Castoff Ornament Swag

I have finally finished my first christmas craft of the season!  I have known for awhile that I wanted to try this, but for some reason putting it up in July didn't seem appropriate :o)  

As usual, it started with pinterest...

via pinterest

What do you need? 

*a bin of castoff ornaments (your own or from a thrift store.) Ok, they can be all new and shiny if you are into that sort of thing ;o)

*3 pieces of ribbon, equal in size.  Make sure they are long enough to create the swag you want and still be able to tie knots on either end!

*Nails to tie them onto

I started with a $5 bin of castoff ornaments from the thrift store.  I just grabbed all that they had and put them into a box and asked them to make me a deal on them.  At $5, I figured it was worth the risk of this being a major fail.

Step One:

I took a piece of my ribbon and started stringing the ornaments on one by one through the loop at the top of each ornament.  They did the bunching up all by themselves, I was surprised at how easy it was to make it look like this.  I love the traditional colors, but you could use whatever color you like (or have).  I think it would look gorgeous in all silver!

The strands get pretty delicate after awhile due to the weight of the ornaments pushing on each other.  To keep them from popping off their tops, I made 3 separate swags and tied them individually to nails.  They aren't too heavy, so they were very easy to hang!

Step Two:

Tap in nails where you want the top of each swag (if you measure and do this first you won't end up with 3 uneven swags like me :)

Step Three:

Tie up each end of the ribbon to a nail!  That's it!  Super easy, right?

I love the way the balls catch the lights from all over the room.  It is PERFECT for this little banister.  If I could nail into brick this would have hung across my fireplace!!

With all of the plastic ornaments available these days, if I had the money, I would have loved to buy a few of them and gorilla glue on their tops before hand.  There are so many options for this!!

Overall, first christmas craft is a success.  What do you think?

Sharing here:

Thursday

The Shabby Creek Cottage, Saved by Love Creations, The 36th Avenue, A Glimpse Inside, House of Hepworths

Somewhat Simple, Making it with Allie, Saved by Suzy, No Minimalist Here, From my Front Porch to Yours, A Creative Princess

Friday

At the Picket Fence, Creation Corner, A Little Knick Knack, Delicate Construction, Fingerprints on the Fridge

Happy Hour Projects, Finding Fabulous For Less, Remodelaholic

The Shabby Nest, Serenity Now, Simply Designing, Stuff and Nonsense, 733, My Repurposed Life, My Simple Home Life, Tater Tots and Jello, 

Pocket Full of Pink, Release Me Create

Someday Crafts, Too Much Time on my Hands

Saturday

Be Different...Act Normal

Sunday

Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Nap Time,Nifty Thrifty Things,Running with Glitter, The DIY Showoff

Monday

Lines Across My Face,Dittle Dattle,C.R.A.F.T.,Sumo's Sweet Stuff,Keeping it Simple,

Embellishing Life Everyday,Pinkkopotamus,Around Tuit,Craft-O-Maniac,

, The Girl Creative, Skip to my Lou, Between Naps on the Porch

Boerman Ramblings


Not Just a Housewife

No Sew Shower Curtain

Have you heard of Chrissy over at Boerman Ramblings?  If you haven't, you should check her out.  I totally stole her idea was so inspired by her No sew Ruffle Flower Embelishment that I decided to put it on my shower curtain.  Yeah, Hubby the Great isn't too fond of the frilly shower curtain, but I'm lovin' it :o)

I have never owned a ruffler foot for my sewing machine.  I have always wanted one, but never found a project that justified buying one.  This was no exception.  I wanted some frills, but not enough to spend $30 on them.  When I came across Chrissy's site, I knew I had struck gold.  Endless possibilities folks, endless possibilities. 

I searched and searched for a gold and gray shower curtain... Nothing reasonable popped up, so I settled for a solid white one.  (Got it at Home Depot for dirt cheap)  It worked for a little while, but I wanted to make it a little interesting.

Hence...

I started by cutting my fabric into 2 inch strips.  I wanted the edges to be a little raggy so I didn't sew the sides at all (besides, it's a no sew shower curtain right?)

I went with fabric glue because hot glue is a pretty high risk factor for me :o)  This stuff works wonderful!

I measured a line across the shower curtain and then traced a bowl where I wanted my flower.

I laid a small line (a few inches) of glue down and then scrunched up the fabric to create a ruffle.  I held it until it set (maybe 30 seconds) and then repeated the process.

It created a nice little ruffle that is surprisingly strong.

When I got to the circle, I did the same thing around the it.  When I got all the way around, I just rotated in a little bit and went around again.  Chrissy can tell you way better than me... go here.

Imagine the possibilities :o)

2 things I notice in this picture...
1. I should have ironed the shower curtain
2. I'm almost out of toilet paper

The best part about this project... FREE and EASY!  I did this project in about 45 minutes with a sick child laying on my knee.  Just a keep-my-hands-busy project :o)

That's my favorite kind!

Happy Friday!

-Katie

Linking up Here:

The Shabby Nest

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At the Picket Fence

Tatertots and Jello

Pocket Full of Pink

Be Different, Act Normal

Funky Junk Interiors

The Gingerbread Blog

Flamingo Toes

Lines Across my Face

I heart Naptime

Under the Table and Dreaming

Nifty Thrifty Things

Monday

Lines Across My Face,Dittle Dattle,C.R.A.F.T.,Sumo's Sweet Stuff,Keeping it Simple,Singing Three Little Birds,

Embellishing Life Everyday,Pinkkopotamus,Around Tuit,Craft-O-Maniac,

Life Made Lovely, The Girl Creative, Skip to my Lou, Sew Chatty,  Sarahndipities, Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday

Home Stories A to Z,Giggles, Glitz, and Glam,Lady Bug Blessings,The Blackberry Vine ,Reasons to Skip the Housework 

Funky Polkadot Giraffe ,Cherished Bliss ,Not Just a Housewife ,Project Queen, Coastal Charm, DIY by Design

Wednesday

Ginger Snap Crafts,Night Owl Crafting,Blue Cricket Design,Someday Crafts,My Girlish Whims,seven thirty three

Creations by Kara,Sew Woodsy,Goodbye City, Hello Suburbs,Sew Much Ado,

Saved by Suzy,Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Lil Luna, Fireflies and Jellybeans

Thursday

The Shabby Creek Cottage, Saved by Love Creations, The 36th Avenue, A Glimpse Inside, House of Hepworths

The Idea Room

Simple Fabric Art

Empty frames?  Sure, everybody's got them laying around.  I'm not sure how they lose their insides, it just happens.  Perhaps everyone has a little procrastinator in them and never gets around to changing out those pictures.  

I have been working on completing my bathroom.  It has been an adventure.  This bathroom was the main reason we DIDN'T want to buy this house.  What am I supposed to do with yellow tile?  I'm slowly figuring it out :o)

I wanted some artwork that would help pull out the yellow and dark gray accent colors I had goin' on,  so I found some fabric scraps that I had and some empty frames and figured, why not?

I LOVE the way they turned out.  These are seriously simple to make.  Could not be ANY easier!

I started by spray painting my frames.  (There is no picture because I did it the day before the fever started. They sat in my yard for 3 days before I remembered they were out there :o)

Cut a piece of fabric about the same size as the inside of your frame.

Find a good surface that you can attach your fabric to, this one had a little lip in the inside that was perfect for this project.

 Find the center of one side of your fabric and staple it to the center of one side of the frame.  I used a staple gun (this one was $1 at a yard sale) to attach it, but I'm sure hot glue would work just as well!

Staple the center of the other side.

Attach the top and bottom the same way.

Staple along each of the sides pulling tight as you go.

Then staple along the top and the bottom, again, don't forget to pull tight!

Didn't they turn out cute?  It's a fun little way to pull out some accent colors in a room.  Now the yellow tile isn't as out of place.

As far as Boog is concerned, things are slowly improving.  This is the first morning in over a week that she woke up without a 103 degree fever! Things always get a little worse in the afternoons and evenings, perhaps one day she won't ask to sleep at the table while we eat dinner :o)

Thanks for those of you who are praying for us.  If you have left me a comment or emailed me, I'm sorry if I haven't responded.  I love that you are reading and showing the love, I just haven't sat down :o)

-Katie

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