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Tool Tuesday- Shopping Spots

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I want to thank everyone for checking out my 5 days of Halloween last week. I also should inform you that I tested positive for Covid about a week and a half ago and I was down for a good three days. I am feeling much better but my energy is still way down so I will do my best to get posts out on time. Thank you your patience and support! Now onto Tool Tuesday.

Welcome to another Tool Tuesday. You might be wondering why you are seeing pictures of stores for this week. Well we have to have places to get our tools at right? So I only saw it fitting to tell you about all the places I shop for all my crafting needs.

I get craft supplies from all kinds of places and it is not limited to just craft stores. Any store you walk into can have something you can craft with. For example, grocery stores have things like salt for snow or painting techniques, tin foil, parchment paper, wax paper, and any other number of things. A hardware store has wood and sandpaper along with all kinds of paint and brushes. The possibilities are endless.

Dollar Tree is a great place to get craft supplies from. Some stores have what is called a Crafters Corner and it is filled with different supplies. They now care paint, brushes, wood pieces, foam tape, glue sticks, canvases, glitter, stickers, felt, glue and more. Each season they are starting to get in wood pieces too for crafting. Mason jars are another great thing to find at Dollar Tree along with seasonal flowers. It is a one stop shop especially if you are on a budget!

Don’t get me wrong, I will still shop at craft stores because the have the best variety. With places like Hobby Lobby and Michael’s there is always a coupon to help with the cost which is great. They will have larger selection of the types of products you might be looking for. For example, if you are looking for acrylic paint, you will find several different brands, sizes, colors, and finishes. This is what makes craft stores great. They have things for all types of crafting.

Let’s talk about online shopping. You can shop Hobby Lobby and Michael’s online and have it shipped to you or the store and you pick it up. During Covid though I have used Amazon A LOT!! They have anything you could be looking for. It is easy and if you are a PRIME member, you get two day free shipping. I have notices though that a lot of the craft supplies are from China and I try to stick with U.S. based companies unless I’m in a pinch. Amazon is a great option though.

Paper Crafting

If you are a paper crafter like me, Hobby Lobby and Michael’s is great and all, but I want stuff that is different and paper that is a bit better quality. My favorite place to shop is Heroarts.com. They have great stamps and inks. I also like butterflyreflectionsink.com The lady carries a huge assortment of stamps and inks. Also a lot of patterned paper and tools. She does sales too from time to time. I am picky about what I buy to paper craft with, so these are two of my all time favorite places to get stuff from. I get a My Monthly Hero Kit every month from Hero Arts. It is the only company I have a subscription with because they are U.S. based and all around great company to deal with. That is how much I back the company.

Other Places

I am always on the lookout for things to craft with. Clearance from places like Kirkland, Rural King, and the At Home store are great ways to pick up stuff to redo at a cheap price. I also get things from Target and Walmart. Both carry great craft sections and the Target Play Ground has things all the time for DIY projects. Walmart is where I buy ALL my chalk paint because I believe it is the best paint for your money.

I hope this gives you an insight into the places I shop for my craft supplies. It is where I buy all my tools to show you for Tool Tuesday.

Thank you for joining me! Please Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe!

Have a great week!

Melissa McGuire

Double Trouble Part 2

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Welcome to day 5 of the 5 days of Halloween!! Happy Friday!! We are going to pick up where we left off yesterday. We were talking about decor that can be used for two different holidays. This decor is meant to be fast and easy to put together and look very cute in your home! It will also save on your storage space!

Let’s Get Started

Project #1

Supplies

This first project is brought to you by Target. They come out with wooden figures ever year. This year they had pumpkins, turkeys and apples. (When you see things like the apples, pick them up for teachers gifts) The HOME words and the jack-o-lantern face are also from Target.

I also used some Waverly Chalk Paint in Pumpkin, and a red paint pen. You might want to have some liquid glue on hand and a paint brush.

So do you want to know how easy this is!!?? On the side of the pumpkin without the lines I painted it with the Waverly Chalk Paint in Pumpkin. While that dried, I mixed some of the pumpkin paint with water and lightly brushed it over the side of the pumpkins with the lines on it. It will wash over like a stain so you can still see the wood grain.

As my pumpkin dried, I moved on to the HOME stickers. The letters in this were brown and they did not pop off the pumpkin like I wanted them to. Through some trial and error I figured out he best way to paint the letters was to use a paint pen. So I painted them red with the paint pen,

Finally, I stuck the letters on the side of the pumpkin with the lines. If they do not stick, use some liquid glue. On the fully orange side of the pumpkin I put the jack-o-lantern face on it.

This pumpkin would look great as a focal point, or in a 3-tiered tray. It is one of the easies crafts I have ever done. When you are shopping in places like Target, look and see what can be put together quickly. You will be very happy with your decision!

Project #2

Supplies

Project #2 is just as easy as the first! You will need one of these wooden pumpkins from Dollar Tree. The words are from Target. The paint I used was Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink and Pumpkin. The only other things I used was a paint brush and some ribbon.

Start by painting the front and the back of the sign in Waverly Chalk Paint in Pumpkin. Once that is dry, paint the face that is raised up on the pumpkin with Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink. If you could not find the pumpkin with the face already on it, then draw one on with a Sharpie marker or cut out paper or felt and glue it on the pumpkin.

On the other side I places these vinyl stickers on it from Target. I thought the pumpkin still looked a bit plan so I added a bow.

How easy was that!? This is a very simple wall hanger that adds some color to a room. It is also very easy to store away once the holidays are done.

Project #3

Supplies

This third project uses these little stands from Dollar Tree. They are in the wedding section. I also used some Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink, some flowers from Dollar Tree, a ghost sticker from Dollar Tree, some twine, paint brush, and hot glue gun. To add words to this project, I used my Cricut and some 651 vinyl.

To start this project I painted one of the stands with Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink. This took a few coats because the stands are very glossy. I really like the more matte look and wish I would have painted the white one with white paint.

Next I added the words to the stands. I used 651 vinyl that I cut from my Cricut. Most of the time I get my SVGs off of Etsy or the Cricut design studio. If you do not have a cutting machine, you can use stickers or glue on a free printable.

Finally, I used hot glue and added twine to the bottom of the stand. I started gluing the end of the twine to the bottom of the stand. Then I began wrapping the twine around and around. I would put hot glue anywhere I felt the twine was not holding. After that I put a flower on one side of the sign and a ghost on the other.

These make me so happy. They would be so cute on an entry table. Since they are small they do not take up a ton of room. The possibilities are endless for these and you can customize them very easily.

I want to wish you a great and happy Friday. Have a wonderful weekend and come back next week for a new Tool Tuesday and we are moving into fall. Christmas crafts are coming too!!

As always Please Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Melissa McGuire

Suppies

Project #1

Wooden Pumpkin- Target

HOME and Jack-o-lantern Face- Target

Waverly Chalk Paint in Pumpkin- Walmart

Paint pen- Walmart

Liquid Glue- Anywhere

Paint Brush- Anywhere

Project #2

Wooden Pumpkin Sign- Dollar Tree

Waverly Chalk Paint in Pumpkin- Walmart

Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink- Walmart

Word Stickers- Target

Ribbon- Anywhere

Paint Brush- Anywhere

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Project #3

Mini Stand- Dollar Tree

Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink- Walmart

Twine- Anywhere

Flowers- Dollar Tree

Ghost- Dollar Tree

Paint Brush- Anywhere

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Blocks and Flowers

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Welcome to day 3 of the 5 days of Halloween! We are going to keep this light and easy today. I know these days people do not have a lot of time to create and decorate. People still want their homes to look nice and like they put in a ton of effort. There are a few things that can help with that. One is small block decor and the other is flower arrangements. That is where these projects came from. These are easy, cheap and can really make a statement in your home.

Let’s Get Started!

Project #1

Supplies

For this first project you will need some wooden blocks. I bought these on clearance after Christmas last year at Target. You can get what ever size blocks you want. These are 2×6. I also used googly eyes. As far as the writing on the blocks, I used my Cricut and some 651 vinyl. If you do not have a Cricut you can buy stickers or even print out words from your computer and glue them onto the block. You can even write on the blocks in your own handwriting!

I also used a paint brush and hot glue gun.

The back of these blocks were already black and just had a sticker on the back. I heated up the stickers and pealed them off. Then left the black alone. I did paint the front of the blocks with Waverly White Chalk Paint. Use what ever colors you want. Let that dry.

Next I typed and cut out the phrases on my Cricut and applied them to two of the blocks. This is where you can write on the blocks, glue on things you print out or use stickers. For the third block, I hot glued googly eyes onto it.

This blocks are simple and so cute. They would go great in a 3-tiered tray or on any small table scape. If you got bigger blocks the possibilities are endless.

Project #2

Supplies

Project #2 is so simple. You will need any kind of vase or pitcher. These pitches I picked up at Target. Then get any kind of flowers that you love for fall. My favorite is sunflowers but these mums are beautiful and come in several different colors. The mums and sunflowers are from Dollar Tree. The pumpkin picks and the eucalyptus and and pumpkin pick came from Walmart.

If you wish to cut the flowers apart, you will need some wire cutters. I also used my Cricut again with some 651 vinyl.

I apologize for the blurry picture. We are going to start with the galvanized pitcher. I cut the mums off of the main stem with some wire cutters. Then I places the pumpkin pick in the center of the pitcher and added the mums around it until I was happy with how it looked. That was it!!

This next arrangement I did in a white pitcher. I cut the sunflowers off of the main stem with some wire cutters. From there I put the eucalyptus and pumpkins pick in the middle and added the sunflowers around it. It takes some playing around to get things to look the way I want. I move things until I am happy with how it looks. You could also add floral foam in the bottom of the pitchers if you want to help thing stay in place.

The final pitcher I added Pumpkin Farm to the bottom of with vinyl from my Cricut. I then did the same as I did with the other two. I cut the mums off of the main stem with wire cutters. After that I places the pumpkin pick in the center and added the mums around the pumpkins. It is that simple.

Here are the final projects. As you can see, you can combine the two to add some flare to the crafts. This is one that you can use from the start of fall all the way through Thanksgiving. You can add different blocks or just the leave the pitchers plain. There are so many options. It is a simple way to add some holiday decor to your home without a lot of fuss.

I hope you enjoyed these projects and that it gives you some quick ideas you can do even if you have a busy schedule.

Thank you for joining me! Please Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe! Also find me on Instagram and Facebook under Yellow Butterfly Craft Designs.

Have a wonderful day!

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Project #1

Blocks- Target, get any size you want from anywhere

Googly Eyes- Dollar Tree, any craft store

Waverly White Chalk Paint- Walmart

Paint Brush- Anywhere

Cricut and 651 Vinyl- Michaels Craft Store, or use stickers in place of this

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Project #2

Black, White, Galvanized Pitcher- Target

Mums and Sunflowers- Dollar Tree

Pumpkin Picks and Eucalyptus Pick- Walmart

Cricut and 651 Vinyl- Michaels Craft Store

Outside The Box (Halloween)

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Welcome to day 2 of the 5 days of Halloween! I wanted to come up with some projects that were a outside of the box using items that are not normally thought of for Halloween crafting. There are three different projects that we are going to look at and three different outside of the box items I used to craft with.

Lets Get Started

Project #1

Supplies

I found this wooden spider at Target. It is a heavy and solid piece but he was plain. I could have just stained him but I went a different direction. The paint I used was Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink. My outside of the box item for this spider is pompoms. I chose teal and black colored pompoms to add some texture to the spider.

A few other supplies I used was a paint brush, hot glue and googly eyes.

I started by painting the top of the spider with Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink. With this being such a thick piece and I wanted to keep the sides the natural color so I only painted the top. Then let it dry. It only needed one coat.

Next I went in with the pompoms. I suggest looking up some pictures to give you some ideas on what the back of spiders look like. My son found a spider outside of our house and it had babies all over the back of it. It was gross!! It was also my inspiration. I added the black pompoms first by laying them out on the spider to map out where I wanted to glue them. Once I was happy with how it looked I glued them down with hot glue. Now the black was pretty bland. It needed some serious color. Teal and white pompoms were the only two other colors I had on hand. I went with the teal and added them in a pattern on top of the black pompoms.

The last step was adding the googly eyes. I might have went a bit overboard with the eyes but at least he can see.

Here is the final project! He is a cute and spooky spider. I love the color pop of the teal on the black. The raw edge adds some personality to this spider too.

Project #2

Supplies

The next project is a wooden haunted house from Dollar Tree. Scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby and these little mini pumpkins are the outside of the box items. Not unusual but they did add some interest to this house. Other supplies I used were Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink, a white paint pen and a black sharpie marker. Also a hot glue gun and paint brush.

So I got a little carried away working on this project and forgot to take pictures as I was working. It happens. This is also not my best or Favorite project but I think it is important to show that I do things I love and things I am not so fond of.

The first thing I did was paint the house black with the Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink. Next I glued the goldish color scrapbook paper to the back of the house. The house needed something in the windows but a true yellow was just to bright. So I went with gold.

Once that was all glued down and dry, I knew the windows needed something in them. They are small windows and did not have a ton of room to add much. Now my drawing skills are not great at all but it seemed that was the only way to add stuff to the windows. I used a black Sharpie marker to add different figures into the windows like a witch that looked more like a dog and a skeleton. I had to go over them a few times till I could not see the sparkle of the paper any more.

The house was black and the figures in the windows were black. There needed to be some contrast colors on the house. What better way to spook up a haunted house than by adding cobwebs and spiders. I used a white paint pen to draw on the webs and spiders in several places around the house. Then I added googly eyes to the spiders.

The final step was to add these mini pumpkins. They are so cute but this is where I probably should have left them alone. Instead I took the Sharpie marker and drew faces on the pumpkins. The marker ink spread to far so their faces are bigger than I wanted. Once they were dry I glued them to the bottom of the haunted house bad faces and all.

Project #2 is finished. Like I said it is not my best work but I feel I should show not only the good ones but the ones that do not work out so well. Not everything I create comes out all the time. I do think this haunted house is cute though and I will add it to my decor!

Project #3

Supplies

For this third and final project you will need this witch from Dollar Tree and a few different colors of mini ornaments. I got the ornaments at Dollar Tree too and they are my outside of the box item for this craft. As far as paint, I used colors I had on hand. Along with paint brushes and hot glue.

This is yet another project that I did not take pictures of while I was creating. So what I did not show you was me painting the cauldron black with Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink. I did not have a dark purple on hand so I mixed some black paint with a lavender purple color and painted the witch’s hat and dress with it. Her face had to be green and the spoon handle got painted brown. Now lets get the the outside of the box item!

For the ornaments, I cut off the top part of the ornaments with some heavy duty scissors. From there I started hot gluing the ornaments around the top and down the right side of the cauldron. This is suppose to look like the witch’s brew is overflowing out of the cauldron and down onto the floor. Once you get the first layer of ornaments done start with the next layer on top of that. I glued three layers of ornaments and made them scattered and uneven to make them flow like liquid. If you can see the hot glue after you are done, take some black paint and paint over it. You will not be able to see it once it dried.

She is a spooky witch making a big mess. I added some details to her dress and hat. Also a little spooky eye. The bubbles are the star of the show though. They sparkle and shine!

I hope you enjoyed these three outside of the box projects. They were fun to do and use supplies in different ways than they were intended.

Thank you for joining me! Please Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe!

Also join me on Facebook and Instagram

Stay safe and healthy!

Melissa McGuire

Supply List

Project #1

Wooden Spider- Target

Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink- Walmart

Pompoms- Hobby Lobby

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Paint Brushes- Anywhere

Googly Eyes- Any craft store

Project #2

Wooden Haunted House- Dollar Tree

Mini Pumpkins- Dollar Tree

Scrapbook Paper in Gold- Hobby Lobby

Sharpie- anywhere

Paint Pen- Walmart

Googly Eyes- Anywhere

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Project #3

Wooden Witch- Dollar Tree

Variety of Paint- Anywhere

Mini Ornaments in Different Colors- Dollar Tree

Paint Brushes- Anywhere

Googly Eyes- Anywhere

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Tool Tuesday- Paint Brushes

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This Tool Tuesday is all about paint brushes. Not this is a very basic look at paint brushes. I am not an expert at all. I use what I like for the different things that I paint. Honestly I did not really use most of my brushes for the mediums it says to use them for.

There other thing I will say is that I have gotten brushes from all over the place. Of course Hobby Lobby and other craft stores have all kinds of paint brushes but I also get them from Dollar Tree and Amazon. So lets take a look!

These brushes are flat and pretty short bristles. I use these for big paint projects. They cover a lot of surface area. These big brushes are also good for doing a big wash of color or getting water color paper wet.

These are smaller versions of the being ones we just looked at. They are small, square tipped brushes. Brushes like this are great for making stripes with paint. They are also great for getting close to lines.

Dome shaped brushes are next. This is a universal brush. They can be used for almost any kind of painting.

Chalk paint is the paint I use the most, and these are chalk paint brushes. They put a thick coat of paint on and do not leave a bunch of brush strokes behind. Chalk paint brushes are great for large areas.

The final brush we will look at are the most cost effective and can be used for just about any kind of painting. They are foam brushes. You can get lots in a pack and they come in several different sizes. I do not clean them, I just throw them away when I am done.

Here is a good paint brush trick for you. If you are applying more than one coat of paint, put you brush in a plastic bag and wrap the bristles up in it. This will keep moisture in the brush that way you do not have to wash it or throw it out and start with a new one when you are ready to put on the next coat of paint.

These brushes can be bought almost anywhere. I normally get mine at the craft stores and Amazon. Buy them at a price point you are comfortable with.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you found this information helpful. Please Like, Comment, Share, and Subscribe!

Have a great day!

Melissa McGuire

EEK and BOO!

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Welcome to 5 days of Halloween crafts. Most of the crafts this week will be fast and cheap. We are going to start with these two signs.

Supplies

Dollar Tree for the win on this one. I bought both of these signs at Dollar Tree. They have several styles of DIY signs right now for Halloween. I also used Waverly Chalk Paint in the color Ink and White. For the red paint, I used to red acrylic paint I had on hand that I am trying to use up.

Once I had everything painted I though the signs needed something more so I used Dollar Tree Halloween Stickers. Other supplies are paint brushes and glue for the stickers.

Let’s Get Started

To start these wall hangers I painted the BOO with Ink Waverly Chalk Paint and EEK with red acrylic paint. Both only took one coat. Each have a different texture to them since I used different kinds of paint. Please use what ever color and type of paint you want to or have on hand. Purple and orange would also be great colors to use.

Next I took a fan brush and brushed the edges of each word with White Waverly Chalk Paint. To do this, lightly load up the brush with paint and tap of the brush on a scrap sheet of paper to get some of the paint off of it. This will keep it from clumping up the paint when you touch it to the words. Swipe the brush over the words to add some interest to them.

Once painted and dry, I thought they still looked bare. I dug though my Halloween stash and found these felt Dollar Tree Halloween Stickers. I spread them out across both words until I was happy with how they looked.

Here is a closer look at the wall hangers. I love projects like this that are fast and each cost about $3.00 each. That is very affordable.

I hope you enjoyed day 1 of 5 days of Halloween. Please let me know what you think!

Happy Monday and have a great week. Join me tomorrow for two blog posts. Tool Tuesday will take a look at paint brushes and also another Halloween craft will be posted.

Thank you for joining me! Please Like, Comment, Share, and Subscribe!

Have a great day!

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

EEK and BOO Word Hangers- Dollar Tree

Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink- Walmart

Waverly Chalk Paint in White- Walmart

Red Acrylic Paint- Tuesday Morning (any craft store or Walmart)

Paint Brushes- Anywhere

Halloween Stickers- Dollar Tree

Easy and Fast Fall Crafts

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Fall is in the air! It is my favorite season. I love making crafts for fall. The colors are bright and amazing. Jewel tons are finally in fashion. So lets kick off the fall season with three really easy projects that take very little time to create and are easy on the pocketbook.

Project #1

The first project is cute gourd flower vases. You will need as many vases as you want to make. I found 2 of these white vases at Dollar Tree. They come in all kinds of colors. You will also need paint if you want to change the color of the vases. I used Waverly Chalk paint in Pumpkin. Finally pick your favorite fall flowers. Mine are from Dollar tree.

A few extra supplies you will need are paint brushes, ribbon, and a sanding block.

The first thing I did was to paint the vases with a mixture of a maroon paint and a copper color. It looked horrible and that is being kind. This is what I call a crafting mishap. It just did not turn our how I was hoping. So I changed gears and painted them with Waverly Chalk paint in Pumpkin. It took 2 coats of paint to cover the vases.

Next I took a sanding block and sanded down the edges of vases. This make the vases look like gourds. The white on the vase showed though great.

The final steps are to add ribbon if you want to and arrange your flowers and you are done!

They are so perfect for fall. This project would be great as a start to a center piece for a table scape or something simple on end tables. It can round our any decor.

Project #2

This project might look like it takes a lot but it goes fast. You will need some small pallets and sunflowers from the Dollar Tree. I found the words and pumpkins at Target in the Bullseye Playground. I used two different kinds of Waverly Chalk paint in Maize and Rhubarb and also Waverly Antique Wax.

You will also need Glue and paint brushes.

The first thing I did to start this project was put some Waverly Antique Wax in a cup and put a few table spoons of water in it and mixed it together. This thins the paint out and makes it more like a stain instead of thick paint. I brushed the stain all over both pallets and let them dry.

While that was drying, some of my pumpkins and words were not the colors I was looking so I painted them with chalk paint. Another option for painting the items is to use paint pens. This actually works really well and something I will do from now on because it is easier.

From there I started placing the words, pumpkins and flowers on the pallets to see how I wanted to arrange them. I also painted leaves on the pumpkins to give them a face lift. Once arranged, I glued them on. I used hot glue for the pumpkins and flowers and a liquid glue for the words. I am not real good at using hot glue on thin words like this without making a big mess.

These look really great on their own or in 3 tiered trays. They make the perfect focal point.

Project #3

For the third project you will need a standing plaque and flowers from Dollar Tree, scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby, Mod Podge, and hot glue gun. The paper with the words on it came from a large paper pack from Michael’s Craft store. You will also need a sanding block or sand paper and a paint brush.

To start off this project, I put Mod Podge all over the plaque in a thin layer and placed the scrapbook paper on the top of it, smoothed out the bubbles, and then let it dry. That is important. It is easier to do the next step if the Mod Podge is dry. Once dry, take a sanding block and in a downward motion and run it along the the edge of the plaque. This will scrape the extra paper off of the plaque and you are left with a perfect edge. To me this is better than cutting the paper to fit the plaque.

Now lets move onto the paper with the words. I did not want the words in the center or straight on the plaque. So I put it at an angle on the left side. Do what ever is pleasing to your eye. To glue it down I used more Mod Podge. I covered the plaque in Mod Podge and placed the words down and put Mod Podge over the top of it too. This will seal everything in.

Once this was done, I thought it looked plain and needed some distressing. This is optional but I took some Tim Holtz Destress ink and ran it along the edge of the plaque. It was an orange rust color. You could use paint to do this too. Just make sure you have a very light hand. The good thing is if you get to much paint on it, you can wipe it off because the Mod Podge is protecting it.

Finally I hot glues the sunflowers on and some extra leaves I cut to size and glued those on too.

This is the final project. This plaque is about a 3×3 size but you are not limited by size on this one. You can use what ever size you want and decorate it as you see fit.

I hope you enjoyed these three simple fall decor projects. I truly enjoyed making them and I have them all up in my home.

Thank you for joining me, I am doing a full week of Halloween projects next week! Please join me. Also please Like, Share, Comment and Subscribe!

Please stay safe and healthy

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Project #1

Flowers- Dollar Tree

Vases- Dollar Tree

Pumpkin Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Ribbon- Michael’s Craft Store

Paint Brushes- Anywhere

Sanding Block or Sand Paper- Anywhere

Project #2

Mini Pallets- Dollar Tree

Sunflowers- Dollar Tree

Fall Words- Target

Small Pumpkins- Target

Rhubarb Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Maize Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Waverly Antique Wax- Walmart

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Liquid Glue- Any Craft Store

Paint Brushes- Anywhere

Project #3

Plaque- Dollar Tree

Scrapbook Paper- Hobby Lobby

Sun Flowers- Dollar Tree

Mod Podge- Any Craft Store

Sanding Block or Sand Paper- Anywhere

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Paint Brushes- Anywhere

New Craft Room!

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Hello all! I know it has been a while. Quarantine threw me for a loop and having my kids home full time made it hard to get any thing done. It has been a summer like none other. I hope you all are well and healthy!

Well one other reason I have not been posting is because I moved craft rooms. My middle son needed a room by himself so that meant we had to move everyone’s bedroom around. This also meant that I would finally get the craft room I had been dreaming of for so long.

The process started by moving my two youngest sons out of the room over our garage. Then we pulled up the carpet. My husband did that job for me. From there I painted the walls a very light grey, almost a white color. I had some great friends that help me lay flooring and it looks fantastic! Finally, the day came to move ALL of my craft stuff in the new room. As you will see from the pictures bellow, there was a lot to move in.

Lets Start are the door of the room when you first walk in!!

The one thing you should know is that I was obsessed with the old truck long before the old truck was cool! So as you walk into my new craft room you are greeted with a cute truck rug from Big Lots. This is also a good picture of the new flooring we put down. It is peel and stick flooring from Lowe’s. I love the rustic dark color of the flooring and I am glad we put it down. Last week I spilled paint on it and it cleaned up like a dream!

This is my craft room as a whole. I have my big desk directly in front of the door. To the left is a sewing table and a paint table. In the back of the room on the left side of the window is a reading and prayer nook. To the right side of the window in the back is lots of 12×12 paper and my Cricut station.

Here is a closer look at my sewing station and paint table. Everything I need for sewing is in the cart to the left of the table. The top of that cart is where my family puts everything that needs to be mended. Anyone else have a spot like that in their house?

The paint table on the right is a Cricut station from Michael’s Craft Store that did not make the move over without losing its wheels. This cart holds a good majority of the wood stuff I have and paints of all kinds. I can now paint projects and not have them sitting all over my desk. It is amazing!

This is by far one of my favorite things about this new craft room. With a house full of boys, I wanted to create a get-a-way for myself. So I found the chair at a second hand store for $15.00 and put a cover on it from Amazon. The foot stool is from Hobby Lobby along with the big Lama pillow. The bookshelf to the left of the chair is a clearance shelf from Hobby Lobby and it beautifully holds some of my favorite books. The table to the right of the chair is from the At Home store and is just perfect for the space. This is the perfect, cozy little nook for me to relax and read or watch TV. I love that I can change the decor depending on the season.

In front of my window I have some cubes. One has decor and beautiful flowers. While the other one has my favorite rea truck tarte burner and most of my small ribbon.

On the right side of the room behind my big desk is my Cricut station, die cut board and 12×12 paper. I love that I can see some of my most used steel dies with a big magnetic board I made a few years ago. I did not have room for the board in my old craft room but here it has the perfect home. Under it is another Cricut cart from Michaels’s Craft Store. I holds all my vinyl and heat presses. It is out of the way but can wheel out as soon as I am ready to use it.

This is behind my desk. It is a lot but I am the kind of crafter that has to have everything at arms reach. I do not want to have to search for anything or get up to get anything especially when I am paper crafting. Lets start on the far left of the picture. This is a good picture of my 12×12 paper tower. Next to that is another Michael’s Craft Store carts. It holds my Gemini die cutting machine and under that is embossing folders and other steel dies.

The First set of white cubs hold my name brand paper, extra paper, extra paint and paint sprays. On the top is envelopes, precut card bases and my Platinum die cutting machine.

The black shelf next to the white cubes holds more paper, embossing powders, travel craft bag, and scrap paper. On the top of the shelf and in the three drawer unit there are all kids of rubber and clear stamps.

The other black shelf that is part way blocked has the essencials. So glue, tape, thin dies, and anything else I want in arms reach. On the top of the two black shelves are two white containers that holds Washi Tape. And on the far right I have another white cube that holds more stamps.

Now lets look at the ink pad holders that are hung on the wall. Two of the are from Organize more and the third is a cassette tape holder from Napa Valley Cassette Tape Company that I spray painted white. You can find these ink pad holders in a variety of sizes and they hold the ink well.

We are finally at my desk. This is where things are kind of a hot mess. Organized chaos is what I call it. The desk is from Ikea and so is the 8 cube shelf. There is everything from paper and stamp blocks to brads and embossing powder in the top part of the shelf. The bottom holds things that I do not need as often. I have a glass craft mat on the top of my work surface. It is fantastic and nothing sticks to it. Then I have a silicon mat on top of that. It is great for working with hot glue and paint. The top of my desk has things like a variety of different kinds of marker and paper punches. There are several different types of glue and rulers all right there at the ready.

This is the side part of my desk. I have a Journaling Bible and colored pencils. Then I have several bins. These bins hold my big stamp sets and sets of stamps I want to do projects with. Next to that is a box I got from Hobby Lobby that holds my bigger scissors and any other tool I might need. Then there is another box with several different kinds of paint brushes. It sits here so that I can reach them from my main desk and also my painting station. I have several small dishes there too. I use these for almost any project I do. They are very handy.

At the front of my room on one side of the door there is a printer and my fake flower stash.

On the other side of the door I have a big metal shelf that holds a lot of my extra supplies. Also it holds holiday stuff. It is also where my tv is which is an essential for my craft room.

My other HOT MESS spot is my closet. This has even more supplies. It is the best storage spot. It holds so much of my extra stuff. Storage was a very important thing for me to have in this room.

Other storage that I have around the room are these drawer units from target. They hold lots of stuff and I have a few under my desk and in the closet. I keep several things in stock in my room. Wood pieces, Dollar Tree signs, extra paint, extra paper, and many other things. A lot of my supplies are seasonal so I buy extra to have all year round.

Thank you for joining me on a tour of my craft room. It is a dream room for sure. I am blessed and grateful for having such a great space. It is a true sanctuary for me.

I will be getting back into posting twice a week. Tool Tuesday will be back along with lots of Fall crafts. Please Like, Comment, and Share. Also Subscribe!!

Thank you!

Melissa McGuire

Flowers Make A Difference

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My house has been looking pretty depressing since I took all the Easter decorations down.  I decorate my home from the start of September all the way through Easter, so after Easter my house looks pretty bland.  My decor needed a face lift.

I saw a YouTuber use candlesticks to add height to different places in her home.  She did not put candles on the top of them though.  I loved the look and wanted to see what I could do to use the candlesticks I had.  I found some small vases at Target and wanted to redo a crate from Easter.  One quick online shop from Michael’s Craft Store and a curb side pickup and I was ready to get busy.

Supplies

Now, I do not advise you leave the house right now during the quarantine for COVID-19.  I will say though that Walmart has craft stuff so if you are there for food you can venture over to the craft section.  Michael’s and Joann Fabric do curb side pickup if you order online and they have it in stock at the store.  Amazon is also another great option.

So onto the supplies you will need.  I picked up 4 vases from the Target Dollar Spot.  2 of each kind of vase.  Since I wanted to have some variety I used flower pots too.  I also wanted to redo the little mini crate I used to put Easter eggs in.  Now I have a ton of flowers on hand but I also picked up some from Michael’s online.  Please get the flowers you love.  I ordered some succulents from Amazon.   As usual, I used some chalk paint.  If you are going to paint things, just use the colors you like.  I also used some paint brushes, ribbon, twine, a bit of hot glue and floral foam.

Lets Get Started

 So my picture taking was at the bare minimum for this project for some reason.  I did not take pictures of me painting anything.  I will just explain what I did.  To start, I painted the flower pots all white with Waverly White Chalk paint.  It only took one coat because of the texture of the pots.  Next I painted 2 of the vases with Pool Waverly Chalk Paint, and 2 vases with the Rhubarb Waverly Chalk Paint.  All the vases took three coats of paint because the surface of the vases are smooth.  Now the paint will scratch off very easy.  If you do not want that to happen, you will have to seal it with something like Mod Podge.  I did not do this step.

While the pots and vases were drying, I cut all the stems off the bunches of flowers with some strong wire cutters.  From there I had to decide which kind of flowers to put in each container.  For the flower pots, I cut some floral foam and put it in the bottom.  Then stuck the stems in one at a time.  I used lavender for these.  They have a great look and color.  You can get them almost anywhere but Walmart has the best for the price.  After the stems were in place, I pushed moss into the cracks and across the top to cover the foam.  Please arrange the flowers to your liking.  It really is a personal preference.

For the vases after they were dry, I divided the flowers from the three bunches I had bought.  Then arranged the flowers in them until I was satisfied with how they looked.

The flowers in the vases looked plain.  I have some green and pink burlap from Dollar Tree and tried that on the vase.  It was not what I was looking for so then I tried some twine.  BINGO!!  That did it.  I tied knots on 2 of the vases and bows on the other 2.

Lets move onto the crate that I wanted to redo from Easter.  I cut floral foam to fit in the crate.  Then started picking and arranging the succulents in it.  There were several small gaps so I filled that in with moss.

Here is where you get to hear about one of my “OH CRAP” moments.  I tipped up the crate and realized it has open spaces in it so I could see the floral foam from the outside.  Yep it looked horrible.  I had 2 options.  The first was to take everything out of the crate, cut the floral foam down, put it back in, fill in around the foam with moss, and the put it all back together.  Or two, put something around the outside of the crate to conceal my mistake.

I chose to wrap some of the pink burlap ribbon around the crate and hot glued it.  I then added a bow made out of burlap.

Here are the final products!!  My husband said they look like things you could buy at the store.  They turned out great.  It was just what my house needed.  They were easy and this is something you can recreate with things you have at home.

I wanted to show you how I styled the flowers.  They are in my dinning room up against a bold blue accent wall.  It brightens up the room since sunlight does not enter the room at all.  I painted some of the candlesticks a long time ago and I did not like all of them having candles on them.  The flowers make a great addition instead of a bunch of candles.

I hope you love these vases and flowers as much as I do.  Please leave me a comment or find me on Facebook and Instagram under Yellow Butterfly Craft Designs.

Thank you for joining me!!

Please say safe and healthy!

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Small Vases- Target, Walmart, Amazon

Daisy Flowers- Michael’s Craft Store

Lavender Flowers- Walmart

Small Fake Succulents- Amazon

Crate- Michael’s Craft Store

Floral Foam- Dollar Tree

Moss- Dollar Tree

White, Pool, Rhubarb Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Paint brushes- Walmart, Michael’s Craft Store, Hobby Lobby

Burlap Ribbon- Dollar Tree

Twine- Hobby Lobby, Michael’s Craft Store, Walmart

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Amazon

 

Tool Tuesday- Hot Glue Guns

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WARNING!!!  If you are like me, a hot glue gun can be dangerous.  I burn my fingers all the time when I use them but they are one of the best tools in my craft room.  Now not all hot glue guns are created equal.  Not all hot glue sticks are either.  I have had the cheap tiny guns and they will do okay but they are hard to use and do not stand up well.  They also drip glue.  It was because of this that I decided to invest in a new one.  After doing my research, I went with the brand Surebonder.

Surebonder makes several different size glue guns and also several different sizes glue gun sticks.  The bottom glue gun in the picture above has a fine tip for tiny details.  It is a high temp gun and does not drip.  The top glue gun has a stand and it is cordless.  Once heated up, it can go a full 2 minutes before you need to put it back on the stand to heat up again.  This is great for a craft desk like mine because I can put this thing anywhere and I do not get tangled in the cord.  It has a bit bigger tip to push out more glue.

Surebonder makes full size hot glue guns all the way down to the small mini ones.  They vary in tip sizes.  Some come with cords and some that are cordless.  There is even some industrial ones that work off of batteries.  They also have ones that have two different heat settings.  You have the option of a low heat setting and a high heat setting depending on your project.   I honestly have never used the low heat setting on a hot glue gun because for me it dries to fast.

Lets talk about hot glue.  Right now I have the Surebonder brand hot glue sticks and I love them.  It is just the basic glue sticks.  They come in mini sticks, ones that are about double that size and also long spirals.  I prefer the mini ones unless I am doing a lot of gluing.  There are other brands of glue sticks too like Gorilla Glue makes some that are extra strong.   The glue sticks come in different colors.  I have never used them but I think they would be great for the right project.  There is also different types of glue sticks depending on the material you are gluing together.  You can for sure find something that will work for you with any project.

Over the years I have found some things that make it easier when using a hot glue gun.  One is a silicon pad.

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I have a grey small pad and it works great.  They are not just for hot glue but for any kind of glue.  The pads come in a few different sizes.  I can see the value in having one that is bigger.  It would give you a big space to work on without worrying about glue sticking to your work surface and damaging it.  The hot glue or almost any kind of glue peals right off of the silicon without damaging it.  That also means if you are gluing a project together and the glue leaks out, the project will not stick to your work surface.  This pad is worth its weight in gold.

The other thing that Surebonder sells is attachment tips for their glue guns.

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I have these but have yet to use them.  I am curious about the flat nozzle.  I think it would be great for things like ribbon or thin pieces of wood.  You might see these in a future post.

Finally the last thing I want to talk about are tools you can use to keep you from touching the glue.  I am pretty sure I no longer have finger prints anymore because I have touched hot glue so much and have peeled the skin off of my fingers.  It happens every single time I used the hot glue guns.  So I was on the hunt to see what else I could use to hold small pieces in place while the glue sets.  I tried my scissors but then glue stuck to them along with what ever I was gluing.  There are silicon finger covers but I do not need 10 sleeves for one finger.  Then like always Dollar Tree to the rescue.  I bought one of their small silicon spatulas.  It works perfect.  That spatula saves my fingers because they are not even close to the heat.  It holds things in place without the glue sticking to it.  I am very happy with it.

I hope you enjoyed our little deep dive into the world of hot glue guns.  You can find Surebonder glue guns and glue on Amazon or at Hobby Lobby.  That is not the only brand out there though.  Walmart, Michael’s Craft Store and many other places sell hot glue guns.  Find what works best for you.

If you have any questions you can comment on here or you can find Yellow Butterfly Craft Designs on Instagram and Facebook.

Thank you for joining me again and as always stay safe and healthy!  I will have another craft project for you at the end of the week!

Melissa McGuire