DIY Aromatherapy Candles

Attention: No bees were harmed in the making of these candles

Come to think of it, I can't quite remember what inspired me to try candle-making. Being a beginner, I started about as simple and basic as one can get with the craft: container candles. And for the candles that turned out "okay", some lucky individuals received these as Christmas gifts.


Lavender Aromatherapy Candles
Mason jars
soy wax
wick
lavender essential oil
dried lavender flowers

Prepare jars using pencils to center wicks in the jars. Melt wax in a double boiler. Once melted, add essential oil. Gently pour wax into jars until desire fill. (*If you want to put a lid on the jar, I'd recommend filling about 3/4 full). Set on flat surface to dry. Once initial "crust" has formed on the surface of the candle, sprinkle lavender flowers over the wax. Once completely dry, trim wick.

DIY: Must be in the genes

People ask if I come from a creative family and I reply, "Well, I get my insanity from my mom. Does that count?"
Deny it as we may, we eventually turn into our parents.

Exhibit A.
Much like my mother in years past, I spent countless hours baking holiday cookies over the past several weeks. Why? To give away, of course! There's just something rewarding about being able to send cookies to work with your husband, bring to church or give to your coworkers. You didn't think I made them to eat myself, did you?

Exhibit B.
Mom used to recruit my assistance in hand-making ornaments to give away as gifts. What did I do this year? Oh right, hand-made gifts for family and friends.

The apple certainly didn't fall far from the tree. Granted, the craft may be different, but the sentiment is the same. Love you mom!

Below are some examples of my mom's DIY specialty: Christmas stockings. She's hand-made Christmas stockings for every human and canine in our household. Since I couldn't sew a straight line if my life depended on it, I'll continue to defer this craft to my mom.

DIY Pinecone Wreath

Now comes the time of year when I'm hesitant to make too many posts about DIY projects for fear I'll spoil Christmas presents. Thankfully the purpose of this project was to enhance the outdoor aesthetics of my house.

I've been collecting pinecones for almost a year with the intent of turning them into multiple craft projects. I was inspired to create a plain pincone wreath that I could decorate according to season.

For this project, you'll need:
30-50 pinecones, various sizes
Wire floral wreath frame
Floral wire, brown or green
Wire cutters
Hot glue gun
Hot glue sticks

I began by taking the larger pinecones and attaching them to the wreath frame with wire. I alternated cones facing in and out. Where there were large gaps with the frame showing, I took small pinecones and attached them with wire to the frame. I then began layering pinecones on top of the "base layer" and attaching them with hot glue. I then loosely fixed the autumnal touches to the wreath with wire - this is so I can easily swap these out for Christmas-y accents in a few months.

Here's the finished product:


Front door fall display, complete with mums and pumpkin:

DIY Faux Headboard

My apologies for the long hiatus. My first week back after vacation has really sapped me of any motivation for non work-related projects. Thankfully I have one in reserve!

The bed in our masterbedroom is without headboard. And I've never been happy with whatever picture we've tried hanging over the bed to fill that space. Recently I saw an idea on www.thenest.com - create a faux headboard by stretching fabric across a frame and hanging it over the bed. I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Originally I wasn't quite sure how I'd go about making the frame. I've never been great at carpentry-type projects involving 2x4s. But just as luck would have it I found two large canvases in the clearance pile at Michaels.
I decided to use the fabric from my favorite tapestry (I bought it several years ago at Urban Outfitters). First, I ironed the tapestry, then cut enough fabric to stretch over both canvases. I stretched the fabric over the canvas and stapled it to the wood frame using a heavy-duty staple gun.

Here's the finished product hanging over the bed. I think it still looks incomplete, so I'm contemplating my next step to make it look more polished. Suggestions are welcome!

DIY Night Stands

About a week and a half ago, I went a little crazy with DIY design projects around the house. I moved furniture, hung artwork, and created new pieces. It was honestly difficult to stop myself short of painting every room in the house.

When I moved furniture around, I swapped out the nightstands in the master bedroom, but had nothing to swap back in. The remedy? I found cheapo little nightstands/end tables at Ross with potential. And by "potential", I mean they were hideous, but I knew I could summon my inner artist and revamp them.

I gave myself a clean palate by spray painting the entire thing black. Inspired by the many Russian and Kazakh folk art pieces already in my house, I painted a new design using acrylic paint.

Here are the before and after pictures, respectively: