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7.06.2020

repurposed wire lampshade mobile

art, boho style, boho, color, crafting, creative spaces, DIY, diy decorating, found objects, just for fun, junk makeover, re-purposing, tomato cage crafts, trash to treasure, up-cycling, birdcage crafts, lampshades, wire crafts, colorful ribbon crafts
wire has made an appearance in my projects on this blog many times,
from the various ways i have used wire tomato cages and wire lampshade frames,
to the simple crowns, cages, and domes i have fashioned from this inexpensive material.

earlier this summer, i grabbed some wire items that i've created in the past,
and combined them with wire lampshade frames and a few new finds
to create a whimsical wire mobile in my studio.

i love how it adds movement and color to the room
and because it's overhead, it takes up no space at all!

continue reading for the incredibly simple way it is suspended...

7.03.2020

festive 'foo foo faux food' for the fourth!

beach style, coastal style, color, color palettes, crafting, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, dollar store crafts, foofoo Faux Food, Fourth of July, junk makeover, re-purposing, red white and blue, summer, Sweet Sweater Scoops, thrifted, trash to treasure, vintage paper, sweater crafts, paper crafts
a miracle happened yesterday... a thrift store near us was OPEN!
so, masked up with sanitizing wipes in hand, Mom and i tiptoed through the door
and were welcomed by a cheerful young lady who was wiping down the register counter.
only one other person was in the store, so we felt quite safe.

and on the way to the back of the shop, 
where there are many many bookshelves filled with many many books 
- for just ten cents each, which is why we LOVE this thrift shop! - 
i spied a brand new roll of vintage crepe paper (probably from the 70's)
and my weakness for vintage paper ephemera began nagging at me. 
(spurred on by the fact that i haven't been out thrifting since February!)
yes, i bought it. i spent a whole TWENTY FIVE CENTS on it!

nope, i had NO IDEA what i was going to use it for. i just couldn't resist.

but then i came home, sat it on the sideboard in my studio,
 next to a few small bottles holding old paper flags.
and an idea for a 'fast, cheap, & easy' accent for the Fourth of July was born!

click through to see the details...

6.28.2020

diy fourth of july

beach style, coastal style, color, color palettes, DIY, diy decorating, entertaining, events, Fourth of July, outdoors, party, re-purposing, red white and blue, summer, Sweet Sweater Originals, up-cycling
Fourth of July weekend is coming up in just DAYS,
and no matter where or how you are celebrating
during this crazy quarantine you probably need some easy 'use what you have' ideas!

so i've pulled together all of the previous red, white & blue projects, ideas, & decor
that i've shared here at homewardFOUND since 2012
to inspire your patriotic celebrations!

continue reading to see them all...

6.25.2020

NEW! Sweet Sweater Pops!

DIY, Fourth of July, original designs, re-purposing, red white and blue, summer, sweaters, Sweet Sweater Pops, Sweet Sweater Sandbabies, Sweet Sweater Scoops, Sweet Sweater Snowmen, foofoo Faux Food
so a funny thing happened while i was creating my last blog post...
i was typing in additional ideas for accessories that one might use
on one's own versions of my Sweet Sweater Sandbabies.
things like ball caps popped into my mind. and THAT led me down a rabbit hole...
it went something like this:

"yeah! ball caps! ball caps?! baseball! hot dogs! beer! popcorn! 
POPCORN??!! waaaaaiiiiiiiit a minute... i have...."
at which point i ran out of my studio to the garage, to the party supply bins,
where i found the paper and plastic popcorn containers i knew were in there.

i returned to my studio and dragged out the box with sweater remnants,
and there was a bag filled with wonky fuzzy yarn that is the color of UNbuttered popcorn.
my crazy brain puts two and two together and the result is those guys up above:
Sweet Sweater Pops!
Red, White, and Blue PATRIOTIC Pops.

and then the ideas REALLY started poppin'... continue reading to see!

6.22.2020

NEW! Sweet Sweater Sandbabies!

art, art class, beach style, color, coastal style, diy decorating, DIY, Disneyland, just for fun, re-purposing, summer, sweaters, Sweet Sweater Sandbabies, Sweet Sweater Pumpkins, thrifted, sweater crafts, summer home decor, diy home decor
in my last post, i shared my new 'sweet sweater kakamora'
along with a 'flashback' to a previously unseen 'sweet sweater sandbaby':
art, art class, beach style, color, coastal style, diy decorating, DIY, Disneyland, just for fun, re-purposing, summer, sweaters, Sweet Sweater Sandbabies, Sweet Sweater Pumpkins, thrifted, sweater crafts, summer home decor, diy home decor
and he was cute.... but he needed some color to fit into my studio/office decor!

so i grabbed some bright beach buckets, white beach hats,
one last tan sweater from my stash, and one tan chenille 'sweet sweater pumpkin'
and started playing around....
the happy result was these three adorable beach babies in colorful buckets!

oh, but wait... i didn't stop there! keep reading to see what happened NEXT!

6.18.2020

NEW sweet sweater summer decor!

art class, beach style, coastal style, crafting, decorating, diy decorating, junk makeover, just for fun, original designs, re-purposing, sweaters, Sweet Sweater Kakamora, thrifted, tiki style, tropical style, Sweet Sweater Sandbabies, summer home decor, summer diy decor
yes, yes, i HAVE lost my everlovin' mind, thankyouverymuch!

last Christmas, in the midst of my flurry of decorating in our Happy HULAdays theme,
i created some last-minute decor using.... you guessed it.... sweaters.
one photo of that project was part of this post back in December,
but really, the idea was so fun that it needs a bit more exposure.

with my mind on tikis and tropical style for summer, 
it's time to put them in the spotlight -
PLUS another beachy sweater creation from a few years back!

...continue reading for a bit of summer-y sweater fun!

6.15.2020

metal chair = magnet board!

art, art class, color, color palettes, crafting, creative spaces, DIY, diy decorating, dollar store crafts, fast cheap and easy, furniture, junk makeover, just for fun, makeover, re-purposing, wall art
a spur-of-the-moment solution to a project i'd been considering took over my weekend!
making a change to the black metal chair in this photo has been on my mind,
but i wasn't sure about the method. or the outcome. mostly, the permanence of it.
so it's been 'on the back burner' for awhile. um... years.
then a solution presented itself - and in less than ten minutes, i had done it!

continue reading to see the final colorful outcome of this crazy-easy undertaking,
and hear a tale about the chair in this photo. it's been on a journey to get to me...

6.12.2020

tropical gift bag wall art

art, art class, boho style, color, crafting, DIY, diy decorating, dollar store crafts, gift wrapping, paper crafts, re-purposing, summer, tiki style, tropical style, up-cycling, wall art, tropical leaf wall art
along with the plethora of tikis i've been creating,
i've added some other tropical decor elements to our home for summer...
elements like this leafy wall art, made from a plastic gift / tote bag!

continue reading for the easiest art project ever...