DIY Winter Wreath

I love making wreathes

and I saw many pinecone versions

before the holidays on Pinterest-

You can find all these on my Pinterest wreath board-

I have a thing for cardinals-

A few Christmases ago, I started a small cardinal tree-

and since then, cardinals have brought a special meaning to my life-

Most of those wreathes were made for the holidays but

I think they are the perfect winter wreath-

And isn't there an upcoming holiday that boasts red?

So, I decided my front door needed a cardinal wreath to add to the chilly winter season!

I took a trip to the GW outlet because I knew I'd find the supplies that were needed

to create my own pinecone wreath-

Sure enough, I found a plethora of pine cones-

a wooden tray, working white lights, a globe and

a grapevine wreath with a few pinecones hanging by a wire!

All for $9.80

And a wreath with a few pine ones hanging by a wire-

I also had white plastic pine cones in my Christmas boxes 

and cardinals

from my small bird tree-

I was set to go!

Some of the pine cones had picks attached to them already and some I wired on-

The tiny ones got a drop of hot glue-

The wreath was ready for some paint-

Although, it's much too cold to spray paint, 

I did anyways!!

I was spraying it white so if I got some on the snow, and a plastic planter -oh well!

It dried quickly- lol

It was 20 degrees out!

Ready to be beautified with some cardinals..

Now, if only I had a red front door, ha ha ha

Only kidding Charlie!!

I hot glued the birds in no order and added the heart ribbon to

Give it a perfect Valentine look-

And that's it-

A pretty addition to the front door that

Makes me smile when I see the cardinals in the middle of winter!

Take care, gotta fly-

DIY Roman Shades=Kitchen Warmth

I love my kitchen

The new paint color is rich with warmth-

The furniture change has been good- 
the black brings a rich warmth to the space-

I have a lot of light in my kitchen 

The bay window brings sunshine into the space 
each morning-

What I don't have are warm windows,

The room is cold not from the colors
 but from the below freezing temps 



(and my ancient energy inefficient windows)-

The curtains I made this fall are fine but there is no warmth to them

So, with a day off from school, 
I decided to make warm shades- 

of the roman kind-

I found this fabric in the clearance section 
at Jo Ann Fabrics and with a coupon-

It was $4 yd- 

I've made them before
 so the assembly wasn't difficult -
 the most important

part of the project is measuring
 since they need to fit perfectly
 into the window frame-

I took pictures of each step 

so if you can use a tape measure- you're golden!

Sewing helps but I'm sure handy folks out there

 know all about fabric glue, too!

I did write a step by step tutorial to follow, 
but there are so many ways to make these-
some use mini blinds, or dowels or keep them stationery.

If you google diy roman shades, the ideas are endless.

I actually followed the tutorial from
 those crafty gals at 

Shanty 2 Chic , so go check it out
and each step is in living color-

- here are a few more sites to check out-

Little Green Notebook, shows the mini blind method and
Craft, Interrupted uses that method too!

I'm happy with the results,
and they do the job, bringing warmth to
the windows and eating area in the kitchen-

But, I will admit, they took me longer than 1 day-
I kept getting distracted with other projects!

Take care, gotta fly-