Valentine's Project...for the kiddo!!

Hello Hello Hello Sweet Valentine Friends!

Hope everyone is keeping warm today. We're just sitting and waiting on the snow/rain. For some crazy reason, central Georgia is suppose to get more snow that us mountain folk. Oh well guess we will have to wait and see.

On a non-weather related note, I have been helping my sweet little man decorate his Valentine box for school. He being such a huge Sponge Bob fan, we just had to get Sponge Bob Valentine cards. So I had a great idea to decorate his box in the likeness of Sponge Bob's humble abode...the pineapple under the sea! Using materials from around the house, I came up with this little number.

Isn't is great to be a crafty mom!!!

Sorry I had to use the forbidden camera FLASH. It's kinda hard to utilize the natural light at 6am!! heehee.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

DIY Lamp Shades

Whew!! That was a whirlwind of a Christmas holiday! It came as fast as it went. Yesterday I battled our semi-dried out tree and took down all the decorations. After hubby hauled the shedding beast out the front door, I got the honors of vacuuming up the precious needles. There were so many, my vacuum cleaner staged a protest! It took me 20 minutes to unclog the vacuum head and wand attachment. I never knew a vacuum cleaner could have three separate clogs! If you look at it logically, the first clog should have pretty much stop the flow of air...so how did it get three clog??? Oh well, next year I plan on avoiding this sort of debacle by starting my decorating the beginning of November. That way it will take me until February to take the stuff down...Heehee

Now that I have my living room and dining room back to normal, I had the overwhelming urge to decorate something. Being that I have a gazillion (is that even a word?) projects around the house that need to be completed or started for that matter, I thought it best to choose something rather easy. I grabbed some fabric, left over wrapping paper, spray adhesive, hot glue gun and a lamp shade from my dining room Chandy.

First things first, I used a piece of red wrapping paper to draw a pattern for my little shade. I added 1/2" inch to all sides of the pattern. This was to accommodate lapping of edges and folding of the top and bottom.

I used my pattern to cut three wedges of my decorative fabric. Typically when I recover an "A" shaped lamp shade, I lay the shade down on the fabric as a guide and cut out what looks like a giant donut shape. But this time I had to do something different because the fabric I choose just wouldn't work that way.

I took each piece and folded one edge down...about 1/2". I made sure to only spray adhesive on one piece at a time. To insure permanent contact, I had to spray the shade as well. Now...here's the most important part! WEAR RUBBER GLOVES AND TAPE OFF THE PARTS YOU DON'T WANT EXPOSED TO ADHESIVE OVER-SPRAY!! I ended up looking like one of the Sticky Bandits from Home Alone 2.

I used the hot glue gun to glue the edges around the top and bottom of the shade. Now that its complete, I think I will go to the fabric store and pick out some vintage looking trim for the bottom of the shade.

Back to work...one down five to go!!

I'm linking up to Met Mondays


Talk to ya soon

Teacher Gifts...and a Funny Story

My little man has two of the most wonderful teachers!

He loves them and their class so much that he begs to go to school on weekends. We wanted to give them something they could use in the classroom. So I started racking my brain and of course looking in Blogland to find a cute project that wouldn't break the bank. Then I remembered that Chris over at Just Beachy had recently shared some of the handmade gifts she had purchased on Etsy. One of which was some cute as pie appliqued hand towels. Well my little brain automatically linked these little towels to my monogrammed purse from several posts ago. I decided to make each teacher a monogrammed hand towel. Well I found out the teachers' favorite colors and off I went to Wal-Mart. This is what I purchased:

Two Hand Towels $4.50ea.
Accent Fabric $2.00

My son was very pleased...but I think I will added some cutesy ric-rac trim or ribbon next time. Total cost was $5.50 ea...can't beat that!

Here's the funny story...even though they turned out cute, I did have some anger management issues I had to work out with my dinosaur of a sewing machine. It seems that the little light bulb located over the needle/pressure foot has melted...Yes I said melted...and tried to drip down before cooling in a most bizarre form. I had to wear a head lamp on my head while I sewed...I looked like I was trying to deer hunt in the house! "Watch out deer, I'm pack'n a sewing machine"!!!

I really don't know if I will ever be able to get that hard as rock glass out of my machine. Guess I'm stuck head-lamping it!! heehee

Merry Christmas!!!

Handmade Ornament Ideas

I love handmade ornaments. Whether they are my creations or someone else, handmade ornaments are treasured keepsakes...memories from Christmas' past. I remember sitting in my high school art class carving Rudolph out of a piece of balsa wood. I still have it and it's on the tree every year!

This morning as I was reading my emails, I found some really cute and easy handmade Christmas ornament ideas at BHG.com. I wanted to share some of my favorites.

Who doesn't love tassels? This one is made with simple felt, ribbons and a bead...easy for children to make. If you wanted to take it to the next level, you could use decorative fringe trim, ornate glass beads or silk ribbon.

All of us have seen those boxes of a dozen clear glass ornaments at Michael's or Hob Lob...Well here are several ideas putting those plain Jane globes to good use.

By coating the inside of the glass ornaments with craft paint, you can change the color of the ornament. Then use some cute as a button glittery stickers or appliques on the outside. Tie a sweet little ribbon on the top for a hanger and you have it made!However, if your in a lazy mood (like I'm in today) you can just purchase pre-colored ornaments. They cost a little more but you don't have to paint them!...Less mess!

Why not put those glitter pens and rhinestones to work? Use them on an glass ornament. Any small abstract design would be very cute...stars, circles, swirls, etc.

OH Boy my favorite toile! This little beauty is decoupaged with a toile paper napkin. I have seen around Blogland many ladies using monogrammed paper napkins from Homegoods to personalize/monogram white plates. How cute would that be to have a tree full of monogrammed glass ornaments?

The last idea I wanted to share isn't an ornament but a dainty little advent calendar made out of match boxes. The boxes are covered with scrap book paper and numbered on each end. They are glued together to form the outline of a tree and topped with a paper applique. Too cute!!

Well back to work!!

Merry Christmas

Monogramed purse

Recently, a dear sweet friend of mine celebrated a momentous birthday. I wanted to give her something that would be very special so I decided to make her a monogram purse.

I purchased:

1/2 yard of fabric to use for the outside (face fabric) of the purse (the black polka dot)

2/3 yard of fabric for the lining of the purse & monogram (the red print)

1/2 yard of white felt for quilting

Decorative ribbon 1-2 yards
1/8 yard of coordinating fabric (will be used for the monogram)

Copy of a letter printed from the computer

I cut out my purse in both the face fabric, the lining fabric and the felt.

Next I pinned the face fabric to the felt.

And quilted these together using my sewing machine.

I then printed a large "b" from my computer and cut it out in two sizes. I used two coordinating fabrics, one for the smaller "b" and one for the larger "b". I hand stitched these two letters together using a decorative stitch. Finally I stitched the double letter to the face of the purse. I added decorative ribbon to the background.

Once the detail work of the purse was complete, I stitched the purse to the lining and attached straps.

The end result:

I think it turned out pretty good...and my friend loved it!

**Today I'm linking up to Met Monday's at Between Naps on the Porch**

Talk to ya soon!

Easy Peasy Little Girls Mural

We painted our baby girls room in a medium violet color. Sorry I can't remember the color name off hand...I know its by Valspar! Anyway...I wanted to paint a cute mural above her crib. Me being so indecisive as I am, I decided to do a cute and quick version. A mural that wouldn't take me long to paint but was easy to remove when I change my mind.

I used the crib as a guide. I used a pencil and made a small mark where I wanted the bottom of the mural to be (about eight inches above the top of the crib). Next I painted a large freehand oval with some left over Valspar sample paint. It doesn't matter if the oval is not perfect. You will be adding foliage around the outside that will cover up any imperfections.

I used a two colors of green (lime and forest) and a sunshine yellow to paint the foliage. Starting at the bottom, I worked my way around the oval with strokes of green with yellow highlights. After I was satisfied with my foliage, I applied these sticky back decals to the mural. "Sticky back"...can ya tell I live with a five year old!!! I digress...these decals were purchased at Walmart for $10.

I applied the flowers in such a way that it looked like they were growing out of the painted foliage. I placed the little bird and the butterfly on a blade of grass. The fairies were applied last. Once everything was in place, I noticed that the fairies had glitter on their wings. So I grabbed some Tee shirt glitter paint and brushed it on the background. Hey every fairy need pixie dust!!!

I was please with how it turned out and my daughter loves to look up at it when she's in her crib. It was easy to do and will be easy to change! I like those kind of projects!!

I'm linking up with Met Mondays at BNOTP.

Talk to ya soon!

Halloween Tree with Ornaments

This morning I told my son that we would get out our fake jack-o-lantern Old Snaggle Tooth and put him on display in our window. I normally don't decorate very much for Halloween maybe a few hand carved jack-0-lanterns and of course Old Snaggle Tooth.

My son was so excited about putting Old Snaggle Tooth out that I decided to see if I could find a cute and easy Halloween craft he could make. I found this easy idea on Better Homes and Gardens.com.

A Spooky Halloween Tree with Ornaments!!

You just can't beat a project like this...majority of the items are things you already have around the house. Maybe I'll have a scavenger hunt and let the kiddos find all the supplies.

If you would like directions on how to make this, click HERE

Hope you have a great day!

Talk to ya soon!

New Trash...I smell a project PART 2

Today I'm linking up to Met Monday @ BNOTP

A week ago I wrote a post about these beauties that my hubby had rescued from the garbage. My plan for them included some paint, scrapbook paper, Modge Podge and a Lazy Susan. My idea was to make a much needed craft storage container for my soon to be completed art room/office.

I began by painting the tubes black on the inside and white on the outside. I allowed them to dry overnight. I was out of spray paint so I just used some left over craft paint.

Next I applied the fabric to the outside of the tubes. I had to settle for fabric because none of the hobby stores I visited had the scrapbook paper I wanted. So I found these cute b&w patterened fabrics and decided to use them instead.

After gluing myself to the table (or so it seemed), I figured out the best way to decopage the fabric to the tubes. I started with a 2" swipe of Modge Podge all the way down the length of the tube. I then placed the fabric on the swipe of glue and pressed out all the bubbles/folds. I continued to do this until the fabric completely covered the tube. If you do decide to use fabric instead of paper, you can get clean edge by pressing a 1/4" fold in the top and bottom of the fabric (this is edges of the fabric that will be exposed at the top and bottom of the tube).

Once my tubes were covered with fabric, I painted each tube with a generous coating of Modge Podge to seal the fabric. This is optional but I found it gives the fabric more duralibity.

When the tubes were throughly dry (about 4-5 hours), I glued them down to my Lazy Susan and tied a b&w polka dot ribbon around them for decoration.

This is what I ended up with.....

I can't wait to try it out!!

Talk to ya soon!!

New Trash...I smell a project!!

Just feast your eyes on these babies!! Hubby found them at work. Apparently they were used as packing material and instead of tossing them he brought them home.

Initially he had intended these to be for our 5yr old (for building toy bridges and racing cars through them, etc.). However, Mommy got'em first!! Don't think bad of me...Hubby had already brought like 10 of them home for the kiddo. So everyone is covered! ha ha

OK back to these lovely little things. What are they you might ask? These are chip board packing tubes (very heavy condensed cardboard tubes) and are about 1/4" thick...so not your average paper towel tube.

I have the most wonderful idea. It involves black paint, scrapbooking paper, Mod Podge and a cheapo lazy Susan. Give me a few days and I'll reveal their transformation!!

P.S. Doofus here forgot to turn the date function off...AGAIN!!

Talk to ya soon!