Blooming Boldly: DIY

Are you all feelin' the Christmas spirit yet?! I am ALL about it! I've spent this weekend decorating, shopping, drinking hot chocolate, wrapping presents, and watching Christmas moves. Plus we got some surprise snow on Saturday that was absolutely gorgeous! It's been perfectly festive, so I thought I would share the joy with a super easy DIY wreath!

PLUS I'm joining in with a bunch of other local bloggers today for a Holiday Link up! Down at the bottom of today's post, I've linked to others in the #LexBloggerFam who are all sharing holiday posts today! From recipes and cocktails to outfit inspiration, their posts are sure to get you in the Christmas spirit! Be sure to stop by and give them some love!

Here's what you need:

Pine Wreath (I got mine half off for $5 at Hobby Lobby!)
3 yards of wired ribbon (I used two different types but you could use the same if you wanted)
12 full size ornaments
Pipe cleaner or small piece of twine
Wire to attach ornaments (I used ornament hooks! You could use pipe cleaners or any other bendable wire)
Ruler
Scissors

Making the Bow

The bow can totally make or break a wreath! This one looks impressive but is super easy, I promise!

Start with about two yards of ribbon, with a few inches extra. You can use two different patterns or even widths like I did, or two yards of the same ribbon. Place the first edge of the ribbon at about the 7 inch point on the ruler.

Wrap the ribbon around the ruler one and a half more times. The ends of the ribbon should overlap by an inch or two and there should be four pieces of ribbon covering each end of the ruler.

Slide the ribbon off the ruler, leaving it folded. Pinch it in the middle where the ends overlap and use a pipe cleaner or twine to tie it tightly. Leave a pipe cleaner tail of a few inches - you'll use this later to attach it to the wreath!

Take two 1.5 foot pieces of ribbon together. Tie them the over the middle of the bow to hide the pipe cleaner and create the tails of the bow.

Round out both sides of the bow and pull out the loops apart so you can see each one.

All that's left to do is trim the ends of the tails!

Making the Wreath

Fluff up the branches of your wreath to give it a little more life, and then layout your bow and ornaments to decide where you want to place them!

Using ornament hooks or pipe cleaners, attach your bow and ornaments to your wreath! You want to make sure you attach them to the wire base of the wreath, not the individual branches, so they don't fall off.

Once everything is attached, you're ready to hang it up and spread some Christmas cheer! How easy was that?!

If you couldn't tell, this year I'm using lots of bright colors and black and white stripes in my Christmas decor! What colors are you using for your decorations this year?! Are you a traditionalist, a minimalist, or a color-lover, like me? Let me know in the comments!

AND if you loved my post, check out what the rest of the #LexBloggerFam has to offer you this holiday season!

Sarah Caton | Space, Place & Southern Grace

Leela Foley | Lex Eats

Ella Rutledge | Girl Meets Lex

Chioma Brown | C's Evolution of Style

Lindsay Latimer | Bourbon & Lipstick

Nina McClure | Blooming Boldly

Erin Short | The Bliss Between

Sheryl Woolverton | How to Make a Life

Courtney Hastings| Kentucky Girl Ramblings

Whitney Scheibel | Fabulous in Fayette

Desarae Anderson | House Three Thirty Six

Tif Fannin | Bright on a Budget

Bronwyn Butler | Basically Bronwyn

Zac Jones | The Kitchen Gent

Stephanie Hargis | This Lexington Life

6 comments

Putting together our living room has been a long process! We moved into our apartment a year ago this month and will have been married for a year as of next month! Our living room is where we spend the majority of our time so I knew it had to feel homey, but also a fun reflection of our personalities! I wanted it to be relaxing but also energizing! If you want to read more about that process, you can check out the before photos of our place, take a look at my mood board for this room's design, or see the huge gallery wall I've already shared.A post on all the progress we've made on putting this room together will be coming very soon!

Today, I have one more sneak peek for you before the big reveal! I'm sharing one of my favorite DIY projects I've made for our home so far - this super easy, super colorful Yarn Wall Art piece! It is crazy simple, cost me less than $20, and could easily be accomplished in an afternoon (I, of course, had it strewn around our living room for several weeks, but we don't need to talk about that ;) Anyone else SO good at starting projects but procrastinate the heck out of finishing them?!)

You will need:

Several skeins of yarn - how much yarn depends on how big you make your wall hanging and how many colors you want! My finished project is about 18 by 24 inches, and I only used 1/2 - 1/3 of each of these skeins! You can use any weight or type of yarn you like, but I got the cheap stuff from Michael's and it worked just fine
A wooden dowel rod - I believe mine was 5/16 inch diameter. It is heavy enough to support the weight of all that yarn, but I was able to cut it in half (slowly) with just a pair of scissors!
Scissors

The first thing, and definitely the hardest for me, is to decide on your design! Initially, I was going to have half as many bundles and mix together the light and dark shades in one bunch. But once I started getting to work, I was really digging the more color-blocked look. The possibilities here are truly endless and there's really no wrong way!

Once you have at least a general idea of what your design will be, you need to get to work on that yarn! I didn't measure very precisely - just used my fully outstretched arms which happened to be about 50 inches. Cutting out the yarn is by far the most time-consuming part of this project, although thankfully it is not very complicated! You can make each of your bundles as thick or thin as you'd like - all of my bundles had 20 pieces of yarn for reference! So I cut 20 strands, each 50 inches long for every knotted bunch on my rod.

Once you have a bunch ready to go, you need to attach them to your rod. Fold your bunch of yarn in half, as evenly as you can. Don't worry if the ends don't line up nicely, you'll trim it later. Place the fold in the middle of the yarn on top of the rod. Put the looped part behind the rod and stick your fingers through the loop to grab the length of the yarn. Pull the ends of the yarn all the way through the loop.

Pull down until that loop is as tight as possible. I wanted the top yarn on top of my wall hanging to be really flat and even, so I went through and pulled on each individual strand in the bundle to get it as tight as I could. You may not be as obsessive about that as me, but make sure you get it as tight as you want it before you start trimming the ends.

Take a shorter piece of yarn and create a loop on top of the rod so you can hang it up! Just tie the yarn near each end of the rod.

Then it's time for a haircut! The last step is to trim up the bottom of your wall hanging. It's easiest to go ahead and hang up your piece before you start snipping so that you can tell how it's going to hang.

And there you have it! Told you it was easy! I love the pop of color and texture it brings to our living room.

Even our sweet boy Zuko approves! He's a tough critic ;)

And just because I'm nice... I'll give you a peek of where this is in context in our living room! Ta daaaa

Like I said, I'll be sharing a full living room reveal here on Blooming Boldly soon! For now, where in your home needs a yarn wall hanging?! This DIY is a too fun and affordable to not try for yourself!

5 comments

Tassel accessories are pretty clearly one of the biggest trends of 2017. They're everywhere! You can find them on jewelry, scarves, bags, clothing... And from brands as generic as Target to as luxury as Tory Burch! You can see some of my favorite examples here:

**This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may get a very small commission when you click on or make a purchase from one of these links, at no extra cost to you.**

They're colorful, they're whimsical, they're easy to dress up or down. It's easy to see why they're so fun! And turns out, they're also super easy and cheap to recreate yourself!

I've been wanting a pair of tassel earrings, but I had a hard time finding just want I want. Of course, that presented the perfect opportunity for a good DIY!

Materials Needed:
2 skeins of embroidery floss (same color)
2 earring hooks
2 small beading hoops (I used 20mm)
*I got this pack of earring findings from Michael's that had specific hooks and hoops I used
2 jump rings (mine were about 7mm, but it depends on the thickness of your embroidery floss! I'd suggest getting a pack with assorted sizes!)
Scissors
Glue gun
Needle nose pliers

Most these supplies come in big packs if you get them online. You may be able to find smaller packs of jump rings and embroidery floss at your local craft store. Or you can stock up and go crazy making tassel earrings in every color of the rainbow for everyone you know! The price per pair is only about $0.75 each!

Let's get started! This will be quick and painless, I promise :)

1. Cut off about a 6-inch section of thread, while keeping the rest of the skein intact. Don't get it all bunched up! Set that 6-inch piece to the side. Take the skein and place it through the hoop.

2. Fold the skein in half, making the ends even. Tightly tie the short piece of thread around the tassel close to the hoop. I usually tie a knot, wrap the end of the thread around the tassel 2-3 times, and then double knot it again. Try to get it as tight as possible so your earring wont fall apart as you wear it!

3. Open up the jump ring with the pliers. Wiggle it around the tassel over the thread tied around it. You want the ring to fit snugly!

4. Once you wrangle the ring around the tassel, use the pliers to squeeze it shut. I wanted my earring to seem wider, so I used the pliers to flatten the jump ring and make it more of an oval shape.

5. Snip off the ends of the tassel. You can make it as long or short as you want! I ended up cutting off about an inch from the bottom because I didn't want them brushing my shoulders. I found that if you use one hand to hold the threads together down near the bottom while cutting with the other hand will help the ends be more even than if you hold it from the top near the loop.

6. Connect the hook to the hoop (if your hoop doesn't have a connection like mine, you can use a small jump ring to secure the earring hook to the hoop).

7. Repeat steps 1-6 to make your matching pair, and then you're good to go!

HOW FUN! I am crazy about how these turned out! I've been wearing them almost every day since I made them!

They took me well less than half an hour to make and are so easy! You can get so much variety by switching up the colors, length, thickness, etc. And since they're so cheap, you have no excuse but to make some to go with every outfit ;)

Are you as crazy about this tassel trend as I am? What's your favorite way to incorporate them in your wardrobe? Let me know in the comments!

2 comments

Gallery walls... I know, I know. They've been all the Pinterest-rage since like 2011. The chances that there's one somewhere in your home right this moment are extremely high... like I could win money on that! BUT can you ever really have too many gallery walls?!

For me, the hardest part about setting up a gallery wall is deciding on the layout. I am such a visual person that I want to see it all arranged, but if I'm working with more than just a few frames, it's hard to do without putting a boat load of unnecessary holes in my walls. And if I'm starting from scratch, I don't even know how many frames or what sizes I need. Trial and error in that situation can waste a bunch of time AND money!

Finally, I came up with a digital way to see my design before I start banging nails into the wall. I don't even have to know what frames or items I want to use yet! AND I did it using Microsoft Word! No fancy-schmancy design programs necessary! Don't worry, I'll walk you through it step-by-step :)

Designing Your Gallery Wall Layout Digitally

Okay, you want to start by opening up a new document in Microsoft Word. Click Insert on the top menu bar, and then Shape.

When the Shapes menu pops up, click on the rectangle.

If you want to change the color and border of the shape, you can do so using the Fill and Line options on the left of the menu. But that's optional!

The most important part is the size! You need to uncheck the box on the far right first. Then, type in the Height and Width of a standard frame size, or an item you know you want to use. I took the dimensions in inches and basically moved the decimal point over... so an 8x10 frame would be 0.8x1.0, and a 4x6 would be 0.4x0.6.

I knew I wanted to incorporate our canvas "guest book" that we had guests sign at our Wedding, so I started with a rectangle for it. It's about 20x24, so I made a 2x2.4 inch rectangle first.

Keep making rectangles and playing with the arrangement. If you know already there are certain pieces you want to incorporate, then make sure you add shapes for them! And if you're starting from scratch, you'll want to stick to easy to find frame sizes. 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, you know the drill. Or you can look on Amazon.

Play around until you find a few you like! Do you like symmetrical or asymmetrical? Close together or more space in-between? It's so much easier to figure out when you can see the layout all together, with the correct ratios, instead of just trying to picture it in your head!

Once you find a few arrangements, it's time to take it to your wall! No holes required!

Testing Your Layout on the Wall

Seeing your design on a computer screen is HUGELY helpful, but sometimes it's still not quite enough. Even if you buy all the frames and lay them out on your floor, you still can't look at it from the proper perspective unless you stand on something tall! The best way to envision how it will look on your wall is to see it on your wall!

Start by cutting wrapping paper rectangles for each frame in your arrangement. This is a great way to get rid of old Christmas wrapping paper you know you won't want to use next holiday season! Or, if you don't have any on hand, you can get a roll from the Dollar Store for a buck :)

If you have any frames on hand, even if you don't plan on using them in your collage, you can trace them on the paper. Or you can use your handy dandy ruler :)

I don't worry about making them perfect. I won't be using them for actually measuring or hanging the frames. It's just to get an idea of how it looks in your space!

Once you've got all your frames cut out, it's time to get 'em on the wall! You can be as precise as you want. I measured to find the middle of my wall, folded my center frame in half, and placed the fold-line on the center-line of the wall. After that, I just eyeballed it!

I highly suggest you use painter's tape to hang your paper frames! Scotch tape can often leave marks on your paint, and since you're just testing out layouts, they may not be hidden by the frames in the final arrangement!

After everything is hung, take a step back and check it out! Need to make any adjustments? Want to try out another layout? Keep playing until you love it!

Hanging Your Gallery Wall

Now for the part that has always caused me the most headache... actually hanging things on the wall. I'm an exceptionally good eyeball-er. If it's totally abstract and asymmetrical, like the gallery walls I often put together in college, I would put it up without even breaking out a measuring tape. But when I want something with cleaner lines, it takes some more work to get everything hung properly.

So the first step is to find the middle line of the wall or area where you're hanging your collage. What's awesome about having a wall covered in paper is that you can write all over it! Start with one of your center pieces and draw the mid-line all the way down it. You'll hang this one first.

Look at the back of that item. Measure how far it is from the top of the item to the top of whatever mechanism you hang it by (just part of the wooden frame like this canvas, a hook, a string, etc). This one was 1.5 inches from the top of the canvas.

On your paper template, measure down that far on the midline. So I went down 1.5 inches from the top of the paper, following the mid-line I had drawn. That's where the nail goes! Carefully take the paper down, tearing it around the nail, and you're good to go!

Level up that first piece, and then you can use it as a basis for all your next measurements. Whenever you line up the next frame, it's easiest if the edge or center aligns with a frame that's already hanging. Make sure you take into account the distance you want between the frames, and the distance over and/or up to the hook.

It gets easier the more frames you hang, because you have more points you can measure from! You know the old saying "measure twice, cut once"... the same goes for banging nails in the wall! I always recommend double checking your measurements unless you want to re-do a few of those nails.

I always use a level to make sure all my lines are parallel. If your frames won't stay level, you can use a very, very small amount of sticky tack, a good size roll of painter's tape, or a small sliver of a command strip to keep it in place!

These are all my best tips for pain-free gallery wall hanging! Chances are you've hung one before, but I hope you learned at least one new trick that will make your next one a breeze! Tell me in the comments something you didn't know before!

P.S. Who can guess how much I spent on this gallery wall in our living room??? Also, did you catch that this is a preview of our living room progress?! If you didn't see my inspiration and planning process, be sure to check out my recent Mid Century + Tribal Living Room Inspiration post! And stay tuned for a post coming soon on the progress I've made in reaching my initial inspiration! I'll share lots of pictures plus how much it cost to put this gallery wall together (hint: it's way less than you think!)