The 2’ and 1’ lengths are interchangeable as feet for the backdrop. If you are in a tight location, the 2’ and 1’ lengths can be combine to make a shorter foot as illustrated to the right. If more stability is needed use all 4, 2’ lengths. There will be two extra pieces of pipe. This is to give options.
Bring the holly jolly to your next holiday party with this peppermint candy decoration! Follow along or watch the video and make one for yourself.
Supplies
Directions
Lay out the insulation foam sheet and draw three circles on it.
1 – 12″, 1 – 18″, 1 – 24″
I used the string method and a permanent marker, but tracing around plates or platters would also work.
Using a box knife, I roughly cut out the circles so the foam would fit in the band saw. I then cut all three circles using the band saw. If you don’t have one, a jig saw or hot knife would work just as well.
Down the center of each circle I routed a 1″ deep by 2″ wide channel into the back side. This will snuggly fit the 1×2″ board that will be the spine of the display. I used a straight router bit and made 3 passes to reach the finished size.
Before the next step, thoroughly remove the pink snow from routing the channel. I used a shop vac and a damp towel because the pink bits stick to EVERYTHING!
Once you and the pieces are clean, lay out the circles on the ground for a test fitting. Space the circles 5″ apart from each other with the smallest circle flush with the end of the board. Mark the edge of each circle on the wood then remove the wood from the channel. The marks will make realigning the circles after glueing a snap!
Apply a generous amount of expanding glue on all three sides of the channel. The glue will expand to fill any gaps between the foam and wood giving it a great bond. This glue requires one surface to be sprayed with water, and I did that to the wood.
Place the wood back into the channel taking note of the marks to realign the circles. Press firmly on the wood, then add weights until the glue dries.
Apply two coats of latex or acrylic paint to all sides of the foam and wood. DO NOT use spray paint directly on the foam as the solvents in the paint will eat the foam.
I made a template of the peppermint swirl so I could spray on the red. You could also paint the swirls by hand if you prefer. The template was 25″ across with 6 swirls cut out. Be sure to use a rigid material like poster board or cardboard.
The base coats of latex paint protects the foam from the solvents in the spray paint. It is important to use light coats of red because a pool of paint could eat through the latex. I aligned the template on each circle and used scrap pieces of foam underneath to support the template so it didn’t sag. To be sure no paint got under the template I held down areas with a popsicle stick.
I drilled two pocket holes into the 1×2 and attached it to a 12×12″ square of plywood. Later I added a small “L” bracket to reinforce the joint.
Next I made two large bows and attached them with a chenille stem to the wood. You can find my tutorial on how to make these bows here: http://beautifullyinspiredhome.com/how-to-make-a-two-ribbon-bow/
There we go!This is easily accomplished in a weekend and the results are a six foot tall holiday decoration for your next party.
It is the very end of May, and I wanted to give you an update on whats been going on with the flowerbeds. Spring brought gorgeous blooms from my bulbs and early perennials, but right now there is a bit of a lul between spring and summer blooms so I added some annuals to brighten up the beds between the perennials last weekend. I want to share our garden with you and the plans we have for them!
I am a sucker at flower nurseries when all the spring and summer flowers are in bloom. It is such a colorful place and sometimes reason and bed planning go out the window while I’m there. If you are alsoovercome with these feelings you should check out 5 Questions to ask before planting a flowerbed. I reviewed those tips before visiting the nursery last week. It saved me money and headaches when I got back home. This time I did stay pretty on track and already had some varieties in mind to try.
I have two flower beds I’m working on around the yard. The first gets a lot of sun in the back yard and the other is a shade garden in front of the house. The shade garden needs a lot of work so I’ll show you what we’re doing there another day.
Last fall I started the rear flowerbed with perennials and I think it is developing nicely.
We removed all the grass and amended the soil before planting the perennials and bulbs last fall.
The plan is to add an arbor in the center with climbing flowers like roses or Columbine. I haven’t decided which, but I shouldn’t get the cart before the horse. First I need to refinish our arbor with a fresh coat of paint. We bought it for our wedding with the intention of using it in the garden later.
Photo by Josh Junghans
The arbor is on the summer project list along with refurbishing a park bench we rescued from Habitat ReStore and edging the bed with stone.
Vision
I made a diagram for the rear flowerbed to help keep track of what is in the bed. The plan is to add a rotation of annuals tucked in between all the perennials for more color.
I drew this up last fall to give me some idea of placement and spacing when the perennials are full grown. It gives me a good idea of which flowers will be blooming when, general coloring, and the mature size of all the plants. I’ll be updating this as more flowerbeds are added and I can spread out all the Daylilies and Iris.
New Plants
All of my flowers are shades of white, pink and purple. This is what I added around the yard!
Sunny Plants
Petunias
Geraniums
Snapdragons
Verbena
Dusty Miller
Garden Mum – Chelsey Pink (this will be great come fall!)
Vinca
Lavender
Yarrow – Summer Berries
Foxglove
Alyssum
Shade Plants
Heucheras – also sometimes called coral bells
Impatients
Wax Begonia
Dichondra – Silver Falls
Coleus
I’m a perennial gal, but annuals do such a lovely job of offering continuous color as the perennials come and go. Plus they liven up the patio in pots.
The bulbs came up nicely this spring, but I’m left waiting on the perennials as they are building up for summer blooms. The bright pops of color from the petunias and Snapdragons are already brightening up the garden!
I am so eager to see how all the summer blooms fair. The daylilies and alliums are about to open for quite the show!
What plans do you have for your garden? Have you planted anything new this spring?
This is a quick and easy spring wreath project to spruce up your front door! It will also make a great mother’s day gift that will last all season long.Continue reading →
