USA Reclaimed Wood Decor

For this project, you will need:

*piece of reclaimed wood/barnwood

*USA letters

*star embellishment-I found mine at Hobby Lobby

*Mountain Blue paint by Apple Barrel

*Jute twine

*Raffia & button

The first thing I did was paint my u-s-a letters with my mountain blue color.

Once those had dried, I hot glued them onto my piece of wood along with my star. If you plan to use this piece outside you will want to also use gorilla glue or E6000 to adhere your pieces to the wood to withstand the weather elements.

Next, I used my staple gun to attach my jute twine, wrapping it around several times and securing the end with another staple.

Looking cute already, right? I just felt like the top was missing something, so I decided to add a raffia bow. I was hoping I had red raffia but unfortunately did not so just used the natural raffia I had on hand. I then added a cute little red button to the center to complete my project.

I love how this turned out. This was one of those projects that I had no clue what I was going to do when I sat down and then within a matter of minutes I had created this awesome piece! I hope this inspires you to let your mind run wild and get those creative juices flowing!

How To Dye Sola Flowers With Rit Dye

You will need:

*Raw sola flowers

*Rit dye

*rubber gloves

The first step is to fill your containers about 1/3 of the way up with hot water. I used two tupperware containers for this. The dye will stain so be sure to use caution when using.

Next, I poured in the rit diye. I did not measure but I would say 1/4 cup or so. I used the colors indigo and cherry red. I usually buy my rit dye at Hobby Lobby and they have lots of different options to choose from.

Now it’s time to add in the flowers. Don’t forget to wear gloves for this step or you will have stained hands and fingernails!

I let each flower sit in the dye for 5 minutes flipping them back and forth making sure all of the flower was covered.

Once the flowers were fully saturated, I sat them in a metal pan lined with a paper towel to dry. I dried mine overnight.

They turned out absolutely beautiful! I will definitely be doing more of these in different colors. This sure beats having to hand paint each flower individually. You could also use a paint brush to add different colors to these for dimension. May have to try that next.

These flowers make the perfect filler for any tray and lantern. Can also be used as table decor or in bouquets!

DIY Ribbon Flower Sign

*Wood slats-Hobby Lobby

*Large popsicles sticks

*Ribbon of choice

*Jute rope

*Half wood bead

The first step is to lay all four of the wood slats down and glue four popsicle sticks to the back to make your surface. If you choose, you can use a ready made surface to save you time.

Your surface should look like the one below once you have done the previous step.

Next, I used the color black currant to paint my surface. I used a chip brush for this as I didn’t want 100% coverage.

As that dried, I took my ribbon and stacked each design together and cut them in the shape of flower petals. I ended up not using the color on the bottom right. All three of the ribbons I used came from Hobby Lobby.

I then arranged my flower petals somewhat in the shape of a flower. For the center of the flower I used rope twine and simply wrapped it around in circles until all of the inside edges of my flower petals(ribbon) were covered.

Now we have a our cute little flower. I wanted to put something in the center to hide my hot glue from where I started my jute rope so I painted a half wood bead with the same black currant color and glued that in the center. You can find the half wood beads like I used right HERE using my affiliate link.

I just love how this turned out! The perfect piece of decor for Spring and even Summer if you please!

DIY Easter Gift Bag Sign

Hello friends, I wanted to share this super fun and easy Easter craft with you all! This is all stuff that I had on hand and finally decided to do something with! HaHa!

For this craft, you will need:

*Decorative gift bag-mine came from the Dollar Tree

*Surface of choice-mine came from Hobby Lobby

*Mod Podge

*Ribbon to match for the trim

*Fabric for bow

*Buttons

The first step is to cut your gift bag down to fit on your surface. Don’t worry about getting the edges perfect as we will use a skinny ribbon to trim out the edges.

Next, I simply took mod podge and glued my piece of gift bag to my surface.

As you can see, my edges are a little rough! That’s where this pink ribbon comes in handy! I believe this ribbon came from Wal-mart but just use whatever you have that matches your gift bag.

I then used some teal buttons and glued one in each of the corners to hide the seams where the ribbon comes together.

To finish it off, I took some scrap fabric and made a cute little rag bow!

Who would have thought you could make such a cute piece of decor using a Dollar Tree gift bag, right?

Easter Tree Reveal

I am so excited to show you my first ever Easter tree! I finally had the space to leave my artificial Christmas tree up year round and decorate it for the different seasons/holidays! This is seriously so fun to do and keeps the house feeling cozy year round.

The first thing I did was take two rolls of burlap ribbon and draped this from top to bottom using the branches to secure every 8-10 inches. The burlap came from Hobby Lobby although you can find it many places. Deco mesh also works very well for this step.

Next, I used two strands of egg garland that I also found at Hobby Lobby and did the same with this as I did the burlap. One of the benefits of an artificial tree is being able to use the flexible branches to help secure your decorations.

Now, it’s time to fill in the rest of the tree with signs, picks, and ornaments! I had this “Easter” sitter available in my shop and decided it would look perfect on my tree! Really anything goes when it comes to decorating trees. That’s what’s so fun about it! No right or wrong way to do it!

The little glass egg ornaments are so stinkin’ cute so as soon as they came in to the shop I knew exactly what I would be using them for! Also, this egg berry pick was another piece from shop. If you don’t already, be sure to follow us over on Facebook at Lraedesign so you don’t miss out on all of these goodies during our live sales!

How cute is the Rae Dunn bunny garland?

The only items not from my store were these picks and the egg garland that I found at Hobby Lobby. The perfect Spring colors to finish off the top of my tree. So fun! If your having a hard time coming up with ideas, take a walk through your local craft store and I bet you will find some inspiration!

The tree skirt I used was from Amazon and you can find that at my affiliate link HERE!

I hope your inspired too try your own Easter tree now!

February 15th, 2023

The date February 15th, 2023 will always be one I remember. This was the day I got the keys for my first official “warehouse” for my business. Holy cow was I excited! This was a much needed component for Lraedesign to continue to grow and be able to serve my people in the best way possible. To say this was a blessing is an understatement! I am so excited to for the future and hope you will all come along for the ride!

I started my business in February of 2019 and finally, after four years, all of my days and nights working from my kitchen table have paid off. Yes, seriously…my business was based out of my double wide mobile home for FOUR YEARS!!! I can’t quite believe it myself! The only area I had to do my crafts and store all of my supplies was smack dab in the center of the kitchen. This just goes to show that if you want something bad enough you will do what it takes to get there. And I did just that! I often thought about what it would be like when that day finally came. I honestly had no idea when that would be and I just knew that I was living my dream and I was gonna keep doing whatever I had to do to be able to provide for my family and continue growing my small business.

When I first started my business back in 2019, it was just a side gig…nothing too major as I was a full time hairstylist. Each year I would make more and more income with my side gig and knew that was what I wanted to do full time as soon as it was feasible. Fast forward to October 2021…This was my last month in the salon doing hair and seeing my clients. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions. My clients were like my family. I knew so much about them and they knew so much about me. It was SO HARD to leave them but they knew I was doing what was right for me and that I was pursuing my dream. They were all SO SUPPORTIVE! Change is HARD you guys but it is SO WORTH IT!!! Take the chance, make the change, and chase your dreams!

As my business coach always says, “do it scared”-Brooke Riley