DIY Yarn Wrapped Monograms

Something about a monogram shouts, "Family Pride" to me. It is one of the best accents to make a house a home. I love the many ways you can find monograms displayed. Some that caught my eye were the wooden letters. They are found every where these days from babies rooms to front doors. Fonts, heights, thickness, materials the options are endless! But, have you seen the prices of the bigger sizes? Ouch! 

Well, being as frugal as we are, I begged the husband to use some of our scrap wood and cut me one. :) 

Next decision was to paint or not to paint?! I used pinterest to get my creative juices flowing and found so many people are making the yarn wrapped letters. What a great idea! I have an abundance of yarn tucked away in my craft closet. So I pulled out a neutral color that would fit in with our rustic decor and began wrapping. 

Since this letter was super sized to fit our gigantic mantel it took some time and brains to keep wrapping. I will openly admit that it has its flaws if you look close enough; but I am happy with the results! 

                     

Its another perfect addition to our mantel re-do. I also am so pleased at how it is all coming together and with no money spent on new supplies. Everything we have had just laying around. :)

~Keli~

Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken

Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken!

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can of chunk pineapple

1 medium onion, cut into chunks

2 bell peppers, cut into chunks

1 bottle of Hawaiian style BBQ sauce or Hawaiian sweet and sour sauce

Toss it all in the crock pot. My chicken was frozen so I cooked it all on high for 5 hours and then on low until dinner time. It was so moist and full of flavor. If you want a little spice toss in a pinch of red pepper flakes. :) The chicken just fell apart so no shredding or cutting needed! I served this over a bed of white rice. 

Yum!

Happy Dining! 

~Keli~

DIY Picture Wall Shelf!

Yet another must have, pinterest inspired, pallet art piece to fill my home. 

This was the original inspiration for our newest addition to the 15' mantel.

This is our finished project...

Our side boards were a little wider so I played around with it and decided I liked frames on the outside too.

 What is your opinion?

This is floor to ceiling with our new bench and picture shelf! 

Getting close to a finished project with the mantel re-do. :)

Happy Crafting! 

~Keli~

Leather Seat

We have a rock wall in our living room that spans 15 feet wide. It's home to our fire place and a mantel that is in need of some rescuing. 

As you can see we are in the works of dressing it up a little. (Ignore the pallet shelf on top that is finished now but wasn't in the picture. Updated post to follow with that soon!) While taking a break from the bedroom re-do I made that cute little bench. 

About two years ago I was working at a furniture store and we had leather fabric samples that were discontinued. There was a pretty big stack just waiting to be thrown away. Knowing someday I would find a purpose to up-cycle them, I kept them stowed away in my craft closet. I sewed the swatches together and then stuffed a pad inside. That made up the seat. For the back I had a little more trouble. I had sewed the leather pieces together and mounted them in a framed board and it just didn't look or feel right. I kept it up pondering for about a week on how I was going to make it fit. Yesterday, I had the hubby cut me a board the length of the seat. We took the fabric and stretched it around the board stapled and stuffed it. Mounted it above the seat and this is what we have.

 I love it so much more now that it looks like it fits. Its comfortable to sit at and filled in the big opening we had beside the fireplace.  

What do you all think? Any suggestions to fill in all this mantel space?

~Keli~