diy mama – Our Everydays

Posted on June 2, 2018March 27, 2020 by Our Everydays — 3 Comments

DIY Branch & Macrame Plant Wall Hanging

Last week when working on our yard, we trimmed a few of our trees, and I couldn’t bring myself to throw away this branch.

It’s not the first time this happens.

Something about branches, seems to me anyway, often asks to be transformed. Maybe it’s the artist in me, and if not, finding potential and beauty in the raw is a good thing, I think.

An old branch. A little string. A little macrame. A long pothos plant I already had. Some picture hooks, and a branch that was otherwise going to be thrown away, allowed for something so beautiful.

A lesson for our everydays.

Materials

And old branch
Macrame String
Picture hanging set
An S hook
A vine plant

Our Christmas Tree Ornaments [Part 3] DIY Mini Stick Tree Ornaments

It’s less than a week ’till Christmas, and the hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing. Whether you have had your shopping done since mid year, or still have a few more things to get, you may still need a few ideas on what you could give a loved one.

If you’re still looking for that idea, I share this DIY that makes for a super cute, special, handmade, and thoughtful gift!

How I did this?

Using some of the sticks the kids collect from outside, I cut a few pieces into different sizes to form the shape of a Christmas tree and secured them onto a stir stick using a hot glue gun. Once it was dry, I painted it with a light coat of white pain, and glued a few small jingle bells we bought at our local dollar store. Add a ribbon to the top, and you have the cutest mini Christmas tree that you can gift to someone special this season.

I hope this gives you any last minute inspiration you were looking for, but if you need more, two other ideas below!

More Nature Inspired Christmas DIYs

Macrame Stars * Picture Ornament * Paper Snowflake * Mini Wreaths

DIY Mini Christmas Tree Rustic Stick Ornaments Our Everydays DIYblog Mom Blogger (5)

DIY Mini Christmas Tree Rustic Stick Ornaments Our Everydays DIYblog Mom Blogger (6)

DIY Mini Christmas Tree Rustic Stick Ornaments Our Everydays DIYblog Mom Blogger (1)

DIY Mini Christmas Tree Rustic Stick Ornaments Our Everydays DIYblog Mom Blogger (3)

DIY Mini Christmas Tree Rustic Stick Ornaments Our Everydays DIYblog Mom Blogger (4)

Posted on November 30, 2017October 27, 2021 by Our Everydays — 6 Comments

Our Christmas Tree Ornaments [Part 2] DIY Nature Inspired Tree Ornaments

OUR EVERYDAYS BLOG Nature Inspired Christmas Ornaments

I am so so so in love with how this ornament turned out! Not only is it super easy to do, it’s so personal and such a beautiful way to display your family pictures on your Christmas tree.

Materials you’ll need

Pine Greens ( DIY steps to cover some white here.)
Berries
Sticks
Jingle bells from local craft or dollar store
Glue Gun
Picture you want to use

Begin by cutting your stick into six equal pieces, each about 2″ long, and glue the ends together using a hot glue gun to form hexagon shape.

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (17)

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (5)

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (14)

2. Using a hot glue gun, secure some pine greens to the bottom of shape. I love the contrast of green and white, it makes it look so wintery. To cover your greens in white DIY steps here.

3. Grab some berries and jingle bells, and secure onto the middle of branches.

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (9)

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (6)

4. Place your ornament on top of your picture, draw outline and cut out shape. Add glue to edges of paper and glue onto wooden shape, and add string loop to the back for hanging.

I absolutely love how easy, and how beautiful this ornament was to make! If you don’t want to use a picture, another variation you can do is to wrap the shape with some string to form a dream catcher pattern (image below). I didn’t print my picture on super thick paper, so when it’s on the tree, the pictures really shine when back lit by the lights on the tree.

More Nature Inspired Christmas DIYs

Macrame Stars * Mini Pine Tree * Mini Wreaths * Paper Snowflakes

A versatile, beautiful, and easy to personalize DIY. If you try it, tag me at @our_everydays on instagram so I can see what you came up with.

I hope you found some inspiration here. Thank you for reading! xo

More DIY Ornaments here

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (12)

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (19)

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (27)

Posted on November 30, 2017November 9, 2021 by Our Everydays — 29 Comments

Our Christmas Tree Ornaments [Part 1] DIY Macrame Inspired Star Ornaments

OUR EVERYDAYS BLOG Macrame Inspired DIY Christmas Ornaments

DIY Christmas Decor Nature Inspired Mommy Blogger (9)

DIY Christmas Decor Nature Inspired Mommy Blogger (12)

It’s the first of December, and we’re officially in the Christmas month. I normally wouldn’t consider myself a Christmaholic, but this year I was inspired by the children to decorate our home in a different and special way.

Over the past year, the kids and I have gone on so many walks, and they have collected and brought home all sorts of treasures. I’ve been collecting their little findings – sticks, branches, berries- hoping to get an idea of what I could do with them. With Christmas just around the corner, making them into ornaments seemed like the perfect idea.

Inspired by that, I began to play around with materials, and I’ll be sharing what we did to decorate our Christmas tree completely with DIY ornaments. We made them with materials found in nature, or ones that are easy and inexpensive to get.

The theme of our tree this year is very “Back to Basics”, rustic chic, and if that’s your style, you’re really enjoy these.

I love the way the tree turned out. It’s cozy, homey, and it reminds me of the kind of tree I would have had in my childhood too.

Macrame Stars
To make these macrame stars you’ll need stir sticks, string, scissors and a hot glue gun.

Cut 5 stir sticks to approximately 2.5/3″, and then cut 5 pieces of string that are 10 times the length of the stick.
Fold the string in half, placing the stick towards the fold, and begin knotting a spiral knot around the stick. How to do a spiral knot here. Consider the stick your middle cord, and the two strands your working cords. Continue your spiral knot until it covers the stick, tie off, and cut off excess at the bottom.

Once you have 5 spiral knot sticks, secure them together using a hot glue gun. Below the order in which I glued the sticks to achieve a nice and even star shape.
Make a small string loop (I used some jute string for contrast in color) and glue to the back of the star for hanging, and you’re done!

The end result are delicate and beautiful little stars to decorate your tree with! I hope you enjoyed this little DIY! If you try them, tag me at @our_everydays on instagram so I can see what you came up with!

More Christmas Inspired Ornaments

Paper Snowflakes * Mini Wreaths * Nature Ornament * Mini Pine Tree

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (22)

DIY Christmas Ornaments Nature Macrame Inspired (26)

Posted on November 20, 2017December 8, 2021 by Our Everydays — 6 Comments

DIY Easy Paper Snowflakes [Holiday Decor Inspiration]

One of my favorite scenes from the movie “Elf” with Will Ferrell, is the scene where he completely “Christmafies” the store before Santa comes. It’s such a magical scene, and I’ve always wanted to recreate something similar. I love the winter wonderland feel of the decor, but most of all, I love that to recreate the look, all you need is paper and scissors! The simplicity factor totally speaks to me, and I decided to give it a go.

My interpretation was to create a winter wonderland chandelier, and I am so happy with how it turned out. It didn’t take very long to make, the materials are something we all have in our home, and the end result is so beautiful and delicate. I hung the stars on the light above my dining room table, but you could tape them right onto a window glass, windowsills, mantels, ceiling; the options are limitless, and since they are so light, you don’t need much other than tape to secure them to a surface.

DIY Paper Snowflake Chandelier (2) Winter Wonerland

DIY Paper Snowflake Chandelier Winter Wonderland

There are two types of paper snow flakes you can make, 2 or 3 dimensional, and they are both so easy to make. Pictures and steps of both below. You’ll need paper, scissors, and glue.

More Nature Inspired Christmas DIYs

Mini Wreaths * Macrame Starts * Nature Ornament * Mini Pine Ornament

2D Paper Snowflake

Fold a square sheet by joining diagonal corners together, and do this step twice. Then, imagine folding that triangle shape into 3 equal parts, and cut off the excess. Start to cut shapes out of the sides of the folded triangle shape. There are certain cutting patterns you can find online to achieve certain snowflake shapes, but honestly, even if you cut the most random patterns, you’ll get a beautiful result. Once cut, unfold slowly, and iron flat between two sheets of paper (if needed). Voila!

3D Paper Snowflake

Fold a square sheet of paper by joining diagonal corners. Do 3 cuts parallel to each side, but leave a space towards the top. Open folded sheet, fold over cut corners and glue together. Fold them facing opposite directions every time, and you’ll end up with an icecyle shape. Glue 5 of those together, and you’ll have a beautiful 3D paper snowflake.

I absolutely love how this turned out, and hope you found some inspiration here.

Thanks for reading. xo

Posted on November 15, 2017October 25, 2021 by Our Everydays — 6 Comments

DIY Mini Pine Branch Wreaths [Creating Tangible Memories ]

The best kind of memories, I think, are the ones you remember when you hear a song, when you smell a certain smell, or from the sensation on your fingers as you run them through an embroidery a loved one made for you. Tangible memories.

During the holiday season, a time when tangible is a very common theme, especially with gift giving, the idea of creating tangible memories stuck with me. Finding a way to make tangible something that my children associate to an experience or memory, rather than a gift.

With this craft, I hope I am creating moments with my children that they will remember whenever they touch or see a pine branch.

Materials

Pine Branches that we foraged during our walks
Flour and Glitter
Glue
Ribbon

Mini Pine Branch Christmas Wreaths DIY Craft (4)

Mini Pine Branch Christmas Wreaths DIY Craft (5)

Mini Pine Branch Christmas Wreaths DIY Craft (6)

The older Penelope gets, the more impressed I am by how well she is able to do crafts. On her own, she poured some flour and glitter onto a baking pan and mixed it. She was taking her craft very seriously, it was so endearing to watch. In the meantime, I cut a few pine branches and coated them with a thin layer of glue. She then pressed them against the flour mix and the result was quite beautiful. The flour mix creates a beautiful simulation of snow that looked quite magical. Once the glue dried, I grouped the branches into similar size lengths and by overlapping them, created the shape of a wreath. I secured the branches to one another using a hot glue gun, and mixed the greens with, and without the flour mix coat, together.

Once completed, I ran some ribbon through them, and they were ready to hang as decor for the holidays.

Mini Pine Branch Christmas Wreaths DIY Craft (11)

Mini Pine Branch Christmas Wreaths DIY Craft (10)

A fun and easy activity to do with the kids, and they turned out so beautiful!

Posted on October 4, 2017November 5, 2017 by Our Everydays — Leave a comment

DIY Branch & Macrame Plant Hanger

Perhaps this is my way of bringing more green indoors with the cooler seasons arriving, or just me finding new places to hang new plants in the house, ha! Either way, I love how this little DIY turned out.

In the process of winterizing our backyard, I found two sticks/branches I had saved from a tree we cut down in the beginning of summer. They were a lovely shape and color, and I knew they would come in handy when inspiration arrived. Indeed, inspiration did arrive when I suddenly noticed the wall directly across my front door seemed a little blank and needed a little love.

I immediately knew I wanted to fill that space with plants, so I figured a branch macrame plant hanger would be perfect.

This DIY didn’t take long at all to make, it was a wonderful way to use materials I already had, and up cycle ones that I found. I worked on this during nap time for two days, and re potted the plants with Penelope’s help while Oliver napped ; very doable for us busy mamas.

Materials

– String & Scissors
– Pots (I found these at a thrift store for $8.00)
– Indoor Plant you have around the house.
– Branch/Stick (from backyard)
– Hooks

TIP : I found the “pots” I used for the plants at a thrift store, and since they were not actually meant for plants, they didn’t have a draining hole. To make sure your plants grow well and it’s not too moist during watering, add a few pebbles at the bottom to allow the water to deposit there.

I started the macrame from the bottom. Measure the bottom of your pot, divide that in half, and that’s the length your first knot needs to be from the beginning of your macrame, to create a nice seat for the pot. I then continued trying neighbor strings to create a net, and made sure to place the pot on top often to make sure it fit well. You can do whatever decoration style of macrame you want on the string, I stuck to some simple spiral square knot pattern. If you want to know how to do these styles of knots, a helpful video here.

I screwed two hooks on one side of the stick, and separated them the same distance as the anchors existing on the wall. On the opposite side of where the hanging hooks are, I screwed four more for the plants to hang on. Once that’s done, hang the stick, and arrange your plants are you like, and voila!

I hope this inspired one of you. Such an easy project, but the result is so beautiful!

Happy Day xo

Posted on July 10, 2017November 5, 2017 by Our Everydays — 3 Comments

DIY Plant Hanger (with Repurposed Baby Gates)

Ok, I’m pretty proud of this DIY. It’s not often that baby items can be used again once they’ve been outgrown, or just not needed any more, and baby items aren’t cheap. Soooo… when you accidentally find potential in an old baby item, and make it into something so pretty, it makes me so, damn, happy. Without further ado, a DIY plant hanger/ wall hanging made from old baby gates!

If you’ve been following my blog for a bit, you’ll know that I always look DIYs to be simple, easy and affordable. A little creativity, love put into your craft, and you can make the most beautiful things from items that you already have in your home. In this case, baby gates that we were getting ready to discard , as we had replaced them. My husband had them stacked up against the garage wall until the next garbage day, and I just couldn’t throw them away; there was potential screaming out from them. Baby gates are an item all parents have, and hopefully this DIY gives you an idea of what you could do with them once your kids have outgrown them. The side of an old crib would work just as well! #yourewelcome

What you’ll need:

Old baby gates
Wire and Wire cutters
Small indoor plants you have around the house.
Picture Hanging Set (which you can get at the dollar store)
Hammer

I started by giving the gates a good wipe, as they had their years worth of love from a toddler with sticky fingers, and a dog, ha! I then measured enough wire that could go around the perimeter of one pot, added about 2 inches to that, and cut them with the wire cutter.With the baby gate leaned up against the wall, I twisted the wire around one bar where I knew I wanted a plant to hang. Once one side was secure, I place my plant adjacent the baby gate, looped the wire around the pot, and secured it to the other side. Because the pot is wider at the top than it is at the bottom, the wire loop is enough to keep it secure and from falling down.Once I had wired a loop for all my plants, I screwed two small hooks to the back of the baby gate, and secured the wire it would hang it from, just like you would for a picture frame. What I found worked best, was to hang the gate first, and then add the plants. And voila!I love how it turned out! Such an easy way to create a wall hanging to display your plants, or pictures… the potential is endless really. I hope you enjoyed this, and that it inspires one of you. Thanks for reading! xo