Wedding Card

When my granny died I inherited a lot of her craft supplies. I had been wanting to use them for a project and one thing she made a lot of was cards. Since my brother and Amy got married I decided I wanted to make the card I gave them. I was able to use a lot of my new supplies and it was more personal. 

I used a lot of creative memories supplies. The wedding dress sticker I actually got at a garage sale many years ago for $0.30. I picked it up thinking someday I would use it and I was right. I love getting good deals on things!

Overall, I like how my first card turned out and I am excited to try making more. I plan on trying to do my own Christmas cards this year so I need to practice so they will be perfect. I may even try making some birthday cards, thank you cards, and basic congratulations cards so I will have them on hand for any last minute things.

Hope you all are having a fabulous week. What kinds of cards have you all made before? Does anyone have any suggestions for themes or techniques on making future cards?

DIY Tumbler

As many of you know my brother got married this weekend. Everything ended up turning out really well and all of the family had a lot of fun. The thing I love about weddings is that it is like a large family reunion. My family is very large and they live all over the place so it is hard to see everyone on a regular basis. We will have had 11 weddings in the last 10 years and sometimes that is the only time we get to see everybody. 

One thing I really wanted to do was make something for my sister-in-law, Amy. I am always making things for people and I wanted to do something that would welcome her to the family. Since she would be taking on a new last name I wanted to incorporate that into her present. Amy is also a graduate student so I thought maybe a drink tumbler would be something she could use. I found a double walled drink tumbler so she could put either cold drinks or hot drinks in it for when she is on campus. Here is how I did it:

Supplies:

• Drink tumbler from Hobby Lobby - $4.00
• Black self-adhesive vinyl - $3.00 
• Ribbon - $1.00
• Craft knife - free
• Cutting mat - free
• Computer with printer and paper - free
• Heart punch - free
• Tape - free

Directions:

1. Open a word document and pick a font you like. Type the letter you need and make it large. I did a "G" and used the font "Mardian". Print it onto a piece of paper.
2. Tape the letter to your vinyl sheet and lay on your cutting mat.

   

   The "G" is not cut out yet in this picture. You will actually just cut through the paper and vinyl at the same time.
3. Use your craft knife to cut out the letter. (Some people have used their Silhouette or Cricut but I do not have one of these so this was the method I used.)
4. Next, cut out little hearts with your heart punch.
5. The vinyl is self-adhesive so you can just peel the backing off and stick it to the drink tumbler where you want everything. 
6. Tie the ribbon around the straw, fill your cup up with your favorite drink and enjoy!

I wanted to make something personal for Amy and I really like how it turned out. Hopefully she will find many excuses to use it when she starts her classes back up this fall!

He Said, She Said Bridal Shower Game

Looking for a bridal shower game that takes a fun look at the bride and groom? Look no further than "He Said, She Said"!

This game was really simple to make and everyone had a lot of fun. It helps friends and family get to know the bride and groom a little better and provides a lot of laughs. All you need to do is come up with some questions to ask the bride or groom. Make sure to ask them separately and write down their answers. Mix them up on a sheet of paper and have bridal shower attendees guess "who said what".

Sample Questions:

• If you could be any superhero who would you be?
• If you could live anywhere in the world where would you choose?
• How many kids do you want?
• What is the craziest thing you have ever done with your future spouse?
• What was the worst date you and your future spouse ever went on?
• When you think of school you think _______.
• If you could describe your future spouse with three words what would they be?
• If you were stranded on a deserted island and could have one thing what would it be?

Coming up with questions for the bride and groom to answer is a good starting point. If you know both of them really well and one of them uses a common phrase frequently you can include that also. Be creative with your questions. I know that my brother and his fiance surprised me with some of their answers. Many of them were very funny and had us all laughing.

Once you have all of their answers, eliminate any elements that would give it away such as using he or she and put the answers in quotes. For example, if the groom says he would want to be batman if he could be any superhero then put: "If I could be any superhero in the world, I would want to be batman". Be creative and remember to have fun!

Here is a free blank template to use for your own bridal shower!

He Said She Said Download (pdf)

Wreath Embellishment

As I had mentioned in an earlier post my future sister-in law's bridal shower for my side of the family was this weekend. Early this year I had made this Spring Rose Wreath for my door. Amy had really liked it and wanted me to make one for her. The pink in it matched perfectly with her wedding colors and I thought it would be wonderful to use this as decoration for the bridal shower, especially since I knew she already liked it. Most of the bridal shower was a surprise. I did not want her to worry about any of the details so I made sure to keep all of the planning on the DL. 

Lots of people were coming from out of town and had not been to my parents house in a while so I decided the wreath would be perfect as a welcome decoration on the front door. All it needed was some embellishment! That's when I came up with this simple project to update the wreath.

Supplies:

• Round piece of wood (I found this at Hobby Lobby near all the wooden letters)
• White paint
• Pink paint
• Paint brush
• Letter stamps
• Tape
• Hot glue
• Ribbon

Directions:

1. Paint wooden circle with white paint and let dry.
2. Paint each letter stamp and stamp phrase onto wooden circle.
3. Attach ribbon to back of wooden circle with hot glue gun. To finish, tie around or hot glue to top of wreath.

I love how it turned out and it was the perfect decoration for the front door to welcome everyone to the party. This project was quick and simple making it the perfect project for any party! Hope you all enjoyed!

Love You Forever Artwork + Free Printable

My cousin had her baby shower this weekend and it was a lot of fun. The food was great and we all cannot wait until her baby has arrived! I was in charge of picking out the gift and while I got several things on her registry I also wanted to do something unique just for her.

As part of her registry she mentioned that the nursery is going to be decorated in an owl theme. I later found out that the reason she chose this is because the first appointment where she heard the baby's heartbeat the office recorded it and put it in a stuffed owl. I thought that was really sweet. I decided to make her some artwork that could go into the new nursery.

One of my favorite books growing up was Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. This book is about a mother and her baby. She sings to him every night and the book shows the progression of the baby growing up. My mom cannot read the book without tearing up. The song the mother sings was the quote I decided to use for the artwork:

"I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living. My baby you'll be."

Since my cousin was doing an owl theme with blue, yellow, and grey I decided to incorporate that into the artwork. Also, at the party we all got these amazing necklaces as party favors. My aunt sells jewelry and this necklace is very versatile. As you can see below, the owl charm can be taken off and replaced with another charm to fit any occasion. Visit her Facebook page Glammy Girls to see more!

Go check out Glammy Girls!

I had so much fun making this artwork and going to the baby shower. My cousin seemed to really like it and her husband said he already knows where he wants to put it in the nursery. I cannot wait to see what their nursery looks like :) Hope you all enjoy and I am putting a link down bellow so you can make your very own Love You Forever artwork!

Love You Forever - PDF

Mother's Day Chalkboard Print + Free Download

Life has been very busy for me the last couple of weeks. My brother graduated from college last weekend, we celebrated mothers day at the same time, and this weekend I am heading to Chicago for a baby shower. In order to make this mothers day special I wanted to make my mom her own unique piece of artwork.

After doing some searching, I found inspiration at Dear Lillie with her framed chalkboard printout and decided I really wanted to make my own. She has several different prints that look amazing and you should definitely check them out but I wanted to make my own custom print. I found a quote that I really liked by Stephanie Precourt:

"There will be so many times that you feel like you've failed. 

But in the eyes, heart and mind of your child you are super mom."

When I originally started laying everything out I actually wrote the quote down wrong. I wrote "you are a superhero" instead of "you are super mom". It worked out though because I love superheros! I decided to keep the superhero part since to me my mom is the ultimate superhero.

To make the chalkboard print I used Microsoft Publisher. It took a while but I love how it turned out. The fonts I used were:

I found all of the fonts here for free. The flower came from the font "KG Flavor And Frames Six". It is a font made up of pictures that look like they were drawn with chalk. 

Once your design is complete have it printed as an engineering print at Staples. This way cost me only $3.00 for a 24x36" print. Other places were going to charge me $30+ for a poster print and it was going to be glossy instead of matte which would not be good for a chalkboard look.

So now lets get to what you will need and the steps you need to take to make your own frame! Dear Lillie does an amazing job explaining how to build your own frame. I basically followed the same principal but made a few small changes.

Materials:

• (2) 1x3x8 pine boards cut to size
• Stain
• Drill
• 1 1/4" pocket screws
• Kreg Jig
• 24"x36" chalkboard print
• Black tape
• 24"x36" plywood
• (2) D-Ring hangers
• 3/4" screws
• 1/2" screws

Directions:

1. First, cut your wood boards to size. I used 1x3 pine boards from Lowe's and had them cut down for me. The one I go to does unlimited cuts and they have always been great about it. I cut my pieces to 28" and 33". These were the lengths Dear Lillie recommended but I did not think about the fact that she used 1x4's and I used 1x3's. If I could go back and change anything I would have cut my boards to be 26" and 33" instead.
2. Next, use your kreg jig and pocket hole screws to combine the pieces together to make your frame.
3. After you have the basic frame finish it with your choice of stain or paint. I used Rustoleum Walnut.
4. Coat with polyurethane. I did three coats and sanded in between each.
5. Tape your chalkboard print onto the piece of plywood.
6. Flip your frame over and screw the plywood into the back of the frame.
7. Finally, screw your d-ring hangers into the back of the frame. One on each side about halfway down. All done!

This was a pretty simple project to make. The print took the longest to make and the frame was super easy. I think I may make some of these frames for my own apartment! Let me know what you think about this project!

Mothers Day Chalkboard Print - PDF

Bridal Shower Invites

My summer is going to be full of weddings! My brother and two of my cousins are getting married. It is a very busy and exciting time for them! One of the projects that I have been put in charge of is planning the bridal shower for my future sister-in-law. It has been a lot of work but also a lot of fun. Pinterest has definitely come in handy for lots of inspiration!

First step in the planning process was coming up with a theme. My future sister-in-law is using pink as one of her main colors and she loves Disney princesses. I decided to go with a pretty in pink theme with a touch of elegance. The first thing I designed for the party was of course the invitations. These took a long time to do but I wanted something unique. Lately, I have seen a lot of artwork and party invites using a mismatch of fonts... which I LOVE! I had to use that idea when making my own invitations... I just had too :).

Here are the steps I took to make these but I am also going to include a template at the bottom of the page so you can just use that if you don't have the time or patience to come up with your own.

STEP 1: Open Microsoft Publisher. There are other programs out there you can use but this is what I had on hand and it worked great. 

STEP 2: Create a new document. There are lots of templates you can choose from. The size template I used was 4" x 6". This was a custom size:

Go to "New" and then select "More Blank Page Sizes" at the top.

Under the "Custom" section select "Create new page size..."

This is where you can customize the size you want.

STEP 3: Use various clip art found in the program to create a border. I made a dotted line square then laid the artwork over top to make it interesting.

STEP 4: Determine your wording layout and what types of fonts you want to use. I recommend only using 4-5 fonts and repeating them. Too many fonts will make the invite look overly busy. 

STEP 5: Print the invites onto card stock of your choice and cut them out using a straight cutter or send them to a specialty store to be printed. I chose to have Fed Ex print mine. I saved the file onto a flash drive, brought it to the store, and they were able to size it, print it, and cut it all right there. It took very little time and only cost less than $20 for the invites and the envelopes.

This project took a lot of time but saved me a lot of money. The cards were unique and turned out exactly the way I wanted them too. The bride to be also very excited to see it come in the mail. Hope you all enjoy and here is the file!

Bridal Shower Invites - Microsoft Publisher Document
Bridal Shower Invites - PDF Document

Flower Artwork

After looking online and at many stores in the area for artwork I realized that nothing I found fit the idea I had in my head for my dining room. I wanted something big and fun that would match the colors found throughout my apartment. I realized that the only way I was going to get exactly what I wanted was to make it myself.

After looking all over Pinterest I came up with a couple of ideas. My favorite was the flower made from various scraps of paper. I went immediately to my local craft store and picked up some coordinating scrapbook pages. I wanted yellows, reds, and blues since those are the colors I had used in my living room. I was originally going to get some canvases for the base of the artwork but there were some foam boards on sale so I decided to try those. I grabbed a couple and got to work.

Supplies:

• Foam board
• Coordinating scrapbook paper
• Glue stick
• Scissors

I was originally going to use mod podge to attach all of the petals but it made the surface look strange so I ended up using a glue stick instead.

Directions:

1. Cut petal shapes out of your scrapbook paper. I made a template out of some scrap cardboard and traced it to make sure all my cutouts were the same size and shape. 
2. Cut out a circle from one of your pages. This will be the center of your flower.
3. Lay your cutouts on the foam board in the pattern you want. Once you get it the way you want take your glue stick and slowly glue the shapes onto your foam board. I originally thought of using mod podge but it made the foam board get an uneven sheen to it.

The most tedious part of this project was laying all the shapes out to get the right pattern. What's great about this artwork is that you can customize it to any color scheme and it is super simple to do. If I can do it so can you. Another idea for a layout would be to do several smaller flower shapes instead of just one big one. Hope you all enjoy!

Dining Room Shelves

This was my first attempt at woodworking. I have refinished furniture but I had never actually tried to make my own. I had been reading Ana's website for a while now and finally got the courage to go buy a kreg jig and get to work. I chose this project because of the small amount of lumber needed and the simplicity of the plan. I figured if this one turned out OK then I could move on to bigger, badder projects.

Supplies:

• (1) 1x2x8 pine board
• (2) 1x4x8 pine board
• Mini Wax Gunstock stain
• Rustoleum Dark Walnut stain
• Sandpaper
• Scrap rags
• Paintbrush
• Mini Wax Semi-gloss polyurethane

I followed Ana's plans here and watched her video to make sure I did it right. This was the first time I had used the kreg jig and I wanted to make sure I did it right. One thing I found was that you need to make sure you check the washer on your drill bit frequently with the kreg jig. Mine came loose and I didn't realize it. I almost tried drilling a hole through my kreg jig base!

When I went to go buy stain I found the color I wanted on the sample board but the store did not have it in stock. I called my mom (because that is what I do when I get stumped) to ask her for advice on what to do. I did not want to paint my shelves white because I felt it would blend in too much. White shelves on a white wall with white decorations seemed a little much. Her suggestion was to mix one of the stains I already had at home with a lighter one from the store. I thought that was crazy but it actually ended up working. The stain looks great. Not too red but not too grey either. A perfect mix of both stains.

The way I did the stain took a couple of steps.

1. First, sand your shelf to make it smooth. Wipe off all the dust.
2. Next, wipe on the dark walnut stain and let it sit for a few minutes. Remove access stain.
3. Then, wipe on the gustock stain over the walnut stain. Let sit for a few minutes and then remove access.
4. Once the shelf has dried for a few hours you can apply the polyurethane. I did two coats. Make sure to lightly sand in between coats so that you get a nice even layer.

After hanging my shelves I decorated with those superhero plates and placed my DIY artwork on either side. I am so excited with how these shelves turned out. I already have a list of projects I want to tackle next!

Dining Room Makeover

Ever since moving into my new apartment I have had a vision of what it would look like. I wanted something light, airy, and full of fun bright colors. I wanted a cute little cottage feel. Slowly, I have been adding little touches here and there. For my dining room I knew I wanted somewhere to display the superhero plates I had made for my boyfriend, some large pieces of artwork, and a nice table.

After scouring craigslist, I found the perfect French provincial table and chairs. It was the perfect size for my small dinning room and after changing the fabric it was almost perfect. I still need to refinish the table top since there are some water stains and scratches on it but that will be a project for warmer weather. The next thing I did was look for artwork. Everything I found was either not to my liking or WAY too expensive. After searching through Pinterest I found some good inspiration and made my own. I will be blogging about that project later this week so make sure to keep an eye out! The last step was to find some kind of storage. After searching for a while I realized there was nothing out there I really liked. Recently, I found Ana White's website and all her amazing building plans. I think she is super inspiring and after reading her "about me" section I picked a building plan, bought a kreg jig and some wood, and got to building my very own shelves. I am so excited with how they turned out and cannot wait to try my next project!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I think that everything came together very nicely. I love when a room finally looks put together. Even though I have been in this apartment for almost 6 months it was still looking like I had just moved in. My boyfriend had been hinting he was about to start hanging his own artwork if I didn't do it soon which definitely lit a fire under my butt to get it done. While I love the artwork he has, I think an entire apartment covered in superheros would be a little much! Hope my dining room transformation inspires you all to start your own home improvement projects!

Spring Rose Wreath

Spring is finally in the air! There are slowly starting to be more warm days than cold and to celebrate that I decided I needed to make a spring wreath. Since Easter is just around the corner I decided I wanted to do a wreath that had a little bit of Easter but not so much that I could not use it just for spring.

After looking at some other wreaths online for inspiration I decided to use the tutorial provided by the blog By Stephanie Lynn to make my own wreath. I loved her rose covered wreath. It looked so elegant and reminded me so much of spring. I love craft projects that use book pages but I had not done any yet because the thought of tearing up a book makes me cringe. I knew that this project needed to happen though so I toughed it out, found some books I was not going to read, and got to work. I thought her tutorial was very helpful and while making the flowers was the most time consuming and tedious part, they were worth every minute spent on them. I also decided to add the small colorful eggs to add some color and bring in some aspects of Easter. 

Supplies:

• Colorful mini Easter eggs (from the Dollar Tree) - $2.00
• Pool Noodle - $1.00
• Duct Tape - Free
• Hot glue gun - Free
• Hot glue sticks - $1.00
• Ribbon - $1.00
• Books - Free (took about 1 1/2 medium sized books or 500 pages)

Directions:

1. Take your pool noodle and tape the two ends together with duct tape to create your wreath form.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Rip out the pages from your books and cut the pages into squares. Each rose is made from three pages layered together. Next, cut circles out of those squares. Cut a swirl pattern out of the circles. By Stephanie Lynn has a very good tutorial that I used. She explains how to do this much better than me.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Roll your cut-up circles starting from the outside working your way in until you have a rose form. Glue the roses together and let dry.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Glue your roses onto the wreath for with your hot glue gun. Randomly glue the colorful mini eggs, alternating colors, in with the roses. 
5. When you have almost covered the entire wreath form, leave room for where the ribbon with go. Cut out a piece of one of your book pages and glue this onto that empty area. I did this because my ribbon was shear and I did not want the wreath form to show through.
6. Next, outline that paper with the remaining colorful mini eggs. Cut your ribbon to the length you want and glue the ends together around the wreath form. This is what you will use to hang it on your door wreath hanger.
7. All done! 

Close-up of where to tie the ribbon. 

This wreath took a while to do and is definitely a full weekend project. I love how it turned out and cannot wait to show it off on my door this spring. There is a little bit of Easter in it but not so much that I will need to take it down mid-April. I will be able to leave this up all spring long to help coax in more warm weather.

This wreath cost me very little and many of the supplies I can reuse. Hope you all had an amazing weekend and will use this as an inspiration to make your own spring wreath!

Pool Noodle Boot Shapers

I love when things are organized. When everything has a place and is where I can find it I feel at peace. There is no better feeling. One area that never seems to look very put together is where I keep all of my boots. They like to flop over and don't tend to look very nice all lined up. The boot shapers at the store can range from $10-$20 a pair. I did not want to pay $50+ to fill all of my boots so I came up with a solution.... Pool Noodles!

Supplies:

• Pool Noodles
• Knife

Directions:

1. Place the pool noodle inside of one of your boots.
2. Mark a few inches below the top of your boot. This is where you are going to cut. You don't need the noodle to go above the boot to get it to stand upright.
3. Cut the noodle with a knife of some kind. I used a steak knife because that is what I had on hand.
4. Do this for each of your boots and you're done!

Before the boot shapers. Flopping over and messy.

After the boot shapers. Looking neat, upright, and unwrinkled.

A view from the top, looking at the boot shapers from the inside.

This is a cheap, simple project that anyone can do. I bought the noodles at the Dollar Tree for $1 a piece and each noodle was enough for two pairs of boots. I think it's a pretty good deal getting my very own boot shapers for $3 rather than $60+. Hope you all enjoy!

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Billiards Sign

So this last Christmas I was trying to come up with a present for my Dad who is very hard to buy for. He is happy with just getting to spend time with family and always says he doesn't need a gift but I always want to get him something extra special. This year after some long debating, I decided to make him something. He always enjoys seeing the craft projects I come up with so I thought this would be perfect.

Ultimately, I decided I wanted to make him some decorations for his new billiards room. He has always wanted a pool table and last year he finally got his wish. My parents turned our old family room off of the kitchen into a space for his pool table. The room is still a work in progress but all of the important things are there. They have the pool table with a good ceiling light, some comfy chairs, and some new curtains. I knew that a custom billiards sign would be perfect for the room.

Supplies:

• Plywood
• Acrylic paint in various colors: red, yellow, green, orange, white
• Black latex paint
• Wooden letters
• Spray adhesive
• Hot glue gun with glue sticks
• Wood glue
• Wooden balls
• Red felt
• Stain
• Painters tape
• Sandpaper

Directions:

1. First, stain the plywood and let dry overnight.
2. While you are letting the plywood dry work on painting your letters and wooden balls. Start by painting the edges of the letters in various colors (red, yellow, orange, green). Set aside and let dry. When they are finished drying paint them black, covering the colored edges. Let dry. Then take sandpaper and sand the edges of the letters so that the color will show through.
3. When your plywood has finished drying it is time to assemble everything. Take the felt and cut to fit the plywood the way you want. I bought a pre-cut piece from Michaels that ended up fitting the plywood perfectly. Use spray adhesive to attach it to the plywood. 
4. Next, glue the letters onto the sign using your hot glue gun. Attach the wooden balls around the edges using wood glue. 
5. Hang your new sign on the wall!
6. Tape off the wooden balls with painters tape. The un-taped space should be where the color will go. Half the balls will be "solids" and half will be "stripes". Paint them to match the colors of real pool balls. Once that part is dry, take off the tape and paint the empty space white. Let dry. To finish them paint the numbers in black on the balls. I made sure to match the pool balls colors and numbers to what the real balls look like.

I was really happy with how it turned out. I thought about putting some trim around the edges to make it look more finished but could not find any that I liked. I may add that later but for now I think it looks great how it is. My dad was really excited about his present and hung it on the wall the same day. Let me know what you think!

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