DIY Felt Name Bunting

I always make paper buntings for everything and rave about how easy they are - and felt buntings are just as easy! Also, you can readjust the steps below based on how "perfect" you want this to be - I normally would cut the flags using a stencil, but I was somewhat on a time crunch (when am I not?), so they ended up being a little uneven.

Supplies
Stiffened or regular felt, accent trim (optional), string or twine, rotary cutter or scissors, mat, glue gun (or regular glue would work)

Steps

1. Determine what you want to spell out and how many pieces you will need for the bunting (one piece for each letter). I only needed four pieces, so I ended up using one sheet of felt.
2. Cut your felt into the desired number of pieces for the bunting. It's up to you what size and shape you want this to be.
3. Cut the letters out from the felt. I used a piece of stiffened felt so that it would be easier to free-hand cut the letters (or you can use your die cut machine or stencils). I wasn't too concerned on how perfect the letters were, because after all, this bunting was for a dog!
4. Hot glue the trim onto the felt pieces.
5. Hot glue the letters onto the felt pieces.
6. Hot glue the felt pieces onto the twine.

I usually won’t cut the twine until my bunting is done, just so that the length of the twine is equal on both ends.

Here's Vega on her 2nd birthday in her matching birthday hat - she loved it!

DIY Small Paper Bunting

I wanted to make a small paper bunting to hang on my card basket. I've made paper buntings similar to this before and it's so easy, you'll want to make them all the time! They're even perfect for gift baskets for family and friends, and are relatively inexpensive - you can probably just use supplies that you already have at home.

And what's great is that you don't even need a fancy program to make this - I just used Microsoft Word, inserted a triangle shape, and added letters using a font that matched my wedding theme. You could even just cut out your triangle shapes and use letter stickers if you didn't have a printer.

Supplies
Card stock, scissors, paper cutter, string or twine, glue gun (or regular glue would work)

Steps

1. Design your bunting.
2. Print onto card stock. I used Staples Card Stock, which I also ended up using for my programs.
3. Cut out the individual pieces. I used the paper cutter just so that the edges were all straight, but regular scissors should do the trick.
4. Spell or space out the order of the pieces.
5. Hot glue the pieces onto the twine.
6. Attach as desired to your card box or basket.

I usually won’t cut the twine until my bunting is done, just so that the length of the twine is equal on both ends. Also, for the triangle shape I used when designing in Word, I changed the border color to be a very faint gray, that way it wasn’t so heavy and black when it was printed. I usually prefer to print the outlines on the back of the card stock (so that you never see it), but it’s usually a lot easier to do that with larger square shapes.

DIY Framed Burlap Monogram

This DIY framed monogram basically set the entire theme for my rustic wedding. It was the first “official” wedding decor that I made after we had set a wedding date - and I loved the way it turned out! I couldn’t find a frame size that I liked, so I ended up buying a black diploma frame from Home Goods and spray painted it white. The only downfall to that option was that the diploma frame didn’t have a built-in stand because it was meant to hang on the wall, so I had to look for a stand to hold this up the day before the wedding!

The inspiration for this came from Love Of Family & Home - and this was all over Pinterest, too. I purchased the burlap fabric, wood letter, and paint from Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts. I basically followed each step exactly how it’s listed in that post, except I didn’t use the same paint colors (something similar though).

Supplies
Frame, burlap, wooden letter, paint, paintbrush, hot glue gun, scissors

Steps

1. Paint the letter as desired (I followed the instructions above).
2. Take apart the frame and cover the frame board with the burlap.
3. Hot glue the burlap to the frame board. I basically pretended as if I was gift wrapping the board, and glued the burlap to the back of the board.
4. Put the frame back together (without the glass).
5. Place the letter as desired in the center of the frame.
6. Hot glue the letter onto the burlap.

The FourNest / Basement

When we moved into our new home, one of the first DIY projects I wanted to tackle was the brick fireplace in our basement. I absolutely loved how the brick went from floor to ceiling. It had a lot of potential, but it just looked drab and boring and was in dire need of a face lift. Not to mention, it didn’t help that I didn’t like the peachy orange walls and copper-colored blinds (hard to tell in the photos, but it is not pretty).

I followed the steps to paint a brick fireplace from one of my favorite DIY blogs, Young House Love. And with the help of my then-boyfriend-now-husband Josh, we tackled it one evening after work.

What a difference the freshly-painted white fireplace makes! I am so in love with it. We painted the walls a greyish blue, switched to a simpler set of white blinds, and added a mantel to the fireplace. We were on a tight budget to furnish this space, and were able to get most of the furniture pieces from Ikea. Because we enter and exit our home through the basement, we wanted this space to be cozy, comfortable, and welcoming.

This is one of Vega’s favorite places in the whole entire house, just because of the shaggy area rug. When we don’t hear or see her for awhile, she is usually fast asleep on the rug with her head underneath the small coffee table - which is a childrens’ playroom table!