DIY Arrows with stone Arrowheads

Heyyyyyy! Labor day has passed and now it is officially acceptable to be decorating for fall! Even if it is still reaching the high 90's :) I've had our mantel done for about a week now and shared this IKEA frame hack earlier this week. If you are a weirdo attention person you may have noticed the arrows that were next to the frame. Well, incase you've been biting your nails waiting to see a post about them HERE IT IS! 

These lovely DIY Arrows came about while cleaning the house. Yep, I was inspired by cleaning- struggle #1 of a creative brain you can't see the world with out making some project out of it. Basically I was dusting off Reeds bedside table and found a huge pile of arrowheads he has found around the property. At first I placed them in a pretty jar so that they weren't just falling all over the place. Then as I moved on to the living room I realized how cool they would be on display! I mean they are very old arrowheads once used by the people who lived here so why not share the history with our guests! 

So obviously I stopped cleaning the house (struggle #2 not very many things get accomplished around here unless it is a fun project) and went about collecting supplies to make arrows to display these beautiful arrow heads with. I was trying not to make them too fake looking, by no means would these ever stay together when shot from a bow but I wanted to use materials that were a little more realistic than glitter and colored string :)

Here are the supplies I used:
Stone Arrowheads 

Semi straight twigs from the yard
White Craft feathers

Floral wire

Twine

Stripes of leather 

(yes I threw in some cool old tin and aqua leather just incase I needed them, but I ended up staying true to my roots and used only "natural" things for arrows) 

Then I dug around trying to find something I could split the twig with. I ended up using a cutting board, and x-acto knife with a flat edge blade. This way I could cut straight down and through the twig with out scaring myself :)

Here is the step by step to making your own decorative arrow.
1.Find a twig and arrowhead that look like they fit well together. ( I used a larger stick for this larger arrowhead so that I would be able to have a substantial amount of wood on either side). 
2. Cut straight down the center of the twig about a half inch. (You need enough room for the twig to pull apart and the arrow head to slide snuggly in.) 
3-4. Slide in your arrow head and adjust your twig until it is tightly in place
5. Wrap your floral wire around the twig pulling it back in and loop up around either side of the arrow head.
6. Use your twine or leather to hide the floral wire.

7. Pick out your feathers and wire them to the other end of the twig. 

8. Again, hide the wire with your twine or leather. 

WAHLA! ALL DONE!

Now, like I said before these are by no means sturdy. I'm sure if you have kids (or husbands) who want to play with them you could add a dab of hot glue to secure the stone arrowhead a bit better. But I knew Reed wouldn't be happy if I used hot glue because Native Americans wouldn't have used that. And boy was I right, he knit picked these arrows... Apparently Native Americans also didn't have floral wire or pick crooked sticks.... 

But they work lovely to display a couple of his arrowheads while not risking messing up any of the stones. I would have hated if these stone arrowheads would have lasted this long out in the weather but couldn't make it past the crafting of me!

So these lovely fellas are sitting on our mantel adding a bit of whimsy and history to it :)
What are you adding to your fall mantel this season??

Boondocks Christmas Home Tour 2013

I've been sooo excited about this house tour! I have had some of my Christmas decoration up since before Thanksgiving so waiting this long to share with you has been so hard! But if Rachel of Like A Saturday didn't ask me to be a part of this home tour I don't know if I would have decorated the way I did. And I'm basically obsessed with how I got to decorate :) 

Be sure to check out Like A Saturday and be sure to follow all the blogs that have been a part of the tour since Monday! And if you're coming from What Meegan Makes, Christmas Tree Home Tour welcome! If not be sure to head over and check out her beautiful blue Christmas!

Now that you've made it all the way out to the boondocks lets get this tour started!
Our front porch is the perfect southern style porch. Long and deep with loads of room to enjoy the view of our fabulously large yard!

I'll be sharing how I made this easy gas can table, and the day bed out of nothing but left over scraps. Be on the look out for these tutorials in the next few weeks! 

Now that we are in-side our humble abode kick your shoes off and relax awhile!
The tree and mantel are perfect for making a cozy little living room and when we get that Christmas candle going I could stay forever! 

Check out how I made the faux weathered wood boards, the simple natural wreath, and the paper stars.
And don't forget to check out the post on our Natural Cotton and Burlap Christmas Tree!

I love our little Nativity scenes!

Now, do you want something to drink or to snack on?
Lets take a whirl around the kitchen real quick. I've got lots of little vignettes going on :)

Well, if you've gotta go at least it's ending with my absolute favorite spot in the house! We finally got our back porch in shape and ready to use! I've still got some other projects to make it 100% complete but I still can't wait until warmer weather to sit out there with a book!
 

 I've got my charlie brown tree, cozy little papasan chair with my DIY cushion, leaded windows and the best view of my little "santa's workshop"! (studio).
DREAMYYYY

Now be sure to head over to Absolutely Arkansas to continue the Christmas Home tour!

If you didn't make it over to the boondocks after visiting What Meegan Makes then head over now, trust me you don't wanna miss it! 

And don't forget to check back Friday to join us in a Link party and the final homes of the tours!

Paper Star Tutorial [Christmas Mantel 2013]

Ok, I may have started a bad addiction  tradition. I am totally decorated for Christmas (minus the outside) and we still are still over a week away from Thanksgiving! But my excuse is that I have no one but me and the hubs coming over until after Thanksgiving, so why decorate when no one will see it???

Anyway, blogging is supporting this addiction tradition so I am going to take full advantage and show yall some tutorials for my super cheap and easy decorations! So far I've shared how I got the weathered wood look and how I made that pretty dang good looking wreath (if I do say so myself). Now it is time to share the fabulous paper stars that I've got pretty much everywhere and never wanna take down :)

First things first. You need some sort of glue (I used modge podge because I use it for everything.) paper, and scissors. Thats it! Then all you do is head over to Home Made Gifts Made Easy and check out their PDF download for the pattern. (She has a tutorial too, but I'm some one who basically never reads directions. I glance then do it how every I want.. oops!)

Second, make sure you have your baby cuddled in your lap and the best TV marathon you can think of. Yes, it is easy enough that you can do cuddled up with your pup while watching TV!! 

Third. Use those scissors and cut out all your pieces. The PDF has 3 different sizes and you can even resize them to fit what you are looking for. This is actually smaller than the smallest file provided. 

Once everything is cut out grab a ruler/straight edge. (sorry I forgot that in my materials pictures!) line it up with the dotted line and bend. Do this to each dotted line. Once you have folded and creased the paper nicely add glue to your right hand tab. This will be the tab that you tuck in to create the "cone" point of the stars. 

Fourth. Repeat that process for all 5 pieces of your star. Then once you have all of your "cones" put together you can start attaching them to one another. This was a bit tricky. Apparently I needed more elbow room and was annoying Tepe so she left. 

To attach them simple put a small amount of glue on the OUTSIDE of the two tabs on the top of your cone. Then you simply fit the taps to the underside of your next cone. If you are using double sided tape or a faster drying glue it would probably be less hectic. But I enjoyed the elbow flailing so I contorted my fingers to pinch the pieces together until they dried. 

Getting the first two together is relatively easy, attaching the next 2 are a bit harder but you can do it!
 

Fifth. Once you have four of your cones together it really looks like a star. I've found that it is easier to attach the final point if you 1. wait until the glue is totally dry. 2. pinch them all down flat. Yes, these stars can be folded and stored "flat"! But what this does is make it easier for you to get your fingers inside to attach the final point. 

Sixth. Attach your final point! It is a bit tricky and totally requires some strange finger twists and probably lots of elbow room. But it is possible! However, all you will be doing is attaching ONE SIDE of your final point. You can see in the first picture below that if you hold it by one end there is a slight gap. You can fix it by 1. tying some fishing line between your final ends or 2. glueing it together. I left mine alone because I'm lazy and I messed with them enough that it wasn't super noticeable :)  But leaving the unfinished side allows you to fold up your star and store flat once you are ready to take them down, or you can affix the side permanently and just never take them down :) 

And thats it! Just repeat that process as many times as stars your heart desires! I have 1 large, 2 mediums, 4 smalls, and 3 extra smalls all around our house. 

For our mantel I hung the stars by pocking a hole the through top point and threading fishing line through it and tying that to a thumb tack. I love that you can't see the fishing line, it makes them look like they are just floating!  

And thats my third tutorial for this mantel. I LOVE the way it is going. I may just have to keep it up forever... just kidding, but maybe. Don't forget to check out how I made the Faux Weathered Boards, and the Easy DIY Wreath! I'll be adding a few more tutorials next week too so be sure to check them out!! 

Easy DIY Holiday Wreath

Goodness me I've been unbelievably busy. I've been filling lots of orders, and I had my in-laws come visit so it has been non stop for what feels like weeks! I decided I wanted to get a little holiday decorations up before the in-laws left so I got started on the mantel.

Now this is the first time I've been able to really decorate for the Holidays. I'm so excited for Christmas this year, I get to collect goodies, pick a theme, and get it all together! I started the other day by pulling down everything I have from last year. Which isn't much, basically one small moving box full. 

I don't have a big budget to get my "theme" together so I am doing as much on my own with free goodies from nature and some good stuff from wally world and the dollar tree. For my mantel I  knew I wanted a wreath in the center. I picked up 2 grape vine wreaths. But wanted to be sparing with them so I decided to pull them apart. This allowed me to use them in other places around the house! 

Here you can see how it looks when pulled apart. 1. is the original wreath. 2. is the thick vine that holds it completely together. it takes a while but you just tug and pull until you find the end and un wrap it. 3 and 4 are the two halves that fit together to create the original wreath. You can tell that one is a little more sturdy looking. Basically the two are intertwined almost perfectly so pull pull pull and then you can find the one or two vines that hold them together.

Once I got the grapevine split I realized it was pretty thin. I had some awesome cream color burlap "ribbon". I'm not really sure what it is but it is awesome and only $7 at Walmart so I stocked up on it :) By cutting a strip and looping it through the wreath it added a good bit of weight back so it didn't look so wimpy any more.

Then I collected some cedar branches and added the flower from the Dollar Tree. I just added a few sprigs of cedar and made sure not to leave them to tight, making it more organic :)

This wreath took me less than 30 minutes to make. The hardest part was getting that dang grapevine wreath separated, but you don't need to do that unless you are like me and trying to get as many projects out of one as possible :)
I love the way it turned out, and the cedar will be easy to replace when it dries out, so that pretty green pop will stay all season long!

To finish up my mantel I figured why not add some of those distressed boards I've been selling so much of! I wanted mine to look different so I opted for a vertical and horizontal combo. I picked my theme to be pretty natural, seeing that I can't buy too much. Sticking with wood tones makes it easy to add in any pops of color that may show up :) 

I also used some left over card stock and made some rad paper stars! I LOVE them and think it plays off well with the "Night Devine" theme :) I've still got some dressing up to do but I love the way its going! 

So happy with how my first ever Christmas mantel turned out. Now I know why people get so amped about decorating for the Holidays :)