Bathmat

I was inspired to start this project when I saw the DIY.
river stone bathmat repined a couple hundred times on my Pinterest feed! My problems with that are that the rocks were polished smooth, making it extremely unsafe when wet, they used hot glue which is not something that will hold up over time, and there was nowhere for excess water to drain off. I decided to eliminate those three issues and put my own spin on it by using ocean stones from our favorite beach. It took me a few trips to get the right amount, but I couldn’t be happier with the final product!

Supplies:

Outdoor rubber mat – with holes or spaces for water to drain.

Smooth ocean or river stones – make sure they are porous, not slick and polished. The amount will vary on the size of the mat and can be found near rivers, oceans, or your local craft store! )

Clear waterproof silicone sealer

Plastic drop cloth or old shower curtain

The mat I picked had a textured pattern on the front, so I flipped it over to work on the smooth side.

Work on a plastic.
drop cloth or old shower curtain. the last thing you want to do is glue your fun new bathmat down to your carpet! Now arrange your stones on the mat so you can make sure you have enough and map out how they will all fit. It’s kind of like putting a puzzle together, so have patience! I also placed the largest rocks I had over the holes in the mat. Water will still be able to drain out, but I didn’t want the gap to be visible.

Once you have them arranged, start on one corner and pick up a stone, squeeze out a dab of the silicone sealer on the back of the stone and place it back down on the mat.

Hold for a few seconds and repeat with remaining stones.

Fancy Ornaments

Beaded Satin

Approximate Time: 1 hour per ornament

Supplies:

• 2-inch Styrofoam balls or whatever size you would like to make (old vintage satin covered balls work well if you still have any and sometimes you can still find them at thrift stores.)
• 1-inch straight pins
• silver bugle beads
• silver seed beads
• silver rocaille beads
• size 8mm silver sequins
• *Elmer's glue (optional)
• silver thread

Instructions:

1. Put your supplies in this order:
   pins
   seed beads
   bugle beads
   rocaille beads
   sequins
   glue poured into an old flat lid (optional)
   Styrofoam ball

2. First of all, put a seed bead onto your straight pin, then a bugle bead, then a rocaille, and last of all the sequin.
3. If you want to make sure the pins stay in place well, put just the very tip of the pin into the glue, then stick into the Styrofoam ball.
4. Continue this same procedure, making sure you overlap enough to completely cover the ball, so you don't see any of the Styrofoam.
5. For hanging, place a length of thread on one of the pins with some glue to make sure it is secured well.

Note: The ornaments are also very pretty when used in an arrangement, wreath, or garland. For an arrangement use a skewer and either stick it right into the Styrofoam or wire the ornament to it, then place into your arrangement or carefully wire the ornaments to your wreath or garland.

What You Need

• Styrofoam ball– mine is about 5cm (you could just as easily use any other Styrofoam shape too)
• Sequins– the loose ones with a single hole in the middle – I used two sizes in three colors.
• Bugle beads– these are the long straight beads
• Seed beads– these are the small round ones
• Pins– any pins will do but they need to have a largish flat head to hold the sequins in place

What To Do

The idea is simple: Pin the sequins and beads to the Styrofoam ball.

You could create any design you like but I chose to work in stripes of green and silver with some red thrown in for interest.

To create a design like mine:

• Start with a single sequin – this will be the top (or bottom) of your ball.
• Work the next row of sequins around the first sequin in a circle. I have overlapped mine to avoid too much white showing through and help the sequins stay securely in place.
• I then added red smaller sequins to fill in the gaps.
• Next, I did a row of sequins with bugle beads: Put the bead onto the pin first then add the sequin and pin into the ball.
• My next row was the large green sequins again, then I went back and added the smaller green sequins with green round beads in the gaps.
• To add a sequin plus small round bead: Put the round bead onto the pin first then add the sequin and add to the ball.
• I continued in rows around my ball with a mixture of sequins and sequins plus beads until I finished with a single bead in the center of the other side of the ball.

To Hang your Ball:

Just add a loop of ribbon or thread. Secure it with the last pin and sequin or add separately in a small gap with a pin to hold it in place.

If the ball is too heavy and the hanger falls out, just add a dot of clear glue to the pin to hold it tighter.

Other ways to Display your Ball

• A mixture of balls in a couple of sizes would look great on a tray in the middle of your table.
• Sit three balls inside three glasses grouped on a table or ledge – groups of three always look great!
• Turn a long-stemmed wine glass upside down and sit it over your ball. Then sit a small pillar candle on the base of the glass for an unusual candlestick.
• Sit a ball on each plate at your Christmas table and slip a small name card between the sequins to create placeholders.
• Hang on a ribbon above a doorway like mistletoe.

Do you have any more suggestions for displaying these?  Let us know!

Super Cute Room Ideas

Pillar Candles

If you're looking for a fun and budget-friendly way to add a bit of sparkle to your decor, head to the dollar store for everything needed for this DIY.  Use colors that match your decor, and you'll have a stunning display.

What You'll Need:

Pillar candles
Double-sided tape
Glitter
Sheet of paper
Paper towel
Directions:
Pick up white glass pillar candles and double-sided tape at the dollar store. You can usually find glitter in the kiddie-craft aisle, otherwise superfine glitter costs only a few dollars at your local craft store. Remove sticky labels from the candles, and then cut and wrap lengths of the double-stick tape around the candles. You can even cut thin strips from long lengths of the tape to create variations.

Sprinkle some glitter on a white sheet of paper, and roll the candle over the paper, pressing so the glitter really adheres to the tape.

gently wipe with a paper towel, and your sparkling candle is ready to dazzle. It's that simple! And there's no drippy glue or smudge.

Rainy Day Fun

Did you know?

Unicorn Ornament

This unicorn is just adorable!

Princess Unicorn

What you need:

• Iridescent glass ball ornament
• White craft paint
• Air dry clay
• Gold spray paint
• Pink craft paint
• Paint brush
• Black vinyl eyelashes
• Pink ribbon
• Hot glue gun
• Pink faux flowers

• Step 1: Prep the Ornament
• Remove the metal hook and pour white paint into your glass ornament to turn your ornament a white iridescent color. Tip the ornament and let the excess paint drain out and let dry completely. Once dry, replace metal hook and put the black eyelashes onto the outside of your unicorn. Make the horn by shaping air dry clay and letting it dry completely. Spray paint it gold and let dry. 
• Step 2: Add Details
• Once dry, hot glue your horn to the top of the unicorn. Place it in front of the hanging hook to hide it. Hot glue your pink flowers onto your ornament making a flower crown. Try using one flower type in different shades of pink or use a mix of colors for a rainbow look. Using pink craft paint, add small circles to make the unicorn cheeks. Allow to dry completely before hanging. 

• Step 3: Add Ribbon

To hang, add a large piece of pink ribbon. Size the ribbon based on how low you'd like the ornament to hang. Make several of these handmade ornaments and you'll have the most magical Christmas tree! 

Cute Idea for a Sleep over!

Summertime Fun Idea