Crafty Time For Mama and Giveaway Winner

I love that my girls love being crafty and we have a lot of fun when we do projects together, but there are times when this crafty mama needs to craft alone. For times when I don't need my assistants I make sure they have something else to keep themselves busy. I thought it would be really fun this year for the girls to make their own Valentine's Day cards. I came across {THIS} printable awhile back and used it as the inspiration for our cards. 

I headed to Michael's and found everything we needed...heart-shaped cards, foam Valentine shapes, stamps and stickers. I had purchased Valentine pencils at the dollar store a few weeks ago. 

Then I set the girls loose and let their creativity take over.

I love how focused they were, especially Logan. She really took her time and personalized each card. She spent a lot of time selecting the right design and wording for each person on her list. 

Noa was more into seeing how many stickers, stamps and foam shapes she could cram on each shape, but she loved every minute of it and I've never seen her focus on one project for so long.

They sat like this for over an hour while I worked on my Valentine's Day banners. No one yelled, cried, or said an unkind word. 

They were both so proud of their finished cards and they can't wait to give them to their friends.

 There's nothing better than a personalized card made with love!

And now for our giveaway winner....

Congrats to KATHIE she is the winner of our Valentine's Day banner giveaway!!! Please email your address to hangingonbyathread@live.com and I'll pop the banner in the mail today! Big thanks to everyone who entered!

Valentine's Day Banner Tutorial and Giveaway

Last week I was visiting a friend and she showed me an adorable Valentine's Day banner she had just received as a gift. I instantly fell in love and knew I had to make my own.

You like???

I just love it. Don't you? 

Want to make your own? Of course you do!!!

Here's what you need:

• Burlap (I used about 1/2 yard)
• Acrylic Paint
• Supplies from my freezer paper stencil tutorial
• Twin or Ribbon

Start by making a pattern for your pennants. 

Trace your pattern onto the burlap. I folded my burlap in half so that I could make two pennants at once.

Cut out enough pennants until you have one for each letter or shape you need.

You certainly can paint your letters freehand, but I like the cleanness that the freezer paper stencils provide. If you need a refresher on how to use freezer paper as a stencil click {HERE}. Use your iron to attach the freezer paper to the burlap.

Using a foam brush and your acrylic paint, paint inside the stencil. Make sure you put something down to protect the surface you are painting on. The burlap isn't very thick and the paint will bleed through. It may take a few coats of paint to get the color you want. Just make sure to let the paint dry completely in between coats. 

Once the paint is dry, gently peel off the freezer paper-this is my favorite part! (I may add a layer of Mod Podge on each pennant after painting to help prevent fraying)

You can use ribbon, bias tape or twine to string your pennants together. I used twine that I bought from Pick Your Plum.  Using a doll needle and a running stitch attach the pennants together.

Continue until all the pennants have been strung together, and happily hang up your new beautiful banner for all to see!

Our Valentine's Day mantle is coming together quite nicely! I still have one more project in the works that I'm hoping to share with you later this week. 

So what do you think? Do you want one? 

How about this one?

That's right! It's giveaway time!!!

You have 3 ways to enter. 

1. Follow this blog (don't forget to comment that you are a follower).
2. Share the giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, or whatever form of social media you crazy kids are using these days. Make sure you let me know that you spread the love. 
3. For a bonus entry, in honor of Valentine's Day, share the name of your first crush. (Mine was Jeremy and I was in kindergarten. Ah...young love...)

Pick one, two or all three. Just make sure each entry is a separate comment. Winners will be announced Wednesday morning and the banner will be mailed to you later that day so you can (hopefully) get it before Valentine's Day.

Good luck!

Make Over Your Monday & Giveaway Winner

Happy Monday and happy, happy October! The challenge for the past two weeks was to craft something fall related. I decided that we needed a new wreath for the front door. For inspiration I went to Pinterest. You can literally spend hours searching various fall craft ideas.  I found {THIS} cute burlap wreath and knew it was just what I was looking for.

I headed on over to Jo-Ann Fabrics and got my supplies. The craft wreath was the most expensive piece at $4.99 but I had a 50% off coupon so my grand total for all the supplies was $4.50. Not bad. My only regret was that the wreath form was smaller than I wanted. Had I been a little more creative I'm sure I could have come up with a bigger substitute, but since I was toting children with me I just stuck with the smaller one. In the tutorial they used the metal buttons that you can cover with fabric. I just used old buttons I had on hand and hot-glued the fabric to them. Much quicker and definitely cheaper. I also glued the flowers to the wreath. In the tutorial they clip them on so that you can change them out (I knew I'd never change them). I love how the wreath came out. It was super quick to make and looks lovely on our front door!

I also received two submissions for the giveaway. How adorable are these Candy Corn Trees? Thanks Traci for sharing!

You all know about my love off all things birdie and owl-ish...I love this sweet pull-over fall top by Erin at Lois Pearl. It's perfect for a trip to the pumpkin patch.

Thank you both so much for sharing your craftiness with us.

And now for the winner...

Congratulations to Traci!!! She wins the $20 gift card to my home away from home Jo-Ann's!

This week's challenge is to do something out of your comfort zone. Let's get out there are shake things up a little!

Have a great week and thanks for checking in!

Thrifty Decor Chic

It's All Because of YOU!!! (and a little giveaway too!)

Yesterday my lil' blog hit a HUGE milestone...WE reached 20,000 hits!!! I say "we" because without all of you it never would have happened! I truly appreciate you stopping by each day just to see what I have to share. 

As a thank you I'm hosting a giveaway today. I'm giving away one of my Love Vases. It's been one of my most popular posts so it just seems fitting.

To enter just leave a comment below and you're entered. Winners will be drawn Sunday evening and announced Monday morning.

Thank you again and I look forward to the next 20,000 hits!

Lois Pearl Giveaway

I'm so excited to share a great giveaway with you today!

We met Erin from Lois Pearl last week during drink week. She shared her de-lish Summer Beer recipe with us. This week she is GIVING AWAY one of her adorable Ultimate Knot Dresses in a size of your choice (12m-7). They are super cute and one of a kind. Make sure you check out her Etsy site too. She has some A-mazing bags for sale.

Click {HERE} for the details about the giveaway.

Good luck and I hope if I'm not the winner it's you!

Monday Giveaway and Challenge

Mondays are notoriously blah...just ask Garfield..he has been grumbling about them for years. For most of us it's the start to our week. It's the day when the weekend is a distant memory and we starting thinking stressing about all the things we need to get done during the week: grocery shopping, laundry, shuffling kids to their various activities, crafty projects, meetings, work deadlines...just to name a few that we deal with here week after week.

I'm a firm believer in the power of positive thinking, and I fully acknowledge that I don't always practice what I preach...but I'm really trying to change my attitude about things. Like everyone else, I'm a work in progress.

That brings us to the Monday Challenge. Each Monday I will be posting a challenge for myself and you for the week, something that will help us all get over the Monday blues and feel good. My hope is that you will share your thoughts and experiences with the "challenge" each week in the comment section. I LOVE reading all your comments and hearing your thoughts and suggestions!

This week's challenge is easy: Read to someone else. It seems so simple, read, but in our busy lives it's the little things that are usually first to go when we get too busy.

...and for the giveaway....I'm having some trouble coming up with a name for our Monday challenge. This is where you come in. HELP ME! Let your creative juices flow and throw out as many suggestions for a name as you can think of. I will select my favorite and announce the winner at next Monday's challenge. The winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to Borders to encourage reading long after this week is over.

So I guess you really have 2 challenges this week: Read to someone AND help me come up with a name!

Have a great week!

And the winner is...

THANK YOU all so much for participating in my very first giveaway!!! I hope it was as fun for you as it was for me. I sincerely enjoyed reading all your comments and I appreciate you sharing my blog with your friends.

There was a total of 25 entries. We put everyone's name in a bowl. (A separate entry for each comment).

Then my lovely assistant helped select a winner.

And the winner is...

Congrats to Christy B! Please email me at hangingonbyathread@live.com and let me know if you'd prefer the gift certificate or the drawstring bag.