Paper Flower Wreath

I saw this image on Pinterest for a paper dahlia wreath:

 I thought it was beautiful.  So, I decided to try one for myself.  I've been trying to spruce up my front porch and make it a little more welcoming.  We have recently pulled up all the shrubbery from the front of the house in preparation of some new landscaping, so it looks a little barren out there.  I got some fresh new pillows for our bench in a bright turquoise, a new welcome mat from Target, and a couple pots of flowers to brighten things up.

The bench is one that my grandpa made years ago.  It's been sitting outside for years and needs some major work, but for now I'm just calling it 'shabby chic'.

That's our new dog, Odie.  Odie says hi.  He adopted us.  He came up one evening around dusk when I was sitting outside on the front porch.  He trotted up, lay down on my feet, sighed and went to sleep.  It was like he said, "SIGH... Okay, I'm tired of walking so I think I'll live here now."  He's really sweet but had no collar, so we don't know if/who he belonged to.  He gets along with the cat, so that clinched it.  He's a keeper.  He's already spoiled.

Since turquoise seemed to be the main color theme out there, I decided to make my paper wreath in shades of turquoise.

It was really very simple to do, and Love, Pomegranate House has a great tutorial here.

Here's what I personally used for mine:
1 - 8" cardboard cake round;
6 sheets 8.5" x 11" cardstock, cut into fourths, in the darkest shade for the outer row (23 total cones);
2 sheets 12" x 12" cardstock, cut into sixths, in the medium shade for the outside inner row (12 total cones);
2 sheets 12" x 12" cardstock, cut into ninths, in the medium shade for the inner inner row (12 total cones);
2 sheets 12" x 12" cardstock, cut into ninths, in the lightest shade for the inside (21 total cones)
hot glue;
small piece of ribbon for hanging.

Here are the pictures of the process, it's really pretty self-explanatory.

Cut your paper into the sizes listed above, roll each piece into a cone shape, glue and set aside.  Then smash the ends together and glue those onto your cardboard round.

Keep layering until the round is completely covered and you have a flower.

Ta da!  That's it.  Pretty simple right?  It was a little time consuming, but not bad at all.  I'd say the whole process took me about 30-45 minutes.

Here's a shot of how it looks from behind.

And to hang, I just hot glued a little loop of ribbon onto the back.

And voila, you have a paper dahlia wreath.

It was so simple and I liked it so well, I decided to make a second one for my back door!  Pretty, huh?

I'll keep you posted on how they hold up over time.  Thanks for stopping by!

Bathroom Reveal

At long last, the time has finally come... to REVEAL THE BATHROOM.  That was actually the heading on our wedding invitations (minus the bathroom part) and believe me, the completion of this bathroom feels almost as momentous.  This simple, "phase 1" project has been coming together since August - that's right, AUGUST - of 2013.  Imagine living in a constant state of chaos for that long!  Cray cray, I know!

We actually had a family get-together this past weekend so they got to preview this space already.  (Sorry family, this is old news for you.) It's amazing how having a bunch of people over seems to light that fire under you to get all your projects finished, get your house cleaned, your yard projects done, etc. etc.  I need to have those more often.

Anyhoo, without further ado, here she is: [cue the choirs of angels singing here]

 My gorgeous mirror... you can see where she started here.

My sconces are from Home Depot, and the faucet is from Wal-Mart.

My pretty, upcycled washstands with their pretty blue glass knobs... you can see where they started here.

Remember when all we had here was a tiny access hole with Daniel's legs hanging out?  Well, it's now bigger and a lot more sleek.

 

 For the frame in the pic above, I just took a little swatch of my curtain fabric and framed it in a frame I already had on hand.

 

My homemade curtain... I made this basically the same way I made my kitchen curtains (that tutorial can be found here) and simply added the 3 folds at the bottom, holding the folds in place with straight pins.  They're clearly not perfect, but much better than looking at our ugly, cracked window.

  

  Daniel made the floating shelves for me here for extra storage, and the artwork is one I painted in college, complete with a white duct tape 'mat' and spray-painted white frame.

  This is just a detail shot of my pretty shell container, purchased at Kirklands for $6, which holds extra razors, and the fabric wrapped box (a lightbulb box wrapped in leftover curtain fabric for extra height and interest).

Now that you've seen it all, let's take a look back at where we started.

Before:

SketchUp idea:

After:

Before:

After:

 

Before:

After:

 Daniel's favorite part of the bathroom - all the details that most people don't notice - like the fine woodwork and trim work that he did in here.  I have to brag on him, everything is so well made and he is a perfectionist so he won't let it be until it's perfect!

Before:

After:

You can really tell in this picture how much space we gained around the sink area.  The pedestal sink and washstands are significantly less deep than the original counter.  It was a pretty tight squeeze before.

Before:

Sketch-up Idea:

After:

Well, I hope you enjoyed my bathroom tour!  I know I am enjoying the end result!  It's been a long time coming!  Sometimes I just stand in the doorway and stare at it, grinning like an idiot.  Renovations have that effect on me. :o)

Note: To see all our bathroom posts, progress, etc., click here, here, here, and here.