Thursday, April 23, 2009

Future Ideas For My Home....


One of my FAVORITE vinyl companies is "It's A Sign." They have a blog where customers send in pics of what the vinyl looks like AFTER being put up in their homes. I loved two of the pictures....The overall decorating style was darling....so I am bookmarking my two favorites for the world to see. What do you think? Someone's got some stylin' sense!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A "CREEPY-CRAWLY" Night of Fun!!


Homemaking Fun came up with a fun way for her & her children to spend the night together. She put together a "BUG" themed night! From creepy-crawly yummy snacks, to a bug art project, and then ending with watching The Ant Bully....it sounded like such fun! She even created labels for the drinks...that said "BUG JUICE" and made awards for the finished art projects. (She gives you the link for that...) Thanks for providing us for ideas to keep the youngsters entertained and happy! :)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

A SaSsY L'il Bib...


Awwwww....check out this dah-ling bib that was created over on "Make it & Love it." She's got a super easy tutorial to go along with it!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Days of the Week Tags...Part 2

Flipflops & Applesauce wrote a post about THIS find. I did one a while back....but I liked the bright colors that Living Locurto used. This is an idea she came up with to keep her son organized and ready for school. They pick out clothes for each day of the week and hang them on a low rack for him to reach. She designed some cute tags to hang on each outfit. Each tag has the day of the week....read the rest of her post for another cute idea that they do the night before....with the clothes. She also has the tags in pastel colors.



Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The NEWEST Candle Addition....

...to our house!
The house is ALL ready for a brand-new owner...and right before we had a "walk-thru"...I decided I needed to spice up our candles in the kitchen...so I added some neutral colors that went with the color scheme. I didn't want to compete with the GORGEOUS flowers my hubby just gave me or the cute "Spring" blocks in our window sill....and THIS is the result! We both really like it.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Baby Charm Bracelets...

Aren't you just DYING with how cute this is!?! This website called Cuddle Babies can take the actual footprints or handprinds of your l'il ones & turn them into charms! How adorable! My friend, Kajsa, stumbled across this website! Enjoy!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Storing Ribbon??? Problem SoLvEd!!

Adhering Thoughts came up with this DAH-ling way to store ribbon! She just poked a bunch of holes in the top of this jar, and decorated it....LOVE it!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

You've Been EGGed!!



Homemaking Fun posted this on her blog...and I wanted to put it in my "archive" for the future. She found it on Executive Homemaker...and I am not surprised! One of my FAVS....Laurie from Tip Junkie...heads that up. So....Homemaking Fun's chilluns filled Easter eggs with goodies & sprinkled it across a friend's lawn....and left the sign. What a FUN thing to open up your door to! We need more things like this going on right now in the world! You can get a downloadable sign here.

Easter.....bAg??

Yep....ladies & gentlemen....it's a BAG....not yer typical basket!?! Why did I love this idea?
Reason #1 - it's super duper cute
Reason #2 - I have a LOT of scrapbooking supplies
Reason #3 - it doesn't take long to fill this sucker up!!
We are still in the "newly-wed" phase...and we usually go to his parents house for Easter. (My fam lives in another state...SAD FACE!!) His mother spoils us rotten and we always get a HUGE Easter basket filled with delicious...and completely unhealthy treats....
We usually do baskets for each other as well....but then that's just MORE unhealthy treats! Grrr...we are really trying to change our eating habits...so I think I am going to make this l'il bag and fill it with a few YUMMY favorites of his....and then some sentimental items, notes, homemade coupons, etc. I found this on Adhering Thoughts...she's a very talented gal!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

"SPRING" Blocks!!

Sooo....here are my NEW "Spring" blocks! We will be making these for our next Craft Club get-together...and although there WILL be a few things I "tweak"...such as the size of some of the letters & the paper on one of them....I am pretty dang proud of them!
This is the first wood project I have done FROM SCRATCH!! I drew up the letters...and had our wood supplier cut them out (that's next...buy my own saws) and then went to town!






I am not a HUGE "tutorial-er" but I can give you some tips. Here are the steps that I took:

Materials:
-Wood letters
-Sanding Paper
-Stain
-Gloves (when staining)
-Rag (to wipe stain off)
-Brushes
-Mod Podge
-CUTE scrapbooking paper (I use a different one for each letter)
-Scrapbooking distressing ink
-Pencil
-Scissors
-Scrapbooking Adhesive
-Pop-Dots (another kind of scrapbooking adhesive)
-Glue gun & glue sticks
-Craft wire
-Wire cutters
-Ribbon
-Flowers
-Any other embellishments you prefer

1. Stain the wood at least TWO days prior to beginning project. I would first sand down any rough edges, wipe off the sawdust, and then stain the wood letters.

2. Then - trace the letters onto your paper. I trace it on the back...so you can't see any pencil lines. I then trace inside of those lines - about a centimeter - and THAT is the one I cut out. I like my paper to sit just a little inside the wood.

3. I lay the paper on the wood to see what it looks like..and then "tweak/cut" any areas that need a little fixing up.

4. I like to ink the edges of the paper..it gives it a more finished look....in my opinion. I used a ligth brown on these blocks.

5. Mod podge!! Paint a light layer of mod podge on the first block - then quickly lay the paper on top. Carefully run your fingers over the paper, get any bubbles out, and push down all around the edges. Do NOT put mod podge on top....yet! This is a trick I learned...I do the top layer AFTER this coat dries....this reduces the risk of the paper bubbling up. Finish putting paper on all of your blocks. Don't rush this part. The more time I take, the better they always turn out!

6. When the first layer has dried - I then paint a top layer of mod podge on top of the paper and wood. Make sure to get any drips off the sides of the wood....if there is a lot dripping down, it will dry white!

7. I let this completely dry before adding embellishments (ribbon, flowers, rhinestones, etc.)

8. For the "I" ...I had them drill holes in the flower part AND the "i." I then took some of my craft wire, folded a piece in half, wrapped it around my pencil - to get the twisted look, and then trimmed it down to the size I wanted. I put some glue (from my handy glue gun) in both holes, and then stuck the wire in the holes....and held onto it until the glue dried. I then had to maneuver the wire a little until it looked JUST the way I wanted it to.

9. Add your ribbon, flowers, "bling, bling" where-ever you please!

10. Sit back, admire your craft, and make sure that everyone who passes by hears you say, "I MADE THAT!" Tee, hee!

Hopefully this little tutorial is enough to help some of you crafters out there do a little project like this one. Feel free to ask questions if you are confused! Good luck!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Lil SpRiNg Chicks!

Are you KIDDING me? How cute are these?? I ran across this on Crafting Chicks blog...and you can find more info here. Adorable! I might just have to make this!!

Easter Baskets...


SUPER cute Easter baskets...found over at Crafting Chicks. I LOVE the bright colors! She gives a lil more detail on her blog.