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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Rules are Rules

Recently my bestest buddy and her family moved closer to us. It's been 10ish years since we've lived within a days drive and in the same time zone! So this last weekend we headed up to Chicago to visit them and see their new diggs! Poor thing hardly had a box unpacked and we invaded, all 6 of us, with all our crap.

Well unpacking would have to wait a few more days because we had our hearts set on a craft project, and let me tell you don't get in my way when a craft project is involved (just ask my kids...wait...do I have kids???!!!). Our inspiration came from her friend, who's inspiration came from someone else, who's inspiration came from someone else...it's sometimes hard to tell where these fabulous ideas start! Here's the link to the blog I used... Forthelove . And here is my process:


A blank canvas from Hob Lob. I found mine for $7.99 for two 16x20 canvases. (didn't have my coupon so I paid full price but what a deal if you had your 40% off!!!) "For the Love" did hers on a 24x36 inch canvas but my house is not big enough to pull off such a large piece of art, so I scaled back.

I only painted the edges of the canvas.


Rows of paper. I bought a small stack of coordinating papers at Hob Lob, they were on sale so I got 30ish pieces for $5.

Here's the finished product. Towards the end I ran out of patience and steam so one line is just cute leaves. The letters were cut from vinyl with my Cricut. My friend provided the vinyl from her stash, so the whole project was well under $10. I may do a few of these up for Christmas!!!

Some things I learned during the process:

  • Mod Podge and canvas together are hard to work with. The canvas stretched when it was wet with ModPodge, so maybe next time paint the whole canvas to stiffen it up? Also having something underneath that was hard helped with the bubbles. Mostly just put it on and walk away, when it dried overnight it looked a lot better than when I left it.

  • Paper stretches when you get it wet with Mod Podge, be careful not to stretch too much or you do not have even edges (don't look at mine too closely)

  • Stagger your paper seams so that there is not a big line in your project.

  • When putting on your letters measure and center them (again...don't look to closely at mine)

  • For me coordinating paper was great, I didn't have to think too much.

  • Next time I may even use a harder surface like wood so it all goes a little smoother.

  • Don't let your hubby help with the "rule" making. Mine wanted to add things like, no farting at the table, and no electronic gadgets at dinner. He didn't understand the cute whimsy of it all.
I love my finished product. It's cute and fun, and my kids are starting to refer to it. Thanks Tam for the idea!!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Creative Juices Challenge

What a week this has been. Between Dr's appointments, play group, church activities, St. Patrick's Day, Hockey, pre-school, and baby sitting, my week has been very full! I still managed however to slip in a little crafting. I mentioned last week that I was going to start at $3 craft challenge... well here it is.

I've decided to call it the "Creative Juices Challenge" because it takes a lot of creative juice to do something for 3 bucks. So here is what I came up with:

I found these gems at the Dollar Store. They are glass and were plain (just clear). I used Mod Podge and cute paper to cover them, then just hot glued some ribbon and a button on. Red embroidery floss through the button gave me the pinch of color I needed. My whole project cost me about $1.40, and that's if you count the whole piece of paper (I only used a small corner of it). I thought these would make a great hostess gift, or a gift for a bride made to match her china. Does anyone even register for china anymore...??? Anyhoo you can use paper or fabric to cover them I even used tissue paper on a set and they were adorable.

SOOOOO what have you been working on? Do you have any fantabulous ideas for inexpensive project? Link up... I hope this works, it's my first time.

Remember the rules:

supplies must cost no more than $3 not including tax

anything you have at home already does not count in your $3 (fabric, glue, Modpodge, you know "stash" stuff)

It can be anything, home decorating, gift giving, craft, sewing, crochet, the possibilities are endless

Let's get those creative juices flowing!!

linked to :






Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Craig's List Enthusiast!

I don't know if any of you have the same problem I have...I love Craig's List! I have found the best stuff on there. My husband knows when I call him at work and the first thing I say is I LOVE YOU, that he is swinging by to pick something up that I got for free on CL. My finds have been, a wooden swing set/play thingy (we call it The Monstrosity, cuz it's HuGe), a nice cabinet for my sewing room, sewing machines, lots of things for the children the list could go on and on.

My most recent find was fabulous if I do say so myself. I had a baby in August, child #4, and decided that to save a few buckaroos I should try cloth diapering. I have lots of friends that cloth diaper so I was able to use them as support and reference. Buying ready made cloth diapers can be a daunting and expensive endeavor, so I set out to make my own. Bought all the supplies, made the CA-UTEST diapers ever and when my baby came out he was already too big for them...AAAUUGGGHHH! So I used disposable for a few weeks, in the mean time my friend, bless her heart, sold me some used Fuzzi Bunz to get me started. I used those and made a few more of my own (bigger this time) and now he's outgrown all of those. So I decided that I was gonna have to fork out the bucks for the one size cloth diapers, or commit to make several more sizes (I was not willing to do that).

Long story short, being the thrifty girl that I am I've been procrastinating spending the $300 it was gonna take to buy those plush, already made diapers, and my procrastination paid off!!! Searching Craig's List I found a woman in my area giving away a bag full of cloth diapers. They were all the sizes I needed (I won't need any bigger) and it was a huge bag, we are talking a large leaf garbage bag, full of random diapers. AIO, pocket, covers, snapped, Velcroed, you name it.


Here's a pic of about 1/4 of the diapers that I got (the other 3/4 are dirty and you don't want to see that!). I am so pleased with my find, and to add a cherry to the top of that sundae when I got there she (the woman from CL) had a bag of women's clothes she was giving away that just happened to be in my size! They were all cute and gently used SCORE!

So here are a few things I've learned about getting great stuff from CL:

1. You have to check it often, I'm a little embarrassed to say that I check CL about 10ish times a day. If something good comes up it goes FAST!

2. If they leave a phone # just call, don't wait for an e-mail to be answered.

3. When responding to them via email be sure you use the exact wording of the ad title in your subject line, some people use this as a means of weeding out spam. They may delete you if it's not exact.

4. NEVER go get anything alone!!! This is basic safety ladies, take a friend or spouse, NO the 4 year old does not count! This also goes for selling items on CL. I never have someone come and get something from my house unless my hubby is home. If you live alone or are concerned, agree to meet in a public place. I've picked up lots of things in the parking lots of our local grocery stores.

5. Be considerate. If you agree to meet someone or pick something up DO IT! Don't leave them hangin' it's just bad form.

So those are a few tricks of the CL trade. Now go find something fab for free!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Free Alert

I saw this on another blog that I lurk on and had to try it. It's a company called HotPrints that gives away photo books. I was skeptical so I waited to post about this until I saw the finished product. Well, I received mine in the mail today and it actually turned out really cute. The photos are a good quality, and the backgrounds are cute. I don't think I would call this a book actually, maybe more like a magazine, but on thicker paper... does that make sense?

They offer one free every month, there was an advertisement in the middle of mine but you can easily take that page out. So for free I give it a thumbs up!! Here's the link:


Happy Free Gifting!!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Time Flies

WOW, time flew since my last post. I betcha' thought I was gone for good... well I'm back. I took a short spur of the moment trip to visit my family in California. It was great. I hadn't seen my brother in about 2 years, and heck, I have a new baby to show off!

So now I'm home, sleepin' in my own bed again YEAH! and really wanting to do some crafting. I've seen so many $5 challenges out there, you know the ones, see what you can create for $5. Well I'm steppin' it up a notch and I want to see what we can create for $3.

I'll post the challenge next week, I need a few more days to get my ideas in check, and hopefully I'm smart enough to run a MckLinky so we can see all the fab things you come up with.
rules:

supplies must cost no more than $3 not including tax

anything you have at home already does not count in your $3 (fabric, glue, Modpodge, you know "stash" stuff)

It can be anything, home decorating, gift giving, craft, sewing, crochet, the possibilities are endless.

So check back next week with your projects and we'll get some creative juices flowing.