TICK TOCK...WIN A FREE CLOCK...

Want to try your luck at winning one of my new pressed tin clocks???

You have NOTHING to lose!!!
Go HERE to enter today!!!

*If you are like me, you may feel like you NEVER win anything...but hey, give it a shot...you NEVER KNOW...might be your lucky day...

And if you don't win, I PROMISE I will appreciate the advertising :)
A LOT.

THANKS...in advance;)

PS. You can live ANYWHERE & win...I will ship the clock wherever!
PSS. You don't have to have a blog. You can facebook about it & leave a comment as Anonymous.
PSS. Thank you!

Anthro

Wanna win $75 to Anthropologie!?!
Go HERE to enter!

And if you need a PHOTOGRAPHER...I know Janelle & she is INCREDIBLE!
I promise you will be so HAPPY with the pictures she takes!

Preschool Tables

My sister had used these 3 tables(I think they used to be end tables in a church foyer)for preschool for the past couple of years. The small school chairs fit perfect at each table & you can sit 4 little kiddos around each one if needed. When my sister decided she no longer wanted to teach preschool, she gave them to my mom & they sat outside on her driveway for months.
When we finally got this house & I knew I wanted to teach preschool on the side, I called her up & was excited to find out that they were still sitting on the side of the house, waiting for someone who would want them:)

I grabbed them up & they have been fun to have in our playroom, as Parker & Ryler have enjoyed using them to play with their toys on.

But on Saturday, I decided to spruce them up a bit, before preschool starts in January.
I gave Parker the task of sanding them down:)

And a coat of spray paint on each & they are all ready for the kids!

I REALLY wanted to decopauge cute scrapbook paper on the tops or paint gameboards on the top surfaces of each...but when I realized that the kids would be using them to color & craft on & I'd be wiping and cleaning them often...I decided to leave the surface as is. They will be much easier to clean this way!

NEW- Tin Clocks

I am NOW OFFERING...
12" Tin Square Wall Clocks !!!

Choose from one of the following 4 designs/colors...

& order your clock today for only $35!!!

********

Or choose from one of the 3 following CUSTOM tin designs for $50

Old Architect - 12"x 12"

Pray - 9"x 9"

Royalty 12" x 12"

Ceiling Fan up for grabs...

Every ceiling fan in our house will eventually be replaced, but seeing as how money does not grow on trees...we have slowly been switching them out. The kitchen & bedrooms probably won't happen for a long time, but this beauty in the Master bedroom HAD to go!:)

It was even worse after scraping the popcorn ceilings, because when we went to paint the ceiling...the glass dome thingy got splattered, along with the blades, on top of all the popcorn ceiling dust & they just looked filthy! Who knows what has been blowing around in that room for the past month! yuck.

Matt ran to Lowe's & picked up a simple white ceiling fan & hung it yesterday & I already love it a million times better!

I've noticed on most of those design redo shows one of the first things to go in a Master Bedroom is the ceiling fan...replaced with a gorgeous chandelier. I would LOVE a pretty light fixture or a chandelier above our bed...but not likely as long as we live in HOT AZ! A ceiling fan is essential...we are in November & still sleeping with it ON!

So...anyone want our old fan??? :)

Chandelier

I couldn't stand the light in our entry way & my current budget for a new light is $0.

Even Craigslist can't help me there...although I have tried searching the FREE section in hopes of finding SOMETHING...but have found nothing.

Saturday I decided to "make it work" & throw away the ugly glass thing-a-ma-bobs & I grabbed a can of white spray paint from the garage & gave this puppy a new life...

I don't mind it at all now!And I'm gonna see if I can't find some cheap lamp shades in red or black to imitate this gorgeous chandelier...

A Work in Progress...

A few before & afters of the house we just moved into...
still have work to do, but we are getting closer!!!

Before Living Room...
After Living Room...I'm still IN LOVE WITH this entry table my brother made!!!

Stuff on the walls...not sure what will stay or if I am 100% happy with the arrangement, but we are getting there! The 2 black square frames were in my kitchen, but I think I will keep the frames in this room & stick family pictures in there...I made this clock to sale at my brother's framing store...
but I recently decided I liked it & it was coming to the new house with us.
It says "Forever, For Always & No Matter What"

I am happy with the progress we have made so far & look forward to future projects!
We have kind of taken a BREAK this week, and it has been nice to just kick back and relax!

By the way...

I by no means, am trying to give anyone the impression that all I do lately is complete projects & have everything in "order"...which is quite the opposite of reality.
The rest of my house still looks like THIS...

and this...

and my sink is PILED with dishes!

But I'm so happy & so grateful we were able to get this house, that I don't care about all of the messes that are waiting for me!!!

Knife Set

We got this knife set as a wedding gift & the knives are starting to get rather dull & rusty.
During the move, I decided I was going to toss it out & open up another knife set that we got as a wedding gift...that has been sitting unopened for the past 5 years.
Last minute, I grabbed this set & brought it with us, thinking I might be able to use them still???
Well...there are only 3 knives left(worth using) & there happens to be 5 extra slots for knives in the new set I opened!
Perfect.
Now I don't need this old, ugly one...

but maybe I can use it for something else???

I have plans to drill out this whole section, but because I don't have a big enough drill bit right now...
I'm just going to cover it up with some scrapbook paper for now:)

I coated it with white spray paint & turned it upside & traced out the top onto some scrapbook paper...

Decopauged the paper on the top &
And turned it into the perfect solution to hold my crafting supplies!
It will look just perfect on my red desk:)

Armoire Before & After

We decided we needed something to hold the TV in the playroom, so we turned to our best friend...Craigslist...for an affordable option.

I found this black armoire that I thought looked nice...

But when I went to pick it up I noticed the "southwest" design carved into the top...that I didn't see in the original picture & I didn't care for it. I asked him to drop the already low price, 20 bucks & he agreed, so I decided I could work with it. I also decided while I LIKED it black...I wanted WHITE furniture in the YELLOW playroom, so I sanded it down...

and Parker helped me PRIME it...

I took over from there & painted it white & was sad because I liked it better when it was black.

SO....I rubbed down the edges with sandpaper & the black popped through & decided I liked that much better.

Then I was TRYING to figure out WHAT TO DO about the Southwest carving???
I had no saw...no wood...pretty much nothing to work with & both my boys were napping & I wanted it done NOW & couldn't go to the store to find other options.

I searched through a couple of boxes & found 2 pieces of already cut wood that were black & orange-that I bought at Michael's forever ago for $1 to make a Halloween sign on. I decided since I hadn't found time for that sign yet, I probably never would & they might just hide the design.
I painted them white, nailed them on & while not perfect by any means, I like it better & was a $1...5 minute fix...which is my kind of project!


Matt & I moved it in the Playroom lastnight & I LOVE it!
It is perfect size for the wall it is on & the bottom is large enough to hide/store toys:)

Halloween Crafts

My sister-in-law, Julie, gifted all the girls in our family 3 handmade Pumpkins on Sunday!
She is incredible! She makes things ALL OF THE TIME...I need to have her email me some of the stuff she has done. She didn't even sew a year ago & now can whip up pretty much anything...and it always turns out PERFECT! She is extremely talented!
These beauties are wrapped around TOILET PAPER ROLLS!!! Are you serious?! It makes such a cute shape for the pumpkins & I'd have to ask her for sure, but I don't think this project requires ANY sewing/gluing...the fabric is stuffed into the hole with the stick (stem) cut from a tree in her backyard! So CREATIVE!!!
THANK YOU JULIE!!!

This was a birthday gift from my sis-in-law Heidi last week. I LOVE IT! It is already hanging on my door, as you can see! She is ALWAYS giving me handmade crafty gifts...which are my FAVORITE!!!
Thank you SO MUCH Heidi!

Brick to Beadboard

Wanna see a BEFORE & AFTER that will knock your socks off!?!
I can brag about this one...because well, I didn't do it.
My brother ROB did.
& I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

This is a view standing in our Living Room looking at the front door.
The house came with this UGLY brick planter when you walked in, with a brown, wood panelled bookshelf on one side. The wallpaper in the background, the brown door & the pebble tec entry way don't help either...

Our original plan was to knock it down & get rid of it...
BUT...that would have created an entirely new project of patching/texturing the wall...
&
then I was worried about the fact that there is a STEP down into the living room...so when you walk in our front door, I didn't want people tripping off the edge...
SO...I came up with the idea to hide it's ugliness with BEAD BOARD...
& I asked my brother for his expertise on turning our ugly brick planter into a beautiful entry table.

AND because he is incredible & so nice & so talented...he got to work
&
it turned out better than I even imagined!

I LOVE it!!!

I love it! I love it! I love it!

Did I mention that I LOVE IT!?!
THANK YOU ROB!!!!!!!!!!

Wanna see more of my brother's talent? Check out his Custom Framing Store on Main St. in Mesa...you WON'T be disappointed!



It is now home to some cute fall decor...

Bead Board Shelf

I just found THIS BLOG tonight & I'm already in LOVE!

This is her front door...how could I not be in love?!?

Check out what she did to this room with BEAD BOARD WALLPAPER...yes, WALLPAPER & 2 RAIN GUTTERS!?! Are you kidding me!?! I think I need to do this in our new playroom. I have been looking all over the place for shelves for kids books & I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea!
Read about the room transformation here.

It reminds me, in a different sort of way, of Layla's from Lettered Cottage dining room idea that I fell in love with the instant I saw it.
Stay tuned, I WILL have a shelf of some sort in my home in the future...whether it is for kids books or home decor items. I LOVE IT!!!

Happy October!

My Birthday is Oct. 1st...
one of my FAVORITE things about having an early October birthday?
I often get Halloween/Fall Decor for my birthday, which I LOVEEEEEE!

My sis, Kylie, gave me these darling "BOO" blocks that she bought at a boutique-LOVE THEM!
And my sis-in-law, Amy, gave me the cutest pumpkins in the world!

NOW...if we could just move into our house SOON...so that I can display my Fall Decor!


*I also got the CUTEST pumpkin wall hanging from my sis-in-law, Heidi, and it is already hanging on the front door at our new house. I'll have to snap a pic of it when I'm over there, so you can see it's cute-ness! She is the craftiest person I know!

House Projects...

We just bought a house & while it was in good condition structurally, there is a LOT of cosmetic work that we want to do...mostly a LOT of painting!!!!!

We have been working away for 2 weeks & hope to have all the painting done this week, so that we can install carpet. Here are some pictures of our progress so far!

BEFORE SHOT OF FAMILY ROOM, LOOKING INTO PLAYROOM

The lighting isn't great, but here you are in our new "sandcastle" painted panelled walls, with white trim, looking into our Pale Yellow-"Popcorn Ball" playroom. We have decided to leave the doors off, creating an open entrance between the 2 rooms...

The previous owners obviously liked blue...A LOT & as we have painted over each room, I was feeling a little bit guilty for painting over all of their hard work. I decided to honor them with ONE BLUE ROOM. This is a peak into what will soon be Ryler's nursery...I didn't say I was keeping it their color of blue...
but it will be blue...

...Light Blue!

There was wood trim throughout the ENTIRE HOUSE. All the baseboards, all the trim around the windows, all the doors...EVERYTHING was brown!

NOW...all that trim & all those doors are WHITE & it looks so much better!

Last but not least...

I have been TRYING to decide on a color scheme for my kitchen...

My current kitchen has tan walls with black cabinets & a black table & red accents
I really like it, but I want to do something different when we move.
I have thought about every color I can think of and I THINK (still may change my mind tomorrow) I have decided to incorporate GREEN.

I have been collecting ideas for different rooms in my house & I noticed how many of the kitchen ones that I have saved had GREEN in them, so I think I will be very happy with it!

Now...I need YOUR OPINION...

{Keep in mind that my kitchen table is BLACK}

Do we paint the cabinets white, black or green?
&
Do we paint the walls white, green, tan or another color?

Please help me decide!!!

Fall Decor

I need to make THIS Mod Podged Pumpkin...
and I think I just might with my new CRICUT!!! yay!!!

Pumpkin for April...

Recently, I received this comment from one of my best friend's April...

The Standrings said...

question- have you ever seen modge-podged pumpkins? just wondering if you could maybe do a post on those and maybe a little tutorial. :) basically, i want to modge podge some cute paper on to my pumpkins this fall but i am not crafty and so maybe you could help??? you are awesome!

Well April...
No, I have not ever seen modge podged pumpkins.
Tutorial....hmmm....Sure.
Where to begin???
Google of course.
I googled "Modge Podged Pumpkins"-Nothing
I googled "Scrapbook Paper Pumpkins"-Still found nothing
I decided to just go for it.
I had nothing to lose.
and PS...you ARE crafty April!



Step One:
Purchase supplies or dig through your closet {like me} and find FREE supplies:)
1 Pumpkin
(I used the backside of a jack-o-lantern that my mother-in-law gave Parker this week)
Scrapbook Paper
Mod Podge
Paint brush
Scissors

Step Two:
Cut out any design you'd like...Get Creative!
I chose a simple moon & bats...because...
well, because they were SIMPLE:)

Step Three:
Apply Mod Podge to paper & stick on Pumpkin

Step Four:
Now apply a layer of Mod Podge over the top of your paper
Let Dry.Step Five:
Decide your pumpkin needs more color.
Cut green polka dotted paper with hole in the middle.

& stick on pumpkin stem

Modge Podge green "leaves" down to pumpkin

Step Six:
Dig through closet again & find the only black ribbon you have & add a little embellishment

Step Seven:
Add green glitter eyes to bat, to tie in green leaves...
who cares if bats don't really have green eyes!

Step Eight:
Display Pumpkin in your house & enjoy!

April...
I have NO IDEA WHAT you had in mind, but this is the tutorial I came up with!
I hope it helps.
I also don't know if you were wanting to do this on real or fake pumpkins, but I don't think it would matter either way.
There are a lot of options you could do with this...so many different colors, designs & embellishments you could add!
I am going to do a black & white polka dotted one next...just because I think it would be cute.

Start to Finish this project took about 20 minutes...including drying time, so it wasn't bad at all. Perfect craft while your kids nap:)


I'd love to see what any of you(especially YOU, April) come up with for your pumpkins!

Workbox Giveaway!

I just saw this giveaway on Make it & Love it & I want it SOOO bad!
It would be PERFECT for the house we are moving into this week & I am drooling over how organized I could be. It is the PERFECT solution for Scrapbook Storage! Check out the Original Scrapbox for other amazing items they offer!

I also LOVE the Minibox in Vanilla beadboard shown below!

If you don't win...they are still offering $100 off right now when you enter the code 100Writes if you see something else you would like!
I'd wish you luck...but I don't want you to win, because I want to win!!! ;)

50's Party

My extended family had a 50's Dance Party lastnight & we didn't have anything truly "50's" to wear, so I cut out a simple guitar & record shape (using some fabric from an old dress I owned) & hand stitched them on to my boys white t-shirts(loose stitches that can easily be removed if I want) & I pulled out a sweater & tied a scarf around my neck & my hubby rolled up his jeans & we were off! All dressed up without spending a dime!
We had such a FUN NIGHT!!!

My boys don't look to happy in this family photo, but I promise they had fun dancing the night away !!! :)

Ceiling Tile Clock

I'm participating in Creative Cats Tuesday at Poppies at Play!

I LOVE seeing what people can do with the popular " vintage ceiling tiles"...

My sister recently made a darling magnet board out of one.
I have seen people paint them a variety of colors and hang them in their house.
I have seen them turned into picture frames.
I have seen them as a headboard to a bed.
& many more great ideas...

I had a "Ceiling Tile" that was gifted to me as a Bunko Gift & I didn't know what I wanted to do with it or where I wanted to hang it. I didn't want to leave it just a wall hanging.

One day I decided to try to turn it into a CLOCK, since that is what I do...

It worked!

I like the end result & have plans to start making more of these square, tin clocks in the future!

Happy Craftifying!!!

A fab fabric giveaway

Needle Little Inspiration {love that name} is have an OPEN HOUSE with multiple GIVEAWAYS!!!

You can win a fab fabric giveaway from DaffodilHill...
Some 1930's fat quarters from Jane's Fabrics...
Some great fabric from Twiddletails...
& An apron pattern & fabric from quilt taffy...


Check them out HERE

Good Luck!!!