Easy Wall Decoration

 Since finishing the walls in our basement, I hadn't yet put up many pictures or other decorations.  My main accent color is black but I also wanted to add some color.

This is such an easy wall decoration and a great way to add color to any room.

I had purchased the large quilting loop when I thought I was going to be quilting my first quilt by hand.  I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen so it's just been hanging out in my basement for a couple months.

I then went to Hobby Lobby and purchased 2 smaller loops and some fabric.

 

I inserted some fabric into each loop and tightened it really good.  I wanted to make sure the fabric was really smooth.

 

I made the 2 smaller loops the same fabric and the larger loop a coordinating fabric color.

 

Once all the fabric was securely in the loop.  I trimmed the fabric as close to the loop as I could.

 

The 2 smaller ones finished.

 

This is the wall space where I needed a little color.

 

The finished "art work".  They were so easy to hang.  I actually wanted the screws to be to the side but they were just to heavy to stay.  They ended up having to go to the bottom.

 

This is the view from my desk.

I really like how it adds some color to that corner and they are the perfect fit.  

 

This project took me maybe 15 minutes to complete, and cost about $20.  The bigger quilting loop was a little more expensive because I actually bought it to use for quilting.

I like it better hanging on the wall as art.

American Flag Tutorial

 

I got the idea for this great flag project in a copy of Women's World magazine.  I was standing in line at the grocery story when I saw the magazine and was reminded that I hadn't gotten a copy in a long time.  I bought this copy and loved the flag idea so much that I knew I had to make one.

 

They actually used paint sticks for the flag.  I didn't have any paint sticks, I'm sure I could have gotten some at Lowe's or Home Depot but hubby found some sticks in the garage that we could cut down and they would be about the same width.

We cut 7 sticks 12" long.

 

We cut 3 sticks 9" long that would be used as support on the back to hold the entire thing together.

 

Because of the cuts that were made the edges were had some small splinters on them.

 

I used some sandpaper and lightly sanded the edges.

 

I then made a pencil line on 4 of the 12" sticks 5" from the left edge.  The part to the left would be where the blue portion of the flag will be painted.

 

I got my red, white and blue paint and gave all the pieces 2 coats.

 

I started with the blue.  

 

Then painted the red and white on every other one.

 

I let the paint dry for a day before adding the buttons.

 

I laid out all the buttons a couple sticks at a time then hot glued them on.  I'm surprised I have any fingertips left after this project.  In the magazine directions, they used wood glue.  I used hot glue because I felt like it would dry faster and also because I didn't think the wood glue would dry clear.

 

After the buttons dried and I cleaned up any threads of the hot glue, I glued the 9" boards to the back of the flag.  I did use wood glue for this because I didn't think the hot glue would hold the pieces together well enough.  It's on the back and so you won't see the glue anyway so it didn't matter if it dried clear or not.

 

Hubby told me to put lots of weight on it and let it sit overnight.

That's exactly what I did.

 

This is what it looked like the next day.  Everything was nice and dry; and it was all held together.

 

Because I planned to hang it outside, I put 2 coats of clear Polyurethane all over.   

 

 After the front had 2 coats and had completely dried.  I put 2 coats of Poly on the back.

 

We then added hooks and wire to hang it.

 

I was going to hang it on my front door but it was just too little.

I had a fern on this hook that was dying, so I just got rid of the fern and hung the flag in it's place.

 

Such a fun project.  It did take me a little longer than I thought it would because of all the drying time with the paint and polyurethane; but  it was worth it in the end.  I was just telling hubby today that I could make something similar for every holiday/season.  What's the next holiday coming up?

Well, I'll get to that later....for now,  Happy 4th of July!!

 

I'm linking up with these parties....

GA Aquarium/World of Coke Field Trip

I've been meaning to post these photos for a long time.  Now that school is out and has been for over a month, I guess it's a great time to finally get them posted.

My son's 5th grade field trip was to the GA Aquarium and World of Coke.  I was lucky enough to be one of the chaperones.  I love to visit the aquarium and I hadn't been to the new location of the World of Coke since they moved 5 or 6 years ago.

One of my girlfriends and I drove down together.  Our boys have known each other since kindergarten and are still really good friends.

The kids got to ride on chartered buses.

I snapped some pictures while waiting for the buses to arrive.

 

The buses finally arrive and the kids are able to get off.  They loved riding on the fancy buses instead of the yellow school buses.

 

Everybody lines up by class before going inside.  

 

In the aquarium we were pretty much able to go off on our own with our small group we, as chaperones, were in charge of.  We did have to meet together for the "behind the scenes" tour which I got to be a part of.

Unfortunately, you can't take pictures behind the scenes.

 

I love the starfish.

 

I could hang out at the aquarium all day and watch the fish.  Our aquarium has some pretty cool ones on display.

 

I love these dolphin statues outside.

 

A cool Atlanta Falcons one.

 

After the aquarium visit, we head over to the World of Coke.

 

I bet this poor guy gets a lot of nasty kid hands all over his drink everyday.

 

Crazy kid in front of the old-timey coke truck.

 

When you first go into the World of Coke, you enter this room with all the cool Coke paraphernalia in it. I was completely mesmerized and tried to take pictures of everything.

 

I love this wall.  I could see a wall like this in my basement.

  

Decorated Coke bottles in the lobby.

 

We didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked at either place due to having to be back to the school in time for the students to make it home.

I did have a great time and want to visit again soon.  I mean, we do only live 30 minutes from there.

This is a view of the aquarium from the World of Coke.

 

More Atlanta scenery.

 

While at the aquarium we also got to see the performance called Dolphin Tales.  It was another event that we weren't able to take photos at.  If you are ever in the Atlanta area and make it to the aquarium be sure to spend the extra money on the Dolphin Tales exhibit.  

It was totally worth it.