quicksie – And Then Home

Remembrance Day Craft – Elegant Button Poppy

christine — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 14:05:41 +0000

As Halloween comes to a close and Christmas is on it’s way, we prepare to observe Veterans Day in the US and Remembrance Day for fellow Canadians. It makes November a quiet and impactful month with some major decor possibilities. You can change your pillow covers, place some paper poppies in a vase on the mantel, wear a felt poppy or hang some Veterans Day or Remembrance Day art. The last one brings us to today’s project, a Remembrance Day Craft – Elegant Button Poppy.

So, in honour of Remembrance Day the girls and I (well, mostly I) made an Elegant Button Poppy Art that we can hang on our wall. This craft is an easy one and yet looks professional, which is what you want from your DIY home decor projects. My middlest daughter, who is just over 3 years, had a fun time creating her version of the craft while I worked hard on mine. It didn’t take us long and we both had fun. Here is a preview of what we came up with…

I placed mine in a black frame and added a light green card stock mat to finish it off. This piece looks great on the wall or on the mantel. Pair it with other red decor pieces like vases, flowers or cylinders. This picture will also fit right in with any rustic or vintage decor for the month of November, consider using a wooden frame. Let’s take a look at the easy step-by-step.

Remembrance Day Craft – Elegant Button Poppy

The goods:

– 8×10 piece of white bristol board

– red buttons

– red embellishments (I used some red jewels)

– black sequins

– green paint

– glue

– black sharpie (or paint pen)

– paint brush

Optional – frame

– card stock for mat

Intructions

1. Place a few drops of glue in on the white bristol board where you want the center of the poppy to be. Add the black sequins.

2. Arrange the red buttons and embellishments on the board in a pattern that you are happy with, creating 4 petals. When you are happy with the arrangement add a small amount of glue to each button/embellishment.

Almost done your DIY Poppy Decor!

3. Being careful not to disturb the red buttons, paint a small green stem from the center of the poppy. Be sure to leave a space large enough to write a saying or quote that represents Remembrance Day for you (this could even be a name). Continue to paint the rest of the stem. Add two leaves along the base of the stem. Set aside to allow drying.

4. Once dry you can add your saying, name or quote to the space in between the stem using the sharpie/paint pen.

5. If you decide to frame your work, measure and cut a piece of card stock for the mat and place them inside the frame.

Viola! A beautiful craft to help honour this special day. Get your children involved along side or with the main event, they will love making this art!! If you’re looking for more Remembrance Day crafts take a look at our Felt Poppy.

Need supplies? Here’s where you can start*

*Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. There may be a small commission made by our recommendations, and/or link to products mentioned or services on this website. Any potential purchase you make will help us continue to bring you amazing content, step-by-steps and product reviews. Products are not exact to what we use, be sure these materials are right for you!

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How to Make a Reusable Felt Poppy

Vicki — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 12:48:17 +0000

It’s poppy season! As the symbol of Remembrance Day, the poppy has significant and poignant meaning. And nestled in between Halloween and Christmas, this a great time to refresh and renew your home decor, a short break amidst the two biggest decorating holidays. Come November, a reusable felt poppy can help add a little reminder to be thankful for everything we have. You can use this versatile little flower in so many ways – pillows, in vases, on a canvas, in centerpieces, wreaths, and of course, you can wear them. Happy crafting and remember to donate to your local poppy fund.

Photo Credits: pinterest.com, homewallmurals.co.uk, dhgate.com, lushome.com

What You’ll Need:

Red felt
Black felt
A black button
Embroidery thread in black
Needle
Scissors
Hot glue gun and sticks
Paper
Marker
Brooch Pin

Take a scrap piece of paper and fold it in half. Draw half of a heart onto the paper, making the straight edge on the fold. Cut out the heart shape. Use the cut-out to trace the heart onto the red felt. Cut out the felt heart, you’ll need four hearts in total.

Red Felt from Amazon – $6.56

Glue the heart petals together in the centre, overlapping the edges in the middle.

Cut a circle from the black felt slightly larger than your black button.

Black felt from Amazon – $5.00

Glue the circle onto the centre of the red heart petals.

Use some black thread and a needle to stitch some decorative lines around the black felt circle. Sew a black button into the middle of the black circle.

Embroidery Thread from Amazon – $1.05

Glue a brooch pin or magnet clasp to the back of the poppy and you are done!

Pin Clasp from Amazon – $7.99

Check out our Remembrance Day Craft – Elegant Button Poppy for more November decor – its also makes for a great family project.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. There may be a small commission made by our recommendations, and/or link to products or services mentioned on this website. Your purchase will help us continue to bring you amazing content, step-by-steps and product reviews.

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DIY Flower Heart New Baby Sign

Vicki — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 16:32:28 +0000

Is someone you know expecting a baby? Planning to throw a baby shower? Decorating is almost as much fun as the party itself! With this beautiful DIY Flower Heart New Baby Sign you will add a really personal touch to your shower decor. The sample that I made is a bit too small for a shower display. At about 6″ by 10″ it’s certainly a great gift size! You could even change ‘Welcome Baby’ to the little ones name and birth date so it becomes a birth announcement for the nursery. Make this DIY your own and remember to share your ideas with us here or on our Facebook page!

DIY Flower Heart New Baby

What You’ll Need:

– A wood plaque or a canvas
– Lavender acrylic paint
– A white paint pen
– Paper flowers
– Pearl beads
– Yarn
– White tulle
– Hot glue gun and sticks

Firstly, paint your plaque or canvas solid lavender (or other colour of your choice). Let dry.

Secondly, use the paint pen to write your message on the bottom of the sign and let dry.

Cut a length of tulle, enough to cover the front of your sign and a little more so it will wrap around the back. Glue the tulle onto the back of the board
to secure.

Start gluing the paper flowers onto the middle of the sign. Keep adding flowers to make a heart shape.

Add the pearl beads to the centre of each of the paper flowers.

Finally, tie a length of yarn around the top of the sign to finish it off.

We hope you liked this DIY Flower Heart New Baby and it helps you with your shower decor planning or gift giving! Remember to share your results with us

Planning a baby shower? Certainly, check out this Easy Breezy Garland for a tropical themed shower or our Yarn and Cat Mobile!

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DIY Christmas Candy Cane Wreath

christine — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 13:30:26 +0000

This cute DIY Christmas Candy Cane Wreath is a great holiday craft! It’s fairly easy to make and the supplies won’t break the bank. Get the kids to help too, this wreath could make a great teacher’s gift. We used a hot glue gun to attach all the candy canes together, but you could use double sided adhesive strips to make it a little more kid friendly. Christine’s girls are still on the young side so they were happy to help pass the materials and stick the embellishments on after we placed the ‘blob’ of hot glue.

Here’s the step by step! DIY Christmas Candy Cane Wreath

What you’ll need:

About 28 candy canes (any flavour/colour)
Hot glue gun
Ribbon
Some plastic snowflakes
Embellishments (we used sparkly balls)

How to:

Before you begin to use glue, we recommend setting up a mock wreath to see how your design will look. Since we used 3 different types of candy canes we wanted to see how the pattern would look. Once you’re happy with the look, it will be easier to put together.

DIY Christmas Candy Cane Wreath

Firstly, place a small amount of glue on the top and bottom of one candy cane. Continue this step until all of the candy canes are attached. Remember to create a circle with them as you go, this should occur naturally but you may need to help it out a little.

Once the circle is complete add the snowflakes using the hot glue gun. One on each side of the wreath, this will help hold it together.

Now for the ribbon! Weave the ribbon in and our of the candy canes, we did three on top and one under, this way more of the ribbon was exposed. Use the hot glue gun to adhere the loose ends of the ribbon to the wreath. Also, attach a small loop of ribbon to the top back of the wreath. This will be used to hang it.

Your Christmas Wreath is just about done, one step left…

Finally the embellishments, we used the hot glue gun once again to stick the balls onto the wreath.

My daughter’s ‘helping’ hand <3

We hope you loved this wreath as much as we do! If you tried one out, don’t forget to share it with us on our Facebook page, or send it in an email! We’re always happy to see DIY projects!

If you’re looking for more Christmas decor ideas, be sure to check out this Pretty Pearl Snowflake Pillow Cover by Champagne and Sugarplums. Looking for a fun Christmas snack? Try our Holiday Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Sticks.

Happy Crafting!!

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Fun and Festive Halloween Garland Craft

christine — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 23:51:13 +0000

I have this big beautiful fireplace in my living room that is begging for a Fun and Festive Halloween Garland Craft. The mantel is looking pretty good with my purple cat and “Boo” sign, but the front definitely a little bare. So I rounded up the kids and together we made an awesome halloween garland to hang across the mantel and it looks oh so cute!

To make these fun little characters I used ribbon, beads for the eyes, pipe cleaners, hot glue gun and styrofoam balls. I already had a bunch of ribbon on hand, but if you don’t a quick trip to the local craft or even dollar store won’t take long. This garland would also work nicely with bats and ghosts. You could replace the mummies and spiders or add to it with extra characters! Googly eyes would also be a fun touch too. Play with it and see what you can come up with!

Here’s how to make this Fun Halloween Garland Craft

Fancy Pumpkin

This on requires some orange tinsel ribbon that I had in my craft stock. This type of ribbon makes the pumpkin stand out and gives it some character. To achieve this fancy pumpkin simply wrap the ribbon around the styrofoam ball, using some hot glue to stick in in place. I added some sequinned ribbon to make it sparkle, cause who doesn’t love sparkle?! And some green pipe cleaner glued into the top for a stem. The pipe cleaner also works as a hook for to attach to the garland.

Spooky Spider

This guy was made by gluing some black ribbon around a styrofoam ball and adding pipe cleaners (two per side should do it) for legs. Two small beads are glued in place for the eyes. My girls enjoyed sticking the legs in and seeing the spider come to life! Of course you will want any glue to be dry and cool before handing it to your little ones.

Wrapped Mummy

Finally our mummy. Made with two styrofoam balls with white ribbon glued this wrapped mummy finishes this garland nicely. Be sure to wrap in a horizontal direction, cutting the ribbon where needed. Once you have two styrofoam balls wrapped, use a pipe cleaner with hot glue to attach them together, adding a piece of ribbon dangling in the middle for arms. Add two small beads for eyes.

All the these festive characters are then added to a string or twine that you can hang on your mantel. This garland is fun for the kids, whether they are creating it or seeing the finished product already hung! If you love this craft check out our Top Outdoor Halloween Decorations or this DIY Cork Pumpkin.

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Autumn Embroidery Hoop Topiary

Vicki — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 11:00:25 +0000

It’s October…and its already snowed here in Calgary. Thankfully it only came in for one day and has now melted but it still marked the end of the flowers I had on my front porch. They are both officially dead – RIP my fall chrysanthemums.

Yikes! Not a happy morning…

Now I’ve been brainstorming about how to use my two planters. I needed something quick and ideally on the cheap. I headed to the craft store and wandered around a bit. Luckily everything fall is on clearance now because in retail, its Christmas time. I found a couple of leaf garlands for cheap and then picked up some embroidery hoops. My plan was to make a circle from the hoops and cover them in the garland to make a topiary ball.

It did not look good.

That’s okay, it happens in DIY sometimes. Back to the drawing board and I redesigned the look by covering the hoops in burlap ribbon and letting them show instead of covering them up. I’m quite happy with my second attempt. ? It’s a good lesson to not get discouraged if something not quite working. Tweak a couple things and hang in there, it’ll work out in the end!

What You’ll Need:

Embroidery hoops
Leaf garland
Hot glue gun and sticks
Scissors
Ribbon

Cover both the inner and outer hoop with the ribbon. Glue along the way to hold the ribbon in place.

Place the smaller hoop inside the larger one and glue them together to create a ball.

Add leaves from the garland in the bottom of the circle and secure with some glue. Cut some individual leaf from the garland and glue to the hoop decoratively around the top and sides of the ball.

My finished topiary’s are sitting on my planters to replace my sadly dead plants. I made a second ball in a larger size to go onto the larger planter. Need some more fall décor? Check out our String Art Leaf in Autumn Colours.

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Glitter Heaven! Fall Paper Leaf Wreath

Vicki — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 11:00:55 +0000

We’ve been posting Fall inspirations, projects and DIYs for a couple weeks now and we have a lot more to go! Thanksgiving is on its way and we want you to be prepared. A great seasonal DIY staple are wreaths. They are fun and easy to make and always look great on the front door, inside and out. This quicksie wreath uses lots of glittery papers in Autumn colours of golds, oranges and reds. I pictured my wreath hanging on my front door, but really it hangs inside the house. The paper doesn’t actually do well in the wind and elements. I included a template to trace to cut the leaves out, but you could use any shape you like. Cutting out all the leaves is the longest part of this quicksie craft, a more complicated shape will take longer to cut out. With that in mind…enjoy!

What You’ll Need:

- Wreath base (preferably cardboard or wood over wire. It’ll be easier to attach the leaves to)
- Glitter paper (scrapbook paper is perfect)
- Template – get it here
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun and sticks
- Ribbon

Print out template and use it to trace the pattern onto the back of the glitter paper. You’ll need to trace about 30 leaves in a variety of colours and then cut out all the leaves.

Attach a length of ribbon for hanging to the wreath base. Glue the leaves onto the wreath base, alternating the colours. Be sure to overlap the leaves on top of the ribbon to cover it.

We hope you have fun making this wreath, you’ll love how easy it is! You might also like our Fall Beer Bottle Decor and Fun Fall Welcome Decor Sign.

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Fun Fall Welcome Decor Sign

christine — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 18:23:04 +0000

Fall signals the end of summer but the beginning of a great decor season! Here are And Then Home we love fall. With so many colours and materials to use during this season there doesn’t seem to be enough crafts to make, or time to make them Today we are bringing you a Fun Fall Welcome Decor Sign that allows for many colour options and materials. This craft is fun to do with the kids and doesn’t take long to finish.

You don’t have to use exactly what we used for this craft, just take a look around the house and see what you find. Some other options could be buttons, leaves, burlap and string. My girls really enjoyed making this craft with me. Of course, I operated the hot glue gun as my little’s aren’t big enough to use it yet, but they loved picking the materials and seeing the sign come together. Let’s take a look at what you’ll need to make this fun welcome sign.

Fun Fall Welcome Decor Sign

What you’ll need:

Wood board
Fall coloured card stock
ribbon
styrofoam ball
hot glue gun
ruller
pencil
scissors

What you’ll need to do:

Measure and draw your letters onto the card stock. Cut them out. Use different colours and have fun with it! Glue the letters onto the wood board using the hot glue gun. Add your embellishments, we used ribbon on the ‘E’s’ giving them some depth and fun.

The ‘O’ in on the sign is made with half of a styrofoam ball. Once cut in half, hot glue some ribbon (I used a sequin ribbon) onto it. Then, place a good amount of glue onto the flat part of the ball and apply it to the board.

There you have it! A fun and easy DIY Fall Welcome Sign. What materials did you use? If you love this multimedia craft check out our Micheals Copycat Mixed Media Love Canvas or if you’re looking for more fall decor try our Fall Decor – Accessorize with Beer Bottles.

Need supplies? Here’s a place to start*

No time? Here’s some decorations that can be delivered to your door!

Happy Crafting!!

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Fabulous DIY Up-cycled Kids Coat Rack

christine — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 16:57:53 +0000

I may have mentioned that my oldest daughter is starting JK this year and with that comes a lot of small items to buy and then store. Everything is pretty much ready to go, I have her lunch bag, coat, new clothes and book bag. All that’s missing is somewhere to hang all these things. I could put them in the coat closet like everything else but that would be too boring…not to mention would eliminate the need for another fun DIY project! Enter the Fabulous DIY Up-cycled Kids Coat Rack.

This Up-Cycled DIY’er was easy to do and a lot of fun. I had a hard time deciding what colour I wanted the backgrounds to be. My mind was bouncing between keeping it classic, versus fun colours versus something sparkly. As you can see from the pictures, I went with a classic look. If you’re indecisive like me you can always change the background colours later, it would be easy to do.

The base for this project was found at a local second hand store. I’ll admit it, I got a lucky that day. You really have to go frequently to find awesome steals like this one. As soon as I saw this piece leaning against the wall I knew I could use it for something. It had some dents and marks but the frame was in great shape with no cracks or broken pieces and the best part – it had a $5.00 price tag (with the original $29.99 one on the back). Who would say no to that??

The only other materials I needed to complete my piece were some wooden letters and card stock, both I found at the local craft store. The letters I bought were wood coloured, so I painted mine. There were white ones available but I didn’t like the style they had, and the wooden ones were the perfect size! I picked up a couple of different card stock sheets…because…well, I can’t make a decision in the store, I need to agonize over it for a couple days haha.

Fabulous DIY Up-cycled Kids Coat Rack

What you’ll need:

Rack (preferably with ‘windows’ and hooks)
Paint
Glue
Wood letters
Scrapbook Paper
Ruler
Scissors

Step 1. Fix any blemishes in your coat rack, if you found it at a second hand store that is! Mine had a few scratches and dents that I painted, but otherwise I was good to go.

Step 2. Paint your wooden letters the colour of your choice. I used white as my coat rack is primarily white. You may need two coats. Set aside to dry completely.

Step 3. Measure and cut your scrapbook paper to the size needed to fill the ‘windows’ of your coat rack. Then remove the back of the window and place your scrapbook paper inside. No need to glue them down.

Step 4. Glue your letters down onto the scrapbook paper using glue (if your not sure which one to use, check out our handy Glue Guide). Set the letters in the middle of each window and set it aside to dry.

Step 5. Hang your finished Kids Coat Rack in your mud room or entry way for an easy to use coat and backpack organizer!!

I hope you liked this easy decor project! Obviously great to keep the kiddos organized, but could also work for your pets or yourself. If you’re looking for more Up-Cycled projects check out our fun Up-Cycled Dollar Store Trash Can.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. There may be a small commission made by our recommendations, and/or link to products mentioned or services on this website. Your purchase will help us continue to bring you amazing content, step-by-steps and product reviews.

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DIY Back to School Memory Chalkboard

christine — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 13:22:02 +0000

It’s happening…my daughter will be heading into Junior Kindergarten this year. I can’t believe it, I feel like she was just learning how to crawl and here she is going to school. It will be an adjustment for me as I’m used to having her around. But, the day is approaching fast so I’ve started getting all of her back to school items ready. I started off with shoes, then a lunch bag and backpack. I still have clothing to buy and that got me thinking about the photo I will start taking on the first and last day of every grade and THAT got me thinking about crafting…doesn’t your mind end with a DIY project too?? So, here I sit, writing about my daughter’s first day of school and the DIY Back to School Memory Chalk Board that will follow her and her sisters for many years, hopefully right to their first day of university (if she attends and will humour me of course). ?

This Back to School Chalk Board is very easy to make. The hardest part for me was deciding exactly what I wanted it to say. There was a list of musts – age, what I want to be, and date. And a long list of maybe’s – teacher, school, height and favourites, which has it’s own subcategory of food, colour, subject, movie, song, and more. Since this is a DIY project you can choose exactly what you want your/their sign to say.

DIY Back to School Memory Chalkboard

What you’ll need:

Chalk board
Oil based paint pens
Chalk
Ruler
Pencil (for roughing it in!)

Step 1. Pencil in your design and letters, don’t press too hard with the pencil, just light enough to see the design. Perhaps plan your design on a piece of paper first to give you an idea because once the pencil hits the board, it will be hard to erase.

Step 2. Once you’re happy with your design and layout, you can start ‘painting’. Using the paint pens makes this project that much easier. Just follow the pencil lines and you’re set. Choose your colours as you see fit, have fun with it!

Step 3. Use the chalk to write your child’s memories, name, age and year. Take your back to school pictures with this awesome memory chalk board!

With 3 girls this board is going to get plenty of use!! Another way to use this board is to take some after school pictures. When they finish their school year, put a line through “First” and write in “Last” in chalk. Then write their answers down, take a picture and see how they’ve changed during the school year.

If you love this chalk board craft, check out our Chalkboard Clay Pots which are perfect for planting herbs or spring bulbs. The erasable chalkboard labels make reusing these pots simple! Or if you’re looking for a way to keep the kiddo’s entertained try making this easy DIY Stocking Butterfly Kids Craft.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. There may be a small commission made by our recommendations, and/or link to products mentioned or services on this website. Your purchase will help us continue to bring you amazing content, step-by-steps and product reviews.

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