The count down to Spring Break is ON! It is at that time (and during my summers off) that I am able to find plenty of inspiration and natural materials to work with it is easy to get “my craft on.” Included are a few of the rustic decor items that adorn our home.
Wedding Signs
These are very easy to make and everyone who I have made one for has loved this personalized gift. You can make the wood sign yourself or purchase a pre-made one from Michael’s. Use stencils and a bit of paint to customize your sign. Our’s hangs in our room.
Centerpieces
Although we used these at our wedding, they still look good even on our kitchen table. Using different sized mason jars I hot glue-gunned strips of ribbon or fabric around the mouths, filled them with clear stones, water and a floating candle. My husband cut the discs for me from some trees that had been toppled over in a windstorm. These can be accented with other candles or greenery.
Painted Discs
Following our wedding we were left with a bunch of wood discs; some of our guests took them home, some of the discs ended up as cake stands and others ended up being used to level out the trailer but some I turned into decorative pieces for our home and gifts. My favourite one: I painted the centre white and meticulously stencilled and painted a deer silhouette.
Monogrammed Stumps
I can’t take credit for this. This was all my husband’s idea; in fact it was a surprise feature at our wedding that were placed at the head of the aisle. He torched our initials on it; it was very sweet. They look great at an outside entryway.
Reindeer
A nice walk in the woods and a quick rummage through your wood pile is needed for this project. I had a friend cut holes for the antlers, neck and legs then I stuck in the pieces adhering them with wood glue.
Antler Lamp
Using sheds I found; I played around with the orientation of the antlers to find out the most sturdy combination. Carefully my uncle drilled a hole for the light socket and cord and attached them for me. I hot glue-gunned the antlers into place. If you can’t find any sheds, artificial ones can be used as well. I picked up a lampshade for cheap at Wal-Mart.
Tall Pinecone Vases
I found cylindrical vases from Ikea make great accent pieces on either side of a fireplace, television or doorway. If you don’t want something as tall you can always scale them down for a great decor item for a shelf or table. I collected pinecones from the front yard and filled three vases to the top. From Dollarama and Michael’s I was able to find some great silk flowers.
Terra Cotta Stacks
This was something that I stole from Pinterest. My husband drove a piece of rebar into the ground for me, then I slid the 12” pot down to the bottom to act as the base and filled it with soil. Next was the 10” pot, slid down to rest on the soil of the first one but tilted to the side. I filled it with soil and carried on with the 8” but tilted it in the other direction and so on with the 6” and then 4”. I planted seeds in mine and they didn’t grow as I hoped. This year I am going to try it with bedding plants as they will help keep the soil in place during our awful rainstorms.
Garden Signs
I don’t know about you but after planting 14 rows of carrots, onions, peas, green beans, yellow beans, zucchini and potatoes I sometimes forget the order in which I planted them (until they finally start growing). Paper seed packets on wooden stakes always just disintegrated in the rain so I got creative. I found some really cute and cheap wood plaques at Michael’s and attached them to garden stakes. I painted the backgrounds white, then carefully painted cartoon vegetables on them and wrote their names. I sprayed them with a weatherproof varnish.
