Happy Together

A DIY craft blog

Paper Ball Ornament DIY

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Last Christmas I made a whole bunch of these paper ball ornaments to add some cheerful color to the trees in our church foyer. We didn’t have much to decorate the trees with, so I wanted to make something and this is what I came up with. It cost hardly anything since I had most of the cardstock already and they really make such a fun impact. I also saved time by using my Cricut cutting machine, but it’s totally doable without one.


The paper ball ornaments also hold up well for being made of cardstock. I saved a handful of these to take pictures of and they have been in a moving box inside a storage unit that was not air conditioned for six months. They were still fantastic! So if you store them loosely in a box I bet they can last a few years. Also, a tip for anyone looking for some large scale decor… I noticed all of these present boxes and those large snowflakes at a local clothing store (Gap). I asked the store managers if they saved these or threw them away and that if they just got rid of them I would happily take them and reuse them. They called me at the end of the season and said I could come get it all. How awesome is that? They were so excited it would be used again and we used them for quite a few years.

To make your own paper ball ornament you will need:

  • Cardstock (I used an 8.5″ x 11″ piece per ball and made extra smaller circles with the extra for garland)
  • Ornament Hangers or String
  • Scissors or Cutting Machine (you can find the 8.5″ x 11″ template I made for my Cricut here)
  • Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks


Start by cutting out four circles that are 4″ in size. You can increase or decrease the size depending on your preference. If you don’t have a cutting machine, you can use a round cup for a template to trace on the paper.


Then you will need to fold each one in half.


Run a bead of hot glue done the center of one of the folded pieces.


Place another folded circle on the glue and hold in place until it is cooled down.


Then put glue on one of the other folded circles and place on the seam of the two already glued together. Hold in place until cooled.


Turn the three glued ones over and add glue to the last folded circle to go on the other side (See picture above on how it should look all glued together).


You can then add your choice of hanging option and then fluff out the circles so it looks full. Above is a picture of using an ornament hanger. You can straighten out one end of an ornament hook and glue it down one of the seams.


Or you can use string, fishing line, or yarn to hang it. For those options I suggest glueing one end on one seam and then the other end in the opposite seam so it hangs evenly.



If you happen to have 12″ x 12″ pieces of cardstock, you can get quite a lot of circles out of it. I used the extra space on the paper to make smaller circles which I sewed together to make a garland.


It was a great addition to this backdrop I made and allowed it to fit in perfectly with the trees.


Make sure to share if you create any. I would love to see 🙂

Jess

Church Nursery Decor

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This post is a continuation on all of the church projects I worked on over the past two years(coffeeshop/ bathrooms/ plant wall install/ statement wall on stage/ nursery entrance plants/ student room). I think I have only two more posts after this and then all of that project will have been shared! Looking at it all now, I can’t believe how much we got done in the time frame we did. The area I’m focusing on today is what you would consider the church nursery area. This is where the babies to five year olds can go during services. This area used to be offices but it was switched to be part of the children’s wing because this area is better from a security standpoint. The entrance begins with two glass doors which I designed these window clings to go on. I didn’t get a more panned out view, but there isn’t much wall on the side of these doors to put something there, so the window clings were the perfect solution. I used a template from Vistaprint and we ordered them from there. I have to say, if you work with any type of organization or own a business, I recommend Vistaprint for signs, window clings, posters, roll down banners, postcards, etc. I have ordered so many products from them for church and even for personal projects. If you wait until they are having a sale, then you get an even better deal too.


Once you walk through the doors to the left you see this bench spot which I had shared here before here.


Then on the wall beside it I painted on the logo. I’m not a skilled painter so i used a projector to shine on the logo, then I traced it and painted it in. It’s a great inexpensive way to create a large wall statement.


Behind the front desk is a space for the volunteers to get supplies they need, etc. I built the above table to hold some of the items and made it tall enough that if any littles were nearby they couldn’t reach the top. I was able to use all kinds of left over wood I had in my garage, so I was super happy about that. I just used my knowledge from previous builds to create it and use all the random pieces I had. If you could see the top, you would see there are a few different widths represented, but it all came out wonderfully.


I found some cork boards that weren’t being used and put the other walls in this area. They give a place to share information the volunteers will need.


To make it easy to distinguish each room, I designed these room numbers. I was looking at ones you could buy premade and was amazed at how much things like that cost. So i used some thin craft wood, glued on a clear plastic picture holder(I used these and just removed the magnet), and designed a template to be used for all the rooms. It’s simple and allows anyone to know which room is which.


I worked with the nursery coordinator to create some decor for the classrooms. She gave me a theme for each room which was mostly based on the curriculum and then I shared some decor ideas for them. Then I got to work. The above picture was for a room that had a farm theme. I made short barn doors from fence pickets and added the lights to them. We secured them to the wall similarly to how I did the ones behind my daughter’s bed so these aren’t going anywhere.


This room had Southwestern-ish theme to it. I used scrap wood to create this fun wood pattern on the wall that was based on this fireplace I had seen on Design Sponge. What a great idea, isn’t it? This was another project that cost hardly anything since I used lots of leftover pieces I already had.


This room was for the really littles, so there wasn’t necessarily a theme. I added a few colorful things to the walls for them to look at. I printed out these adorable ABC cards from The Handmade Home to hang on the wood.


Also in that room, I used scrapbook paper and paper bags to create these kites. It’s an easy project to add some whimsy to the room.


The infant room had a sheep theme based on the verse Psalm 95:7. I had some other talented ladies make some things to add to this room. Those adorable sheep were made by a lovely woman who used this pattern from Purl Soho to make them. Then another lady embroidered those adorable sheep for me to add to the embroidery hoop wall. They did such a great job! To make the open embroidery hoops stretch farther, I took them apart so I could use two circles from each one.


This room had a fun dress up spot so I asked others if they had any unused frames we could have and I spray painted the ones we got. I did the color scheme based on the adorable felt ball garland I found at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbooking section (find them here online). They are such fun colors!


This room had a book theme. I used some old books to create faux succulent planters to add on the wall (here is an excellent tutorial on how to make them) and then I made a book wall using kids books. I used a 4’x8′ piece of underlayment to be the background and found the vintage kids books from the thrift store and used some that had been donated. I used a nail gun to secure the thicker books and a stapler for the thin ones. I would leave the two top open pages open and then glue them in place after nailing/stapling. Then you couldn’t see any holes or staples on the books.


This room was simple, but I absolutely adored these baby animal posters I had printed again using Vistaprint. I bought the downloads from Etsy here. I placed them in larger Ikea frames to make a statement.

For this last room I was inspired by this nursery done by Vintage Revivals. Isn’t her work amazing? First I looked online for animal and forest type silhouettes. Then I used a projector to trace them onto thin plywood and my wonderful friend cut them out with a jig saw for me. That was a blessing because I was getting close to my deadline and had a lot to get done.


All of the kiddos loved all the fun new things to look at and play with. It was so much fun to help partner on all of this. Have a wonderful and creative weekend! -jess

Church Student Room Makeover : Before and After

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If you can’t tell, I helped out with quite a few projects at our church in Louisiana. One of the bigger ones was helping spruce up the student room. This building used to be an old Kroger, so that’s where the industrial vibe comes from. Over the years there have been lots and lots of improvements (so thankful for all who helped do that!), like painting the floors, getting a new ac unit in there, etc., but it was time to take it up yet another notch to better serve the needs of the children/youth that use this room.


I yet again failed with getting the best before and after pics, but I do have some! The above picture is the before of the main countertop area. This is usually where food is set up for events and things like that.


This was my original drawing of proposed changes I turned in. As you can see, I suggested paint changes, adding a “chair rail” and baseboards, a modern bulletin board, new lights, wrap counter in wood, light up word, and a picture backdrop. They had already said they wanted to get rid of the fluorescents around the room and get ceiling lights, so to cover up that recessed space we just added painted wood trim.


These changes were very simple and very cost effective for such a large space. I was inspired by a local Starbucks for the painting scheme. They had high ceilings and had painted the bottom and very top half darker, where as the middle was lighter. It helped break up the large walls so I suggested we do something similar. It really added to the interest of the room and helped the ceiling blend in well. The lighter gray color is Sherwin Williams Icy Avalanche and the Dark Gray is Sherwin Williams Carbonized. And then for the back wall we did a green to add some color to the room.

We left the counter tops on as they were a dark gray laminate and went with the changes we were doing. We took off the galvanized metal and ripped down some plywood to create planks that we nailed on. Then we stained them in Minwax Early American and added two layers of polycrylic to protect them. This is a room where kids/youth will be, so the more durable the better!


The back wall was inspired by a project I had seen another church do that was featured on Pro Church Media. I arranged different pictures/graphics (many from Unsplash) and had them printed by Staples. I simply choose the black and white engineer prints so it cost a little over $50 for all of them. I had nailed this plywood on the wall so if they want to change this up the future the wall behind is still in good shape. I used this adhesive to keep them on. Now, you can probably tell it looks a little wrinkly…. so let’s talk about that. The reason for this is that Louisiana is super humid and this room gets the air turned off when it isn’t in use which causes paper to go crazy. But, when the air is on and it isn’t super humid it straightens back up! This type of project is definitely suited more for a temperature controlled room, but is still doable! And when some of the corners would start to peel a little, I just used a glue stick to tack it back into place.

The light fixture was a fun one to make. We bought pipe and spray painted it black. Then I used 6 plug in cord sets from Ikea to hang on it. There was an outlet on the ceiling for the previous plugged in light, so to save from having new wiring done we just plugged them all in there. And since the cords are dark and the ceiling was dark, it really isn’t noticeable at all. The lightbulbs were a variety of different Vintage style ones from Lowes.


The stage area was the corner on the other side of the room. This side had no lights besides some strung ones on the ceiling. Volunteers came and helped rip off the rest of the sheet rock on the cinder block wall, we spray painted the white pipes black so it would blend in more, that whole back wall was painted green, we re-carpeted a bunch of stages that we had and wrapped them with wood the same way we had done the counter, and added paper chains hanging from hula hoops that had been spray painted black.


When I was taking these pics, we couldn’t figure out how to do all the cool lighting so I don’t have that full effect, but it it makes the paper chains look really cool and adds to the atmosphere. The portable signs were actually non-portable ones that used to be on the main sanctuary stage. I added the supports and wheels and then cut out the word “kids” from wood and put on top of another stained piece of wood. To add a bit more color, I added some party decorations from Target across the top.


The last side to share is this back corner by the entrance. (There is still one more corner, but I sadly won’t be able to be there for the finishing of that area.) The gray paint job continued here and all galvanized metal was taken down. And although it is hard to see, we added this for baseboards. This room gets mopped so it was the most practical (and ultimately cost effective) type to use.


The bulletin board was such a fun easy thing to make! The back wood piece was from Home Depot, a 4’x8′ piece of underlayment, and I used liquid nails and also a nail gun to secure it onto the wall. Then I spray painted this rebar sheet mesh black and used screws to hold it in place. The rounded ends of the screws go over the metal bars and when strategically placed you can’t see them and this thing isn’t going anywhere.


After doing all of those projects, the back wall seemed a little bare, so one of my friend’s took our scrap wood and made these triangle shelves for me. We added some succulents for some greenery. My goal was to add even more down the road, but I wasn’t able to get to that.

Since I didn’t do the greatest on my after photos, I did find this pic from an event where you can see this corner of the room behind all the people lol.


And one more spot I totally forgot to take an after picture of! *sigh* The entrance to the room. I took this on a work day when I was putting up the lights. The door was at the end of a long long hallway and not very noticeable. I wanted it to stand out as an important room and hopefully help others who hadn’t been there before spot it more easily. I put wood all around the door which makes it stand out and also is a great place for them to post information parents/students might need to read. Then I designed this sign and Mark of City Sign & Tag Co. made it and installed it for me. This adds a little decor to the wall and makes it very clear where the student room is. Then since the ceiling lights are broken down here, I strung some lights to add some light. I ended up stapling the cord down the baseboard and under the door into the student room where they are easily plugged in.

I am forever thankful and grateful for all the people who came and helped clean out this room, paint, demo, make dump runs, and everything in between. It was a labor of love and I’m so happy that the children and youth now have a room that is even better suited for their events. As with all of my projects, I hope this inspires you to think outside of the box and know that you can create amazing things without having to spend a lot. -jess

Faux Succulent and Wood Blocks Install

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A while back I came across these cute faux succulents that were on clearance at Target. For only a dollar something each, I just went ahead and got them. Didn’t need them at that moment per say, but it was such a good deal and it’s something I figured I could use at some point. Then came time to decorate this foyer area. I also happened to come across this amazing wall install by Britney Jay  {here} and knew it was something I could use the succulents for. So I used up using some leftover wood I had in my garage and the succulents and got to making.


I laid out my pieces and made sure the wood grains were all going the same way. Then I taped the middle ones so I could half stain half paint them. I used Minwax Dark Walnut to stain. Then I used a texture paste I had in my craft closet to create a fun textured look for the ones that would be painted. Then once painted white, I lightly used some gold paint to go over edges and ridges for added depth.


I initially used a construction adhesive to glue on the succulents, but some fell off. I thought it would be a really strong way to hold them in place, but it wasn’t. At that point I just used a hot glue gun and that seemed to do the trick. I also ended up using my nail gun to attach the wood to the wall since this was in a kids area. It makes them super secure and then they are flat on the wall. You could of course use a different mounting technique that is easier to remove them if you wanted. I think it is something that would be really cute as home decor too. And you can play around with the size of wood and plants you use to create a one of a kind look.

Also, see that cute bench? My amazing friend Ashley made that! It was the perfect touch for this waiting area. And the two pillows are covers and inserts from Hobby Lobby for anyone interested in that info. -jess

Faux Concrete Countertop DIY: My Experience

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A few months ago I shared about an almost finished bathroom remodel that I worked on in four bathrooms at our church.  It was such a great budget friendly remodel and one of the cost saving parts was doing a faux concrete countertop to cover up the laminate that was there. This brought cohesion to the whole bathroom style and I was able to do a women’s and men’s bathroom for under $40. I learned a lot and wanted to share my experience for anyone else researching to determine if this is something they are interested in completing. I know I researched a ton and the more diy testimonials and tutorials there are the better. Some of the online tutorials and info posts I looked at were these:

A Beautiful Mess: Concrete Countertop DIY and Concrete Feather Finish Countertop (their first post was my biggest inspiration because that one had curved edges like the one I was working on! They look like they did a much better job than I did though hahahaha).

Lovely Imperfection: DIY Concrete Countertops Over Laminate Surfaces

Blesser House: DIY Feather Finish Concrete Countertops

Little Green Notebook: DIY Concrete Countertops (in a laundry room)

The Palette Muse: $100 Room Challenge Concrete Countertops (in a bathroom; included doing the sink!)

Designer Trapped: DIY Vanity Makeover Using Concrete Overlay

 


First off, let me begin sharing about these countertops. They are laminate but have a curved front edge. Many of the tutorials online appear to have all straight edges. Now some of the sides were straight and I have to say that this process works best on straight edges. I sanded the laminate some to help with adhesion, but it was still a battle to create a quality look and thickness on those curved edges. So, if yours are curved, be aware of this. You will want to take some extra time on the curves and I ended up just using my hands (which had a fitted latex glove on to protect my hand) to apply it there. The straight edge tools people suggest using just didn’t work very well for those spots for me.

Secondly, since these are countertops in a bathroom, I was not worried about making it food safe since no food should be in the bathroom hahaha. That made the process even less expensive and faster to accomplish.  So I would recommend this type of diy project very quickly for a non food space and be more hesitant to for a kitchen type space. The products I ended up using were all from Lowe’s: TEC Skill Set Indoor Skimcoat and Floor Patch and Quikrete Cure and Seal (which, again, I used since this wasn’t a food surface).


I first began by sanding the countertops to help create a surface that the skim coat will adhere to nicely. I just sanded by hand for this versus using a sander. Then I cleaned and taped up some paper to protect the cabinets.


I mixed up a small amount of skim coat at a time until it was the consistency of peanut butter as I had read. After doing this a lot, I found that I liked it actually a little wetter than that consistency. It made it easier to apply and still dried very well and rock hard. The skim coat dries on the fast side, so that is why smaller batches is a good idea. The first coat was the hardest to do for me. It was very rough and didn’t fully cover which I expected from the other posts I read. I saw how many people would use their sander at this point and in between each coat to smooth it down, so I did that at this point. I totally regret doing that! The dust it created was unreal. Covered everything. Even created a layer of dust on the walls that I had to wash off. What I discovered is that I preferred to lightly sand in between each coat to get any “sharper” spot smooth, but the next layer I applied would fill in the crevices and such well, smoothing it out on its own. I also used a flat metal and plastic scraper to see which one I liked best. They were both okay, but it was good to have a larger and then smaller one to go around the edges of the sink and close to the walls. Another thing, which I mentioned earlier, was that I also really liked the result of using my (gloved) hand to spread on the skim coat for the layers after the first one. I could feel the surface and level out some spots nicely and it was easier doing that on the rounded edges. If you use gloves, make sure you have a few pairs as you will need new ones for each coat.




All in all, I did three coats on each countertop. I will be honest though, I probably could have done one more coat on the rounded edges. But, I was out of skim coat and didn’t want to buy a huge bag just to do that. Plus it still looked great anyways! After it was really really dry, I did two layers of the concrete sealer. It changed the color only slightly. The first layer didn’t make a big difference, but the second coat gave it more of a sheen (which I thought looked really nice). After the bathrooms began to be heavily used again, the water and soap did create darker spots. I thought it looked really awesome and added character, although others might not like that. The sealer seemed to be good, but I suggested that they later add a layer of polycrylic for even better protection and waterproofness. Or at least another layer of this sealer.  I had read some others who had used polycrylic and had great results. Even though I didn’t technically use it yet on skim coat, I have used it on so many other materials (wood, paint, ceramic, etc) that I do not doubt its abilities to do a good job in this circumstance.


All in all, such an easy (but slightly time consuming since you have to wait on drying times after every layer of skim coat and sealer you do) and cost effective way to update countertops. Maybe one day I will end up doing it again.