Coffee Filter Wreath Tutorial...Sort Of!

So I have become slightly obsessed with coffee filter wreaths...looking at pictures

of them that is!  With my Pinterest obsession (another obsession...sheesh!) it

is easy to find tons of lovely pictures of these gorgeous wreaths along with

great tutorials on how to make them.  I also went to my favorite boutique a few

weeks back and they had the most GLORIOUS white coffee filter wreath hanging

in a display.  I decided that it was time to give it a go!

Because there are so many tutorials out there, this isn't going to be a regular

tutorial as such, but rather I'll give you just a few hints that I found to be

extremely helpful.  I actually combined hints from several tutorials to make it

work right for me.  I found a lot of time saving hints.  Oh look on the left hand

side, the cardinal sin for photographers...the photographer in the mirror...what

a loser!  (*_*)  Anywho...

For my wreath, well, I wanted it big!  What is that expression..."go big or go

home"...well, yes...I followed that rule of thumb!  I started with an 18" straw

wreath form that I found at my local Hobby Lobby store.  You can use any form

obviously, but I wanted a strong one because I was going to make it rather large.

Next I went out and bought no less than 600 white coffee filters, the basket

type, not the cone type.  Yes...I did say 600!  Most tutorials out there use

around 200 - 300 filters...not this cowgirl!  I wanted it thick and big, not

skimpy!  I loathe skimpy!  (*_*)

You can see in this picture how densely the filters are packed in.  I started with

the row in the center of the wreath where the middle hole is to get it going and

then another row around the very outside edge.  I wanted to make sure that the

these two rows looked uniform.  Then I just glued in rows from the outside in...next time I would glue in rows from the inside out.  I think it would be easier because as you go along, the rows get more and more packed in and it's harder to work toward the inside edge.  A few tips that I found to be VERY helpful are...

Do NOT fold your filters.  I see alot of tutorials doing this and I couldn't figure

out why they folded them in a fan shape. What a lot of extra work!  What I did

is this...find a thick sharpie felt pen in your stash...you know, the thick ones

that are about four inches long or so.  They have a black lid and then a small

little round area on top about the size of a pinky fingernail...take

the end of the sharpie, grab your coffee filter and just put the end right in the

center of your pen and with your other hand in one smooth movement gather

the entire coffee filter down around the filter, put a pea sized dollop of hot glue

on the end and then attach it to your wreath.  No folding, no fooling around, it

is SO EASY this way!  I attached my filters in uniform rows and did not leave

any space between the filters.  Some tutorials leave 1" or 2" between each

filter while gluing it on.  I did not, I jam packed them in there and the result

was really amazing...remember, I did say almost 600 filters were used!

I also added some ribbon for decoration.  Mine has wide white organza, pink

silk, crinkled seam binding ribbon and a fabric flower in the center to tie it all in.

I didn't hot glue this on, I pinned it in case I want to move it around or put a

different decoration on it altogether.

A closeup of my ribbon and flower...

In this picture you can see how dense the wreath is.  The end result was pretty

uniform, but I did spend some time trimming the entire wreath with sharp craft

scissors to make it look even better!  See how lovely it looks and no folding

required to give it that cool, wavey look!

I will tell you that by using a sharpie to attach each filter, I did not burn my

fingers once!  That is worth it right there!  I did see this idea on someone's

tutorial, but I have no idea where I saw it so if this is your idea, write me

and I'll give you credit.  It's a really great idea!

Another thing...if you are going to use almost 600 filters like I did, be prepared

for it to take you awhile.  Those gals who say they can turn one of these out

in a few hours are definitely NOT!  Okay, they may be able to, but those are

the tutorials where they are using 200 or so filters.  Granted I did not work on

this straight through, but I'll bet it took me a good eight hours or more when
I did work on it.  It took me a weekend of working off and on...it would be

a good tv or movie watching project!

And here is my end result...a huge, fluffy white wreath for my wall.

I can't wait to make another one...it was really fun and it cost

me under $10 to do the entire thing!

Hope you enjoyed...

~Stacy~

Mr. Cherub Is All Decked Out!

This year I have been abit lazy with my Valentine's Day decorating.

This is kind of strange for me seeing as how I have so much pink stuff

hanging around this house!  So I got to it and decked out my sweet

crackled cherub that I purchased recently...like I need another statue...

I bought him at Tai Pan Trading Company and if any of you are fortunate

enough to have one of those stores near you (there aren't very many,

only a handful) then you know what I'm talking about.  This guy is over

two feet tall and he is made out of heavy ceramic.  I just love him!

I added all sorts of ribbon and things to bling him up!

Here is a vintage three strand pearl necklace and some really wide pink

ribbon with wired edging ~ love that stuff, it's so great for bows!

I also added some pretty crinkled seam binding ribbon and some cream

grosgrain ribbon.  The little necklace of sorts that you see in the very

center is actually off a belt buckle that I found at the thrift store.  I just

took it off the belt and added a piece of pink ribbon to it for hanging.

You can find all sorts of great belts at the thrift store for only a dollar

or two and they always have lots of bling on them!

I added some of my own bling too...a crystal encrusted heart necklace

and an angel wing necklace which I absolutely LOVE ~ I have earrings too!

So here it is all together...kind of a mixed up menagerie, but I think

it looks pretty cute for Valentine's Day  (*_*)

He's all ready for February 14th!

And of course I couldn't resist showing a parting shot of his cute little wings...

I hope you enjoyed the pictures...

~Stacy~

My Safe Haven

Do you have a safe haven?  Is there one place in the entire world that you

feel absolutely safe, cared for and loved?  For many of us, that place is in

our own homes and it is for me as well.  But I have another safe haven where

I love to be and that place is at my Mother's house.

This is the bedroom that she completely redecorated for me when I went up

to visit her in Canada this fall.  She is one amazing lady!

Come on in!

My Mom spent many long hours redoing this room and selecting just the right

pieces to make this bedroom a real haven for me when I visited.  The pretty

hand painted nightstand is new.  Above it is a beautiful picture from the

Victorian Trading Company and above the bed is another piece from them as

well.  You can get your family name embroidered on a lace doily and have it

framed.  It turned out just beautiful!

A vintage Jessica McClintock lace dress graces the wall.

It was found at a favorite antique store.

She made sure that I had all of the comforts of home including this gorgeous

pintuck comforter set.  I can still feel it wrapped around me...so comfortable!

The pillows were glorious!  They were memory foam pillows and were

probably the most comfortable pillows I've ever slept on!

A lovely warm throw and a picture book made

me feel right at home.  This book is about Alphonse Mucha,

an art nouveau artist who is really popular.

Don't you just love this wrought iron settee?  It is quite heavy and Mom

found it at Pier One.  I love how the lush aqua cushion picks up the aqua

in the lady print on the wall to the left.

The gorgeous rose print above the settee was found at a thrift store and

she kept the original color of the frame to tie in with the dark walls.

This is the window seat where I spent many moments looking out my

home town below.  It's always so good to be home with family...

The late afternoon sun has left the room in a dusky glow and it's the perfect

time for curling up and reflecting on how lucky I am to have such an

amazing woman for my Mother.  She always makes it good to go home again...

~Stacy~

Just Some Pretty Pics For You...

It's a relaxing Sunday afternoon around here so I thought I would snap

a few pics for you to enjoy.  These are pictures of one of my favorite

pieces of furniture, my secretary in our bedroom.  It's all hand painted

and has tons of gorgeous shabby wear.  Love the roses too...the real

ones!  They came from Costco yesterday and they just look so 

spring-like to me.  I hope you are enjoying your day!

Thanks for stopping by...

~Stacy~

A Dash Of This And A Dash Of PINK!!!

Well the hub-bub of Christmas is over and a new year has begun.  I

enjoyed the holidays, but now it's time to get down to business!  I

have so many things I want to do in the new year and one of them

is to blog more.  We'll see if that happens.  I'm a sporadic blogger at

best.  I don't blog for popularity or for anyone else, I blog for me so

when the inspiration strikes me, I blog.  When it doesn't, well...you

can tell because my posts are abit spread out!  I hope that doesn't

stop you from coming back and reading my blog and enjoying a story

and a picture or two along the way.

One thing that I am still in love with is the color PINK.  I love it and

won't ever eliminate it from my decor.  I see the pictures of these

gals with their all white decor and think it's just so stunning and

beautiful, but it's just not for me.  I just couldn't do it!  Don't you

just love these pics of Betsy Johnson's pink apartment in New York?

I think they're fabulous.  I don't go that far, but I think it's truly

amazing and glorious!  Unfortunately, my husband would not think so

even though he is comfortable in our fairly feminine and pink home.

I have actually eliminated some of the pink over the past few years

and he has definitely noticed...there must have been a LOT to start with!

One thing that I love about Betsy's home is that there is alot of pink, but

she doesn't have alot of little knicknacks and stuff hanging around.  Also,

I love the pink with that mustard color...never thought I would, but I do!

This is Betsy's living room.  Pretty spectacular I'd say!

Here is another view of her bedroom and fabulous pink kitchen.  WOW!

What I'm trying to get at is this...don't let others influence you one way

or the other.  Do what makes YOU happy in your decor.  Not everyone

is going to agree with your choices, but hey, they don't have to because

they don't live with you!  Just try to get along with the people who do!

And with that being said, I going to go make myself a cup of tea

and found a pink teacup to put it in...and YOU have a great day!

(*_*)

~Stacy~

An "Early" Christmas Tree

This is kind of a funny little post...

Some of you may recall that I spent five wonderful weeks at my Mom's

house back in Canada this fall.  We haven't spent a Christmas together

for 14 years now and when we get together we always seem to get up

to a caper or two.  (*_*)  Seeing as how we were going to be miles apart

at Christmas, we decided to decorate one of her trees together while I was

still there.  Yes, it was the middle of October, but so what!  LOL!   We did

up her little white tree in her bedroom...it's away from prying eyes and from

people who might overwise think we were totally insane to have a tree up at

that time of the year.  As it was, my brother walked up the stairs while we

were trying to put it up incognito...he thought we were really ridiculous I'm sure!

My Mom's bedroom set is beautiful and it involves probably the caper of all time.

I purchased it for her at JCPenney here in Utah, stored it for awhile and then

my husband and I loaded it all up in the back of our truck (bed, two night

stands, a huge dresser and a matching mirror) and hauled it all the way to her

house 1000 miles away across the border into Canada.  I must tell you that I

think the border guard thought we were insane at this point.  But it was worth

it, it's so lovely and she had been looking for something special for a long time.

My Mom's house is so pretty and rather Victorian in her decor.

I love her Victorian settee by her window...so comfy and pretty!

It helps to have a cosy fireplace to curl up beside in the winter!

So there you have it, a tree in October, decorated with love by a

Mother and daughter who are miles apart at Christmas...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

~Stacy~

Merry Christmas To You!

Here is our front entry table all decked out and waiting to

greet friends and family as they come through the door.

I can't believe that Christmas is almost here!

Where has the time gone?

The sofa table decorated with a simple Christmas display.

Oh how I love my statues!

And yes, there is a tv in the background.  This is a real house

with real stuff hanging around...no hiding it!

This little sleigh came from the thrift store and so did the ornaments.

Not too bad if I don't say so myself!  (*_*)

A view of our family/dining room.

I adore our china cabinet...it has a matching table and chairs too!

Another view...as you can see I have my classic Christmas movies

sitting in the background waiting to be watched and my crochet

work waiting to be worked on.  It's just a day in the life around here.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thank you all for being a part of my blog this year.  I hope to be a

little bit better blogger in the new year, as in blogging more often.

We'll see how that plays out!

Happy Holidays!

~Stacy~