Dresser to TV Stand Tutorial

So...I ran into this beauty at Savers for $15 & decided that even though it was pretty ugly...I could make it pretty...

I sanded her down...

and with a jig saw...cut off the two dividers on the "top shelf" of the dresser. Then I had a piece of wood cut to match the dimension and laid it down to create a smooth open shelf, instead of the 3 top drawers. I also put a piece of beadboard in the back...but this wasn't necessary, as you can't see the back in the finished project. Oops.

I primed the entire dresser and here you can see my wood "shelf" sitting on top...

I applied wood glue and then clamped it for a good 24 hours until I thought it was secure...

I put my freshly painted doors back in & bought some cheap white knobs at Hobby Lobby! Notice that they were the "handle" knobs, but I couldn't find any that I liked, so I just put 2 single knobs in each drawer and I think it turned out great!

Freshly painted light blue "entertainment dresser"...

And my TV is much happier sitting on a pretty piece of furniture! I didn't even notice the curves at the bottom of the dresser until it was painted & I love them. The top shelf provides a perfect spot for our DVD Player and Tivo and a spot for a woven basket in the middle...

Hidden in that basket??

Remotes & tv cords!

and those dresser drawers provide storage for ALL our movies!!!

Remember this???

It's now this...

Make the Cut Software

I stopped selling MAKE THE CUT software last year, when it no longer was being sold to Cricut customers, but I have recently realized that although it is not compatible with Cricut, it is still compatible with many other machines...including the Silhouette, Cameo and SD, Pazzle, Gazelle, Zing, KNK cutters and ecraft and thought some of you might still be able to benefit from it! The software still works on my cricut, as I purchased before the updates...so my tutorials will still be on a cricut, but hopefully many of you will be able to use and benefit from the Make the Cut Software!
Click on the MAKE THE CUT LOGO above to purchase today! It is normally $79.95 and is on sale today for $58.36...you won't be disappointed!

My baby is ONE!

We had a circus themed party for my baby and it turned out to be a lot of fun!! We had pizza and swimming and sno cones and balloon animals and a blast watching him dig into his cake and then wash off in a bubble bath after! I know that time always seems to fly by, but this year seemed to go by faster than normal. I am so grateful for my baby and was glad we were able to celebrate his birthday!!!

Cake Banner

My husband's baby sister got married a couple of weeks ago...the last sibling in both our families to get married! Crazy, we could possibly all be having kiddos together, even though there is a large age span across both of our fams! I am soooo happy for her and it was so fun to help with the reception! I need to track down more pics of all of her wedding details...but everything was PERFECT!!! I did attempt my first lil' cake banner to put on the top of her cake and think/hope it turned out cute! It matched the one her mama made that hung in front on the table! I also used my handy dandy cricut to cut out their initials for the front of the cake! The cake itself was amazing---my talented sis-in-law, Heidi made it and did an incredible job! More pics/fun details of their day to come!!! Congrats Aimee and Sam!!!

FUNKY FRAME

 My sister-in-law gave me this big chunky frame for Christmas and I absolutely LOVE it!

 You've all seen the ones on pinterest floating around! I LOVE this gallery wall that Tatertots & Jello did...

Well, I FINALLY got around to painting it last week and swapped out a mirror I had hanging in the corner of our Family Room and I love it! It brings more green in to the room and I can't wait to get our family picture in it!

Happy new chair

This was honestly one of the quickest makeovers I have ever done! I bought this chair...actually 2 matching chairs at a garage sale last week for $10. I grabbed 1/2 yard of some fun fabric when grocery shopping at Walmart one day last week on a whim. I believe that cost me $2. Since I am the only girl in my household, I knew I wanted to incorporate PINK somewhere in my craft room...because, well just because it makes me happy! So when I saw this fabric, I had to have some:) Then...because I have 3 young boys and shopping with them is a nightmare, I sent my hubby to Lowes to buy a can of spray paint...$3 I sent him with a piece of the fabric and told him I wanted a blue that matched and {hoped} he would pick a good color and as it turns out, it was exactly what I had in mind!! I quickly staple gunned my new fabric on and gave the chair a coat of primer, followed by a coat of blue and tada...my new chair for around $10! I love that I finally have a chair at my desk and not only does it make me smile...it's also super comfy!

The Most Important Work

I made this sign for a friend recently...and ALMOST kept it for myself, because it fit just right on this wall in my kitchen;) I love this quote she chose and I have put together a little tutorial for you below!

I grabbed a piece of wood and cut it to the right size for the space I needed...

and painted it black...

Using my Cricut software, I cut vinyl and used the vinyl as a "stencil" and painted on the cream paint...

Then I pulled off the red vinyl and was left with a "hand painted" sign in the font of my choice...

I loved how the vinyl actually pulled up some of the black paint, distressing it without even sanding it...

After pulling the vinyl off the wood, this is what I was left with...

And then I took it outside for a sanding and ended up with this...

Hanging up in my kitchen, wishing it was mine;)

LOVE sign

I whipped up a simple LOVE sign for Valentine's Day last week. I just grabbed a board I had on hand and painted it white. I cut a simple straight-edged heart with my jig saw and then free handed the word LOVE, using the width of my foam brush as my guide. Then I roughed it all up with a sander and was done!

String Art

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

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!