Decorating Archives - Wait Til Your Father Gets Home

{upcycled bottle decor}

April 8, 2013 by meredith · 27 Comments

This is one of my very first posts from the beginning of Wait Til Your Father Gets Home. I wanted to revisit it with all of my current readers as it’s one of my all time favorite projects, and I think it’s just such a great way to decorate around your home!

Enjoy!

Before I lose you, I’m not talking about displaying all the beer you’ve ever had on top of your kitchen cabinets like so many of my friends did in college. Although it might have been considered really cool back then, times have changed. We’ve traded in our beer bottles for baby bottles most days. Recently, we had some beer in the house that came in bottles that were kind of short and stubby. I thought they were really cute and requested my husband drink them over the weekend so I could use them in a project. He thought I was crazy, but luckily obliged!

To make Upcycled Bottles, you’ll need:

empty bottles {beer, wine, spaghetti sauce, pickles…possibilities are endless}
jute twine {purchased at Hobby Lobby}
hot glue gun/glue

Basically I started at the bottom of each bottle and tightly wrapped the jute twine around the bottle. I put a skinny line of hot glue to secure the jute twine down. I used a mini glue gun on this project and probably used about 4 sticks on each bottle. That may sound like a lot of glue, but they are small sticks, and I have a huge pack of them, so I didn’t mind. You could probably just secure the jute twine with a small dot of glue every so often if your glue supply is low.

Pretty soon I had three cute little wrapped bottles. To add some color to them, I cut a green floral stem that I had leftover from my wreath project and gave them all a new home on our kitchen table.

These three bottles consistently find their way into my decor each season {a lot of times as part of my mantel decor}. I love how versatile they are and that I can make them look so different by just adding a few new elements to them with each season.

You may have seen them in my…

Spring Mantel

Fall Mantel

Valentine’s Day Mantel

I’m going to be “redecorating” around the house again over the next few weeks, and I’ll be sure to update you then on where the bottles end up. I’m going to try for a new location this time around!

Have you done any projects lately that cost next to nothing?

Do you have an obsession with wrapping items around your house in jute twine?

Are there any other older projects of mine that you’d like me to revisit with you all again?

I’ll be linking up at these parties!

About Meredith Hazel

Meredith is a stay at home mom and has been blogging since 2012. She started Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home as a creative outlet in between nap times for her little one. Wait 'Til Your Father gets home is a combination of crafting tutorials, DIY projects, recipes and, sharing some of life's journey along the way.

Filed Under: Crafting, Decorating, DIY Tagged With: bottles, crafting, decor, decorating, diy, upcycle

{Stamped Eggs}

March 19, 2013 by meredith · 17 Comments

In case you missed my post on Tatertots & Jello this month for my Stamped Easter Eggs, here it is again!

Spring fever is in the air, even if a lot of parts of the country are still getting random {or sometimes not so random} winter storms. We actually had a little snow last week in Georgia, to be immediately followed by a 70 degree weekend! Well, I’m ready for Spring, and that means so is my decor. I love to change little nooks in my house according to the season or holiday. It’s so nice to change things up a bit every now and then, don’t you think?

Since Easter falls earlier this year, I’ve been in Easter Egg mode lately. I wanted to try out some hand stamped eggs for a few spots in my house, and soon came up with these pretties…

To make your own

Stamped Eggs

you’ll need:

wooden eggs {found at Hobby Lobby}

spray paint {mine is Krylon Satin finish in Ivory}

cute stencils

black acrylic paint

foam brush

I had an extra large egg crate in my fridge with only a few lonely eggs left, so I emptied it out and used it to set the wooden eggs inside, to create an easy surface to spray paint.

Of course, once the tops of the eggs had a few thin coats, I had to flip the eggs over to cover the surface of the bottom half of each egg. It really didn’t take too long, as I chose a nice sunny day to do my spray painting.

*Remember, when spray painting, thin coats are best!

The ivory spray paint gave the eggs a slight sheen and dulled them up a bit from the bright white that they once were. If you’d prefer bright white eggs, you could skip the spray painting part.

Once the eggs were dry, I got to the fun part, choosing random numbers and letters to stamp onto each egg.

I used a couple small pieces of washi tape {since it’s so easy to remove and reapply}, put a small amount of black acrylic paint on my foam brush, and dabbed the paint onto the stencil. Definitely do not use a large amount of paint as you want it to look like it was lightly sponged on. Remove the stencil immediately and admire your handy work!

As I finished, I carefully put them back into the egg carton to dry.

I used these stamped eggs in a few spots around me house. I’ve had a bit of an obsession with Spanish moss this month, and added a handful of my newly stamped eggs to a vase filled with moss.

I also added a couple eggs to a taller, skinnier vase in the same vignette…

We’ve got a tall, square table in our kitchen that sometimes my husband I like to sit at when our little guy is sleeping. Lately, I’ve been dressing up the tabletop, so we’ve got a little decor to brighten the dark brown table. And, luckily, my son can’t reach up to this table and mess up the tablescape {yet!}.

I also added some stamped eggs to a pretty candy dish that used to be my aunt’s with some more Spanish moss.

I’m loving the simplicity of the eggs with the brightness of the moss.

What about you?! Have you created any egg inspired crafts or decor yet this month? I’d LOVE to see what you’ve come up with!

Linkin’ up at these parties!

About Meredith Hazel

Filed Under: Crafting, Decorating, Holidays Tagged With: crafts, diy, Easter, eggs, moss, stamped

{Easter Egg Garland & Mantel}

March 13, 2013 by meredith · 11 Comments

Spring is definitely in the air, and we got a nice hint of it this past weekend in Georgia! With a new season approaching, I’ve been changing a lot of the decor in my house to get us all in a fresh, Springtime mood. When I saw these cute Easter egg ornaments at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, I knew they’d be perfect for an Easter Egg Garland for my Spring Mantel!

To make

Easter Egg Garland

you’ll need:

Easter Egg Ornaments {found at Hobby Lobby}

jute twine

burlap scraps

I know there are some other items pictured in the supplies photo, but I ended up not using a few of them. I’m sure they’ll be used soon!

To get started, I put up the length of jute twine that I needed on my mantel for my garland. I like to hang the garland high enough that my little, climbing toddler can’t reach it.

To attach the jute twine, I tied it around some vases on top of the mantel. This is typically how I attach any kind of garland I make.

I then began attaching each egg ornament by tying it on with a small piece of jute twine.

Soon, I had an entire garland full of colorful Easter Eggs. In between every few eggs, I also tied on a scrap piece of burlap to give the garland some more texture.

I love the pop of color that the eggs add to the mantel {and the fact that it can stay up through the end of the month for Easter}. To the top of the mantel, I added some bright green and purple floral stems and picks to some tall vases and my twine wrapped bottles.

I also tied on a scrap piece of muslin from my stash. I’m loving the imperfect-ness of the bows.

The other side of the mantel holds a tall hurricane vase with our wine cork collection and some yarn wrapped Easter eggs purchased a few years back.

My mantels are typically simple, but that’s what I love about them. Spring is all about simplicity after all!

How have you decorated for Spring or Easter so far?

I’ll be linking up at these parties!

About Meredith Hazel

Filed Under: Crafting, Decorating, Holidays Tagged With: crafts, decorating, Easter, Easter egg, garland, mantel

{Simple Mason Jar Candles}

March 5, 2013 by meredith · 19 Comments

Before I share today’s tutorial, I wanted to make sure you’ve entered to win one of two $175 gift cards to celebrate Wait ‘Til Your Father Gets Home & Chase the Star’s Blogiversaries this week! You could win $175 to Target or Amazon just by entering here. GOOD LUCK to all of you!

A few weeks ago I shared my Seductive Tables for Two tablescape, inspired by Moll Anderson’s new book. Since then, I’ve had an overwhelming response about a small element of the post.

Everyone {including myself} seems to be in love with the mini mason jar candles I created.

Well, let me tell you, those things are super easy to make, and I loved them so much that they’re actually still out on the table.

Simple Mason Jar Candle

Supplies needed:

small mason jars

Spanish moss

wine corks {get drinking, just kidding…not really}

tea lights

To assemble the candles, stuff some Spanish moss in each mason jar and smash it down with your fingers.

You’ll want it to cover the bottom third or so of the jar. Next, arrange the wine corks, vertically in the middle of the mason jar. The diameter of my mason jars allowed for five corks. Make sure they are as level as possible so you have a nice, flat surface for your tea lights.

Once you feel that the corks are in place and the surface is flat enough, add the tea light on top. And voila! You’ve got a simple mason jar candle of your own.

I’ve got a bit of an obsession with Spanish moss lately. It must just be the time of year…who knows though!

It just makes everything seem a little more bright and cheerful to me.

What item are you obsessing over right now in your decor? Burlap? Twine? Moss? I’d love to know!

I’ll be linking up here.

*Remember, please don’t leave candles burning unattended people!

About Meredith Hazel

Filed Under: Crafting, Decorating Tagged With: candles, corks, crafts, decor, mason jars, moss

{Spring Grapevine & Moss Wreath}

February 27, 2013 by meredith · 18 Comments

You know me, once a holiday or season comes to an end this girl likes to give the front door a little makeover. Sadly we still have not gotten around to painting our front door “front door red” {hey, it’s been kinda cold down here in Georgia, especially on the weekends}. BUT, I did make a new wreath inspired by Spring {come on, get here already!} using only materials that I already had!

Spring Grapevine & Moss Wreath

To make a similar wreath, you’ll need:

one grapevine wreath

a few floral stems {I gathered these from around the house}

a wooden letter {I used an H for our last name}

Spanish moss

hot glue/glue gun

burlap ribbon

I’ve used this grapevine wreath a few times now. It might be one of the best purchases I’ve ever made at the craft store. Anytime I want to reuse it, I simply take the wreath adornments off and have a new canvas.

I really wanted to have our monogram hanging from the center of the wreath, and I’ve been using Spanish moss like crazy in the house lately, so I figured why not take it outdoors too?

Luckily this letter had already been painted green {from this wreath here}, so I just used hot glue to attach the Spanish moss to the front of the letter.

Yes, there are some gaps, but from the street {and honestly a few feet away} you cannot tell, and in my book, that’s all that matters. I didn’t want to have to go out and buy more Spanish moss at this point.

To assemble the wreath, I hung it on the door, glued the flowers to the bottom, and hung the mossy letter from the center using the burlap ribbon {after using a staple gun to attach the ribbon to the back of the letter}.