Cupcake Valentine Box

The perfect Valentine mailbox for your sweet tooth!

My 8 year old picked this design for her class Valentine mailbox, it was super quick to make & turned out scrumptiously cute!

DIY Entry Shelf

I needed a shelf. Not just any shelf, but a large shelf to fit a very specific area. I don't know if you're like me, but I can NEVER EVER EVER find what I'm looking for. Maybe I am too picky, or maybe I just envision things in my mind that don't exist. Whatever the problem is, it's not a problem I enjoy having! After trying to figure out what to do with this space, my sister convinced me to just BUILD a shelf. Build a shelf???? I don't own a saw, I can barely hammer nails in straight, and aside from Ikea furniture, I've never built anything out of wood in my life. Luckily I'm adventurous (or crazy) and I decided to go for it. 

Kitchen Table & Bench

 I recently reupholstered my dining room chairs DINING ROOM. I loved the look, and the fabric, but then I fell in love with a different fabric and ended up redoing my recently redone chairs UPHOLSTERY REDO. 

My new dilemma was that I had all this green upholstery fabric, luckily I had another set of chairs! 

I had reupholstered my kitchen chairs once before, but I didn't scotch guard them, and I picked out a really light fabric. Needless to say, they were dirty, and in desperate need of a makeover. 

Before and after, or to be correct, after and before. 

To find detailed instructions for reupholstering please visit my dining room table posts

The finished table

DIY Upholstered Kitchen Bench

I decided that I needed a bench for my kitchen table. 

I found one on pottery barn that I absolutely LOVED, but it was expensive and I am cheap (I need my money for fabric). 

The next best thing, make it myself!!! I started with a bench from Ikea that I had been using in my living room, but no longer had a need for it there. I think I paid $89 originally for this bench. I know there are a lot of tutorials floating around out there, and mine isn't all that different, basically I added decorative nail heads for some flair. 

But perhaps you'll find my instructions more enlightening or easier to follow! 

I bought MDF board from Home Depot and had them cut it to the size of my bench. 

That was simple. They had no problem cutting it for me. 

Then I went to Joann's to get foam. They don't mind cutting the length, but they sure didn't want to cut the width! And since I didn't have a turkey carver at home, it would have been difficult to cut the foam. They told me that I could use a serrated knife just as easily. Don't fall for that! Make them cut it! They cut mine after I asked for the manager (I was spending a lot of money there!). Be sure to also have a 40% or 50% off coupon, the foam is EXPENSIVE! this piece was $30, with a coupon. 

An upholstery re-redo

 I recently painted and re-upholstered my dining room chairs. See this post here (DINING ROOM TABLE). I decided that I wanted to re-upholster my kitchen chairs too, so I headed to Joann's to check out the fabric. While there I saw this beautiful fabric from Waverly, and I fell in love. I vacillated for quite some time on whether or not I should purchase MORE upholstery fabric. I had, after all, just bought and started my green chairs. In the end I went with the Waverly. 

Here I am holding up the original cushion (not my green upholstery) with all my fun tools (staple gun air compressor!). 

Before & After 

Dining Room

Whew, this has been a LONG time in the making! I had an old dining table and chair set that I decided to refinish rather than buy a new one. I figured that I could do it all in a few days.... Now it's almost been a month!!! Let's start out this long story with the before photo of my lovely chairs. 

Glamping Party

Glamping party! 

I am NOT a party planner, I like making cakes and food, and that's about it. But I decided it was time for me to learn how to throw a cute party. It was lots of work, but it looked great, and the best part is, I only spent $100 for the decorations, invitations, and food! 

DIY St. Patrick's Day Shirt

Happy First Day of March!! I can't wait for Spring,  flowers, rain, sunny summer days up ahead, and of course Easter candy! Here's a quick 15 minute (drying time not included!) project you can whip up during the commercial breaks of your favorite show.

You can find detailed instructions for painting shirts here:

DIY SHIRT

I simply found a four-leaf clover picture online, printed it out, traced it onto freezer paper (LOVE freezer paper for all crafts!), used my exacto knife to cut it out, ironed onto my pre-washed white shirt, painted, and dried. It's so easy and so quick. 

This could also be made using left over fabric, just use this tutorial instead- APPLIQUE SHIRT. 

Cheers! 

Quick Valentine T-shirt

15 minute Valentine shirt! 

1- Grab a plain (pre-washed) t-shirt, and iron 

Homemade Music Ornaments

I really wanted to incorporate music notes into my tree. I looked for ornaments with a music theme, but didn't find any that I liked. I'm kind of picky once I get something in my mind. I wanted them to look a certain way and match the other ornaments I had. Obviously the only solution was to make my own! 

Step 1 : I went to Michaels and bought big glass ornaments. I think they were normally $5, but 50% which means I got 4 for $2.50, and 8 for $5 bucks! Not too bad. 

Step 2: Remove top, I then used white acrylic paint to make a flower design around the top.

 Step 3: While your paint is still wet, sprinkle with your glitter color of choice. I did 4 gold and 4 silver

Step 4: Allow paint to dry (this will take some time since you painted on glass, I waited overnight)

 Step 5: Find some music that you're not using and cut it into strips. Roll the strips like a scroll and (gently) stuff your scrolls into the ornaments

Step 6: Add a feather because you have some lying around, place top back on, hang ornament. 

 Step 7: Smile because these ornaments were only $5!! (I had all the other supplies already!)

Caution: Since these are made of glass you need to be careful, I was sticking in some music and a piece of glass caught my finger (cheap michaels...). Then the entire top of one ornament came off! I was still able use it luckily. Just make sure you don't cut yourself with these! 

I'd love to see any homemade ornaments you've made, this was my first experience and I love seeing new ideas! 

Cheers

15 Minute PJ Pants

Super simple PJ bottoms, just in time for Christmas! No pattern needed.

Pick your fabric, I like to use flannel to make nice warm pants. Pre-shrink your fabric before cutting and sewing. 

Take a pair of existing PJ bottoms, or shorts. Fold fabric in half, lay pants on top of fabric, with the leg on the fold. 

Cut out your first piece and then use it for the pattern for your second piece. You can make these as long or as short as you want. Just measure your length before you cut them. Make sure you add 1 inch to the length so you can fold the seam under. Leave 2 inches on the top for your elastic and seam as well.

 Place your two pieces right sides together and sew only along where the crotch will be (crotch seam? Is there a different term for that??)

 Now open your pants and sew along the leg seam.

 Fold your fabric under twice in order to finish the legs

 I did my first fold 1/2 inch and then my 1 inch, sew your seams.

 Use 1/2 inch elastic to finish your pants off. Fold the top over 1/2 inch and iron down, the fold over another 1/2 inch and iron, then add elastic. I like to attach the elastic to a safety pin and pull it through. Sew your elastic together, and finish your seam. 

Ta-Da easy 15 minute PJ pants! 

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've been seeing homemade soaps all over pinterest. Since laundry detergent is one of the most expensive items I buy, I decided to give it a try. This recipe is super simple, and it cost me about $40 total for all the supplies. Yes $40 for a year! That's with an average of 20 loads of laundry per month. SO much cheaper than anything I've ever bought at a store! One batch lasts me about 3-4 months. You can make it all at once, or do it in batches.

Make your own- This is for one batch, if you want to make it all at once triple your recipe. Just make sure you have a container big enough to hold it all!
-2 Cups washing soda (not baking soda, they are not the same!)
-2 Cups borax
-2 bars of soap, I use Dr. Bronner's since it is vegan (no animal products) and it smells amazing (check out all the scents on amazon DR. BRONNER'S SOAP). I bought mine in a 6 pack.

 Grate your soap. Add your borax, and washing soda. Mix, and you've got detergent. I use 2 TBSP for large loads of laundry and 1 TBSP for smaller loads. The lavender makes my clothes smell good with out being too strong or overpowering. 

Cheese Plate (for beginners)

I love cheese. I may not be a super cheese snob, but I do aspire to it. If you're scared to try new cheese, but you want to impress people (because let's face it, you don't win friends with salad) with your knowledge of fine foods. This guide is for you. These three cheeses are distinct in flavor, but mild enough to win over any cheese weary person.

- First and foremost, sample your cheeses before purchasing! Do not go buy a cheese with out trying it first! I purchased my cheese from Whole Foods, and I sampled all of them first, I also asked how long the soft cheese would last in the refrigerator (since I wasn't using them for a couple days).
-Store your cheese PROPERLY! Some cheese has a very strong aroma (not necessarily a strong flavor) that can impart itself into other foods in your refrigerator. You can also contaminate your cheese with other items in the fridge. If you're unsure about how to store cheese, ask the cheese expert at your local store.

OK now you're ready to get started! I have paired cheese with numerous fruits and I have found that my three favorites are; pears, apples, and grapes. You can also try out strawberries, pineapples, cantaloupe, or nectarines. I stick with my top three because I know they pair well with most cheeses.

For this platter I used-

-Smoked Gouda. This is a hard cheese, butterscotch in color, not flavor. Its goes exceptionally well with apples. I have been known to buy a brick and eat it with an apple everyday.
-Brie. Brie is a soft and creamy cheese that, when ripe, almost looks to be melting. If you get a good brie you can eat the entire piece, including the rind. Since it's so soft I made homemade baguettes to spread the delicious gooey brie on, and topped it with all my fruit. I like to eat it with a thin slice of apple, pear, and a grape.
-Havarti. Another soft cheese, but not as soft as brie. It's mild and buttery in flavor. Havarti is my favorite sandwich cheese. Try it with the grapes, you won't be sorry!

  Alright I've got my baguette, I've sliced my apples and pears thinly, laid it all out on a pretty platter, and I'm ready to impress (mostly myself) with my cheese! 

 I've just gotta show off my baguette. Sometimes I think I should have been born a french baker. Every time I make baguettes, they taste better, and better. Someone needs to invent a candle with "fresh baked bread" smell. That's what I want my house to always smell like!

DIY Halloween Onesies

I stumbled upon a youtube video of how to make your own prints on t-shirts. It looked like lots of fun, so I decided to give it a go. My last few creative ideas have been causing me grief, so I expected the same from this, but this was one of the EASIEST projects I've ever done! So much fun & the possibilities are endless!

What you will need:

-T-shirt/onesies/tote/pants/sweatshirt/etc.. anything you want to personalize. Prewashed & dried

-Fabric paint, DO NOT get the DIMENSIONAL or 3D ones!! I made this mistake & luckily caught it before I started. Michaels has fabric paint, so I'm assuming Joanns & Walmart would as well.

-Freezer paper, yes it costs $8 bucks.. but you get a lot & you can use it for other crafts

-Sponge brushes, which are not really brushes, you don't want to brush when you paint your onesies anyway

-Cardboard, I just cut up an old cookie box & used it

-Iron

-Exacto knife, don't try to use scissors unless you are cutting something that isn't very detailed 

OK first things first, what are you gonna put on your shirt?!?! Since it's the beginning of September, I knew that I was going for the Halloween fun onesies. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween, & all things fall. My first design was a onesies that said "Mommy's little" & then had a picture of a pumpkin. So cute right?!? I went onto WORD, chose a font, and wrote "Mommy's little", making sure it was small enough for a onesie since I was going to trace the letters onto freezer paper. Then I printed it out & drew my pumpkin. I taped the freezer paper on top of my finished drawing (shiny side down since that's the side you will iron onto the fabric), & cut the design out with my exacto knife. You need to be careful not to make unnecessary cuts, otherwise you will have paint where you don't want it. When cutting out the letters I used the exacto knife, & then the scissors to cut out the middle of the "o" & "e" (it was much easier than trying to exacto it out!). I used scissors to finish the pumpkin too since it was so big. I also wanted my pumpkin to have some white in it so it wasn't solid orange, so I cut out some white strips once the pumpkin was cut out. After you're done cutting (which takes the longest!) iron your design onto your fabric, don't forget to add the little "o" & "e", they're small, but once you have them ironed on they don't move.

 

Now for the fun part!!! Get your sponge brushes & paint cuz it's time to sponge! Put a piece of cardboard under your fabric so the paint doesn't bleed through. Do not forget this step!

I just put some paint on left over cookie box cardboard & sponged it onto the onesie. DO NOT BRUSH THE PAINT! Just dab it on, even though the paper is ironed down it could leak through. Once it's on, rinse your brushes out, put your onesie in a safe place & walk away. You need to let it dry for at least 4 hrs. I've read that you can blow dry it, but I didn't try. I just started making another onesie while I waited. After 4 hrs (OK I didn't wait that long either!! But I tried! I just had to see if it worked, I made it about 3 1/2 hrs), peel the freezer paper off, making sure you get the little pieces you've added & voila! Handmade stinking cute onesie! Grab some cotton fabric to put on top of your painted design & set your design with the iron (DO NOT IRON DIRECTLY ON THE FABRIC PAINT) & you are good to go!

 

I used some Halloween scrap booking paper for inspiration, I just drew the spider & monster the size I wanted & cut them out.

Halloween Bunting

I found this Halloween Bunting last year at one of my favorite fabric stores. It was a panel that they had but out and turned into bunting. I have a thing for bunting, and I love the way this turned out! I but on ribbons, rick-rack, buttons, and Halloween bells. 

Then I decided to make some paper bunting since I love it so much. I cut out a triangle and used it as a template. I have lots and lots of cute Halloween scrap book paper that I got to use (I don't scrapbook).












Lastly, I just have to show off my mom's super cute Halloween witch and bat kitties. She went a little crazy and made a whole bunch one year. I finally got mine last halloween (sometimes she's a slow finisher!) and I love it! SO cute, and it's homemade from Grandma, which is the best!