Easter Wreath

Last year I came across this blog post right after Easter. I saved it so that I could make it this year. Haddie helped me with half of it - I'd ask her to hand me each color of egg. She lost interest quickly, but she likes to show it off to people who come to our house. It cost just under $4 to make it, and I think it's super duper cute!
Thanks to Stephanie V. from Alpine TRC for making my bow :) I'm quite challenged in that area.
Happy Easter!

Valentine's Crafts

Yes, I realize the holiday has come and gone. I am however excited to show these to you! You know those cute ladders that everyone seems to have on their porches? The ones with the different things on them for holidays/seasons? Yeah my sweet sister & her family gave me one for Christmas. I was elated! Hurray :)
The sets that go with them are too expensive to buy, at least for my budget. Plus I didn't want to have exactly what everyone else has on theirs. So I made my own.
At the thrift store awhile back, I found 6 plain unfinished wood hearts. 2 big ones and 4 little ones. I also found a little cupid-girl thing for a whopping $0.50! I figured I'd use them to make some cute V-Day decoration. Then when I thought about my ladder, the skies opened up and angels sang! I spray-painted the hearts, some red and some pink. Then I broke out my *new* Cricut...Mom & Dad gave met the Expression for Christmas! And I cut out some white and red vinyl.
It's hard to see, but the small hearts on bottom say "Be Mine"
Crappy pictures, I know. But it was cold outside and I didn't have shoes on so these are the best I could get while standing on my porch. Our poor snowman 'Snowy' - named by Haddie - all that was left of him was an oblong bottom because he fell over LOL Oh yes, and his stick arms.
Another thrift store find - I found these blocks for $0.75 that were pretty beat up and had Be Mine hand-painted on them. I knew I could make them so much prettier :) So I again broke out the spray paint and cut brown vinyl. I put these blocks on my piano, with the 'Be' sitting on top of the 'Mine' Super cute, I tell ya ;)
That's about as far as my craftiness has gone. I can't find my creative mojo.

Sewing is Finished!

Whew!

I have spent so many hours with my sewing machine over the last month. It's a love-hate relationship right about now - But Christmas gifts are completely finished (other than a small handful of things still left to buy) and I am feeling extremely accomplished. I wish I could share all of my projects right now, but my family reads my blog :)

This one didn't require sewing, but I made it yesterday. It is a hair bow holder for my niece Kami.

It was even easier to make than I thought it would be. It is just an old picture frame I picked up from the thrift store. I spray-painted it black and trashed the original picture. Trust me, it was um, pretty (Haha)! Then I cut lengths of ribbon about 2 inches longer than the height of my frame. I then used my glue gun to glue the ribbon onto the frame. I didn't measure for my spacing - I decided to just wing it. I'm totally thrilled with how it turned out! If you look close at the flower ribbon, each petal is a flip-flop!! How stinkin cute is that?

So here is another purse - the outside fabric I got from an estate sale for $1. I liked the vintage look of it!

I bought a purse from the thrift store just because I wanted to take the magnetic snap out of it and re-use it. So as I was taking apart the purse, I decided that I really liked the shape of it - especially because it had a flat bottom. (The others I've made don't) So I completely dismantled it and have reused it numerous times now as a pattern! Here is the first one I've made from my new 'pattern' The inside fabric is cloth napkins that were a wedding gift - I don't do cloth napkins so I repurposed them :)

The other night my niece Hollie brought me a card and letter she'd made me. The letter was apparently her Christmas list for me. It said, "Dear Sissy.....I want for Christmas a handmade purse and Taylor Swift CD." She's seen a couple purses I've made so I assume that's where she came up with it (and she knows I like Taylor Swift). How can I not fulfill that cute girl's wish?! So I had to make her a purse :)
I totally had to save the best for last.
Oh my crap! I wanted to make a purse for myself using my new 'pattern' so I found some fabric I liked and made this!
Can I just say it again? Oh my crap! I love it! I'll be honest, I squealed after I sewed the ribbon onto the outside. How stinking cute is this?! I am totally in love. Love, love love! I'm so glad I hadn't picked this fabric for a gift, cause I'm here to tell ya - someone would be without a gift! No joke. :)

Little Girl Tutus

Here is a project I finished today. I made a tutu for Haddie for Halloween but she wouldn't wear it - little stinker. But my sister wanted tutus for her 2 girls so I told her rather than teach her, I wanted to make them for Christmas for them.
This is Kambri's:

And this is Hollie's:

I had to borrow little one's bear as a model, as she wouldn't cooperate to model herself.
I had seen a tutorial somewhere online but kinda overlooked it. Til my wonderful friend Tiffany told me I HAD to make one because they're cheap and easy. So we decided to get together one day to do them. One day turned into a week, then my whole family got sick so that turned into a month. Well, I wanted Haddie to have it for Halloween so I finally had to just get the info from her. Here are two tutorial links she sent me:

See Jane Scrapbook Halloween Tutu

KSL Studio 5 Tutorial

I mostly used the Studio 5 one. It was more detailed and easier to follow. Plus the lady gave you variations on doing them, which I loved!
The best way to tie the tulle on is with a slip knot instead of a regular knot, just FYI. It is much quicker and it covers the elastic waistband a little better.
2 more Christmas presents DONE!

Decoupage Gifts

I have had these two projects on my To-Do List forever! And they're finally done :)
This is a shelf my mom gave me when I was an early teen. It was plain, unfinished wood. It has sat unused for years because I didn't know what to do with it. I finally decided to finish it for Haddie's room. I spray-painted it white and originally tried sponging pink paint onto the 3 raised hearts. That wasn't working very well so I decided to decoupage scrapbook paper onto them. I followed it with 2 coats of clear acrylic sealer. It is now ready for use!

These letters I originally bought while pregnant with Haddie. They were plain white and I sponged a different color of pastel paint on each one - pink, green and yellow. They matched her Care Bear bedding and decorations. I've decided that they needed to be re-vamped because I plan to re-decorate Haddie's room. I decoupaged the same scrapbook paper used on the shelf onto these letters and sprayed sealer on them as well.
My camera sucks so the color is distorted. The 'a' is beige, 'd' is dark pink and the 'e' is light pink. The stripes and the 'y' are actually brown, not green. (Seriously need a new camera!)

I want to get a Dora The Explorer toddler bedding set for Christmas for li'l miss. She's thisclose to climbing out of her crib, so we'll be moving into a 'big girl bed' soon. So call me tacky (regifter!), but I'm giving these letters and shelf to Haddie for Christmas as well for her new bedroom.

Pillows

I have to pat myself on the back. I pulled out my sewing machine and sewed for the first time last night since middle school. Which means I was fairly clueless as to what I was doing :) But I figured it out, plus pillows really aren't that tough.

Here's one side of them:

And here's the other:

Freaking awesome, right? I seriously made them in like, 2 hours. Which I didn't think was bad, considering my expertise (or the lack thereof), I stuffed the crap out of them (I didn't want wussy pillows), and I had some sewing machine problems in the middle of it that took me awhile to figure out and then fix. They're bigger than the pictures make them look - they're just shy of being the same size as a standard pillow. I have 2 square pillows, one red and one dark blue, that these will go great with on my family room couch.

Here's a tile I made for the family room a month or so ago. I used my Cricut and Design Studio to cut the vinyl. Unless I decide differently later, it is going above my fireplace on the mantle. Yes, the 'F' is backwards, but I promise it's the font that did it, not me!

And just because I'm thrilled with all my new Americana decorations, you must endure a picture of it all together:

This is just the new stuff - I have lots of other stuff I've acquired over the last year or so, but it's already in place in the family room. For now - until I get my primer and paint and paint those ugly panel walls. Then I get to redecorate it all over again! Yay!

Yard Sale Finds

I'm quite proud of my yard sale finds today! I spent more ($13.25) than I usually do at yard sales, but I'm especially excited about these, so I won't complain :)

This hurricane jar was .25! I'm going to fill it with something fun and use it as my table centerpiece - if I can keep little one's hands off it. Otherwise it will reside in a higher location.

I am in L-O-V-E with these barn stars. $10 for these; there were twice as many as these shown, but Kellie and I split them. They were brand new with tags, with the cheapest being about $11. We spent $20 for all of them. I have the yellow one on the left hung outside my front door for now. But after some paint, they will eventually live in my family room, which is decorated in Americana.

I love the detail on these! How fun!
This wall hanging I paid $2 for - a little steep, but it goes incredibly well with my Americana decor. I'm going to change out the pink ribbon (huh?) on the top.
Apologies for the picture quality. This little throw pillow I couldn't pass up for $1.

Here's a side pic of the pillow, showing the material that's on the back. Those are little stars all over it, not dots.

I SO cannot wait to get my family room done. It's a huge project, as the room runs the entire length of the house - it makes up 1/4 of my home's square footage! That's a lot of paneling to prime/paint. But it will be gorgeous once it's done.

Lamp Revamp

This lamp has just undergone it's 2nd paint job. It originally was a forest green color, with a pretty (gag!) gold metal base. Well, not thinking right, I spray painted it without priming it. Big mistake. The glass wouldn't hold the paint so it started bubbling up and peeling. I wish I'd taken pictures along the way but I spaced it. She's a much prettier lamp now!


So this is after being sanded down, primed, and about 4 coats of spray paint. The whole thing is dark red, despite the picture being dark on the bottom. I painted the harp black as it was ghastly gold like the bottom. I don't know if it actually looks any better, but at least it matches my living room better!

Any suggestions on the lampshade? It looks kinda boring to me, but I'm new to this making old things look new stuff, so I'm not sure what it needs. Or if it needs anything at all.

Shadow Boxes

I was going to get rid of these shadow boxes that we received as a wedding gift. I always thought they were cute, but the little ones were just too little for pictures. Then I got the idea to use them as a wall collage. I was pretty proud of myself - most of my projects I have had inspiration from someone else helping me along. But this one was all me! (And a few opinions from my sister in the arrangement) They are hanging on the wall in my craft/computer room. I already had everything that I used in these. I just pulled out some scrapbook paper and my fabulous O'Scrap embellishment bag chuck full of treasures and went to town. I ended up spending more time on these than I'd planned, but I think they turned out CA-ute! What do you think?
I will be adding more to this wall in the future!

Fireman Shaun

My brother-in-law is a fireman!

Last weekend Kellie and I went to a few yard sales. I found this puzzle, brand new in the plastic for 75 cents. I was thrilled - Haddie loves these wooden puzzles, AND her Uncle Shaun just became a member of the Brigham City Fire Department. So I couldn't pass this up!

I got the idea to make this even more special for Haddie. I decided that since this fireman isn't very nice looking, we should turn him into Shaun! So I used Mod Podge to put some pictures of Shaun over this guy's face. Please excuse the poor quality of these pictures!
Here's some before pics:

And here's the afters:
I forgot to get a before of this one - but this fireman was wearing a mask so he didn't have a face anyway.

Now there is a handsome fireman!

We are so proud of Shaun! This is such a great opportunity for him. I love to see how excited he is about wanting to make a difference for our community. I love when I hear his radio - he stops whatever he is doing to listen to it, hoping to hear a call for him to go out! It is an honor to have him as a member of our family. We love you so much Shaun!
And just because I love saying it, MY BROTHER-IN-LAW IS A FIREMAN!

Household To-Do List

I've been putting together projects in my head that need to be done in my house. My brain is a swimming mess so I figured this was as good a place as any to clear it out. It's quite overwhelming, but I hope to have it all done by Christmas. Hopefully.
So here it is...feel free to skip over this entire post - perhaps quite boring! *I warned ya!*
*Completed project*

Living Room
Paint - beige/tannish color
Sand and paint molding around door
*Install a dimmer switch*
*New window treatment*

Kitchen
*New window treatment*
*Go through cupboards & get rid of unused items*
Paint - per hubby's request

Big (Haddie's) Bathroom
Rip up carpet, then tile floor
Paint
Window Treatment
New vanity
New medicine cabinet
New light fixture

Haddie's Room
*Take armoire out to shed*
*Move in play kitchen from Living Room*
Paint - pink or purple?
*Decoupage wall letters -HADLEY- using scrapbook paper*

Computer/Craft Room
Rearrange furniture
*Clean out closet*
*Put scrapbook paper in shadowboxes and hang on wall*
Cut vinyl saying with Cricut AND apply to wall

Master Bedroom
Replace fan blades (Mark broke one when we moved in!)
Use Old English oil on dresser
Paint - beige

Master (small) Bathroom
Rip up carpet then tile floor
Paint - unsure of color/decor
Window treatment - have valances, need rods
Find pedestal sink to replace TACKY pink sink! (Yay for old houses!)
New light fixture

Hallway
*New light fixture*
*Clean/Organize linen closet*
*Install programmable thermostat*

Wow this is becoming incredibly depressing! I doubt I've ever had a to-do list this long! Must remind myself this is ALL inclusive, nothing left out! Even the small stuff is here. *Sigh. Breathe*

Stairwell
Patch wall from crappy contractor's job
Hang pictures - It's mighty bare!
Replace glass for framed bridal picture

Family Room
*Prime & paint paneling - cream*
*Make pillows with DARLING Americana fabric I found*
*Window Valance*
*New (Used, but new to us) couch.*

Downstairs Bathroom
Rip up carpet, then tile floor
Paint - unsure of color/decor
Window treatment
New light fixture

Storage Room
Get rid of ancient barrels (No idea what they are, were left from previous owner)
*Give filing cabinet a permanent home, put to use*
*Clean/organize*
*Utilize our new safe we HAD to have*

Outside
*Clean toy box and fill with outside toys*
*Hang Haddie's swing from tree*
New grill
*Find a bug zapper*
Clean/organize back shed

Spray Painting Projects
2 mirrors (master bedroom and downstairs bath)
*2 shelves (Haddie's room & Living Room)*
*Sand, prime and repaint living room lamp*
*5 picture frames*

Make window/flower box from old window
Paint inside doors/closet doors. These are those old, hollow, laminate doors. How is the best way to paint these? Do you need to sand them first, or can you just prime and then paint? And would you paint them with a brush, or roller...I'm hoping for advice on that project! I'd love new doors, but can't afford it so I'd like to make them look a tad nicer.

I'm totally up for advice, suggestions, or HELP on any of these projects! Now I just need to get started, now that I've cleared these out of my head!

Home Decor

I've gone a little crazy with vinyl and decorating my house. Here are some pics showing what I've been up to!

This is the end of the hallway. This 'Home' sign was given to us at our wedding. I cut the vinyl below it with my Cricut.

I made this cross-stitch when I was pregnant with Haddie. I've had it done forever but finally framed it. It's hanging in her room.

Another cross-stitch I made. This one was finished before we even got married 2+ years ago. I also just framed this one. It's hanging in the living room.

Vinyl cut with my Cricut, on our bedroom wall above the dresser.

The wall above the bathtub. Haddie loves her baths so I wanted to do something fun in here. This one was so much fun to make! (Again, made with the Cricut)

Vinyl on Haddie's wall above her crib. It's from my favorite children's book, I'll Love You Forever. If it's not readable, it says "I'll love you forever I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living My baby you'll be."

The outside of Haddie's door. More vinyl. "With a butterfly kiss and a ladybug hug, Sleep tight little one like a bug in a rug" I love this one! I want to cut more bugs like these to put on her changing table and armoire.

And the rest of these are also cross-stitches I made while pregnant. They're all hanging in Haddie's room. (Obviously, her room is decorated in Care Bears!)

I also have vinyl on my laundry room door "Laundry Room - Drop your drawers here" but haven't gotten a picture of that. I have a couple more ideas but they're a work in progress :)

More Christmas

Grandma Ronda (Mark's mom) and Haddie reading a book. Her pony is pathetically tiny, but I'm just so excited that she's finally getting some hair!

Not a very good picture, but I just wanted to show what I made for gifts for Christmas this year. I made Ronda a tile with vinyl lettering that says "Grandmas are Moms with lots of frosting" and an easel to display it on. I had so much fun making gifts this year! I felt like everyone really liked them, compared to some generic store-bought gift.

For Cory and Angelina (Mark's bro & sis-in-law) I made them a tile that says "Love doesn't make the world go round. Love makes the ride worth while"
For Mark's grandma I made one that said "PHENES - Est. 1945" but didn't get pics of it. I made magnets for everyone in Mark's family. I also made beaded watch bands for Angelina & Ronda and a bracelet for Lyndsay

Ronda kept telling everybody what their presents were before they could get them all the way unwrapped. She was so excited! Finally Mark got after her & told her she really couldn't spoil what they'd (Mark, his mom & grandma) gotten me. They made her put packing tape over her mouth until I'd opened it - they got me a Cricut! (Which I'm now having WAY too much fun with! Ha ha)

Me, being a nerd & posing for my 400th picture of the morning. Mark gets camera happy

That's my sister-in-law, Lyndsay on the left.

Cory & Angelina

After going through tons of Christmas pics, I've decided I need to get better about taking control of the camera. We have very few pictures with Mark in them since he's proclaimed himself camera man.