Getting Crafty {Day 24}

One of the ways I make a house feel like a home is by getting crafty. It's in my blood. I sold most of my craft stuff when we moved, but I'm just not physically able to stop crafting. It's who I am folks. :)

So - we have a nice big front door, and I wanted to spruce it up a bit for the season. I had lots of ideas, but some would have taken a long time and others would have been very expensivo. Instead, I challenged myself to come up with some front door decorations with things I could procure at the Dollar Tree. Here's what I came home with:



Five dollars worth of supplies, which included a large felt leaf shape, a package of "table scatter" leaves, a "paper picture craft kit", a set of magnet clips and a package of colored raffia. Here's what I did with them:

Inside of that paper picture craft kit was a cardboard square and a bunch of tissue paper. I used the cardboard square for my craft, and kept the tissue paper for another project.



I found a font I liked (called Wolf in the City from dafont.com) and printed out the words GIVE THANKS onto regular computer paper. Then I layered the paper over the cardboard, and used a regular pen to outline the words, pressing firmly so the design would transfer to the cardboard. Once it was transfered, I carefully traced the imprint with a sharpie, resulting in this - sorry about the blur.



Then I just used a bigger Sharpie to color in the letters and give it all a uniform look. The kids colored with crayons on some paper while I did this - that kept them pretty entertained until we got to the really interesting parts like gluing. :) Fancy pajama pant wearing is optional for this craft. :)



Next up, break out the glue gun and get it heating up. Keep your toddler busy by asking him to pull the magnets off of the clips that you purchased. He'll give it a valiant attempt, but will ultimately defer to your strength and muscle. #ibringthebrawn Flip your leaf and your cardboard square over, and slap some magnets on those babies. (Spoiler alert, these magnets are not strong enough to hold up the cardboard. They will however, help to stabilize it on your door. )



Flip the square back over, and glue on as many little leaves as your heart desires. In my case, my heart apparently desired four leaves.



You're done! Walk downstairs and hang up your masterpieces. I blurred out my apartment number because I know y'all are creepers and will totally stalk me. Just kidding. But seriously, posting your address on the interwebs is never a good idea. The leaf hung just fine with the magnets, but the square kept falling down, so I stuck a command hook right on the door and hung it on that. Feel free to do the same, especially if your door is not metal.



A bright and cheerful doormat is optional but definitely recommended. :) and there you have it! A simple, seasonal touch that will brighten your day and make you smile. At least it works for me. :) Five bucks, half an hour, and loads of fun! Make one too and tell me all about it. :) Oh! And you may notice that I didn't use the raffia - I'll show you what I did with that tomorrow. You'll never guess. (It's a garland. :)