DIY Letter Wreath

I have had the supplies to make this letter C wreath for over a year! It was finally time to get it done! Besides figuring out how to hang it (a letter C is heavier on one side so it was awkward), it was really quick and easy! 

Here's how I did it! 
What you'll need:  Large wooden letter (I used the 18" wooden letter from Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon) Acrylic Paint Painters Tape Paint brush Decor-flowers, ribbon, etc. Hot glue Burlap to hang with 

First, paint the whole thing one color. If you want to do stripes, measure and tape off the stripes!

Paint the other color to add stripes. Pull tape off right away before it dries.

Hot glue on your decor and hang! 

I tried to do it in an upside down V shape but it was too lop sided so my husband screwed the burlap into the back and we just hung it straight down. Something like an M would work perfectly to do the other way! 

DIY Painted Striped Headboard

I am super excited to share this tutorial for a DIY painted striped headboard with you all today!  I have been wanting to make a headboard for our bed for several years now. We have never had one and it just looks so blah without one. I actually just noticed on Timehop yesterday that we moved into our house one year ago yesterday! I think we are officially past the point where any excuses are acceptable to why we haven't done something, so this was perfect timing. It took me a lot longer to get to it than I wanted, but once I got to it, it went so quickly and turned out so well! 

Here is what you will need to make a similar headboard.  *Painters tape *Roller brush (I prefer a small-ish foam roller) *Paint (I used a quart of paint + primer for the base and a sample size of the color I wanted) *Plywood cut to size

So the first step is going to be to go get your supplies. Some hardware stores will make wood cuts for you for free so I would recommend going to one of those (Home Depot for sure does). They can get it so much straighter with the equipment they have. Measure your bed and have it the exact width of your bed and then decide how tall you want it to be and have them cut at those measurements. We chose just a simple plywood that was about $13 for a sheet. I was hoping to find one that was already white but we had no luck so we just chose one that was sturdy but not too thick. 

I apologize for the shadowy and not the best photos--garage lighting isn't great. 

Go ahead and lay everything out and paint your board the main color, which for me was just the white that came in the can. It took me 3 coats to get it just right and thick enough and by the time I finished one coat it was already dry where I started so this didn't take long at all.

For the next step I did wait until the next day just to make sure it was really dry and solidified on there and the tape wouldn't bring any of the bottom layer up. 

So you need to decide how many stripes you want and how wide you want them to be. I decided on 5 stripes so then I divided the length of my board by 5 to figure out how wide I needed to make each stripe. After you have done that, take a tape measure and go down the board marking at the intervals where you want the stripes to be. I just did a small pencil mark on each side of the board. 

My husband helped me out with this next part and I put the tape down on one side and he held it, then I pulled the tape out and we set it down on either end so it was straight. This worked out really well because we just pulled it taut. 

I'm not going to say too much about taping for stripes because there are probably a lot better tutorials out there for it, but basically you need to decide what color you want to start with and then tape accordingly. The stripes you don't want to paint will have the tape on the "insides" of the stripe so it looks skinnier. That probably doesn't make sense so just search Pinterest for a better tutorial if you need help on taping stripes :) 

Ok after your tape is set, you can paint your stripes! Be careful to pay attention to which stripes you want painted so you don't get some funky looking stripes. You'll want to remove your tape immediately while the paint is still wet so you don't take paint off with it. 

And voila! 

We are finally making some good progress on our bedroom and hopefully will have it completed really soon! Just a few more things to do. 
What do you think of atypical headboards? I personally think they are so fun and so many of them unique! It is amazing to see what people can come up with! 

Chemical Free Diaper Rash Cream {With Essential Oils}

My oldest daughter has really sensitive skin and lots of allergies, so ever since she was a baby, we have had to be careful about what we put on her skin. After talking with the dermatologist we switched to all fragrance free and really gentle cleansers, soaps, lotions, detergents...everything. But the more I've educated myself on chemicals, the more I have realized that those "gentle" products still have harmful and harsh chemicals in them! She is long since potty trained, but my youngest daughter came down with a bad diaper rash a couple of weeks ago out of the blue. This was the perfect opportunity for me to whip up some all natural diaper rash cream and try it out! I had these little jars from the Target dollar spot waiting in my bathroom closet and wasn't sure what to do with them, and when this happened, I knew exactly how to use one! 

What you'll need: Glass container of some sort Coconut oil Essential oils (I used Young Living brand for this cream)    *Lavender    *Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea tree oil) Spoon for scooping and mixing  First, take about 1/2 cup of organic, unrefined coconut oil and scoop it into your glass container.  Microwave the oil for about 30 seconds-1 minute until it is a liquid. Add 10 drops of lavender essential oil, and 5-7 drops of melaleuca essential oil and stir to combine with coconut oil.  Pop in the freezer for about 10 minutes to solidify the cream again. That's it! It took me 2 minutes and I had everything I needed on hand. 

So, the biggest question is does it work? I waited to write this blog post until I knew for sure. The answer is yes!  This was the kind of rash that was angry red (no bumps or anything) and my daughter was crying out in pain with real tears when I would change her diaper. Saddest thing ever. I made up this cream and put it on her before bed that night (just a small scoop on my fingers-probably about a quarter sized amount). The next morning when she woke up, she still had some redness, but she didn't complain or cry out AT ALL when I changed her. I continued to use it each time I changed her diaper that day and by the end of the day it was completely gone and back to normal! I'll never use desitin again!  Why does it work?!  Lavender essential oil is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial. It is also very soothing and gentle on the skin. (Smells great, too!)  Melaleuca is also anti-microbial, anti-viral and anti-septic and has potent healing properties.  Coconut oil is a natural moisturizer that is also an antimicrobial agent. Put all 3 together and you have yourself a powerful, all natural healing cream!  Luckily for me, my daughter has been potty training for the last few weeks and so we are out of diapers for now! I guess I will save the rest for when the new baby comes!  Cost for making this yourself:  $1.43 for 1/2 cup of coconut oil (I use Aldi brand)  .90 for lavender oil (Young Living)  .50 for melaleuca oil (Young Living )

----- $2.83 for 4 oz. of homemade, all natural diaper cream  (This is a 48% savings from Desitin and would be even more for "all natural" ointments!)  A little bit goes a long way so I expect this ONE batch would probably last throughout the diaper era for a kiddo!  Have you tried a DIY diaper cream before? 

Mini Felt Wreath Tutorial

Last winter I made my mother in law a felt square wreath. It turned out SO cute that I have been dreaming of one for my own home ever since. I have a lot of wreath ideas constantly swirling around in my head so I didn't really have a season or holiday to make one for since I already have a lot of wreaths (and ideas for new ones)! After someone handed down a bunch of kids hangers to me and I had nothing to do with the wire ones, it hit me! I should make a miniature version for my girls' bedroom door. It was perfect timing, because right after I had this epiphany, Hobby Lobby opened in our town! I was heading there to buy supplies for another wreath idea I had (I told you, I have a wreath problem), so I picked up this stuff for just a few dollars and went on my way! I have seen versions of this type of wreaths on several blogs over the last few years, but I decided to go with Lyndsey's hanger method-it seemed most simple! I had tried that with my MIL's wreath and so I knew I'd do that again!

Here's what you'll need to make a mini felt wreath of your own: 

*18 sheets of felt (4/$1 at Hobby Lobby)

*Scissors (free-already had)

*Kids size wire hanger (free-already had)

*Embellishment, such as a bow, for the top (Bow was $1.99 at HobLob)

Project total= $6.50

(If you want to make a full size wreath, double the number of felt sheets, and use an adult size hanger. The process will be exactly the same)

First:  Cut each of your felt sheets into about 2"x2" square (12 squares per sheet).

Second:  Unravel your wire hanger and form it into a circular shape. Mine had a coating on it that I had to peel back around the neck of it to get to the wire so I could unravel it.

Third:  Push each piece of felt onto the wire hanger.

Fourth:  Add your bow or embellishment on the top, and hang!  And you're done!  It is such a really easy and inexpensive craft! 

To attach it to the door, I just used a 3M hook! The fun thing about this kind of wreath is that there are so many options! I chose to do this one in an ombre pattern, with 3 different shades of purple, but you could do one color, do every other square a different color, or do a chunk in one color, then another chunk, then another chunk, then start over. The possibilities are endless! 

Have you made any fun wreaths lately?!