D.I.Y. Dreaming of Spring Wreath

April showers bring May flowers, but I brought the flowers in March! We had our first sunny and 75 day in a few months, so of course that means it’s time for a new door hanging!! So, here’s another easy do-it-yourself, from yours truly. 



Ok, so I was browsing around Bealls outlet and on Etsy to see how much a wreath like this would cost to buy or sell. WOW. I was SHOCKED!! Depending on how detailed the wreath was, or which store you were looking at, a nice one cost between $24-$60!!! I made my wreath in 30 minutes for around $12 and even had leftover flowers for a mini matching wreath. Seriously, I’m obsessed with “doing it myself”.

Here’s what you’ll need:



– 2 bunches of flowers of your choice, about 30 stems for a large wreath. I got the purple flowers in a bunch from Walmart for $5.00 and the white tulips in a bunch for $3.00.

– 1 large “nest” wreath. The wreath I used has intertwined sticks that resemble a nest, I found it also at Walmart for $4.96. (I found the mini one for $1.00, but it’s not used in this project)

– Floral wire, mine is 26 gauge, and worked well.

– Wire cutters (I did not include this in the cost of the wreath)

How I Made It:

1. First you will need to cut the floral stems a part! Even with wire cutters, this part was hard for me, my hand hurt for awhile afterwords…. It was a small price to pay.

2. Start arranging the flowers by poking them into the intertwined sticks of the wreath, it helps to bend the stems to give them a little curve! 

A few tips for floral arranging:

•  Disperse colors, try not to bunch similar colors together
• If you have larger flowers (similar to my pink ones in the picture) use an odd number, so your wreath doesn’t look too “heavy” on one side. Try imagining a large triangle placed on top of your wreath and use the large flowers where the corners of the triangle would be. (Geometry, yay)
• If you’re using white tulips or a color that stands out, I suggest using  4-5, one on the top, bottom, and both “sides” (shapes change when you’re crafting and circles will suddenly have sides, I realize this may be a new concept to some of you).
• Refrain from it being too planned out or having a pattern! This is the fun part, mess around and put flowers in and take them out until it looks perfect to you, nothing is permanent yet!! 



3. Once your flowers are just where you want them, cut a decent length of floral wire, and start attaching your flowers to the wreath.



4. To attach the flowers, hook the wire around a stick in the wreath and around the stem closer to the head of the flower and make several twists  with the wire.





5. Cut the ends of the wire off and continue around each flower securing it with wire.



6. You’re done! You can hang your wreath directly on a door hook, or you can attach a large piece of burlap (I looped mine around a stronger stick on the wreath and tied a knot at the top) for the wreath to be hung from.





Simply,

The Hoosier Peach

Apartment Tour

I have been wanting to do an “apartment tour” post for awhile now, I’ve just been waiting until most rooms were at least 85% complete! Slowly but surely our apartment is coming together. My inspiration for most of this is from Pinterest, with my own twist. Since you typically can’t paint apartment walls, I’ve resorted to wall decals and hanging collages of empty frames, pictures, “K” initials, etc….

I have always loved neutral color pallets, so that is the overriding “theme” throughout our home. Tans, gold, grey, black, and brown are our “go-to” colors for most rooms. However, I like to liven it up with a fun printed curtain and eventually some bright accent pillows and a rug.

Master Bedroom

* We eventually want a King bed, so we registered for King sized bedding and have it on a Queen, I highly suggest doing that to save having to buy bigger bedding (which gets expensive)!!

*I want MORE pillows (Hubby will probably want to kill me because I’m always saying “Those are decorative pillows! Don’t squish them!”) BUT I want a King bed full of pillows with different textures and in a pallet of colors. I would love a gold sequin pillow and a small black circle pillow and a large square ivory faux fur pillow!!

*This dresser was my $30-one-day project! I love how warm it turned out and it’s the “statement” piece of the room! I eventually want a large circle mirror hung above it and some tall candle sticks. I wanted the master bedroom to have a warm, romantic, wedding feel to it. Who says the honey moon can’t last forever? 😉

* I am OBSESSED with collage walls! It’s my no-measuring dream! I love that there’s no rhyme or reason and I can hang something up and work around it without symmetry with different objects and different sized frames!! Ahhhh….
* I clearly need to print another 8×10 for the top black frame, and I hung a little “we do” banner (from our cake topper) under the large portrait frame. Gives more “ebb and flow” in my opinion 😉

* If you want to kill an afternoon, buy some wall decals and design away! I had so much fun deciding where to place the floral design on the wall, and it was easy to take off and move if I didn’t like where I put it the first time (which happened a lot). It added a sweet touch inside and I love waking up to something other than a white wall.

Wish List for this room:
– Decorative pillows
– King Size bed
– Dark grey (almost black) shag rug
– Cushioned blanket box for under the window
– Large circle mirror above dresser

Living Room

The living room has a ways to go, but it’s feeling warmer and cozier every month! Besides the fact that we didn’t even have a couch for a while, I can’t complain! For the living room, I would like a modern twist while maintaining the neutral color pallet. I was wanting a POP of yellow, but Hubby isn’t crazy about it, so I might settle with a rusty red/orange.

* Above the couch I would like a modern/painted-looking version of the NYC skyline, surrounding it I would like floating shelves with various pictures with family and friends. When we choose the pop of color, I’m going to paint the end table I have in a shade or two darker for more modern look. I’m DYING to make a pallet coffee table, so that’s in the works. A patterned rug with our grey/brown/black/red theme would be cool! I would like to get some patterned curtains with those colors too, so complementing patterns would make the room really sparkle!!

* I love our ladder book-shelf! We got it for $40 from WalMart but it was slightly broken when we opened it up. I used some Gorilla glue to fix it because it was the only shelf in the store and I wanted to put it together that night (I’m not the most patient person, obviously…) haha!
* When we moved in we didn’t have ANY furniture besides our dining room table and our bed, so we got this little TV stand for cheap off of someone. My DREAM for the TV area is a large cabinet with glass doors. We would love a larger TV at some point, so some more floating shelves around it (symmetrical this time) would please my eyes immensely.

Wish list for this room:
– Patterned curtains
– Floating shelves
– NYC framed painting (black and white)
– Patterned area rug
– DIY pallet coffee table
– Large TV stand cabinet

Bar/Dining Room/Kitchen

* Who doesn’t love a little fall decor? Pumpkins, pine cones, pictures, candles and candy (say that 10 times fast)….. All of it make me smile! My goal is that when a guest walks in the door, they feel like it’s also their living room, and who doesn’t love a little treat now and then??!

* I bought this table off Facebook for $50! It had a pop-out leaf and is so sturdy!
* I love empty frames with letters/initals, can you tell?

*Another infamous wall collage! Our kitchen inspiration is “wine”. Kitchen colors are gold and black with a pop of bright red!
* I used gold glitter wine bottles and tissue paper puffs from our wedding on top of the cabinets, and a wine rack that was a wedding gift! I’m kind of obsessed.

Etc…

Spare Bath- The end of the hallway (on the left) is another full bathroom with a “beach” theme! I forgot 90% of the items for the bathroom at home, so I will have to share pics of it once I get the items from Indiana!

Hallway- My favorite wall….CROSS COLLAGE! (Are you surprised?) I would LOVE if friends and family found crosses for me to add to the wall so every time I see the wall I will notice their cross and think of them and send some prayers their way. That’s my DREAM for the wall! The top left one was a wedding gift, I made the middle and top right crosses, and I bought the bottom right cross from Hobby Lobby- they have an ENTIRE aisle of cross decor! 😉

Spare Room/Office
* We have a twin day bed in there currently, so come visit us!! 😉

* Hubby has his desk set-up for a future computer and where he plays his video games!

*My desk is set-up, but not complete quiet yet!

So, what did you think of our apartment tour? Any ideas or suggestions? I would love input or comments! Leave some love!

Simply,
The Hoosier Peach

A Few of My Favorite Things

Here are a few exciting things you can look forward to from The Hoosier Peach:

1. Fashion– Scarves and polka dots and boutiques… OH MY! From what I like to wear, to “Where did she get that?” I will unveil all my fashion and bargain shopping secrets. I plan to feature my favorite boutiques (shop local!) and I might even have free giveaways from time to time 😉

2. Food– The smell of apple crisp is in the air! From my successes to my failures (still haven’t mastered the apple pie crust), I will share my favorite recipes for quick dinners and yummy baked goods. I’m only sorry there won’t be a scratch-and-sniff feature on the pictures.

3. Faith– We are all on a journey, might as well venture together! I plan on sharing my experiences in friendship, marriage, family, jobs and how that all ties together perfectly with grace from God. There is a Peachy Keen Book Club in the works, you won’t want to miss out!

4. Fun- Life is fun. Simple as that. In my spare time I love to do DIY projects and crafty things to make my home comfy and colorful. I hope my DIY projects inspire you to stop Pinning and start “Doing it Yourself”. But while you’re at it, why don’t you go ahead and just pin this blog on your favorite board so every one else can experience the love! Where was I? For fun I also plan on featuring the amazingly creative and inspiring people I come across and what they have to offer the world. If you have an Etsy shop, a great meal plan or work-out guide, a small home business, or a blog of your own… I want you!! Email me or comment on this post so I can contact you to be a part of Feature Fridays!

I’m SO very excited about this blog and the thoughts and creativity it can bring! I’m so excited in fact that I’m doing a giveaway of one accessory I can’t live without. So leave a comment with your best guess, share this blog on your favorite social media, and don’t forget to subscribe to my blog and the giveaway item will be shared Friday!! 🙂

Simply,

The Hoosier Peach

Why Blog?

So, this is my first blog post…. why should I blog? What do I have to say? To be honest, not a lot, but I’ve had this grand idea on my heart for awhile now and I decided tonight, with a glass of wine, would be the best time to start. But what should I blog about? After some random compliments from friends, some have encouraged fashion posts or home decorating posts, but what do I know about that? I come from a suburban Indiana town and I currently live in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Georgia (you think I’m kidding), I don’t dress adorably every day, my dining room table collects junk, and I don’t have marriage or God completely figured out (I mean, I’d like to meet someone who does), but I feel the call to write, to share, to encourage, to inspire, to make you laugh, make you think, to make you create, and if I can do even one of those things for you, that will be enough for me. So thank you to those who have encouraged me to share my thoughts through a blog, this first post is dedicated to you.

Of course this first blog post wouldn’t be complete without spilling my glass of wine all over myself and my cat Splat, which leads me to wonder…. if she licks all the wine off herself, will she get drunk? I guess that gives way to a new blog post tomorrow.

 

Simply,

The Hoosier Peach