{Craftify It}

String Art

2012-02-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this string art floating around pinterest??

My friend is redoing her master bedroom and we were trying to come up with something cute for above her bed. She showed me this picture and I got to work! You can go to Que Linda for her tutorial, because I just followed that and she explains everything great! I ran to Lowe's and found this wood with grooves so they fit together and thought that I would like the look and it might help hold everything together...I poured wood glue in the grooves and stuck them together and gave the a LIGHT COAT of white paint...

the only difference from her tutorial, I "free handed" the word, because I didn't feel like busting out my Cricut. You can tell I obviously just chicken scratched until I liked it:)

Then I cut it out, trying to keep the thickness the same for all of the letters. Then I started nailing and when I was done, I pulled the paper off and was left with a bunch of nails!

(my little helper's hands finishing his cereal in the background;)

I went to the store to buy yarn and then opted for crochet thread, since it was thinner. I'm glad I did, because I like the end result better.

I secured the back by nailing 2 vertical boards onto my original 4 planks of wood and hung a wire across the back...

It wasn't too hard and I'm excited to see it hanging above Mandy's bed!

If you try it, let me know! I'd love to post it on my blog!

Christmas Gift Idea Número Seis

2012-01-04T14:06:00.001-08:00

Some people are put on this earth, solely to be an example to others. Our friends, the Hubers, are our earthly angels. Sure they spoil our kids rotten and my kids love it and think they are the greatest, but it isn't the spoiling that makes me want to be like them, it is their thoughtfulness. This Christmas, I could go on and on about the gifts they bought us...but there is one that made me the happiest. My daddy passed away a couple months ago and I didn't even want to experience Christmas without him. These friends brought over a small Christmas tree before Christmas. It wasn't just any Christmas tree, it was my daddy's tree. I have no clue how much time was put into this gift, but I have no doubt it was a LOT! Not only was there an ornament with a picture of all 8 children and their spouses, there was also a picture of each of the 12 grandchildren. Everywhere I looked there was something else that described my dad's hobbies, his work, his family, his church...they even had an ornament if his favorite candy!

It was incredible, we felt like our dad was around for the holidays and it meant so much to my mom! I am in awe of their thoughtfulness and will always appreciate this gift they gave. As you reach out to others, be thoughtful and they will be forever grateful to you!!! Thank you Hubers, we love you soooooo much!

Christmas Gift Idea Número Cinco

2012-01-04T13:49:00.001-08:00

I helped my good friend refinish a toy box for her kids for Christmas. I love the idea of taking something old and making it "new" again. A couple coats of red paint, some vinyl lettering and you have a cute Christmas gift your kiddos will love!

Christmas Gift Idea Número Quatro

2012-01-04T13:45:00.001-08:00

I got this from my friend and I thought it was super cute and she said they weren't too hard to make. I would love to do these for a future gift for someone! This is going in my nativity collection, I just love homemade, thoughtful gifts.

Christmas Gift Idea Número Tres

2012-01-04T13:42:00.001-08:00

I got this from one of my preschool students! Her mom is my good friend and do creative...the card said, "Merry Christmas and a Happy Rootbeer!"

Christmas Gift Idea Número Dos

2011-12-27T21:42:00.001-08:00

Same creative sis-in-law, made this for my older boys! Yet another genius pinterest find! She said she found the plastic holders at Office Max(I think) and bought the set of traceable letters off etsy! Buy a couple metal rings and a dry erase marker and it makes the perfect gift for a preschooler that they can use over and over again. I love it!

Christmas Gift Idea Número UNO

2011-12-27T21:36:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas Holiday! Before December ends I want to post some fun gift ideas that I came across this year...hopefully some of you can use some of the ideas in the future:)

The first is this adorable "wipe case" that my sis-in-law gave my baby boy for Christmas! She decked it out with his name and other cuteness and then tied random scraps of ribbon and material together and stuck inside...to make a fun little toy for him! He can pull and pull and pull and entertain himself...without wasting actual wipes(genius!)

***What a cute idea, which she said she found on pinterest:)

JINGLE ALL THE WAY

2011-12-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

My husband and I went to a Christmas party this past weekend, thrown by my wonderful bro-in-law & sis-in-law(wish I had pictures of it...because it was SOOOOOO CUTE! Every single detail was AMAZING, her house looked like a boutique and the food was delicious!)

We were supposed to bring some gifts for a white elephant gift exchange.

We brought one cheesy "white elephant" gift & then I decided to make a quick Christmas decor for our other gift. This honestly took me 10 minutes to whip up & I thought it turned out cute!

{I almost kept it for myself}

I scored some FREE cupboard doors awhile back that sit in my shed, until they are needed:)

I pulled one out and gave it a quick coat of RED CRAFT PAINT.

After it dried, I applied the vinyl

(which I actually already had cut out about a year ago & just never did the project)

Then I lightly brushed on a WHITE coat of paint on the edge, letting the red still show through to look make it look a bit aged...

I grabbed a door knob that I had & screwed it into the hole that was already there & pulled an ornament off my tree that I got at the dollar store last year & hung it on the knob...

ALL DONE!

*I cut my vinyl with my Cricut Expression, using Make the Cut software...which unfortunately is no longer compatible with Cricut:(

Christmas Tree Skirt

2011-12-02T12:27:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting a TREE SKIRT for the past...

oh 7 years or so, but they are SO EXPENSIVE and most aren't my style.

A few years ago I decided that it wouldn't be too hard to make one,

but when Christmas rolls around & you pull out your tree & remember

you still don't have one, you don't have the time & so you throw a red sheet around

the base of your tree...year after year.

I have been wanting to do a "Peppermint Skirt" because my tree is all red & white, sort of like this one...

But have yet to find the time to sew one up.

Well the other day I pinned this gorgeous tree skirt to my pinterest account.
LOOK AT IT! It is beautiful & ruffly and I love it!!

The best part? NO SEW! She hot glued the whole thing & I decided that I could manage that!

The Crafted Sparrow gives an excellent tutorial, so hop on over there to check it out!

I did mine basically the same, except that I ended up doing my strips more than twice as wide(pure laziness on my part) & I didn't pleat my fabric as often(also pure laziness) & I ended up using pinking shears to cut the edges to avoid fraying.

-------------

My mom was giving away this red tablecloth years ago & I snatched it up, knowing that it was the perfect size to make a tree skirt. And here I am YEARS LATER, actually putting it to use!

Even though I decided against the "Peppermint Swirl", I still wanted to use REDS & WHITES to match my tree & these are the fabrics I found...

My favorite fabric to cut was the STRIPES! So easy, I could just cut right on the lines!:)

I bought 1 1/2 yards of each fabric & then cut 5 inch strips & used about 4 strips of each color...I'm guessing I used about 3/4 yard of each fabric in the end. You would use more if you did the entire skirt and pleated more often like the Crafted Sparrow!

So...my "PLAN" was to do several layers of each fabric, like the Crafted sparrow, but after doing one layer of each, I decided I wanted to leave the rest of it the RED fabric peeking out(ok, if I'm going to be honest, it was pure laziness, AGAIN) If you used an ugly scrap piece of fabric, you would probably want to cover the entire thing, but since my base fabric was red, it worked for me!

I LOVE my tree with it's new RUFFLY SKIRT & can't believe it took me 7 to sit down and whip it up!

If you don't have a skirt around your tree, you now know how EASY it can be, so get to it!

Thankful Board

2011-11-30T11:31:00.000-08:00

I have had these boards sitting around for over a year, I bought them at Michael's during 90% off after Halloween Clearance. I needed something to take my girlies for visiting teaching for Thanksgiving & these boards came to mind.

I printed up the scripture D&C 59:7

"Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things"

I sanded the board a bit, trying to make it look more aged & used my cricut software to cut it out in cream vinyl...

Easy Peasy! Hopefully my girls enjoyed a little Thanksgiving decor!

25 Calorie Pudding Pops

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

I saw THESE on pinterest & and thought they looked delicious & decided to make them to try to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings:)

Chocolate Pudding Pops

1 package of instant Chocolate Pudding(3.9 oz)

2 cups cold milk

1 cup cool whip

Whisk pudding and milk together & add in cool whip.

Pour into your "popsicle molds" or dixie cups, stick a popsicle stick in & freeze!

I used these tall skinny ice cub trays I found at Walmart that held 27 popsicles. I had just enough leftover in my bowl for my kids to have a little...so I would guess that I could've made 5 more popsicles, totaling 32 pudding pops. They aren't very big, which I like because my kids(and me) only need a small treat every now & then.

I added up the calories of each ingredient...

MILK 1%- 2 cups @ 110calories each= 220 calories

COOL WHIP- 1 cup - 200 calories

PUDDING-400 Calories

TOTAL= 820 Calories / 32 popsicles = 25 Calories

*Not terrible for a little snack when you are having a sweet craving! And you could probably bring those calories down by using Skim Milk or Low Fat/Sugar Free Cool Whip???

ENJOY!!!

My Dad

2011-11-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

My dad is the most remarkable man I know.
My mom is the most remarkable woman I know.

Together they make the perfect couple.
They have set the perfect example of how I want my marriage to be.

How to treat others.

How to live your life.

My dad passed away unexpectedly on October 21st, 2011,

a week after celebrating his 60th birthday.

It has been a hard couple of weeks.

I am comforted knowing that I will see him again someday.

I'm grateful this life is not the end.

BUT it is still hard to live without him in the meantime:(

I love you dad!

Cute Little "Things"

2011-10-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

We had our 1st of many COSTUME PARTIES last night.

An annual Family Halloween Carnival & the boys were excited to get to wear their costumes.

My 4 year old decided about a month ago that he wanted to be THING 1 from Cat in the Hat.

I figured they would be an easy costume to make, so I thought it was a great idea:)

I found these Blue Supermodel Bob wigs at Walmart and chopped them up a bit with some scissors.

The red long sleeved shirts & red sweatpants are also courtesy of Walmart, $3 each.

I sewed on some white felt that I had on hand & wrote THING 1 & THING 2 in permanent marker...

Now...for the CAT IN THE HAT...

my sweet little 3 month old got the part & I just pulled out a black turtleneck onsie that I had, sewed on a red felt "bowtie" and made a HAT out of red & white felt. I drew on a black nose & whisker with eyeliner(they have mostly rubbed off in this picture, since this was at the end of the party)

They were ADORABLE!

My goal the next time they get all dressed up, is to get a good picture of all 3 of them together! :)

My Dresser TV Stand

2011-09-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for Halloween Costumes with my boys at Savers & I glanced over and saw this dresser & the price tag read $14.99!!!

I mentioned it to my husband later that night and said even though it wasn't exactly what I've been looking for(I've been searching for a dresser to use as an entertainment stand), we could probably paint it and resell it if nothing else. Two minutes later he was walking out the door to go and buy it for me. He's the best!!:)

AND...

I made it work for our TV after all & I love it!!

Here she is...all $14.99 of her, holding our TV...

Here is our Family Room about a month ago, with our laminate tv stand...

Since then, I've tried to brighten it up a bit & add in some BLUES & GREENS & take away the REDS & here it is today:)

The best part about my new "entertainment dresser"???

All of the storage! I moved all of our movies from our office closet into the 4 larger drawers!

The smaller drawers hold our wii and more cords...all tucked away so nobody can see:)

and I found a cute little basket to hide our remotes...

All those hidden movies/games/remotes makes me smile:)

The littlest things make me happy!

** I will show a little "how to turn a dresser into a TV stand soon & you will see how EASY IT IS! You don't believe me? I did this ALL BY MYSELF, without my hubby's help...from start to finish!

No help from my handy man=it must have been easy!!!:)

Halloween Subway Art Giveaway

2011-09-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

Want a shot at winning this INCREDIBLE Halloween Subway Art?!?

It would look PERFECT in my Halloween Decor, so I'm crossing my fingers;)

Check out
Two Little Love Birds Vinyl Design

& even if you don't win, keep them in mind for future vinyl projects...not only do they have the CUTEST ideas, but INCREDIBLE and I can vouch for her QUALITY as well!

Pizza Muffins

2011-09-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

I rarely share recipes on this blog, because well, let's face it...

I'm not a great cook.

But every now and then I find a recipe that I try that is worth sharing and this is one of those.

Excuse my non-fancy shmancy picture as well, I take pictures about as good as I cook.

I made my mother's breadstick recipe...

1 Tablespoon Yeast

1 Tablespoon Honey

1 1/2 Cups Warm Water

Dissolve these 3 ingredients together and let yeast start to activate.

In a large bowl, add:

4 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

Add your "yeast mixture" to flour and mix.

*add a little more flour if dough is sticky

Then I sprinkled flour on my counter(you can do this on a cutting board as well) & I rolled the dough out into a rectangle...

Spread pizza sauce over dough(we used white sauce which is why you can't see it!)

then add whatever pizza toppings you'd like!

We chose pepperoni's & olives...

Oh and of course Mozzarella cheese! Then start on one side & ROLL up your dough(like you are making cinnamon rolls!)...

Cut "rolls" about 1 inch thick...

and place in a greased muffin tin! It made exactly 24 "muffins" cutting them at that thickness. You could do bigger or smaller! Don't worry about them looking PRETTY:)

Then I let them RAISE for about 30 minutes or so, until they started puffing up out of the pan.

I might have let them raise even longer, if my hubby wasn't almost home from work;)

Bake at 400 degrees for 14 minutes or until golden brown & ENJOY!!!

They were DELICIOUS & the leftovers were just as good the next day!

*Next time I make these, I will split the dough in half and make 2 different kinds of "pizza" in each muffin tin. I think I will try a Buffalo Wing Sauce & Chicken one next, just for my husband!

If you are intimidated by "making your own dough"...use you could do the same thing with store bought dough or crescent rolls!

Kitchen Curtains

2011-09-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here is our kitchen exactly 2 years ago, when we bought our home...

Since we bought our home, we painted the kitchen walls green & we painted the trim and cabinets white, which brings us to what our kitchen has looked like for the past year 1/2 or so...

These PAPER blinds have been sitting in the windows, waiting to be taken down for a couple of years, but without much of a budget, they haven't been touched...

ENTER...green striped fabric I picked up a year ago when we went to the LA Fashion District for $1 per yard...

Simplest sewing project I've ever done...I cut RECTANGLES out of the fabric, hemmed the edges & attached with CLIPS...
(lighting is terrible in these pics...sorry!)

It made kind of an "accordian style" curtain(I ironed the creases, to look that way)...

so when I pull them open each morning...they are tucked away nice & neat...

They aren't very fancy & I will possibly want something different in the future...but for $4 in fabric, I am very happy! :)

Next up...

new countertops!!!

someday...when we can afford them

You have until MIDNIGHT!

2011-08-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

You all know & LOVE the blog...

Lil' Luna

well...she is hosting a linky party, which is always FUN

and

a giveaway to my brother's business...

So head over & enter this giveaway today!

AND next time you want to throw a party, or just give your kids hours of fun in the backyard...

remember to call...

PegBoard Jewelry Holder

2011-08-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

My sis-in-law, Whitney, is a GENIUS!

She made this STINKIN' ADORABLE Jewelry board from an old frame & pegboard...

and then attached some darling knobs from Hobby Lobby...

Check out those black loops at the top...

they are just ribbon tied through the holes, which make a perfect spot to hang your earrings!

With jewelry hanging on it, it is like a piece of ART...I LOVE IT!

Here is the genius herself, in stripes & her the recipient of her beautiful gift-her lil' sis!:)

Whit...

my birthday is NEXT !!! ;)

sign redo

2011-08-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

WORKING TO BRIGHTEN UP MY LIFE...and I "LOVE IT"!!!

This sign has been hanging above our TV in our family room, since we moved in 2 years ago...

I'm trying to BRIGHTEN UP this room a bit & take out the red & add greens & blues, so I gave my "Live, Laugh, Love" sign a makeover with a quick coat of spray paint, some green craft paint & a new vinyl saying, that was a little more personalized for our fam...

PS. I have a secret!
I was OUT of white vinyl, but had an entire roll of WHITE CONTACT PAPER & decided to see if I could cut it with my cricut & if it would transfer properly???

It worked PERFECT & is muchhhhh cheaper than vinyl!
***Blade at 3, Pressure & Speed at Low

I think I will be using it more often. I don't know about durability? But I think contact paper is pretty durable, so I don't see it being a problem...especially since this sign is hanging INDOORS.

Has anyone used contact paper before as "vinyl"???

Is this a common thing already going on, that I just didn't know about??

PSS.

Just googled "patterned contact paper" for fun and check out THIS cute find for only $6.57 for 8 yards at Amazon! Oh & THIS one! I can't wait to search around some more & experiment with it!!!

Am I the last to know about patterned contact paper & the ability to cut it like vinyl? Or is this news to you too!?!

DESIGN STAR

2011-08-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

WHO'S WATCHING DESIGN STAR???

Who is your favorite so far???

I'm LOVING Mark & Kellie and still want to see more of Leslie, Karl and Meg!

Who needs to go?

CATHY!!! I feel like I'm watching the news & when are they going to discover that EVERYONE has a hard time when paired up with her! I actually think Kevin will go home next, but I'm ready to say goodbye to Cathy!

My favorite challenge yet was the white box challenge, because I felt like it taught us most about each designer and next was the Bed & Breakfast. I was NOT very impressed with their kitchens this week. While I would love any of them in MY HOME, I didn't feel like any of the designers did anything amazing. I think I could've done what they did & I don't claim to be a designer...so I hope next week to see something that "WOWS me!

What are your thoughts on the show so far!?!

PICTURE GROWTH "chart"

2011-08-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

I saw this CUTE idea on Pinterest to take a picture of your baby in the same outfit, over the course of his/her 1st year...

SO CUTE, right???

Well, I'm going to do it...but I want to see if I can do it each month and have a collage of 12 pictures at the end. Obviously the results aren't quite as dramatic in only a month, but I think it will be fun to watch him grow each month...

Speaking of growing...my baby is 1 month old!

I can't believe how quickly this month has flown by.

He is such a sweetheart and we are so thankful to have him as part of our family.

Hopefully I can start finding time to blog/craftify again SOON!!!

I really am starting to miss it, my mind hasn't had a creative thought all month long;)

Need your Opinion! CURTAINS OR DOORS???

2011-07-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

I couldn't find a "BEFORE" picture of this wall in our house, so I pulled this off of an old MLS listing.

Basically this is our Family Room & those double doors used to lead outside, but then the previous owners added on a room, so now those doors just lead into our playroom/preschool room...

After PAINTING the brown paneling & trim when we moved in, we took down the double doors...because they were BROWN on one side & BLUE on the other & definitely needed to be painted. Well...here we are, almost 2 years later & we have never put the doors back up. Once we took them down, I liked that it just created an "entry" to the playroom & made the house feel more open...

BUT...there are times(like when our playroom is a DISASTER) that I wish I could close some doors to hide the mess ;)

Well, I recently came across this picture on Pinterest and now I'm toying with the idea of putting up curtains in that entrance.

What do you think? Would curtains look random in that spot? I like the look of them open, like in this picture...but if I actually closed the curtains to "hide the mess" would it look funny to have curtains hanging in the middle of my house? Should I finish painting the doors & put them back up? Just leave it an open entrance?
I want your opinions!

I WISH I had the space to do a "sliding barn door"...I would LOVE that!
But there is very little room on the sides of the entrance...with a window on one side & another wall on the other :(

I can dream though!

housetweaking

Pillow Embellishment

2011-07-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

I have had the same brown, blue & tan crib bedding for my older 2 boys & I wanted to add a little variety for my new baby boy, so I have added RED into the nursery. I have just done a few simple projects, including this scalloped blanket that I love...

This pillow came with their crib bedding & really serves no purpose, other than a decorative item, so I wanted to add in some red to this as well...

I bought red curtains for his windows & they came with "ties", but since I don't plan on using them, I wrapped one around the pillow...

and then sewed the center to gather it...

and added a BUTTON to the center & a little decoration that will sit on the rocker recliner in his room!

You don't have to spend MONEY to make changes in your home!
Use what you have to change up your decor & give items a new look:)

Our Baby Boy has arrived!

2011-07-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby boy is HERE & I can't get enough of him! We even chose a name finally...

Carden Robert arrived on July 3rd

And, YES...

we made it to my brother's wedding...barely.

He was 4 days old!

We are officially a family of 5 & who knows when I will have time to blog again??? ;)

Love You Still

2011-07-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

My sister came by with a couple of boards this week & asked if I could cut her some vinyl for a wedding present for a friend & for a board for her house.

We designed them in my Cricut Software, cut & applied & I think they turned out pretty cute!

Here is the wedding gift for her friend...

and the one we made for her house, she loves this quote & I DO TOO!

I always enjoy an afternoon of CRAFTIFY-ING

...especially with my sister!

CANDY JARS

2011-06-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

My family reunion is going on this weekend & sadly I am not there, because my due date is so soon...I didn't want to chance not being home when I went into labor!

It is held every 2 years & we always hold an auction up there, to raise money for the next reunion.

I sent up a handful of auction items with my family, even though I wasn't going to be there.

One of the things I did was make up some CANDY JARS...

I found a cute Candy Jar, filled it with Dum Dums & cut out a simple design on my cricut in red vinyl...

hoping to lure in a Grandma;)

Just a large jar(although you can't tell the size) that I put 4 bags of candy inside of, tied off with some red material & cut in vinyl "Something Sweet"...It didn't stand out enough the first time, so I recut it & added a white scalloped background & it looked much better. After the candy is gone, it would make a cute cookie jar on your counter...

And last, this was my smallest jar, but still good size. I added some SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH, included instructions & tied it off with a star cookie cutter. This would bee a cute THANK YOU or Visiting Teaching Gift idea...

Sweet & Salty

2011-06-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

I tried THIS RECIPE last night as a THANK YOU for someone & I think my husband and I ate half of the pan in minutes...

I LOVE coconut, but I did chopped pecans on top instead & it was delicious!

I love an easy recipe with less than 5 ingredients, so this might be a new treat around our house:)

A Clock for Mrs. Brinton

2011-06-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

Bride to Be's Request:

Big Black & Cream Clock with a "B" in the center

Result:

TWO FOOT Black Clock with fun Cream "frame" designs/numbers & swirly B for the middle

Hope you like it Mel..a bridal shower gift for my AMAZING FUTURE SISTER-IN-LAW!!!

Showered with Love...and diapers

2011-06-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

I'm due in a couple of weeks with my 3rd boy!

I have everything I need for another boy, but my good friend Debbie asked if she could throw me a DIAPERS & WIPES shower...because well, she is AMAZING!

And so this weekend I felt so grateful to everyone that came & Mrs. Crafty herself (Debbie) outdid herself in every way! The food was DELICIOUS & the decorations ADORABLE!

Check out this cute "BABY" banner she made, the cute topiary decoration & the amazing diaper cake!!

She is so wonderful, as you can see & I'm so glad to call her my friend!

THANK YOU Debbie!!!

sorry my cake is hiding my big belly...but it is definitely there & about ready to pop I think;)

Landee Do...Staci Copy

2011-06-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Go snatch this free printable over at Landee See, Landee Do.

It is an ADORABLE & EASY PEASY decoration!

I whipped mine out in about 10 minutes, including drying time on some frames I spray painted white.

(You might need more time if it isn't 105 degrees outside...)

and if you already have a frame, then it will take about 1 minute to push PRINT on your computer!

I've had these frames sitting in my closet since I think my wedding & it was time to put them to use...

a quick coat of white spray paint. I honestly think they were completely dry when I stopped spraying.

It is HOT today.

While drying, I printed out Landee's free printable, I decided to do 2, since we are having a family auction next week at our Family Reunion & thought this would be a cute thing to donate!

All done!!!

THANKS Landee!!!

You are my SUNSHINE

2011-06-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

I LOVE the song "You are my sunshine" & sing it to my kids often. My 4 year old used to make me sing it over & over & over whenever we were driving in the car.

Both of my boys still love the song & I'm sure I will sing it to our new baby very soon!

From the minute I started seeing the lyrics pop up all over blogland, I knew I wanted to make something with the lyrics for our baby boy's nursery!

source

Cellar Designs created this beautiful piece of art...

Love this one in a frame...

Oh, how about this one! I might need it for MY bedroom!

And there are SO MANY MORE, you can just search on Etsy or Pinterest & you will fall in LOVE.

I used Cellar Designs as my inspiration & then went to dig around for a piece of wood in the shed...

I found this cupboard door & decided it was the perfect size & loved how it would give it a "framed look"...

It got a coat of light blue paint & then while it dried, I got on the computer & "designed" my wording how I wanted. I must have tried 30 different fonts & guess what I settled on?
Times New Roman.
I just liked the simplicity of it.

My cricut can cut 2 feet x 1 foot & this happened to be the exact size of the inner part of the cupboard door!
I think I did it about 11 inches x 22 inches, so I was able to cut it all at once!

I cut it out of vinyl & then weeded out all of the letters, leaving a "stencil" that I then applied to the wood...

then I took my brush and painted all of the "sunshines" with a pale yellow & the rest of the lyrics with white...

after it dried, I pulled up the vinyl, leaving freshly painted letters & lightly sanded over the words & the edges of the door...

I actually made that one to donate to an auction next week & chose to paint the one for the nursery all RED, since I'm working to bring more red in that room. Here they are, all finished!

I hung the red one in the nursery, but now I'm debating painting the "frame" part of the cupboard red so that it pops off the blue walls a bit more,

but we will see...

The other one is not quite as bold, which will hopefully allow it to match someone else's decor easier,

since it is being auctioned off at a family reunion...

the nursery is coming along!

Here is a sneak peak at one corner...

1. Used my same Brown, Tan & Blue Crib Bumper & Sheet that I had with my other boys

2. Made the Scalloped Blanket that I had been wanting to try!

3. Made a simple pendant banner for above his bed & will iron on his name in RED MATERIAL soon...we actually CHOSE A NAME!

4. Found red curtains on clearance last week at Walmart for $6

5.Covered his changing table in the same Dinosaur fabric that I made his scalloped blanket out of
6. The curtains came with red ties that I repurposed & sewed one around a pillow with a button in the center to make it a bit cuter!

7. And last but not least, hung his "Sunshine" board in the corner

All ready for our baby boy to arrive in a few weeks!!!

Favorites for Fathers!!!

2011-06-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have been loving the Father's Day Ideas out there! If you have a cute father's day idea...please SHARE!!!

I love this "tool belt" card found at
The Hybrid Chick...

Several cute ideas from around blogland are found at I HEART NAPTIME,

including the following:

cute tie sugar cookies...

My dad is a HUGE A&W Rootber fan, so this is perfect for him!

The iDad card!

haha...I might just have to make this for my apple obsessed husband!

Check out these adorable cards(and they are super easy to make!_

Ginger Snap Crafts shares the idea...

Check out this banner & other FREE printables over at the

Shindig Parties TO GO...

This book would be perfect for any dad or grandpa.

Check it out at Design Aglow!

In Between Laundry shares a free card printable that is my all time FAVORITE idea I have came across this year!

Use it as your card this year or stick it in a frame:)

I just love the "eenie, meenie, miney, mo"...

Last year I dressed my boys in their daddy's ties and shoes & snapped a couple quick pics, paired with a poem by my good friend Debbie & my husband loved it!

Hope one of these ideas is just what you were looking for!!!

Update:

Someday Crafts has a fun FATHER'S DAY linky party up, so go check out more fun projects there & link up your own!

A Blanky for a Fireman's Grandson

2011-06-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

I picked up this black minky fabric when I went to the LA Fashion District in January for REALLY CHEAP & I decided it was time to do something with it.

I have had this fire dog fabric for years & since my father-in-law is a fireman, we love firemen EVEN MORE than the typical boy in our family!!!

I decided this baby boy in my tummy needed another blanket to love & cuddle, so I sewed this up for him...

Nothing fancy, just laid them together, cut them to the size I wanted using another baby blanket as a template, pinned & sewed a straight line all the way around. Then I turned the black over on to the top, tucked under the raw edge & sewed a straight line again. The corners got a little bulky but I figure it will just make them more durable, since my children seem to love to chew on the corners of their blankets! :)

I need a blanket made out of this material,
it is soooo soft.

The only problem?

This 2 year old thinks the blanket is his ;)

Bedroom Lamp Redo

2011-06-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

These 2 little ladies have been sitting on our nightstands for the past several years & it was time to give them a makeover...

They are BROWN & nothing in our bedroom is brown.

I thought I was going to buy some new chunky blue or yellow lamps for our room...but lets me honest,

these 2 lamps are FREE...so for now, they are staying!

I snipped off the jewel thingy-s that hung down. Mostly so I didn't have to spray paint around them.

Then I chose a new color for my lamps...BLUE!

Gave them a quick coat...

and while they dried, I went inside to revamp the shades.

I was going to leave the shades, but remembered I had this pre-ruffled fabric in my stash & thought it might be cute on the shades...

and so I wrapped them, in no particular way, hot gluing along the way!

Put the lamps back together...

oh yah, I sanded down the bases first...

and then put them back in their places...

and they coordinate MUCH BETTER in our bedroom...

so I'm happy! :)

Wedding Onsie

2011-06-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

My brother is getting MARRIED!!!

and might I remind you, that his wedding date is 2 days before my due date.

HOPEFULLY I won't be in labor on his wedding day & I will be able to attend.

But, the chances of having the baby a week or 2 early are good

(since both my boys have been early)

SOOO...I'm going to assume that I will be at the wedding with a BRAND NEW BABE!

AND he must be just as stylish as the rest of the grandsons with their PLUM ties,

so I grabbed some fabric & a onsie & went to work...

I chose the EASY route & just used pinking shears to cute out a tie outline & then straight stitched it right onto the onsie...

I think this project took 10 minutes start to finish & now...my little newbie will coordinate with my 2 year old, 4 year old & their daddy!

I can't believe it is going to be ME & FOUR BOYS in our house soon!!!

Wish me LUCK;)

Rustic Cabin Clock

2011-06-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

We planned a trip up to my in-laws cabin a couple weeks ago & I wanted to surprise them with something nice for the cabin.

I decided to make a large clock to hang on their fireplace
& wanted it to have a "RUSTIC-CABIN FEEL".

I started with a 3 foot round piece of wood...

and some tongue & groove wooden planks...

I just started lining them up on the round...making some simple cuts with my jigsaw every now and then to break up the planks...

and kept going until my round was completely covered...

Then I just used some wood glue to attach the planks where I wanted them...

Once it was dry, I flipped it over & cut off the "extra wood"with my jig saw using the circle as my guide...It was SUPER EASY!

I gave it a sloppy coat of white paint. Remember, I wanted a RUSTIC look, so I didn't want it to look to even, but I wanted it all white...

I was going to paint the numbers on, but decided to give the ever famous "address numbers" a whirl, to give a 3D look...

I nailed them all on & nailed several nails throughout the clock to hold the planks on securely & to add to the rustic look...

They had a kind of reflective silvery look which I thought might look like metal, but I ended up not liking them & painted the numbers solid black.

I finished the project up at the cabin, during our getaway & discovered the mechanism I brought up DID NOT WORK!!! I was sad that I couldn't attach the hands & hang it up for them on this trip:(

BUT...this is where I PLANNED to hang it...

Maybe after the baby is born we will get up there with the FINISHED CLOCK...

Now...should I remove the ADDRESS NUMBERS & paint on some numbers & sand them down for a weathered look??? Every time I look at it, I feel like I'm looking at a house address...but maybe I have just been looking at it too long?? Thoughts???

BLUE, BROWN...and RED Nursery

2011-06-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

I was debating about buying new Crib Bedding for this baby boy,

BUT

I'm cheap & practical & it just didn't make sense to me.

So I'm using what I have used with my last 2 boys(blue & brown) & I'm adding in some RED!

I probably could have spent hours at JoAnn's looking for the perfect fabric, but instead I ran by the fabric section at Walmart the other day while picking up some milk...and picked out one of the 3 options of flannel they had. I liked it & it was blue, brown & red, so it will work great with the bedding & the {already} blue walls...

I knew from the moment I saw this SCALLOPED BLANKET TUTORIAL from Zaberry,

that I wanted to try it! Her tutorial worked perfectly...just place your fabrics right sides together & trace your scallops(I used a tupperware lid).
I didn't put batting in the middle because I used flannel and I didn't want it any warmer!

Then sew along your lines, leaving a space to turn your blanket inside out.

Iron, hand sew the remaining open portion.

And then another straight stitch all the way around the blanket & you are done!
I also didn't "quilt" the blanket like Zaberry, but I think it should hold together just fine!

I made it slightly larger than I typically have made baby blankets, because I liked the option of laying it in his crib for a pop of color in his nursery...

I backed it with a solid red flannel...

And I will admit I was worried about the scallops looking too GIRLY...but since the dinosaurs are ALL BOY...I think the scallops just make it CUTE!

Now...I need to find the hardware to put the front rail back on his crib...

I don't think he will be quite ready for a
toddler bed when he arrives ;)

I can picture putting his name above the crib with some splashes of RED...
I just wish we knew what that name is!?!

Baby Quilts

2011-06-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

I'm due in 5 weeks! CRAZY!

AND...I have had both my boys 2 weeks early, so if that happens again, I could have a baby in 3 weeks!

WOOAHH! Reality is setting in & I have projects that I want to complete before this baby boy arrives, so I need to get movin'!

I really want to make this baby boy(still no name)

a blanket & love the following 3 ideas...

I love this SCALLOPED EDGED BABY QUILT & ZABERRY even does a complete tutorial...

Check out this quilt & you get to use all those random scraps that you don't know what to do with!

Check out the tutorial at Sew, Mama, Sew!

I love the simplicity of this quilt & the edge is RIC RAC, which I adore.

Sew Much Ado shows you how to make this blanket...

Now...which one do I want to make for this bouncing baby boy!?!

OR...do you have any other quilt ideas/tutorials you can send my way???

Please do...SOON...because I need to decide & start sewing ASAP:)

OH...and I'm a BEGINNER, so only easy tutorials please!

Partial Bedroom Reveal

2011-05-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Back in October, I asked for your input on what you thought about a GREY & YELLOW Master Bedroom. I loved the idea, but struggled to find the right yellow & grey combo for ME. Over time, we started to incorporate BLUE & when I came across a CHEAP comforter last month that was Blue & Grey...I decided to stick with subtle blues & greys & maybe in time, we could incorporate yellow

or Not. Who knows???

The bedroom is NOT DONE.

I plan to buy or make some lamp shades with a fun blue fabric,

build a headboard

and find/make some more fun pillows,

but this is what it looks like today...

Not bad when we already had the dresser,

were gifted the nightstands for FREE(thanks Julie!) & repainted them,

the lamps are from Ebay from years ago for $10,

I made the LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED signs for FREE,

got the MIRROR for free & painted it,

scored a brand new bed skirt for FREE from CSN.com,

was gifted the Grey curtains for Christmas(thanks Chaya!)

& found a comforter that came with 5 pillows & sheets for $70 at Burlington Coat Factory.

I LOVE the beadboard & shelf my husband put up for my last birthday!

want to see what it looked like when we moved in??

Here is the BEFORE...

You can't really tell...but the walls were PURPLE

&YEP! That is popcorn ceilings, brown trim & a sweet ceiling fan...

It may not be done, but I'm already LOVING it!!!:)

The Vintage Lemon

2011-05-10T09:01:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I sneak a peek at this blog, because Marci is always doing CUTE CRAFTY things with her house or for her darling baby!

I was excited to stop by today & find out that she just opened an ETSY SHOP

called the Vintage Lemon...

and it is ADORABLE!

Check out this gorgeous RING!
AND she is doing a promotion right now & you can get it for $4.50! That is a STEAL!!!
Check out her blog for details!

Go check out her ETSY shop today!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2011-05-08T23:26:00.000-07:00

"God could not be everywhere,

and so he created Mothers"

Wishing all of the WOMEN out there a Happy Mother's Day!!!

Whether you are mother to 10 or a mother to 0...

I think every woman should be honored on Mother's Day.

I hope you all had an enjoyable day.
I'm grateful that I am a mom to these adorable boys & can't wait to add another boy to the mix soon!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Photography Giveaway

2011-05-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

I don't enter very many giveaways...I just don't have the time typically,

BUT when I come across one that is just too good to pass up...

I HAVE TO TAKE MY CHANCES!

And by sharing this amazing contest with YOU...I'm afraid I will be decreasing my chances, BUT thats ok, because you need to know about this CUTEST COUPLE that takes AMAZING PICTURES!

Check out Pie in the Sky Photography for details & enter to win a free 1 hr session!

I'm REALLY hoping I win this, so cross your fingers for me;)

GRADUATION IDEAS

2011-05-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

REQUEST GRANTED!!!

My good friend emailed me, asking me if I had any graduation crafty ideas floating around in my brain for her husband that graduates next week;)

While I am no expert on graduation ideas, I knew I could dig around for some fun ideas on the internet!

Check out all of these fun GRADUATION CAKE IDEAS found HERE

Want to go a SIMPLER route, but still have them be just as cute!?

Make adorable toppers & stick them in CUPCAKES!

For a fun & simple idea to gift the Graduate at their GRADUATION CEREMONY...

Check out the "Candy Leis" I made for some family highschool graduations HERE

Need some CUSTOM Graduation Announcements made?
My sister is mega-talented & can whip them up for such a reasonable price! Here is a cute one she did last year...

FRONT:

BACK:

I love this pendant CONGRATULATIONS banner, found HERE
You could personalize it in your graduate's school colors & it would add to any party decor!

How cute would these be to serve at a Graduation Party?!?
Check out the full tutorial, over at Bakerella!

I'm no scrapbooker, but I think I could even handle making a HOMEMADE CARD like this & I love it!

Surprise your graduate & take some shoe polish to their car the night before/morning of their ceremony!
Using the "Just Married" idea & write CONGRATS or another fun message!

Cricut/Sillhouette/Gazelle owners...
take it up a notch from the shoe polish & find a GRADUATION IMAGE like this one, that you could cut out in VINYL & decal onto their CAR...

Happy GRADUATION to all those graduating this month!!!

Wedding Cake Love Birds

2011-04-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

I just HAD TO SHARE this detail from my sis-in-law's vintage style wedding a couple week's ago!

My mother-in-law MADE these ADORABLE, QUIRKY little LOVE BIRDS to top their wedding cake & they turned out SO ADORABLE!!! The lady that did the cakes even made the top to look like a NEST:)

SO SO CUTE, right?!?

The ACTUAL lovebirds, feeding/shoving cake into each other's mouths;)

The rest of the cake was made up of CUPCAKES...so CUTE!

My AMAZING mother-in-law & her masterpiece! This is a closer up, so you can see the adorable details!

Some other FUN things that I loved...

The "sweet shop" full of yummy candy!

That is my 4 year old, getting started before it even had began:)

Their beach cruisers greeted you at the entrance!

A BIG chalkboard with all of their "FIRSTS"...

The ENTIRE wedding was PERFECT & I could share a million more little details that made it that way!

Congratulations to the HAPPY COUPLE!!!

Crib Bedding

2011-04-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

Do I want to buy Crib bedding or just make a few individualized pieces???

I really like this one that I found on Ebay for $50 & it includes 13 pieces...

It incorporates a lot of different colors & the walls are already blue, which I don't plan on changing & I think would work fine with this bedding.

I love the POLKA DOTS, 123's & ABC's & Animals...

BUT...
I already have this Boy Bedding that I have used with my last 2 boys...

So, I can't really justify buying new bedding.

I'm thinking about just making a colorful quilt or a new bumper or something fun for the walls?

If you know of any Baby Bedding or fun Nursery Idea Tutorials...please let me know!

Spring Peeps!

2011-04-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

My cousin Joyce emailed me a Blog Link to a DARLING Peep Craft,

that I just had to share!!!

Hop on over to Greetings from the Asylum & check it out!

At first I thought they were REAL PEEPS...but they are STYROFOAM!!!

Which makes me love it even more, because it will stay good year after year!

Tanya gives a FULL TUTORIAL on her blog, go check it out & you can make yourself some PEEP DECOR TODAY!

Framed Beadboard Clock

2011-04-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

My BABY sister is getting married next month & so we threw her a Bridal Shower this past week & she requested a CLOCK from me for her gift;)

I was happy to make one for her & she mentioned she would love one like this Beadboard one I did awhile back...

and she also wanted a big "B" in the center & wanted white & chocolate brown.

I found this design online & fell in LOVE it! I used it as inspiration for the clock I wanted to make.

check it out at THE CLOCK LADY

I rummaged through my scrap wood & found a piece of beadboard, a solid piece of wood & 2 pieces of trim that would be used as "frames"...

I cut them down to size. I believe the beadboard ended up about 28"x28" & the smaller square was about 16"x16", but you could do ANY size, I was just being lazy so I used the width they already were as the size to cut the other side down to:)

Then I cut my TRIM, using a miter saw to cut 45 degree angles and pieced those together & used WOOD GLUE to attach everything to the beadboard.

Then I painted everything WHITE!

While it dried, I made up a design in my MAKE THE CUT program for my Cricut. Sadly, Make the Cut is no longer compatible with Cricut if you haven't already purchased it:(

I applied the Chocolate Brown Vinyl onto the center of the clock, drilled a hole in the center for the hands & it was DONE!

I hope Mr. & Mrs. Brown LOVE IT!!!

The Scrolly B was the perfect fit for this clock!

Hanging above her bed...

It will actually go in their Family Room when they get their Apartment & hang above Chocolate Brown couches!

Shabby Chic Pink

2011-04-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

I started blogging about the Bathroom Makeover that my brother & I did for our mom HERE

& I FINALLY got over there to take a few more pictures to show you a little more!!!

---------

We decided to go from TAN walls to PINK!!!

The cabinets look SO MUCH BETTER WHITE!!!
My brother Matt is a painter & is AMAZING!

I wish I had a before of her countertop, but it was sort of beige & had the piece that went around the back of the toilet & looks so much better solid WHITE!

She had this cute shelf on her wall already, but we moved it to a different wall & I added beadboard to the back of it & spruced it up with some accessories...

She had this cute BATH bin already & I added some white washcloths & flowers & placed it on the back of the toilet...

Pretty white flowers in a ceramic pitcher always make for a smile!

Some more cute accessories to liven things up!

Another brother, just as talented...framed the beautiful mirror for the wall & hung it & it looks PERFECT! It looks a million times better than the wall to wall builder's mirror that was there!

I LOVE the way it turned out!

hopefully my parents do too;)...since they didn't have much say!

Oh! And she has plans to tile the floor in a WHITE tile & I found these cute Shabby Chic PINK rugs @ Target that look so CUTE(but I forgot to take a pic)

Faux Robins Eggs

2011-04-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

I have plans to try these out this week!

They are made from PLASTIC EASTER EGGS!

Who knows if I will actually get around to it, but I figured I would share in case you are looking for a fun Easter Craft!!!

Thanks for the GREAT idea Blue Cricket!

Beadboard Bunny

2011-04-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

If you read my blog very often,

you know I'm in love with Beadboard!
I decided I needed an

EASTER-Y BEADBOARD DECORATION,

so I went to work...

with my 4 year old helper;)

I started with an old piece of wood & painted it HOT PINK. I love the grain in this wood.
Then I painted a light coat of WHITE over the top...

Then I made up some SIMPLE patterns from cardboard to trace on my beadboard---

I wanted STRAIGHT EDGED eggs & a bunny & they took me about 1 minute to cut out...

Straight Edges make cutting it REALLY EASY & I'm LAZY...plus I think it is fun & different!

I cut them out with my jigsaw & then went to town painting them with some fun SPRING COLORS...

I didn't spend much time on painting them, since I knew I didn't want them perfect looking.

Then I took them outside for SOME DISTRESSING...

I sanded everything down, giving it a weathered look & used wood glue to attach my beadboard shapes to my wood...

I am not in LOVE with this project, but it took me less than an hour, start to finish & I think I will nail it to a wood post & stick it in my front yard.

*For a fun variation, I think I will make some more "BEADBOARD EGGS" & make sure the lines are horizontal and then cut CUTE strips of Scrapbook paper to mod podge on to each section so I don't even have to paint any designs on them! I will post what I'm talking about if I attempt them!

General Conference

2011-03-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

General Conference is this weekend & I love the ideas floating around blogland to help your little ones sit still & pay attention:)

I LOVE THIS IDEA

found at
Brown Paper Packages...

and my friend Genny sent me a link for some Conference Packets she has made & they are perfect...I love that you can color the TIE of each speaker as you listen to them! Kids will love that!

Happy Conference Weekend!!!

BATHROOM progress...

2011-03-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

My mom casually mentioned a couple weeks ago that she wanted to update one of her bathrooms & asked if I would take care of it;)

haha...little did she know I would start going to work while she was out of town & she wouldn't get to have an opinion on one thing!

My brother Matt told me he was going to head over and start painting her bathrooms one morning & I told him to paint them white & also mentioned that I knew mom wanted a new countertop & that I thought the mirror was ugly...and I would be over to help soon.

By the time I got to my parent's home, my brother had already ripped the counter top off, the mirror off the wall & started painting the cabinets! Whew!
That is my kind of worker!!!

Hence the lack of "ACTUAL BEFORE PHOTOS"

Boys just don't understand the importance of taking pictures of the process I guess;) Her old counter top had a little ledge that went all the way behind the toilet & the mirror went wall to wall.

You can see the walls were tan & the cupboards were wood finish....
(I had immediate plans to back that white shelf with some beadboard)

and there was no shower curtain in sight, just a white liner...

While my brother painted, I decided we were going to put up some Beadboard & ran to Lowe's & bought what we needed. Measuring 1st of course, so I could just ask the great guys at Lowe's to make all of the cuts for me for FREE!!!

When he ripped the mirror off, there were several "holes" left in the wall that would have needed some retexturing. The beadboard was a simple fix to cover all of the yuckiness & now we can frame a mirror and hang it directly on the beadboard...

I'm not revealing all of it YET...because it is not quite done, but we painted the remaining walls PINK !
yep, PINK!
I was not completely on board with the PINK, but my mom had mentioned how much she would LOVEEEE pink & my brother picked out the perfect pale pink & now I'm having fun looking around for cute SHAPPY CHIC PINK STUFF! Here is one picture of some of the progress made...

Can't wait until it is all done! I love how light the room is now!

Live in the Phoenix Valley?

Need an AMAZING painter???

My brother does an incredible job...

If you are looking to have the EXTERIOR of your house painted

a piece of FURNITURE updated in your home

just need new POP OF COLOR on your WALLS

have been wanting to paint those CABINETS but need a professional

. . .

then Brinton Painting is your answer!

Contact Matt at 480-215-5989

What do do with a Giant Spool???

2011-03-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

I saw a couple BIG WOODEN CIRCLES on the Free section of Craigslist the other day

& quickly called my little brother to go and pick them up for me in his truck.

I thought they would make AWESOME clocks!!!

They are the ends of a big cable spool, sort of like this(without the middle section...it is just the circles)...

They WOULD make unique clocks...

IF they didn't weigh a million pounds each!

Seriously, they are SOOOOO HEAVY,

there is no way in the world I could hang one on a wall!

I saw this ADORABLE idea at Design Sponge, to turn it into a table...

But it would not be a cute kid's table like that one, because they are SO HUGE.
I'm thinking maybe a big "Picnic Table" for our Family Ranch.

My husband is thinking they need to be firewood.

Any other ideas on what I could do with them???

My "NEW-ish" Front Door

2011-03-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

I was reading on my friend's blog---Randum Fancy this week & saw this post about changing her Purple Door.

It was just the kick in the pants I needed(THANK YOU LeDawn!) & I went to the garage to see if I could find some paint to makeover MY FRONT DOOR...I literally got up from reading her post & went and put on my paint clothes! That is what I love about creative blogs...they really inspire!

I cleaned my door really well & have been planning on painting it white or red since we moved in, but I was worried white might get really dirty with little neighborhood kids hands knocking on it all day & I didn't have any red on hand...so BLACK was decided on! (Why are all of my decisions based on what I have around the house when there is a Lowe's & Home Depot within 2 minutes of my house?)

I laid a drop cloth down & decided to skip the sanding & priming...which I would NEVER TYPICALLY RECOMMEND! My front door happens to be completely dry wood with no stain, varnish,etc. which is the ONLY REASON you can ever skip those crucial steps!

The weather was beautiful, so it was a perfect day to sit & paint, while my kids drew ALL OVER THE SIDEWALK with chalk!

Oh...and of course they helped too! ;)

I can't believe I have been letting people come up to THIS FRONT DOOR for the past year & a half!

After the 1st coat...Okay, this is where PRIMING might have helped! This door SUCKED up my paint & I had to use SEVERAL coats!

After a couple more coats...

It looks SO MUCH better!!!

Can't wait to hang a cute SPRING WREATH on the front!!!

Swim Lessons - Mesa, AZ

2011-03-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

My AMAZING friend Raquel is teaching Swim Lessons this summer & you should DEFINITELY sign your children up! Find some cousins/neigbors/friends that are your children's ages & sign them up for a Small Group Lesson! It is a great deal & you can do it for 1 week or 2 weeks at at time! Check out her flyer or call her for more information!

IMPORTANT: Cricut Owners Please Read!

2011-03-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

If you own the software "Make the Cut"(that I have been LOVING using over the last several months & I always tell you about!) please don't click on the NEW UPDATE when it pops up. It will make your program not work with your cricut machine;( Sadly, Provo Craft put the axe on it & I will be contacting Make the Cut soon to see what this means for those of us that BOUGHT the software, specifically for our cricuts! I'm hoping they will do the right thing & refund your money, but I will let you know as soon as I hear!

I just wanted to let you know for now don't click on that UPDATE!!!

BRICK EYESORE TO BEADBOARD BEAUTY

2011-03-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

The Decor Chick is hosting a Molding Linky Party today & I thought it would be fun to link up my "Entry Table" makeover!

When we bought our home, THIS was the 1st thing everyone saw!

This brick planter, complete with green styrofoam sitting in the top & a brown paneled bookshelf on the back.

The pebble tech floor & the blue & beige wallpaper didn't help, but don't worry we changed that too! :)

But look what you can do with a little BEADBOARD!!!

I asked my brother to "wrap the brick" in beadboard & lay a piece of wood OVER the sunken planter & turn this into a TABLE! I left the bookshelf as is, but painted the brown paneling white & now it is the perfect spot for books & cute decor!

Now when you walk in THIS is what you see & you wouldn't believe the compliments I get on it!

If only people knew what was hiding underneath...

Here is what it looks like TODAY...

but it changes on a REGULAR basis! I love changing out my HOLIDAY DECOR, so when people come over they are welcomed with a bit of HOLIDAY CHEER!:)

Now, go link up your Molding Projects!!!

DIY Laundry Sign

2011-03-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

It is SPRING BREAK!

Wooohooo!

Since we don't have a fun family vacation we are going on,

I'm trying to be productive this Spring Break &

do some SPRING CLEANING...

part of which includes giving my laundry room a makeover.

Nothing fancy, because lets be real,

nobody sees my laundry room but ME.

Not that I wouldn't LOVEEEE a Laundry Room like this,

or this...

but realistically I'd rather put my time & money into other rooms in the house. But that is just me.

Oh & the small fact that my laundry room could fit inside the SINK AREA of those laundry rooms;)

I DREAD doing LAUNDRY...it just isn't my thing, but

I'm hoping a little organization will help me in that area!

Today I decided I needed a cute sign on the door & made this up in Picasa...

then I imported it into my MAKE THE CUT program for my Cricut
NEW UPDATE: This program is not compatible with Cricut:( I'm so sad!!!

(Don't have this program???)

Buy it HERE!

I LOVE IT, use it all of the time & have never had to buy a single cartridge!

Anyhow...

I searched in my garage for some wood & came up with this...

1st I painted it BLACK & then I painted it GREEN...
the same color as my kitchen walls.

Then I distressed it a bit with a sander...

I cut my WORDING out in VINYL, but since I wanted a RUSTIC LOOK, I didn't actually want the vinyl on my sign...I just used it as a STENCIL, taking out the actual letters & leaving the remaining vinyl...

My original "sign" was more of square & the scrap of wood I found was a rectangle, so I improvised & moved over the Loads & Loads of Fun & cut a quick circle out just for fun.
(I'm sure you can figure it out, but I painted the CIRCLE 1st, let it dry & then laid everything else down, since I wanted the circle in the background)

and then pulled off the vinyl. Took it outside for one more quick sanding & I was done! I can't wait to hang it up!

After finishing the sign & cleaning out the laundry room today,
tomorrow I hope to find some storage bins for a shelf in my laundry room
& then I'm calling it DONE!

(at least my laundry room now looks good...from the OUTSIDE, with the door shut!)

Spring DECOR

2011-03-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

The VERY TALENTED Heather

over at

Two Little Lovebirds Vinyl

has created my FAVORITE Easter Subway Art I have seen!

I just LOVE the colors & fonts & she is giving it away

for FREE!!!

Head on over to enter by clicking HERE

& support her by becoming a NEW Follower!

Good Luck!

(even though I'm actually hoping to win it for myself!) haha

$25 CLOCK CREDIT FOR YOU!

2011-03-10T17:38:00.001-08:00

Head on over to Ashley's Craft Corner!
She is hosting a giveaway & a $25 gift certificate towards one of my
CUSTOM CLOCKS
is up for grabs!

I'd LOVE to make a CLOCK just for YOU...

so go and enter today!:)

Shamrock

2011-03-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

Last week, my friend Debbie asked if I had seen the

DARLING Bead Board Shamrock on Lolly Jane's blog??

I hadn't, so I headed over & found this...

She asked if I wanted to come over the next day & replicate!?!

Of COURSE I did!!!

I brought over some scrap beadboard & Debbie had paints galore & her wonderful husband cut out the shamrocks for us, that we painted green...

I didn't have any plywood, but we had some CUPBOARD DOORS that we scored for FREE awhile back, so I brought one over, hoping I could make it work. It wasn't a square, but I figured it would be cute & painted the border green & the base white...

After adding the shamrock, there was a LOT of WHITE SPACE...

but thanks to Debbie & her stash of chipboard letters, I dug around and found the letters, "LUCKY", painted them green & poured on the glitter! Once I got home I decided there was still enough white space to add "YOU" & cut out the letters on my Cricut using some cute green scrapbook paper. Then I added a few shiny shamrocks that I had sitting in an Apothecary Jar on my entry table...

Almost forgot to mention, that after painting the cupboard door & shamrock, I decided to distress it with a sander...

And it was DONE!

Thanks Debbie & Janell for the fun afternoon of CRAFTIFYING!!!

Baby on Board!

2011-02-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

This blog has fallen by the wayside a bit recently & that is because my normal

"blogging time" aka nap time...

has been replaced with exhaustion!

The GOOD NEWS!?!

The exhaustion is a result to a NEW BABY coming my way!

Some of you may know that I have 2 ADORABLE boys

& it is a good thing me & my hubby make 'em so cute...

because we are having ANOTHER BOY!!!

I'm hoping to tackle some fun BOY projects over the next several months & hopefully I will find the time to post them on the blog...since I'm pretty sure AFTER I welcome this adorable little boy,

my life will = CHAOS

and WHO KNOWS if I will ever find time to blog again!?! ;)

After googling around for some fun BOY DIY projects, I'm excited about tackling some of these...

I think I need a stock of WHITE ONSIES with ADORABLE TIES for church each week!

This WHALE is adorable!

I NEED to learn to make BOW TIES, because this is a must have!

There are SO MANY adorable burp cloths out there...

it is a shame they just get spit up on!

These fabrics are ADORABLE. I love the argyle...

Okay, so this is "girly" but I love how the NAME IS "framed" above the crib & might just have to copy!

I want to make one of these BANNERS for his nursery!

Oh! I like these framed INITIALS above the crib too!

Do you have any BOY tutorials that you are willing to share with me!?!

I have a lot I want to do before JULY!!!

String of Love

2011-02-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

I forgot to ever post a fun HEART GARLAND I made for Valentine's this year!

Using the hearts I cut from BEADBOARD for my preschool project, posted HERE...

I decided to make a garland of hearts as well!

I used my jig saw to cut out the straight edged hearts from some scrap beadboard I had...

and then drilled holes in the tops of the hearts...

Then I painted 4 red & 3 white...

Distressed them with sandpaper, strung some red ribbon through them when dry & strung across my piano!

A closer look at the distressed edges...

Family Tree

2011-02-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year my sister-in-law, Heidi, gave our mother-in-law, a BEAUTIFUL FAMILY TREE! She used this template from Martha Stewart's website...

I decided I wanted to make one for my mom's birthday this year & googled "Family Trees" and found SEVERAL options! I fell in love with this SPLIT FAMILY TREE idea and knew that since my brother Rob is an amazing CUSTOM FRAMER, he would be able to frame it just how I wanted!

I googled "Vinyl Family Trees" and found the following split image. If it hadn't have been split, I could have easily Cropped the image in half if needed. I imported this image into my MAKE THE CUT program & then adjusted it slightly. I made the leaves the size I wanted, added some leaves to give me the amount of generations I wanted & added some falling leaves for their kids.

After I got it just the way I wanted, I printed it out on Chocolate Brown Vinyl. I also added a place for my parent's names at the base of the Trunk & 7 falling leaves to represent their 7 children's names...

Then I printed all of the names I needed & made a PATTERN to trace around the names, to get the SHAPE I wanted!

I used photo adhesive squares to stick my WHITE CARDSTOCK NAMES to the VINYL...

and then I applied the vinyl to WHITE MAT BOARD, that would later be framed...

My brother Rob framed it beautifully in a classic brown frame...

and I LOVE how it turned out. I wanted a MODERN LOOK, but it also serves the purpose to show the genealogy of my family! I think hung side by side, it will look beautiful in my parent's home!

Questions on how I completed this project??

Please email me at craftifyit@gmail.com

Have you ever made a FAMILY TREE? If so, please share the link...I would LOVE to see them!

Please see the sidebar for some of the fun linky parties I am linking to!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2011-02-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone has a

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

I feel extra lucky this Valentine's Day...to be married to my very best friend, who I fall in love with more & more every day!

I can't believe I met this guy in KINDERGARTEN!!!

cue: oohing & ahhing ;)

That was over 20 years ago & today we are living a real life fairy tale together!

Valentine for MOMS

2011-02-11T13:18:00.000-08:00

Inspired by this heart I made LAST YEAR for Valentine's Day...

I decided to make a similar craft with my Preschool Kids this week for Valentine Week, to give to their moms! I made them much smaller---more like 6" & cut out a pattern and then traced it onto some scrap bead board I had on hand...

This year I didn't even have to use a hand saw...yay!
I got to use my jigsaw that I got for my birthday this past October...

After I cut them out, I drilled 2 holes in them...

And then sanded them down!

Then I let my preschoolers PAINT THEM...pink or red! And then they sprinkled glitter on, while the paint was still wet...

Letting them dry...

Then we added some Valentine Ribbon, so they could hang them up & the kids were SO EXCITED to give them to their MOMS!!!

Valentine BUCKETS

2011-02-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

I picked up these buckets at the Dollar Store for my preschoolers to collect their Valentine's in.

My husband was laughing & couldn't understand WHY in the WORLD I would get a big black gardening bucket for their Valentines?:)

Well..I admit, they weren't ideal, but I figured I could work with them...

I sponge painted some RED POLKA DOTS onto them & then tied some HEART RIBBON to the handles...

I cut out their names in RED VINYL-CENTURY GOTHIC FONT & they worked out GREAT to collect their Valentine's in at their class party today!!!

I figure the kids can take them home and use them for toys & make them useful, instead of just tossing out the Lunch Bags we have decorated in the past!

"Book Gutters"

2011-02-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

I 1st saw the fabulous idea of turning Rain Gutters into Book Shelves at one of my favorite blogs, Stories from A to Z. Check out this CUTE room...

Thanks to my cousin, Joyce, I was directed over to the blog, "MVP's of Mesa Town" this week & guess what I found!?!

A different look, still using RAIN GUTTERS as book shelves!

Hop on over to her blog and check out the BEFORE & AFTER of this reading nook...I LOVE IT!!!

I LOVE THIS IDEA & want to adapt it in my Preschool/Playroom...

very soon!!!

Valentine Inspiration

2011-01-31T13:35:00.000-08:00

I love February. It is one of my very favoritest months!

And I can't believe it is NEARLY HERE!

I need to get some Cutesy Valentine Decorations up in my house...ASAP!

I honestly haven't looked at a single creative blog(sorry!) in months & I have been MISSING IT so much!

I could make some excuses, but it doesn't really matter. I blog because I ENJOY IT & I hope to find more timeto be able to do so!

Today I decided to browse around for some Valentine's inspiration & I would be selfish if I didn't share my finds with all of YOU!

Stay at Home Artist makes this AdOrAbLy simple doily garland that I fell in love with!

My favorite is the teeny tiny paperclips...

The Mother Huddle posted these Chocolate Love Notes, complete in the cutest embroidered bag!

I could put a garland in every room, because I love them so much!

Check out this Fabric Heart Garland over at How About Orange...

This adorable heart has CARDBOARD underneath? Adorable & doable!
Check out the tutorial at A Little Tipsy!!

Red Heads Craft More Fun made this RED BURLAP Valentine Decor that I immediately FELL IN LOVE WITH IT!!!

Beth over at Stories from A to Z has a collection of AMAZING VALENTINE MANTELS...you have to go over & check them ALL OUT! I love every single one!

I think this one, from Sunny Side Up was one of my favorites...

Have you posted a VALENTINE'S project lately???

I'd LOVE some more inspiration!!! Please leave a link in the comments if you have a project you are willing to share!

A Review For You

2011-01-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

CSN Stores has so much to offer!

Affordable & quality shopping...

from the comfort of your home!

You can find anything from swingsets, to luggage, even shoes!

Here are a few things I have my eye on...

This rug...

and this artwork...

Check out CSN Stores today!

Inspiring with Bead Board

2011-01-06T19:14:00.000-08:00

I LOVE to blog, because I find SO MANY INSPIRING people out there with CREATIVE ideas that they are willing to share, and then I get to turn around and COPY THEM;)

Well, it was such a FUN SURPRISE to learn that after I posted about making these "Beadboard Key Racks"...

a few readers decided to make some of their own!

Check out Carrie's she made for her daughter's room. I LOVE the knobs she added to hers!

Check out her post at My Creative Escape's!

and a reader named Kellie made these ADORABLE ones & emailed me the pictures...

Cheers to an inspiring 2011 for everyone!

Be inspired...

or inspire someone else!

But let's all KNOCK OFF those expensive ideas floating around everywhere & MAKE THEM BY OURSELVES:)

Now get Craftifying!

A farewell to 2010

2010-12-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

We all had a BUSY 2010 & I just wanted to recap with 10 of my favorite projects of the year that I completed!

(in no particular order)

1. Painting my bedroom furniture GREY...

2. Putting grass in our backyard!
(and removing ugly extended back patio, pavers, rocks, cement border around previous grass BEFORE getting the grass)

3. Painting my Kitchen Cabinets WHITE...

4. Making these EASY Ric Rac Necklaces...

5. Putting Board & Batten in my Kitchen Nook...

6. Making this EASY Necklace Display...

7. My brother took this Brick planter nightmare to a perfect Entry Table that I get to now decorate throughout the year...

8. One of the easiest projects of the year, this super simple heart that I made for Valentine's Day...

9. I love looking at these pictures of my boys when I hang up my keys every day on these Beadboard Key Racks...

10. Last of all I have had a busy year making CLOCKS!
I have had more business this year than ever before & I feel like I have this blog to thank for that...so THANK YOU!!! Here are a few of my favorites from this past year...

What were YOUR FAVORITE PROJECTS of 2010???
Get busy & post them on your blog, I'd LOVE to see them!!!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-25T14:25:00.000-08:00

"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Peppermint Bark

2010-12-22T12:26:00.000-08:00

I tried Peppermint Bark for my 1st time last week,

my aunt bought some for her daughter's birthday & I really don't know

HOW IN THE WORLD I have been missing out on this stuff!?!

It was DELICIOUS.

She bought hers at Williams Sonoma &

I figured it was more than I wanted to pay, so I attempted to make some myself. I googled and found a million recipes & narrowed it down to the ones that sounded the best & the easiest.

This was my 1st attempt and it was actually really DELICIOUS.

I took it to a Christmas party & it got eaten up quickly.

Here is what I did

(and what I will do differently next time)

I used milk chocolate chips & white chocolate almond bark, because it was what I had in my pantry.

The flavors were good, but the chocolate ended up way too thick, so next time I would spread it thinner!

Line a 9x 13 pan with parchment paper or tin foil-I also sprayed mine with Pam because I wanted it to come off easily.

Melt 2 cups semi sweet and/or milk chocolate chips and 1 tsp of Vegetable Oil together & spread into the bottom of your 9x13 pan.

Place in the freezer for 10 to 20 minutes until it has hardened.

While it hardened, I placed 6 candy canes in a ziplock bag and wacked it on my counter tops until I had little crushed up pieces of peppermint.

Melt 2 cups of white chocolate chips with 1 tsp of vegetable oil & then I took all of my teeny tiny & powder like pieces of peppermint & stirred them right into the white chocolate & then spread a thin layer of white chocolate on top of the milk chocolate.
Immediately after you spread the white chocolate on, sprinkle the remaining crushed peppermint pieces over white chocolate.

Place pan in freezer to harden & your peppermint pieces will harden right into your top layer of chocolate.

Take out of the freezer and break into uneven pieces & ENJOY!

**Most recipes I found said to heat over low heat on your stove, but I just stuck mine in a microwave safe bowl and stirred every 30 seconds until they were melted and it worked great & was EASY.

**A lot of the recipes suggested DARK CHOCOLATE as the bottom layer, but I didn't have any on hand, so I haven't tied that.

**Some recipes mentioned adding 1 tsp of peppermint extract to the white chocolate layer, which I think would be good as well, but again I didn't have it in my pantry:)

I think it looks really pretty & would be a perfect NEIGHBOR gift tied up in a plastic cellophane bag with a ribbon on it!

Oh Holy Night

2010-12-21T21:25:00.000-08:00

I made this SUPER EASY gift,

using some scrap wood in my garage, a can of white spray paint & black vinyl.

I googled something like "Nativity Templates" and came across this image that I LOVED & just saved it to my computer & then IMPORTED it right into Make The Cut!

If you own a Cricut, Gazelle, Sillhouette or Robo & you don't have this software...GET IT!

I'm serious, you will be in LOVE...and it is a GREAT PRICE, order through me by CLICKING HERE!

I toyed with the idea of drilling holes & putting a wire or ribbon across the top to hang it, but decided I liked it as is. I think I will go to the Dollare Store or Walmart and see if I can dig up some tiny easels to give with this holiday decor, but they do stand on their own.

I started wrapping them in cellophane & ran out & then decided they looked cute with just a bow tied around them...

They are SO CUTE & EASY & your neighbors don't have to know you spent less than $1 on them...shhhh!

Jesus & Manger

2010-12-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

I came across an ADORABLE blog today called a

Lemon Squeezy Home!

Most of you probably have it on your reader, but if you don't, you need to! I just glanced through and LOVED everything I saw!

She had this Baby Jesus & Manger tutorial and it is so cute,

I had to share!

Beautiful Redo

2010-12-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

Do you need your own house to CRAFTIFY things?

No way! My little sister is 18 and lives at home, but saw this shelf at Goodwill and grabbed it for a couple of bucks & made it beautiful.

This is after she painted it BROWN, it was actually BLACK when she purchased it...

She had never mod podged before, but wasn't afraid to try & found some CUTE coordinating paper & then went to work!

I LOVE how it turned out!!!

She is SO TALENTED...and not a bit selfish...after she made it BEAUTIFUL, she donated it to our friend's benefit garage sale.

I'm SURE it sold in a heartbeat!

Don't hesitate to buy something at Goodwill or a Garage Sale that is "ugly"...a little elbow grease & it will be craftif-ied in no time at all!

Brinton Elementary

2010-12-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

10 years ago an Elementary School was named after my Grandpa & this past week we had the opportunity to go to the 10 year anniversary & celebrate the success of the school and my Grandfather's life.

I made a clock to donate to the school from our family & they were very grateful.

I used my "Make the Cut" software on my cricut NEW UPDATE: This program is not compatible with Cricut:( I'm so sad!!! & just imported their school logo directly in to my computer & it was so easy to cut it from vinyl and apply to the clock! You can do this with nearly ANY image!

Want to make a clock for someone you love for Christmas?
Did you know they sell "Table Rounds" at Home Depot that double great as CLOCK ROUNDS!?
Have fun creating! I'd love to feature any clocks you make, here on my blog...email to Staci at craftifyit@gmail.com !