Crafts
Halloween Built-Ins
I have been waiting for days for the light to be bright enough to take pictures of the little makeover our built-ins received for Halloween. Have I mentioned patience is not one of my virtues? At the rate I was going it was going to be Easter before I showed you the Halloween shelves. And, well, that wouldn’t be quite right would it? So instead of grainy and dim, let’s call these photos moody and Halloween-esque. 🙂 Decorating mainly with stuff I already had forced me to get creative – especially since I don’t own an abundance of seasonal decorating items. Me and clutter are not friends. If you’ve known me for…
Paper Pumpkins
Human beings are full of contradictions. Okay, me. I’m full of contradictions. For instance, decorating with pumpkins makes me immensely happy. Smelling pumpkin-y things? Can’t get enough. Eat pumpkin-flavored food? Gag me now. I’m super mature for my age too. These paper pumpkins fall into the “can’t get enough” category. I made this orange pumpkin a couple of years ago. He’s a little banged up and misshapen, but we all get that way from time to time. This paper pumpkin craft is easy and cheap – my two requirements for crafting. Here’s what you need: paper, scissors and a glue gun. I’ve done this craft with tape, but the glue…
Useful Perler Bead Craft
True story. Last year my daughter participated in an economics project at school involving making a product out of perler beads and then “selling” that product. I had managed to avoid the perler bead craze thus far, but she was over-the-moon about those little plastic cylinders. I got those warm fuzzy feelings seeing her totally jazzed about what she had created. So, for her birthday which was a few days away, I ordered her a big tub of perler beads. 22,000 perler beads to be exact. In my defense, perler beads are really cheap – especially on Amazon. You probably know how this story is going to go. My daughter opened the…
Horseshoe Pumpkin
Did I mention my current horseshoe obsession? Earlier this month I made a gold good luck horseshoe after being inspired by the September 2015 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. After that project, I saw the Dutchess County Fairgrounds post this inspirational picture on Facebook and I knew I had to make a horseshoe pumpkin similar to the one they posted. (I don’t know who to give proper credit to for that idea.) A friend messaged me and said, “hey, I have a whole crate of horseshoes. You can have them.” Well, as you can imagine, I calmly replied freaked out and said, “YES!” She wasn’t joking, there was a bunch! I…
Good Luck Horseshoe
Update: Huge shout out to Knock Off Decor for featuring my horseshoe! Shocking news. I subscribe to a few magazines. While I love all things digital, I still savor turning the pages of an actual magazine or book. It’s a feeling that can’t be replaced. A couple of weeks ago I was flipping through the September 2015 issue of Better Homes and Gardens when I saw this: Gold horseshoe. COME TO MAMA! I can’t really tell if it’s mounted on that book or if it’s just Photoshopped to be the same color. No matter. I was stuck on the gold horseshoe. I just needed a horseshoe. Small hitch in the giddy-up. If…
Pine Cone Birdhouse Bookends
The other day while on a creative sojourn through Joann’s (I can sojourn now, as long as I’m back by 2:30 to meet the school bus), I decided I needed to jazz up the bookends on the shelves in our dining room. Spray painting them ‘champagne mist’ was no longer enough. Sometimes ideas and inspiration come to me in convoluted ways. I’m just thankful that this time I was in the paint-it-yourself-trinket aisle instead of the all-things-wedding aisle at the craft store. Through a few leaps of illogical logic and some creative mind-bendery, I decided I needed birdhouse bookends. I started with two of these very generic wood birdhouses (similar). I…
Skinny Jeans Embellished with Embroidery Thread
A couple of weeks ago I went to a large children’s consignment sale. I had a special pass to get into the sale the night before it opened to the general public. I arrived at the time indicated on my special pass and found a line snaked around the outside of the building to enter the sale. It was abundantly clear that I was a “consignment sale novice” because I was the only one in line without a huge laundry basket. The mamas jokingly laughed at my naivety then explained the baskets are to hold all of your loot. Some of them even had a pull-cord attached to their baskets in case…
Painted Visor Using a Doily Stencil
If I had to choose between Team Hat and Team Visor, there is no contest. Team Visor has all of my loyalty. There is something about my hair that just does not look right under a baseball cap. Whenever I try to wear one I have a Dirty Dancing moment. “You can’t put Baby in a corner.” Same thing with my hair…you can’t tuck it under a cap! Last week I ordered a plain navy visor on Amazon for about 7 bucks. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the quality. When I ordered the visor, I didn’t intend on doing anything but wear it while lounging by the pool. It’s a rough,…
Notebook Paper Lunchbox Notes – Free Printable
We are in back-to-school countdown mode around these parts! I always associate the start of school with fall, but in Georgia it is still 95 degrees. Definitely not fall-like weather. Maybe in a couple of months… But whether I think it feels like the start of school or not, it’s still starting! Time to get with the program. Last year I started packing my daughter’s lunch with reusable lunchbox notes. I made these day-of-the-week notes and will keep using them this year. They’ve held up great! (There’s a free printable if you click on the link to that post.) This is my son’s first time in all-day school, so he gets to…
Tie-Dye Cleaning Rags
Earlier this week I declared a “stay at home fun day.” This is mom-speak for “we need to stay at home and do some laundry or we will be starting a nudist colony soon.” However, my kids took my declaration literally. They expected us to have fun and for me to provide the entertainment. Luckily, my daughter had received a tie-dye kit for her birthday. I had been procrastinating saving it for such a day as this. The tie-dye kit included a tote bag to tie-dye. My daughter then asked me what a tote bag was. We were off to a great start. Thankfully, the kit also included plenty of…
