Tutorial Tuesday: Let me see your hoop swing!

Editors Note: Wow. Thank you so much for all your support for yesterday's post announcing the launch of hey pretty, [design co.] As you can see, I started making baby steps toward the change yesterday too.

Check back for more information regarding the launch, including a big launch party--duh.

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Fall has definitely sprung fallen here in Portland--and I couldn't be more excited. I love the amazing golden light in the evenings, the crisp mornings, and of course--the re-emergance of my fav. orange all over the place.

Besides the weather, fall always comes with this, "ok, let's get back to normal" theme. We finally get back to a semi-normal routine, we stop eating crazy things like Coors Light for dinner, and we all know what we're doing every Saturday from about 10am - 9pm [football, duh.] It's nice--especially after a crazy summer in the Reese household.

After Ben's heroic fight against the junipers last week, our front door became horribly exposed to the real world.

It

is

so

boring.

So naturally, I started scouring pinterest for awesome fall decorating decisions and I came across this pretty little idea:

Awesome, right? Unfortunately, it was one of those stupid pins that lead to nothing. I know it comes from this awesome blog but I couldn't find the exact post--so I'll try to recreate as best as I can.

Things you'll need:

-Half a yard of burlap

-Paint + Paintbrush or Paint Pen (heavy-duty sharpie is fine)

-Embroidery circle thing (I haven't come to consensus with anyone on what this is called--top vote was 'circle thing' but 'hoop' came in second)

OK--let's get started.

[Step One:] Measure the hoop you got. My little guy is a 12-incher. Go into your favorite program to type words into. Make your document square according to the diameter of your hoop--my document was 12" x 12" [note--you're not going to print it out on 12x12 paper, this is all just so you have some sense of how big your letter will be in the hoop.) In your most favorite font, type in the first letter of your last name [or your favorite letter, or the first letter of your name, or the first letter of your middle name--it's your thing.]

I chose Minion because I just watched Despicable Me.
And it's got a pretty 'R'

[Step Two:] Print it out. Then carefully cut it out. [I am hopelessly scissor challenged, so I used an exacto knife--choose your favorite poison and get to it.]

[Step Three:] More cutting! Carefully trim around the edge of the hoop. Depending on the look you're going for, it might be pretty to leave a little at the edges and scrunch it up a bit. Again, it's your thing.

[Step Four:] Lay your burlap out and put your circle thing down. If you want, you can trace around the outside edge to get an idea of where your letter should go. Plop that letter down in the middle of the hoop, then carefully trace around the outside and inside edges.

[Step Five:] It's coloring time! Get your sharpie, paint pen, fabric paint or tool of choice to carefully color in your tracing. Take your time, burlap is hard to paint--but man it looks awesome with nice crisp edges.

[Step Six:] Let it dry for at least an hour--to be safe. 

[Step Seven:] Open up the hoop (little spinny dials at the top will loosen it) and put your burlap through. Make it really tight before you close that thing up.

[Step Eight:] At this point, you could be done--go to your front door and stick it over that silly nail you put up that scarecrow door decoration last year. I think I want to add a little more embellishment tomorrow--perhaps some gold ribbon to tie the little pretty up? But, it's dark outside, so I kept it here for safekeeping for the night...I might not move it...

Now, I just need some pumpkins, a puppy, and for Ben to let me paint the door black.