Getting Crafty - Burlap Wreath and Drop Cloth Curtains

My daughter, Leah, has inspired me to get back to DIY projects and crafts. She recently made a burlap wreath and gave me a one-on-one lesson as to how it's done. I also watched a few tutorials on Pinterest which were a big help. I ended up using twice as much burlap (2 full rolls - 20 yards!) as Leah did, but I wanted a thicker appearance. It is easy to do, requiring only a little time, burlap, accent ribbon, and a wire frame. It makes a large wreath which is perfect for a big front door, or you can scale it down if your door is smaller. 

Here is a simple tutorial you can look at to see how its done, and there are many others on Pinterest:

 burlap wreath 

I took a few pictures of mine as I worked on it one day at our cabin and believe me, it isn't something you can easily mess up. Just make your loops look pretty uniform, scrunching them together as you go, and before you know it, you are done! (I made a different bow after these pictures)

Here is another fun wreath I found on Pinterest that I might have to try next, along with some really pretty burlap flowers I would like to make.

And hey, since it's Fall, look at this great idea for embellishing plain pillar candles...anything with cinnamon smell is fabulous to me!

My other project was making drop cloth curtains for our new screened porch. The morning sun is pretty intense shining in, and curtains would filter that, and give us some privacy on both sides of our house. Again, my daughter, Leah had made some for her family room, so I followed her lead. I simply headed out to Lowes (or Home Depot), purchased my drop cloths, broke out my sewing machine (which I hadn't used in about 9 years), and got started. I pre-washed the cloths, laid each panel out on the family room floor to measure, cut and pin, then stitched the hem, ironed them, and hung them up. We found the perfect rods at Lowes that had the clips on rollers in a built-in groove, so they slide open and closed very easily.

There you go! Don't expect them to be perfect...after all they are drop cloths and the edges won't always be straight, but they are very natural, fairly inexpensive, washable and easy. Let me know if you have any questions or have made either of these projects yourself!

More Projects, Then Ready, Set, Sell!

In our ongoing effort to get our house ready, we realized there were a few more things that would really make a difference in the appearance. The deck was begging for a facelift, so we had it pressure washed, EZ replaced the top and bottom railings (with some help from Nick and Kyle), then we had it stained and sealed. Much improved!!

Next it was time for a new garage door...lighter, quieter and no more sagging (failed to get a pic of the old one!).

We never had pickets on the steps leading to our unfinished basement, so EZ built a new railing and added the pickets, making it a lot safer! Glad we never had one of the grandkids go over that edge!

And finally, EZ got me a small pressure washer so I could go to town on the side walkway, patio furniture and gutters, brickwork, and front porch and walk. It is one DIRTY job, but I love the results!

The sign went up, we had seven showings in three days, and got a great offer and contract from a couple in Texas. We were due to close on May 30th, and rent back from them for three months (until August 30th)...perfect! THEN...they terminated the contract on the last day of due diligence. Agh! So we re-grouped, made it active again, and in the first weekend we had two couples look at it and got another offer from a couple moving down from New York. Our due diligence has passed, and we are totally "a go" to close on August 8th and move to our new home. We are excited about the future, and so grateful things seem to be working out. More on the new house to come!

Next...the Mudroom!

One of many things I have loved about our house is the extra large laundry/mudroom/office and 1/2 bath. But for nine years we have looked at rose and cream colored torn vinyl, and it was time to update with some ceramic tile...Carolina clay color. As with the roof, tearing out the old flooring created a big mess, and at one point there was actually a toilet on our deck! At the end of it all we wondered why on earth we hadn't done it sooner. Isn't that always the case? Have a great weekend everyone!

New tile

Our appliances taking up our eat-in kitchen area

Pulling up the old

 EZ got in to the action too

Getting there

Mess!

Toilet on the deck anyone?

A muddy mess...

The floor is done!

Newly painted cabinet doors that EZ added to cover my "stuff"

First Things First...the Roof!

Before we could list our home, there was the matter of some major and minor projects, beginning with a new roof. Our house was built in 1988 and the roof is original, so it was time. I had no idea what a mess it was going to create, but the end result was definitely worth it and we knew it would help in the sale of the house. The architectural shingles were nailed down by hand, so there was ALOT of banging. Four days of banging to be exact. Those men were amazing up there on that roof!

Shingles, shingles and more shingles

The old roof...ugh!

The mess

Off with the old, on with the new (glad they had safety lines, but I still couldn't watch)

Old on left, new on right

Done...and we love it!