DIY: State Love Canvases

So I'll admit it. I might have a lot bit of pride when it comes to my home state.

I think it's because I've always loved where I grew up in New York, and there's just something about coming home that can comfort you when you really need it.

And maybe it's because I don't get to go home very often, and so I find myself longing for the clean air, green hills, and far away family that Upstate New York has to offer me.

So when Ali showed me this craft she found to show our home-state love, I immediately loved the idea, and we quickly set to work on making canvases of our home states as well as our husbands'.

And I loved how they turned out. I went with a neutral gray color because I'm boring like that, and Ali picked colorful background to match her vibrant and fun apartment. And while NY was tedious to draw and Colorado is LITERALLY a square, I loved how they turned out. We put hearts where our home towns are and I put mine right next to each other with our metal ampersand in between.

Did I mention this craft is beyond inexpensive? Ali and I split the cost and I think it cost us about $10 total for 4 canvases, four acrylic paints, and a pack of paintbrushes.

DIY State Love Canvases

inspired by lolly jane boutique

You will need: 

Canvas (we used one for our home state and one for our husbands'), any size. We liked 8"x10"

Acrylic Paint, any color you like, with a color for your "hometown heart"

Paint brushes

1. Google a large map of your home state, comparing the size so that it will fit onto your canvas, then print out your map and cut out the outline of it.

2. Tape your cut-out map outline onto your canvas and trace the outline with a pencil. Remove the outline.

3. With one paint color, paint around the outline of your map, leaving the state white (or you could do vice versa). I recommend doing a couple coats of paint so there are no streaks.

4. Let dry, then paint a small heart on the map where your hometown is, let dry completely, then hang out place anywhere you like!

5. Repeat with another canvas if you like.

So there you have it! One of my favorite crafts I've ever done, that's super quick, easy, and inexpensive.

Plus, I love how they look on our bookshelf. You can't beat a craft that looks like something you could buy in a store!

Day 12: DIY J.Crew Heart Sweater

I saved one of the the best crafts for last. Well not last, but close to the end of the 14 Days of Valentine's. 

Remember this sweater?

That one from J.Crew that was totally perfect, but also totally out of my price range?

Well, the other day, I added up the amount of money it would cost me to buy everything at J.Crew that I currently want.

The price was scary (like over $1,000 scary), and unrealistic.

But if I even want to come close to buying just a few of those items that I want (not $1000 worth I promise you that), I figured I'd better start saving now, and DIYing a few more things.

I got the idea to make my own J.Crew heart sweater from Sarah, who made her own after being in a situation similar to mine: we both didn't want to pay $90 for a sweater we could make ourselves!

So with the help of my darling friend Eliza, two camel colored clearance sweaters from Target and some black felt, we made a darling sweater that can be worn all winter long (not just for Valentine's Day). 

DIY J.Crew Heart Sweater:

 What you'll need:

One sweater (We bought ours here for $12 each), We used a camel color, but J.Crew did camel with a black heart, red with a pink heart, and navy with a green heart.

A large sheet of felt (we did black)

Black thread

Pins

Scissors

Cut out a large heart to fit your sweater by folding your felt in half, and drawing a one-sided heart in order to make it even. Cut out the heart, unfold, and pin onto your sweater.

 

The next step is a no brainer. Sew your heart onto your sweater! You could hand stitch or use your sewing machine. We used a sewing machine to save time. 

Cut off your extra threads...

And there you have it! A perfectly darling J.Crew replica made for about $15. The savings? Close to $75. Plus, they are all sold out online (I'm pretty sure they're not making it anymore). 

 

You could wear this sweater all fall and winter. Seriously though I'm obsessed with it. 

Outfit post with it coming tomorrow! 

Day 4: Heart Covered Wax Paper

Remember those fun tea bags from like what, 3 days ago? 

Well, if you want to wrap those up, or any Valentine's Day treat for that matter, this is the way to do it.

This is the cheapest, easiest craft possibly of them all that I'm sharing.

And it ends up being so cute and festive!

I know I say that about all my crafts.

Heart Covered Wax Paper

What you'll need:

Heart puncher (or you could cut out hearts by hand)

1 roll of Wax Paper

Red tissue paper 

Iron and Ironing board

1. Punch/Cut out several hearts out of your red tissue paper.

2. Lay out your ironing board and turn your iron onto medium heat.

3. Cover your ironing board with paper towels.

 

4. Cut out two pieces of wax paper (the same size), and on one piece of the wax paper, distribute the hearts evenly over the paper. 

5. Cover with the other piece of wax paper to sandwich the hearts, and place the papers onto the ironing board.

6. Cover the paper with more paper towels, then iron over the paper towels. The wax paper will melt together and become one paper covered with hearts!

Use your heart-covered wax paper to wrap up gifts (like teabags)...

 

Or use it to wrap up treats!

Can you seriously resist these?

Happy Saturday!

Day 3: DIY Burlap Bunting

First off, Happy Friday! This week seemed extra long and between the rush of work, internship interviews, and school, life seemed more hectic than usual.

This weekend we're headed off to go snow-shoeing, I'll be doing some crafting, and we'll be relaxing with friends for the superbowl (and eating too much).

What's on your agenda?

For day 3, I wanted to share with you some bunting that I actually made last year for Valentine's Day. I decided to decorate with it again this year, because I still love it so much, and it adds such a fun vintage touch to our home.

I shared the tutorial HERE, last Valentine's Day, and now that I have twice as many followers as back then (oh back in the day), I'd thought I'd just link it to you again.

Did I mention that this is a foolproof and unbelievably cheap craft to do? All you need is burlap, felt, glue, clothespins, and twine. THAT'S IT.

I so encourage you to make these this weekend! :)

tutorial here.

Happy Weekend and you'll see me around today and tomorrow!

Day 2: Valentine's Wreath by Guest Blogger Jessica

 Thanks to Jessica for submitting this super cute wreath. Be nice to her and enjoy her craft! :)


Hi guys! I'm Jessica and I blog over at The Helms. I am a junior/senior at BYU majoring in Psychology and I absolutely love Hayley's blog, so when she asked if I wanted to do a guest post, I couldn't pass it up!

Growing up my mom always went all out for every holiday when it came to decorations. One of my favorite things when I was younger was helping her decorate. Let's be honest, I still love helping her decorate when I am at home! Thanks to my mom I am always looking for fun holiday decorations and since I am a poor married student I love holiday DIY crafts! While on Pinterest, I came across the best wreath idea and decided to try it out for Valentine's Day.

What you'll need:

1 1/2 yard of fabric

Scissors

A hot glue gun

Foam heart wreath 

Long pins - I would suggest getting them in the color of your fabric

Now that you have all of your materials you are ready to go!

I didn't take pictures of the first couple steps when I made mine, so we are going to use some from my inspiration at kellyhicksdesign.com 

1. Cut a strip of fabric 1 1/2 -2 inches wide the length of the fabric or whichever side is the longest. 

Take one end of the fabric and hot glue it to your wreath. 

Then wrap it all the way around your wreath.

Now that your wreath is covered let's move on to the ruffles. 

To make your ruffles cut your fabric the short way in strips of 1 1/2 - 2 in wide. You can experiment with the length of your strips, but I tried to keep mine a medium length for maximum fluff. 

The width of your fabric is totally up to you. The skinnier your strip, the smaller your ruffles, the wider your strip the bigger your ruffle. 

To make your ruffle take the strip at one end and fold it over and layer it. 

Continue folding it over until you get a half circle. Then take your pin and stick it in the middle.

Just one more picture from Kelly Hicks

Pin your ruffle onto your wreath.

Continue pinning your ruffles overlaying them as you go until your wreath looks like this

Then find the perfect spot in your home to hang it!

Day 1: DIY Heart-Tagged Tea Bag Tags

HAPPY FEBRUARY 1ST! 

Not that I'm excited or anything.

February is always the best month of the year. Valentine's day, a 3-day weekend, and my birthday always adds up to be a fun month.

 Plus... today is the first day of the 14 Days of Valentine's! I'm so excited. So to start off, the first craft I'm going to be sharing is how to make adorable tea bag tags (say that 1 million times fast. that's right, you can't) to give as gifts or use with your loved one at home.

My darling friends helped me make these, and we all thought they turned out so cute! 

Heart-Shaped Tea Bag Tags

What you'll need:

Herbal Tea bags without seeping strings (as many as you like.. Celestial Seasonings doesn't use string)

Red cardstock 

Double-sided Tape

Scissors

Twine/string (I used baker's twine)

A heart puncher (or you could cut your own hearts)

a gel pen of some sort 

Stapler

To start, take your twine/string, and cut a piece about a foot long, maybe a little less. Fold it in half, and tie the ends together in a knot. Take your tea bag and staple the string to the bag, making sure that the knot is below the staple, to keep the string in place on the bag.

Next, punch/cut out several small red hearts (as many as you think you'll need, you'll need two for each tea bag)on your cardstock.

Then, put a small piece of double-sided tape on one heart, and place the string on top of the taped heart, wherever you want the heart to be on the string. Sandwich the string with another heart so they stick together. 

Then, with your gel pen, write a little love note!

There you have it! The perfect gift and treat for a cold night in February.

A mountain of cookies and the aftermath of a craft project. Another successful crafternoon.

DIY: Easy Anthropologie Gift Wrapping

I'm back in the blogosphere! Our trip to Phoenix had me stranded at dead grandparent's houses (more on that later) without Internet for four days. Needless to say trying to blog on your iPhone just isn't worth it. We had a great time in Phoenix and I'm excited to show you pictures, but for the next couple of days I want to talk ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS. You heard me, there are only what-- 3 days till Christmas? Um hello and goodbye December you were here for like 5 minutes.

I always get anxiety around this time of December because there is so much build-up to Christmas, and I can't handle the post-holiday depression that will no doubt ensue.

And now I'm rambling...

SO.

Today I have the easiest, cheapest craft ever for you.

I always get discouraged wrapping presents. They always look the same and it just gets to the point where glossy paper with green and red polka dots just doesn't cut it creatively for me.

So when I saw on Twitter that Anthropologie was giving away a free gift tag printable, I hopped right on that boat and went with it.

Because let's be real, Anthropologie and free don't really go together in the same sentence, and these tags were ADORABLE.

And while I love a good shopping trip to Anthropologie, I wasn't going to pay for more gift-wrapping materials that cost more money than the present being wrapped.

So I put together a little system on how to make your presents Anthropologie-pretty, but without breaking your bank.

What you'll need:

Anthropologie free gift tag printables, FOUND HERE

Cardstock for printing gift tags

Brown Kraft paper (cheap, versatile, and found at Office Depot) 

Baker's or regular twine (found at Michaels, I used red baker's twine)

tape & scissors for wrapping

Step 1: Download Anthropologie's free gift tags onto your computer. Print them out in color onto cardstock. Cut along the dotted lines to cut them into tags. Hole punch the tags where the circle at the top is.

Step 2: Grab a gift you need to wrap, and cut a piece of kraft paper that's an adequate size to wrap your gift, then wrap it all up!

Step 3: Tie up your gift all pretty with twine (or you could use grosgrain ribbon, velvet fabric strips, etc... be creative!), and before tying a bow, string your gift tag onto the twine and secure it tight.

Step 4: Label your gift tag for your special someone and place it under the tree to show up all the other wrapped gifts. :)

 

The end product! Good luck and happy wrapping. :)

crafterlife

remember that time i told you guys about crafternoon?

well this week, instead on just spending an afternoon glittering shoes,

the glitter girls and i spent a good 24 hours crafting, laughing, eating, taking pictures, picnicing, and all the girly things that girls do.

 

ANTM

 

 

for our craft we put elbow patches on sweaters, which ended up taking FOREVER, but was so worth it. 

 i feel really lucky to have gotten to know these girls. we became friends instantaneously, and spending every day in the Daily Universe newsroom has only solidified our friendship even more.

did i mention that we had a sleepover? Poor Chin, he's such a trooper.

 all photos courtesy of Ali Ann Kirk.

 p.s. Happy Halloween! Details on our costumes coming... soon.