Simpatico

I spent the majority of yesterday putting together some crafts for my newly made over front living room. I just put this room together in July and still daily find things that I wish I could do a little differently.

I made 2 Christmas crafts and 1 decorating craft. All 3 were easy-peasy crafts.

The decorating craft was just a new red pillow to put into my recliner chair. I needed some red on that side of the room as an accent.

It was made from some red denim material, over a pillow form, and trimmed with the same tan color found in the patterned print which is the primary fabric in the room.

I found the color fabric at Hancocks for $4.28 for 3 full yards of 60 inch fabric. The print fabric I found on Ebay for $6.00, with shipping, for 8 yards.

Now I have a splash of red, Milo has a comfortable place to rest his butt, and I feel productive. Now I need to make him a heating pad cover which has the colors in the room, huh?

As for the Christmas crafts, I needed something on that long piece of furniture which holds the Flat screen TV. I wanted something that wouldn't take away from viewing but would add just a wee bit of color and holiday spirit.

I was pleased with the results. The containers were .50 from Goodwill, I had the filler paper already available, the beads were left over from prior Christmas tree decorating, and the ribbon was on one of my gifts from last year.

To make the trees, simply wrap styrofoam cone shapes with beading, using hot glue to stick the beads in place; wrapping all the way to the top of the form. I left the cones to dry for a few minutes prior to painting... this also gave me time to pull off all the glue boogers that are left behind from any hot glue project. I used acrylic paint to cover the whole tree... I used antique gold so it would match a low profile Santa sled I already had for the area. After it dried I simply glued a knotted ribbon on top and placed in the containers.
The finished area is just as I envisioned it. They are barely noticeable when you are watching TV, but add a nice flash of color.

My last craft I found my inspiration from KoJo Designs Tea Wreath. They have perfectly lovely pictures and instructions on their site so I will simply point out how my wreath is a bit different.

I did not cover my clothes pins with scrapbook paper, I simply spray painted them the same red I used as an accent color in my room. After they dried I speckled all the pins with my antique gold acrylic. It added just a little bit of color.

On 12 of the 24 pins I covered the hinged area with scrapbooking brads. I found them at Michael's for $1.99. They were the perfect color for the paper I had picked for my back ground color.

Instead of cardboard I used a piece of foam core which I had left over from another project. It was easier to use, I feel, and also gives a more rigid product.

Also, the inside circle I used a small piece of the gold beading I had left over from the tree craft above. I left this accent without any paint. It is a bit brighter than the acrylic speckles I put on the clothespins, but it is barely noticeable.

The wreath is hung from the door with a piece of ribbon which matches the backing paper. I tied the bow so it was in the middle of the circle and left a loop at the top for attaching to the door. It is simply hot glued into place.

The total for this project was $1.99 as I had everything else just waiting for the perfect project.

I apologize for the pictures. My photos are from my phone which has a flash, but sometimes will over power shiny things :)