Holiday decorating Archives - Page 14 of 21

arts and craft, Build It, cake plate, cloche, decor, Decorating, distressing, Gift Ideas, gifts, Glaze, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, Très Frugal, Tutorial

DIY Rustic Cake Stand Tutorial

Rustic Wood Cake Stand | Pretty Handy Girl

Day two has arrived and I have ANOTHER fabulous Très Frugal DIY gift idea for you. Honestly, this is one of my favorites. And I owe it all to this little picture from my Instagram friend, Kennesha. She blogs over at Restoration House and has an amazing sense of style!

After seeing her rustic cake stand that she wanted to DIY, my creative wheels began to burn rubber.

I simply picked up a few wood discs and a furniture leg to create a unique cake stand. Here’s the tutorial:

Materials:

15″ Wood Disc from Lowe’s
5″ and 7″ Wood plaques (from Michaels)
Turned furniture leg (from Lowe’s)
E-6000 glue (or wood glue)
1 – 2.5″ wood screw
3M Sandpaper block
Drill
Drill bit slightly smaller than the screw
Drill bit slightly smaller than the furniture leg bolt
Philips head screwdriver bit
Food safe sealer (Behandla cutting board sealer found at IKEA)

Optional: Paint & Glazes (all available at Lowe’s):

Valspar 6006-1A Woodrow Wilson Putty
Valspar 6007-2A Arid Plains
Valspar 6005-1A Asiago
Valspar clear mixing glaze
Dry brush paint brush
Paint brush

Not optional: Cake or Cupcakes!!!! (kidding of course) Read more

November 2, 2013/25 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accessories, arts and craft, christmas gift wrap, decor, Decorating, Holiday decorating, Home Decor

Michael’s Dream Tree Challenge – Feathered Nest

I know what you’re about to say…”What?! It’s not time for Christmas decorations!” Well, I received an email from Michaels asking if I’d like to participate in the Michaels Dream Tree Challenge. If you saw last year’s contestants and the resulting dream trees, you’ll completely understand why I was excited to be asked to join in this year. Plus, I’ve been working feverishly on the Très Frugal month of DIY Gift Ideas and having some Christmas décor set up has put me in the mood (and provides for a festive backdrop for photography!)

Once I received my pre-lit tree and the gift card to pay for my tree decorations, I hit up my local Michaels retail store. I really had no idea what theme I wanted to create, but I did know I wanted to be frugal and make my gift card stretch as far as possible.

As luck would have it, there were lots of Fall berries on clearance. Can you tell the difference between fall red berries and Christmas red berries? Read more

October 31, 2013/35 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accessories, arts and craft, Build It, Crafts, Decorating, DIY, E-6000, gifts, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, Trash to Treasure, Tutorial

DIY Industrial Cupcake Stands

Make these DIY industrial cupcake stands now and you’ll be ready for all the upcoming holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast approaching! The cool black steel plumbing parts base combined with the natural wood slice platform lends itself to an unexpected industrial feel.

Each cupcake stand costs $5.50 in parts (not including the birch log), very reasonable for a unique, DIY project that could easily lend itself to become a favor or small gift.

Supplies required (for one DIY Industrial Cupcake Stands):

1/2″ black steel floor flange
1/2″ x 3 1/2″ black steel nipple
birch log (approx. 5″ in diameter)
hand saw or circular saw
palm sander or sandpaper
drill
3/4″ circular drill bit
E-6000 glue

DIY Industrial Cupcake Stands Instructions:

Step 1: Using a handsaw or circular saw slice off 3/4″ thick disc of wood from the birch log. (If you’re concerned about bugs, you can bake them as shown here.)

Step 2: Sand wood slices smooth.

Step 3: Using a drill with a 3/4″ circular bit drill out a small hole for the nipple piece, only about 1/4″ deep, be careful not to let the tip of the bit pierce through to the other side of the wood slice.

Step 4: Apply E-6000 glue to one end of nipple and screw it into flange.

Step 5: Apply E-6000 glue to circular hole in wood slice.

Step 6: Gently ‘screw’ other end of nipple into wood slice.

Let the glue dry while the cupcake stands are upside down.

When dry, flip the stands over and load them up! They are perfect not only for cupcakes but candles too:

Cupcakes, candles and individual pies too! Mini pumpkin and pecan pies are on definitely my Thanksgiving menu this year:

~ Learn more about Jaime ~

Pin for later!

October 16, 2013/4 Comments/by Jaime Costiglio

accessories, art, arts and craft, Build It, Crafts, decor, Do It Yourself, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, painting, priming, Tutorial

DIY a GIANT Artist Canvas

Have you ever yearned to own a giant piece of artwork but the cost was prohibitive? Or you knew you could create some awesome abstract paintings, but buying large canvases would cost too much. Well, for those hesitant artists, I have this quick tutorial for building your own GIANT canvas!

Materials:

2×2″ boards for frame supports (two sides, top, bottom and center support)
Kreg Jig and pocket hole screws
Drill
White fabric (canvas material would be best, but use what you have)
Staple gun and staples
Paint brush
Gesso (if you don’t have gesso, primer would probably work fine)

Instructions:

Cut your 2×2″ lumber down to size. Cut your top and bottom the full widths. Cut the two sides and the center support 3″ shorter to accommodate the height of the added top and bottom pieces. Note, if your canvas is portrait (instead of landscape), your support will be a center horizontal brace instead of vertical as shown. Read more

October 14, 2013/24 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

book, Books as decor, decor, Decorating, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, Home Tour, mantles

A Lazy Girl’s Patriotic Summer Mantel

My name is Pretty Handy Girl and I am addicted to my Christmas mantel. Yes, I have used it since December 2012. I needed to enroll myself in a program that would help me get unhooked from holiday mantel décor. Truth be told, I needed a little help from my friends to change my habitual ways. So let’s turn this Christmas mantel into A Lazy Girl’s Patriotic Summer Mantel.

Thanks to my good friends on Facebook and Instagram, they intervened and guided me in the right direction. With some suggestions they helped me turn around and get my life back in the correct season.

Using my kitchen upheaval as an excuse is really only acceptable for one or two months. I used that lame explanation as a crutch for seven months! But, the issue became glaringly apparent when our good friend and house sitter remarked that she thought that was our Christmas mantel still up in June. {busted} Before she settled into our home (while we left for an extended vacation), I knew I had to change it up.

Everyone had some great ideas, but the easiest and quickest were to add buntings and some blue. Within 45 minutes (because I always have to play around with things for at least half an hour.) I had a fresh seasonally-appropriate Patriotic mantel.

Inexpensive buntings from Michael’s were the undeniable champion in this makeover.

A few American flags in a cobalt blue bottle brought some more patriotism onto the scene. Red, white and blue books were an easy way to add the right colors.