Harry Potter TRUNK or Treat

HEYO! Looking for a super easy, yet still fun trunk idea? Well stop in your tracks and follow the image above! I happen to be a pretty long time HP fan, so I have just collected a lot of things already that work as far as costume and care goes. If you're not already a big fan, it may mean buying or improvising some other stuff. Here is a run through of all the things I used for my Harry Potter Trunk and Slytherin Costume:

Backdrop: 

1. Black blanket

2. Webs I bought from Target for $1

3. Felt from the HP House you are dressing us as - I got the felt that is already sticky and just cut out the pennants and glued it to the backdrop

Stuff sitting on the lower part:

1. A little box turned over with the unwrapped HP books sitting on top

2. Skull from Tuesday Morning

3. Light Up Egg from a Easter collection from Kirklands

4. Owls - my mom loves owls and decorated with them so I just borrowed

5. Pigmy Puff from the illustrious Universal's HP World

6. Skull Candle Holder  from Tuesday Morning

7. Skelton Spider from JoAnn's Fabrics

8. Poison/Potion bottle from Tuesday Morning

9. Draco Malfoy's Wand from Universal's HP World

Costumes:

1. Dog Costume - ETSY, she did all houses but only for small dogs 

2. Slytherin Robe - CHEAP off Zulily when it was on there

3. Slytherin Cardigan - Universal's HP World

4. Then I wore a green top tucked into a black skirt with gray tights and black boots

Since my dog and I are Slytherin students, I just chose some things that looked a little creepy and I felt like could be found in the Slytherin common room or dorm room. Have fun! Side note: my car won Best Trunk at Trunk or Treat :)

BECOMING AN ADULT: DIY College Lamp to Adult Life

So I don't know if you are anything like me, but after college I had a lot of stuff that was great for a dorm room, but not so great for an apartment or house. Like this lamp for example.

 

I got this lamp from Wal-mart for like 10ish bucks. It screams college student! After graduating, I wanted to become more adult in my decor choices. So I decided to sell the lamp above and buy a new one. But DANG lamps are expensive! I can't afford a crazy expensive lamp, I just graduated. After coming to the gruesome realization that I would have to keep my college lamp or live in the dark, I came up with a way to make my lamp transition with me from college to adulthood. Here is how I did it!

Supplies:

• Black Lamp
• Rag
• Gold Spray Paint (the kind that mimics a gold metal)
• Black Acrylic Paint
• Water
• Painters Tape

Additional/Optional Supplies:

• Fake Succulents
• Macrame String
• Wooden Beads

Steps:

1. Clean off all the dust and gunk from your lamp (don't lie we all know ya lamp is nasty)
2. Remove the "shades" (whatever those things are that surround the light bulb...I don't know what it is called).
3. Now you have two options for step three. It depends on the final look you want to achieve. So if you want a more spotty, antique, brassie look follow step A. If you want a more updated industrial look follow step B.

A. Spray paint the entire lamp, including the shades, a solid gold. Allow time to dry. Then take the black acrylic paint and mix it with water. I would say 3/4 water to 1/4 acrylic paint. Dip the rag in the paint/water combo and rub across the spray painted area. This should create that spotty antique look. If the spots aren't as dark as you would like them to be, add more paint to your paint water mixture. You may want to test different stroke patterns to see which you like best, but I had the most luck by wiping the rag all the way across the surface and then lightly dabbing the areas I had just wiped. But make it however you would like it to look because it isn't going in my house. 

B. If your lamp was not black to begin with, paint it all black. If it is already black, paint the lamp shades solid black using the black acrylic paint. Allow time to dry. Then, lightly spray paint the lamp gold allowing the black to shine through. This should give it a rough textured industrial look. 

Here are what the two different methods will get you:

Additional steps:

1. Add the fake succulents to the base of the lower lamp (as seen in photo at the top)
2. Add a macrame piece or yarn of any kind in strips to cover the lower flexible rod.

Hope this helped take you one step closer to successful adult-ing.

-B

Tennessee Tristar Pumpkin

For Tennesseans, the TN flag is just a classic symbol of their love for this beautiful state. So, I decided to make a tristar pumkin this year. Basically, I got a pumpkin and cleaned it out. Then I traced out the two circles. Then, I slowly but surely chunked out the circle without cutting all the way through. Then, the easiest way to get the stars would be to use a star-shaped cookie cutter. I did not have one, so I made a star on a notecard, cut it out, and traced it onto the punkin. Then I cut out the stars. Also, to cut these things I used the pumpkin carving tools you can get at the store (I got mine at Hobby Lobby).

-H

Boy Meets World Shoes

Hey Y'all!

So I made some Boy Meets World themed shoes! To make your own you will need: white fabric shoes (I bought mine from Target), a variety pack of sharpies (both fine point and regular), a pencil, and a design in mind.

Let's begin!

1.) draw your ideas in pencil to get positioning correct.(If needed, you can practice the sketches on paper first to get it perfect). In the picture mine has already been outlined with black sharpie so that y'all can see it easier. I put quotes on mine, as well as the logo.

2.) Then color in with the regular size sharpies. Beware of bleeding from the sharpies.

3.) Enjoy!

If y'all have any questions or need help with ideas just email me at flapjacksandflannel@gmail.com! I can custom make a pair for you! You can buy a custom pair on our Etsy page: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlapjacksandFlannel

Flower Ball

What You'll Need:
Bouquet of Fake Flowers
Styrofoam Ball: pick any size

NOT PICTURED:
Hot Glue 
String/cord/rope
Safety Pin 








First off, I wanna start by saying that fake flowers can be extremely expensive, but the craft stores put them on sale. So, be sure to wait it out and buy the flowers when they are on sale. I got all my flowers for 50% off at JoAnn's this past weekend, so it can be less ridiculous. 

Let's BEGIN! 

To begin, the flowers need to be removed from the stems.

If your flowers are made like the one pictured below with a piece of plastic connecting the flower to the stem, you can just gently pull on this piece away from the stem and the flower will be ready to go. However, if your flowers just directly connect to the stem, you can use wire cutters to cut the flower away from the long stem while still keeping atleast half an inch of stem in order to poke it into the styrofoam. 

Now that I have separated flowers, I began to poke my flowers in the styrofoam. I went all the way around in a line at first keeping the flowers outer edges touching. At this point, I realized I did not have enough of the same flower, so I used some purple flowers that you will see in later pictures to fill the bottom. I left the top part bare. 

I ended up running into another problem. My flowers were falling out of the styrofoam...so........
I turned to my trusty superglue... 



But, that didn't work either, so I turned to my even more trusty hot glue gun. Pull the flower out the the styrofoam. Coat what is left of the stem in hot glue. Then push the flower back into the original hole.

You can stop here and leave it as a table decoration, or you can go on to make it be able to hang from something. 

I took a large safety pin and connected my thread to this safety pin. I then eye-balled a distance in that would still be able to hold the ball without the thread breaking through the styrofoam. So, I pushed the safety pin through the styrofoam ball and tied a knot in the sting making a loop. 

And then all you have to do is hang it up! 

Hope you have enjoyed a little bit of flower power! 

-H

P.S. I am SUPER obsessed with fake flowers right now. So, expect to see a lot of crafts with fake flowers. 

Wedding Anniversary Gift

Hey y'all! So for my grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary I made them this. It is a 50th Wedding Anniversary penny picture.

What you will need is:

 a big jar of pennies

 super glue

 frame

 stencil

 poster board

sharpie 

Each of the pennies COINcides (see what I did there.haha) with a year of their marriage. So to start you will need to go through a big jar of pennies to find one for each year starting with the year they got married and going all the way through to the present year.

 Next cut the poster board to fit into the frame you bought. Then using the stencil and sharpie, write "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY", there names, and the year if you want. 

Place the pennies in order by year and in the shape of how many years they have been married. Then glue them down and IT IS FINISHED!

Hope this makes your family/ friends very happy! Email with any questions.

-B

Bacon Roses

Bacon Roses- for the meat lover in your life.

For this simple gift idea, you'll need:
-Thick Cut Bacon (I made a dozen)
-Fake Roses
-Toothpicks
-Muffin Tin

Preheat oven to 375
Turn on some Ke$ha music (mandatory)

Start out by rolling each strip of bacon into a rose shape. Don't roll it too tight or it won't cook all the way through!

Stick 2 toothpicks through the center to form an "X" with the toothpicks.

I used a mini muffin tin and it was perfect size, but I regular muffin tin would also work. Set the rolled bacon in the muffin tins so they are hovering and don't touch the bottom of the tin.

Other tutorials want you to drill a hole in the bottom of your muffin tin so the bacon grease can drain. NO DONT DO IT!! Why would you do that?? It worked perfectly fine for me to not have it drain. It cooked in the grease, just make sure to watch it carefully and be extra careful when you take it out of the oven.

Put the bacon in the oven at 375 for 30-45 minutes. Watch it carefully! (Make sure to check that it is cooked all the way through)

While the bacon is cooking, take the red petals off of your fake flowers.

Keep the green star shaped part that goes on the underside of the flower on the stem, it will help keep the bacon from sliding down the stem. Push the star shaped piece down a bit so you have a piece of the stem sticking out. You can slide the bacon onto it like a kabob! 

Take the toothpicks out once the bacon has cooled and stick em on the stems!

Ta-da! My next experiment is to make chocolate dipped bacon roses. I'll keep you updated. 

Photo credits go to my super artsy boyfriend who was the grateful recipient of this tasty bouquet. 

Till next time,

K