Taylor’s Take Over |

Hi there ~ Ange here! It is an honor and a privilege for me to formally introduce you to our lovely friend, Taylor.

Taylor1

Not only is she a true beauty, but she is sunny, smart, and skilled.

Allie and I both feel that one of the greatest gifts we have in life is friendship, and it is important to be kind, encourage, and lift up one another. What better way to experience that than sharing our outlet with our friends?!

Taylor currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA and is working as hard as ever to attain her Doctorate. In her limited spare time, she has been crafting some adorably sweet home decor that we just had to share with you!

Without further ado, we will let Taylor take it from here 😉 This certainly won’t be the last Taylor Take Over! Happy Sunday!

Taylor 2

“WELCOME HOME!”

Pineapples are recognized as a traditional expression of “welcome.” The fruit symbolizes those intangible assets we appreciate in a home: warmth, welcome, friendship, and hospitality. Thinking of those four characteristics that I also appreciate in a friend and it makes me reminisce fondly of how our friendship began. It’s so true that you never know what you are missing until you experience it and that’s how it was for me when we first became friends. You welcomed me into your life with open arms and a warm, inviting smile and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Thank you for being the most beautiful woman, inside and out. You make the world a sweeter place, the sunshine a little warmer, and my life much better. And most of all, you’ve taught me one incredible lesson: Be a pineapple. Stand tall, wear a crown, and be sweet on the inside. ❤

My Process

As an avid DIYer and lover of summer, I’ve been itching for my next craft to celebrate the spring/summer season. As soon as I saw the watermelon welcome mat on Pinterest, I knew that my best friend Angela would be over the moon for a pineapple mat for her front door. What follows is my recipe for a DIY hand-stamped pineapple welcome mat (which I was incredibly nervous about creating).

Materials

~Plan welcome mat

~Package of 4 sponges

~Yellow interior/exterior paint

(Behr English Daisy, although they do have a pineapple shade!)

~Green interior/exterior paint (Behr Grasslands)

~Finishing spray

To recreate this welcome mat, I would suggest a one-stop shopping trip to your local hardware store. I picked all of these goodies up at my local store and I was in & out of the store in less than 15 minutes (waiting for the paint samples took the most time!). I bought a simple, plain welcome mat, sponges, and sample cans of yellow and green paint in an interior/exterior finish. For all of you wondering, the sample can was more than enough paint and it cost less than $3!

In order to create the shape of pineapples, I used sponges (package of 4 for $2 at your local grocery store) cut into the shapes I needed. Admittedly, these pineapple shapes were harder than I expected to create, but the soft sponge was easy to manipulate and it worked like a charm! You’ll need to cut two sponges—one to mimic the base of the pineapple and one to represent the green leaves on the top. For me, I wanted larger pineapples on the mat, so I only cut my sponge to represent one half of the base of the pineapple. Then, when I was stamping the pineapple onto the mat, I put the two halves together to make one larger pineapple.

To begin stamping, pour a large amount of paint onto a tray of plastic plate (I used plastic bowls) and dip your sponge into the paint. I had to load up on paint and I actually ended up stamping each shape a few times to ensure full paint coverage. I stamped the yellow base of the pineapple first and then went back and topped each shape with the leaves loaded with green paint. I allowed my mat to drive overnight before I finished my mat off with a final coat of clear, waterproof spray paint on top to make sure it will be protected against spring showers.