DIY

Fall Floral Centerpiece                                                    

If anyone knows me they realize soon after meeting me that I can not stand hot summer days and sunshine.  I lived in California for most of my life and that was all we got weather-wise.  I grew to hate it.  It was so boring to me; sunshine day in and day out, barely any rain, no snow (at least not where I lived) so I moved....to Idaho.

I've heard a rumor that there are four seasons here but since I have only been here a couple of months and it's summer time, that has yet to be seen.

School and pre-season football has started and in my head that triggers images of the fall season. I can't wait for fall!  No more 100 degree days and 80 degree nights.  The colors of fall are beautiful and I would decorate my house with them year round but I don't want to tire of them.  Plus, I was born on the first day of fall so of course I love it!

With fall just around the corner, I have been bitten by the decorating bug.  No, I'm not decorating my house in reds, oranges and greens just yet.  I am, however, getting a jump start on my fall decorating ideas.  Like today, I went to a local craft store and was bitten by the inspiration bug.  I gathered some fake fall florals, a glass jar, some burlap, and some river stones.  I had an idea in my mind and I had to get it out.

Hence, the reason for this post.  This is a DIY fall centerpiece idea.  I'm sure others have tried it or have a different spin on it, but this one is mine, plucked straight from my imagination, and I absolutely love the way it turned out.

First off, you will need to gather your supplies.  I bought two stems of fall florals, a rectangular glass vase, a roll of burlap, and some small river stones. You will also need some heavy duty wire cutters and some free time.

Most of these items, well all of them really, were on sale, but we'll talk about that in a bit.

To start, I lined the glass vase with burlap.  Well, as you can see from the picture, I actually put the rocks in first (I wanted to see how full the vase would get).  These rocks are pretty and in perfect colors for this project, but since they are only going to hold the stems and not be seen, that doesn't really matter at this point.

 

Take my advice and line your vase first, then put the rocks in.

Use your wire cutters to separate the flowers and leaves from the plastic stems.  

 Now comes the fun part.  Put the flowers and leaves into the vase and arrange them until you are happy with the way it looks.  

Seriously, I like things to be even (O.C.D. anyone?) so I had to play with my arrangement for a few minutes before I found something that worked for me.

Even after I did all of that I felt like something was missing.  I am lucky enough to own a Cricut Expression 2 and I can cut my own vinyl lettering.  You can also purchase pre-cut lettering at the store or just buy some stickers.  

I downloaded a free image from the Cricut.com project center for future use during Thanksgiving time.  But why wait? I decided to use it today.  I didn't use the fancy stuff at the edges, just the lettering.  I cut the lettering on beige colored vinyl, used masking tape* to remove the lettering, and then applied it to my vase.  

Thinking back, this probably should have been the first step because then I could have held the glass on my lap or flat on a table instead of trying to apply the lettering while the vase was upright. But hindsight is 20/20 and it all worked out, so who cares?

I was going to add a top color of red to the lettering, but after about three letters of red I decided that it stood out too much and I just didn't like it; so I took it off.  No big deal and I really like the way the beige lettering kind of blends in to the background of the vase.  It adds a little something without overpowering the whole arrangement.

So here is the overall appearance of my future fall centerpiece:

I really love the way it turned out and I can't wait for the seasons to change, just so I can decorate around it!

*Just one more thing.  Craft stores sell that expensive transfer paper to put vinyl lettering and pictures on other objects.  First off, let me tell you that I have never used it.  I'm not even sure how it works.  But for a cost saving solution, just use masking tape.  I cut the vinyl lettering using my Cricut, then, while the vinyl is still on the cutting mat, I put masking tape over the lettering.  Slowly pull the masking tape from the cutting mat and the letters should come up with it.  Works like a charm! And so cheap too!

But that's just my two cents...And speaking of two cents, I bet you're wondering how much all of this cost? The burlap ($2.46), vase ($7.46), and flowers/leaves ($11.38) were all on sale and I got the rocks ($1.00) at the Dollar Store. Total cost before tax?...Nineteen dollars and thirty cents! Yup, I made this for less than $20.00! Now go to Michael's or JoAnn's and find something like this, pre-season, for less than $20.00. I dare you......(8/28/2013)

Craft Table

Have you ever looked for a craft table either in a store or online?  Those things are EXPENSIVE!!!  I think the cheapest one I found online was around $600.00.  Then I actually looked at them and saw that it was a tabletop supported by a couple of shelves.  How hard can that be to make?!  So I decided to make one of my very own.

If you've been reading my blog at all, you know that I just moved and now have a craft room; I am so excited about it.  It is a room devoted only to my various crafting urges.  I haven't quite finished putting it together yet but I have a tall set of shelves in two of the corners to hold my yarn, and a fold-able table for the remainder of my crafting needs.  All of the bits and pieces of my other crafting vices (scrap booking, sewing, painting, and cross-stitch) had to reside in the sizable, but still small, craft room closet.

I started looking for storage solutions online that would allow me better access to my supplies but not look thrown together; like a bunch of plastic bins or something.  No offense to the plastic bins, I absolutely love them; it's just not the look I'm going for this time.

When I found the craft tables I was in love.  They were beautiful but I just couldn't afford to buy one.  I saw a few websites about making them yourself but they went all out and actually bought and cut wood and were able to put it together.  I can assemble things, no problem, but I'm not a big user of power tools and figured if I made it that way, it would never be done.

So I went to my local big chain construction supply store and did some investigating.  What I found were these beauties:

They are from Closet Maid and come in various sizes depending on the number of cubes you want.  They also have several finishes to choose from.  They are just under three feet tall and I thought they would make the perfect height for my table while providing just the right amount of storage also.  I bought two of them to use as the table legs, so to speak.

I also wanted the table to be movable so I bought a total of six casters, three for each shelving unit.  I like the idea of being able to move around my work instead of having to move my work around to suit my needs.

I found an old table at a local thrift store that was the perfect size for my room, 3 feet by 4 feet, and it was only $30!  It had a few blemishes but it was already a dark espresso finish. I sanded it down to bare fiberboard anyway and re-stained it. 

        

 

I added some brackets to secure the table to the shelves and voila!  My very own craft table!

With the casters in place, the table is about three feet tall.  I will definitely have to stand while I'm using it but that's what I wanted.  I'll make modifications later if it doesn't work out.

Now for the cost to make it.  With the two shelving units, a total of six casters, the screws, brackets and stain, it cost me a total of....$118.00 in supplies!  Sure beats the six or seven hundred some were asking for to make one. 

2 6-cube shelves:	$79.84
2 locking casters:	$7.96
4 regular casters:	$13.76
1/2" screws:	$4.98
brackets (4):	$3.49
Espresso stain:	$7.98
(with polyurethane already in it)
Grand total:	$118.01