Project: Menu Board!

I have been using my kiddo's chalk board as a menu planner, while I know he doesn't mind, I figured that it was time to get serious about some menu board ideas!

I am very lucky because a friend of mine, saw that I had pinned several variations of menu boards trying to decide what I liked, so she invited me over for a playdate/craft afternoon. Which meant that we got to get together 3 times working on it! (choosing the style, shopping for the frame and fabric, putting it all together!)

Crafting with friends is my favorite!

After MUCH deliberation we ended up liking this style best!

Picture frame, 12''x18''

Used coupon from the website @ Micheal's.

Ended up being around 7 dollars. There are cheaper frames for the same size, I just really liked this frame best, I like the thicker edge.

I used fabric for the background.

Used a Sillouhette to cut out circles, letters, and rounded rectangles.

Tacky glued it and stuck it back into the frame!

Finished!

That was easy...

now...what to make for dinner?

Project: Graduation Caps

Hello all! What a crazy year it has been! Having a baby really puts crafting and free time on hold. But! I'm glad to be back. :0)

I was able to teach in a Preschool Co-op this year. We had our end of the year Graduation Party last Monday, and I was in charge of the Graduation Caps. But I saw these yummy treats on Pinterest and had to play. 

Cute and simple. I wish I would have bought a different kind of frosting. The gel was hard to work with.

Now on to Posterboard Graduation Caps! 

I made 4 hats out of 2 Posterboard, normal crafting scissors to cut everything out used and Hot Glue to hold it all together. 

I bent down the top part of the circle piece, and cut slits every inch. Then I cut out every other square so it was easier to handle. Then hot glued the remaining pieces down! 

Done! 

And a nice chunky yarn tassle glued right on top! 

Congratulations little Preschooler!

Project: Kids bathroom redo

 We repainted the kids bathroom back in February.....and I finally finished it!   Nice to check something off the list.

The room started as a dark blue color.  Nice, but it didn't match any of my (3) shower curtains.  My friend had some leftover paint that I thought might match one, so we tried it.

 OOPS!  Have you ever had one of those - it was better before I did that - moments?  I tried to make myself like it as we finished painting it at 1 am.  Even after my husband pointed out that I would choose NOT to rent a house just because of a room like that......he was right.  And when I looked at it again in the morning I disliked it even more.  Okay, so I hated it.  Thank goodness there was paint leftover from my bathroom!  It was a nice shade of gray by evening.

Do you have any toilets that do this?  Gross!  I took the opportunity to add some caulk around the base....of all the toilets in the house.  Youtube it.  It is really very easy, and super quick!  And I did 3 toilets and re-caulked 2 showers for $10.  Totally worth it.

Ahhhh.....happy "not so much grossness to clean" to me!

 I put some hooks on the back of the door to hide the kids towels.  They dry better this way anyway.

 I found some really cute bathroom printables here and gradually rounded up frames from the local thrift store. (Spray painted to match) I cut a square of foam board and covered it with some scrap fabric for the center square.  If I find a frame about that size I'll add the "comb your hair" print instead.  If you want some tips for how to hang a collage check out this post.

 It all matches!  And it isn't fluorescent!

 And it only cost me $8....for frames.  All the paint was leftover from some other project, and I've had the shower curtain/towels for years.  Though to completely finish the project....

I'm going to have to buy some ceiling paint.  Seriously people.  If you are going to take the time to put color on your walls, take the time to do it right!  Or no one will be able to appreciate the beautiful color you picked - all they will see is a crappy paint job.  Okay, so maybe thats just me :0)

Project: Adding Some Color

My landlord left me with one stipulation regarding paint in my house.  Don't touch the living room.....or stairs....or upstairs hall.  Basically, leave the yellow alone!  And its yellow.....very yellow.  A good yellow.....but a LOT of yellow.  And the "accent" wall is about a half a shade different than the rest.  On sunny days its livable, on cloudy days its suffocating.  So I set about adding some color!

 The easiest way to add instant color is throw pillows.  Especially since my couches and my carpet are essentially the same color :(  

The red pillow is actually made from some curtains I had in my kitchen a few houses ago!  Here are the tutorials I used:

Gathered Pillow: Make It and Love It
Bow Pillow: E Tells Tales
Flower Pillow: I just made a standard envelope cover.  Then I took strips of fabric 3 inches wide and sewed a basting stitch down the center of each.  I gathered them, then sewed them in a circle.  Kind of like the pillow here, but instead of straight lines, its circular.

These two are just plain jane zipper pillow covers.  The green one has the pear fabric on the other side

 I pulled out the spray paint and added some color to my lamp bases.  Which I really really love!

 Remember those leftover blocks?  Haha.....here are some more!

I sprayed painted my flower pot and added a curtain to the bookshelf.  Just use a shower curtain rod!  It works beautifully, and is sturdy.  This is my kids bookcase, and it gets used often.  I haven't had the curtain fall down once.

I would totally leave the open bookshelf if it was in a playroom, but its in my living room - I'll take the curtain.

This shelf above the front door has been a puzzle to me since we moved in.  Its at least half hidden, from some angles fully hidden by the chandelier.  What do you put up there?  Not something you want to be able to see well!  These pots (and the frame actually too) were $1.99 each at a local thrift store.  The pots were white with a blue design on them. (Sorry I didn't take a before picture!)  Add a little spray paint and viola!  For $6 I'm happy with it......for now :)

Of course there is the palm tree pot from before as well.  That was a nice stroke of red too.  And I think that about sums it up.

Overall - it is 100% better.  Not as great as a new paint job, but much cheaper and following the rules.

Project: Pom Pom Valance

So back around St. Patricks day I showed you the pom poms I made for the table decor.  They really are SO fun.  I decided to add some to the window in my girls room.  You can find the how-to for them from Martha Stewart.

Such a fun splash of color!

They turned out great!!  My girls LOVE them, and it really filled up a huge blank wall.  Best of all, it only cost me a few dollars! Again I  hung them with fishing line, from thumb tacks in the ceiling.

They look like they are floating...

I just put up a few black riibbons to frame the window a bit and tie in the color.  The pom-poms cast such a fun light in the room, and really are very....very girly.

I even added one to the canopy, amidst all the stars

I'm so close to being done I can almost taste it!!  Just one little project left and the before and after will be complete.  Whether you want to see it or not, I am excited to show you!!

Project: Pinterest Skirt

Have you seen this on Pinterest?

I have!

And it totally inspired me. 

I hopped on over to see  sewingin-nomansland.blogspot.com super easy tutorial and I was sold. I'm not much of a sewer, but I'm learning...so please don't judge. :0)

I sorted through my scrap box and found some cute material to work with. I cut pieces for the skirt, the skirt top and the ties.

I started by sewing the ties, flipped them right side out again and ironed. 

Then I doubled up the skirt top by putting together two pieces of fabric and sewing the top and the bottom leaving the sides open.

Then I sewed together the skirt up the sides, then using a loose stitch, sewed the top and cinched using the skirt top as my measurer.

I then flipped the skirt top right side out, and placed the ends of the ties in both openings, then sewed it shut. 

I kept the skirt inside out, and pinned the skirt top to it. 

Ta-Dah! Here is the front... 

And the back. 

The ties can be brought around to the front for a big loopy bow, or even tied in the back...

Or the ties can be doubled to bring a short knot to the front. Lots of possibilities and super cute for Spring! Now that I practiced, I want to make one for myself! Thanks Pinterest! :0) 

Project: High Chair Cover

Hey all! It's been FOR-E-VER since I last posted on here, mostly because I've been busy with this fun creation. I can't believe he is almost 3 months! He has just started taking wonderful long afternoon naps, and today I decided to pull out my sewing machine. :0) 

Yesterday while cleaning out my garage, I found this little guy...he will now be our high chair for Child #3...Have you seen these before? They just get buckled on to the regular table chair. They come in all sorts of colors and usually have a really cute cover...except we don't, because I put it in the washer...even though the tags on there said not to...yes-the machine ate the cover...my bad. Those people really do know what they are talking about!

Anywho-my little guy really likes sitting in his chair already, so I thought I would whip up a cute cover. 

Out of Jersey material! My fave. I grabbed an extra piece from my scrap pile and sewed up the sides, then I fit it on the chair. To reduce the pillowcase square look... 

I cut rounded edges on the top, and sewed those up. 

After that, I turned it right side out and sewed on a little embellishment on the front. I wanted so badly to go to Hobby Lobby to get those cute patches...but gas is so expensive these days, and I wanted to keep this a nice easy and free project. :0) 

Glorious! Fits like a glove, and will be easy to grab and throw in the wash too!

For my little T man.