Spring Medallion Garland

I have loved the look of medallions ever since I saw them in last month's issue of Better Homes and Garden's. Have you ever seen Sweet Paul's ideas? I love pretty much all of them and I want to make everything he's done. Here are the wall medallions he made-aren't they pretty?

Source: bhg.com via Kristina on Pinterest

These seemed really easy to make so I decided to try some mini ones for my mantle. It's been looking a little bare since all the major holidays are over so I figure these springy flowers would add nice pops of color and spice things up.  And they do!

Here's the easy tutorial for making some of your own:


You will need: 

• decorative paper at least 20" long (I used handmade wrapping paper)
• scissors-straight or decorative cut
• paper glue or glue gun
• yarn, twine or string
• scrap paper in different colors for center circles

First, cut your strips about 20" long using decorative or regular scissors. 

(The wider the strip, the larger the medallion--my mini ones were about 2 inches wide.)

Then, fold each strip about 1/4 " -1/2" wide accordion style.

Next, glue the short ends together to form a tube.

Before you flatten each tube, cut out circles in different shapes and colors to add to the centers of the medallions.

Now it's time to flatten each medallion and glue together at the center.
Add your circles to the centers with a dot of hot glue or paper glue.

To make into a garland, I hot glued my medallions to the back of twine to stretch the length of my mantle.

And here are a few shots of my finished Spring medallion garland:

 These were really fun to make and I plan on making bigger ones in different colors next time a good excuse for a party rolls around. They would be a great way to repurpose a catalog or an old book, don't you think?

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple!

Linking up with these parties.

Faux Capiz Shell Chandeliers

Who has seen these gorgeous chandeliers on Design Sponge or Pinterest? I think they look so pretty hanging in my trees and would be gorgeous for an outdoor wedding. I have loved the idea for a while now and finally got to make not one, not two but four of them! They have kept me so busy these past two weeks and here they are 300 ft. of wax paper, over 400 ft. of ribbon and ton of hot glue and only 1 burn later.

 I was asked to help with the new stage design at my church and they will be so pretty hanging with lights shining up into them. Can't wait to see what they will look like with stained glass printed panels-of course I'll be posting pictures when it's all set up. Below is the tutorial and materials list if you want to make your own:

Do you know what these are made out of? Wax paper. 

Something ordinary turned into something beautiful. (It's a lot like what God does when we let Him transform our lives...)

Before you begin, you might want to know that it took me 6-8 hours to make each one and I used 24" planter baskets-but they probably could be done smaller in a lesser amount of time. 

Here's the link to Brenna's tutorial on Design Sponge

trimming the ribbon ends

checking over the details

I'll be making one next for my dining room

...and one for my bedroom...

Now that I'm an "expert" at making Faux Capiz Shell Chandeliers I plan on making some for my own house. I wonder what it would look like if I melted silver crayon shavings into them? That will be an experiment for another day...Can't wait to show you how it all looks up on the big stage-stay tuned for more pictures and thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple!

Linking up with these parties. 

DIY Chalk Board Serving Platter

Hello, good people! I am so excited to share with you this  project from one of the coolest blogs I 
have stumbled upon! This chalkboard platter is just genius and I love it!  Amanda Wright of 
 Wit and  Whistle  has lots of cool DIY projects, a"stylishly  quirky paper goods shop", 
and more along with gorgeous photography! 


She points out in her tutorial that you need to use a special kind of chalkboard paint made for 
porcelain (never knew there was such a thing!) But I do love chalkboards and love to make them on 
all kinds of surfaces. This idea is a fun and creative way to identify what types of foods you have on 
your platter for your entertaining guests-like cheeses, cookies, or appetizers. 

This is the first of a few highlights and features I will be doing from time to time to share some 
great projects and highlight talented crafters I've discovered. 
Hope you enjoy and go visit Wit and Whistle for this tutorial and  more of Amanda's  amazing ideas.
(Seriously, besides being beautifully designed some of Amanda's handmade cards are laugh out loud funny!)

So, did you enjoy this idea? (Who doesn't love chalkboards these days? )
Looking forward to sharing more of my own ideas later this week with more Valentine's fun, a really big giveaway, and more!

Things That Get You Through Winter Party

I was invited to a birthday party for a friend last week with the theme

"What Gets You Through Winter", (great idea!) and I immediately 

thought about  how after every Christmas, after the tree goes down, 

I like to go to a green house and pick out a few new houseplants 

and breathe in the warm air. (I try to avoid greenhouses in the 

summer-too hot for me, but perfect in the winter.)

Something about bringing in fresh, living green plants helps us think 

spring when everything is frozen outside (usually...this winter has 

been an exception with 40-50 temperatures. I'm not complaining!).

So, as a gift for this party, I took one of my baby jade plants and tried

out my liquid chalkboard paint for the first time to decorate the pot.

After painting the pot and allowing to dry, I used my new

chalk markers I got from Uppercase Living to write little care 

messages on it, like watering instructions and "Think Spring".

Here was someone else's idea of what gets them through winter: 

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake. Mmmm....I agree.

Someone else said "art and color" gets them through, so they 

brought a blank canvas with paints for a group effort to 

create a bright abstract painting for the birthday girl.

Even the kids got to help...

I thought this was a creative party idea--so much better than no

theme at all, and thinking about trying this for a great excuse for 

people to get together and eat, drink, be creative,
and hold on until spring comes.

If you are in a cold weather climate, what are some things

that get you through winter?

Linking up with these and this party.

A Colorful DIY Holiday Garland

A big thank you to Vanessa from Houzz.com for the great write up and feature of this post on 30 Beautifully Inventive DIY Christmas Decorations! 

Don't these cheerful pom poms make you smile just looking at them? I got inspired after looking at the adorable Land of Nod Christmas catalog where the rooms were decorated with this fun pom pom garland. (The same catalog I made my whimsy trees out of.) 

I told you my theme this year for decorating is "childlike and whimsical". My whole family is loving  the bright, cheerful colors. 

And if you have little kids (like I do) they can't break them or really cause much damage. (I have a whole kid-friendly tree up in my house! ) 

And they are so, so simple to make you can do it relaxing in front of your favorite Christmas movie. Or if you have an older child, they could help, too, since yarn needles aren't sharp.

All you need are pom poms in whatever color you like, yarn, and a yarn needle. 

I made a couple of sets-these with fun, bright green eyelash yarn, and another all white strand that looks like puffy little snowballs. My youngest son only managed to yank them off the tree once (so far...)

• Here's what you do: 
• Thread your yarn needle with yarn. 
• Push the needle through one pom pom at a time, spacing them until you have a strand in the length you want. 
• Knot the end. 
• You're done! (See I told you it was so easy-- you barely needed this tutorial! )

So much fun! 

 Next, I'm excited to show you some handmade, cheap,  unbreakable, kid-friendly ornaments I've been making! 

Thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple! 

Linking up with these parties and this party.