Farmhouse Wall Decor designed by Me (and Stencil Revolution)

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Farmhouse decor is all the rage right now and since I live in a farmhouse, it's only fitting that I'd fall in love with the farmhouse style. You can find pre-made farmhouse decor all across the internet, but it's just more fun to make your own because then no one else has custom-made home decor like yours, and Stencil Revolution is the place to go for stencils of all kinds!

Stencil Revolution sent me three of their stencils (my choice) and I'm so impressed with the quality! These are not cheapy, flimsy stencils; rather they are high quality, sturdy, reusable, laser-cut, custom-made stencils. You can even choose the size of stencil that you want for your project. These stencils are so easy to work with and I had so much fun creating my own home decor for much less than I'd pay in the stores.

Once I received my stencils, I had to plan out my projects. I didn't want my projects to look like the ones everyone else can buy on the internet or in the store. For my first project, I used a leftover piece of thin plywood underlayment from our bedroom project of faux shiplap. It's 6" x 12" and I first painted it with one thin layer of white interior paint. I used the Farm Fresh Eggs stencil from Stencil Revolution and did a single layer of black with the stencil. When the black paint dried, I distressed the lettering with a sandpaper block, then outlined the letters and images with a smoky blue paint. I love how it turned out!

For my second project, I used a stretched canvas in white. I painted the background using two colors of paint - a caramel color and a cream color - with a wide flat brush, moving from side to side, starting with the darker color, then the lighter color, then a blend of the two colors. I love how it looks like wooden planks. Once the background dried, I used my Rise and Shine Mother Cluckers stencil from Stencil Revolution with just a single layer of black paint to make it look worn, then added a line above and below the stenciled image, with a few touches of small black lines here and there to give it some depth. I just love having art in my home that I designed and made myself. This one will hang on the bedroom wall above my dresser.

For my last project (and probably my favorite), I used a piece of 100-year old reclaimed wood that already had paint on it that was naturally distressed from weather and age. I cut it down so that it would be perfectly square, sanded the edges smooth and used the Our Farmhouse stencil from Stencil Revolution. I love that this stencil comes with the numbers 0-9 so anyone can create it for their own home. I used the year that we bought our Kansas farmhouse. I painted two layers using the black paint so that the design would stand out sharply from the wood. I also connected the cursive lettering and added stems in between the leaves. I am so in love with this piece. I thought about adding something more to the corners of the wood, but I think it's beautifully simple the way it is now so I'm going to leave it like this. Right now it sits on the top shelf of the bookcase in our living room with statues of two little goats.

Stencil Revolution can help you easily design custom art pieces for your home too! Check out their huge line of stencils for all kinds of great projects, including wall stencils, mandala stencils, Christmas stencils, home decor stencils, and much more. I will definitely be ordering some more stencils from Stencil Revolution!

Shop

www.stencilrevolution.com

today!

Disney Classic Cross Stitch Creations Kit #crafts #hobbies #disney #giftidea

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review. Post contains affiliate link.

Disney characters are endeared by children and adults all over the world and now you can create beautiful Cross Stitch Creations with the Disney Classic kit by John Lohman from Quarto Knows. This kit is a great way to get started on a new creative hobby and is a fabulous holiday gift idea!

Your kit includes an embroidery hoop, needle, embroidery thread, two pieces of cross stick fabric, plus a 64-page instruction book with full color photographs and 12 patterns. Once you complete the two patterns from the included materials, you can use the other patterns to add Disney characters to shirts, tote bags, towels, pillowcases, and anything else you can stick a needle through!

Look at some of the gorgeous Disney Cross Stitch patterns available in this kit! Everyone loves Mickey Mouse and the Fantasia Mickey is a worldwide favorite. I love the detailed instructions on how to create these amazing finished designs. Learning to cross stitch is a wonderful skill for kids to master!

Give a gift that gets kids away from the screens and into working with their hands to create something amazing. Quarto Knows offers a huge selection of wonderful books and kits that encourage new hobbies for all ages. Order now for the holidays!

Shop now and order your

Disney Classic Cross Stitch Creations Kit

Eggnots Ceramic Eggs for the Holidays - #notjustforeaster #crafts

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Eggnots Ceramic Eggs are the perfect blank slate for holiday decorations and a wonderful family craft or group craft idea. You may have read my Eggnots Easter post, but beautiful eggs have been used for many years to decorate for other holidays. Eggnots were originally created for those who have egg allergies, but still want the joy of decorating eggs for holidays.

Order a dozen at least! Your Eggnots will come in a charming little egg crate that you can use as part of your decor, use for a "drying station" after decorating the eggs, or for annual storage of the eggs when the holiday is over. They look like a carton of real eggs, don't they?

I picked up a couple dollars' worth of simple crafting supplies to make my Holiday Eggnots. Glitter glue is an eggs-cellent choice because you can get the sparkle of the glitter without finding glitter all over your house for the next six months. I also picked up some sequins and some jewels.

We decorated the Eggnots for the holidays over the weekend. With the blizzard conditions across Kansas, it was the perfect keep-busy indoor activity for our family. We sipped on hot chocolate and glued tiny sequins and jewels on Eggnots in all kinds of patterns and color combinations. It was so much fun!

As I looked around for some display ideas for these gorgeous holiday eggs, I happened to find an assortment of old glass candlestick holders in the back of my kitchen cabinet. It's the perfect solution to display several of them on our coffee table. You could also decorate them like winter characters, like polar bears, snowmen, and Santa!

Holiday Eggnots are also perfectly shaped and sized for Christmas Tree ornaments! Just glue a looped string on one end of your decorated Eggnots and once they are dry, they are ready to hang on the tree. If you are decorating holiday Eggnots with very young children, be sure to supervise them closely so they don't drop the ceramic Eggnots or eat the glue.

There are so many wonderful ways that Eggnots could be decorated for the holidays! You could dye them in holiday colors, use permanent markers in holiday colors, paint them with watercolors, or any combination of these ideas. I love my Holiday Eggnots and I'm excited that we started a new family tradition!

Order your Eggnots today at

www.eggnots.com

Cross Stitch Creations: Fine Art Crafting Kit

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review. Post contains affiliate link.

Take your crafting to masterpiece level with this crafting kit of 12 patterns and materials for two complete projects. This amazing kit by John Lohman and Rhys Turton is a great gift idea for anyone who loves needle crafts. Cross Stitch Creations: Fine Art is also excellent place for beginners to start, with its full color instruction book filled with tips and techniques.

The 64 page book features some of the world's most beloved and most recognizable works of art, including Mona Lisa and Starry Night. Practice your cross stitching with the fabric and embroidery thread included in the kit, then start adding your masterpieces to your throw pillows, tote bags, and clothing. Pick up a kit for your office gift exchange, your favorite grandma, and your sister.

In this time of technology, we need to be cautious that we do not lose the skill and art of crafting with our hands. I love the idea of giving craft kits to young girls and boys so they can learn basic sewing skills and maybe even discover they have an incredible talent for creating art. Cross Stitch Creations: Fine Art is the perfect quiet time activity or rainy day project that builds focus and creativity.

Order Cross Stitch Creations: Fine Art

from QuartoKnows.com

and Amazon.com

Learn Embroidery - Natural Splendor Designs Kit

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review. Post contains affiliate link.

Learning embroidery is fun and simple with the Natural Splendor Embroidery Designs Kit by Kelly Fletcher, that comes with all the materials you'll need to create two nature-inspired projects, plus patterns for ten more designs. It's the perfect way to get started on a brand new hobby! My mom started teaching me embroidery and cross-stitch when I was a very young girl and I still love to do it.

Natural Splendor comes in a magnetic-closure box that doubles as storage for all your crafting materials. The kit comes with a 64-page paperback instruction book, an embroidery hoop, embroidery thread in a rainbow of colors, three sheets of patterns, fabric, and needles. The fully illustrated guide book has everything you need to start embellishing anything and everything with modern, chic embroidery.

Even if you're completely new to needlework and embroidery, Natural Splendor is a great starting point, because it opens with a how-to on basic embroidery stitches. From there, the step-by-step projects will show you how to add designs from nature to purses, pillows, skirts, backpacks, and just about anything you can get a needle through!

This amazing all in one craft kit features these twelve projects: Beetle, Bumblebee, Butterfly, Dandelion, Dragonfly, Flowers and Sprigs, Hummingbird, Ladybug, Leaves, Mushroom, Seedpods, and Water Lily. Knowing how to use a needle and thread is a skill that is essential to everyone at any age. Did you know many people don't even know how to properly sew on a button?

Natural Splendor Embroidery Designs is a fabulous holiday gift idea. Crafting kits require no batteries, get kids away from electronic screens, teach essential new skills, and are perfect "keep busy" projects for rainy days and snowy days. I love this kit and can't wait to create some amazing finished projects!

Order your kit today! 

Embroidery Designs: Natural Splendor

is available on Amazon.

Spring-inspired Coloring Books that Make Great Gifts

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Finding a creative outlet can be one of the most relaxing ways to relieve daily stress. The Chalk-Style Simple Life Coloring Book and the Hello Angel Coloring Book Gift Set are wonderful gift ideas for your favorite mom, sister, aunt, or friend. Get copies for yourself too!

The Chalk-Style Simple Life Coloring Book by Deb Strain is a wonderful collection of hand-drawn designs that celebrate the community spirit of farmers markets. Color with all types of markers, gel pens and colored pencils to create a masterpiece of your own with all of the charming imperfections of original chalkboard art. From veggies and artisan bread to organic milk and just-picked flowers, these folksy market stands are overflowing with natural delights.

Each white line illustration is on a black background, just like a real chalkboard. Warm colors, bright colors, neon colors, and light pastel shades really pop from these designs. Need some ideas? The guided coloring pages make designing easy with examples and color palettes. The designs are printed on one side of archival-grade, acid-free, 200-year paper, and the perforated pages make it easy to remove the page for gifting or display in a frame. This book has even earned the DO Magazine Artist Fair Trade Seal of Approval.

The Hello Angel Coloring Book Gift Set by Angelea Van Dam comes in a beautiful gifting box that doubles as storage. This set contains two Hello Angel Adult Coloring book favorites: Hello Angel Relaxing Patterns Coloring Collection, Hello Angel Big Beautiful Blossoms Coloring Collection, plus a booklet of How to Color ideas, and a set of colored pencils with sharpener tube.

Hello Angel Relaxing Patterns Coloring Collection is filled with intricate and intriguing illustrations for you to color and enjoy. Escape to a world of abstract art, motivating messages, and pretty patterns. Relax and unwind as you color these luxuriant images from breakthrough coloring artist Angel Van Dam. Use the included colored pencils or use your markers, gel pens, or crayons.

Hello Angel Big Blossoms Coloring Collection is filled with intricate and intriguing illustrations for you to color and enjoy. Escape to a world of luxurious flowers, motivating messages, and pretty patterns. The Hello Angel coloring books are perfect for adults and teens. These coloring books are the perfect (relaxing) gift idea for busy moms, stressed co-workers, and creative teenagers.

Shop Amazon.com for the

Chalk-Style Simple Life Coloring Book

and the

Hello Angel Coloring Book Gift Set

Kiwi Crate - Doodle Crate #review

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

I love products that inspire creativity in children of all ages. Kiwi Crate provides hours of fun hands-on learning and experience-based play through their Koala Crate for ages 3-4, Kiwi Crate for ages 5-8, and Doodle Crate and Tinker Crate for ages 9-16+. The Doodle Crate, which I received, focuses on art and design, and this one in particular provided all materials and instructions to create a beautiful Stained Glass Suncatcher.

This Doodle Crate included a detailed instruction booklet, traceable patterns, a paint pen, translucent paints, three plastic circles of different sizes, chains and loops to connect the completed circles, a hanger, a paint spreader, and a suction cup to attach the suncatcher to a window. There was even a tack provided for popping bubbles that might appear in the paint during application. Kiwi Crate really thought of everything when designing this art kit.

The suncatcher patterns included in this Doodle Crate offered three different themes, as well as a blank pattern for those who wish to design their own. Since I live in Kansas, I decided to create a Kansas themed suncatcher and printed pictures from the internet for our state flower, state animal, and state bird. I printed the state bird in color to make sure I got authentic colors when I painted that circle.

I placed the plastic circles over each picture, taped it in placed, the traced them with the black paint pen. Once the paint dried, I went over some of the lines again to make them bolder. The paint pen is really easy to work with and I actually surprised myself with how well each one turned out. I traced a sunflower in the large circle, an Eastern Meadowlark in the medium circle, and a bison in the smallest circle, then filled the background with pattern so I could fill the entire circle with the translucent paint.

The translucent painting step takes time, spreading each color of paint between the lines. The translucent paint has a consistency like a cross between a waterpaint and a thin glue. The spreader that is included in this Doodle Crate is an excellent tool for applying the paint. I was even able to mix the purple and orange paint colors to make brown for my bird's wings. Once everything was dry, it took only minutes to assemble the suncatcher loops and chains, and hang it in my front window.

Kiwi Crate offers outstanding materials and truly interesting experiences for children. I am extremely impressed and absolutely recommend their products!

Check out their website today at 

www.kiwicrate.com

Make Holiday Memories with #HalosFun

Disclosure: I received product at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

I just received this big holiday container from Halos and it's packed with activities to make holiday memories! Wonderful Halos Mandarins have long been a favorite in my house. They are always sweet and juicy, seedless, and so easy to peel. Halos come from California and are always a good choice when it comes to snacking healthy and delicious.

There are so many ways to share Halos for the holidays and their website is jam packed with activities for kids (and adults) to make memories together. Planning activities around healthy foods is a great way to help your children make good choices when it comes to choosing foods to eat.

My Halos container came with craft ideas, recipe cards, and supplies to make great holiday memories. Halos are a great gift idea for teachers, neighbors, and friends! It's easy to be creative and turn Halos into cute holiday characters with the supplies you have in your house.

My Halos recipe cards featured an adorable (and easy) reindeer to make. Since Halos are round, you could easily craft a Santa face, or even stack two or three (held together with toothpicks) to make a snowman face. Or peel several mandarins and make a Halos wreath for a holiday party!

The Halos website features lots of printables, recipes, and even offers a free download game for your kids to play. Don't miss the United States of Pure Goodness Sticker Game, where you can collect stickers, send them in when you've collected all 50, and get a free gift from Halos!

Halos are a wonderful surprise if your family uses a countdown to Christmas calendar. They are also the perfect size to drop into holiday stockings. You can always feel good about giving Halos to your family, because they are 100% California born and raised, and absolutely, positively Non-GMO Project verified.

Be sure to enjoy Halos when they’re in season, from November through April, because then they're gone until the next season! What holiday memories can you make with your family using Halos Mandarins? Tweet at Halos using #HalosFun!

www.halosfun.com