January Color: White

I miss color during the winter.  I grew up in the north but have lived in the south for 12 years now.  Our winters are pretty mild.  We rarely have snow or ice, we have spurts of warm weather sometimes, it doesn't really get cold until January, and it's usually over by the end of February, for the most part.    The trees are bare and our Bermuda grass turns brown and dormant.  I struggle to stay inspired outside during the winter months.

I want to incorporate a monthly blog post where I pick a color and then find inspiration online in that color.  It's a great way to stay inspired and I keep color boards on Pinterest as well.  To me, January is perfect for a White inspiration board.  Different shades of white, the contrast of white against other colors...I think it's perfect for this winter month and it has been fun searching for inspiration!

Below are some beautiful uses of white that have inspired me (you can access the links below the photo collage).  Feel free to share inspiration that you have found during the winter months.  Do you go for white or do you crave color?

1 - Link No. 1

2 - Link No. 2

3 - Link No. 3

4 - Link No. 4

5 - Link No. 5

6 - Link No. 6

Some Sunday Color

I promise my next post will have more words.  Lately I have been consumed by life but drawn deeply into color and inspiration, as shown by my Pinterest boards titled Yellow , Green , White , and Multitudes of Color.  For now, I hope that this color will inspire you.  Enjoy your colorful Sunday!

Petal Ornaments

Just stopping in for a quick post to showcase some ornaments I've created this holiday season.  I love the layers of petals - they are really light weight and look great on a tree.  Hope you are enjoying your Monday!

DIY Button Flowers

As promised in a previous post, here is a tutorial for making colorful and easy button flowers.  They are a great addition to add a pop of color to any room AND they don't die!  I like making multi colored flowers but I also really like to make monochromatic flowers.  The monochromatic flowers are great to enhance accent colors in a room.

Things you'll need:

Floral Wire - I used 22 gauge

Wire Cutter

Pliers

Buttons

Cut a piece of floral wire in the desired length.  You will need to double the length because you have to fold it in half to string on the buttons.  Leave a little extra length at the bottom so you can twist the wire once the buttons are in place.

Here's the fun part -- design your button flower.  Place the buttons (and any other fun things you decide to play with - like a washer) in the order you want them displayed.

Now string the buttons onto the wire.  Start with the top button first and make sure to pull it all the way to the top of the wire so there is no gap between the wire and buttons.  Then add the other buttons.

Once all of the buttons are on the wire, pull them to the top so they are tight.  Then twist the wire to secure it under the bottom button.



Now keep twisting the wire all of the way to the bottom.  To make sure the buttons stay in place, hold the wire in place under the bottom button and then use your other hand to twist the wire pieces.



Once you have twisted the wire to the bottom, use your pliers to bend the sharp ends down.  Then wrap them around and cut off the ends.  This keeps the wire from unraveling and it also gets rid of the sharp points.

Now you have one flower finished!  You can make as many as you want to fill vases, Mason jars, tie with ribbon, or find other fun uses.

Enjoy your flowers!



Craft Show Progress and Procrastination

A little bit of panic set in this week when it dawned on me that I have a little over four weeks left until my craft show and one week of that (the week of the show, to be exact) I will be out of town for work for four days.  When I signed up for this show in August, I did not have any inventory.  I had a few things I worked on here and there but nothing substantial.  I have been creating every chance I get since then and piling things up in various stages of completion. 

Today, I decided to get a table (slightly smaller than the table I'll have at the show) and just move everything I've made (100% completed or not) over to that table and see where I stand.  I needed to create a schedule today of what I need to finish, start thinking about table displays I need to make, etc.  I procrastinated for quite a while this morning -- I even found myself googling quotes about procrastination while I was procrastinating.  Finally, I got it together.  I laid all of my items out (not neatly), took some photos to document my progress, and started penciling lists on a big desk calendar to get myself in order.

Once it was all in my face, I realized that I have quite a bit completed (or almost completed).  That was comforting.  However, I quickly realized how much MORE I have to do before the show.  Panic ensued a bit.

Jack was helping me get organized.  I told him that he needs to be at the show to sell my wares because he is much cuter than I am.

What did I do with that panic?  I started to get organized, which always makes me feel more in control.  Then I procrastinated a little --

"I absolutely need to research craft show displays - ooh, another blog to read!" 

"Today I should probably start setting up my photography Etsy store that I've been wanting to redo." 

"Mmm...a beer.." 

After that, I started typing up this blog post.  I don't feel like this is total procrastination though because it is focused on the craft show, right?

I am very excited about the bright colors and fun geometric shapes I have been using in multiple pieces.  I still have a lot of button flowers to make.  It will all be completed though, right? 

All in all, I'm in better shape than I thought.  I still have a lot of work to do but I know I'll get to it.  It helps that I enjoy what I'm doing.  I just need a game plan for these remaining weeks.  I'm also trying to be creative (and thrifty) with how I set up my table display.  As I figure it out, I'll share more.  I've gained a lot from other blogs with booth and table display ideas so want to share my ideas too.

Some close ups of my items.  I made some geometric table runners that I'm loving.  I'm working on some fun garland.  I also have some bags I've been making - the photos didn't come out great but I promise a blog post just for the bags.  I have some other fun things planned too.  My plan is to share a lot of these things on my blog individually so stay tuned!

I suppose I should stop blogging and get back to it.  I do have a plan, some lists, some calendar planning, and I connected a few granny squares for a scarf today.  Not too bad for a day of procrastination!

"Procrastinators are also great at beginnings and not as skilled at completions." - SARK

We'll see about that, SARK!  Happy Sunday!

Button Flowers

I'm not very good with real flowers.  They are so pretty and brighten up a room but I'm terrible with keeping them alive for more than a couple of days.  I'm that way with any plant really.  Exhibit A -- a Mother's Day gift that didn't even make it until the end of May...

I don't know how my kids and pets survive but somehow I can keep them plugging along.  Summer started with 3 healthy kids and school recently started with 3 healthy kids - SCORE!

To brighten up the house (and also for my upcoming craft show), I decided to start making these colorful button flowers.  My plan is to make a boat load of these because they are so cute in vases, Mason jars, tied with ribbon, etc.  I've been making multi-colored flowers but will be making monochromatic flowers and I have some other ideas for non-button flowers.  I'm just hoping I can part with them when the time comes because I find them to be so cheery and adorable.

I will be posting some instructions in a later post on how to make some of these for your own house.  They are pretty easy to make and can be really fun too.

So far all of my button flowers are still alive and no wilting has occurred!  I'm hoping to buy some buttons in bulk online -- any supplier suggestions???