Memorial Day Craft

Memorial Day is almost here! I know, it feels like just yesterday it was winter... wait, it was just yesterday!

No matter, the gateway to summer is just around the corner. Last year on Memorial Day weekend we got a fairly big snowstorm. It hit the day after we put out the patio furniture, dropping several inches of snow on green leaves, flowery bushes, and some of the plants in my garden.


I learned my lesson, at least where the plants are concerned, and I am waiting until after Memorial Day before planting my garden this year. Well, except for the lettuce and peas, which I planted last week, but they should be ok.


I like to decorate my house with seasonal or holiday decorations so last year I put together this easy-to-make wreath to hang on my front door. It was super simple and fast, and no matter how uncrafty you might think you are you can make this too.

You'll need a grapevine wreath—which you can find at Walmart—along with some scraps of blue, white, and red fabric, and some sparkly star foam stickers. I tied the three strips of fabric into bows, stacking them on top of each other, and placed the stickers over the rest of it.

It was a really simple decoration, and I like it enough that I can keep it up all summer because it works for Memorial Day, Flag Day and Fourth of July.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Pinwheels For Spring!

Recently we had a bit of a warm spell, so I felt the need to transition our home from Winter to Spring. Unfortunately I don't have many Spring decorations, but I figured I could come up with something. I decided to make pinwheels in fun spring colors to decorate the mantle in our living room and the wreath on our door. I had made pinwheels before as part of the grand send-off at our wedding, so after a quick refresher I was on my way.

To make pinwheels you will need colored paper, scissors, a ruler, pins and tape. First I cut out different size squares, for some of them I used scissors that cut with designs to add to a little fun.

Then you need to cut a diagonal line from each of the 4 corners toward the middle, but don't cut all the way through!

Then fold the left corner into the middle and continue until you have 4 corners in the middle. I then placed a pin through the center of the pinwheel and, with a pair of needle-nosed pliers, bent the pin in the back 90 degrees to hold it in place. For some of my pinwheels I layered two different size pinwheels on top of each other to create some texture—if you choose to do this be sure to put the pin through both pinwheels and then bend it.

I taped the bent pin down in the back to secure it and then used a piece of florist wire to attach my pinwheel to my burlap wreath.

For the garland I taped the pin down in the back and then punched a hole through the tips of two of the petals on the pinwheel to feed the yarn through.

I made too many and so I ended up attaching some of them to craft sticks to display in a vase on top of the mantel and the rest I propped up against picture frames. 

The whole project took me a little over an hour from start to finish and it added a nice splash of Spring to the house! Here's to hoping Spring isn't too far off!

Keep pinchin' :-)

Valentine's Day Heart Garland

Last week I watched my friend's little 4 1/2 year old daughter. She is adorable, and she loves projects and keeping busy. So I figured it would be the perfect day to make a "heart garland" for the living room mantle. I'll do my best to explain the process below, but for some really good, clear directions check out this post at strumpetscrumpets.blogspot.com.

First we gathered some red and white paper. My mistake here was that I did not have white cardstock, only red, and flimsy copy paper does not hold a shape when hanging, so definitely use card stock. Then we cut out all the strips of paper. Having a paper trimmer would have saved a ton of time—mine was missing the blade—but using scissors was great cutting practice for the little one. She cut two sheets of paper into a bunch of 1-inch strips.

Then I started stapling the strips together to create hearts. I decided to vary the size of the hearts on my garland, which just meant cutting some of the strips in half.

Our finished project. She was so excited about our garlands, and couldn't wait to take hers home to hang up!

Do you have any fun, cheap Valentine's Day crafts that you've done recently or want to do? Add a link in the comments below!

Keep Pinchin' :-)