied when you need a craft project.

This weekend, we will remember all those who have served our country or given their lives for our freedom.  We can never thank them enough.   Happy Memorial Day everyone.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

My father lied about his age to join the Army Air Corps during World War II.  He was only 17 when he enlisted to serve our country and served for 5 years in Italy and Northern Africa.  He didn't talk about it much, but he was proud to have served.  We will honor his memory this weekend.  Thanks Dad.  

Let It Snow - Make A Snowflake

 As usual, I am a day late with this post.  Sometimes the demands of the day catch me wanting when it comes to time.  I write as things inspire me.  I do not write posts days ahead and then set them to post at a certain day and time.  That is thinking and planning too far in advance.  These baby's are hot off the presses as they say - as they come to me.  There are times when my intention is to post one particular thing, and then some shiny object catches the corner of my eye and there is a whole different post that goes on the page.  That's the way I roll.

On Tuesday, when I had promised this post, we were invited to attend a beautiful Winter Garden ceremony at our grandsons' school.  I did not get my blog written before we went and needless to say, it was too late to write when we returned (that's a nice way of saying my brain had ceased to function at that point).  As for the Winter Garden, I am so very glad we went.  It was one of the most beautiful and inspiring programs ever.

Anyway, here is the promised tutorial with directions on how to make your own snowflakes from craft sticks, better known as popsicle sticks.   When I was in elementary school back in the dark ages, I had an art teacher who would ask for strange things for art projects.  It made my mom crazy and there were no craft stores to buy such things as were requested.  One December we had to have a bunch of popsicle sticks.  Where did one get popsicle sticks in December?  No one knew.  So, we bought popsicles and ate them until we had the required number of sticks.  Thank goodness for craft stores!   I bought a box of 1000 craft sticks at WalMart for $3.99.  Can't beat that with a stick.  (I know, I know).  Just couldn't pass it up.  You can make a LOT of snowflakes with this many craft sticks, or lots of other projects if your heart so desires.

I had seen these snowflakes on Pinterest last year.  They were on an interior wall and painted red which were really quite lovely.  My desire was for snowflakes that looked like snowflakes, the white kind like the ones that fall from the sky.  We have always been taught that no two snowflakes are alike so I created all mine to be different.  Wouldn't you?

This is an easy project.  You need some craft sticks, hot glue and paint.  Feel free to glitter these up if you want.  I was in a hurry the day I made these (and it shows, please forgive), so I did not do glitter.  Simply start by making a base for the flake.  The first one I did was the biggest one that is on the left in the windows.  You will need a protractor and some basic math if you want them to be really straight.  Also, the sticks may move while the glue is still drying, so some of mine are a little wonky which totally goes against my need for things to be straight.  (Ever hear of the galloping horse theory?  We used it in costuming.  On a galloping horse, no one will notice if something is not perfectly even).  These snowflakes are hanging outside, blowing in the wind, and hopefully no one will notice that they are not perfectly straight.  If these were on an inside wall where I could see them, it would be mandatory for them to be straight.  Period.  OCD, I know.

Back to the directions.  Make your base.  The biggest flake starts with six sticks in an asterisk shape.   To be perfectly straight, you want 60 degree angles between the sticks.  Remember basic math?  A circle has 360 degrees, so 180 degrees for half a circle, 3 angles per half circle would be 60 degrees. Have fun with that protractor!  Glue the sticks together.

Now, glue the point pieces on.  Yep, mine is crooked because I wasn't paying close attention, trying to work on several things at once and the glue dried before I could move the sticks.  Arrggghhh.  Add 3 sticks to the end of each point or make a design of your choice.  I then took all the finished flakes outside and spray painted them.

I put a black trash bag on the ground and laid each finished snowflake on it, spray painted one side, let it dry, turned it and finished painting.

I leaned the flakes up against the fence around my little secret garden to take the pictures.  When I looked at the picture, my thought was someone needs to clean up that poor garden.  I will talk to the yard man about it.  Here are some of the other designs I made.  It's really lots of fun coming up with designs.  Yep, that one is crooked on the top too.  : (

It's really just a matter of putting sticks in different places and having fun being creative.  After you develop your design, glue the sticks in place and paint away.

Here is how they look hanging on the porch.  Now they don't look so crooked.  See?  Galloping horse!

They are all different sizes and I really do love the way they look - just the right touch for a winter wonderland, especially in this 70 degree weather we have been having.  One of these would be beautiful on a front door also.

This is a project even your kids can have fun with, just help them with the gluing part!   We don't want any burned fingers.

These snowflakes may hang on the porch when the Christmas decorations come down.  I do like the way they look.  Make your own snowflakes and enjoy the creative process.  It's lots of fun.  When friends and neighbors ask where you got them, just say I made them.  Easy peasy.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Every snowflake that falls is one of a kind - just like you!

Welcome To Christmas At The Little Yellow Cottage

Oh you better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout I'm telling you why..........Christmas is coming and waaaaaay too soon.  Do you celebrate on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?  Personally, we like to celebrate on both.  Why not?

This last week has seen Grandma and the Elves (minus the Elves) busily decorating for Christmas.  Dan put up the outside lights on a beautiful sunny Saturday right after Thanksgiving and my part of the bargain began last Monday and I am STILL tweaking things.  Hopefully everything will be done tomorrow, because I have to get on the gift making train immediately.

I promised my friend Debra that I would post pictures of the house so here we go.  I will begin as if you were walking to the front door and this is what you will see.  Frosty (who has been in the family for almost 20 years) sits on the front porch in his dapper top hat surrounded by beautiful white lights and snowflakes made by yours truly.  The snowflakes were spotted on Pinterest last Christmas season and I knew I would make them this year for the front porch.  They are super simple, inexpensive (my favorite word) and made from craft sticks - what we called popsicle sticks back in the day - then spray painted white.  They are hanging from monofilament line (better known as fishing line) and they look absolutely adorable.  I will give you a quick tutorial tomorrow night.

Here is Frosty in the daytime.

He's such a happy guy, I love to look at his smiling face and he never has to worry about melting.  ♥

On our front and back door, there are wreaths that I made from snowflakes found at my favorite Dollar Tree.  Talk about easy and inexpensive!  I wish the pictures showed how they sparkle in the light  (they probably would if I was a photographer, but alas I'm not).

This is the front door and the next picture is the back door.  The main difference is the color of the door which makes them look slightly different.

Here is a close up so you can see the detail better.

Here is how I made these wreaths.  I just happened to be at  the Dollar Tree (my home away from home) and they had a really nice display of all kinds of snowflakes.  I couldn't choose a particular one I liked so I got some of all of them.  For the base,  I used one of the biggest snowflakes which is about 12 inches across and is clear and icy looking.  They were $1.00 each.  There are 2 large acrylic flakes on each wreath, one of which you can see on the bottom right side in the picture above, the other is at the top left.  They were 2 for $1.00.  The rest of the snowflakes came in packages of 3 - 6 per package for $1.00 per package.  The really white glittered foam snowflakes were 12 in a package for just $1.00

I laid the largest flake on the bottom and placed the others around until I got a look I liked.  Then I went back and hot glued them all in place which is what took the longest.  I made both wreaths in under an hour.  Now, how easy is that?  The finished wreath is 20 inches in diameter and is great because it's flat and fits between the door and the storm door.  It is so hard to find things that will fit between the doors.  I can use these winter wonderland wreaths all the way until Valentine's day.  Yippeee!  I also tied a long piece of sheer white ribbon to each wreath and looped it over the hanger on the door.  That was just for effect, but not necessary.

The total cost for both wreaths was $12.00 making them $6.00 each.  That is a great price for two beautiful wreaths.  These would also work nicely indoors because they are so lightweight and have a crystalline, frosty, winter look which can work after the holidays in that blah time of year before Valentine's Day.  You know that time - when everything is grey and yucky.  Yeah, that time.

It's that time of year when you need decorations and gifts for all kinds of people.  This wreath is a beauty and takes little time and little money and you can put your own spin on it.  Our budget is limited, so I am always trying to come up with things that look great and cost little.  I hope you will give this project a try.

Tomorrow, we will continue our house tour.  Come back and join me.  Who knows?  By tomorrow I may have changed a dozen things or made something new and interesting.    See you then.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?” 
― Bob Hope