Project a Day - A Birthday Gift

 One of my girls was invited to a birthday party this weekend. Since Christmas really blew our budget, I needed to come up with a cute idea for something that wouldn't break the bank!
I picked up a bunch of these buckets in pink and green awhile back at Ikea. The birthday girl loves hair bows and headbands and barrettes, so I used my Silhouette to label the bucket and filled the bucket with a few hair accessories!

Ta da!

Project a Day - Christmas Sign for 2013

 I realize it is January and a full 11 and 1/2 months until Christmas, but I thought I would get a head start!! Ha! Actually, I had intended (big surprise) to make this Rudolph sign over the holidays and it just didn't get done (again, big surprise).  My Dad was here and I asked him to prep me some plywood for the sign, and go ahead and make an extra board for my Mom too.  So, since these pretty, white boards were all prepped and ready and staring me in the face, I decided to get a jump on the Christmas holidays and go ahead and make them now!

I saw the sign on Pinterest originally, and the pin linked back here. It appears the original sign was painted on a 1/2" thick pine board, with some distressing.
I will be making my sign on 1/2" plywood, and using vinyl lettering instead.  But, I think the end result will be roughly the same.
I used my handy, dandy Silhouette cutter and cut out all of the lettering. Unlike my last project, I did all the words separately in order to not waste so much vinyl.  This lettering was going to be large enough to piece together with reasonable accuracy.

First, I placed the silver lettering for Rudolph.

Then, I added the big red circle for the O in Rudolph.

Here it is about halfway through. There was lots of measuring involved in this sign, so it took a lot longer to finish!

And, here it is all finished!  I still have to complete the one for my Mom, but I am pretty stoked to have a new Christmas decoration and it is only January! ;)

Project a Day - Family Sign

Today's project uses my Silhouette! I'm so excited to be using it to make something for my newly painted fireplace mantel!

I saw this sign first on Pinterest, but cannot link to it here, because Pinterest has flagged the original site as an unsafe link. Sorry about that!


I set up my laptop and silhouette on the kitchen island so I would have plenty of room to spread out and work!

I had a board that had been cut, sanded, and painted for a project that never quite got completed. So, I measured it and determined how big the lettering should be and how the spacing should be arranged.

I am a true novice at using my silhouette, so it is all a learning process for me. I decided to do the layout all in one, instead of piecing it all together. If I had smooshed all the lettering together and then cut it out and placed it on the board, I would definitely have used less vinyl. But, I'm just not that patient with measuring and placement, so I figured this was a better way to make it look neat.

Here it is with the vinyl cut out, and the negative vinyl removed.

Then, I applied the transfer tape. My silhouette came with all sorts of gadgets. I even know how to use some of them! My favorite is the dental pick looking thing - it is used to remove the insides of the o's and a's, etc.  This blue squeegee thing is used to really smooth on the transfer tape and the vinyl to whatever you are sticking it to.

Here is the vinyl removed from its backing, just stuck to the reverse of the transfer tape. It is now ready to be applied to my board.

I carefully placed the tape on the board, positioning the lettering where I wanted it to be. I even measured. a little.

I carefully pulled off the tape and here is my finished sign!

And, here it is on my newly painted mantel. What do you think?

 

Monster Mash! Halloween Ideas for all of us!

I love Pinterest. Love, love, love it.  I love looking at the ideas, the beautiful photographs, and saving the links for a rainy day in a variety of categories.  I have even been known to try some of the recipes, and crafts and decorating ideas that I have run across.

These are my favorite Halloween ideas:

How easy does this Pumpkin Quesadilla look?  My kids would love this!

Redbook shares how to make this glitter spider web using wax paper, elmer's glue, and glitter!

How adorable is this door? Crepe paper and some other items from around the house and you have a decoration to die for!

What great Halloween ideas have you run across lately?



 

Queen Bee Market - Escondido

Queen Bee Market is one of our favorite craft shows to participate in. Mique is delightful to work with, and the other artisans and crafters who participate are positively inspirational! We just really get our creative juices flowing by being around such wonderfully talented (and genuinely nice) people!
I only snapped a few pictures at the most recent Queen Bee Market that was held in Escondido, but I wanted to share them with you.

Bottles by the Sea has the most beautiful bottle stoppers!

Are these little peg people not the cutest wooden toys ever?

The peg people can be found in the Bubba's Basics booth.

In addition to bringing our children's clothing, we also brought some handmade crafty items and tons of kits, patterns, and fabrics in our new Sweet Funky Vintage creates division!

Isn't our sign awesome?!

I love, love, loved this booth! They are new to Queen Bee, but I think they have some awesome things!

I bought this cute chalkboard sign for Georgia - it hangs on her bedroom door (I hung a wreath hook on the inside of the door and hung the ribbon over the top of the doorframe). This frame is a really good size and the inside is painted with chalkboard paint - perfect for my chalkboard markers!

 

Big Girl Room, part 3

 

Here is another project we did in G's new, big girl room... a pennant banner!  She doesn't have any real window treatments, aside from the mini-blinds. Since I'm on a budget and my goal is to bring in as much color and funkiness as possible, I whipped out some of Sweet Funky Vintage's fabric scraps, trims, pinking shears, and the sewing machine, and I whipped up this really cool pennant banner that I draped over the tops of her windows kind of like a valance. 

Big Girl Room, part 2

Today, I will continue sharing some of the things I created to give my 9 year old a more grown up room!  I had an old lamp from Ikea, with a really plain, boring white lampshade on it, so I dressed it up with some really cool trims (again using the hot glue gun)!  The lamp bit the dust not long after I took this picture, and we replaced it with the coolest lamp from Target!
I also had this old mirror from my days of being a consultant with Southern Living at Home. The company has since folded, but I bet you could find a mirror like this on ebay if you tried. It was called the "dress me up mirror".  I just threaded some really cool polka dot ribbon through the holes.
There isn't really a "theme" to G's new room, we just want to make it colorful and a fun place to hang out. What do you think?

Big Girl's Room

Well, I find it pretty unbelievable that I haven't blogged since April. How embarrassing! I am going to take the position that the easiest way to begin blogging again is just to jump right in!
I'm going to start with sharing a recent project... updating my 9 year old's room.  Previously, she had been sharing a room with her sister, younger by 3 years, and was really ready to have her own room.  So, over the past 4 months or so, we have been working on giving her a more grown up feel to her room.
I bought some painted picture frames on etsy some time ago, and hung them on the wall, but hadn't done anything to them. So, I popped back over to etsy and purchased some really cool chevron fabric that I knew Riley Blake had come out with. Then, I visited my local Lowes store, and purchased some cork tiles. I covered the cork tiles with the fabric, securing them with hot glue, and then put the covered cork into the frames. Voila! A new wall treatment that we can change around as we like!

Tomorrow, I will share another project I completed for her new room!

 

Monogram it!

I do love monogrammed items. Love. Love. Love.

So, I ran across the idea to do this on Pinterest somewhere, and remembered it when I was strolling through Ikea, trying not to buy everything in sight!

I saw this frame and remembered the Pinterest idea, so I bought it and brought it home. Then, it sat in my garage for about 3 months!!

Then, I remembered it again when I was in Joann's fabrics, trying not to buy things I didn't need (see a pattern here?!)
So, I picked up some beige-y, linen-y looking fabric. Then, it sat on a shelf in my studio for a month or so. (again, see a pattern here?)
Finally, I talked Jessica into monogramming the fabric for me, and I mounted in the frame.

I have a big mirrored wall in my dining room. I'm not crazy about the wall, but I am also not crazy enough to try doing something about removing it. Besides, I think Chris would laugh if I suggested it! So, I bought some 3m picture hanging adhesive-y stuff and hung that frame up in the middle of the mirrored wall. And, I dig it!
What do you think?

25 Days of Christmas - Day Ten

Sassy Sites! has a ton of great ideas for Christmas gifts for neighbors. Here are a few of my favorites...


Jolly Ranchers: Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!



Cheese Grater and Cheese: “Cheesen’s Greetings To A Really “GRATE” Neighbor!”




Measuring Cup and Candy: A Cup of Christmas Cheer
No one can measure up to you
But we’re doing our best to try,
We appreciate all the kindness you show
A kind of caring you just can’t buy.
This Christmas gift is sent your way
To wish a full measure of holiday cheer,
May your cup overflow with joy and peace.




2 liter of Sprite: “May your holiday be merry and “sprite!”



Wire Whisk with Hershey's Kisses: “We Whisk You A Merry Kissmas!”



Whoppers: Hope you have a “WHOPPER” of a Christmas!