St. Patty's Day Catch Up

This year, I had an idea for a cute little basket for the kids. And I made it. I even photographed it. A day late. Cause, I forgot to give it to the kids ON St. Patrick's Day. Oops. And, then, in Epic Blogging Fail, I forgot to post it.

So, bask in the glory!

To make this:

1 sheet of Shamrock Scrapbook Paper ($.59 spent)
1 Green Metal Bucket, Dollar Spot at Target ($1 spent)
3 Candy Sticks each, $.10/ea at Cracker Barrel- I went with Lemon, Lemon Lime, and Green Apple for shades of green, and yellow. ($.90 total spent)
Green & Silver Hershey's Kisses left from after Christmas purchases (dirt cheap)
1 Green Ink Pad (on hand from Christmas)
Green Good Luck Stamp, $1 at Michaels (on hand with no purpose)
Shamrock Ribbon, $1 at Michaels (on hand from a Shamrock project)

Total spent FOR this project:
$2.49

Total spent including on hand items:

$7ish.

I cut circles of the scrapbook paper, then distressed the plain white side, stamped the kids names on it, and added the "Good Luck" stamp as well. Then, punch a hole, and tie it around 3 candy sticks with the shamrock ribbon.

I added a larger circle to the front of the bucket, and tied it right with the ribbon the bucket came with. I distressed it, and added the Good Luck stamp again.

To keep the candy sticks standing, I filled the bucket in with the Hershey's Kisses.

While I may be a -tad- bit over due in posting this, it would be really cute in pastel colors for Easter!

This post is linked up at the link parties listed here.

Dollar Store Magnet Board

Last week, I was the guest host at one of my favorite craft sites, Dollar Store Crafts. The project I made for the site is a magnet board, which was made for very little money, and totally customized.

I had meant to post about it here as well, and never got around to it. Here are a few pictures of the board I made, and a link to the tutorial over at DSC's!

This would make a cute picture frame, and a totally customizable gift for a graduate, bride, or teacher!

This post is linked up at the link parties listed here.

Mod Podge Madness!

Over the weekend, I picked up a new bottle of Matte finished Mod Podge, and a bottle of Glossy finish, both on clearance at a local store for just $3 a bottle. Oh, the Mod Podge joy to be had!

I've been Mod Podging all weekend. All right, all right, not ALL weekend, but I have done quite a bit of Mod Podging.

First up- A Heart Shaped Springy Clip Thingy. Yes, I'm sure that was the technical name for it. Back before Christmas, I found a large basket packed full of craft supplies for just $2.99 at Goodwill, and it came with all these shaped clips on springy stands.

I was looking to make a last minute Valentine's Day decoration. I chose to paint the base and edges red. It was a Crimson color, which was supposed to be a bit more burgundy than red, but it was bright red when it came out. Ah well, red is red, right? I'm glad now that I know, before using it for something and messing it up because of the color.

I used 2 different black and white scrapbook papers to cut into hearts for the wooden clip, and distressed them with brown ink. I know, it would have looked better with black, but I wound up loving how the brown looked with it.

To mod podge them on, I used my gold Shimmer mod podge, and it turned out great. They reminded me of the Twilight book covers- all black, white, and red. Raegan thought they kind of reminded her of it, but not much. Either way, the girls had a birthday party on Saturday, so that was one of the items they included. The girl is also a Twilight nut like Raegan.

I wound up loving it so much, though, that I made a second one for myself last night.

 

Next, I did another springy thingy, this time a flower. I made it to match the sign I made for my niece Alex for her upcoming 3rd birthday. 

 

  

 After "finishing" this, I went back last night, and added a coat of silver glitter paint to the base.

Ignore the wand for now.

For my next project, I tackled my 1963 wooden Cigar box. My aunt yelled at me for Mod Podging an antique, but honestly, it's much nicer now, while still keeping the appearance it had, for the most part. Here's a before shot of the box, which I found for $.99 at Goodwill last month.

For this project, I bought some scrapbook paper that felt old- it's the backs of old post cards all written on. I cut it to fit the lid, then used brown distressing ink on it to age it more. I choose to use my Gold Shimmer Mod Podge on this, to help aid in the antiquing feel.

  

  

 When I was doing this, I got some mod podge on the unfinished wood, and loved the way it made it look. So, instead of mod podging the entire box with scrapbook paper, as I had planned, I stopped with just the front panel, and lid done. The Gold Shimmer Mod Podge gave the wood a nice, rich finish, which turning it gold. It looks great. 

In the photo below, you can see the difference in the finished and unfinished wood. The box itself never had a finish- it was just flat, dry wood. I left the bottom un-Podged, where as the visible sides are podged. It's a drastic difference! I also Mod Podged the entire inside of the box.

 

I want to find a small glass knob to attach to the lid of the box, to make it easier to open, but as it is, I love how my box turned out.

Last night, Nick and I went to the movies (Book of Eli- which I loved!), and to kill time, we stopped at Target, where I found the dollar spot ribbon spools. There are 6 spools of ribbon, 18 inches of ribbon on each spool, for $1. I love them, and used a lot of them at Christmas, so it was nice finding new ribbons. I picked 3 different ones.

Anyway, despite the late hour when we returned home, I got in the mood to craft. I didn't use any of that ribbon, but did use more Mod Podge!

Last week, I found a package of 16 wooden dowels on clearance for $.68, so I picked it up without a use in mind. Last night, as I was sorting out my wooden shapes, I saw the package of 10 Butterflies and 10 Flowers I got at Dollar Tree. An idea was born- Paint, then Mod Podge the shapes, and paint the dowel, then glue, and Viola! Magic wands for kids!

I started off with a heart shape I had, and made one for my Niece Alex to match the other items I've made so far.

 

  

I painted the heart green, then added flower paper to the front side of the heart. I distressed it with red ink, then added a layer of silver glitter paint, before using my Glossy Mod Podge to podge it. 

For the dowel, I painted it bright blue, then used the round head of a pin to polka dot it with the green paint. I added a layer of silver glitter paint, then used the glossy Mod Podge again.

I glued the heart onto the dowel with E6000, and let it sit over night, then took silver, green, blue, and pink ribbon, made a bow, and left long ribbon trails on it. It totally matches the sign and spring clip I've made for her, as well!

Speaking of the sign... When I made it, I didn't have paint to match the paper, so I stained the letter A with lavender ink, and used markers to color the sides. I did not love it. I went ahead this weekend, and painted the A blue.

Before:

After:

 

I do believe that is all my weekend crafts. Plenty of Mod Podge Goodness to be had! 

I did:

1 wand

3 Spring Clips

1 Cigar Box

1 Repainting on a Sign

I only have 1 more thing to do for Alex's birthday- her ALEX banner, similar to my LOVE banner I made for Valentine's Day. I have to get some colorful felt yet, but I have a lot of brightly colored ribbon for it. I may also make a crown she can wear from felt to match.

This post is linked up at the link parties listed here.

Gold & Tacky to... Not Gold & Tacky

Last week, I found these gloriously tacky looking, gold plastic candle holders for the wall. They have a great design, but they're gold. Yes, really. Gold. Not like gold metal. More like fake, metallic-ish gold.

I immediatly wanted to spray paint and dry brush or glaze them. I'm not entirely certain if I'm happy with them, or if I want to redo them. Time will tell, and since they are for a room re-do that hasn't been redone yet, I have plenty of time to decide if I love them, or if they're getting another makeover.

They cost me all of $.29 each.

 

Painted Cherry Red- they were darker than these pictures turned out.

  

After dry brushing on black paint- it was too wet, and I added more than I had planned to.

 The pair

 

Held against the wall.

Like I said, I'm not sure if I'm in love with these or not. If I redo them, I'll likely go straight black, and add just a hit of a red glaze to them, instead of the dry brushing. I wanted the crevices to show black, but that didn't work out.

This post is linked up at the link parties listed here. 

Check back on Tuesday to link up with Talented Tuesdays at My Frugal Family!

Talented Tuesday = Talented Ladies!

I just went through all 120 links on my weekly Talented Tuesday party, and I'm just in awe at some of the completely awesome things I got to see. I'm really glad I decided to start a weekly link party, because you ladies have been totally inspiring me!

And seriously- 120 links!! The amount of talent out there is just astonishing. You ladies really are an amazing bunch!

Today I didn't do a single thing crafty. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I'm a total insomniac. Normally, my issue is falling asleep. I can't do it until I've totally exhausted myself. Well, imagine my delight last night, when I fell asleep before midnight! That's like super early for me, when many nights, I see the wrong side of 4am.

However, it was not a peaceful sleep. I kept waking up. I finally gave in at 2:30, and was up for the day. The little sleep I did get, though, was helpful, as I was productive today in non-crafty ways. For starters, I did the first major grocery shopping trip since I broke my rear. What's really scary, though, is that we were due to go grocery shopping the weekend after I broke my butt- almost 3 weeks ago.

I've done quick shops here and there, and sent hubby for things, but no long, planned out grocery shopping trip. Since I knew I wanted to do that (actually, at 4am, I wanted to, but I resisted the urge to go out and shop in the middle of the night, though out grocery store is a 24 hour one), I opted to shower this morning. I hate, hate, hate morning showers, so I never take them unless I have to. My greasy hair told me I had to. Ok, it wasn't that bad, but it was driving me nuts.

Now, because I wanted to shower, that meant taking Gilly to school, instead of waiting for the bus. It wrapped up neatly. I could dwadle a bit, since the bus comes at 8:10, but school doesn't start till 8:45. That, and the school is only a bit further than the grocery store, so I could stop there on the way home.

The only flaw- I got there, and (thankfully) checked for my debit card when I was getting a cart, and realized it was safe & sound... in the jeans I wore on Saturday to Chuck E Cheese for a belated birthday party for Chris & Gilly. Oops!

Ran home, and went back to the store. I'm really glad I checked when I did, otherwise, I'd have been really embarrassed at the check out counter. I loaded down on things we needed, and followed a meal plan. That makes grocery shopping easier, and most the time, cheaper. I plan my meals around sale prices, so we can eat as cheaply as possible, while still getting variety.

Some of the big things for the next two weeks? Sloppy Joes, Chili, Chicken Stew, and a Taco night, along with stand-by favorites like pasta, pizza, turkey-burger helper, etc. I picked up hash browns, too, since we have eggs and sausage, so we'll make a nice big breakfast on Sunday.

It was just after 10 by the time I finally left the grocery store, and I opted to run by Goodwill real quick. Remember my project earlier this week? Well, I decided I wanted to see if there were any more of those pictures at the As-Is side. When I was in last week, there must have been 10-15 of them, split between 2 different designs (did I mention they were brand new donations?).

 

I lucked out, and found 3 of the other design, though I opted to only grab 2. I have an idea for one, and the other will sit and wait for inspiration, or maybe to make a similar one to my first one for a gift or something.

I also found a long wooden drawer organizer- like a silverware organizer, but a lot longer. It'll fit very nicely in my craft desk, and maybe help me to bestow some organization on that mess. I seriously need to spend 2-3 days just gutting that area, and re-organizing all of it. It needs it that badly. If not worse.

All right, that's all out of me for the night. I hope to do another craft post tomorrow or Friday! In the mean time, keep creating amazing things!

In the mean time, here are some of the projects I started yesterday that I want to finish up soon!

 

 

(These are all pre-fixing, none of these have been done over in the photos above!)

Quick Craft

Yesterday, I drove for the first time in nearly two weeks. I went to Goodwill, Dollar Tree, and Walmart. Oh, how I've missed driving!

I did a quick mod podge craft last night to take to my mom this morning. It's just an office post-it note holder, made with one of those acrylic photo frames that slide the photo in. You cut paper to fit on the outside, mod podge it on, mod podge over it, add embellishments, and viola!

For the post it pad, I found decorative ones at DT. Peel the back off, and stick to the frame.

 

 

 

Linked up with the sites listed here.

LOVE Banner

As many of you know, I've been off my feet (and subsequently, my rear as well) for the past 11 days now, with a broken tailbone. It's allowed a lot of time to read, watch movies, grow increasingly antsy, with bouts of cabin fever, and, lastly, nurse my creative bones.

For instance, when I craft, I normally handle almost all my stitching by machine. I'm not a patient girl. But, I've discovered over the past week- if there is no other place pulling me to be, nothing else that needs to be done, I can be a very patient girl.

And thus started "The Great Banner Project" of 2010. It's not all that grand, or large, and certainly, if I had been up to long bouts at the machine, I probably would have done a lengthier word than LOVE. However, doing it by hand means it takes longer. I must say, though, that I love the look of the contrasting thread stitches. They look folksy, or countryish.

So here it is, the hand made (by actual hands) LOVE banner. I only used the sewing machine for a frustrating 30 minutes last night to stitch all the pieces to the ribbon. Frustrating because my machine was acting out. Probably feeling ignored and petty. Pfft. It's such a child.

I used felt in red, white, and light pink. I used red and white thread, and added red and white pom poms to the tips of the triangles and the hearts. I tried to add sequins, but they glitz did not look right, so I ripped em off.

I stitched it all to a length of light pink satin ribbon, and on the ends, I added a length of wider red satin ribbon for the hang-downs. To hang it up, I used clothes pins to pin it to my curtain.

All in all, this project is easy, and inexpensive. I used about 2 sheets of red felt, 2 sheets of white felt, and half a sheet of pink felt. The ribbon was a cast off left over I had on hand. The pom poms were left from Christmas projects. All in all, it was done with on-hand items. Price wise, I got the sheets of red & white felt in large packages from DT. I used 2 of the sheets each, and there are 14 sheets to a package. Those sheets were $.07 each, or $.28 for the red & white I used. The pink was $.47 a sheet at Walmart, but I only used half, so $.24 for the pink. The poms were in a package of around 30 of them for $1 from DT, and I used 7, so roughly $.23 for 7 puff balls. The ribbon was from a $1.99 roll of 9 yards, but I only used about 2 yards, so about $.44 for that.

Total cost would be roughly $1.19 for the banner. This project can be made with a variety of on-hand items, and the length can be adjusted up or down. I could have used less ribbon and felt had I left out the hearts, for instance.

 

 After taking a few photos, I decided to add the Ribbon & Tulle wreath I made last week behind the banner. I love it! It's so festive! Later this week, I'll photograph my new, hand decorated place mats I made while laying in bed.

 

I am hoping to be out of bed for longer periods of time this week, and to try and tackle some decoupage. I have some wooden hearts, and 1 fiber-board heart plaque I found at DT, and I want to get them done soon. I'm itching to do more crafts, and it's bothering me that I'm fairly limited in just what all I can do from bed.

 

This post has been shared at the following websites. If you have a craft project you want to share, these sites are a great way to share them, and get your blog seen!

Linked up at the parties listed here.

Invalid Craft Time

I'm really surprised at how much it hurts to do little things. Sitting up. Walking. Standing up. Wiggling around. Scooting a chair. It all hurts! I've been spending way too much time in bed, and I just want to DO something! Yesterday, I assembled a bucket of craft items to use while I'm laying down.

I've watched my fill of movies. I've read 2 books, cover to cover, and finished a 3rd. I'm bored.

While none of my Invalid Crafts are what I would consider genius or something totally outstanding, they are, at the very least, giving me something to do.

Last night, I attempted to make a Valentine pocket to put treats in. It was cute, but small. Today, I found a cute basket in my back room, and decided to make it a Valentine's Basket, and found something to do with the little pocket I made.

This was easy enough to do. For the pocket, I started off with 1 heart shape, and I whip stitched it to a piece of plain red felt. Well, the felt puckered a bit, and pulled, and all together did not lie flat, so I cut it into a larger heart shape, and whip stitched it to a piece of white felt.

I decided halfway through stitching it to make it a pocket, instead of a full applique, so I only stitched the sides of the heart to the white. Once done, I opted to cut the white into a heart shape. The very last thing I did, which really should have been the very first thing, was sew a dark red button to the middle of the heart.

For the basket, I started by just winding thin pink ribbon around the edge of the basket. I like it- it's cute! Then, I opted to cut two slits in the back of my little pocket, and string it up, then attach it to the basket. I think it looks darling, but in my slightly drug dazed stupor, I think most things are darling. (I don't write that to mean I'm totally off my rocker and drugged out, but I do have a sensitivity to most medications, and while I do try to go as long as possible without them, my body aches badly even just laying down when I haven't taken them, and things like tylenol, heating pads, motrin, and ice are not helping much yet)

Lastly, or not, I wound what little tulle I had on hand around the handle. Maybe I'm not so in love with that. I imagined it puffy. It looked odd puffy, so I tugged it tight. I don't love it, so it may not stay. Probably it won't stay. Apparently, aforementioned slightly drug dazed stupor does not make all things darling.

As I said, it might not have been the last step, because the real last step was by far my favorite. I loaded it down with left over Christmas candy in red, silver, and oddly, purple. The purple is my favorite, and it's a nice Valentine type color.

All in all, not a bad little fix up for a basket I paid $.79 for at Goodwill. If you have baskets as part of your decor, this would be an easy way to fix them up for various holidays- a cute felt shape and some ribbon, which is all easily removed, but adds just a touch of holiday to the decor.