Flower Arranging

I took a flower arranging class in college just for fun. It was one of my favorite classes!
So basically, you just need to figure out what you flowers you want, choose a filler for here and there and place it in a vase... voila! Amateur flower arranger! Also, you want to work in 3's. 3 roses, 3 tulips or 3 of the same color, or 3 different colors. It just goes together better that way. Varying heights in flower and filler are more pleasing to the eye, unless you are going for the round look. Then don't do it. :) My favorite are the vertical arrangements which is pictured below.

All the flowers and filler and vase I bought at Michaels

I think that flowers are an easy, cheap, and GREAT way to but a little bit of spring into your home.

Anthropologie Inspired Wooden Flower Box

I got this inspiration from a picture on Anthropologie.com's website. It was advertising the "hardware" store that includes knobs to put onto a dresser/door etc. I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of it, but it wasn't something they were selling, it was in the background of a picture of what they actually were selling. Does that make sense? Anyway, I tried to find it again but it had disappeared. So sorry I don't have the original idea picture.
(I got the idea of what words to put HERE)

Here are the supplies you will need

Pieces of wood. I found mine at JoAnne's but they sell them at Michaels. And I know there are experienced woodworkers out there who would laugh that I used this kind. But it was easily accessible, and I don't have a wood cutter so it had to be thin enough to cut with a hand saw. 

sand paper

your choice of wood stain

wood glue (I used Elmer's wood glue instead of the Gorilla glue because the Elmer's is way easier to clean up.)

stencil paint--i used black

stencils

My husband helped me measure the wood and cut it. I used the two short ends from the pieces I cut off the long piece of wood. 

then my husband sawed through the wood. We sanded down the rough edges after that. 

(Sorry, I'm a dummy and forgot to take pictures of the next steps)

Then I painted on the wood stain. (I used Sedona Red)

Waited 15 minutes, then used a paper towel to wipe off the excess.

I let the finish dry overnight, then added the letters with the stencil paint

***This stencil paint is a miracle worker! I have tried to use stencils before by applying acrylic paint lightly, and it just ran everywhere. This stencil paint is perfect because a tiny bit goes a LONG way. I barely used any paint to get through all the letters. Make sure you hold down the stencil where you are painting so you get a clean line. 

Let the letters dry.

 (I let them dry overnight but it probably only takes a couple of hours)

Then I took my sandpaper and gutted the whole thing. I went over the letters multiple times to let them fade. I went over the edges and especially focused on the corners to make it look worn and used.

Here is an example: I concentrated on a few spots to make the original wood come through the stain

Then I used wood glue to glue the entire thing together. This was a little frustrating. 

I learned that you only need a little glue, not a lot. If you use too much it slips and slides around never staying where you want it. So use less than you think you will need to.

After the wood glue dried, I added some faux flower stems and a few stems of "Stardust Gyp." That is what the tag says. I found it at Michael's eons ago and thought this would be a good time to use it. 

Here are a few shots of the finished product

I have  a shelf I am going to paint, put up and put this on. I'm so excited!

Thanks for stopping by!

Huge love,

Decorative Styrofoam Ball

I found this cute little tutorial here of Simply Living's Flower Pomeanders. To be honest I just saw them for a second, thought they were cute, and kind of went my own way with it. They just recently opened a new JoAnn's store in a town nearby and were having a HUGE sale, and I had a 50% off of 1 item coupon so I went crazy there! I've been having fun with my new punchouts and decided to share a decoration I did.

You need: a styrofoam ball

Pins (I used the ones pictured below)

pieces of Scrapbook paper in desired color

A Circle and a flower punchout 

Ok... Get ready to punch out a WHOLE bunch of flowers and circles. 

Fold up the petals of the flowers to give dimension

Then take your styrofoam ball and put the circle punchout on first. I started to just add the flowers on without the circle, but you could see too much white styrofoam. I wanted it to look uniform so I added the circle to have purple all over. 

Then add the flower on top and poke a pin through. I chose the pearly ones but you could use any I am sure. I put the flowers all around the circle, then added another circle and kept going...

It will look like this

Be patient, watch Disney Channel :) and soon it will turn out like this...!

I added mine on top of a candlestick but I'm sure they would look super cute hanging from the ceiling, or just sitting there. I definitely want to make these in different colors, I love how "springy" they look!


The candlesticks are still my favorite and they are a go to for the decor in my apartment. I found them on Etsy {here}

** WOW! I have received a lot of requests on how to make the pink one. Go HERE to learn how. And please, take a look around!

Easter "Nest"

So I found these awesome egg shaped craft balls at Michaels for 40% off and I knew I had to have them. I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but I had to have them. Anyone had one of those moments? Well, I unfortunately have them a LOT! I was playing around with them and decided to cut into one just to see what would happen, it turns out they were hollow, and *ding* an idea was born.

I started with the egg shaped thingy (don't mind the polka dot, that was another idea that went awry)

And cut a hole in it. Actually I cut multiple holes, I was just experimenting.  If you happen to find one of these and want to use this idea... Do you see how there is a seam like line where they put it together? Make sure you do not cut along that line like the 2nd hole is because it will start to crack. And we don't want that!

Then to cover up the unsightly knife lines I put ribbon around the edges. To see how to make it ruffle without stitching see my post HERE.

Then I glued some flowers I had laying around and finally go to use

Then I added some multicolored Easter grass and two peeps brand bunnies I purchased on clearance at Toys R Us one day. I know that bunnies probably don't live in nests but it is all I had at the moment. :)
It kind of reminds me of those manger scene decorations you see around Christmastime...only its for Easter!  And Christmas and Easter are both very special holidays to me.

I think that its a pretty cute decoration to add to your already awesome Easterness! :)

Looking Around

I've been looking around for ideas to revamp my lil' ol' lamp-y here. He's a little dull and boring.

I really love these lamps and think that I could do some cool stuff with them!!! I'm excited! There was another lamp I was actually planning on doing, but someone already took that idea. :( Oh well, when one door closes another one opens. Or maybe a window....

Personalized Makeshift Headboard Design

Hey everyone! I have been working on this project for a while now, and I really liked how it turned out. It came with a lot of time, patience, and work though. I had to start, restart, paint over, and paint over so many times I lost count. But, in the end it was worth it and I really like it! So if you are a poor 'ol college student like me and can't afford any headboards you even like then here is a cute idea you could use. :)

First a painted a canvas with acrylic paint in Pewter Grey

I used a pencil to trace on the words I wanted

Then I painted over the pencil with Antique White paint. (this is actually my husbands finger... hehe:) )
And as you can see, there were a lot of things I needed to go back over, and fix. Many, many times!

Eventually it will look like this

and cut off the corners 

Then I took a doily with a square design in the middle (instead of round) 

then I painted the doily Ballet Pink and glued it on the corner with Matte Mod Podge

I did that to ever canvas. Here they are before the letters. I was going for a handwritten look so I free handed it (plus I don't have a vinyl machine) but I'm sure you could do the same thing with vinyl

Since I live in an apartment and get charged for each hole I leave... Command strips are my best friends!

I took the letter "K" for my name and painted it Ballet Pink to match the painted doilies
hello there best iPhone 4 ever !! :)

and put a layer of distress ink in Antique Linen all the way around it

Then I painted an A for my husband. He of course insisted on painting it Carolina Blue, because he is a die hard North Carolina TarHeels fan. It totally clashes, but whatever makes him happy right?? haha To make a border he just put painting tape all around and I painted it.

The end result! 

I decided to put love you forever because it is a personal belief of mine that after we die, we can still see and be with our family and loved ones. There are so many things you could put here, but that is just what I chose. 

TuTu Tutorial

Since I am "Dancing Around With Karli" I figured I should do something along the lines of dance. This is not a professional ballerina's tutu, just a fun one for little kids to dance around in. When I taught Pre-School Creative Dance, Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, and performance based classes for 7 years (ages ranging from 3 years old to 18 years old) the girls who liked these the most were the elementary/middle school age. And even into Junior High (if they weren't "too cool" yet.)  This is a really quick and fun way to have a fun class! I made these at a summer dance camp, and the girls even wore them when they came back in the fall. Super easy, and even the girls can do it themselves.

You will need elastic

3 (or more or less) colors of Tulle. I got Dark purple, light purple, and ballet pink. You can't tell the difference on my camera, but the two lightest are different colors :)

I usually would tie the elastic around the Barre, but since I don't have one here, I tied it to the door knob. It makes it easier to tie on the tulle if you pull it tight from the door knob and hold it down while you tie on the tulle.

next you take alternating colors of tulle and start tying on the tulle in knots. 

After a while it will look like this...

I made this for a little girl, but I held it up to me to show how it would look. It is SUPER cute on those little girls with the big tutu sticking out everywhere. They absolutely LOVE it every time we make these.