Gettin' Featured (again!)

Hey, all!  I just wanted to let you know that Cassity at Polly Want a Crafter is featuring my PB inspired book bundles this Wednesday (1/26!)  The post will go live at 7 am, be sure to check it out!  :)

Happy Monday :)

PB inspired 'trash to treasure.'

I love getting my Pottery Barn catalog in the mail.  It makes me happy to thumb through the pages and see all the beautiful home decor.  I don't usually purchase things from them since their prices are not really in my SAHM budget ;)  But, I love getting ideas from them!  There are lots of things in there that you can easily re-create/make yourself.  Like, for example, these book bundles they are selling...

A mere $39 for a bundle of four old books with the covers ripped off and tied together with string.  I wonder how many of these they are actually selling since it seems pretty easy to find some old books and make these yourself! 
Anyway, I thought these would look great on my ladder shelf but obviously I wasn't going to purchase these from PB  ;)   I found 4 old hardcover books at a thrift store.

 I paid $1 each and if it were 'yard sale season' I'm sure I could have found some old paperbacks for a quarter.  Anyway, I didn't have any hemp string either so I had to buy that too.  I spent about $6 total on supplies but if you already have old books, you could make this for practically free!
Here is my little version.  I decided to use darker string to go better with my living room decor. 

I think it makes a nice addition to my shelves ;)

Decorchick! also did a version of a book bundle she saw in the Ballard Designs catalog.  I think Ballard is charging around $25 for their bundles.  Either way, I did mine for a very small percentage of what they are selling these things for!  I don't think my hubby would be too happy if I told him I spent $40 on some old books with the covers ripped off  ;)
p.s. I am not trying to imply that books are 'trash' by the title of this post.  I love books and think that they are important!  I just think this is a great way to re-purpose unwanted old books from a thrift store.  :)
Happy Decorating!

P.S. I'm linking up!

I'm Getting Featured!

Hello, readers!  Just thought I would let you all know some exciting news!  Cassity at Polly Want a Crafter (an AWESOME crafting blog for all you fellow craft lovers) is featuring my DIY Christmas wreath tomorrow!!!  I'm pretty excited and I hope that you all will stop by Polly Want a Crafter tomorrow and check it out!  The post will go live at 7 am for you early birds  ;) 
Hope everyone is getting ready for Christmas, it's just over a week away (yikes!) 
(link)

I know it's a little early...

...but I made a Christmas wreath this weekend! My mom and aunt were here visiting and we wanted to do a craft project. I took this as an opportunity to make the Christmas wreath that has been floating around in my head for a while now! The project seemed simple enough...I wanted to make a square/rectangle shape covered in green sheet moss and embellished with a few holly berries and ribbon. Well, the square/rectangle form proved impossible to find!!! So, I was very frustrated to say the least. I am one of those people who freaks out when something doesn't work out exactly as I planned! I refused to make a round wreath just because I could not find a square form and then...I had an epiphany. I would use....a picture frame! Genius, huh? I figured and 11x13-ish size would be good and was about 90% sure I had one in the garage somewhere. The problem was finding the thing. I happily found one behind the armoire in my room complete with a matte that made it just the width I needed.

Then, I covered the whole thing in brown packing paper to make a uniform surface for the moss to adhere to.

Now the moss... Ahh, the moss... (Enter problem #2 for the wreath project.) I found the sheet moss at Hobby Lobby, but it was a bit more than I wanted to pay for this project. I mean, the whole point of me making the wreath was to save money. The moss was going to cost between $16-$20, so I found some reindeer moss at the Dollar Tree and only spent $4 instead!!! (I actually bought 5 to make sure I had enough but I only used 4 packages.)

This moss was not the flat, sheet moss that I wanted but I liked the price so I got over it. It gave the wreath a different look than what I wanted and was much harder to work with, so I decided if I had to do it all over again, I would wait till the moss was 50% off at HL and get the moss I really wanted. I only recommend using the reindeer moss for this project if you have lots of patience! (And don't mind the more 'fluffy' look that it gives the wreath.)

I didn't get any pictures of the gluing on the moss process (probably because I was covered in moss and trying not to lose my mind!) LOL But, basically I just hot glued small areas at a time and globbed on the moss. It was a tedious process & I had to go back and fill lots of bare spots but I finally got it covered. Then, I added some holly berries I also picked up at HL and a red bow. Some red ribbon for hanging and it was finished!

I am looking forward to hanging it the day after Thanksgiving ;) And hoping that birds don't destroy it by stealing the moss for their nests! lol

Oh! I forgot the best part! The wreath only cost about $9.50 since I already had the frame and thanks to my Dollar Tree moss!!! If I would have found the ribbon at the dollar store as well, I could have done this for about $7 including the paper I used to cover the frame. I was excited since you can't really get a holiday wreath under $20 and usually they are much more than that!

I'm linking up to Polly Want A Crafter's linky party here and The Thrifty Home's Penny Pinching Party here!

Also, Young & Crafty's Free for All party!