ClassiclyAmber » spring

Super Easy Spring Wreath

classiclyamber — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:51:12 +0000

What’s not to love about taking unused stuff around your home and turning it into cutesie decor? I was really wanting to make a Spring wreath, but I didn’t want to have to go shopping to do it. So I started looking through all my craft supplies, clothes and Goodwill boxes. I’m sorry to say that there are 2 shirts that will never make it to GW. Also…the recycling bin will never lay eyes on some empty cereal boxes. Sorry ’bout that. That’s right, for this project, I used:

3 cereal/cracker boxes
2 shirts – cut into 2-3″ wide strips, top to bottom
leftover scrap fabric
double satin ribbon
pompom trim
hot glue

Basic Steps:

Cut out large doughnut from cereal boxes
Cut out smaller circles of various sizes from cereal boxes
Twist fabric around and glue down to small circle cutouts, resembling flowers
Glue down fabric flowers to the doughnut cutout. Fill in gaps with ribbon and pompom trim.
Glue ribbon strip to back of doughnut to hang wreath by
Step back and adore your new Springtime wreath!

Now this is how I did it – in more detail. First, take 2 cereal boxes and find the side seams to unglue them. Lay them down flat, one on top of the other with the plain chipboard side facing up and try to match up the lines [just being OCD or CDO, depending on how obsessive you truly are!]. On the ends of the boxes where they overlap, cut off the flappy parts. You want a straight line where they meet up. Now using your hot glue gun, generously glue one on top of the other. When it dries, you’ll have a bigger area to work with to make your wreath. [So obviously, if you wish for a smaller wreath, you could prob get away with just using one cereal box]. Next, free form draw a big circle over both boxes. About 3 inches in, draw in a smaller circle. It should look like a doughnut, or at least somewhat resemble a doughnut of some sort. It doesn’t have to be perfect. No one will see this part. It’s just the wreath form – or base of your wreath. Cut out the doughnut. Tip: if you absolutely must get your circle draw on perfectly, then look around your kitchen for bowls and use those to trace around.

With your leftover boxes, draw on smaller circles of various sizes. Tip: use different sized cups if you need perfect circles. These will be the base for your fabric flowers. With your shirt strips, practice rolling up flowers – tight – flat on the table and see if you like the look. If not, experiment with different techniques. The way that I did mine was to start at one end of the strip, rolling it tightly while also twisting the fabric around and around towards the left while also rolling it onto itself. Does that make sense? If you like the look you’ve come up with, then you are ready to glue down. Trigger a big dot of glue onto the middle of your small circle cereal box cutout [with the cereal print side down]. Stick down the beginning rolled-up part of your fabric. Once it dries well enough [few seconds], begin twisting the fabric around the center…randomly gluing on both the board and inside bottom of the fabric and push fabric to it. When you get it all twisted up and glued together, it should resemble a flower – shabby chic-style if you did it my way. If there is any cereal box sticking out from underneath, just trim the board off.

If you want a similar explanation – but with pics – then check out My Sparkle’s fabric flower tut HERE. The differences with mine and her’s is that I wanted my flowers bigger and bulkier…and I was gluing directly to the cereal box circle cutouts. Plus, my flowers are a bit more free form. You can make your flowers however you wish~!

Make your flowers different sizes if you wish – small, medium and large. With your leftover scrap/sewing fabric pieces, you can make the smaller flowers. As you finish gluing each one up, start arranging them on your cereal box wreath form. When you get enough flowers and like the way you have them arranged on the wreath, glue them all down. With any blank spots, go back and add in loops of ribbon and pompom trim. That way, you’ll get a really full, stuffed looking wreath.

On the back, glue one strip of ribbon so that you can hang up your wreath. On one side towards the top, I also tied on a bow to complete the look. Do it however you like, though!

How much did this project cost me? ZERO DOLLARS. Love that. And love it’s shabby chic look!

Note: this wreath is definitely super easy to make. All crafts usually require time spent on them, so if it takes you 30 minutes to craft up or 2 hours, it is normally worth it if you get something cute in the end…especially if it is free! =-) Have fun w/this one.

If you try this, please let me know! I’d love to see how yours turns out, too~! =-D

Fav Gardening Finds + Ideas

classiclyamber — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:30:30 +0000

Who could blog about gardening and not include Grandma Martha? I need to use all of these ideas mentioned here!

1. Garden Tool Container 2. Bucket Hose Storage 3. Magnetic Garden Organizer 4. Garden Protector 5. Saving Seeds 6. Plant Protector 7. Testing Old Seeds 8. Growing File

Here are some flowers that I’ve got my eye on! Aren’t they lovely? I would enjoy having these as friends in our yard:

1. Ice Cream Tulip 2.Pink Sunrise Muscari 3. Sorbet Peonies

Our family practices organic gardening for several great reasons. Because of that, we have to deal with any bug problems in a different way than just attacking them all with harmful chemicals. I am saving these resources:

What have you planted this year? Or if you could plant anything, what would it be?

Busyness + Spring Cleaning

classiclyamber — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:00:08 +0000

Whoo weee! It’s been another supa busy weekend here! Hubby has started building a new chicken coop that he’s designed, which is pretty cool! He had so much fun with that, too. I love to just sit and watch him draw stuff in AutoCad. The dude is fast and accurate – and definitely has SKILLZ. I don’t care where you live, if you need an awesome architect [residential or commercial] who will do a quick, fantastic job and not charge an arm and a leg, then my husband is your answer! TOTALLY shameless plug for him there… <3

I have been getting caught up on laundry and getting reacquainted with the outdoor laundry line [I couldn't get it to work for me in the cold winter months, so someone explain to me what the Amish do!]. Isn’t it amazing how quickly you can get so far behind on the clothes until one day, you walk into the laundry room and there is a huge MOUNTAIN of it to tackle?!? Just shut the door. Pretend it doesn’t exist and maybe it will go away. Does that trick work for you? Anyway, our clothing system needs an overhaul again. The kids got soooo many clothes from nice peoples for Christmas and recent birthdays that there is just nowhere to put all this stuff! And I had a nifty system worked out to where we could easily stay on top of the laundry [and I don't mean stepping all over it in the laundry room!]. Mondays used to be my Laundry Day every week. Yep, we’re a family of 6 and I’d only clean and put away everyone’s clothes just one day a week. It can be done, I tell you! Back to the Amish…they have a lot more kids than us and this is how they roll, too. Now, they also only have 2 outfits per person so there is a lot less laundry floating around…but no one needs 45 million different outfits anyway! …Right?

from SimpleMom

So yep, I’m thinking: SIM.PLI.FY. I’ll let ya know how that goes…

We did remember to stop life’s busyness and have some fun times, too. That kinda stuff is important, don’t ya think? Recently, I’ve caught myself putting more time into work stuff and not nearly enough time into play stuff. That balance is key to total well being and I’m getting back to it.

Since life can’t be all play – all the time – and since houses get dirty quickly [especially with 4 CUTE kiddos runnin' around in it everywhere], then I am also preparing to do some pretty deep Spring Cleaning. And who am I turning to for help and inspiration on this doozy? Look no further than Grandma Martha and Tsh Oxenreider. Yep, I love them for their practical and organizational insights on this type of thing, but they also cover cleaning from an all natural perspective [you know, not using any of those migraine-inducing chemical cleaners]. Grandma has tips on getting a greener home and nontoxic stain removers. And Tsh has her fabulous Spring Cleaning ebook that you can purchase and instantly download. It’s chock FULL of ideas and inspiration to help you get your mess together. I highly recommend it [and it's ony $7!]! She’s also having Spring Cleaning Week on her blog, and I may just have to get myself lost in that.

So now I’ve just got to create a thousand To Do lists in order to accomplish – eh – 50% of my goals. First things first: bringing down boxes from the 3rd floor to start filling ‘em with stuff to GO!

What’s at the top of your agenda this week?

Don’t forget! Today is the last day to enter my supa dupa big giveaway with Lisa Leonard Jewelry!

You can enter to win for free just by leaving a comment on this post here.

Blooming Plum Trees + Photo Shoot Casting Call

classiclyamber — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:00:40 +0000

One of my fav things about this time of year is watching the plum trees burst into blooms!

And the lovely scent? Oh heavens, does anyone bottle that somewhere? I LOVE the way plum blossoms smell! MMmmm…

The blooms just don’t last long enough! They are here but for a few weeks and then they are gone again, with the promise of juicy, plump fruit on the way.

Last, I want to share with the locals about a nifty photo shoot casting call for Gerber Childrenswear on Monday, April 5th. Armando Bellmas is the talented photographer you’ll find in my sidebar and he will also be taking the shots of cutesie babies for this audition in Charlotte, NC. I am thinking that that will be such a fun day! I would love to just sit and watch it all play out. My baby is too old for this, but I know that several of you have little ones in the age range that they are seeking. Do try out! For more information on the casting call, please check their Facebook page HERE. For more information on the photographer, please click HERE.

I do hope everyone is having a great week and I wish you a lovely Easter weekend~!

Springtime Mantle Decor, a Winner and Appendicitis

classiclyamber — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:10:32 +0000

I’m putting this at the top of the post so you can all see it up front – but our winner is LISA!! Yay! Congrats, chickie! All you have to do next is send me an email to ClassiclyAmber at gmail.com with the mailing address of where you want it sent to. For everyone else, thank you so much for entering and check out MountainRoseHerbs.com to pick up your own diffuser and essential oils. While you’re there, be sure to take a lookie at all of their other nifty products, too!

All righty, I just thought I’d share this really quick. Do you like it? I feel like it’s nooooooooot quite done…or maybe not quite what I want to do with it. But I do like it well enough for now…

The HUGE canvas was only $12 and came from Goodwill, of all places! Yeah, I feel like I really scored because I found a ‘rich person’s Goodwill’ not too awful far from me! Do you have one near you? They have a lot more to pick from than some of the others. You should have seen me having to lug this thing around WITH my buggy! It was kinda crazy. And there were a couple of times that women came up to it to inspect it, as if they were going to buy it and I’d chirp up “OH! I’m definitely getting this! Sorry! *smile*” In a way, I felt bad for them to have to disappoint them like that, but I couldn’t just hand it over, ya know? I haven’t actually measured the thing, but it’s like 3.5′ by 5′. Seriously! It’s obviously not a real painting, but you do recognize it as Monet, right? It’s Woman in a Garden, 1867. Clever name, aye?

Also – the chippy window came from an old building that hubby and our oldest son have been tearing down, so it was free! More on THAT, later!

Yep, we have a HUGE mantle that I designed. I love it. It’s this 300 pound piece of solid oak that has a very rough finish. It took 3 grown men to carefully and craftily install it back when we built our home. I always wanted to go back and put slightly less chunky vertical pieces going down the sides. We shall see about that someday!

And then this pussywillow tree came from Trader Joe’s! I’ve taken to nabbing a potted plant whenever we grocery shop there lately and the house is looking so cheery because of it! I suppose later on, we will plant this lil’ guy down by the pond!

I’m thinking that I need to repot the tree…maybe add a 3rd layer to the artwork stuff…and incorporate a lot of moss for interesting green texture!

Sorry that I haven’t been around as much this week, but I’m even more busy than normal! Hubby has been fighting Appendicitis and we have been treating it all naturally here at home. Now – before you freak out on me – please know that we are NOT the types of people that rush off to the doctor for every little thing. At the same time, we know that this isn’t just a common cold or something. We both fully realize the dangers involved with Appendicitis and the appendix possibly rupturing if it goes too far. That’s what we are working hard to keep from happening.

I will have to tell you…the first day, it was really scary. I have never seen Corey in that much pain before and was praying that it hadn’t gone too far. I checked him for fever and there was none, so I assumed there was no infection…but gave him things to fight one anyway. We began immediately detoxing and flushing out his system to help get whatever was making his appendix so mad OUT of there. I also didn’t sleep much that first night just praying and begging God to heal my husband. The next day, he awoke to feeling incredibly better, but still had some pain. I’ve read that strict bedrest is THE most important thing a person can do when their appendix is so irritable like this. The next most important thing is drinking plenty of fluids and cleansing out the body [and I gave him homemade yogurt, too!]. No solid foods at all. Also, you have to work to keep an infection from happening [though cleansing the body helps with that, too!]. The danger can arise when the body isn’t flushed out and the bad germs multiply, causing infection and irritating the appendix further. If the person tries to continue with their normal lifestyle and doesn’t deal with the problem – then the appendix can get so mad at you that it explodes. If a person’s appendix ruptures, then all of those harmful toxins begin to literally leak out into other areas of the body, creating a potentially deadly situation. A lot of times, people will experience the pain in their abdomen and do nothing about it. Then by the time they go to the doctor, the problem has progressed to something dangerous and the doctor recommends total removal of the appendix for fear of it rupturing and killing the patient. It’s a serious problem.

Corey has never had a fever or any sign of infection, thank you GOD. At one point, he started to show signs of the beginning of a fever, but I gave him some garlic and herbs to fight any infection harder, and it phased out. He has also been totally honest about his pain levels from the get-go. It’s helped me a lot in determining how to help him and what to do next. I had him constantly rating his pain on a scale of 1-10. The first day, it was a 9. Whew! Also, he would experience more pain after getting up to use the bathroom or just moving around too much. While resting, the pain would drop down to a 1 or 2. So the resting definitely helps!

I am amazed to say that – what I have seen with him seems no less than a miracle. He’s gone from something really bad [he had ALL of the symptoms!] to almost total healing in only a matter of days. Today, he says he feels about 98-99% recovered! I would say that that is awesome! I feel like God has healed him and given us the wisdom in treating it in a non-invasive manner, and for it all – I am truly thankful!

[Edited to add: I truly believe that in this day of modern medicine and health care reform that we, as a people, need to try to get back to more safe, effective and natural remedies. I would never recommend that someone take the course of action that we did if my husband's appendix were about to burst, but because he obviously was very early on, it made perfect sense for us to try and treat it naturally before rushing him off for a surgery, and to pray and give God a chance to heal him before depending on a doctor. And guess what? It worked! My husband is doing much better, and recovering nicely. I am sharing this information with my readers to encourage you to seriously look to ALL of your options before running off to the doctor every time.]

Have you ever known anyone dealing with Appendicitis? How did they treat it? [I have a feeling of what the most common answer for this will be! ]

Paper Flower Bouquets

classiclyamber — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:56:23 +0000

It’s going to be a GORGEOUS day here, peeps! So bring on the flowers! Even if you don’t have any in full bloom just yet, you can make some beautiful blooms yourself. Check these pics for inspiration and click through to the tuts!

Lolly has some GREAT tutorials and printable PDFs so you can make your own paper bouquets right here! I love the way that she’s used different centers for these pretties.

And when I think of making paper flowers, of course I automatically think of Grandma Martha. Scroll down to see all of the flowers that she’s made with her own two hands. That’s right! Her own two hands!

This says that it’s for kiddos – which would definitely be lovely in their cute lil’ Easter baskets, but I’d also love ‘em for myself! Get the tut here.

Who doesn’t love a party with big, poofy pom-poms overhead? Get the tut here.

This is the cutest party favor idea! Get the tut here.

I love these basic flowers mixed in with other types of flowers, too. Get the tut here.

There is a ton more inspiration and tuts for paper flower crafting over at Martha Stewart Weddings.

If you are having a party and don’t want to make your own pom-poms, then there’s always Etsy! Check out PartyPoms:

I don’t know about you, but I think it will be fun to make these – and I’ll get the kiddos to help make some, too! My new office space is in need.

Have a beautiful day, everyone~! <3

Spring Banner: Je t’adore

classiclyamber — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:50:16 +0000

I told you that I was in the mood for spring! Aren’t we all, though, at this point?!? This banner was made for my friend, Bri, and I hope she loves it! If not, I’m cryin’! Oh, and keepin’ it, too. I’m pretty sure that she will take it, though. Love ya, Bri!!!

Forcing Spring

classiclyamber — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:23:16 +0000

I just love it when spring happens and the perfect weather sails in. But since this is only early February, I have a ways to wait before that happens. But who says we have to wait until then to enjoy beautiful flowers? You can force spring in your home by making these bulbs bloom indoors.

Many people are blogging about this now, but I first learned about this years ago when I was watching a Martha Stewart show. She was showing the different types of bulbs that you could force indoors. That was the first day I had even heard of paperwhites – and I loved them instantly! I told myself that I would have some for myself for the next year, but never bought them. Fast forward about 8 years later, and I finally got my first paperwhites!

Can I say two more things about these flowers?

1. I didn’t force these myself. We were shopping at Trader Joe’s last night and they had soooo many flowers on sale! Anyways, to learn more about forcing bulbs on your own, click HERE.

2. Paperwhites are so pretty, but they shoooooooooooooooooooo’ nuff do smell FUNKY!! Yeah, I’m not quite sure what to describe that sniff-sniff as. It’s not quite yucky, but it’s not quite lovely, either. However, the beautiful flowers make up for the funk (in my opinion).

Let’s make this 3 things:

3. Did you notice that several of their centers naturally created a heart? How perfect is that? <3 it!

Oh! And one more:

4. I. Still. Want. A. GOOD. Snow. Day. First!

YMMXEEYQSMBH