Topiary Try

After a couple of snow and ice days this week, I am over the wintry weather. Are you with me? I'm so ready for Spring! All I want to do when I'm not at work is snuggle under a warm blanket and be L-A-Z-Y and I'm not normally one to sit still!

This week I made my first attempt at a cute topiary. It's a topiary but I'm not convinced that it's actually cute. I think it turned out to look more like a bonsai tree, not that bonsai trees aren't cute or nice, it just wasn't the look I was going for. Maybe it's the crooked stick! I should post it to the FAIL blog http://www.craftfail.com/ but then again it's not a total flop, it's just not as cute as I hoped! Oh well. On to the project!

This pot was just over $1.00 at Michael's during a 60% off at the AFTER Christmas sale!

Floral moss was $1.00 at Dollar Tree.

I think I'll go for the green sheets of it next time, prolly much LESS messy to use!

 

Stick was FREE out of the back yard!

Can't beat that with a stick! Get it?

Okay maybe I'm a little cheesy! 

Styrofoam ball was $1.00 at Dollar Tree.

Using a glue gun, I wedged a piece off of a Styrofoam block to hold the tree and then glued the stick into the Styrofoam.

I will be revisiting this to try and get the ball more proportional with the pot. I think if the top is a little bigger, it will look much cuter and less wimpy! 

They are super easy and super cheap to do though!

DIY Stone Drink Coaster Set

We've been using the same four stone drink coasters for about 8 years now and they have seen better days! They have been dropped several times and I've glued a couple back together plus they also don't match the rest of the room anymore. I've always liked them a lot but have been contemplating getting new ones, just haven't found any I really like. It wasn't until I saw some DIY sets on Mod Podge Rocks! that I thought it made more sense to just make my own, and I am pleased to share the result!

I purchased a box of natural marble stone tiles for the project at Home Depot. It was under $5.00 for nine tiles so this is another great gift idea! Before I started the project I cleaned the stones using dish soap and warm water. I let them air dry. I used two pieces of scrap book paper I already had. I didn't want to be bored of them all looking exactly alike so I used two sheets of paper that had the same pattern but were two different colors so they'd look like a set and would "flow" with the color scheme of the living room.

I didn't do any real measuring. Using the stone, I positioned the paper where I wanted it and made my cut marks with the zacto knife. I then lined up the cut marks using a metal straight edge to do the cuts and make each square.

 

If you don't know what Mod Podge is, you should check it out because it does rock! It's a glue/sealer that you apply with a brush. You can find it at most craft stores. Anyhow I brushed a thin layer of glue on the top of the stone, placed the scrap book paper where I wanted it, and brushed on another thin layer of glue over top of the scrap paper, making sure the paper was flat and not bubbling, especially on the edges.  

When wet, the Mod Podge made the paper a little white but the glue dried clear. Can you see the shimmery glitter on the paper? Love it!

After the glue dried completely, I added some soft circle "feet" to the bottom corners of each stone to protect the furniture.

Here is the result! Four simple, modern looking drink coasters that actually go with the colors in the room.

Tie some ribbon or twine around these four cute coasters and you have a really nice, handmade gift for someone! I loved making this. What a fun little project!

Hope To Make It Happen In 2011!

I am PSYCHED to be participating in the Nesting Place 2011 Home Goals party! I love seeing what everybody's goals are! It is such a good feeling to slash through things on the to do list and I have a loooong list for the new year! Not sure how much of it I'll accomplish but here's my run-down and here's hoping!

SIMPLIFY! DE-CLUTTER! ORGANIZE!  

• De-clutter and clean up kitchen junk drawers, cabinets and pantry. 
• Reorganize bathroom cabinets, coat closet, linen closet, laundry room. 
• Do something with the mantle so I am at peace with it! I keep changing it around and it drives me nuts!

• Brighten up the living room with more color.
• Find an inexpensive curtain rod solution for the bay window in the dining room. I already have curtains to hang and can't wait to get them up! Without the Christmas tree there, it looks so bare.

• Organize the playroom, spruce it up and add something to dress up the windows! It has been on the back burner because I was waiting to see if we were going to have a boy or girl with the second baby. Uh, now that our baby boy is nine months old I think I can do a BOY theme if I decide to! Tee Hee!
• Hang something on the wall over master bedroom bed FINALLY. We've been in the house for nearly five years so it's about time!
• Refinish a piece of furniture that has seen better days! Years ago, I accidentally set a warm, scented electric plug-in on top of the wooden stand and it melted to it and ruined the finish. Arrgghh!  
• Maybe add something over the kitchen cabinets to dress the room up. Oh and find a storage solution for the pots and pans I got for Christmas!
• Mud and paint the garage and get all the STUFF up off the garage floor so the cars fit better.
• Possibly attempt crown molding. Dying to put it in the den but maybe I can test it in the laundry room for starters!
• Decoupage something!
• Oh I am also itching to learn to sew on a sewing machine but that just may have to wait!

We shall see what I actually accomplish this year but I will try to do as much as I can! I am determined to get this house organized! 

Rambling And Removing Sticky Residue From Glass Or Metal!

It has been one heck of a week and I don't mean that it has been terribly fun! Talk about running ragged! The creepy crud has taken over and I have been battling an awful cold but it has been another week of running ragged. Everyone in the house is sick which = no fun. Can't wait for this nasty illness to be past tense! Hope no one else gets it!

Sometimes I think mommy hood is one of the dirtiest jobs there is and I know there are way many jobs that are mind-boggling disgusting. It ranks up there though! Yesterday morning I was actually excited, err... no, ELATED to have put my Lands' End winter coat, which I LOVE and would not have if it wasn't for a hefty gift card I got a few years ago, through two wash cycles and be successful at removing an entire melted Hershey's chocolate miniature from the inside of my right front zippered pocket. I put it in my pocket to hold it for our four year old and forgot about it. Intelligent I tell you! Well last night brought yet another fun and nasty challenge... My poor little nine month old(bless his heart - he didn't know what was happening to his little body when it was taken over by some mean virus) puked in the car about 12 times all over himself and his infant carrier on the way home from daycare. Hope it doesn't make me start throwing my guts up when I go to clean it out. BLEH!

On that note, it seems like it's a constant cycle of having to clean something or find a way to get grossness off of something. I have been reading other crafty/ home posts and have seen several people mention projects where they have used glass or metal items where there was residue from price tags or sticky labels. In these posts the residue was covered up or worked around but I can help get it off easily. 

Here are pictures of baby food jars and a salsa jar that I washed and pulled the labels off of for an upcoming project. I wanted to get the sticky residue off! I just thought I'd share a simple tip I learned in college, working with oil paints, that will help remove sticky residue off a metal or glass surface, quick and easy. I HATE seeing that stuff on things so I try and get it off when I can. It's one of those little things that gets on my nerves for some reason!


Mineral Spirits OR Denatured Alcohol (just one) from the hardware store will take it right off! Just be sure to use it in a well ventilated area, outside would be best. Rubber gloves are a good idea too so you don't get it on your skin. Just pour some into a cloth and wipe the gunk off the surface. You may have to put some pressure but you shouldn't have to scrub and it will take just a couple of minutes. Just use with caution and wear a mask!


Hope this helps next time you need to get a sticker off of something. It sure beats spending a long time scrubbing with warm water and dish detergent!

The New Year Brings New Things Plus A New Home For The Birdies!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope everyone is well rested and ready for the new year! 2010 sure went fast and it's going to take some time to get used to writing/typing 2011 now! Last year we had lots of changes in our household and I'm sure this year will bring lots more. Today marked a new beginning for us... the youngest began crawling! He has been semi-crawling for a while but now I say it's ON like DONKEY KONG! The baby is crawling forward for REAL (no scooting, no rolling, no army crawl, or inch worm!), and I caught him this morning while he crawled forward, moving towards the cat laughing! It's all over (for the cat especially-poor thing!) and we have got to BABY PROOF! On top of my organizing and decor projects I will be baby proofing all over again. Fun times!

Okay so now that Christmas is over (sniff sniff), it's safe to share what I gave grandparents for presents this year. I painted bird houses in college sports themes!

I picked up several unfinished bird houses at the craft store. I used acrylic paints and mixed them with white or black to get the right shades so I didn't have to buy too many colors for each bird house. I Googled the logos and printed the ones with the highest resolution on black and white paper. I used tracing paper to copy the logo to the wooden houses. Then using painters tape, I masked off the areas I wanted to paint and went to town. I painted the logos by hand so they're definitely not perfect! Once I was finished and let the paint dry overnight, I used Rustoleum Clear Top Coat Proptective Crystal-Clear Finish to seal and protect the paint job. Then I drilled holes to install 2 eye-hole screws to the front and back on the roof to attach twine to hang the birdhouse. The birdhouses turned out great and we'll see if we will have any new birds in the spring!

Cabin Fever!

So was Santa good to you this year? Hopefully you had a great Christmas day filled with lots of fun and were able to spend it with those you love! We had a great day and the house shows it b/c we have let it go a little to be able to play with the kids and put all the new toys together! Can we say MESSY!?!?!?

 

 

Christmas is such a wonderful time but it's always a little sad to see it go. I wish the season was a tad longer so we could keep our decorations up more than a month! We've had lots of great food and some good down time with family but I'm starting to feel, uh a little L-A-Z-Y, and like I need to get O U T! I've got a bad case of Cabin Fever right now! Anyone else feeling like this? 

There is snow on the ground and I just want to nap and stay under a warm snugly blanket! We finally put our gingerbread house together, decorated by our four year old, which I think he did an excellent job of. YUM for another sweet thing to eat!

After the year is over I've got big plans to start working on some new projects that I'll share step-by-step instructions on. There is always lots to do, and with a new year starting, I've got some serious plans to try and simplify and get organized, room by room! Hope everyone stays WARM and in the meantime I will be trying to motivate!

Christmas Eve - Final Touches

Merry Christmas from our home to yours! It's a season of giving and hopefully we all celebrate the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Hopefully everyone will get to be with 
family and loved ones!
 

Snowflakes added to mirror offer vintage charm! All dollar store purchases! The charm of the strands of snowflakes is that you can make them as long or short as you want because of the silver rings that attach the plastic snowflakes! You can scatter them all over the house if you want!



Candle redo - was black before - below


Plastic circle from a scarf I received as a gift from my sister-in-law couldn't be recycled...

so I made a cute jingle wreath for a doorknob out of tinsel and ribbon!


Beads made great additions to garland up the staircase and to an arrangement on the mantel!

Mantel Centerpiece!

 

Saw this posted by Jessica from Craftily Ever After and thought I'd try it with a frame and scrap paper I had! Hers is way cuter b/c of the size of the frame but I like! I'll try this again with a larger size frame and maybe a mat. Oh and by the way, my paper may look rose colored but it is brown! I do LOVE this project idea!

Hope you enjoyed all the pictures! Wishing you a warm and Merry Christmas this year!

Surviving Holiday Mishaps

How is everybody doing? Surviving the holiday crazies? What is a holiday without chaos of some sort? Haha! It has been the week for mishaps in our household, that is for sure! No the cat hasn't climbed the tree and the tree hasn't fallen over this year but still... I made that super simple wreath a week ago and was very excited about having a wreath for the door and then went out the front door to get the mail over the weekend and this is what I found when I opened the door...

Oopsie daisy! Maybe GLASS wasn't the way to go? Hmmm. I still love the wreath so I cleaned up all the broken glass and salvaged the rest and used double the glue and rehung. We're good to go again!

I mentioned in another post that we have TONS of paint in the gay-rage. Well someone in the household accidentally bumped the stacked up paint and knocked over half a can via aw-tow-mow-beel, and what a mess it was to clean up! Too funny! I repurposed a pizza box (how is that for repurposing!?!?!?) as a "dust pan" to carefully sweep the paint into. : ) With a little elbow grease, AKA bathroom scrubber brush + Palmolive dish soap = we have a clean floor again, thank goodness, and a new item for the warm weather to do list -  storage for paint cans to avoid paint spills in the future!

Paint spills is one of my nightmares OR maybe my cat running through paint. He'd be the biggest paint brush ever will his long hair! 

They say things happen in threes so a couple of nights ago I was outside cleaning something and as I was heading in the house there was a very loud thud! Our garage door had fallen off track and came very close to hitting one of the cars. We were very lucky no one was hurt and it didn't do any damage. It was fixed quickly and is up and running again.

Tis the season, right! Busy is what everyone seems to be right now. One of my very wise friends recently told me that if you're not busy with life then you're not really living. I think she has a point and a great perspective on things. It really is more about how you handle things, huh! 

In my next post I'll share my latest simple Christmas decorations that I FINALLY put up!

Fun Bubble Magnets!

Put a smile on someone's face with handmade bubble magnets! Need I say more?!?! This is one of my all time favorite little projects that makes a BIG impression. It's an excellent gift for friends, family members, teachers, you name it! To me, handmade gifts are special because they have to be thought out and come from the heart and these are just so darn cute and fun to make!

They're a great, inexpensive homemade gift that you can do with your child or by yourself. Anyone can make them and EVERYONE will love them... Guaranteed!

What you'll need

Accent gems by Crafters Square (Dollar Tree or Garden Ridge or any craft store). Clear ones are best so you can see the image through the stone.

You probably don't want the ones that look like they have an "oily rainbow effect" b/c the images will appear a bit distorted.

Clear drying tacky glue
I used Aleene's Premium Quality Clear Gel Tacky Glue, purchased at Michael's - goes on clear, dries clear.

Comfy pair of scissors

Roll of Magnets

I prefer the hard ceramic ones but had to use the softer magnets this time but they work fine too!

Pencil

Paper

Scrap book paper is excellent to use! Magazine graphics and images work well! Anything printed on photo paper. Just make sure the paper you use is card stock, photo paper, or something that isn't super thin, although magazine print is great too!

Zacto knife

I love this project!!! Did I say that already? Whew it has been a whirlwind of a weekend and couple of days packed full of craziness and mishaps. Then there is Christmas! This little magnet project is quite relaxing in all the chaos of the holidays. Clear off the table, put down a vinyl table cloth or paper to work on. I used a child's finger painting pad beacause if you're like me, you will get glue on the table, for sure!

I've played around with this so much that I have it down to a science, although it is NOT rocket science! You can set up and do it while watching tv. That is the beauty of it!

Remember the stones are imperfect, as far as shape and size, and they have some noticable flaws but I think that is what is so cool about them. Combined with an image, no two magnets are the same. Just think! No one else in the world will have the same magnets you are making! Lots of fun!

Step One

Wash your stones/marbles. They come with a chalkie residue on them so dump them in a cup or bowl, add a little dish soap and wash and dry and you're ready!

Step Two

Pick a stone and place it on your paper over the image or design you want. I like symmetry but I also like things to be off center for added perspective, so I play around with what images or parts of images would look nice. Once you have the stone over the area of the paper you want, trace the stone closer to the underside of the stone to get more coverage through the stone.You'll want to trace each stone individually b/c the stones vary in shapes and sizes. I've tried different hole punches and they didn't work because the stones aren't perfect circles. I'm also attempting to trace left handed for the photo and it is hard when you are a righty. Trying to take pictures with my non-dominant hand is harder though!

Step Three

Cut out the circle with scissors and lay the stone over the circle to test to be sure they are about the same size.

 

Step Four

Put a dab(smaller than diameter of a pencil eraser) in the middle of the circle and rub the stone on the paper in a circular motion to spread the glue over the paper.

At this point you may want to use the Zacto knife and cut any excess paper from around the underside of the stone. 

Step Five

Place on the paper and let sit and set. Try not to use too much glue so that the stone doesn't slide all over the place and stick to the paper or surface below.

It's a little like a game because you want to keep checking on the stones and lifting them to move them so they don't stick to the surface below. Once they are dry, do the same and glue the back of the paper to the magnet. You don't want to place them too close together to dry because they will attract each other and move together. See below! You don't want this googly eye thing to happen! "Keep em separated!"

Once the magnets have dried, place them in these cute gift card tins, they'll hold on to the tins. : )

You have a very inexpensive gift that won't look it! Stones at Dollar Tree are $1.00 per pound. I used 3 sheets of scrap book paper to offer contrast between the designs and colors.I got the tins at Michael's for $0.50 each on clearance. The magnets are under $6.00 for one roll of about 60. The roll of magnets supplied me with enough to do plenty of peeps!

OK so Ta-Ta-for now! Sometime soon I'll send out some instructions for a little more advanced way to make and customize the magnets. Enjoy the last few days before Christmas!

 



One Boy's CARS Christmas

WARNING! LOOOOOOONG POST but there are pictures as you scroll!
Is everybody ready for Christmas? Gifts bought and wrapped? Have you finished your shopping, unlike me, who only started my shopping today! Crapola!!! - Today I totally struck out! I took a half day so that I could get some shopping, um I wish I could say DONE, but noooo. I took today so I could START shopping. Way to procrastinate, hu? Well with two little ones this year, I have done what I can and I'm lucky to have the tree up and plugged in! So on my busy day running around, TARJAY did not have the ONE toy my son told Santa he wants MOST for Christmas. I did not expect it to be a hot ticket item but then again I guess I'm not UP on what is popular. Oh well, what is a mother to do? I'll get up in the morning and run to Toys R Us and pray that they have it. I never wanted to be THAT crazy mom trying to find that ONE toy! Ugggh!

It's the Hot Wheels Criss Cross Crash dealio. We are crazy about CARS... Matchbox, Hotwheels, "cars with eyes" aka Disney Pixar CARS (Can't wait till the next movie comes out in the Spring)... you name it! His grandfather has even somewhat brainwashed him to like NASCAR. Hmm. Not so sure about that!

This toy will prolly drive me bonkers because it's a loud one, but we can't deprive the child of all the crazy crashing car fun he will have. Afterall he is a boy! Keep your fingers crossed I find it! If not, I will be calling all family members in town to check the store locations near them. I'm just not sure that if I were to order online, I'd get it by Christmas, at this point. Oh I vow never to wait again to buy presents! 

On the upside I did get the Christmas cards in the mail today. Pats on the back for that! Are you mailing Christmas cards? I had contemplated not even doing them this year but didn't want to cut it out because it is a special time of year. Our cards are seriously low budget this year. Construction paper and glue and one picture that my son thinks I butchered. My parent's puppy was in the pic and you could see his rear end so I cut him out and well, it's okay but not great. I think I can get away with it because a four year old helped! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I'm posting some more Christmas decoration pictures. These are of my son's bedroom tree. Since we are so nutty over cars we did a little tree on his desk with a cars theme. Well it's Pixar CARS. He loves his "cars with eyes" so he calls them.  

 

Lightning McQueen! Out of all the rooms in our house I think the kiddos' rooms are my favorite. They are complete and just take me back to childhood in a sense. I'll share more projects in them eventually.

Sally and Mater! The boy was dead set on naming his baby brother Gabriel "Mater" because he loved Mater from the movie and his best little bud's name is Gabe. We swayed away from that one entirely but did give him credit for being excited and involved!

A room decked for Christmas in Lightning McQueen! Gotta love it! I don't want him to grow out of it because I LOVE his room so much! Oh and for the tree skirt I used one of the extra pillow cases to the sheet sets so it flows with the theme of the room and I didn't have to buy anything extra!

Can't wait to share my all time favorite gift idea! It's a fun project for anyone! Until then. I am also working on my current Christmas gifts to grandparents but I have to keep it on the low so nobody finds out. : ) I'll share it AFTER Christmas!