How To: Happy Birthday Mini Bunting

Before we get started, I want to tell you how excited I am to be a guest on Emily's blog today as she embarks on a ten day European vacation!  Hop on over to read about my favorite vacation.

Last week I made my first layered cake for a friend's birthday.  In addition, I also created a mini bunting to adorn the beautiful layers.  I searched Pinterest for a printable version, but just ended up creating my own in the end.  Because I love you all, I am going to share with you how I made it, as well as provide you with the FREE printable version so you can make one too!

First, you will need to gather all of the supplies:

• skewers
• twine (or some version of string)
• double sided tape squares
• printable bunting (which I will provide you with)
• scissors

 Then, tie one end of the twine to a skewer.  Fold each cut out letter in half to form a triangle.

Slide the folded triangle over the twine and secure with a double sided tape square in the center. Continue until you have the first word spelled out.  Then, cut the twine to an appropriate length and tie to another skewer.  Repeat these steps starting with a new piece of twine for the second word.

You want to be sure that there is just enough twine to even out both words and sag a little in the middle.  You don't want to have too much excess twine, as it will droop into the cake.

 Finally, slide both skewers into the cake at a slant and you have the perfect adornment for your cake!

Now for the most important part....the free printable bunting!  I created the bunting using shapes, colors, and letters in PowerPoint.  It turned out even better than I imagined and I wanted to share with all of my readers!  Just click to enlarge, and either save or print!

Now go and enjoy your Monday!

DIY Spring Wreath Tutorial

Welcome to the Fender household!  We are now ready for Spring thanks to this easy DIY wreath courtesy of Pinterest.  I found a link to an amazing blog with this wreath tutorial!  It was the perfect craft for me, because I had 90% of the required items leftover from our wedding last year.

What you will need:

18" Grapevine Wreath (I got mine from Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon)

14 Artificial Hydrangea Blooms (these are from Michael's-50% off)

Scissors

Hot glue

1. Cut the stems of the hydrangeas to about 3 inches.

2. Start placing the hydrangeas in the wreath.  Do not glue yet.

3. You want them fairly close together so it will be full.

4. Continue placing flowers until none of the wreath shows.

5.  If you are happy with your creation, place a small dab of hot glue at 

the base of each flower where it meets the wreath to keep it in place.

Ta-da!  Literally 15 minutes for a beautiful wreath!

I even made two.  A good friend of mine bought her very first home this past Friday, 

and I made one to give her as a housewarming gift!

Now go make yourself one!

Oh, Pinteresting Wednesday!

My front door has been naked since Christmas.  Just plain ole black and naked.  I've been on the hunt lately for an easy DIY wreath that I could put together quickly, that would add some charm and character to our house.  Here's what I've come up with thanks to my friend Pinterest:

I have a TON of green and white hydrangeas left over from my wedding that would be perfect!

The lima beans are so cute and inexpensive!

Love the look of moss in the spring!

Who can resist burlap?

Love all the colors...SCREAMS Spring!

So which wreath is your favorite?  Let me know which one you think I should make!

Linking up with The Vintage Apple!
View my craft board on Pinterest for all pins and references.

{Pinterest Inspired} DIY Christmas Gift

I'm know I'm a little late posting this considering we are in the new year now, but I wanted to share with all of you two Christmas gifts I made with inspiration from Pinterest.  On one side of my family, we draw names at Thanksgiving every year for Christmas gifts.  This year I drew my two aunts...possibly the two hardest people to buy for on the planet!  They both said that they would like gift cards to home decor or craft stores, but I'm not a big gift card giver.  So, what did I do?  Looked to Pinterest for a little help.

Enter this amazing project/blog.

{via}

Whitney, from Shanty 2 Chic, made this sweet little letter art project for her daughter.  It inspired me to make one for each of my aunts.  They LOVE rustic, home decor gifts and I knew this would be a winner!

Materials:

2 in. thick plywood cut to size

5x7 frames for the amount of letters

Spray paint for frames and boards

Letter printouts

Hot glue gun

Since I was doing two separate projects, I got the nice men at Lowe's to cut the super long plywood to size.  I measured out what I would need based on the number of 5x7 frames, an inch from the end of the wood to the first/last frame, and a half inch for in between the frames.  Calls for some exact math calculations!

I chose a dark brown spray paint for the plywood and a light cream color for the 5x7 frames.

I printed a copy of the letters of their last names from the free website at Walgreens only because I do not have a printer at home.  Once the paint dried on the frames, I added the pictures.

Finally, I carefully measured out where each frame would sit on the wood and hot glued each one.  Ta-da!

My gifts were a hit Christmas day!  Both of my aunts loved theirs and were excited to go home and find a spot for them!  I am so glad that my project panned out according to plan!

Did you make any of your Christmas gifts this past year? Were they a success? I would love to hear!

Just Another Manic Monday

Who else is sad that the weekend is over?  If there was just one more day of rest and relaxation, I would be happy!  Even though it wasn't long enough, I did get A LOT accomplished my dear friends.  So here is a little recap:

Friday

After I got home from work, Bradley and I headed to try out a new restaurant to us, Sesame Burgers & Beer.  I have heard rants and raves about this place from a co-worker, so we decided to give it a whirl.  And boy were we more than pleased!  We started with an appetizer of fried pickles.  Good pick #1.  They were pickle spears, batter and fried, and served with a side of spicy ranch.  DELICIOUS!  For our entrees, I chose the Gourmet Burger, and Bradley decided to build his own.  My hormone free, grass fed ground beef patty was topped with lettuce, tomato (which I added), goat cheese spread, and portobello mushrooms served on a wheat bun with side of potato salad.  He chose a grilled chicken breast, prosciutto, housemade mozzarella, and chipotle bbq sauce with a side of steak fries.  If you live in the Charleston area and haven't checked tried Sesame, you are definitely missing out.  There are two locations: North Charleston and West Ashley.  {Sorry I forgot to snap some pictures of the awesome meal.}

Saturday

We were supposed to go to Cork Bistro on Saturday morning, but it slipped my brain to print the Groupon at work, so we will have to use it a different weekend.  Instead, we made turkey bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches, and lounged around at home.  Then, I talked myself into FINALLY finishing the spray paint project to the outside table and chairs.  I left them out to dry and about 11 AM, we decided to head to the pool in our neighborhood and catch some rays.  This wasn't the best idea of the weekend.  With a high of 102 and a bunch of screaming kids, we headed back to the house to get ready for lunch and a movie.

After a quick lunch at On the Border, we viewed the matinee of Horrible Bosses at the Cinebarre.  I have to brag, because I bought 2 Fandango movie tickets on Groupon for $4 total!  What a steal!   Without a doubt, this is top 4 on my comedy list!  It was HILARIOUS!  I was quite surprised at Jennifer Aniston, but I thought she played the part well.  It has been since the Hangover that I have laughed through an entire movie.  Bradley and I will definitely be adding this one to our collection when it comes out on Blu-Ray.

After the movie, we headed downtown to King Street and went to O'Malley's to watch the Phillies/Pirates game.  My college roommate's sister and her boyfriend {Christy & Matt} were in town on vacation, so we invited them to come meet us.  For some reason I was craving fried pickles again, and so was Christy.  They weren't on the menu, but we got our sweet waitress to ask the cook if he could whip some up and he did!  Much to our surprise, these first time fried pickles were AWESOME!  They used the dill spears as well, and served with a side of ranch.  We told them that they must add them to their menu!

Sunday

Sunday Funday, right??!  After a morning run, Bradley and I headed to church and then came home for a quick lunch.  I ran out to try and find some curtain rods to hang our dining room and guest bedroom curtains.  No luck.  Any ideas where I can get reasonable curtain rods?  One needs to be at least 100' and the other needs to be 140-150'.  Much to my surprise, during the Phillies game I was able to talk Bradley into helping me put the spray painted chairs and newly upholstered cushions back together.  Here is the FINISHED product...FINALLY :). 

 

I am so very pleased with the results, and glad that it is finally finished.  My aunt is recovering a few pillows for me, and that should complete the look!  Check that off the to-do list!!!

I also checked a few more items off that to-do list this past week/end.  I took my ring in for cleaning to the jeweler, and they are actually keeping it for another week to re-dip the white gold.  I should have it back all shiny and sparkly before our trip to Michigan.  On the way to the movies Saturday, I dragged the mister into TJMaxx to return those unwanted items.  He was happy to see that I didn't purchase anything new!  Now all that's left is to take my bridal gown to be preserved!  Man...it's much easier to complete your "list" when you actually write it all down!

How was your weekend? Did you get anything accomplished??!

I {heart} weekends....

Friday night I conned Bradley into helping me take the cushions and wheels off the chairs for my weekend project...

...and then we had take out from here...

YUM

...while watching the Phillies and Braves!

Saturday, Bradley woke up at the crack of dawn to go play...

...a little softball.

Meanwhile, I decided to start on my weekend project...

...until I ran out of spray paint and decided to call it quits for the day because it was hot [as h-e-double hockey sticks] outside!

After a much needed shower and a quick lunch, I transformed my hall/linen closet into something like this...

{source}

...and hung these in my bathroom, but in espresso brown.

{source}

Then, I started getting ready for the Riverdog's game, where my company planned an all you can eat night in one of the box seat areas...

Charlie the River Dog

...but the skies opened up and it rained cats and dogs for the rest of the night (no complaining here...my plants loved the rain)!  So...the hubby and I went to eat at Yokoso and had yummy sushi and shared a steak and shrimp combo!

Sunday morning, I woke up early and...

...got a quick 6 mile run in while the weather was PERFECT!  I came home to the smell of fresh cooked turkey bacon and yummy pancakes that my sweet husband fixed us for breakfast.

Afterwards, Bradley and I headed to Dick's to buy some athletic apparel and Wal Mart to get more spray paint and a staple gun for me to come home and...

cover the cushions (old on left)

...ALMOST finish the project.  I ran out of spray paint AGAIN, so the completion of my project will be delayed once again :(. But, I did complete one chair....

...and I am ecstatic to see the final product all put together!

What did you do this weekend??!