4x4 Snowmen Tutorial

After doing a lot of wood crafts the past few months for the different holidays I had some 4x4's left over from a couple of projects. I knew the perfect thing to use this wood up to go with my "Snow Themed" Month.

4x4 Snowmen were just it! 

I went on Pinterest to get ideas on how I wanted to make them. I found some that I really liked HERE on Pinterest from Crafty Wood Cutouts. {I couldn't find the original post on there though. I also saw the ones at A Mommy's Life with a Touch of Yellow that she made. You can go see them HERE.

Here Are My Snowmen:

How I Made Them:

I got my 4x4 wood out and had my hubby cut them for me. The sizes I did are: 1- 20", 1- 15" & 1- 13". 

  

Then I got to work on painting them white. 
I did 3 coats of white on each side. I wanted them to be really bright white. It took me almost a day to paint them. On the tallest one I painted the top 3 1/2" black to make a top hat. I also painted a strip of wood, that is 6" long by 1 3/4" wide, black to put as the brim of the hat. 

When those dried, I sanded all the edges of the blocks. I did it by hand quickly because I didn't want it too perfect sanded looking. I wanted it old and worn looking. 

Then I started working on the accessories. For the nose, I followed what Whitney did at A Mommy's Life with a Touch of Yellow. I thought it was a genius idea. She took a orange yellow painted star that she got at Michael's and cut it up to use for the carrot nose. So I did just that. 

After I cut them off I sanded all the edges to match the style of the 4x4's.

 

I had some cute black gem buttons that I used for the eyes. For the buttons down the front I bought a package of wood circles at Michael's and painted 9 of them black. When they dried, I sanded around the edges to match the rest of the snowmen. 

When I had those all in place I hot glued all the stuff on. 

Next, I made the scarves:

I went to JoAnn's to find some fabric. I wanted really fun winter colored fabrics. I found these and fell in love with them together. 

There was only one problem with getting this type of fabric. It was only one sided. I didn't want to just cut it and put it on because then you could see the plain back of it so I got to work on my sewing machine. I was actually excited to do this because I got this machine for Christmas and haven't used it yet. 

I wanted the scarf to be about 2" on my snowmen so I cut a strip of fabric that was 4 1/2" wide and 30" long. I did a longer strips for the other snowmen  because of the way I wanted them tied. 

I then folded the strip of fabric together with the right sides together. Then I pinned them.

Next, I sewed that together. I used the end of the presser foot as my guide. 

Then I took a safety pin and pinned it to one peice of fabric on one end. 

Then I put that through the tube I created and bunched the fabric 
through until I could get the safety pin out. 

Then I gently pulled the fabric through. 

Now I have a doubled sided scarf! I though about ironing it out so it would be smooth, but I didn't want it crisp looking on my snowmen and I like how it looked a little wrinkled so I kind of evened it out and then tied them on my snowmen. 

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Lastly, I created ear muffs for the other 2 snowmen. 

I bought 4 wood circles at Michael's and painted them purple and light blue with regular craft paint.

After those dried I wrapped wire around them to create the ear muff look. 

Then I hot glued those on to the snowmen.

I LOVE, LOVE the way they turned out!!! These go perfect with my other snow decor I have made!

Hope you all stay warm during these winter months!

  

    

Joining these Link Parties HERE    

Snowball Wreath

A couple of months ago I was going through my pins on Pinterest
and came across a super cute snowball wreath
someone had made for winter. I fell in LOVE with it the minute I saw it.
I pinned it forever ago but finally had time to go check it out.
I found it over at Addicted 2 Decorating. To see her post go HERE.

This was something I had to make this year to go with my "Snow" theme for this month. It was perfect for that.

So today, I have the tutorial for you on how I made it!!

Here is my 
SNOWBALL WREATH!

What You Will Need To Make It:

1. My Super Sweet neighbor was cleaning out her craft room last month and brought me over a few boxes of stuff she was getting rid of and in those boxes were styrofoam balls. There were a few in there, but I knew I would need more so I went to Michael's and JoAnn's to get styrofoam balls and a styrofoam wreath. I went to both because of the coupons so it would help with the cost. {I used a lot more balls then are pictured.}

2. A hot glue gun and a few glue sticks. My glue gun has a low setting so it worked perfect for this. If its too hot it will melt the styrofoam. There is also styrofoam glue at the craft store. I have never used it, but I am sure its good.

3. Toothpicks to help secure some of the the balls.

4. Fabric or ribbon to hang it. 

How I Made It:

To start off, I took the biggest balls I had, which I think are 3", and placed them evenly around the styrofoam wreath. Then I went to the next size, which where 2 1/2" and placed those evenly. I kept doing that process until I got a good amount around the wreath. {I used all these random sizes because that's what the lady had given me. You don't need to use all these different sizes if you don't want to!}

All the balls that went into the wreath I attached with a toothpick. Here is the technique I used to do that.

After I got those all into the wreath I hot glued more balls of different sizes on top of the other balls to fill in the holes. I did not use toothpick on these ones.



When I finished getting it the way I wanted it to look, I made a bow out of fabric.
To do this I cut 2 strips of fabric about 3" wide.

I looped one of them around the wreath and tied a knot and the other one I made a big bow out of.

Lastly, I hot glued the bow to the knot on the other strip of fabric.

I am so excited about how it turned out!! EEEK!! It is perfect for those snowy winter months!

Joining these Link Parties HERE

Thrift Store Christmas Decor Tutorial

I can't wait to show you what I have today. This is definitely up top with my favorite projects I have done! So let's get to it...

A few weeks ago I went to our local thrift store to
see what I could find to do my crafts.
I went down the frame isle and came across and old oval frame
with quite the beauty of a painting in it...note the sarcasm here!!
 I knew that I could create something Amazing with this frame
so I bought it for a whopping $1.00!

When I came home, I thought about what I wanted to do with it and knew it needed to be something Christmas. So here is what I came up with:

This really was so fun to take something old and make it modern and new!

Here's what I did to make it:

1. The painting was screwed into the frame so I unscrewed it and remove the painting. 

2. Then I took the frame and spray painted it red.

3. I bought some fabric to put for the background to cover up the ugly painting. I also bought some little embellishments and ribbon to add to this to spruce it up.

4. Next, I took the fabric and cut it about the size of the oval painting.

5. I took some spray adhesive {my new favorite stuff} and sprayed the painting with it. I did it according to the directions on the can. Then I put the fabric onto the painting. I smoothed that out and let it dry for a bit. Then I took scissors and cut the excess fabric off.

6. I cut some sparkly red ribbon to fit in the spot I wanted it to on the board. I also used adhesive spray to glued that onto the board.

7. Now is the fun part...figuring out the embellishments. It took me a minute to get it just right, but finally came up with this:

8. Lastly, I cut out the words "Joy to the World" in brown vinyl on the circut and transferred those onto to the fabric.

There you have it!! Super fun and SHABBY CHIC Christmas Decor from a Thrift Store Frame!!

I LOVE it!! What do you think??

Joining these Link Parties HERE

Spray Painting Glass Tutorial

It has taken me a few tries to figure out how to spray paint glass.
 I have had a few projects that failed because I didn't spray the glass right. 

Today, I want to share my knowledge of what I have learned about spray painting glass correctly incase any of you have had problems as well or are thinking about upcoming projects.


For this tutorial I am spray painting candle stick holders that I did for a project HERE.

To start I just went ahead and started spraying them with normal spray paint, nothing special. I held the can according to the directions on it. This one was 8-10 in. away from the object. I have done research before and some sites said to sand the glass a little bit, to roughen it up so the paint has something to stick to but I found that it really wasn't necessary for my projects.

The TRICK with glass is SLOW & STEADY with LIGHT COATS. 

The picture above only has 1 coat of paint on it. You can still see through the glass. In between each coat I wait a good few minutes for it to fully dry. I end up having to put about 5-6 light coats on it to get the full coverage that it needs. It is a slow process, but the outcome is beautiful!!

This one has 6 coats of paint on it.

With my past projects that didn't go so well I put the paint on too heavy and too quickly. As it started drying it got a cracking and bubbling look. It was horrible. So it really needs to be light coats and put on slow.

This is another project that I spray painted candle stick holders as well:

This is one of the projects that I had one that failed. I had to go back and buy another candle stick to get it right!!

If you have an questions for me please let me know. Either comment below or email me at 

2yellowbirdsdecor@gmail.com

Hope you found this tutorial helpful!

Joining these Link Parties HERE

How to Back Up Your Blog

As most of you already know, 

I had a HUGE SCARE last Thursday with my blog. 

The Story:

I got a cute message from Danni at Silo Hill Farm on Thursday morning 

on Facebook asking if I was ok because she couldn't find my blog. 

My heart started racing!! I ran to my computer and went to my blog

 only to find it was GONE!!!! AHH! 

I started freaking out and crying. 

My sweet hubby came over and started looking over things with me. 

We looked at bloggers list of things to do if you can't find your blog. 

Not one of the things on the list worked. I did not receive any emails from them saying they were going to remove it. I tried to contact them, but didn't hear back from them. 

Later that day I got an email from Danielle at Blissful and Domestic, along with a few others

saying they had been to my blog and found it was BACK!!!

I had to go check it out for myself and sure enough

THERE IT WAS!!!!

I have never felt more relieved in my life. 

I seriously thought I was going to be going through a lot

to get it back.  I am so grateful it came back on its own. 

The whole thing was bizarre because I never heard from blogger, not even when it came back. 

SO WEIRD!

What I Did for my Followers:

When I first figured out it had been removed I sent out a mass email to many of my followers. Many of you email me back asking if I had BACKED UP MY BLOG. 

I had never even heard of doing this or would even know where to begin to do so. 

One blogger, Adrianne from Happy Hour Projects, emailed me saying she was just going to be doing a post about Backing Up Your Blog. She asked me if she could use my story in her post. 


So today Adrianne and I are TEAMING UP with 
HOW TO BACK UP YOUR BLOG!!

She sent me over every step on how to do so with pictures so I could back mine up.
I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW EASY IT WAS!!!!
It took me less than 5 MINUTES! 
And what a life saver it will be if something like this happens again.

I am going to be doing this weekly from now on!!

So now I am going to send you over to 
Happy Hour Projects 
to see how to
BACK UP YOUR BLOG!!!

She has an awesome tutorial for you on how to do so! You don't want to miss it!

{Re-Sticking a Cricut Mat} Tutorial

Happy Monday!!

I hope you all had an amazing weekend! Our family had an awesome one. Growing up our family's thing was boating. Its what we did every summer. The last many years we have not been able to go, but Saturday my Dad got our boat and took the whole family! It was so fun to be back at the lake again!!! Here are a couple of picture of my kiddos-

This was actually my kids very first time on Grandpa's boat! They were a little nervous at first, but grew to LOVE it quickly!!

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Before I get started today I wanted to let you know what's going on this week at Two Yellow Birds Decor. 

I have done a few things that last couple of weeks that are all tips and tricks I want to share with you so I have dedicated a week for this! Hope you can find something useful throughout the week!

For today's tips and tricks I have a tutorial on

HOW TO RE-STICK A CIRCUT MAT

I bought new ones all the time when I needed to and it costs so much money in the long run so my hubby searched for a simple way to re-stick it so we no longer have to keep buying new ones. Doing it this way saves so much money!!

To get started-

Here is what you will need:

*Aleene's Tack-It Over & Over {found at a craft store}

*Some type of container to store it in

*Something to mix it with

*Foam Brush (Not Pictured)

*And of course...your Cricut Mat!

Step One:

*Wash your Cricut Mat with warm water and soap. I used a sponge to scrub it with. Wipe dry.

Step Two:

*Mix equal parts {1/2 and 1/2} of Aleene's Tack-It Over & Over AND water. You can mix up how ever much you want.

Step Three:

*Paint a thin coat of the glue mixture on the Cricut Mat. Let it air dry. It may take up to 10 minutes. Just keep testing with your hand to see if its dry every few minutes.

{Put the lid on the container and store it for the next time around! It should last a long time so you can get many uses out of it!!!}

Step Four:

*Lastly, take your hands and stick them to the mat and pull them off. Do that repeatedly all over the mat. This is just prepping it for use!

Now you are done! It is really simple and easy! As you can see it will save a lot of money in the long run! The biggest cost for this is getting the Aleene's Glue. {I can't remember the exact price, but I know its not too expensive!}

Joining the Following Link Parties: