DIY Project: Wicker Hanging Lantern

So inspired by my $5 Dollar Store Crafts project (See my Ring Display here), that my mother decided to try her hand (and imagination) at it as well! So we headed down to the local Dollar Tree, and scoped out some projects. Since my own, I've thought of 3 more that I have to do, so stay tuned in the future for more of those! Meanwhile, my mother was distracted by these great wicker wreaths and a project was born!

Materials:
(3) wicker wreaths-preferably in differing sizes, she picked out great looking ones and set on top of each other to find ones that slightly varied in size.
1 package of floral wire-she ended up having some on hand, but got a package anyway!
1 votive candle holder-she had lots of these too, but couldn't resist the great pattern on the side of this! Make sure whatever you use has a lip on it!
Dollar Tree total: $5 (or $3 if you stick with materials on hand!)

Tools:
She had raffia wrapped wire on hand, which can be expensive, jute, hemp, string, ribbon etc-whatever you have on hand and matches your style will work!
Wire cutters
Tea light-most people have hundreds of these lying around, but if you don't Dollar Tree stocks these as well!
'S' hook
1) Lay out your wreaths, find your largest and second largest, and simply slide the smaller of the two inside of the bigger one. This can be difficult depending on how closely they are in size. These worked perfectly! Place them so they are crossing each other (when you look down on it, you see an X or +). Next, take your smallest and do the same to create a six pointed star looking down.

2) Next, using the floral wire, "sew" the wire through the dome, weaving through them to ensure they stay together. You could repeat on the bottom to keep it sturdy. If you don't have floral wire, you could use hot glue, super glue or even wire bag ties from the grocery store! Once you've 'sewn' them together, tuck the wire back into the wreaths so they aren't noticeable.

3) For the light, take your votive/candle holder/mason jar etc and use the floral wire or ribbon to wrap around the top (under the lip!). Tie in a knot, with excess wire on one side, pull the excess wire over the jar opening to the exact opposite side, and tie in another knot to create a handle over the jar opening. *NOTE: ribbon can burn! If you use ribbon make sure the jar you use is tall enough to keep the flame away from it, and never leave the candle burning unattended!**

4) Finally, cut an extra long piece of whatever you're using to hang it (here we used raffia wire), choose a top to the light, wrap around the wreaths as shown, allow a loop within the sphere to attach the light onto, tying securely. Attach the other end of the wire to an 'S' hook.

5) Drop your tea light within the jar, light using a long match or lighter, and hang anywhere!

What I learned:
The only necessary item for this to purchase are the wreaths. Usually anything else you need you can find at home!
Never leave the candle burning alone, these are flammable items, and even though a tea light doesn't give off much heat-there is still a chance!
Wire is much safer than ribbon for this project (in and around the candle), for safety sake buy the floral wire, or another type to use! However, ribbon and rope is perfect for hanging up!
These will look great hanging in a garden in bulk, or around a patio for those beautiful summer nights!
•This project is posted to link parties everyday!•

DIY Project: Ring Display

I heard about the Dollar Tree $5 Challenge from another blog, and was so excited! Partly because I've been itching to craft lately, and have been so uninspired to do so. And partly because I always thought it would be cool to do a project entirely from one store (insert Project Runway addiction). I was so excited, that I ran out to my closest Dollar Tree immediately after reading the rules. Unfortunately I not only came up empty handed, but uninspired as well. Thankfully the boyfriend came up with an idea to check out The Other Dollar Tree the next day. A much larger, much better stocked, and much more inspiring store 30 minutes away. So I went home and scoped out the Dollar Store Crafts site and was shocked and amazed at all the goodies I saw on there. Determined to not only come up with something cute and easy, but functional as well: something that I could use every day I restarted my search the next day. That's when I saw the zen garden and inspiration (finally) struck! A ring display! My rings have found themselves all over my room and bathroom, in various 'trees', jewelry boxes, and plate displays. I needed something large enough to hold all of them, but easy to get them out, and see at the same time. A ring display would be perfect. My mind started going, and after a carrying around $20 worth of goodies, I narrowed it down to four. A set of (3) washcloths in super soft and pretty green microfiber, a plastic frame, a pack of pencils, and a ball of twine. $4. And I got to work. Joining me was a hot glue gun, scissors, and wire cutters (optional)-all on hand. [note that the zen garden didn't make it home with me..]

1. Remove the glass and mat from the frame. I chose a 5x7 because it was a decent enough size to fit a lot on, without being too huge for my dresser. I also chose a frame that had a thicker inset so the ring rolls wouldn't push out past it too far. The first step was to wind the string around the frame, there are many ways to do this, you can glue the front and wrap it messy, or pile it on at random, or layer it neatly as I did by simply holding it tight and wrapping it patiently and gluing occasionally in the back of the frame. I did the sides first, leaving the corners to last. When I got to them I simply wrapped the string left to right slowly covering the corner and creating a neat layering pattern (see pictures). My boyfriend liked it better with black showing through, so really you can wrap it however you prefer it!

2. Next I glued the back of the frame (the part that hangs/easel) to frame. This created a tray basically to glue my rolls onto. I glued the top and bottom first, and the sides after I finished. No real reason other than I forgot. After this I chopped the pencils in half using the wire cutters. You can use anything to cut them, you can even go hulk and break them in your hands. Doesn't have to be perfect, it just creates a stronger roll and gives you something to roll the fabric onto.

3. I took the first washcloth and folded it in half, this way it was just slightly longer/wider than the hole it was going to fit into in the frame. I placed a layer of glue onto the pencil, placed at the edge of the washcloth and started rolling. I only rolled about 1.5 times, gluing at the end. I cut the roll away from the rest of the washcloth, gluing the inner layer to ensure it stays in place. Not entirely necessary but makes it slightly easier to work with.

4. As you can see in the picture below, I basically folded the ends in to place in the frame, and rolled it into position at the edge of it so that the folds went under neath the roll. I glued as close to the bottom of the frame as I could to keep in place on both sides of the roll.

5. Continue steps 3 and 4 until you get to the bottom of the frame. My rolls were about 1.5 cm each. I used 2 washcloths exactly, and 5 pencils to create 10 rolls total. Make sure you push them together when gluing so they tightly packed into place to hold your rings!

What I learned:
-You may not like the towel idea. I chose the washcloths because I loved the color and I swear these are the softest towels ever! Luckily Dollar Tree has a wide assortment of towels, clothes and blankets to choose from!
-5x7 was the perfect size! I can hold all of my rings, with plenty of room for more ;) and it looks great on my dresser!
-If I could do it over, I would cut off the edging on the towels. They didn't like being folded over and give it the messy-ish look in the pictures. Which I don't mind, it just took longer to deal with, and figured I'd mention to the blogsphere so they can get cleaner looking rolls in their own versions =)
-The pencils worked like a charm, the only non-preferable thing about them is they were slightly shorter than the width of the frame, which doesn't seem to affect how it holds the rings, but if you have something longer, or more pencils than I had on hand to cut the correct length I would try it!

Now, your turn! Can't wait to see your versions and suggestions! Have you made your own item for the $5 challenge? I'd love to see it, make sure you link it!
•project may be linked to a party, check the link tab to see which!•