Living La Vida Holoka


Cricut Burlap Easter Decoration

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Bring a little joy into your home this Easter with this simple Cricut Burlap Easter Decoration made with the Cricut Joy!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps to support this blog.


We could all use a little joy right now, so I’m bringing you joy today in the form of a Cricut Joy Easter craft!  Easter, indeed, is still on its way.  And while the outside world feels like it’s full of doom and gloom, I’m making the inside of our house bright and cheery!  I love the Easter season for its pretty, pastel colors and symbolism of rebirth.  So I decided to make an easy Easter craft that could double as pretty spring decor! 

During this time of isolation, I’ve found myself getting more creative than usual when it comes to projects and recipes.  Take this Easter decoration, for instance. It might look pretty normal from the outside.  But making it took some crafty decisions and made me realize that nothing is safe when it comes to crafting anymore! 

Cricut Burlap Easter Decoration

 
I knew I wanted to decorate a simple 8″ x 8″ frame with a vinyl rabbit design and cotton pom-pom tail.  But instead of using vinyl, I cut contact paper instead.  I was afraid it might be too thin and tear, but it worked perfectly!  I did add a vinyl bow to the rabbit design, but all I needed was a little scrap to do that.  

Originally, I wasn’t going to add a background.  But the frame just felt like it needed something.  I immediately thought to use burlap behind the glass and searched my fabric box for a scrap.  My search turned up empty-handed and then I remembered my storage box of table runners in the closet.  There I found a burlap table runner I hadn’t used in years!  So I dug out my fabric scissors and started cutting!   Bye-bye, table runner.  Hello, cute Easter decoration!


Since this was my first time using the Cricut Joy, I wasn’t sure how it would differ from Cricut’s other machines.  Don’t let its size fool you!  It’s a smart, little machine!  It can easily detect and load a mat or Smart Materials by itself.  Just like Cricut’s other machines, cutting is a breeze!  After I figured out my design and resized it, this Cricut Joy craft took minutes to make!

Crafting with the Cricut Joy



The first thing I did was search Design Space for a simple rabbit shape.  I basically just wanted a silhouette, so I chose a design resembling a chocolate bunny.  Then, I changed the color and size of the rabbit to fit the picture frame.


Since this was my first time using the Cricut Joy, I wasn’t sure what steps I needed to take to make my first cut.  Since you can cut with or without a mat, I was brought to a screen that gave me options on how I wanted to load my materials.


Once I chose my mat and material (I chose adhesive paper for the contact paper), I was ready to rock-and-roll with my cuts and put my project together!

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Open the Easter bunny design in Design Space.  Resize, if necessary, to fit the picture frame.  Change the rabbit and bow colors, if desired.
  2. Prepare 2 StandardGrip mats with each vinyl color.
  3. Load the first mat into the Cricut Joy.  Choose options as prompted and continue to cut.
  4. Repeat with the second vinyl color.
  5. Making sure that the picture frame is clean, carefully position and apply the rabbit shape onto the glass.
  6. Layer the bow shape onto the rabbit.
  7. Once the rabbit design is in place, heat a hot glue gun and glue on the white pom-pom for a tail.
  8. Using the insert of the picture frame as a template, cut a piece of burlap to fit. 
  9. If necessary, trim the burlap and glue the edges onto the picture frame insert to keep it in place.
  10. Carefully place the glass back into the picture frame and display!  


My first project with the Cricut Joy was an absolute success! And I can honestly say that this Easter decoration brings me joy every time I look at it!  It’s a minimal Easter decoration that would fit into any room’s decor!  Like my office where I do a lot of my Cricut crafting! 


Did you make this Cricut Burlap Easter Decoration? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidadiy. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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If you like this post, you might enjoy these as well:

St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun Pot

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Make an adorable St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun Pot filled with paper gold and shamrocks using the Cricut Maker!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps to support this blog.


I think I’ve finally given up on checking for snowflakes on my weather app.  Spring is just a short time away now and New Jersey has begun to thaw.  Actually, Jersey’s been pretty mild all winter.  Although I’m sad that the appearance of snow is unlikely for the remainder of the season, I have started to feel the spring fever trickle in.  And for us, that means the start of gardening season!

I’ve been cleaning out pots and my husband turned over our garden soil over the weekend to get it ready for peas and radishes.  While I was out and about, I picked up a few new flower pots and I can’t wait to transplant some of my flowers into them.  I also picked up a couple of small terracotta pots to use in springtime projects.


With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I decided to use my small terracotta pots to make a leprechaun inspired decoration – one for me and one for my mom.  I’ve seen a lot of DIY pots on Pinterest that are flipped over and painted as leprechaun hats for St. Patrick’s Day, but I wanted to make something with a festive, springtime vibe. 

This cute holiday decoration is filled with paper gold and four-leaf clovers.  It’ll not only make your home a pinch-free zone, but all of that green will make it look like spring has certainly sprung! So I painted the pots with Shamrock green paint (what else?) and used my Cricut Maker to add the rest of the details! 

St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun Pot


After painting the pot, I pulled up a simple belt shape in Design Space. Then, I selected a square from the “Shapes” option.


You want to have two squares to create the belt buckle.  So I made one a golden yellow color and another black.  Then, I fit the black square inside the yellow one.


Once the belt buckle was sized, I used the “Slice” tool to cut out the black square and create a buckle shape.


Once that step was completed, I resized the belt and buckle to fit my pot and cut my vinyl shapes with black and gold vinyl.


After the belt was placed onto the pot (I didn’t need to use transfer tape for this project), I chose a simple shamrock shape from the Design Space image library.  I cut shamrocks in different sizes on green cardstock.


Since this is a leprechaun inspired pot, I also created gold coins by cutting a circle shape on yellow cardstock.  Once both shapes were finished, I added moss to the pot and glue some shamrocks and coins down into the moss.

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Paint the entire surface of the pot with green paint.  Allow paint to dry.
  2. Open the Leprechaun Belt design in Design Space and resize, if necessary.
  3. Prepare one Standard Grip mat with black vinyl and another with gold vinyl.  Continue to cut out the shapes.
  4. Peel the black vinyl from the backing and place around the middle of the pot.
  5. Then, peel off the gold vinyl and place the buckle shape in the middle of the belt.
  6. Open the Paper Four-Leaf Clover design and prepare a Standard Grip mat with green cardstock.  Continue to cut.
  7. Open the Paper Gold Coins design prepare a Standard Grip mat with yellow cardstock.  Continue to cut.
  8. Fill the pot with Spanish moss and heat a hot glue gun.
  9. Before gluing down the paper four-leaf clovers and gold, arrange them in the pot first.  Then, add a little glue to the bottom and carefully place them into the pot.


If you’re going to a St. Patrick’s Day party, this would make an adorable gift to bring!  As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have a lot of St. Patrick’s Day decorations, so it was nice to make to be able to make one and hopefully bring a little more good luck into our home! 

Did you make this St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun Pot? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidadiy. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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How to Make a Floral Peace Sign Wreath

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Give your front door a modern look with this easy Floral Peace Sign Wreath tutorial. A round wreath form is easily transformed into a peace sign with wire, rope, and faux flowers!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.


I don’t know if you’ve noticed lately, but the dollar store has really upped their craft section!  I’ve been able to find terrarium supplies (including some really nice fake succulents), wreath forms, and even floral bunches!  All for a dollar each!  Now, I love going to the craft store.  But I’ve seen what the dollar store can offer.  So I’ll run there for certain supplies instead of spending five dollars or more on one item at the craft store.

Like the wreath forms!  I love making wreaths for our front door.  It’s an effortless way to decorate the front of the house and wreaths are so easy to make!  But I was buying wreath forms at the craft store and spending about $10!  During one of my last trips to the dollar store, I found heart-shaped wreath forms and some really nice 14 inch round wreath forms.  For a dollar, I couldn’t pass up grabbing one of each!


I didn’t really have a plan for either wreath form when I bought them.  But while I was browsing Pinterest, I was reminded of how much I wanted a peace sign wreath.  They’re not exactly cheap to buy already made.  So I figured out a way to make my own with some dollar store supplies and other craft supplies I already had on hand.  The only thing I didn’t go to the dollar store for was the bunch of flowers.  But the dollar store does have a pretty nice selection of floral bunches!


In order to make a peace sign out of the round form, I used some floral wire to create the inner shape.  I attached the wire to the wreath form, but wrapped the shape a few times to make it sturdy.  Then, I used nautical rope to wrap the entire wreath.  I did this in sections since I wasn’t sure how much rope I would need.  The ends of the rope got tied in the back of the wreath and tucked in.

The wreath looked great on its own, but I decided to add some flowers to it.  The flowers added some nice color that’ll really pop when the wreath is hung.  This is a wreath I can use to welcome spring and keep up all summer long! 

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Form the inner peace sign shape with floral wire, snip to size with wire cutters, and attach it to the wreath form.  You might want to repeat wrapping the shape a few times to make it nice and sturdy.
  2. Wrap the entire wreath with nautical rope.  Secure in sections with hot glue and glue or tie the ends in the back of the wreath.
  3. Once the entire wreath is wrapped, create a loop with rope and glue to the back of the wreath for hanging.
  4. Using the wire cutters once again, snip the tops of the flowers with leaves.
  5. Arrange the flowers and leaves on the bottom portion of the wreath.  Then, glue into place.
  6. Allow the glue to dry completely and hang! 


I love the way this turned out!  It was pretty easy to make and it saved me a bit of money making my own peace sign wreath.  The wreath is a little heavy, so keep that in mind when you attach the loop.  It’s going to look so pretty hanging on our front door this spring! 

Did you make this floral peace sign wreath? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidadiy. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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If you like this DIY, you might enjoy these as well:

Christmas Wreath Birdseed Ornaments

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Make these Christmas Wreath Birdseed Ornaments to give your feathered friends a nutritional treat and add a little festive color to bare branches!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.


I am such an animal lover and it always amazes me when wildlife visits our backyard.  We live in a heavily populated area with a couple parks nearby, but that’s it!  So whenever we have a new backyard buddy wander into our yard, I want to make sure that they’re taken care of! Someone has to!

I’ve made calls to get mangy foxes rescued and treated. I’ve shoved carrot tops under the shed for the rabbits who live there.  We let the caterpillars take over our dill so they could turn into beautiful butterflies.  And there’s currently a small pumpkin patch in the backyard for the squirrels to enjoy.  With the cold months charging forward, I’ve decided to make some birdseed ornaments to hang out on our apple trees to provide a little sustenance for our feathered friends.


We haven’t gotten much fruit – or any, for that matter – off of the three dwarf apple trees in our backyard.  But they’ve provided a home for the birds and some food for the squirrels and rabbits (I don’t mind since they have to eat, too).  The trees pop with pop with pink blossoms in the spring.  Their bare branches make a pretty backdrop during the winter months.  The branches are also short and thin enough to hang ornaments off of. 

How to Make Christmas Wreath Birdseed Ornaments

 
I ended up making a double batch of these wreaths because the first batch didn’t work out quite as well as I wanted them to.  But the second batch was perfect!  Just the right amount of birdseed and gelatin! 

The gelatin acts like a glue to hold the birdseed together and it’s totally okay for the birds to consume.  So are the cranberries!  They provide antioxidants and add a fun pop of festive color to the wreaths!

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Spray the mini donut pans with non-stick cooking spray.  Then, place four cranberries into the bottom of each donut.
  2. In a small pot, add the water and the gelatin over medium heat. Mix until the gelatin dissolves.  Remove the pot from the heat.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, add the birdseed.  Pour the gelatin mixture over the birdseed.  Stir until the gelatin has been absorbed and the birdseed is fully coated.
  4. Carefully spoon the birdseed into the donut pans leaving a little space to add a looped piece of twine.
  5. Cover the twine with more birdseed and press the seed mixture into the pans with the back of a spoon or your fingers.
  6. Set the pans in the fridge for about an hour, or until the wreaths solidify.
  7. Remove the wreaths from the pans when you can pop the wreaths out by the twine and the twine doesn’t feel loose.
  8. Once all the wreaths are removed, you can hang them on the tree for the birds to enjoy!  


When I went to hang the second batch of wreaths, I noticed that the first batch of wreaths had already been nibbled!  Success!  These wreaths are an easy, kid-friendly holiday craft.  They would also make a great homemade gift for nature lovers and gardeners!  But most of all, it’s an easy way to give your winter birds a nutritional Christmas treat! 

Did you make these Christmas Wreath Birdseed Ornaments?  Share them on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidadiy. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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