by richeychelsey | Sep 11, 2018 | BLOG POSTS, Uncategorized
How To Make This Beautiful DIY Fall Wreath Your Neighbors Will Love
Don’t you just love Fall? All of nature’s bright, warm and welcoming tones. The set of mums I picked up for the porch last week inspired this fall wreath. To help you make your own, I created this step by step easy tutorial just for you. You can truly create whatever your heart desires, on an actual affordable budget. When comparing similar wreaths online, they ranged from $120-$240! This tutorial cost under $40. You’ll probably be driving to your hobby lobby in a few hours to make your own. Here is how to make your very own Pinterest worthy wreath, in just 30-40 minutes (even with a toddler).
What You Need
Let’s talk about what you will need, it isn’t much. I recommend shopping at A.C. Moore and Hobby Lobby for the best prices. Both of these stores have great coupons online, don’t go into the store without one. They pretty much price things to be used with their coupons. Just show them the coupon on your phone. At Hobby Lobby, their florals go on sale every other week, bonus savings!
- Hot Glue Gun
- 18″ Grapevine Wreath
- 24″ Ribbon – Jute Ribbon
- 10 Flowers – I used artificial Hydrangeas, Zinnias, and Dahlias
- Hot Glue Sticks – This project used ten 8 inch sticks
- Sharp Scissors or Wire Cutters
Prep
Pull the stems off your flowers, you won’t need them. Hydrangea flowers usually pop off too. Some are hard glued to the stems, cut them or they fall apart. Leave about three inches of stem to stick into the wreath, see below.
Plug in your hot glue gun, while it warms, work on placement. Before you glue anything, lay your flowers on the wreath and rearrange them until you fall in love with your design. Make note of the distance between flowers to ensure even placement as you glue your flowers to the wreath.
Plan & Design
When planning your design, keep in mind that odd numbers and groups of threes are more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Choose colors in the same tones like warms or cools, or even color families like these sunset colors.
Pro Tip – Take a photo of your arrangement to reference before you start to glue. I came back to this photo about ten times as I secured the flowers to the wreath. It is easy to forget your planned placement, do yourself a favor and snap a pic.
Glue
Add hot glue to the stem and base of the flower, like above, then quickly pop it into the wreath.
Insert the stem of the flower into the wreath, sometimes it needs a little wiggle to go through. I left a larger stem on this flower to show placement, but mine are usually shorter. If your stem is coming out through the back of the wreath, cut it to be flush so it doesn’t push the wreath off your wall or door. If needed, go through your flowers again and cut the stems so they do not come out the back, it is easier to cut them before they go into the wreath than after.
Finishing Touches
Use the leaves that we pulled from the floral stems to cover gaps between flowers. This wreath was given three leaf stems, just enough to add color without overpowering the reds and oranges. Add glue to the tips of the leaf stem and tuck it into the grapevine. Place them at an angle to flow with the curve of the wreath, instead of sticking straight out. I like to hide the stem of the leaves underneath the flower petals next to the space we are filling.
Tie A Bow
You’re almost ready to hang up your beautiful masterpiece for the whole neighborhood to see! Take the jute ribbon and attach it to a sturdy branch in the grapevine. There are usually larger branches that spiral through the wreath, find one of these. Measure the length for your door and tie off the ends. You can also add bows, I tied a separate quick bow and hot glued it to the top knot, nothing fancy.
Hang It For Your Neighbors To Enjoy
Isn’t it gorgeous? You will never look at a wreath the same way again now that you know how easy it is to make your own. Especially when you see those price tags for $100+ and you can make the same one for under $40. If you’re wondering when you can set your fall wreath out, right away! The glue sets fast. I don’t recommend command hooks to hang them outside, mine always fall off. For metal doors, you can find magnetic hooks. For glass, these suction cup hooks are fantastic and about $3 from Joanns fabrics.
What colors would you use? Would you choose different flowers? Make sure to tag me on Facebook & Instagram with your creations at @chelseybychelsey or send me a pic of your creations to be featured! Stay posted for the full Fall Porch DIY On a Budget, I’ll teach you to make beautiful front door signs under $20 and more!Subscribe to the monthly newsletter and don’t forget about the giveaway to be announced soon! It’s not too late to sign up.
Happy wreath making!
Chelsey
by richeychelsey | Sep 8, 2018 | Uncategorized
Hey Girl! Get excited because I am finally spilling some awesome hair secrets. Even better, my amazing hair stylist joined in to help me teach you what she taught me. It took a long time for me to learn which products to use, how in the world to keep waves and curls in. I know you probably have a lot of hair questions as well, be sure to ask! Plus, I’ll reveal my all time favorite, magic handed hair stylist with you in the end! Here are your new favorite products that work, save you time, and did I say they actually keep your hair in place? Ok, here we go.
First- let’s talk product. How, in the world, do we get beachy waves to stay put? Even those curls or ends, and bangs! I have super fine hair, and nothing at the grocery store kept my curls and waves in without being heavy and crunchy. You know when hair goes flat after you spent all that time on it? I decided to finally splurge on salon product because I realized that the stuff at target was not giving me hair like my stylist does. To my surprise, these were actually easy to use. Really easy.
So here we are, and I have never regretted the splurge. Kevin Murphy hair products, don’t forget the name because you’ll start seeing them everywhere in salons. Let’s talk about what they do.
Kevin Murphy Bedroom Hair Spray
This isn’t just a hairspray, it’s kind of a combination of spray and dry shampoo and texture magic. They referred to it at the salon warmly as hair crack. It doesn’t weigh my hair down but keeps my waves in for a couple days. I can re-spray when I need to the next day, and honestly, I have never tried or seen anything like it before. If you can only get one product, make this your priority. Especially if you have struggled to keep your curls and waves in, this is for you girlie.
Kevin Murphy Powder Puff
I almost wish you were here to show you in person, so let me explain. This cute little weightless ball is filled with powder. It dissolves and disappears into your hair when you shake it in. From my stylist exactly, ” It creates volume, dry matte texture, it’s a metamorphosis product. It is a setting lotion encapsulated in a sphere of powder.”
Basically, in your hand, it is a powder. When you rub it, it turns silky and vanishes. It holds your hair and roots however you would like them, invisibly. Magic, I think. This is how I finally can have full looking hair because I don’t have a lot This is how I keep my daughter’s wavy and thick hair stay where she would like it to stay. This works for everyone.
Kevin Murphy Anti . Gravity . Spray
This is another one of those “hair sprays” but not your traditional hair spray. I use this when my hair is wet, so yes it is technically a spray for hair, but it does so much more. For one, it contains lavender, so it smells TO DIE FOR. But as my stylist explained, it’s a natural astringent. It cuts dry time significantly and prevents that lovely frizz we can get from heat styling. Bye fly aways.
Kevin Murphy Blonde Angel
The last product I’ll share with you today is this conditioner. I skipped my shampoo because I’m not positive that I love it quite yet and I only share my favorites with you. This gem keeps your hair blonde and stops any brass from showing over time. It hydrates your hair, has loads of vitamin A & E for repair and protection, keeps it shiny, it is an angel. It does a lot more but is the first conditioner that treats my hair from all the bleaching without weighing it down. Love it.
The Finished Look
Happy Styling & Happy Fall!
Chelsey
by richeychelsey | Aug 30, 2018 | BLOG POSTS, Uncategorized
Hey lady, listen, grocery shopping can really take a toll out of our day. Between making our lists, driving, endlessly searching aisles, and having to go back because we forgot that one thing we went there for… you get it. So I was super excited when Amazon and Whole Foods introduced Prime Now aka Whole Foods Delivery Aka Amazon Fresh. Basically, they’re delivering groceries. This isn’t a new concept, many other stores have done this for the small cost of… just kidding most of them add up to ridiculously expensive. Amazon, however, is doing it for FREE. You heard me, free, if you’re an Amazon Prime member that is. So my brain was swirling, how easy would it be to shop for the groceries online? How well would it go? Would it be expensive? It was Whole Foods after all, but they promised to lower their prices. A lot of you were curious too, so I played the guinea pig and gave it a try for you. Guess what? I did not expect what I found, at all.
Here’s How It Works
You can order your groceries and personal items two ways, on the computer or through their new app Prime Now. To my surprise, their app was ridiculously easy to use and navigate. They also make suggestions for items such as milk and bread that you may forget. Thank goodness because I literally almost forgot the milk. Compared to other services, this app was a dream come true. Literally, I sat in the salon chair for my semi-annual hair appointment while I browsed their site for banana chips. I’ve tried so many other online grocery shopping apps and sites that were way too complicated and overwhelming. Overall, the Prime Now was a very neat and easy app to navigate. I’m already impressed.
Is It Really Free?
If you opt for their two-hour delivery window, your delivery is free. However, I am a professional procrastinator and couldn’t wait so I paid an additional $4.99 for the one-hour delivery. Not bad. The app also calculated a $10 tip into my bill, which is to be expected when paying for a service.
Substitutions
One thing you should know if you order groceries is that they almost always make substitutions. For instance, if you order cherry fruit snacks but they are sold out, they may choose another flavor in the same brand, etc.
In this case, the herb roasted potatoes I ordered were substituted with rosemary roasted potatoes. I couldn’t taste a difference.
Bonus, they notified me through the entire process with updates by text. Every substitution was sent to my phone with a link to review the changes. If you don’t like the substitution, deny it with the click of a button. Do note, if you do not accept or deny the changes,
Wait, You Can Talk To Them?
Here is where I am way too excited about Prime Now. My daughter invited another guest for dinner and I hadn’t ordered enough ground beef. There is an option to message your grocery assistant right through the app! I sent a quick message asking to double the amount of ground beef, and received a quaint response within minutes, “Sure thing!” You won’t find that communication field with other services, it was life-saving, or at least dinner saving.
How Was Delivery?
By this point, my friends, I am smiling ear to ear. I can’t describe how much I love this service. When they are finished with your shopping you receive a notification that they are on the way to deliver. You also have a map showing where they are. Instead of waiting at home for the two hours, you can gauge when you’ll need to be home.
Packaging
The Whole Foods bags were lined up nicely on my doorstep, and the ones containing refrigeration items were marked on the top of the bag. I grabbed those first and touted them to the kitchen. My toddler carried the rest to the pantry, he puts away the dry goods so he can find the fruit snacks.
Inside the bags for refrigeration was another insulated bag to keep items cool. However, unlike meal delivery services like Home Chef, they do not contain ice packs. Be sure to schedule delivery for when you are home. Especially because they drop and fly.
Drop & Dash
No need to change out of your lazy clothes or pajamas either. The delivery driver simply dropped the groceries at my door and went on his way. Nothing to sign, no awkward interactions with strangers.
The one downside, they don’t ring the bell when the food arrives, or send a text alert. My groceries could have sat for hours if I wasn’t keeping an eye out for them. Hopefully, this is improved on in the future, but I have heard the same from others as well. Be sure to check the app or your doorstep for the food.
Tipping
Do note, they are not allowed to accept cash tips, probably to assure their safety. My order automatically added a 10% tip to the bill, that you can change in the app.
Cost & Quality
I’ll be the first to tell you, Whole Foods isn’t as expensive anymore. I would even say that they are quite affordable now! It is honestly so reassuring to know that I am able to feed the kids and my husband healthier food and snacks and not break the bank doing so.
All of the products and items were delivered perfectly. One onion had a little bit that needed cut off, but not enough to bother me.
I received 23 items, nothing missing, for $106.37 including tax, tip, and the $4.99 fee for the one-hour delivery.
Overall
I’m gonna preach about Amazon Fresh Whole Foods Delivery like I’m their missionary because it’s that good.
- I love being able to order prepared foods for dinners, a bonus time saver.
- I don’t have to lug all of the kids to the store, search the aisles for ingredients I need, or yell at the kids to stop twirling near the glass.
- The app was so simple to use, free delivery is a huge perk, and the items I received were spot on.
- Great prices Whole Foods I am impressed and happier that better ingredients are made so convenient and available to more families.
- Be sure to check the app so you don’t miss the groceries on your doorstep. Nice that we don’t need to open the door for a stranger, or tip them in cash, safer for everyone all around.
So, what are you waiting for chica, go and download the Prime Now app & save yourself some time. Then, I want you to let me know how it goes, comment below, or message me directly on Instagram, Facebook, or here on my website. See that contact button up top ^. Let me know what you would like to see on the blog, or simply introduce yourself.
That’s enough for today, I’m off to order more groceries for next week!
Happy Shopping,
Chelsey
by richeychelsey | Jun 11, 2018
I’m Chelsey Author & Host of The Mama Guide Site & Podcast I’m a Mama who loves making all things fun, beautiful & easy along the way! Join me across This Blog, Instagram, Youtube & The Mama Guide Podcast where we have too much fun making...
