FaveCrafts

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12 DIY Kitchen Ideas to Craft Before Company Comes Over

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We’re fast approaching that time of year where it feels like we have visitors over all of the time. Whether it’s family or friends, our homes are a hubbub of activity during the holidays, and while we frantically rush to clean up our homes before Cousin Teddy stops by with his family, we often feel at a loss. If you’re like me, you rush to dust, vacuum, and jam as many items into the closet as possible. No matter how many times you tell yourself that it’s going to be different, that last-minute dash to spruce up the joint is habitual. I don’t know about you, but when I’m racing against the clock to rid the house of dust mites, there’s one room I always forget to tackle: the kitchen. I’m usually good about cleaning the dishes and putting food away, but when company comes over, my kitchen isn’t much to look at. It’s dull. It’s boring. If I sweep the floor, the kitchen might look better, but it’s still a room in dire need of color. That’s why I’ve been compiling a list of DIY kitchen ideas.

I’ve spent many hours sprucing up the home decor for my living room. When cleaned, I’m proud to say that the living room looks great. It’s comfortable. It has a sense of atmosphere and style. People can see all of my cool DIY room decor and be amazed. My kitchen, as you now know, is another story, and I wanted to change that. What if Cousin Teddy and the family wanted to raid my fridge for snacks and sodas? In looking for DIY kitchen ideas, I put together crafts that either looked great, were practical, or could wear both hats. Some of these crafts, like the Coffee Pot Homemade Terrarium, were also a neat way to recycle spare items I no longer needed. Featured below is my personal to-do list. The next time those family members or friends want to check out my home, these crafts will make me feel like my kitchen is dressed up enough for company.

12 DIY Kitchen Ideas to Craft Before Company Comes Over

12 DIY Kitchen Ideas to Make You Feel Stylish

  1. Wooden Spoon Wall Art
  2. Coffee Pot Homemade Terrarium
  3. The Dreamiest Treat Jars
  4. Crochet Beer Cap Hot Pad
  5. Colorful Crochet Dishcloths
  6. Permanent Marker Art Bowls
  7. DIY Vintage Sign
  8. French Seed Packet Printable Art
  9. Brewtiful Coffee Printable Art
  10. DIY Laminated Placements
  11. Delectable Donut Coasters
  12. Recycled Milk Carton Organizers

If these 12 DIY kitchen ideas inspired you to track down some more neat projects, you should check out this 39 Low Cost Kitchen Crafts eBook.

I’ve opened up about my last-minute preparations for company. How do you prepare for guests?

Turkey Day Tips: Our Top DIY Thanksgiving Decor Ideas

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The warm smell of roasted sweet corn, carefully pouring through Black Friday ads, and eating that first (and second) slice of pecan pie are the things that make me look forward to Thanksgiving. However, about 2 weeks before my family arrives for Turkey Day, I always get overwhelmed with a holiday dread when I think about my daunting Thanksgiving to-do list.

If you host Thanksgiving like I do, you get the same November nervousness that happens when you have to plan for cleaning every inch of the house, searching for the “good” plates, pre-ordering the turkey, and relocating every breakable object in a place where grabby toddlers can’t reach. It’s a miracle you even have time to think about making your home look festive. To confess, last year I was so crunched for time that I decorated the dinner table with some DIY pumpkin crafts that I had made for Halloween.

To make our readers’ Thanksgiving preparation as stress-free as possible, FaveCrafts has compiled a list of our most popular projects for DIY Thanksgiving decorative crafts. Whether you need help finding fast and easy holiday crafts, entertaining young guests,  or are looking for recycled decor crafts you’ll find all the decoration ideas that you need to make your Thanksgiving run smoothly.

 

Thanksgiving Home Decor Crafts

Give Thanks Mantlepiece

An important tip to remember while decorating for the holidays is that some of  very best decor can be made with common household objects. For example, use recycled soda bottles to make this heartwarming Give Thanks Mantlepiece (shown) featured in Link Love: Get Ready for Thanksgiving.  If you love natural-looking decor, consider using an autumn-inspired color palette while creating  homemade Thanksgiving crafts. Check out tons of harvest season home decor ideas featuring burnt oranges and light yellows in New Pattern Monday: Thanksgiving Decor. While adding festive accents to your mantlepiece and door will make your house look extra welcoming, don’t forget to add finishing touches to places like your kitchen and bathroom by making a Decorative Fall Towel.

 

Thanksgiving Table Decor and Centerpieces

Turkey CenterpieceWe haven’t even talked about the most important place to decorate for Thanksgiving — the dinner table! Not to worry crafters, just check out Simple Thanksgiving Crafts: Table Decor, Turkey Crafts, & More for some of our neatest centerpiece ideas. If you have kids coming to Thanksgiving dinner, a silly turkey sewing project like this Turkey Centerpiece (shown) is sure to make them giggle.

If you’re in doubt that you’ll finish cleaning before you can craft, just check out these 14 Ideas for Thanksgiving Tables for a unique variety of super fast, budget-friendly ideas for decorating your Thanksgiving Table. No one will ever know you added these to your table at the last minute!

 

Hungry for more Thanksgiving decorating crafts? Check out our FREE Thanksgiving Dinner and Decorations eBook: Let Me See Your Turkey Trot! for over 54 pages full of awesomely autumn holiday decorations and delicious new recipes from RecipeLion.

 

 What Thanksgiving crafts do you use to decorate your home?

Decorate Your Dining Room Without Blowing Your Budget

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This post is brought to you by Sasha Wilson, freelance writer and blogger.

When it comes to decorating your home, it’s important to have everything designed to suit your needs and tastes. The dining room is a part of the house that is normally kept for special occasions like dinner celebrations. A lot of people will choose to eat their regular meals at the kitchen table. Depending on what you plan on using your dining room for, you will want to make sure that it is properly decorated. Decorating a dining room on a budget is not that difficult, as long as you know where to look.

Painting

The first thing you will want to take a look at it is the walls. Most people are going to choose a color that suits his or her tastes. Painting the walls does not have to be done by a contractor; in fact, can certainly do it yourself. This of course depends on whether or not you have the time to complete the project.

When you are painting, make sure that you find paint that is of good quality. You do not want to paint your walls with something that is going to end up cracking and peeling later on. Instead of spending money on a contractor, simply spend money on good quality paint that you know is going to last you for many years to come.

Design

Hiring an interior designer is not necessary when you can come up with your own designs. Sit down and create a couple of sketches, or try to plan out things in your head. You can also make a diagram to help you to visualize what the room is going to look like and where you are going to put the furniture. You do not have to be the best artist to understand what is going on. All you need to do is make sure that you know what the room is going to look like.

Second-Hand Furniture

If you do not mind second-hand furniture, then this can be a great way of filling the place up. There are a lot of thrift stores out there that offer second hand options for furniture nowadays, so make sure to keep an eye out for these.

Get creative and create some great home decor crafts to add to your re-done dining room. Here are some popular projects to get your creative juices flowing:

  1. Beaded Tablecloth Weights
  2. Heart Shaped Napkin Tie
  3. Pretty Fabric Coasters

Sasha Wilson writes on a number of different subjects including travel, home interiors and decorations.

 

What is the last home decor craft you made?

 

Mini Decorative Dessert Banner: National Craft Month Project & Giveaway

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We’ve reached the twenty-third day of our National Craft Month celebration of giveaways and craft tutorials! Visit our blog every day to enter to win a different prize of the day. Find the contest rules and enter below.

Hopefully you are ready for yet another exclusive project to celebrate National Craft Month with, because our friends at Spoonful of Sugar are sharing a Mini Decorative Dessert Banner tutorial today. Have an even happier holiday and decorate your festive desserts with this Mini Decorative Dessert Banner. There’s nothing more important than presentation when it comes to holiday desserts and this darling dessert banner will give the perfect final touch to any sweet dish.

Mini Decorative Dessert Banner

Mini-Decorative-Dessert-Banner

Dress up your holiday desserts this season with the help of this adorable Mini Decorative Dessert Banner! If you’re looking for a baby bunting for your holiday desserts, you’ll find perfection with this free tutorial from our friends Spoonful of Sugar, and we have the full tutorial available for you.

The Ultimate Craft Guide: 25 Free Craft Projects for Every Crafter Free eBook

 

 

You can find over 20 different patterns from our National Craft Month celebration in, The Ultimate Craft Guide: 25 Free Craft Projects for Every Crafter eBook. Celebrate National Craft Month with us by crafting the great projects in this free downloadable eBook written just for you!


 
ENTER TO WIN TODAY’S PRIZE

March23

Today’s prize is a Xyron sticker maker kit, Cosmo Cricket paper pack, stickers, and canvas brads, Westcott Extreme Edge scissors, and a selection of Spellbinders dies. In order to win today’s prize, all you need to do is:

* Like the AllFreeChristmasCrafts Facebook page here, AND

 

*Leave a comment on this blog post below telling us:

What’s your favorite way to decorate your desserts?

 


OFFICIAL RULES FOR DAILY CONTEST
  • There is a maximum of one entry per person. The entry will be based upon a comment left on this blog post. Duplicate comments will be deleted and are not tallied.
  • You must “like” the AllFreeChristmasCrafts Facebook page to be eligible.
  • Winner will be selected at random from the comments on this blog post below.
  • Winner will be announced here on the blog tomorrow as well as contacted by the email address provided.
  • You have until tonight, March 23th, 2013 at 11:59p EST to leave your comment on this post. Comments posted after that will not be counted.
  • Contest open to anyone 18+ in US and/or Canada.

SUPER BONUS – WIN $1000 Gift Card!

Win Michaels $1000 Gift Card

Don’t miss your chance to stock up your craft stash and win a $1000 Michael’s gift card. You can enter each day to win this amazing $1000 Shopping Spree at Michaels. You have 8 more days to enjoy National Craft Month, so take some time out of your day to come to the FaveCrafts blog each day to hear about the latest prize.

 

Good Luck!

National Craft Month: Home Decor Link Love

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As experts and enthusiasts of all things crafty, FaveCrafts decided to host a special National Craft Month blog series for all of our lovely readers. Check back for a new blog post every day featuring our favorite projects, new craft videos, how-to’s from the FaveCrafts editors, and a GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS, AMAZING craft giveaway at the end of the month. That’s right–we’re giving away the biggest prize ever, a gift basket chock full of crafting goodies from our craft closet. There’s something for everyone in this gift basket.

Leave a comment below, and on any blog post labeled “National Craft Month” in the headline, and your comment will count as an entry into the giveaway. You are free to comment as often as once per blog post (for a total of 31 chances to win!). At the end of the month, we’ll pool all of the comments together and pick one lucky winner.

This week’s theme is homemade home decor, so I scoured the blogosphere to find the best home DIY projects around! A very perceptive reader commented a while ago that I must love ruffles a lot, to which I respond “see below.”

  1. Ruffled Chiffon Fairy Light Box from Heart Handmade UK.
  2. Anthropologie Shower Curtain from Elle Apparel.
  3. Drop Cloth Pillow from Ink Blots and Polka Dots.
  4. Bold Striped DIY Drapes from The Yellow Cape Cod.
  5. Lampshade Transformation from Two Girls…Being Crafty.
  6. Arm Chair Makeover from Funky Time.
  7. Ruffle Fabric Lamp from A Girl and a Glue Gun.
  8. Beaded Chandelier from Dollar Store Crafts.
  9. Buttons Specimen Art from Living with Punks.

Which project is the prettiest? Most inventive? Most likely to end up in your home?

Extra old CDs? Recycle Them!

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I must admit I love listening to music on my iPod. It gets me to do the most boring tasks because I get to listen to all my favorite songs. I’m happy doing laundry or cleaning my room as long as  I have my iPod going (just don’t tell my mom about that). But I have all my old CDs loaded onto my iTunes and nothing to do with them! I have piles and piles of the best of the ’90s and they’re just all going to waste. When I came across this article on recycling old CDs from make-stuff.com I was so excited. I’m not exactly the most artsy person, but these ideas look like things I could actually do! I especially loved the idea about melting old CDs and melding them into decorative bowls. It’s easy to do and it’s free! I also liked the idea of putting candles in the middle of the CDs for a display at a holiday party–so that’s what I can do with all those extra candles! Check out some of the other ideas here: http://www.make-stuff.com/recycling/cd.html

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