Want to see the absolute, easiest-in-the-world styling tip ever? More than likely, you already have the supplies in-house, making this project (if you can even call it that since it’s so easy) cost-free. If you have a lamp and a collection of big hardback books, then you are ready to turn what might be a slightly “blah” surface into an interesting and colorful vignette.

Here is my lamp before – It sat alongside one of my thrift store clocks on top of a wooden shelf that holds our collection of records. The bright base of the lamp gives the surface a little bit of punch and character, but it definitely needed something more…

To remedy the issue, I took three oversized hardback books that I already owned and stacked them beneath the lamp and clock. I did my best to track down the most colorful books I had and lucked out with a collection of three that featured bold fonts and coordinating colors.

You might notice that the books are home-related resources, all of which I would highly recommend if you don’t already have them on your bookshelf.

First, we have The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking, a book that I have read from cover to cover. It’s full of helpful tips on how to keep your home beautiful, organized and environmentally friendly, all while looking hip and stylish along the way. I learned how to make my own drain de-clogger to avoid pouring harsh chemicals down the sink and bathtub, I learned the basics of canning and I even snagged a few DIY how-to’s along the way.

Next, there’s Sania Pell’s The Homemade Home. This is one of those books that I like to flip through and gaze longingly at the photography. There are tons of fun DIY projects to try out and beautiful spaces styled with nothing but flea market finds and heirloom pieces. If you buy this book for nothing but the photography, you won’t be let down. Speaking of, I highly recommend subscribing to Sania’s blog for the same reason.

And lastly, we all know of Grace Bonney’s Design Sponge at Home – I got my copy for Christmas and love digging deep into the tutorials, soaking up ideas from the featured spaces and just all around getting inspired. A must-have for any home maven on a mission. The bright colors and patterns of the cover and spine don’t hurt either.

So there you have it! The easiest styling tip I could ever impart to you. But what may be easy does not in the least lack in punch, personality and pizzazz (alliteration intended).

Have a great day!

I’ve been wanting to do this project forever…A sweet little wreath with felt flowers and materials that will stand the test of time, season after season. What’s not to love?

Source: Armelle the Blog

I’ve also been faced with a tiny problem – Our front door looks into the onslaught of the afternoon sun, so all of the seasonal wreaths I’ve crafted in the past with hot glue melt to pieces (literally) in the heat. The goal was to create a new wreath without using any kind of hot glue. Luckily, I was able to avoid it with the help of a staple gun for this project.

Supplies:

• hay wreath form (with plastic wrap still on)
• fabric to wrap it with
• several different colors of felt
• staple gun and staples
• scissors
• pen

So the first thing I did was lay out my wreath – The reason I left the plastic on was to keep all of that hay in place. I didn’t want any of it sneaking through the fabric wrapping in the end. Instead of a hay wreath, you could try a green foam one, but I liked the natural quality (and sweet, farm-like scent) of the hay.

Next I pulled some leftover fabric (from this project) and cut it into a long strip. Then I cut the long strip in half, making two thin ones about three inches thick.

Then I just started wrapping! Every now and then I would put a staple through the fabric into the wreath form, but I wrapped it tightly enough, that a multitude of staples weren’t entirely necessary. Oh and don’t worry about the staples showing – I just stapled a layer and then covered it with the next wrap of my fabric.

The last wrap got a slew of visible staples, but I made sure they were on the back side of the wreath so that nobody would see. After trimming the excess fabric, I was done.

Sure, there are a bunch of little “furries” left from the ragged edge of the fabric, but I don’t mind them – I feel like it gives it an organic feel. I could always snip them off if I decide against that look in the future though…

Next, I made my little bouquet of felt flowers. I picked up three colors I think went nicely together – A hot pink, gray-ish blue and mustard yellow.

Starting with the yellow, I used a pen to draw a tiny flower shape and then cut it out. After that, I placed the small cut out on a clean section of the yellow felt and traced a slightly larger flower. I repeated the steps until I had three progressively larger flower shapes so that, when stacked, it looked like a full bloom.

Tada!

Using the templates I made, I traced as many as I could fit on the felt and then got to cutting. After repeating the same steps for all three colors of felt, I was left with three flowers of each color.

Almost finished!

After laying them on my wrapped wreath in a little cluster on the side, I used my staple gun to make sure everything stayed in place – One staple into the center of each flower. I used the staple gun because, again, I was hoping to avoid a hot glue gun. But if you don’t need to worry about that, then by all means break it out! I actually don’t mind the look of the staples, but I might eventually pick up a pack of decorative floral arrangement pins (like the ones with pretty pearls on the end) to push into the center of my felt flowers.

Here’s the finished wreath with stapled flowers – I love how the edges of the petals sort of peek up with the staple pressed into the middle.

Here it is hanging proudly on our front door to greet visitors:

And if you’re wondering about cost, this project was cheap, cheap cheap! Only a little over $10.

I suppose it’s a little funny to make a floral wreath in the winter season (especially since we actually got five inches of snow last night – FINALLY), but flowers make me smile, no matter what the season. That’s good enough reason for me to break the norm.

Hope you had a great weekend!