Felt and Burlap Tree Skirt

With 6 days until Christmas, I am done with my burlap tree skirt.
I'm finding out with three kids under toe, accomplishments come in small steps.
{I say "Yay!" for finishing it, even though the presents that I'm about to wrap will just cover it up!!!}

Here's what I started with (along with scissors, my glue gun, and about 3 yards of white felt)...

I folded the felt in half and placed my current tree skirt over it to use as a pattern to cut my half circle.
It looked just like this....

Then came time to fire up the glue gun and unroll my burlap (I used two of the 15 foot rolls pictured above).

(Please note that I was not trying to have perfect ruffles. If I did try to get them perfect, I wouldn't have EVER finished this project. Burlap is imperfect so, let your ruffles be too!)

After hot gluing the start of the burlap roll to my cut felt tree skirt, it all went something like this....

Glue (can you see it there on the felt?):

 Place burlap on the glue:

Pinch a section:

Fold the pinched section back over the part you just glued:

Glue the top of the fold:

Run to your kitchen (after you have burned your finger 100 times) and get a wooden stick to press the burlap down until it sticks enough to stay where you want it:

 Continue the entire way around your tree skirt, flip it over and place it under your tree:

I added burlap bows around my tree.

To continue my burlap and white theme, I used small rolls of white mesh and layered burlap ribbon on top before adding it to my tree.

We usually don't use the typical star topper. This year I added twigs and assorted glittery, long twig stems. And although it was referred to as 'tree hair', I think it turned out quite nice, and not hair-like at all.

Wha-la!

A little trick I learned this year after reading blog after blog of professional tree decorators, different size light bulbs! Who knew??? So simple...  here's the difference:
(Left tree- with the pre-strung lights only; Right tree- after adding two strands of extra large bulb lights.)

 I love the dimension and extra light from the large bulbs! Thanks {Vintage Revivals} for the tip!

And my Christmas wreath that I was soooo excited about weeks ago? I'll have it made for next year.....

(Just keepin' it real!)

Oh, and throw away that wooden spoon. You'll likely never get the glue off. If you do, let me know how! 

Not Too Late For Fall Wreath

I received an email the other day with the title: 

"Not too late for fall"

Well THANK GOODNESS!

I put out my few fall decorations (inside my house) yesterday. 

{Better late than never!}

My mums, 

that have been sitting in the garage waiting to be planted for almost a month, 

on the other hand...

it is too late for them!

So... I'll stick with artificial flowers this fall!

I recently got a special visit from my oldest friend. 

Not that she is old, but I've known her my entire life. 

We are alike and different in the perfect combination.... when we see each other, even after months of being apart, we can pick up our friendship like we just hung out the day before. 

She's one of my bestest friends and extra special to me because were are family. 

Here we are this summer, holding each others' 3rd baby...

We decided to get crafty when she visited a couple weeks ago.
We pinned fall wreaths like crazy and came up with a combo that we liked.

To start, we took a trip to Hobby Lobby to purchase grape vine wreaths, burlap and flowers.

We started by bunching the burlap roll into little sections and secured with floral wire.

Then we placed the burlap onto the wreath to get an idea of how we wanted the burlap to lay...

When we liked how it looked, we attached it to the wreath with the same wire....

Next came the flowers {attached using hot glue}.

To make the bow, we used this technique:

VERY simple and easy. You can follow these instructions as well.

Then we came to a stopping point. Or at least, I did. My original idea was to add my last initial but the one I purchased was too big.

My cousin's initial was the perfect size.
After spray painting it with chalk board paint, it was the PERFECT addition to her wreath.
It will be so easy to change her 'Welcome' wreath to a 'Thank You' wreath or a 'Happy Birthday' wreath... the possibilities are endless!

I finished my fall wreath with a chevron burlap bow (made the same way as the one above) and a small burlap bunting that I painted with the letters F-A-L-L.

And meanwhile, in the living room....

{love time with family}

Happy FALL y'all!

A Little Bit of Easter

Here's a peek at our little Easter decorations....

{Print your own Easter Subway art from Hopscotch Studio Designs HERE.}

{Print your own Easter Banner from Paper Coterie HERE.}

And my favorite little bunny....
I saw a similar idea {HERE} and changed it a little. I couldn't find a bunny silhouette I liked to print off so I drew my own and then traced it onto patterned paper. The bunny is glued to a burlap background. And its cute little tail was made just like the Felt Flower Hair Clips I made {HERE}.

Okay, actually THESE are my favorite little bunnies......