My Nautical Themed Summer Mantel

Here is my completed 2013 nautical themed summer mantel.

Here is the YouTube video to see a whole tour of the mantel .

I decided on a nautical them using the colors navy blue, red, yellow, and white. I love the bright colors and will leave these decorations out until the beginning of September.

You can see how I made this rolled paper topiary here.  I bought this sailboat at Hobby Lobby. 

I found this boat paddle at Academy sporting goods store for $10. You can see how I painted and stenciled it here. I used some jute rope to tie it onto my faux window. 

I have been using these Home letters since I created my winter mantel. I knew that I wanted to change up the "O" each season.  You can see how I made this wreath here. Love the colors!

I re-used a jar from my stash to hold some seashells and sand that we had leftover from past beach trips.

I bought three new candles from Hobby Lobby that are coconut scented. I glued on some jute rope to the bottom of each candle. 

The red lighthouse came from Hobby Lobby and I covered the book boxes in tissue paper back in January and have used these for each season. 

For my fireplace cover, I found this cute starfish garland at Michael's. I think it looks great on my fireplace cover and was my finishing touch to this whole mantel design. 

For my red lanterns, I added some blue marbles to look like water and added some more seashells. The marbles and seashells are from Michael's. 

My faux candles are on a timer and come on in the evening. I love the warmth that it adds in the evening to my fireplace. 

Well that is my summer 2013 mantel. I love the colors and simplicity. 

I hope you are inspired!!

See you on the next post. 

Linking up to the following blog parties:

not just a house wife show-me-what-ya-got

lolly jane the-scoop-link-party

sugarbee crafts take-look-tuesday

yellow bliss road inspiration-exchange-linky-party

hickory trail blog efforts-and-assets-linky-party

the shabby creek cottage transformation-thursday-no-208

the frugal girls chic-and-crafty-party

52 mantels thursdays-are-your-days

wait til your father gets home keep-calm-link-up

Using a Boat Paddle As a Decoration - Summer Mantel 2013

Since I decided to go with a nautical theme for my summer mantel, I decided to add a boat paddle to my summer mantel design. 

Once I found the paddle I knew that I wanted to hang it from my faux window. 

You can see how we made the faux window here.

I found the pine colored boat paddle at our local Academy sporting goods store for around $10.00. 

I wanted to paint it a weathered gray color to go along with my nautical theme.

The closest color that I could find was this color by Martha Stewart called Wet Cement.

I painted it with two coats and then edged it with some white paint. 

I also decided to personalize it by adding Bailey Boat Club to it. I cut the words out using my Silhouette Cameo and then used the negative cut as a stencil and some red paint. 

I used some brown jute rope to tie the paddle onto my faux window.

I love it and think that it added so much to my nautical theme. 

I am about to film the whole mantel and will share that this week.

Stay tuned!

Linking up to the following blog parties: craft-o-maniac monday-link-party

Summer Nautical Wreaths - Front Door and Mantel 2013

I want to share with you all my summer front door and mantel wreath for 2013.

I a going with a nautical theme this year and decided on the colors red, yellow, navy blue, and white.

Here was my inspiration photo from Pinterest.  Here are my supplies. Yarn in the following colors: Dark Blue, True Red, Yellow, and White (all from Michaels) 10 inch straw wreath (for Mantel) 18 in straw wreath (for front door) FabriTac Glue ( you can use any glue in your stash)

I used the smaller, 10 inch wreath, for my mantel. This is the "o" in my Home letters.

I kept this really simple and just wrapped the yarn in 2 inch sections around the wreath form. I leave the clear plastic on the wreath and just glue on my starting and ending points.

Super simple but I love the colors on my mantel for summer!!

Here is my "Summer Fun" nautical wreath for my front door.

I used the 18 inch straw wreath and made it the same way I made the smaller mantel wreath but I used 4 inch sections for each color. 

I used some of my leftover paper from the Fancy Pants Down By the Shore collection that I used to make the rolled paper topiary to make the banner on this wreath. 

I also used some jute rope and some letter and stickers from October Afternoon to decorate the banners. 

Well there are my summer wreaths for 2013. 

I love these colors and they were so easy and fun to make.

I hope this inspires you to try a yarn wreath or to just get crafty!!

Thanks for looking and see you on the next post.

Linking to the following blog parties:

serenity now blog weekend-bloggy-reading-link-up

finding fabulous blog frugalicious-friday

shaken together life whats-shakin-link-party

Heidi Swapp Memory Files Album Part 7

Here is my Heidi Swapp memory files album part 7.

The prompt for week 7 was "food." Here is the link to Heidi's blog for this prompt if you are interested in her free printables from this week.
Here is the YouTube video showing you everything in detail.

This was a fun week and the prompt was perfect for me.
I am Czech and food and traditions were important in my family.
On this page, I printed this kitchen cut on my Silhouette Cameo and backed it with some yellow polka dot paper.
I took some family pictures of us in the kitchen and put them together into a 5x7 collage. I included some pictures of my Mom and Grandmother and Great-Grandmother in their kitchens. I also have a picture of Emily in the kitchen with each of her Grandmothers.  I also have some fun pictures of Emily in the kitchen when she was a little girl.

On this page I included a picture of my Great Grandmothers cook book and one of her recipes printed in Czech and my grandmothers cookie cutter for her Kraple recipe. These are precious items and I am so lucky to have these handed down to me.

On this page, the paper flips up and talks about food and traditions in our family.

Here is the paper flipped open.

On this page, I included my most requested recipe at family events. Emily always requests my brownie trifle for her birthday and special events.  Here is the recipe if you are interested.

On this page, I included two funny food related stories. One story involves cumin in french toast and the other involves a milkshake and broken blender. Click on the picture to read the stories. 

I love this page! I cut the thankful frame from my Silhouette Cameo. I used some My Little Shoebox letter stickers to add this wonderful quote, "The fondest memories are made when gathered around the table."

I included a couple of family Thanksgiving pictures. 

The photos are life is an Ali Edwards stamp.

Here is a closeup of the frame and quote. 

On this page, I just included the quote that was a free printable on Heidi Swapp's blog and covered it with a Heidi Swapp frame. I cut the "eat" from my cameo. 

On this page, I included a picture of my recipe boxes, planner, and recipe holder. I used these everyday and they help keep me organized in the kitchen.  Here is a video of how I made these. 

Well that is my week 7 of my album. 

This album is so full that I am only going to add a couple of more pages and then call this album complete.

Thank you for looking!