Pile o' Craft

You gotta have an ace in the hole....

2012-01-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

and an ace IS a card afterall.....naturally, your mind would assume you get to see a card of the week! Right? You know you were thinking that!

A cute as a button wedding card:

Filled with fairytale wishes for the happy couple:

There is a silver stamped flower in the top right on the front of the card and the same silvery flower stamped on the lower right on the inside of the card. Oh how I wish you could see this silvery flower in person, it's so fun!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

It's all in the cards...

2012-01-20T15:30:00.001-08:00

Simple, easy, FUNTASTIC cards.....go make some today!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Curl up and Dye: How to get a canvas drop cloth any color you want!

2011-12-11T06:29:00.000-08:00

I found a set of french chairs out by the dumpster during the great semesterly migration of Augus 2011. The best thing about college towns it that three times a year, most of the population is moving. So at the end of every Spring, Summer, and Fall the dumpsters are filled to the brim with potential. (And garbage. Mostly garbage.) Every once in a while we get lucky though.

Here's the before:

If you're looking for a tutorial on how to re-upholster a french chair, look elsewhere. Many others have already explained this process far better than I ever could. Esspecially considering that my tutorial would go something like this:

1) Find a cool chair in the garbage

2) Find a tutorial on how to re-upholster said chair.(Click here for a really comprehensive one @ Little Green Notebook)

3) Find someone who has a ton of knowledge and skill to help you out. (i.e. My mother).

4) Hope for the best.

And that's all there is to it! HA.

But how about that color? That, I can tell you about.

I the look, feel, and cost of re-upholstering with canvas drop cloth. But I was torn, because I really wanted a pretty green chair. I went to JoAnn scouting for the perfect fabric, but the closest I could find to what I had in mind was olive green suede. Expensive suede. Suede that, if we were to make a mistake and have to buy more, would cost us $60.00. And while, considering that the cost of the chair was nothing (aside from my dignity. Dumpster diving will do that to you. It was worth it.) we had a little bit of room on the budget. But not $60.00 dollars worth.

So I hatched a crazy idea. What if I found a green canvas dop cloth?

They don't make those. What if I made a canvas drop cloth green?

I used three bottles of Kelly Green Rit Dye for a 9x13 canvas dropcloth. I followed the instructions on the bottle for washing machine dying.

The color was a little bit too "grassy", so we dyed it again mixing 1 bottle Kelly Green and 1 bottle Dark Brown. (I'm not sure why I didn't take any pictures at this point. Probably because I tired of the whole thing by then.)

The mixture of the two colors toned it down just enough. If I had dyed it with just a bottle of brown dye to tone it down, the odds are good that it would have dyed the whole thing dark brown.

Want to see a before?

And the after one more time:

I just love that green!

Rainbow Pony Party

2011-11-29T10:58:00.000-08:00

My little girl turned one last week so I thought I'd share some pictures from her party.

I think everyone needs a hutch :) I decorated it with balloons and a tulle tutu she can wear around the house for dress up. The framed number 1 is made out of buttons and a repurposed frame.

Heart banners cut from felt and sewn together. This is the next day so they were a little floppy, but even then, they're pretty cute. I am reusing them for Valentine's day too :)

Easy centerpiece with jelly bellies and tissue paper in rainbow colors

The Spread. The framed ribbon cake was fun to make. I painted a frame and mat ivory, then covered the mat in glitter. Then I just used scrapbook paper, buttons and scrap ribbon to make the cake. I think I am going to sew a cute backdrop and tablecloth for my next party so it brings out the decorations more.

Carrying the pony theme, I called the drink station the Trough

Pulled Pork, AKA Three Little Pig Sandwiches (anything pony related would be disastrous)

Spinach salad with grape tomatoes, grated carrots, hard boiled eggs, peas, purple onions, and white cucumbers. I just couldn't think of anything that was blue that would be good in a salad to complete the rainbow theme. Maybe bleu cheese?

Every good pony needs these.

The fruit was supposed to be on skewers. I didn't get that far.

Neapolitan ice cream scooped into a muffin tin, topped with hot fudge, a cherry and whipped cream. I loved not having to scoop ice cream during the party.

Taste the Rainbow {cake}

Jane's little smash cupcake (with rainbow layers too)

I really had no budget for the party, so I had to get creative and make the decorations from things I had on hand. It was a fun challenge. Thanks for letting me share!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Fresh Christmas Wreath Mini-Makeover

2011-11-27T19:37:00.000-08:00

Did anyone else out there snatch up a real live only $5.00 Christmas wreath at Lowes this weekend? I was all about it. We've never had any real greenery, (I have a set of three tiny fake trees we use for our Christmas tree) so I was excited to try it out.

I'm not sure what I was expecting for $5.00, but when I got to Lowes I found that the wreaths were a little small and bare. Not exactly jolly. But I knew I could beef it up with a little creativity, so I got it anyway.

The first thing to go was that sad little bow. I like bows, but it was just too smashed up and wrinkled to save the wreath. I snipped it off and immediately felt a little better. Then I went outside and gathered.

The boxwood hedges around our apartment are a little worse for the wear, but I'm sure they'll recover...

I looked around the house, and I found a bunch of dried white flowers that weren't being used for anything too special.

Then I just stuck the branches in. They just wedge right in there. Easy peasy. I hung it on the inside of our front door with some ribbon from the dollar store, and viola:

A pretty little $5.00 wreath! I'm loving the fresh scent of pine needles it brings into the house. I'm a little worried about it drying out before Christmas, though. Any hints on keeping it fresh? Should I be watering this bad boy?

Pinterest- Good/Evil debate

2011-11-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

Pinterest is king of everything crafty right now. The sisters have been discussing all the wonderful things on Pinterest, pinning any and all wonderful ideas, and having a grand ole time in general.

Then we came to the conclusion, Pinterest can be a real addictive, time wasting activity if you don't act on the fabulous finds and ideas.

SOOOOOO......I acted. The board I pinned this puppy to, "Pinterest made me do it..."

Well, it did!

Cute, huh? YAY for a Pinterest idea come to fruition!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Is it REALLY Autumn in Texas?

2011-11-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

It's hot outside. Yes, I know, Texas is hot. But I get my whiny voice on when it's less than a week til Thanksgiving and the temp. reads 85 degrees.......

Next best option, make it Autumn inside. We crank the AC down, and craft it up til anyone would think it's about to snow outside. Welcome Autumn!

I made a cute, quick craft to get into the Fall mood. Frames used for our wedding, fall themed scrapbook paper and some brown vinyl really do a house good:
I apologize, the lighting is awful and I seem to think my phone is an acceptable camera......it's not. I'll work on that.

Happy Autumn!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Going Green

2011-11-04T14:01:00.001-07:00

Our first house was a teeny-tiny, 700 sq/ft house built in 1942. It was perfectly lovely with muted yellow trim, all brick facade, crown moldings, and old wood floors. The front door was painted black, and I absolutely loved it. It was made of solid wood, had a letter slot, and a real brass knocker. So of course, in my next house, I wanted a black door just like it. However, painting a regular door black is not the same, and I noticed that EVERYONE in my neighborhood either had a dark wood door, a black or brown metal door, and a few were painted red or left tan. Why is everything so neutral around here? Our house is a purplish brown color so I decided green with a glaze was the way to go.

I needed to glaze the door so I practiced on this chair. It turned out great.

Getting the door painted was easy. I chose grasscloth by Behr for the undercoat. I used a small sponge roller for most of it and a trim brush for the corners. Then the weather turned on me when it was time to glaze it. I was impatient--I did not want to wait until the snow storm came in and then be stuck with a lime green door all winter. I mean it was a nice clean color, but it certainly did not go with my brick or stucco (sorry--I just have pictures of the finished product, so you'll just have to use your imagination for my story. I need to work on that)

So of course I just foolishly kept glazing even though it was drying as soon as I put it on. I was about in tears. The wind kept blowing everything around (50 mph gusts), it was dark as could be, my hands were frozen, and the door kept getting uglier. Finally, I decide to go back to the store and get some olive green paint and forget about the glaze. Winter is not the time to redo a door--duh.
Then my husband told me to sand it. Why didn't I think of that? So I sanded off the brown and let the green shine through again. It is not exactly how I pictured it, but it has grown on me and now I really like it (and yes--i did scrape off the paint off my oil rubbed bronze handle--got to love the copper. I just left the black in the corners).
Thank goodness for smart husbands (even if he is not really a fan of my crazy front door). So there you have it, a funky, one of kind door, that speaks for itself.

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Glitter lovin' happened so fast....

2011-11-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's oh-so-good to be a girly girl. And glitter is girly girl! I've been wanting to spice up the delivery of my cards, and stole a few ideas from a couple different places to come up with this:

Now who wants one? I'm contemplating selling them in my Etsy shop. Worth it? What would you pay for one?

Thanks for glitter lovin' it up with me!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Storybook Nursery Revisited

2011-11-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

The last pictures I took of the nursery just didn't do it justice. The decorations were meant to be on a colored backdrop so they seemed a little washed out. It's amazing what a little paint will do! The color is Tame Teal by Sherwin Williams.

This prism casts the cutest little rainbow on the wall. Love it!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

2011-10-31T17:40:00.000-07:00

Today was our annual Chili Cook-Off Fundraiser for the United Way Campaign at the office. I was planning on making some yummy white bean chili, but due to some recent car trouble ( And by "trouble", I mean, my car is no longer with us. So, yea. We all knew this day would come.) there was no way I was going to lug a giant crockpot to and from the office. So, I decided I was going to make some corn bread.

But then, I never went to the store. My bad.

So, I bring you, Plan C:

I originally saw the recipe on Pinterest dubbed "The best pumpkin cookies ever." That sounded fairly promising, and I had all the ingredients, so it was a go!

The cookie recipe I used can be found on the House of Hepworth's blog. Click here for the direct link to the recipe (scroll down to the bottom for the short printable version. Or read through her hilarious instructions. Either way, you win!)

She ices hers with cream cheese frosting. That sounds absolutely divine, but I didn't have ANY of those ingredients on hand. So I used this recipe for Marshmallow Icing (All you need is eggs, sugar and vanilla).

The icing followed the same basic principle as Meringue topping, so I decided to toast it. Pipe the fluff on, then cook it at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. The tips will turn a delicious toasty brown. So cute!

The Great Wall of China

2011-10-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting a cute hutch for extra storage for a while now, but seeing Jackie's post about her cute new hutch earlier this week really clenched it. So, being a woman of action, I turned to craigslist.

Craigslist and I are BFF. It knows me. Every time I need something I just pop in, and it says, "I've been saving this one decently priced, perfectly casual thing just for you. You're welcome."

Seriously. After two seconds of looking through the Craigslist search return of "China Cabinet" I saw this little gem.

It was priced at $65.00, but I offered $50.00 and they guy said okay. Sold!

It's not solid wood, it was pretty beat up, and I'm wanting to lighten things up around here, so I knew I'd be painting it a la The Nester's China Cabinet.

We picked it up on Wednesday, and I spent Saturday listening to wise people and painting my heart out. It was an amazing day.

Done! Well, really she needs to dry for at least 24 more hours. I should have waited at least that long before putting stuff in her. I just get too excited. One of my nearest and dearest friends was over that night, and I enlisted her help in putting it together, and rearranging my collection of white dishes inside.

What's better than a Saturday night spent accessorizing?

I can't think of a thing. Maybe she can, but she didn't complain.

Here's so you can see how this painted piece kinda works with the paint color of the "entertainment center" in the next room over:

I was worried about having two big painted things so close together...but, I think it turned out just fine.

I had these little pink knobs lying in wait for the perfect future project. Do you think this is "the one" for them? Or should I go with something white and bright?

I didn't really notice these cute little details before--I think the paint really brings them out:

And here's how it looks from the other side.

Here are a few tips if you're ready to take on your own huge piece of furniture painting:
1) You should sand. And prime it, if you're really going to do it right. I sanded, and got so caught up with I forgot to bring out my leftover primer. Luckily, the sanding helped the paint stick, and the BEHR paint is quality, so it's fine so far, but I do worry about peeling.
2) The right paint and tools make a difference. I splurged on the real deal paint and I finally bought a Purdy paintbrush. I used a small sponge roller for the flat areas, but that Purdy got right into the nooks and crannies like a charm. It was amazing. There are no stray brush hairs, and the paint went on so smooth...okay, I'm gushing. I don't think I can ever go back to the two dollar brushes.
Update: 3) The paint color I used is BEHR's Garden Wall (730D-4) from Home Depot. It's my new favorite shade of Greige. It goes on really light at first, and might give you a panic attack as you realize "This is NOT the color I wanted", but once it dries it does darken!

Alright, Kourtney. Now it's your turn to get a hutch. Everyone else is doing it. I expect your post within a week :)

I can't wait to get started on our dining room table/chair revamp now! Well, actually I can. This job was a lot of work. But I'm excited to get started in the somewhat near future, and get the dining area DONE(ish).

Linking up to:
Metamorphasis Monday
A-Z Tutes and Tips
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday
Perfectly Imperfect Random Furniture Link up!

A Cheesy Mess

2011-09-29T07:56:00.001-07:00

In the search of a more "healthy" kind of pasta, I made this up:

1/4 white onion, chopped
1 large heirloom tomato (or 3-4 roma tomatoes), chopped
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil (or 6-7 large fresh basil leaves, chopped)
1/4 cup Kraft Sun-dried tomato vinaigrette
1/2 block reduced fat or non fat cream cheese
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 oz reduced fat Velveeta cheese (or can substitute 1 cup low fat mozzarella cheese)
1 pound extra lean ground turkey
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 box Ronzoni rotini spirals, whole wheat
1 tsp salt (optional)

Get a large wok or bouillabaisse heated to medium heat. Add chopped onion, saute for 3-4 minutes. Add chopped tomato, oregano, basil and cover, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Add ground turkey, sprinkle with garlic salt and stir occasionally til turkey cooked through. Now chop your Velveeta and cream cheese into cubes, add to mix and stir occasionally. Once cheese melted, add vinaigrette and Parmesan cheese. Cover and let simmer for 10-12 minutes.

In a separate pot, boil pasta to desired tenderness (salt added to water will help pasta not to stick), drain and let cool briefly.

While pasta cools, add chopped spinach to wok/bouillabaisse. Add boiled pasta and stir. Can cover for 1-2 minutes to cook spinach down, if desired.

Serves 4-6. ENJOY!!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

A home for my collection...

2011-09-22T19:50:00.001-07:00

So remember how I said my little kitchen island had storage inside? Well, sad to say, this is what is was holding.

Yes. That would be my secret hoard of milk glass piled precariously on top of each other. Few people know about this little stash of mine;I refer to it as my guilty pleasure. I have been dreaming of getting a wonderfully gorgeous hutch to display it all. I am still patiently waiting for that day to come, but I found a pretty nice temporary solution. Here it is with the wine rack and plate holders already removed, ready to be primed and painted.
p.s. I do not recommend painting in your basement. The cons of poor lighting and ventilation beat out the convenience of being able to paint when the kids are in bed.

Almost finished....

I am debating about painting the back of the hutch a coordinating accent color. Any suggestions? Look at the last two posts to see my kitchen colors. I am thinking either the yellow or the green, but let me know what you think. Here's your chance to use those fabulous design skills. Please share!

Linking up to:

Color Splash

2011-08-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

I finally refinished my little kitchen island. It adds just the right amount of fun to my kitchen. It was a boring worn out black with natural wood top before its little makeover. Can you tell I love it?

I used two colors of stain and then topped it with tinted polyurethane. The top comes of for even more storage :)

The base was primed and then spray painted aqua, distressed, and then glazed with tinted poly that I lightly wiped off so it wouldn't look too dirty.

I want to add a ruffle to the bottom like my curtains, but I think it will be too much. Step away from the ruffles...

Next up will be painting a hutch for my little dresser-turned-buffet! It will be a new home for my growing collection of milk glass.

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

One man's trash

2011-08-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

First , we take the case of an old, ugly cake plate. The picture actually hides the brown distressed smears that just make you want to eat off of it, yum!With just a coat of spray paint, it becomes a chic little dish!

Milk Glass Vases

One time after a very successful trip to the thrift store, my husband asked me, "you do know why this stuff ends up there, don't you--it's junk." True enough, every time I go to a thrift store, I find myself coming home with a few (bags of) little treasures. The next problem is what to do with it before it just becomes clutter. Here I used mismatched vases to create a little window display. I think my junk is great!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Monthly Guide to Fruits and Veggies {FREE PRINTABLE}

2011-07-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

So, you know what I've been getting into lately? Fruits and veggies, that's what.

I love cooking with fresh produce. Love it.

But I had a problem. You see, I never quite knew for sure if I was getting a good deal on my produce.

So I did some research. I read a lot of websites. I compared a lot of charts.

And I'm happy to present to you my first ever Monthly Guide to Seasonal Produce Trends.

My research tells me that this is enough to give you a general idea of what could be in season in your area--well as long are your area falls within or around the continental USA. It varies regionally, of course, but it should help you out, if you're like me and feel completely clueless.

I think it still needs a little work though. A few sites reported Bananas as a year around fruit because they're always imported from tropical areas. I'm going to watch these "year round" claims, and see what really holds true.

I printed mine out on some card stock and keep it on my fridge. That way I know what to expect from the grocery store that month, and can even scheme up some possible recipes!

Let me know if you see anything that needs to be corrected.

Dresser Makeover

2011-05-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finally got around to painting an old dresser I....found on the side of the road 9 months ago. I'm not sure which aspect I should be more ashamed of: The fact that I'm posting back to back trash projects, or the fact that this dresser sat in my house in this condition for 9 months.

I've decided not to worry about either. Can't win them all, right?

I wanted to retain the true "cast-off trash" aura of the piece, so I decided to redo it only using items I had leftover from other projects. I like to do projects this way every few months to use up leftover crafty stuff.

I succeeded, so this makes this total project cost: ZERO dollars.

I'm pretty excited about that.

Here's the big reveal:

What do you think?

There were a few problems we had to overcome. The right side of the dresser looks liked like this:

While the left side of the dresser looked like this:

At first, this seemed like a deal breaker. But once I looked a little closer, I realized I could just take the ride side molding off.

Easy peasy.

Then I introduced our dirty little dresser to Mr. Clean.

I filled in the gouges and nail holes with a little bit of Elmer's Wood Filler.

Someday I'll invest in a putty knife.

Once the filler dried (it took about 15 minutes), I ran the mouse sander all over it to prep for painting.

It took about three coats of white paint to cover it all. I ran out of paint towards the end...but I had enough ivory spray paint left over from another project to finish it. "Good enough" is becoming an increasingly popular motto around here.

A few months ago I bought some pink vinyl shelf liner from Micheal's. It was on super sale, and I wanted to use it to cut stencils with the Cricut. I decided to use it in this dresser instead.

I roughed up the edges a bit for some distressed effect...something that baffles my husband, Cory, every time I do it. I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with how the distressing looks now, but it definitely helps the cute details on this dresser stand out. Right?

Here's a look at the side molding trouble spot:

I use this dresser to organize my crafty stuff. Pretty paper, unused picture frames, at least nine different types of adhesive, etc. I love the versatility of dressers! It's right next to the desk/closet where I keep my desk and sewing machine for easy access during projects.

That's how I filled my spare time on a busy Saturday! It feels so good to get that long awaited project DONE. You should tackle that project you've been putting off. I know you have one.

Lindy

Take a Seat

2011-05-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

Things have been crazy around here lately, but I finally have made some crafty progress around here. Let me show you the best college graduation present I could ever ask for.

A few months ago I found this sweet chair (Click here to read the full story):

Last week my my parents were in town to visit, and I enlisted their help in a little re-upholstery project. They are the ones who bestowed this DIY, crafty attitude on us, so the least they can do is help us out every once in a while, right Mom and Dad? :)

I sanded and stained my little heart out on Wednesday night, so we'd be ready to put on the new fabric Thursday.

Look at them go! The skills our parents possess never fail to amaze me. We grew up refinishing furniture together, so it was a nice little jaunt down memory lane to have us all working together again.

It basically turned into the lord of all crafting sessions, when Tanya and Jesse stopped by and couldn't resist the fun.

How many Hansen's does it take to reupholster a chair?

As many as we can get.

We worked hard, and whipped it up in no time! Check it out:

I stained the wood with Miniwax Dark Mahagony, left over from a previous project. I finished it with Miniwax Finishing Wax.

I wanted the hand-rubbed, vintage effect of the Finishing wax for this chair, rather than the ultra glossy finish of varnish.

We used a painter's drop cloth for the chair seat cover. We purchased a 9 ft. cloth at Lowes, and it only cost about $12.00!

For more drop cloth ideas, you really need to check out Miss Mustard Seed. She is basically the queen of all things drop cloth, and has an awesome drop cloth slipcover tutorial.

Sometimes I thought I was going to lose my mind (I forgot how much work it is to refinish wood! I thought the sanding would never end!), but once the reinforcements arrived, things moved right along.

Seeing as how this project was pretty much completely inspired by the amazing Miss Mustard Seed herself, I'm linking up to her Furniture Feature Friday Party! You guys need to check it out!

Lindy

Hippity hoppity, Easter's on it's way....

2011-04-18T09:17:00.001-07:00

Finally, progress has been made on the Easter front. I've officially decided, DYI, not so easy, not when most your ideas are coming form "eggs-cellent" fellow bloggists and Martha Stewart.

Martha, honey, you come up with the most difficult crafts, bless your heart (which excuses the fact I am blog-ttacking you for the moment). Gorgeous, but no easy task. Like your glitter eggs. "Blow out 10 eggs, rinse, wait for dry time, primer the eggs for better adhesion, drench in craft glue and then carefully dip in fine glitter. Now place on your drying rack ( homemade by you of course, by taking a slab of Styrofoam, pinning in in grid-like fashion and being sure the pins are at the same depth so your eggs sit ever so carefully atop to dry). Repeat process to other side of egg" (or as you may be referring to it by now, 'the dark side of the egg'). So, fine crafting glitter is SUPER expensive. And it comes in tiny bottles. TINY bottles.

So, I opted for plastic eggs, big chunky glitter (read--> on sale at Hobby Lobby, 50% off) and ALLLOTTT of craft glue.

Personally, I like the chunky glitter: Siiiiiiiiigh, I love pretty hydrangea flowers (was impressed with the quality of fabric flowers at Michael's, especially with the 40% off price):Yes, I cheated and got out old glass Christmas ornaments and did the button thing again. Don't judge, you try being creative after your bedtime. I needed quick and easy and something I could leave up for summer:

LOVED the sheet paper covered eggs over at Miss Mustard Seed Creations

Didn't have any antique, old, new or used sheet music, so I used scrapbook paper and mod-podged it up. Helpful hint, the skinnier your strips of paper, the prettier your egg:

And now for the coup d'état. It nearly over-ran, over-threw and held hostage every rational thought in my mind at one point. But I had to have it. First, it was simply the "wreath windows" idea. Then I started scheming, plotting and nearly stood by as my thoughts staged the ultimate betrayal, running wildly throughout dreamland. Visions of handmade banners, wall worthy wreaths and hanging handmade eggs rampantly berated my "keep it simple" train of thought. Finally, "hippity hoppity" made the cut, as did the wall worthy wreaths and a few handmade carnation flowers. Simple in theory, we won't talk about the Cricut machine doing some weird voo-doo on my letter sizing (most likely my misunderstanding) or the mod-podge trying to swallow my paper into the wrinkled, slumdogging it underworld.

And I wanted a little "natural" corner. FYI, while not the easiest to use, all the eggs used in these DIY projects, are indeed plastic, cheapo, break in half to fill with candy eggs. And coffee filters, my new best friend. Is there anything you CAN'T use them for? :)

What have YOU been doing for Easter? Hope it's a great Easter celebration for all!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Pile o' Cake

2011-04-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

It seems I have a problem with obsession. February was a month of making hairbows. I think I made more than two dozen different hairbows. No child needs that many, but I just couldn't help myself. March happened to be a month full of cake making. First, I made a sculpted goetrax train cake for my three year old's birthday. It was an easy cake to do, and he talked about it for weeks. Then I made a bug cake and a Toy Story cake all in the same week. I would not recommend trying to do two intricate cakes at the same time, but it made two little boys happy so it was worth it in the end!

Jackie

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Green and white Patty's Day Parade

2011-03-15T09:00:00.001-07:00

Challenge: Decorate for St. Patty's Day and spend NO money. Only use items you currently have around the home.

Best shot:

So, I kept the white decor balls from the red and white balls I bought for V-day decorations, pulled out some magnolia stems from the attic, left the "theme tree" (courtesy of darling cousin L), grabbed a potted fake plant from the bedroom and used old glass square ornaments to get my Patty Day Parade started. A glue gun, lace, moss and some green and white buttons sure can go a long way:

Shhhhh.....don't tell my husband, I cheated just a little here and bought the stamp.....all of $2 spent since Hobby Lobby's stamps were half off.

Now for the 'let's get really creative and see what happens' portion of the parade:

BANNER TIME! But the banner looked lonely, so we made some shamrocks:

The banner says "LUCK" and is attached via blinged out clothespins on white grosgrain ribbon:

Case in point: blinged out clothespins (a little glitter ribbon and more BUTTONS)

To make the shamrocks, cut strips of paper 1.25 inches wide. I didn't have enough of the same color or pattern of paper, so I mixed and matched papers on hand. Each strip is 12 inches long.

Double up each strip of paper if it's white on one side and green on the other or paper, instead of cardstock (for strength). Now, you'll put your long strips in the center and cut two long strips in half for the smaller heart inside each leaf of the shamrock. Layer like so (splayed out to show layering, but want them all in a straight line):

Now, fold over each strip, layering each on top of the previous strip. Pinch at the end, then staple all layers together:

For each shamrock, I made 3 hearts, then glued all 3 together. I added a little stem to each shamrock by folding a strip in half and gluing it to itself, folding in half again and gluing it once more to itself, then placing it between two of my hearts with more glue. Since I used old-school Elmer's glue, I used a clothespin to keep it together until the glue was dry.

Happy shamrock, happy crafting, happy Patty's Day Parade!

I'm linking up to Finding Fabulous' Frugalicious Friday!!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Cream Puffs for Dummies

2011-03-08T07:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I plunged into the world of French pastries with this surprisingly easy cream puff recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 eggs

Filling Ideas:
Instant pudding
Whipped Topping
Yogurt
Anything creamy, sweet, and delicious

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a medium sauce pan heat water and butter until butter is melted.
Mix flour, salt and sugar into water/butter mixture. Should form a doughy ball.
Let cool (it shouldn't be steaming at this point) and mix in eggs.
Mixture should form a sticky, paste-like consistency.
If you have parchment paper, line your cookie sheet with it. If not, leave the cookie sheet ungreased.
Drop spoonfuls onto sheet, bake for 20-25 minutes.

After baking, your dollops should be cute little puffs. Do NOT, under any circumstances, poke warm puffs with a toothpick. If you see someone suggest this on a web forum for cream puff making, do not heed their counsel. I can only assume they want your puffs to deflate and be ruined, so they can keep the title "Best Cream Puff Maker" to themselves. They are NOT your friend.

The puffs should look like this out of the oven:

To fill, you can cut a small slice in one side, and squeeze in your chosen filling. I put vanilla pudding in a gallon sized bag, cut of a corner, and squeezed a little bit of love into each and every one of them. Piping bags filled with pudding, or canned cool whip would also work.

This recipe yields about 24 yummy little puffs.

Good luck, and let us know if you try it!

Some little decor projects...

2011-02-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

We added this little chandelier to our nursery. I got it at Home Depot. It adds just the right amount of vintage charm. Thanks for installing it Dad!
I made this magnet board earlier, but because I had to cut it with pliers, it was all bent around the corners--plus it looked a little drab with dull metal on heirloom white. I hot glued some pink and green corded trim around the perimeter of the metal for a pop of color. Then I found some after-season Christmas tree ornaments for the magnets by just cutting off the strings and gluing on round magnets to the back.

Every time I looked at the original hanger, the dusty blue and maroon bothered me. I had no maroon in the room, and my blues were either turquoise or sky. I tried to ignore it, but finally I decided to redo my Toy Land sign. Sigh, I liked that it said Toy Land--alluding to my storybook theme, but the colors had to go. I covered the graphic with scalloped cut scrapbook paper with a little mod podge, replaced the knobs with these fabulous blown glass pink ones, and put a sparkly flower embellishment in the center. Perfect.

Just goes to show you how often I redo or add to my crafts. ALL THE TIME.

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Pretty Petals Embelishment

2011-02-27T17:29:00.000-08:00

I've been into making hairbows this past week...
I saw a cute hairbow like this at a craft boutique and just had to figure out how to make my own. I call it my pretty petals bow. I'm posting the intructions here so you can enjoy making one yourself. You can use this flower for a myriad of things too--not just hairbows!

1. You will need a needle, thread, scissors, a round object the size you want your finished flower to be, pencil, a bit of fabric (big enough to draw five ciricles with your round thing), and fun things to put in the center of your flower (buttons, mini flowers, vintage jewelry, etc)

2. Trace your round object five times (I used a ribbon spool) and cut out all the circles

3. Fold one circle in half with the "good side" out

4. Take each corner and fold them into the centerline to make a rounded-bottom triangle.

5. Sew the bottom of the rounded triangle with big stitches

6. Push the sewn triangle into the middle of the thread, and repeat the process with the rest of the cirlces.

7. Push all your triangles together and then tighten your thread as tight as it will go without breaking. Knot the thread together to hold it in place.

8. Glue your center piece in the middle and fill in the back hole with hot glue (I cover the hole with fabric or a ribbon leaf--totally optional)

9. Sew it onto a shirt, pillow, bag etc, or glue it onto a pin or alligator clip.

Walla, you have your own pretty petals flower. And you made it all by yourself.

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

The month of love and the Twitter debate..

2011-02-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

A Valentine's card, with a lot of writing room on the inside, since it's super long and skinny. Did you know it really happened? The TV series, BONES, poked a little fun at those so enamored with the Valentine parade and pomp and pointed out there's no real excitement in celebrating a massacre. Evidently, seven people were gunned down on the day of love back in 1929, a big brawl between two rival gangs, involving police impersonators and mistaken identities. Sheesh, V-day will never be the same for me.

And I made some "original tweet" cards. Just perfect for my cousin Alicia, who is un-nerved by the fact Twitter is now a social network of catty comments and pointless updates. Really, no one cares a lick if you are at the puppy store, sitting bored at the mall or watching as your life passes by.

But a card really shows you care, so send one to your true friends today:

Tweet ya later!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Old book, New Tricks

2011-02-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

The clothespin memo frame above Cory's desk needed some help.

He spends at least four to six hours a day studying there, and all he had to inspire him was a few random cards that I put up there 6 months ago. I assumed he would actually use the board, and eventually it would be filled up with his notes, or to-do lists, but turns out, he's not a big list person.

See? He hates it.

So, I wanted to make something that would make a statement, but not be too cutesy. It is, after all, for a man.

Enter Rand McNally's Atlas, a mammoth vintage book I scored at Good will for 3 dollars a few months ago:

Oh Rand McNally, I love you so.

I ripped a few pages out of the ol' McNally, and ran them through the cricut to make some little triangles. If you don't have a cricut, this is where you would cozy up to a pair of scissors all friendly like. Each page made about 4 triangles.

Then, and this is the part that kills me, it was easy peasy to sew them all together with the sewing machine. Did you know sewing machines can sew paper??? They can!!! Like a DREAM.

Well, it was news to me.

In about 5 minutes, I had a cute little pennant banner:

And, while I was in the page ripping mood, I went ahead a snagged the map featuring Belgium and the Netherlands. That's where Cory served his 2 year mission for our church, so I thought he might appreciate it. (Note: He totally got excited about the map, and started showing me every place he's been. It was cute.)

Here's a closer shot of the seam:

So..maybe it's not exactly straight. I think that adds to the charm...

I really can't believe how simple and easy this was! And I feel like a got a whole lot of bang for my buck here, which is always a plus.

And because its February:

So, go forth! and sew paper!

Lindy

I'm linking this Pile o' Craft up to these parties:

Map Party at a Soft place to Land

Who says Feb-RU-ary?

2011-02-08T12:03:00.000-08:00

Is it just me, or is February one of those interesting English words?

Friend: Wha.....there's two "r's" in Febuary? I think I've misspelled that since I could write!

Me: I know. It's funny, but if you say Feb-RU-ary, you can kinda hear it.

Friend: No you can't. That's a dumb word. No wonder it only gets 28 days.
Me: 29 every 4 years, maybe it's a special month?

Friend: Yeah, it's "special" alright.

Oh and it's St. Valentine's month! The month of love, the month of amore, the month of sweet nothings.

Or, if you are like me, the month of it's-a-new-month-I'm-dying-to-decorate-something!

So I tried :).

Here's the table centerpiece. A few peonies from Target (yeah, those are fake), some red and white balls, a few hanging hearts from Hobby Lobby and a new red candle:
With this silk flower only costing $1.90, who could resist? World Market's clearance bin is fun to look through. AND I went to an estate auction and the vase was part of my $40 lot. I'll have to post about that auction...it was eye-opening and super fun. I was number 168!

I cannot get over how pretty the fake peonies from Target are, not half bad, I've had a few ask where I get my fresh flowers:

I took the ribbon off, it didn't really match too well:

These candy jars were in the auction lot too. I dolled them up with the leftovers from the red and white balls and the hanging hearts and re-used some of the moss and glitter letters from Christmas decor:

Can you see the ball at the top of the stack? The brown dotted one with little pearls sticking out from it? Yeah, I made it. Guess how? I took a 12X12 piece of brown dotted scrapbook paper, wadded it into a ball (yes, as though you will throw it away), played fetch (or in Daisy terms "go get it") with the dog a few times, glued down the tail end of the paper, and gave it some "glam" via gluing stamen pearls from a botched Martha Stewart craft attempt onto it. Hey, it could be worse:

Yeah, I ripped off the classic Valentine's stamp look:
Muwah! Loves from Pile o' Craft!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Christmas in July, err February.....

2011-02-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, these pictures are insanely late. Point for you. Nor are they complete. Another point for you.

But here they are, Christmas 2010 pictures of a few of the decor items I did. Three points for me, I win.

This is bad lighting, but it's an easy centerpiece idea; find a platter you already own, grab a few of the leftover Christmas ornaments and pile them on:

I wanted to have a style with a little vintage and allot of classy for Christmas. And while my decor is not necessarily going to win a spread in Martha Stewart, Potterybarn or Good Housekeeping, it was done on the cheap and looks pretty dang good. I really, really, really wanted a Magnolia leaf swag (like this one) winding it's way through the decor items, but maybe next year. I couldn't find enough charitable magnolia trees in the open and didn't care for a trespassing violation.

So, I grabbed some clearance fake amaryllis flowers from Wal-Mart, some moss filler from Hobby Lobby and went to work, trying to find stuff to use from around the house:

Lindy had the great idea to use glitter letters to spell out Christmas words, so I copied her:

NOEL:

JOY:

This was the tree before it's addition of big bulbs:

And once these babies were on, the need for any additional lighting in the living room was nil:

Yeah, that's right, no other lights on and you can CLEARLY see my Martha's Minions wreaths ( see this post):

Quick side note here, when the instructions tell you not to connect more than 60 bulbs, just listen, changing out those little fuses is extremely irritating. SO, save yourself the 45 minutes it will take you to find the right strand and the 30 minutes to change out the fuse and don't connect more than 60 bulbs together.

This was so fun, I used frosted globe lights on my mini trees, they needed some pizazz!

And guess what, my St Valentine day decor is up too :). Post coming soon!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Novice Quilting

2011-02-01T13:56:00.000-08:00

Remember Cory's last minute Christmas Quilt? Obviously I didn't, because I decided to start making another one about two seconds after Christmas. I watch a seriously sweet and crafty 9 year old 3 days a week. We took a special trip to Jo-Ann's one day, so she could pick out her fabric, and get a few supplies.

Pastel fabric paint, a few fat quarters, and some truly appalling acts of seamstressing later, we present you with our masterpiece:

Any of you ladies who know ANYthing about sewing would be absolutely shocked that this montrosity happened. I know my grandmother is rolling. Let's just say, I now know that safety scissors and fabric do not mix well. But, my own failings as a seamstress aside, watching Bridget learn about sewing was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

Bridget picked the fabric out herself, and designed and hand painted each and every square. She sat in my lap and worked the sewing machine too!

The ice cream and tire swing scene were some of our favorite squares:

This project took a whole month of afternoons to finish (well, three days a week for a month), and we both developed patience working on it. It may not be perfect...it may be really, really, far from perfect... but we MADE it, and we're ridiculously proud of it.

Good luck on your own sewing adventures---let me tell you, if we can do it, anyone can!

Linking our masterpiece up to The Penny Pinching Party! Click it to see other people's awesomeness.

Pile o' Wedding: Centerpieces

2011-01-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

We're back with the next edition of Wedding/Party planning! This time we're going to focus on centerpieces. The equation for this one is pretty simple, and cost effective. Mason Jars + Candles =Awesome.

Kourtney added some ribbon and paper doilies for some extra charm on our big day, but even on their own they would be perfectly charming.

Photos via Kimbe Photography

The candles and jars were cute and fun in the daylight:

Photos via Kimbe Photography

And dramatic/romantic once the sun went down:

Photos via Kimbe Photography

Tips for your own candlelit mason jar adventures:

Don't limit yourself to the "Mason" brand jars. We hoarded any and all glass jars we could find (pickles, pasta sauce, pigs feet...you name it, we saved it), and even got friends to send their leftover glass jars our way.
Ikea sells large, longer burning tea lights in their candle section--not available for purchase online. They burn for hours, and are just a few dollars for a pack of twenty.
Ikea also sells pillar candles on the cheap. We love Ikea.
Have lighters or long matches on hand. Anything that can reach down into those jars to light the wick. You do not want to skip this step.

Here's Mindy the fabulous bridesmaid, soaking up that candle lit glow:

Photo via Holly Larson

Linking up to Donna's at Funky Junk SNS, Centerpiece Edition! Click on over to be inspired.

Hey Good Lookin'...Whatcha Got Cookin'?

2011-01-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

Many of our new year's resolutions came together to bring you today's crafty.

1) Get Organized, 2) Save money, and my personal favorite 3) Eat better.

Or, the axis of evil, as we like to call it.

Anyway, my first feeble attempt to battle the axis was made with a sad little calendar print out, stuck in a frame. I called it our "experimental meal calendar". The plan was, I'd look in the fridge, see what we had, and plan the meal for two weeks. Sounds real good on paper. Turns out, I hate meal calendars. .I'd look at what I was supposed to make/eat on Thursday night and think: "I would rather die than cook/eat that tonight."

I don't like people telling me what to do...even if its me

But I do like lists. And inventories. And options. And dry erase boards.

So I rallied the troops:

See that pitiful "Meal Calendar" printout?

A quick coat of off-white spray paint did the trick. Then just a scrap of fabric in the frame and you have a dry erase board!

I looked in our cabinets, and wrote down all the meal ideas that we already had the ingredients for. Then I hung it up in the kitchen, and now it's our "Meal Options Board!"

Seriously...easiest craft ever.

Now, I can ask the husband what he wants for dinner, and REFUSE to accept "I don't know, what do we have?" for an answer! I just erase something once we run out of the stuff for it, and keep track of inventory that way. And when I get bored with yellow, it's easy peasy to switch it out. Love, love, love.

Lindy

Pile o' Wedding: Banners

2011-01-16T14:39:00.001-08:00

Alright our dear and darling followers, here's my first wedding post. Yep, I cheated and used something I made for Lindy's wedding, rather than digging out my pictures from my wedding, circa 2007. Hmmm, I feel a scrapbook extravaganza coming on...on to that later.

Lindy called me with her chocolate-coated, sugar-filled, oozing with sweetness voice and I knew a favor was in the works ;). Hey, we are classy girls, we use everything we've got to get what we ~~want~~ need for our events. Lindy had seen some vintage banners and she thought a couple banners would compliment her reception beautifully. It was June 2007, the very beginning of June 2007, the wedding was not until July 2007. Plenty of time......fast forward, day before we make the drive from Texas to Florida for the festivities, BANNERS NOT READY!!

Solution:
1) Cut 35 5x5 black squares utilizing the Accent Essentials cartridge on my Cricut Expression.

2) Get out all different types of vintage blue paper and cut the letters for the banners at 4 inches utilizing the Storybook cartridge.

3)Now get sky blue solid paper and re-cut same letters, but move down a half inch in size (3.5 inches). For an added little pizazz, cut the words 'love' and 'sweet' in 3.5 inch size smaller using glitter paper....oooo, PIZAZZ. Glitter makes every girl just a little hyper.

4) Pack it up in the car, pack the Cricut, cartridges and selected favorite collections of paper, just in case! Make 12 hour trip to Florida. Realize once you are in Alabama, you forgot the brads to connect the banners together. Call Mom and Lindy, fanatically demanding they go to the nearest Michael's and get blue and black brads, any kind at this point. Have husband kindly remind you not to be so fanatical, Lindy did give you at least a month's time to work on the banners, it's not her fault you left the brads at home. Kindly apologize to Mom and Lindy and ask politely for the blue and black brads, if they can't find any or don't have time, we'll figure something else out. Pray they find the time to make a Michael's trip and Michael's will magically have the blue and black brads. (I highly recommend omitting this step from your banner making, but if you must follow directions exactly, feel free to experience step 4 in it's full glory)

5)Now we connect the squares together into banner shape. I punched a 1/8 hole in each corner of what was to be my upper corners of each black square. I then used navy blue eyelets (because I left the black eyelets at home) to connect two squares together. So you would line up the holes (one would be the left side hole of one square and the other would be the right side hole of the other square) and put one eyelet through to connect the squares. Set the eyelet using the crop-a-dile setter, or the good ole fashioned hammer and setter. Repeat until your banner squares are the appropriate length for your phrases, word, name, etc. It's easiest to do two halves of the banner and then join the two halves together in the end.

6) Place a different colored brad through each alternating eyelet, leaving the end eyelets empty (you'll use these to hang the banner, and may want to use a larger eyelet, if trying to get anything larger than twine through).

7) Now we place the letters on. I used pop ups. These foam stickers will give the letters a third dimension and make your letters look grand. Put the 4 inch letters on first, then center your 3.5 inch letters atop each corresponding 4 inch letter. Using pop ups on the 3.5 inch letters as well will add to the effect.

8) Spray with scotch guard and pray it does not rain on your parade. Especially with a 60% chance of rain in the forecast, right Lindy? Good thing weathermen were off by a few hours, the rain didn't hit til the last guests had gone home and the party was almost picked up.

9) Breathe sigh of relief, you've made your first party banner! Enjoy the pictures. Ahh, the granduer of love.

Photo via Holly Larson

Photo via Kimbe Photography

Photo via Holly Larson

Pile o' Wedding: Shanty to Chic Inspired Stands

2011-01-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

This edition of Pile o' Wedding was actually brought to you by the ladies at Shanty to Chic. These stands that Whitney came up with using candlesticks and hat box lids were perfect for a buffet table. Click here for a link to their step by step tutorial.

Here's our version:

Photo via Kimbe Photography

We only needed two levels, instead of the three on the original stand, so...we just left the top one off. We also finished it with a top coat of mod podge to keep it somewhat food safe.

Photo via Kimbe Photography

Action shot:

Photo via Kimbe Photography

Thank you Whitney at Shanty to Chic! This idea is pure gold!

Pile o' Wedding: We All Scream for Ice Cream Edition

2011-01-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

So, there are two schools of thought on the "Icecream at an outdoor reception in July in Florida" debate. The first response is "Yum!" and is pretty standard. The second is "How are you going to keep it from melting?"

After a lot of thought, this is how we answered that:

Photo via Kimbe Photography

You'll need:
Wooden or galvanized tin buckets (We found ours on clearance at Tuesday Mornings)
Plywood
Chalkboard paint
Old pot lids
DRY ICE

Photos via Kimbe Photography

We made lids for the wooden buckets by cutting plywood into circles. We then cut a hole into the center of our plywood lids to fit the ice cream container into. Note: This works best if your ice cream comes in a cylindrical container.

We painted our plywood lids with chalkboard paint, with the intention of writing the flavor in chalk. That didn't actually happen, but we liked having the option there.

We found three circular glass pot lids at a thrift store priced at $1.00 about two days before the wedding. They fit perfectly. It was meant to be.

Dry ice can be purchased at many grocery stores, and can even be ordered online at relatively reasonable rates. Regular ice just won't work for this. It melts quickly, making a huge mess in the process and won't keep your ice cream frozen. Dry ice on the other hand, kept our icecream frozen solid through out the evening, and vaporizes into the air, leaving no huge puddles behind. Do a little research on safety measures (Basically: DON'T TOUCH IT), and it'll make all of your out door ice cream dreams come true.

And, don't forget the toppings!

Photo via Kimbe Photography

Mmmmm. Some old sundae cups from the closet hold sprinkles, pecans and gummy bears. While some oil bottles found at Wal-Mart hold Chocolate and Carmel sauce.

The ice cream bar was a success! Everyone was screaming for ice cream all night long. Well, some of us just hinted around and looked longingly until someone gave in and got him some candy all night long. Who can resist that face?

Photo via Kimbe Photography

Cost Breakdown:

$30.00 for buckets ($10.00 each)

$0.00 left over plywood

$0.00 left over chalkboard paint

$3.00 pot lids

$50.00 for dry ice (we could have been fine with half of what we got)

$40.00 ish for icecream and toppings

$123.00 ish TOTAL

We could have done better if we'd known we'd only need half of the dry ice we purchased, but other than that I feel like this was money well spent on something that I really wanted at the reception. Hey, if you can do better than that, let us know!

Linking this up to Show and Tell over and Blue Cricket Design. Click on over to see some awesome crafties!

Pile o' Wedding: Chandy Edition

2011-01-08T06:31:00.000-08:00

Weddings. Who doesn't love them? The summer of 2010 was truly the summer of love as we came together TWICE in less than two months to celebrate the addition of new members to the family. The planning process was fun, ~~intense, and sressful~~ but the challenge to create the look without busting up the budget really stretched us all to the edge of our capabilities. Many hours were spent via long distance phone calls to brainstorm ideas, beg for assistance, and maybe sometimes vent like there was no tommorrow. But we made it through, and even came up with some amazing ideas. Some of them worked, some of them didn't. And so, from these learning experiences we bring you our first ever blogging series....

We're going to showcase some of the crafts that went into the wedding planning last year, give a how-to if necessary, and show you where they are now (because what's the point of all that crafting, if you're not left with awesome stuff to put in your house??) Every project was done with a very specific budget in mind, and will maybe offer you some ideas for your own party planning and decorating self.

To kick things off I'm going to show you one of the first projects: The Trashy Chandy. This project began in the Good Cents store (It's where the Good Will reject items are sent to die) and seeing a beautiful, albeit broken, brass light fixture in the $2.00 bin. It looked much like this one:

Photo via YoungHouseLove

Our lovely little light fixture still had the jagged wiring exposed at the top, as if someone had ripped it from the ceiling in a home reno rage, and most of the little candle light parts (technical term) were broken. It was beautiful. I snatched that bad boy up with plans to give it some TLC and hang it in my bedroom.

Our Dad helped me remove the wiring, the whole thing got a few light coats of Valspar Porcelain spray paint, and we exchanged the broken plastic light bulb candles for the real thing.

Then the perfect opportunity to use it came in the form of our engagement pictures with Kim Brock, and then it was officially a "wedding craft."

Photos via Kimbe Photography

This cute little light also made an appearance at our wedding reception in July. We hung it up over the dessert tables (Stay tuned for the dessert table edition coming soon!) in the arbor at our parent's house. Kourtney added the touch of light blue satin ribbon to fancy things up. It really added a little romance to the table, dontcha think?

Photos via Kimbe Photography

It held up beautifully to all the wedding abuse, but where is it now you say? Finally hanging up in the corner of the bedroom! Where it was always meant to be. Here's our little $2.00 chandy today:

Photo via yours truly. ( me)

Cost breakdown:
$2.00 Chandalier
$0.00 Left over spray paint
$2.00 Taper candles
$4.00 TOTAL

Tips for spray painting your own chandy:

Take a little bit of sandpaper and rough the metal up a little bit before you paint. The paint will stick a little better, and chip less.
Hang it up while you paint. It makes coating it evenly a breeze.
Light coats. If you spray it on too thick you'll get some nasty runs. It probably took about 7 very light coats to cover it all evenly.

Good luck!

Lindy

Linking this project up to Frugalicious Friday and the Shanty Sister's I Made it Without My Hubby!

Does the thought still count if it occurs last minute?

2011-01-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

I needed to come up with a last minute gift idea for Cory, after accidentally revealing what his real Christmas gift was. It was two days before Christmas, and Cory's only wish was that I wouldn't spend any money on him. My mom, also known as Lord of the Craft, came to the rescue. She helped me whip up a quilt for him, using only scrap fabric she had in her closet.

We designed each square to portray a part of the story of how we met and fell in love.

1) Cory offered to help us paint our new house. He got a little more than he bargained for that day as he not only helped paint, but also helped clean up a gallon of yellow paint that spilled in my car...
2) He came back for more though, and asked me to play golf with him.
3) Many nights were spent watching movies and...
4) Going out to dinner :)

5) We made Christmas cookies together in December. That was the first time Cory decided to have a serious talk with me about our future together. Aww.
6) We spent our first Christmas on different sides of the country.
7) He took me out on a rainy night and popped an important question!
8) We were married 6 months later.

He was so surprised to open up this gift, and I think I even saw a little teeny tear in his eye (he denies it...). We love hanging out and watching movies and TV together, so it's the perfect thing for us. We use it all the time, and its a sweet reminder of our beginning.

Tips for your own crafty scrap quilt:

Give yourself more than two days. It takes time to do it right, especially if you're learning.
Have someone with experience to help. I have very little sewing experience, so having my mom there--a veteran seamstress--was invaluable.
Keep it simple.
Have lots of spare thread! It took us about 4 spools of thread because of all the little details we had to sew around.
Patience.

I'm planning on doing something similar with the 9 year old girl I watch after school. We're using fabric markers to draw different pictures on each square instead of fabric cut outs, and using simple yarn ties to keep it together rather than quilting it together

If you've been wanting to try something like this, but haven't mustered up the courage, let me reassure you--you can do this! It can be simplified to any skill level and it's so worth it to feel the rush of pride every time we pull it out!

Lindy

Linking up to Donna's Funky Junk Christmas Story Edition. Coming from 100% junky fabric scraps make me think it fits in well. Check it out to see the other awesome funky junkers.

Also linking up at the Shanty Sister's I Made it Without My Hubby party!

Some of my favorite things...

2010-12-23T15:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. I love being able to focus on my Savior's birth and celebrate it with loved ones. The aura of giving, happiness, childhood, sweets, and love is all around, and I can't get enough of it! That being said, I just love decorating for Christmas. Here are some of my favorite things.

My entry way makes me happy. Next year I am going to frame some vintage prints for the shelf.

Here's a close-up of the stair railing

My beloved candy themed tree

Close-up

YUM!

My favorite Nativity Scene

<*> Jackie

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Christmas Confections

2010-12-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

This year, I decided to make caramel candy for our neighborhood Christmas gifts. I found an awesome recipe online here and got to work. This recipe is definitely going to be my go-to caramel recipe. Her tip about checking your thermometer with boiling water saved my caramel too--my candy thermometer was off by 6 degrees! After cutting and wrapping 80 pieces, I decided my lovely neighbors could cut their own. The blocks of caramel were way easier to prepare and looked super cute (though I truly adore the skinny wrapped caramel look).

If I do say so myself, I think it turned out pretty great. I just need to get it out of the house before I eat it all.

I just love the old fashioned look of these wrapped candiesThese are 4X4 inch squares topped with melted Ghirardelli chocolate

Here's the finished product. Each square is wrapped in wax paper, topped with a custom Christmas label, and tied together with a ribbon. There's nothing like homemade caramel!

<*>

Jackie

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

My Name is not Martha Stewart, however....

2010-12-20T10:19:00.001-08:00

I think I could be a useful part of her team ;). I was rather over zealous when I took a liking to her satin ribbon poinsetta wreath (found here).

Oh my, oh my, oh my! The whole wire thing, bad idea. WHAT were Martha's minions thinking on this one? Maybe I am bad about following directions. Maybe.

SO, if you would like to make one of these pretties....a few minor adjusments.

Don't even try to wire these puppies together. It's a nightmare. Sure, you can try if you'd like, but by the time you've 'mastered' the wire trick, you're a basket case.

Instead, cut your 4 (not 3 like Martha says) diamonds of ribbon (oh, and something I didn't do, but will need to, take a lighter and LIGHTLY melt the cut egdes of the ribbon, to avoid major fray out):

Now, Martha's mob will tell you to fold them long ways and stagger them, pinning and then wiring all together in the end. Ha ha ha. Let me know when you get the hang of that. The century ought to be about half over by then. Instead, invest in a needle and matching thread, or don't match, it won't show.

Still fold longways, I found a threefold to be easiest and then pinch together in half, like so:

Sew the pinch together, be certain to get all layers passed through twice and knot off. Repeat 3 more times with your remaining diamonds. Now for some good ole craft cheating, well more of it anyway, go out and buy some 2 inch corsage pins....yep, we are not gluing down a 100+ little stamen beads. It's the best $3 box you'll EVER buy....EVER.

In fact, I bought two, to be sure I had enough pins, since I tried Martha's minions "idea"about a third a way around the wreath. 7 hours of that kind of torture will tell you, "You know, $85 for one of these babies, not a half bad deal, really. Wonder how Hobby Lobby will feel about me throwing my half baked wreath at the return desk, with all my opened spools of ribbon? Surely, they'd work me some kind of deal, right?" Ugh.....I was stuck with my crazy idea of poinsetta wreaths hung beautifully from white satin ribbon on either side of the Christmas tree, in the windows.

Thankfully, with my new technique and corsage pins, the rest of this project flew by. Pin each little "v" with a corsage pin:

Create tons of beautiful poinsettas in half the time of Martha's menacing little minions:

Not quite as full yet. But soon my pretties, very soon. I kicked the bucket at 1:45 AM. Work was far to close at hand to continue filling in my blank spots.

OOOOOOO AHHHHHHHH:

Oh and here's our very, very first Christmas tree! I got a steal online at Target....a tree on CLEARANCE two WHOLE weeks before Christmas!! I borrowed ornaments from a good friend to fill her out. Even on clearance, there wasn't much room in the budget for ornaments. What very, very sweet and wonderful friends I have! (Thanks P!)

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Layered Crib Skirt

2010-12-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

After searching for a crib set for a little girl, I found one I wanted but it was ridculously priced. I decided making one would be the way to go. Then I found a bumper on ebay that I loved and decided that would be less labor intensive than making my own. For the crib skirt, I combined the styles from both of my inspiration crib sets and decided to make a layered ruffled crib skirt using vintage fabrics.

For the base of the crib skirt, I just used an old sheet. For the ruffles, you'll need about a yard each of three different fabrics. I only did three sides, so if you would like to do all four sides in ruffles, you'll need 1.5 yards of each fabric.

Measure your crib on the inside and cut a large square out of your sheet adding 1/4 inch extra for hemming for the base of the skirt. Then cut your three (or four) sides from the sheet. I used a 14 inch drop for my crib skirt, but you can customize yours to fit your crib. Hem the sides of your side pieces leaving the top unhemmed. I also hemmed the back of my base layer at this time.

For the fabric ruffles, I cut the fabric almost three times the width of my crib (I had to sew a few pieces together) and six inches long. I think cutting it 2 times the length would be sufficient. Hem the sides of the ruffles, leaving the top edge unhemmed.

To gather the ruffles, I learned an awesome trick from my cousin Alicia. I had tried and tried gathering fabric with my machine with no luck when I made my curtains. I finally ended up doing a basting stich by hand to make the ruffles. It was a nightmare. She told me to use fishing line and do a zigzag stich over it. Then you can just pull it tight. Instant ruffles and no breakage! Awesome! First, I tied the fishing line to a spool of thread so it wouldn't slip out of the zigzags. Then I simply went over the thread and pulled it tight. At first I had to go slow, but as I got used to it soon I was zooming along. I found that holding the thread up and in the center of the presser foot kept it within the zigzags without a lot of hassle.

Then I arranged, pinned and sewed the ruffle to the side pieces.I did this three times. To keep the ruffles straight, I jus measured from the bottom up every couple of inches or so and pinned it in place. Here's what each side should look like.Then pin the top of your ruffled side to their corresponsding base layer side, right sides together. Do this with all three sides.Ta da! Your ruffled crib skirt is now finished!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

The things some people will put in the trash...

2010-12-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I got an awesome voicemail. My friend Kristen called, and she said, "Hey Lindy--I was driving down the road and I saw this old door in the trash. I thought you might want it..."

Wooohooo!!! I was soooo excited. This was a Sunday afternoon, and Cory had just fallen asleep. I was sure that the possibility of obtaining an awesome old trash door would wake him up with no problem....for some reason the news didn't fill him with the same rush of adrenalin that coursed through my entire body. Needless to say, I set off on Mission Retrieve Trash Door all by self.

About 5 minutes later, target located, loaded into the back of my car, and safely arrived in our guest/study/craft room.

I basically told every person I know about it. Once they got over the confusion about why I was picking stuff up out of other people's trash, they always asked, "So, what are you going to do with it?"

My answer, "I could make a corner shelf, or a head board, or a towel rack, or just prop it up behind some stuff....What do you think?"

All of these awesome ideas!!! Unfortunately, we already have a headboard. And we don't have a place for a corner shelf. And we only use two towels, and they already have a rack...

Buuuuut...I have this problem. I like shoes. A lot. My friend Lara gave me a handy little contraption to help with this, and it really saves the closet floor space:

Trouble is, this is the only door we can put it on in our house. And it makes it so the door to the room only opens up half way.

So far its been a minor inconvenience, and we've put up with it. But now that we actually do have a spare door, we think we might combine the two.

So, what do you think? Should I hold out for something awesomely creative to do with our trash door, or regain full use of the door to the 2nd bedroom?

Lindy

Linking up to Look What I Found Friday @ Vintage Revivals, and Finding Fabulous.

Craftmas 2010

2010-12-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to show everyone what we've been working so hard on for the past few weeks! Decorating the house for our first Christmas has been so much fun, and we can't wait to spend it together. We're not exactly making the big bucks, so to keep costs down we used a lot of paper, hot glue, and Black Friday deals. Just a few touches of Christmas added into our everyday stuff seemed to make a pretty big difference. Bonus of living in a tiny ghetto apartment I suppose. Lucky us!

The house was looking pretty clean last night, after about a week of grossness, so it seemed like an excellent time to snap a few pictures. Wanna see?

This is the general setup. Stockings hung from the window with care, and some sugar cookie candles making the house smell delicious make for a niiice night.

Our table got a little touch of Christmas for pennies. A stray ornament, a few glittery letters and some peppermint do the trick nicely. Wanna closeup? Don't mind if I do...

I was all about getting a real tree for our first Christmas...until I saw these doorbuster Alpines at Micheal's. Three pre-lit allpines for $15.00? Yes please.

Twine, hot glue and glitter letters: Where have you been all my life?

See the giant jewels? Leftovers from a Breakfast at Tiffany's Bridal shower 1.5 years ago.

I had a 20% off coupon, gift cards and the overwhelming urge to buy these adorable sock monkeys about 3 weeks ago. They are our official "First ornaments".

I had five nutcrackers from the 10 for $10.00 bin at Michaels (aka the 5 for $5.00 bin.) I put them all over the house and then timed Cory while he tried to find them...

Here in balmy Florida our hopes of a white Christmas are low. Here's to hoping.

I used this easy tutorial to make some 3D paper snowflakes.Copy paper, scissors and hot glue is all it takes.

Dollar Tree ornaments (1.00 for 15 ornaments?! ) and some fishing line are magical.

I switched out our regular pictures for wrapping paper, christmas cards and a print out of Norman Rockwell's Santa. Total cost: Zero dollars!

The ONLY card I could find.

I love that fat Santa. Thank goodness there is a color printer at Cory's office.

I just had to use the new cricut for something. So, we got some personalized stockings.

Christmas even made an appearance in our room! The last nutcracker matched perfectly, so he gets to spend some quality time with my hair straightener.

And, this is mostly a shot of our bed. I made it! But there are also some floating ornaments in the corner.

So, that's it! Our first Christmas in the making. Any tips for making our first Christmas awesome?

Lindy

I'm linking up to Finding Fabulous--Check out the other awesome links there!

Mario Themed Birthday

2010-11-21T19:59:00.000-08:00

If you know me, you probably know that I'm a sucker for a themed party. Cory's 23rd birthday was last week, and I had so much fun planning a Mario themed bash with my sister-in-law Tanya (who is basically an expert on all things Mario, and anything else awesome for that matter).

We decided to go with some low key cupcakes over one big cake. Red and green icing, with a few touches of white chocolate chips made the perfect little Mario 'shrooms:

I searched all over for gold chocolate coins (apparently they're seasonal items) but finally lucked out at Walmart. We used a star shaped cookie cutter on some lemon bars to make the little stars from the game. Chocolate sprinkles were the perfect eyes on these bad boys.

Princess Peach Lemonade was our drink of the evening. I just mixed a packet of Peach flavored Crystal Light, a packet of Lemonade flavored Crystal Light, and the appropriate amount of water. Easy Peasy. My brother made the little crown for the drink dispenser. Construction paper and tape, people. It's magical.

Speaking of construction paper and tape, thats exactly what Tanya used to make the pennant "Raceway" banner. And speaking of Tanya, behold her masterpiece:

Two pounds of cheese, a few well placed crackers, and the aforementioned construction paper brings you a scene straight from the game. (I forget which level, world, and game...forgive me Tanya?)

And, what's the point of a Mario party, if not to exploit the mustache trend while it's still here? Black felt cutouts were super easy to make, and we just stuck them on with tiny adhesive scrapbooking glue dots. It worked for our very temporary needs.

We ate, modeled our 'staches, and played almost every Mario game invented. It was awesome, and worked out just perfectly for my big 23 year-old kid at heart. I also see this working out great for any actual children's parties you might be planning, so feel free to use our ideas. We'd love to see your take on the idea!

Lindy

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Might you care for a flower?

2010-11-18T16:11:00.001-08:00

Card of the week post!! Horray!

Okay, it is written, let it be done! It's a very happy birthday card! Sorry, not much time for chatting, just a bunch of smack-me-down pictures and exclamation points to make you feel like I love you!
Well, I do!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

I've got your number

2010-11-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

I saw that Donna at Funky Junk Interiors was going to host a numbered theme linky party this week. I really wanted to play, but didn't have any projects w/ numbers planned...but then I started looking around the house, and realized that I've been stashing numbers all over the place! So, the I took my crappy camera for a walk around my poorly lit apartment to get some shots of the little numbers I've been hoarding for years...

Our wedding photographer gave us these old numbers after our engagement shoot this summer. She wasn't using them, and thought I might be interested. Ummm...yes please!

I plopped a few on our "entertainment center", and I think it adds the perfect little vintage touch to Cory's electronic mountain.

Then I stuck the a few more of these numbers in our "hall closet".

All I had to do was take off the doors, and you have a whole new display space opened up! Is it sad that I have enough junk to justify sacrificing a closet for decorative purposes? Perhaps...

But it makes me so happy to see our little cake toppers along with these cute numbers :)

Our coffee table holds the rest of the tiny white number/letter collection. This tray corals our keys, cell phones, some handy pens, and a plethora of tiny white typography.

And the final stop on our tour of numbers would be my small but well loved collection of clocks. I started collecting these in middle school (I was what one might have called...a little different), and just love the numbers on these bad boys.

This one lives under the coffee table:

This one is tucked safely in the aforementioned "entertainment center":

And this little baby is currently propped up with a SWEET teal door I saved from ~~the trash~~ certain death earlier today. (Thanks to my junk spotting friend Kristen! Eagle Eyes! Seriously...you might have a problem if your friends leave you voicemails like this, "So, I was driving and I just spotted an old door in the trash...")

Those are all the number's I'm currently loving around my place :) I hope this qualifies for ze party!

Lindy

Obviously I'm linking up to Funky Junk Saturday Nite Special, Numbers Edition.

Storybook Nursery

2010-11-09T18:08:00.001-08:00

When we found out we were having a little girl, I knew I wanted to do a "fairy tale" nursery. My nursery concept is actually based on my favorite childhood books and items that are special to me, so it is a little different than the princess fairy tale nurseries that are so popular right now.

Here I mixed tea time with the garden. Memories of Alice in Wonderland and The Velveteen Rabbit come to mind when I look at it.

I painted this chair during a summer break from college--long before I ever thought about children. The quilt was actually a wedding present from my parents. My mother, grandmother and great grandmother all contributed to it.

Here is my blessing dress with a little nutcracker ballerina. I've always loved the Sugar Plum Fairy.

This shelf (yes--it was an unfinished wood Roberts shelf I got for half off) holds some discount finds that really completes the story tale theme. I found some vintage copies of Beauty and the Beast (my favorite fairy tale) and Cinderella at our local thrift store. Rummaging through my Easter stuff, I also found an old mini flower tea set my mom sent me that I had adored growing up. To do the name letters, I bought some cute letters at Hobby Lobby and covered them with scrapbook paper using mod-podge. Unbelievably, Jason happened to have the awesome frog prince sculpture by artist Gary Price. I scored the Glenda vintage barbie on clearance at Wal-mart just a few months ago!

This lamp is actually sister inspired. You'll notice that the rosettes are none other than the glue gun rosettes previously featured on this blog.

Now all I have to do is paint the room "Cinderella Blue" and finish sewing the three layered ruffled crib skirt. Those feats will deserve a separate post of their own!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

BOY'S ART

2010-11-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

Long blank walls without any features like windows, doors, or furniture petrify me! It means either I have to get pretty creative or spend some money. My little boy's room had two of these walls. Yikes! I had been collecting vintage transporation decorations for almost a year, so I had quite a few knick knacks, but the big bang was missing. I liked the idea of getting something like this or this

to fill in the great void (pieces are from pbk if anyone is interested), however, they were above my budget and didn't even match the colors of the room. Besides, I knew I could make one for free, and what can be better than free?

First, I decided to recycle some old wooden plaques that I was not using. I didn't have a really big one, so I put two matching ones together and ended up with the split art look. My finished project ended up being 32"X 20". Then I simply painted them antique white to establish a base color.

For simplicity's sake (and to avoid making it look like cheesy DIY art) I decided a screen print of a car would be my best option. I took the vintage cars on his bed that I was using as a model and measured how big the car needed to be to fill the canvas. Then I drew the car by multiplying the original car's lines by that scale. I am not an artist, so turning it into "painting by measuring" really worked for me.

After I painted the car, I decided it needed a little personality, so I mod-podged some paper accents to the art and dirtied it all up by glazing on some diluted brown paint. It was pretty easy to do and saved me quite a bit. Plus, I got to choose the colors and add personalization to it.

For fun and diminsion I added some planes above the car art.

To finish the other wall, I bought some unfinished wood shelves and a magnet board half off from Roberts. He loves his little vintage transportation room. Now I just need to paint his walls tan and it will be completely finished!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

I think maybe I want it all...

2010-11-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

Garage sales are so fun. Especially when you can pick up some really great finds for less than $24!!

Point in case:

I got really excited with these finds, it meant getting a few things up above my kitchen cabinets, a goal I've been aiming for since we bought the house!

And in my excitement, I put EVERYTHING up:

I knew it looked a little cluttered and texted the picture to sisters, mom, friends and pretty sure I may have texted the picture to complete strangers for their input. However, they all agreed, too crowded, too much, so I re-vamped and now I'm done. Or rather, I'm done for now:

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Welcome to my entryway...

2010-11-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

My first linky party post!!! I'm so excited, thank you Dana for the invite!
http://danajeanward.blogspot.com/2010/11/strut-your-stuff-link-party-and.html

Sadly, this is what it looked like for close to a year:

Then I sanded it one day in October since I had bought the stain and poly the day after I bought the bench almost a year ago:

Then I stained it and cried when my polyshade did not work as it promised to. So I sanded again and again and again. Then I called Dad, who politely reminded me no Hansen should ever be using a Polyshade for ANY peice of wood, and reverted to regular stain and polyurethane.

And while the stain dried, I made toilet-paper-roll wall art (idea found here: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/11/diy-project-toilet-paper-roll-wall-art.html).

Then one glorious day, almost a year after purchasing the bench and stain, a month after sanding and re-sanding and a week's worth of staining, it's done!

Look at that poly shine:Pillows were purchased at Pier 1 with coupons :D. Oh how we do love coupons!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Pillow Makeover

2010-11-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

When I bought a couch with my very first room mate right out of high school, it came with two throw pillows. They weren't exactly my definition of cute. See for yourself.

It's been a little over 3 years now, and I finally did something about those ugly pillows. I've been meaning to make some pillowcases for...well, a little over 3 years. Once I got started it was easy, especially if you're not picky about stuff like measuring.

A little bit of felt, some dollar store doilies, and spray adhesive later:

To make the yellow pillow I just sprayed doilies with Elmer's craft Bond, and stuck them on the fabric. They've held up pretty well, but I would recommend reinforcing with some actual fabric glue, or even actual sewing, as well.

The grey pillow took a little bit more time. I'll give you a step by step.

1) Cut 3 inch circles out of felt. I chose three shades of grey and black. One flower takes about 25 circles.

2) Make the first petal by folding one circle in half, and sewing the bottom down with a few tight stitches.

3) Repeat, and overlap the next petal slightly.

4) Continue pattern. The last petal should be sewn right next to the first petal.

5) Make one big circle of petals, and then a smaller circle inside of it.

6) To hide the stitching on the bottom of your petals, just glue a circle of felt to the center of your flower.

You should end up with something like this:

Here they are all together again, just in case you forgot:

One detail that I was extra proud of was the back of the cases:

I used two separate pieces of fabric, and overlapped them. That way I can take the case off for easy washing, seasonal changing, etc. For someone who doesn't sew, it was a pretty huge breakthrough.

This took less than an hour, and completely finished the look of the living room. The colors matched the one other pillow we own perfectly, which is a major advantage to making your own cases.

Also, when I showed Cory the final results, he said, "Hey! Those look like real pillows."

Thanks for the vote of confidence, babe.

Lindy

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

No budget? No Problem.

2010-10-31T05:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everybody! This weekend we had a little Fall Festival at our church. Cory and I are both assigned to be on the activities committee, which means we get to help plan fun stuff to do! Our budget was a little tight, so we were going to dispose of the decorations portion...but for some reason, that just killed a little part of my soul. So, the hunt was on for some easy, fun, fall decorations, that would also cost zero dollars.

This is what we came up with: (I didn't have time/the foresight to take pictures at the festival Friday night, so this is my super glam backyard. Try not to be jealous)

FSU gives away free campus newspapers! So, we put those to work. Freya at The Creative Outlet found the idea for some super cute newspaper pinwheels. They were really easy to make! She also inspired me with her post about a print out pennant banner, which I basically ripped off. Thats how we roll.

Just glued on some letters to the pinwheels: Instant banner!

Here's our Welcome Sign. I can't wait to make a ton more of these for every holiday. All you need is cardstock, a printer, hole punch and some ribbon.

You'd like a better view? Here you go:

And, just a little bit more Halloween goodness:

I babysit a super sweet 8 year old girl after school 3 days a week. To get into the spirit of things this week we decided to mod podge a little pumpkin. If you look closely, you can see that the devil is frowning...

Happy Halloween!!!

Lindy

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what linky parties this project has been linked up with.

Card of the Week- It's your 30th?!?! birthday

2010-10-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you are having fun. A good friend turns 30 this weekend and I wanted to post a quick "card of the week" post for his birthday card. He's a no nonsense, stick to the basics, laid back and funny guy, so I thought I'd do polka dots. Then I thought, I just did polka dots on every card I made last week. So, I went sleek and modern (at least this is what I'll call it). It's simple, but classic. And I like classic, I mean sleek and modern.

Don't be disappointed I didn't edit the pictures. It's a "well I'm posting, aren't I?" kinda day.

Lindy taught me how to play a new game!!

2010-10-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

Seriously? Seriously? HOW did I not know about this fun (and free) way to edit pictures? Lindy has told me about it in the past, the free-finding genius that she is, and I always mean to edit my pictures before posting and then tell myself how good I'm doing just to be posting. Well, not anymore folks! Go to www.picnik.com to start your fun, free picture editing today!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

What a good looking couple. I even added lipstick to my lips (okay, I caved and paid the $24.95/yr for the premium package, 'put that sass back in your mouth!' as Lindy would say).

I'm redoing a bench for the entryway and just decorated above the kitchen cabinets, so be looking for those posts soon!

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Muffins

2010-10-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

So, the seasons are changing. In honor of this, and the fact that the giant can of pumpkin puree in my pantry expires next month, I decided to make some muffins.

A few years ago I had a boss who brought in some pumpkin muffins to share. She said that she made them by mixing a can of pumpkin, a cake mix, and a cup of water. They were super de duper moist, and sounded easy enough. I pulled from this vague memory to bring you:

Ingredients:

1 yellow cake mix

1 can pumpkin puree (about 2 cups)

1 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup water

3 dashes cinamon

3 dashes pumpkin pie spices

Mix together thouroughly, fill greased/lined tins up to the brim, and bake for about 20 minutes on 350 degrees. Makes 12 billowing muffins. You could probably make 24 muffins, if you only fill the tins up halfway. But then their not as cute. Just sayin'.

The oatmeal added more texture to the muffins, and I found less water to be more appealing. You could also substitute spice cake mix, or any cake mix for that matter. My options were yellow and funfetti. I opted for yellow. But really, the sky is the limit here. They make your whole house smell delicious and autumn-y.

I made these two days ago, and just barely managed to snap this picture today of the last lonely little muffin. Between two people, thats pretty impressive. They are THAT good.

Try it, you won't be disappointed.

Lindy

I'm going to link up to the CSI project. It's a new blog I just discovered--they schedule themed challenges so everyone brings their A game. This week is the holiday baking challenge....does it count as baking if the majority of the ingredients are included with the words "Yellow Cake Mix"? Sure...

<a href="http://thecsiproject.com" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://thecsiproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/thecsiproject.com-logo-150.png" alt="Visit thecsiproject.com" ></a>

As always, check out the Party Central tab to see what weekly parties we love to link up to!

I dare Jack to jump these.

2010-10-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

I've been seriously lusting after some huge candlesticks. I want some nice tall ones to balance out the TV on top of the "entertainment center." I've seen a few in stores, but for the type I want I've never seen one for less than $50.00. And I wanted three. Ummm....right. Not going to happen.

I've seen table leg/fence post/wooden lamp-to-candle-stick tutorials floating around the blogs, but my search for a large pieces of affordable wood was not going well. I found some fence posts, but at $25.00 per post, the price was not right for me. But then Home Depot came to the rescue. One long table leg for $8.50! A coffee table leg for $4.50! I decided I wanted to make three, so I had them cut 7 inches off of a full length leg.
I found some wooden circles for the bases at Joanns for about .60 cents apiece.

Here are the supplies:

I decided to return the tallest leg--it seemed like too much to me, and I like the effect with just two. I glued the pieces together and stained them with a dark mahogany stain.

Ahem...yes. That is the dining area of our apartment. That's where I decided to do this. It was late. The chemical stain smell has since dissipated.

I glued some glass candle coasters to the top to finish them off. Tuesday Morning provided those for us at the low price of $1.99.

The final product. This isn't exactly the spot their intended for, but this works for now. The total cost for my two solid wood candlesticks was about $20.00! Can't beat that. Well...maybe you can. Consider that a challenge. :)

Lindy

I'll be linking up the parties under the Party Central tab--be sure to check them out!

Sour cream container cuteness!

2010-10-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

A near & dear friend found this awesome tutorial on how to make sour cream container favors for a party:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCo3rvYV2og

We loved the idea and got down to business. We didn't have an upcoming party to plan for, so she came up with the brilliant idea to hand them out to people she visits on a regular basis (yes, any LDS person knows what I'm talking about), along with a short message or card. I loved the idea so much, I copied her! These are EASY and look like a professional hammered them out. Invest in the paper crimper if possible, really gives it the "done" look.

Fall is in the air!

2010-10-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yay for Fall! Living in Utah, I actually get to experience a true Fall. Leaves changing colors, crisp Autumn air, fruit trees ripening, pumpkin fields ablaze with color. One thing that also gets me excited about this time of year is being able to make warm, comforting food. I am in love with this Sweet Potato and Black Bean chili recipe. It truly is the essence of all things wonderful and Fall-ish. Also, it ranks as one of my super food recipes and takes less than an hour to make from start to finish (much of that is simmer time). Can't get much much better than that!

I hope you enjoy this fall dish as much as my family does! It's great with corn bread or warm homemade bread from the oven. Drained leftovers (if you have enough) can also be put in tortillas and topped with cheese and enchilada sauce for something totally different another day.

ETA: The black beans are already a wonderful source of low-fat protein, but for an extra special twist, try adding some cooked shredded chicken or sliced sausage to the pot when adding the beans and corn. My family also is not big on diced tomatoes, so I just add a can of tomato sauce instead.

A Head of the Game

2010-10-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

I love few things in life more that a good headband, and a good baby. So a good baby in a good head band? You just can't beat that. I've been experimenting with a few fabric flower tutorials and decided to put the flowers on some pantyhose headbands. My friend, and amazing wedding photographer Kim Brock takes the cutest pictures of babies all the time, so I thought she might find some use for them.

I don't have any cute babies handy these days, so I put my headbands on some cups for a little photoshoot.

I find cups to be a little more forgiving, and quiet. Although, not as cute.

Ador gives an awesome tutorial for these Poof ball flowers.

Look back a few months for our Burnt Flower guide.

Craftaholics Anon does the zipper flowers like no one else, and her tutorial is easy peasy to follow.

And this one is my personal favorite. Cute little Rosettes. Aww. Drab to Fab shows you how to make them.

These headbands cost almost nothing. I just looked through the scrappy fabric I had, and got creative. I did have to buy some felt, but at 20 cents a sheet, its not exactly breaking the bank. As long as you have a glue gun, basic sewing skills, scissors and some fire you can make any one of these!

Lindy

Card of the Week Post to make up for months of not posting)

2010-10-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

I love Fall! I'm inspired to do some Fall themed cards. Also, I realize there are so many scrapbooking techniques I am oblivious to. I look at other's blogs and realize, wow, I could be doing SO much more with my cards and I'm not. I want more texture, more depth, more vibrancy, more antiquity. But I'm trying!

So here's a couple thank you cards I made for a friend. She is a school teacher and had great parents help her on the yearbook committee and isn't it sweet, she wanted handmade cards to thank them!?

I liked the idea of lining the envelopes, it was so fun. So, if anyone knows the secret to embossing well, please tell me! I got the embossing glue and the embossing microbeads and glitter, but they simply fall off after I've heated the glue, I'm at a loss. Thanks!

If I told you it was the 'Card of Last Week' post, would you forgive me?

2010-10-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my favorite cards to make:

I take white glittered card stock for the bride's dress, khaki colored paper for the silhouette of the bride and groom, black card stock for the groom's suit and netting from a bath sponge packaging for the bride's veil. My Cricut Expression uses the Stretch your Imagination to cut the pieces I need. The flowery, teal flocked cutout ribbon I purchased from a craft store in Utah, but you can find online (http://www.joanns.com/, http://www.hobbylobby.com/, http://www.scrapbook.com/ ).

That's the "Card of Last Week" post. I will do better about keeping you in the loop with a cute card idea of the week!

Also, Lindy's re-vamping of a dresser for an entertainment center has inspired me! I am looking forward to a little fun and game with a blonde wood bench. Remind me to post it later.

You mean a party invitation?- (Card of the Week)

2010-10-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

The sisters formerly known as Hansen are all about parties lately! Showers in particular. Very good friends are having their first baby, a sweet little girl, who they will name Elizabeth. I was fortunate enough to get to help with the shower and I'm SO excited. So, I got free reign, to make whatever kind of shower invites I wanted. It's so nice when you make cards for people who simply trust it will be cute!

So, I decided to keep with the same general idea/pattern, but to use multiple colors and everyone will get a different color invite! I made Mom and Dad's invite a little more ornate, since I know that will most likely get put in baby's book of remembrance. I didn't take a step by step photo, but assume it will make basic sense. If you own a Cricut, I used the Storybook cartridge for the "E" cutout and the Accent Essentials cartridge for the plaques and flower pulls. If you'd like a step by step and measurements, I'd be happy to oblige, send an email to kourtneymrivera@gmail.com

And a close up of Mom and Dad's shower invitation:

Enjoy! More to come today (to amend for my delay in postings).

Check the Party Central link to see where we might be linking up!

A Walk on the Wild Side

2010-10-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

I am a party girl. Thats right. No shame over here.

I enjoy planning cute details, designing invitations, and having a good time with good people. This summer one of my best friends got married! I think you know where this is going. I talked with the bride's sister, who was the maid of honor, and we decided to split up the party planning. She was in charge of the bridal shower, and I got to plan the Bachelorette party/Lingerie Shower with another bridesmaid, Sara!

First we picked a theme: A Walk on the Wild side, of course.

Then we designed some awesome invitations with our really high tech photo editing software...also known as Power Point. Thats right. With a simple blank slide and clip art we came up with this:

We printed them on some 4x6 photos at Wal Mart for about 30 cents a pop.

Here is our drink/welcome station:

I just wrapped up some textbooks in Micheal's Damask wrapping paper, and viola: A drink stand is born.

We kept the decorations low-key and inexpensive with some tissue paper poof balls and basic black streamers. We had zebra cakes, cup cakes, and a variety of options for dipping into some yummy white chocolate fondue! Mmmmm. Some old hat boxes propped up the food, adding a little bit of interest to the table.

And what would we do with out a few games? A shake weight showed up for this part.

We called it "Wife Training". Everyone was timed while they completed some typical wifely duties. We had to put on an apron, vacuum up some cheerios, and fold two towels....pumping that shake weight the entire time! Our fastest time was about 20 seconds....but her towel folding did leave a little to be desired. Somethings gotta give, you know?

Lindy

Cute as a Button

2010-10-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

I've been scared of HTML for a while now. I'm currently taking a web design class, and it's given me a little more courage to try new things. When I saw a tutorial for making cute menu buttons, I tried it!

Look to the menu to see for yourself!

Thanks to:

Click here for the direct link to the menu button how-to.

They make it super easy to follow along. Have fun!
Lindy

A Dresser in Drag

2010-09-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

So, let's be real. Cory and I are poor. Which is awesome and challenging, etc. But, it has its downside as well. Namely, when I come up with a some crazy idea I have, and he plays the "Do we really NEED to spend money on that" card.

I hate that card.

It's so sensible. But, it works for us. I come up with the crazy ideas, he vetoes them. That way we can pay bills. Yay!

But, what happens when Cory is the one to come up with the far fetched, crazy, wonderfully crafty ideas??
Great things, my friends. Great things.

Before we moved in I scored this little beauty for thirty buckaroos.

It took some convincing, but Cory finally agreed it would be the perfect stand for his precious baby, the T.V. I wanted to paint it, but he thought the dark wood "matched" everything else so painting wasn't necessary. I let it go...but one day he took a good look at what we had going on. A good hard look.

Then he says, "Hey Lindy, what if we took one of these top drawers out? It wouldn't be hard to put a shelf in."

Oh, baby.

My response? "What if we took out all three drawers???? And painted it!?!?"

Luckily the next day was Saturday. Less than 25 hours later, we were doing this:

And then we had this:

Get 'er done! I can't believe how quickly this came to life after we talked about it. It was finished less than 24 hours after we decided to do it.

The total cost wasn't too bad either: 30.00 for the dresser + 10.00 for paint+10.00 for a board to lay across+5.00 for the piece of trim across= $55.00 for a new "entertainment center"

I'm looking for the perfect little somethings to go into the open space along with out mountain of electronic accessories. Baskets, maybe? Suggestions are welcome.

Also, I can not wait to get started on my next project: The TV Wall. This is what I have in mind:

Disclaimer: I don't know where this picture is from, but its from somewhere else.

Oh gallery wall, how I love you so!

Lindy

Check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties I might link up to.

DIY Cake Decorating

2010-09-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

I think a custom cake is definitely the ah... frosting on the cake when it comes to putting a party over the top. However, if budget is an issue (when is it not?), buying a completly custom cake might not be a feasible option for you. No worries, with a little practice and a totally inexpensive marshmallow fondant (MMF) recipe, you can create designer cakes for as little as $5. Cheaper than a grocery store bakery and a little more meaningful as well!

Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients
1 16 oz bag of Jet Puff marshmallows
6+ TBS water
1 tsp flavoring if desired
2 lb bag of C&H powdered sugar
1 cup shortening

Hint: don't use off-brand or old ingredients for this one. Normally I am all about store brands, but this is the one of the few times it actually matters or else you will end up with a grainy product.

Instructions
Put marshmallows in a microwavable bowl with 2 TBS water and desired flavoring. Heat in microwave for 30 second intervals until melted, stirring each time. Add 1.5 lbs of the powdered sugar to the bowl and stir until it is a sticky, gooey mess. Generously grease your hands and workspace with shortening and then put your sticky glob of sugar in the middle.

While kneading the mixture, add a little bit sugar at a time until you get a bread dough like consistency. I usually only ending up using 1.75 lbs of powdered sugar or less. Keep greasing your workspace and your fingers as the mixture begins to stick. If your mixture is too dry or not very elastic (you should be able to easily stretch it without tearing), add a tablespoon of water at a time and keep kneading. It should take about 8 minutes of kneading to dissolve all the bits of powdered sugar and to get a firm, elastic ball of fondant. You can use this recipe right away, but it's best if left to rest overnight.

To store the fondant, coat it in crisco, double wrap it in plastic wrap, and put it in a ziploc baggie with as much as the air squeezed out as possible. It stores quite nicely in the refridgerator for a couple of weeks. To color the fondant, just roll in a couple drops of food coloring (I use the gel kind with no problems). Have fun decorating your cakes! Remember, it's just like playdoh, but way better tasting. If something doesn't look right, just roll it up and try again. Patience and practice is the key.

p.s. If you would like to cover a cake in fondant but are not sure how, youtube has awesome tutorials! Check them out!

Pile o' Cake!

2010-09-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

We're back! Well, somewhat.

Cory and I got married on July 2nd, 2010. My whole family came down to the Florida (minus Elder Sambo--he's currently away for two years on business in Brazil) and had a whole lot of fun going crazy together! I love them. A lot o f the aspects of the wedding were DIY, and it really made every detail more meaningful to us to see all the love everyone put in to make it work.

I was going to wait for Jackie to put this one up, but it seems she is preoccupied with raising Jefferson, running a household, redecorating, hand crafting baby girl bedding, and generally getting ready for little Jane to arrive in November (some people are just sooo busy)...so here it is:

Jackie flew down here to Florida a week early so she could get started on this little beauty. I'm not a huge fondant fan, but this home made marshmallow stuff actually isn't bad at all. I would even go so far to say that it is...really good! Which feels wrong to me, a staunch fondant hater. But hey--these hips don't lie.

I'm sure Jackie would love to post her recipe! Right, Jackie??

{Insert your recipe HERE...}

I'll be posting a few more projects from the wedding, and a few things we've been working on as we set up shop in our first little apartment together!

On a side note, now that all of us sisters are married, we now have different last names! A friend suggested the tagline: "The sisters formerly known as Hansen". Ha!

Until next time,

Lindy

Heads Up

2010-04-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

I love headbands. I really, really do. They're just so...wholesome.
I recently made a little flower/ribbon headband that was just perfect for some engagement pictures Kim Brock was taking for us. I'll show you guys a decent picture of it:

Isn't she fabulous?! I love it. And it gives you a pretty good look at the ol' head band too.
This is the only decent picture you're going to see. The rest of these were taken with my cell phone. Sorry guys. Mama needs a new camera.
I don't know who originally discovered that when you burn fabric it curls up at the edges. I really don't. I've been seeing these things everywhere, and this is how I do it. I can't take credit for the idea, only this particular instance of doing it. M'kay?

Step 1: Cut circles of various sizes out of fabric. Seven was a bit much for one flower. Three was a good amount. Learn from my mistakes. Every fabric I tried curled up perfectly with the burning, so I'm not sure what the limits are on fabric you can use for this. Brown suede and shimmery silk are a go for sure. I don't know the science behind the whole fire/fabric reaction.

Step 2: Place your fabric circle's edges close to your heat source. It should just melt right up within seconds. My heat source happened to be "Sweet Pea" from Yankee Candle. It worked for this and smelled delicious.

Step 3: Nestle your various sizes of crispy edged circles together and put a few strong stitches through the middle to keep 'em that way.

Step 4: Embellish with a cute button, gem, misc. bead, and attach to a cardigan, headband, magnet, or whatever else you desire.

I attached these beauties to all of the above. The headband in the picture was made with a brown suede flower, silky ribbon and an elastic ponytail band. Super quick and easy!

I'm linking up to Frugalicious Friday.

Cake decorating

2010-04-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

To get you excited about my upcoming post on cake decorating, here are a few pictures of cakes I've done in the past.

Marshmallow fondant, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting on top tier, peanut butter rice crispies on bottom

Spice cake with cream cheese frosting, marshmallow fondant decoration
Vanilla cake with Jam and buttercream filling, royal frosting and buttercream decorations
Chocolate cake with chocolate fudge pudding filling, chocolate cream cheese icing and royal icing flowers.
Chocolate cake with buttercream icing, marshmellow fondant decorations

Super tasty spinach bowtie salad

2010-04-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

I get to make this salad for a bridal shower brunch. It is super tasty and healthy to boot! I couldn't find my usual recipe, so I googled it and found this variation which I edited to make my own. I haven't tried the craisins yet, but I am going to add them this Saturday. I also am making a not-so-healthy cake, and I'll post about that later to describe some basic cake decorating techniques. This salad is great for a quick, well-rounded dinner too!

Spinach Bowtie Salad

16 oz. Bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled (I use whole wheat)
1 bag of fresh baby Spinach
2 small cans Mandarin Oranges
1 cup Craisins
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
1 cup Honey Roasted Peanuts or Cashews
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds, toasted (optional)
2 cups torn cooked Chicken (optional) (I personally like shrimp in this salad better)

Dressing:
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
2/3 C. Teriyaki Sauce
5 Tbs. Sugar

Cook bowtie pasta according to directions, drain and cool while whisking the dressing together in a large bowl. Marinate cooked bowtie pasta in the dressing for 1 hour or longer in the fridge. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour the teriyaki sauce and pasta over the salad, toss together and serve. If it's just a few of you, make individual salad servings; keeping the salad and bowtie sauce separate for the rest of the week (no one likes a soggy salad).

5.4.3.2.1- ACTION- Crafty Cards Take 1

2010-04-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

These are a cute, fun and adorable gift for anyone. Cards coordinate with each other for a custom stationery set. SO easy to make, just need a little cardstock, decorative patterned paper coordinating with each other and some self-adhesive ribbon.

Spice it up

2010-02-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

First order of business: I told a few very special people that I would post the recipe for delicious, fresh, and all together amazing homemade fresh Salsa. I learned to make this from my roommate Kristen, who learned it from her previous room mate, who is rumored to have learned it from mouth of Martha Stewart herself. I later saw a recipe note card for the almost same exact stuff in Becca's super de duper cute recipe cards, so I'll post that for you and note the variations I made.

(Isn't that the cutest little card you've ever seen?? And she has dozens of them! Dozens! Check out The Renfroe Scoo p for more of her amazing recipes, stories, and opinions. If you want. I don't wannna be pushy.)

Now, I don't have a cute card prepared for ya'll, but the recipe I actually use goes more like this:

5 fresh and firm red tomatoes, diced and drained (Two cans of Rotel work in a pinch)

2 cans black beans, drained

1 can corn, drained (or 2 cups frozen corn is super delish)

1 bunch of cilantro (chop off the stems and remember: you can never have enough of this)

2 fresh limes or lemons

1/2 cup chopped onion

2-3 avocados, diced

2-3 gloves of garlic, chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

To make: Drain all juicy ingredients--and mix together. Add avocado last, and mix gently. Squeeze lemon/lime juice over the whole thing, and enjoy! My roommates and I have found that a giant size plastic ice cream container works excellently for storage. If you don't happen to buy ice cream by the giant plastic caseful...well, congratulations. But I don't know what you're going to store this dip in.

I'm partying with:

Fine Art

2010-02-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

Our landlord gave us permission to paint in our newest house! This is a decision she may live to regret. We each picked out special colors for our rooms, but after the painting was done, we had a LOT of leftover paint. Then Micheal's had a sale on canvas, and everything snowballed from there. We've solved the age-old problem of finding wall art that matches the room--using the leftover paint insures is a perfect match, every time. :)

I mixed the navy blue paint with some white to lighten it, and pieced this flower together for one of the roomies:

This space definitely needed some action. It really does the trick, don't you think?

I'm partying with:

Show and Tell Wednesdays

Dream Big

2010-02-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, when I've been hitting the crafty blogs a little too hard, I get ideas. Sometimes these ideas are small projects--painting, beading, rearranging furniture--these don't cause problems. Sometimes I completely lack the skills needed to complete a task, and my knowledge of the required skills is so lacking that I'm blissfully ignorant of what I'm getting myself into. Reupholstering a small couch is such a project.

Salvaged from the old high school library, this little bench had seen better days. The fabric was some kind of itchy wool-tweed (yes, thats the technical term), and the arms were scratched up and fugly.

"How hard can it be?", I asked myself as I headed down to Jo-Ann's, armed with my carefully printed 40% off coupon. I picked out 2 yards of suede...it couldn't take more than that, right?

The arms got a coat of Heirloom White first, and at this point I was feeling shanty-fabulous. While those dried, I discussed the best approach to re-upholstery with my very sweet-and-helpful, but-even-less-experienced-than-I-am boyfriend. We decided to leave the suede all in one piece so as to keep it uncomplicated. Lets call that "Mistake #1." After learning how to use the staple gun, we were off. The front went well, but when we got to the back we found we didn't have quite enough fabric to reach all the way around. Whoops. Eventually we added a strip of burlap to the back with fabric glue to hid that little mistake. It took FOREVER, but I learned a lot.

See the cute little burlap on the side, wrapping around the back? Yea...

What I learned:

1) Measure

2) I'm more of a 30 minute crafter--after that, you lose me.

3) Measure
Party Hard with:

Candlestick Maker

2010-02-07T07:58:00.000-08:00

This poor little whatever it is was looking pretty down when I first saw it--I had no idea what to do with it, but I loved it. 50 cents later, here we are:

My art teacher gave each of her students a basic paint set--very basic. I mixed some black into the fire engine red, and gave her a facelift. Its amazing what a layer of paint will do!

For now she's a candle holder. I'm awaiting the creative juices to come up with something better. Any ideas?

Animal Magnetism

2010-02-06T12:46:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to explore the capabilities of mod-podge for a while now. I knew the moment I saw this beauty at Goodwill that the time was right.

She's a beauty all right. I hammered that gorgeous embroidery right outta that frame, and got down to business.

Step 1: Spray paint frame black

Step 2: Get a piece of galvinized tin (can be found at Lowes for about $15.00) the fits your frame. If they don't have the exact size you can cut it down with some tin shears...or if you don't have those, you can play the ol' helpless card at the store until the poor associate goes to the back and finds a way to cut the sheet down to your specs. We went with the second option. You can leave it plain, but we decided to mod-podge wrapping paper. It was a little tricky. The wrapping paper was very thin, and tended to wrinkle. Character, right? Right. Thicker paper would have worked better. When it dries, insert it into frame.

Step 3: Glue cute buttons, ribbons, flowers, etc. onto cheapo magnets.

Step 4: Enjoy your new super cute memo magnet board.

And whats better than having a magnet board? Having 2 magnet boards!! The embroidery was stapled to this wooden frame:

I'm going to use some left over tin and make a more casual board for the kitchen--I'll let you know how it goes. For now I'm going to link this one up to the Shanty Sister's "I did it without my (future) hubby" party, and Today's Creative blog.

The Big To-Do (list).

2010-02-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

I'm a believer in to-do lists. When I have a list, I can accomplish anything--I can focus on one task at a time, and the urge to mark a task off the list works as motivation. Without a list...well, to be honest, I sit around and look at blogs all day. It's not pretty. But, keeping track of the lists is a pain, and I'd writing down all of my tasks for the week was getting out of hand. I found an old poster frame in the laundry room, and with it, the solution to my paper list making problems. Some wrapping paper, ribbon, and dry erase markers later--we're in business!

I dragged my roomie and BFF down with me on this one--she couldn't resist the call of a cute, cheapo, personalized dry erase board either. Who could??

Heres a to-do list for this to-do list:

Need:

Frame with glass/plastic insert

Wrapping paper

Letter stickers

dry erase markers

1) Glue your paper to the cardboard insert (for a simple dry erase board, just put it in the frame and your done here!)

2) We arranged our lists in a weekly basis, and put down stickers for the tasks we have to do everyday, cleaning, daily prays, etc. We left some empty room for stuff we would write in, like homework and daily workouts.

3) Once you have everything just the way you like, put it back in the frame, and you're done!

I can't get the button to show up, but I'm posting this at the Thrifty Home Penny Pinching Wednesdays Party.