Day 15: Candle Stick Holders

If you know me at all then you would know its hard for me to pass up a good deal. If you know me even better, then you would know I can't!!! pass up something that's free. I've come home with a few puppies I didn't intend to take with me on account of them being free. I mean who can pass up a $1,500 tea cup chihuahua puppy that's free. Apparently my husband. Luckily I had a sister who was looking for just the dog. She was pretty thrilled with the deal:)

My good friend Chelsea had these lying around the house that her grandmother had given her and couldn't figure out what to do with them. She offered them to me and I happily said yes. I didn't quite know what I would do with them either, but after a few days of thought, I found a spot where they would fit perfectly, but before hanging them up I covered them with a coat of gold spray paint and distressed them a bit with black.

Voila

I think they now look perfect. Especially on top of the piano, next to one of my favorite paintings of Jesus Christ.

Day 14: Table Runner

I found some fabric a couple of weeks ago at Joanne's that I thought would go perfect in my living room. I did end up using a little of it to make my "I am a child of God" vinyl frames from Day 8 that hang in my living room, but what I had intended on doing with the fabric took a back burner when I found a new table cloth for our kitchen table. It's something I have been wanting to do for months now, but couldn't find the right shade of green. But it was a little too green to be left all alone, so I thought a table runner would do the trick. I loved coupling it with these colors and prints in the fabric. I'm thrilled with it! Now I just need to iron the table cloth.



Thanks again to my favorite sister Debbie for the beautiful table!

Day 13: Joann fabric masks

I picked up some wooden masks at Joann Fabrics that I knew my kids would be thrilled about. And boy where they! They cost me a dollar each. Can you tell which one my 6 year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old colored?


They put on a pretty cool show for me and the hubby once they were done and then played off and on with them through out the day.
This post is dedicated to the power of three dollars spent in a craft store!

Day 12: CupCake Liner Wreath

Another love of mine is cupcakes. I love to make them, eat them, smell them, and even look at them. So why not make a wreath out of cupcake Liners? Well I did... and here it is.



Want to know how to make your own? Just visit Tater Tots and Jello.

Happy Crafting!

n

Day 12: Photo Canvas

A few months ago I attended a good friend's wedding at the Seattle Washington LDS temple. It was the same temple where my sweet hubby and I were married. While I was there I made sure to take a picture of it that I loved. I took about twenty pictures from all different angles. I picked the best one out of those and sent it off to The Canvas People. Which were giving away a free Photo Canvas. I got it in the mail yesterday!

I am very pleased with how it turned out!

Day 11: Office Chairs

My hubby Timmy was in need of two more chairs for his office. Usually three chairs is more than enough, but the other day one of his clients had three other family members accompany her for an appointment. This has happened once before, but luckily one of his good friends that has an office next door loaned him a few of his chairs. This time his friend was out of town so he headed to Wal-Mart and bought two folding chairs before the appointment for 20 bucks each!! Later that day when he was telling me about that purchase I asked him to give me a few days to see what I could find at our local thrift stores. And this is what I found (within 30 minutes of our conversation).


Two of these chairs priced at $10 each, but ended paying a total $14 for both at checkout. Score!! Tim liked the style, but wanted black chairs. BUUUUT with a coat of primer and two coats of black spray paint this is what we got.
Exactly what he was looking for and all for less then what he paid for one folding chair. I love how easy it is to return things to Wal-Mart:)

Day 10: Blog Button

lds.org

If you want to make your own blog button like I did, then visit April Showers Blog Design

She can even show you how to make and post your own signature like this

at THIS link

I'm still working on my signature. I hate that there is a box around it. Someday I'll fix it when i would rather work on that then other fun projects:).

Day 9: Book Wreath

The minute I saw this wreath at Living with Lindsey I knew I had to make it! I had to add this to my Wreath Wall! Not only do I LOVE wreaths...but I LOOOVE Books even more! So it was perfect! I hope I'm getting my point across with all these exclamation marks and italics!!! Luckily I have a husband who accepts and even supports my book addiction and crafting. He too thought this was a perfect wreath to add to my wall.

I used extra copies of two of my favorite books I had lying around. Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island. I will admit that this wreath takes time and a couple of burnt fingers. But isn't it wonderful?!!

Day 8: vinyl frames, I am a Child of God

I have this weird wall that's about 2.5 feet wide and kind of slants to the left. I've added a couple of my favorite pictures of the children to it, but it needed something a little more. So I took some smaller frames inserted fabric that matched my living room furniture and vinyled I am a child of god on the front of them. I think it was just what that wall needed!



Looking at this picture makes me realize I need to straighten the frames out a bit and that I'm going to have to redo the G because I forgot to capitalize God. I think I might add some embellishments to the frames as well. Hmmm maybe you'll see them again in another post :)

Day 7: Tie Rack

Happy Father's Day to all those amazing fathers out there! I sure have been blessed with two wonderful fathers that I call Dad and Husband. In celebration of Father's Day I decided to post one of the gifts that the kids and I gave.



It was pretty simple. It was originally a thread holder, but with spray paint, attached ribbon, and nailing it on the closet wall, it became a tie rack. Each wooden post was long enough to comfortably hold two ties. When I nailed it to the wall I decided to slant it a little so the ties would be able to be put on and off with more ease. I thought it also looked better that way.


Tim was happy with it:)

Day 6: Little Girl's Necklace

My six year old daughter Ellie received this fun gift from her cousin Makayla on her last birthday. We pulled it out a few times the week following her birthday, but it has been nicely tucked away (where little hands can't pull it out to make a mess) ever since.

Last night, Ellie joined me at an over-nighter for our Young Women (ages 12-18)in our ward (church). We did lots of fun activities and making necklaces was one of them. Because of lack of time, Ellie ended up only being able to make the sea shell part of the necklace. When we got back home today she promptly went in search for her beads and asked for me to help her make a necklace. This is how it turned out.


She picked out the beads and I arranged and beaded them on the string for her. She was "tickled pink" (my moms way of saying excited) with how it turned out.It was fun being able to craft with my Ellie girl! And if your interested, you can find these kits at Wal-Mart, Michael's, Robert's or hiding away in the topest of top cupboards in my house.

Day 5: Little Aprons

I had the chance to "craft" with my good friend Chelsea on Thursday. She pulled out her sewing machine and ribbons from her closet and I pulled out some place mats and lace from my bag. With our powers combined, this is what we ended up with.




We did make three of these cute little aprons (two for my little girls and one for her's) but I didn't get a picture of them before I left her house. We were both pretty happy with how they turned out. I think my favorite part was the lace trimmings on the top of the pockets and the flower.



It's always fun to have someone to work on a project with. Especially with someone as fun as Chels, Buuuut I will admit, crafting with 5 little kids running around can be very trying of one's patience.

Here's a link to a tutorial on this with Somewhat Simple. Happy crafting to ya!

Day 4: "Dinner" Plate

I have a friend here in Pahrump who is an amazing cook. She often shares that talent with others through making them meals or in a cooking class she teaches once a month. I thought this would be a fun gift to give her!



All together the gift didn't cost more then $7.50 to make. But it's not the price of the present...it's the love and the thought that went into making it that counts. Right?
It's the same idea from "Day 1: chalk board plate".

Day 3: Stone Wreath

Wreaths are another one of those things that just make me happy. I think it’s because they conjure up those feelings that I usually only get around the holidays. I love wreaths and have decided to make a wreath wall. I've seen clock walls, plate walls, and mirror walls. But I wanted to make a wreath wall and I've actually already started. Today I want to share with you one of the wreaths I've made so far. It’s pretty simple, cheap, a little time consuming, but I knew I’d love for it to start my collection. The rule for my wreath wall is that I have to have made the wreath. That’s it! Pretty simple rule huh? Well maybe not. When I was thrifting today I almost budged. I found the prettiest wreath for only 3 dollars. 3 dollars!! Buuuuut I stayed strong and decided that I could eventually make one like that too and I could feel accomplished for having done it. So I’m sticking to my rule.
So here it is....

My idea for this wreath came from the blog Craft Envy. I just changed it a teensy bit.

If you have any great wreath ideas please send them my way. I have a 12 foot ceiling...aka lots of space to fill:) I look forward to showing you my other wreaths!

Day 2: Lane Toy Chest

Pretend there's no big mess :)


Here is another one of those giddy-wiggly feeling thrift store finds. Only $17 and it's a Lane. Okay, so not really sure what a "Lane" is, but a lady at the thrift store who was looking at it with me made a really big deal over it...so yeah...It's a LANE!!! Did my really long sentence convince you?

I've been doing little projects here and there over the past two weeks for my daughters' bedroom and I knew I wanted a toy chest for all of their stuffed animals and dolls. This chest seemed like the perfect solution.

SOOOO VOILA



It's amazing what white paint and a couple of pink polka dots can do. The girls loove it! My inspiration came from All Things Thrifty. I'll never look at second hand furniture the same way. There is almost always potential.

Oh and I also made the chalkboard hanging above the chest!

Day 1: chalkboard plates

Idea from The Rubber Punkin

Anyone who knows me will say that I LOVE (imagine the word love being sung to you in a loud falsetto opera voice) a good deal. Seriously, it gives me a high to know I saved a penny. I get all giddy and wiggly inside. Well same thing goes with crafting now. If I can find something to use around the house for my crafting projects and not have to spend a cent, you will find one happy girl and someone who likes to repeat herself. I think Timmy my hub heard me mention at least 10 times that I didn’t spend one penny on this first craft

All you need is Chalkboard paint, primer, paint brush, a plate, and a wall plate holder thingy.



The chalkboard paint I had left over from a different project, the primer from when we painted the house, The plate I have had since our reception almost 8 years ago (See Timmy, I knew I would need them some day!). The wall plate holder thingy (there’s got to be an official name for those) I got with a gift card from a store where everything was marked 50% off. Starting to feel those giddy and wiggly feelings again :)!