Newspaper Nails!

 

I am always on the look out for ideas of things to do with my left over newspapers.  Saw this on a Facebook post and fell in LOVE!!  Super clever gal at Craft Envy has this super creative idea for adding a little newspaper flair to your nails!  Simply Amazing!  I am about 99% sure I am going to try this out for my upcoming coupon workshops.  Can't wait!  Check out this link to her very simple how-to on this great little ditty!  HAVE FUN!!  

Summer Reading - CHART IT!

Those of you who know me, or have been to my class, you know how much I love a good spreadsheet!  My brain just works better when there is order.  So, lists... charts... anything to keep this mamma's crazy brain under control just makes me happy.  

I saw this gal's blog post highlighted on Sugardoodle.net today and just KNEW I needed to do this for my kiddies.  This will be a great motivation for my kids and will just be all around FUN to tie in all these reading programs that I just posted about here... here... and here...  

Erin at Chicken Babies, came up with this Ahhhhdorable way to chart all the books her kids read this summer.  I may have to make some adjustments since I have 2 great readers, 1 who is just starting with blending letter, 1 who thinks she can read and has quite a fine imagination when doing so, and 1 who just loves to sit on your lap and enjoy any picture of a doggie or ball.  I'm not sure how I will adapt, but the concept is great and I have plenty of empty wall space in my hallway upstairs.  So much fun!!  So check out her post and let me know what you come up with!

I hope your summer is filled with lots of good stories and memories with your kids!  I am working on updating the Family Fun calendar at the bottom of this blog, so if you know of any good activities (scheduled or not) that I can highlight for you or add to the calendar, please let me know!  

Happy READING!! 

Wreath-a-rific!!

Isn't it amazing how sometimes when we are really strapped financially, we get uber creative??  Well, my front doors have been bare for over a month now because I didn't have a Valentines wreath.  Since I now have at least 1 cute St. Patty's Day craft done and ready, I thought it was high time I got the doors taken care of.  I scavenged a few items from my craft closet and got to work.  Pretty pleased how the final project turned out... here's how it all came together {you are not allowed to judge the photos, the plastic kept making an awful glare so I was goofing around with the flash}:

I had 2 straw wreath forms I bought at Hobby Lobby at Christmas time for 50% off.  Got them both for around $3.50.  I dug through my scrap fabric box and found several different green fabrics and some tulle cause you can never have enough tulle!  

 The rest of the items I found at my 99c Store... The signs I scooped up last year because they were green and already painted {sometimes I'm just lazy, not creative}.  The shamrocks were a great size and had some extra ribbons and stuff attached so I'm thinking I could do something fun with those.  The pins are a must because I am so cheap I want to be able to break these puppies down and reuse the wreath forms.   

Yes, I am that cheap!

First, all you do is rip some strips of fabric.  Start by snipping a small bit the width you want and then think of that one wretched mess your toddler made that afternoon and pull HARD. Pfew!  Repeat as long and as many times as you need until your frustration is good and used up.  This is a fun technique because it is both quick and I like the look of the frayed edges.  Note: I started with these 2"-ish strips, but after working them around the wreath, I decided to undo and go with a 1"-ish strip.  Up to you.

 

 Ahhhhh, a nice pile of strips... Guess my 2 year old will live to see another day ;-)

 See how I ripped the strips again to make them smaller... Now, figure out how you want to layer them and start pinning.  After this pic I decided to add another color so I ended up with 5 different colors.  Here's a tip for you, wrap them in this same order as if they are one big piece of fabric.  That will make the final product uniform.  I tried wrapping each color, and then trying to overlap and I lost a few of the fabrics.  So handy that I only pinned them so it was really easy to redo until I got the end result I wanted. Not gonna lie, it took me more than twice to get it just right.

Here's what I mean by wrapping them all as one piece. Does that make sense?

 

Voila! I used the tulle to add little "szhusz" behind the clovers and used it to make hanger at the top.  Remember those dangling strings from before?  I added them to the hanger for a little extra pop.  At this point, I did not like seeing the pin in the middle of the clover.  It took me a little while to decide to try my hand at fabric flowers!  I'm HOOKED!  And since I had just a "few" extra strips of fabric laying around, I whipped up a few to add to the wreath. 

 I just love how it turned out!  Seriously proud of myself because I usually am not good at creating things on my own... I am REALLY good at copying other people's ideas so this is a big deal for me.  

 Close up of the flowers.  They are a little tight, so I may work on my technique, but not bad for a first shot right?  {really wish those holes were not in the clovers, but what are you gonna do for $1}

Here they are!!  I love having double doors in the front, but it gets pretty expensive when trying to decorate 2 doors.  So happy that this project came in under $10 for both!! 

NOTE: Now accepting advice for removing that tacky No Soliciting sign without totally peeling off the paint like I did when I removed the original magnet wreath hanger. Can you say 'eye sore'! Yikes!

Hope you like it and are inspired to make something GREAT and GREEN!  

Happy March everyone!!

p.s. Remember those ucky signs.  Like I said, I only liked the fact that they were $1 and already green and finished.  I just had to take the sticker off the back and whip out my Sharpie!  I didn't end up using the signs for the wreath, but I might find somewhere else to put them cause I just like how it turned out too!  

{This was NOT my idea - surprise, surprise}

 p.s.s. Just linked to my first EVER blog party!! WHOO HOO!! Of course I did it wrong, but what can I say... that's what I get for staying up way too late doing fun projects! Check it out

Wire Words

I am going to attempt my first tutorial here so hold on tight and don't laugh ....  This is one of those things that I saw somewhere many moons ago and just never got around to putting it together.  After attempting one for Valentines day, I realized I needed to make a few adjustments, and then I quickly realized the potential here!  First, let me say that I saw something similar on a blog somewhere long ago {is that vague enough for ya}, the gal used vinyl wrapped clothesline which I tried, but it didn't work out so hot for me.  I happened upon this wire at Wally-world and my mind went bonkers! 

   

First, here's your supply list:  galvanized wire $3.76 at Walmart for 100 feet {pretty cheap and I could do LOTS of projects}, wire cutters, glue gun, left over yarn, and a movie cause this is a bit tedious.  

{For all you Twilighters out there, I did cover Jacob's face on purpose ;-)}. 

 Next, make a "rough draft" of the word or object you want to create.  Cut the wire a bit longer just in case.  I will give you brownie points if you can guess what this one is going to say... It's pretty jumbled right here, but I'll give you a hint... I am in desperate need of St. Patty's Day decor.  Hmmmm? 

Start by gluing the yarn up and over the end of the wire, then start wrapping around, and around, and around..... You will want to do something similar at the end of the wire too just to cover the sharp edges of the wire.

Every so often, add a little glue just to make sure it doesn't slip as you go... Then keep wrapping around, and around, and around... {do you see why a movie is necessary at this point?}

Oh, this is a pretty big piece, so I started forming the letters as I went to make it easier to work with.

After a good few minutes {fine, hours} and a large knot in my old scrap of yarn, VOILA!  Did you guess what it was?  I really like the look of this one.  Now, I just need to figure out where to put it.  This is my kind of decoration, it has impact, but is super cheap, very easy, and extremely versatile - Think of the Possibilities!!

Here is one I whipped up for a friend's new baby.  His room is going to be cowboy themed so I thought it would look neat with the jute instead.  You know, make it look like a lasso or something.

Happy Creating!!

It's Craft-tastic!

I Love doing little craft projects, and if I can do them on the cheap! Well, that just makes it all the more sweeter!  Here's one that has been in my "I-would-love-to-do-this-someday" pile for a good minute.  Found it over at Blue Cricket Design {one of my favs}.  All you need is some ribbon, and washers from Home Depot and you are set!!

I made a few for my sister's sweet 16 & they were a hit, so I decided to make one for myself too!  I went a little more dainty on the ribbon, just because it was what I had on hand.  I tried this double ribbon technique and it was WAY easy! Here is the original washer necklace tutorial, which will be my next attempt.