DiY Stick Horses

Here are some stick horses that I made last month!

I had this grand idea of handing them out as party favors for my daughter's birthday party (I'm not sure what I was thinking?) and after searching endlessly online for inexpensive ones, I finally just decided to make my own. To see the rest of the party, click here.

So here's a quick tutorial of how I made them.

I would NOT suggest trying to crank out 16 before a party (again, what was I thinking?), but making 1 is super easy & super cheap! By my 3rd one, I was able to complete one, start to finish in 20 minutes. The most time consuming part is getting happy with your pattern. It's all down hill from there.

Step 1: Draw a head pattern out of a paper bag and cut out your material.

Fold yarn into the seam of the mane and sew everything together, inside out.

Step 2: Flip the head right-side out and trim up any yarn pieces.

Step 3: Cut pointy ears out of felt and glue together with a glue gun, pinching the bottom until the glue has dried.

Step 4: Hand-stitch the ears on, but then cheat and use fabric glue for the eyes and bridle.

Step 5: Stuff the heads.

Step 6: Push the dow rod (covered with Gorilla glue or hot glue) all the way into the horse's head. And then finish stuffing the neck of the horse.

Step 7: Use fabric glue and fold-in the material at the bottom. Try to keep the glue on the inside. I used clips to hold it shut for a few hours until the glue was completely dry.

And there you go. Your very own stick horse!

Your kids will love it!

Good luck!!

If you need more clarification, dimensions, etc, just let me know!!

Updated: 
I've received a lot of emails asking if I make and sell these horses in different fabrics. As much as I would like to, I just don't have enough time to be taking orders right now.

I will however, cut out a pattern for the horse's head & ears for $12 for you. If you'd like me to do that, you can email me at benandtiffany@gmail.com

Thanks!

DIY Candy Jar Apothecary

I'm a little late to this apothocary gig but better late than never, right? I first noticed these things back in the fall from these sisters. I made one for my mom for the fall season with some cute candy corn but of course I didn't take a picture of the process ... so today I'm here with the tutorial. **Disclaimer** I typed this all out while my husband was watching Winter Wipe-Out... that show is REALLY distracting!!! Please forgive any typos...and if you need any clarification just ask! :)


You'll need to get your unfinished wood pieces from your local craft store. I got mine at Hobby Lobby & Michaels (because Hobby Lobby didn't have everything I needed...but your's may!).
I painted these back in the fall... so imagine them in raw wood. :)

You need:
1 candlestick
1 round
1 base
1 finial for the top

Then you need to decide on the jar. I hadn't ever seen these smooth Ball jars ...what a great idea! I ended up using the larger jar with the metal lid.

I used Gorilla Glue and glued the candlestick to the base and put a book on top for about 30 minutes or so. Do the same with the round piece to the bottom of the jar. My jar had a concave bottom the candlestick would have had a hard time attaching to.


Next I took twine and hot glued it all around the metal lid.

I attached the finial with my Gorilla glue to the top of the lid. I would suggest using a screw to secure it. If you use the finial to unscrew the lid you may just pop it right off. :) Also you need to attach the candle stick to the jar. Remember you attached the round circle to the jar - so you have two wooden pieces to glue together.

I went back and sprayed the top of my jar black after I wrapped the twine. The spray paint gets on the twine just a bit which I liked and think it gives it a little more character (and age). If you get a little glue happy (like I did) you may also need to go back and spray paint your wood pieces again to cover up your ooze.

Then I filled it with conversation hearts and added a "J" I got at Hobby Lobby and voila... it's done!

I think this project cost me around $10 since everything I used was on sale. Gotta love those sales!

Linking Here:
Making the World Cuter
Keeping it Simple
C.R.A.F.T

My simple valentine decor

My house is very simply decorated for Valentine's day. I don't have much decor and what I actually do have is pretty small anyway. But, it's a touch and it helps clear some blank spots I had since I undecorated from Christmas.

I made this simple rag wreath to hang on the hooks where the keys go.



I bought the LOVE sign from Hobby Lobby (and noticed Tiffany had the same one). We must really be friends. Please ignore the fact that my secretary shelves are STILL NOT decorated or filled. One of two things happen here... 1. You don't notice it's empty since the LOVE sign is on the knob or 2. It's glaringly obvious since the LOVE sign is on the knob. Either way... it stays!

I also found the standing hearts at Hobby Lobby and liked how they were non-traditional Valentines colors.

Under my cloche I have an ornament hanger with a sparkly red heart and I added some berries to give dimension. I still didn't like how it looked so I placed everything on a red tile I had bought years ago to sit on my daughters shelf. It will do until I find a red berry wreath to go around the whole cloche. Ever notice how things you are wanting can't be found when you actually need them?!

I showed you last week how I made this candy jar. I filled it with candies I am not a fan of so that I'm not at all tempted to mess with my decorations! :)

Out with the old, in with the old...

I've finally taken down all of my Christmas decorations! (With 2 sweet girls "helping" me, it was a 3 day process!) And just as quickly as I cleaned off shelves and boxed things up, I found myself rushing to put something back in it's place. The problem is, I don't remember what I had there. And even if I did, odds are, that I wouldn't want to put it back the same place anyway.

So...I decided to give all of these old books a try. I came across them when I was organizing the garage (a project for another day). My husband read some of them as a kid, so they're kind of sentimental, but I actually just like the look of mixing old stuff with new stuff. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to display one of the few Valentines decorations that I have!

Do you have old pieces around your house that add charm??

My Resolutions {House Edition}

The Nester is hosting a linky party today featuring house goals. She mentions that in the past one of her goals was to "pay cash for a new sofa". I have never been one to actually sit down and write out goals for the year - be it for the family, myself or MY HOUSE!! But, I am inspired... so here it goes.

All of these goals come with an asterisks since my husband and I are in the middle of making a HUGE decision. We live in a college town and our house is in prime rental location. So, we are praying about whether or not we will try and rent out our house and move on from here to something else. It all hinges on several financial markers so we will just have to see what is in store for us. Now... on with the show!

1. Get a chair for this area ... on the cheap! :)

2. Tackle this wall.


This is my family room wall. The big hole in the middle used to be where the piece of art from the above picture lived. Now I envision beadboard & a darker color up top. I am "living" with the secretary as is and don't know if I'll ever paint it.



3. Fill all my empty frames.

I am notorious for buying frames and they stay empty for a long time... or they have the stock photo in them forever. I've had a frame on my nightstand for months with a sepia picture of a man and a little boy in cowboy gear... it's about time I put one of my own family in there I think

3. Keep this area CLEARED off!


This is the first stop when you come in our house so inevitably it gets cluttered fast! (like it is here). My little tray that needs to be spray painted helps but the counter still has piles on it most days.

5. Baskets and better organization for the playroom shelves

We were fourtunate to have these shelves already built into the room we use as a playroom. I have some baskets but it drives me crazy that they are all different sizes, colors and shapes. One day I'd like to have them nicely organized like they look in Pottery Barn. Seriously...do any of you live like that? :)

I have some others too:
1. Make the backyard kid friendly
2. Keep my house in drop-by condition so when/if people drop-by I'm not totally mortified.
3. Reupholster my sad Goodwill chair.

And if we ACTUALLY do rent out our house and have to find another one my overall goal will be to make that feel like home as this one does now.

What about you? Do you have goals this year for your house?

New Year, New Bedding

Well, after 6 years of the same quilt bought at Ross (or Marshalls or TJ Maxx) I broke down and bought new bedding. I'm almost more excited about the deal I got than I am the actual bedding. ALMOST. I'd been eyeing this set for a while off and on. I occasionally check the website for deals and was shocked to see the set marked down from $250 to under $75. I decided to take the plunge and make the purchase. I am proud and still shocked that I got the comforter, two shams, dust ruffle, two Euro pillows and one throw pillow for $100 (thanks to a promo code saving me additional % off). When one Euro pillow has a sales price of $60 I feel like I robbed the store.

I'd like to think the bedroom looks more grown up and a 'little' luxurious. Let's face it for $100 it's not going to be luxurious...but it feels better to me and that's what matters right? :)

Let's take a stroll down memory lane...
It began like this:

Quick changed to this:

And today looks like this:

New Year, New Arrangement

Ahh... January. The time when you take the Christmas decor down and pull everything else back out and put it in the same place you had it before, right? Well NOT THIS YEAR! I decided I was tired of things as they were so I did a little rearranging. I didn't know this would happen so I don't really have before pictures without Christmas decor. And... is it just me or does anyone else "think" their stuff looks good until you see it in photos. Whew... I have got to get better at this decorating thing! HAHA.

Piano area BEFORE

I hated how this looked with the big frame. It was just not right and I didn't know what to do with it. Without Christmas decorations I had the wreath on one side and a few smaller picture frames below it...nothing with height and nothing eye catching.

Piano area AFTER

it almost looks like a piece of furniture instead of a piano. My husband had this mirror in his office at work and it wasn't working well there. I'd planned to Craigslist it but when I mentioned the other night that I needed to try a mirror over the piano my sweet husband gave me the look... you know the one where he's telling you "no need go buy a new one when we have a perfectly good one here". Tell me I'm not the only one who gets that look? :) I figured I'd give it a try... and you know what? I like it. With a few accessories I bought from the good old Hob Lob I am pretty satisfied. The lamp... 66% off!! I was so happy I decided to buy it and find a place for it. For now this is its new home. The frame... yes it's sideways and no it is NOT my family - when I finally get around to putting a picture in it my kids will be in high school (they are 3 & 4 now!).

The built-in shelves BEFORE

It pretty much looked like this with out the Christmas frames and decor... just with regular frames.

The built-in shelves AFTER

I added a more substantial plate rack for the plate & grouped some finials together instead of the red pot which I moved to the mantle. I still need to get rid of the willow tree angels, but they were a collection a while ago and it's hard to part with them.

The mantel BEFORE

The mantel AFTER

I like the red pot on the mantel much better... It still doesn't help the massive white fireplace ... but that's another project for another day. What do I paint it anyway??? If any of you have painted fireplaces I'd love to have you weigh in on that decision.

So... is my husband the only one who asked "Can't things just go right back where they were before Christmas?"