DIY 5 Minute Table Runner

I'm a big fan of anything that makes my home feel more...homey. Candles, throw pillows, picture frames, you name it. (My latest addition to a bare wall was this fun map.) I've had a black and white striped table runner out for the last few months and recently decided that I needed something more colorful and fun as we head into the warmer months. But I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for it. 

While returning something at Walmart, I decided to take a look through the fabric aisles and was pleasantly surprised at their selection! I found this cute, colorful fabric and knew I wanted to use it right away. This DIY is so easy that it hardly deserves a post of its own, but I've had a few friends ask for directions.

What You'll Need:

1 - 1 1/2 yards of fabric
rotary cutter & mat
sewing machine
thread
scissors

1. Fold your fabric hamburger style and continue to fold it that way until it all fits on your cutting mat. (So technical, ha ha.)
2. After making sure the fabric is lined up straight, trim the side edges so they're straight.
3. Measure the halfway point and cut your fabric into two equally sized pieces.
4. Open up both pieces and put them together with the colorful sides facing together.
5. Pin the top and sew them together. Voila!

(If you wanted to turn it into a 10 minute table runner, you could turn all of the edges under so the fabric won't fray easily. I just didn't have time to do so!)

DIY adventure map.

If you're a list maker/visual person like I am, you'll appreciate this fun and decorative DIY project. I love to keep track of things like books I've read, recipes I've tried, and places Ben and I have traveled! I've also been trying to figure out what to hang on the bulletin board in our hallway for a while now and this map seemed like the perfect fit.

After coming across this cute, free(!) printable from Rae Ann Kelly, I immediately downloaded it and sent it over to the UPS store around the corner from my apartment.

Later that afternoon I picked it up and reverted back to my Kindergarten days as I pulled out my markers to add small amounts of color.

I had already stopped by Walmart and picked up a package of map pins (they're like sewing pins but a lot shorter and thicker), so I knew what colors I wanted to stick with.

I decided on what I wanted the different colors to mean and began adding pins to the map. (I took these pictures before I finished adding all of the pins, so it's definitely more colorful than the pictures show.) Yellow is where I've traveled, green is where Ben's traveled, blue is where we've lived, and red is where we've traveled together.

It was such an easy craft to throw together that I've been kicking myself for not thinking of doing this earlier! I love passing it in the hallway and remembering fun vacations that I've been on - definitely something to get me through this overcast, rainy weather we've been having.

Let me know if you end up making a map like this!

in which i pretend i have painting skills.

A few weeks ago, my friend Alicia discovered a thing called Paint Nite on Groupon. She sent out an email to all of the women in our ward inviting us to tag along with her, and I thought the idea was so great that I signed up immediately! I've never been one to pull out paint and paper and create masterpieces (mostly because I can't paint or draw to save my life), but this event sounded too fun to pass up.

Paint Nite usually takes place at a bar (people can get unlimited drinks with the Groupon - we got ice waters, haha) where an art instructor shows everyone how to paint the same picture. We signed up to paint a bunch of blue flowers.

From looking at the pictures, you get the idea that everyone interprets things differently or takes their painting in different directions. One guy decided to paint his abstractly while some women chose to follow the instructor exactly, and my friends and I decided to half listen to the instructor and half do whatever the heck we wanted!

All in all, it took about 2 hours from start to finish and the time seriously flew by. We had so much fun sipping our ice waters (haha) and chatting while painting. I think it's safe to assume that we're all looking forward to trying it again next time it's discounted on Groupon! Wherever you live, you should definitely check out what paintings are being done in your area and jump on that!

^^I have to admit, I'm super surprised that I don't absolutely hate my painting. Pretty sure it won't be displayed anywhere in our apartment, but I'm proud of the fact that I actually painted something!^^

Have you done something similar to this before?

st. patty's ideas.

I love holidays and I love that St. Patrick's Day is coming up in 2 weeks!  You'd better believe I'll be adding green food coloring to our milk for every meal on March 17th.  And probably every meal for the week leading up to it (hey, you think it's fun, too...).  Here are my favorite Pinterest pins with links below that will add some "gold" to your day of green and leprechauns and lucky clovers.

starting with the top row:

green peppers snack 

shamrock printable

mint chocolate fudge

green pancakes

rainbow gift

word art printable

word art printable

green cookies

lucky charms & green milk snack

garland of hearts.

Raise your hand if you're really good at copying things you see on the internet, but especially things from Pinterest.  I've got both hands raised.  Never the brilliant and creative one, but always the copier (legally, of course :).  I've seen this little craft floating around from blog to blog, so I decided it was time to whip out my sewing machine that I got for Christmas from my in-laws (!!!) and spruce up our little apartment for the upcoming day of loooooove.  Put on your favorite show, grab yourself a little treat, and get to work on cutting out those hearts so you can make yourself one!