Thank You Mom

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I hope you all had a marvelous day.  I know I did.  I received my presents from my girls on Friday and boy were they cute.  Honey Bun gave me a pretty white flowering plant that she planted herself and Lil' Kaye gave me some darling pastel carnations and a flower card she made.  THANK YOU LITTLE ONES :)

The Hubs gave me a beautiful card that I will be framing and putting in my craft/office area I'm making.  I also received a gorgeous bouquet of light pink roses and a nice dinner {YES! he can cook} of lamb chops, roasted potatoes, and a spring salad.  

Pictures of the above you ask...I'm sitting in the comfort of my bed with my little wood grain Scent Bug {discontinued at Bath and Body Works...mad about it by the way} scenting the room with eucalyptus mint.  I'm relaxing and too lazy to get out of the bed to take a pic right now.  So, just visualize.

I did take a few pics of how I got to my lazy relaxed state.  It was my intention to take a bath with some homemade bath salts Q and I made a few weeks back.  It is lavender scented and smells heavenly.  But, life happened and I didn't have time to really kick back and relax in a tub all night.  So, I had to change it up a bit.

There's my little Scent Bug :) That lotion is just wonderful.  I got it on our honeymoon at the spa at Sandals in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  AWESOME stuff.  I'm almost out...I guess I'll just have to go back to Sandals sometime soon to restock.  {Hint...Hint Hubs!} The Coconut & Hibiscus Body Scrub by Shea Moisture worked wonders on my dull skin and smells wonderful as well.

Overall, my day was GREAT! I'm looking forward to a restful night :)

Quick Fix: Ribbon Valance

I've been meaning to get around to this for a little while.  I can't recall where I first saw the idea, but it was probably on the website of HGTV or Better Homes and Gardens {LOVE THEM!!!}

I already had ribbons covering the curtain rod, but something was missing...

More Ribbon!

Using just two supplies {on hand}, patience and arm strength…I wrapped a faint yellow wired ribbon around the curtain rod...

I just moved the existing ribbons aside instead of taking them off

The ribbon was knotted around itself on each side to hold it.  After spreading the other ribbons back out, I had this...

It's a subtle change that makes a warm impact on Honeybun's window :)

Quick Fix: Memo Board

I needed something pretty and practical for my desk at work.  I've seen many cute ideas floating across the web using a picture frame with nice paper under the glass to create a memo board.  Here's my version:

My supplies:

• picture frame {on hand}
• gift bag {on hand}
• yellow "rope" {on hand} 

I took out the frame's backing and used it as a template for the gift bag.

I'm was left with an unsightly line where the bag was folded.

Since I didn't have my craft supplies handy {I was at work...shush!} I had to get creative with hiding the eyesore.  Enter the yellow plastic "rope" that secures the new boxes of printer paper.

A little tape, and there you have it! This simple project cost me $0 to make and will be a nice addition to my workspace :)

What are you doing to beautify your workspace?

Nifty Thrifty: And the Church Bells Ring

Have I ever told you how much I LOVE-ADORE-OBSESS OVER a great deal??? I have a bit of a dollar/thrift store problem that I'm NOT working on because I find awesome deals for things that I need anyway. 

On one of my latest excursions to The Salvation Army, I was looking for a tray to become part of a lap desk I am making for my new laptop.  And what I found...

Thrifty Monster!

errrr!!!

 

Now bear with me.  I'm not that crazy!

I found some great deals.  Here's the breakdown:

 

Metal Church- My mother collects churches and has them prominently displayed on her piano.  It plays Amazing Grace and was only $4.99!

 

Wooden Tray- It will be the top of my new laptop desk and at $0.99, it was a steal.

 

Mini Cupcake Tins- I have been meaning to get some for a while now since I'm trying to get back into baking.  They came in at $1.99 a piece.

 

Chaffing Dish- Q and I were talking about how expensive good chaffing dishes are the day before I saw this in the display case.  It is old, solid and heavy.  The dish is missing, but I figure for $5 { yes, I said $5} I can find a replacement at another time :)

 

Not bad for $15, huh?

Baby Showers.Birthdays.Art?

Okay ladies {and men too!} If you're like me, you still have the mounds of beautiful cards received at your baby shower(s) and the little one's birthdays.  I finally decided to stop letting them pile up and pick out my favorites.  Now, while it was a tad difficult {because of the packrat in me} I was able to narrow my choices down to 9!

You: "What are you going to do with those cards Sue?"
Me: "Well...I'm going to recycle the cards I didn't choose and make a cute "headboard" for Honeybun's crib with the cards I did choose."

And that's just what I did...

 Taking 9 frames from the Dollar Tree, I took out the glass and sanded off the smooth finish.



Just like I had a ton of cards, I had a ton of gift bags just waiting for the right gift to fill them.  Since most of them have been waiting for a few years, I decided to use them as backdrops for the cards.

 

The cardboard frame backing was used as a template to cut the bags to size.

 

 

A little primer and paint {following the manufacturers instructions of course} & 

A little glue and glass cleaner...and I had a nice little memento for my little one's room.

 

 



The only items I had to purchase were the picture frames and paint.  This project was a fun and inexpensive {under $15} way to remember some heartwarming moments in my life.

 

Now I had to hang it...that's a whole other post! 

 

 

 

Alphabet Magnet Mania

Hello all! This is my first forth post and I couldn't be more excited.  {it was supposed to be my first post, but life happens} 

So, I saw a great project at what is becoming one of my favorite sites for savvy crafting, Dollar Store Crafts . They have an abundance of chic and cleaver ideas for turning dollar store items into useful and unique accessories for your home. I stumbled upon a great craft for gathering those educational, but hard on the bare foot plastic magnetic letters that seem to clutter the refrigerator here. In an effort to declutter the kitchen and centralize the mounds of toys around the house...I present my version of this WONDERFUL dollar store craft...



I know, I know...grainy, right? I'm workin' on it :)

Supplies:

• 3 pizza pans- $3 from Dollar Tree
• 1 package of 6 screws with anchors- $1.50ish from Home Depot
• 1 can of Rust-Oleum primer- on hand
• 1 can of Rust-Oleum chalkboard paint- on hand
• Chalk- on hand

Tools:

• Drill
• Marker
• Medium grit sand paper
• Ruler

It was an easy process that took four days to complete. 

Step 1: I used the sand paper to get that nice clean finish off the back of the pans.

Step 2: Using the marker and ruler, I noted my drill marks and drilled away.

Step 3: After cleaning the pans I sprayed the primer on the freshly "scratched" surface.  I sprayed 3 light coats for even coverage with no drips and let that dry overnight.

Step 4: Sprayed the chalkboard paint...again 3 light coats...you know the deal.  I let that dry for 2 nights, just to be sure it was totally dry.

Step 5: I pre-drilled my holes and screwed the pans to the wall.

Step 6: A side of the chalk was rubbed all over the pans to break in the new chalkboard, then wiped clean with a dry cloth.

Step 7: I gathered the letters, put them on their new home and enjoyed the fruits of my labor!

This little feature is on a wall in Honeybun's room {she my littlest one} I'm turning this little corner into a reading/relaxing nook for her.  More to come as I craft my way to a cutesy and practical space for her.

Happy Birthday Yva!!!

Tomorrow is Yva's birthday (Yva like Wall-E says it) and Q said she was going to make a decadent dessert to celebrate the occasion.  While cooking dinner I too decided to make a treat.  Now while it won't compare to Q's dessert, the Hubs said he wanted chocolate chip cookies last night...so, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Cute right? But, how my heart cookies came to be was a bit out of necessity instead of intentional cuteness.  What had happened was...

 

I started using the cookie scoop which produced these larger cookies here.

Then I used the teaspoon measure as indicated on the recipe and came up with these.

Note to self...next time use a half cup less chocolate chips and use the mini ones.  The recipe called for two cups and they were too big and too many!

{I wasn't feeling death by chocolate today}



 Anywho, I didn't like the large cookies on steroids or the oddly shaped smaller ones.  Enter small heart shaped cookie cutter :)

A little nip, tuck, shift and cut...voila!

 

 

 

 

{Don't worry...the scraps won't go to waste.  I wrapped them up tight, put them in the deep freezer and they will soon make the crust for some mini cheesecake bites!}

 



Operation: Get Well Great!

About 10 minutes into church this morning, I realized that my Aunt Di (whom my chitlins call Great) was not there.  (chitlins aka chilren aka children)  I sent her a text...I know, I know I shouldn't be texting during service!...and she replied that she wasn't feeling well.  When I called her after service, she sounded like crap.  

So, the girls and I decided to make her a get well basket!

The best part...it cost about $10 to make :)

 

Supplies purchased from Ye Ole Dollar Tree:

• 1 Container
• 1 Coffee Mug
• 1 Glass Jar
• 1 Spice Jar
• 2 Dish Towels
• 2 Spoons {I only used one though}

Supplies on hand:

• Sugar
• Tea
• Fabric Flowers
• Ribbon
• Zig Zag Scissors
• Hole Punch
• Paper

Supply from the grocery store:

• "Homemade" Progresso soup

The process was really simple.  After gathering all of my supplies and washing everything that needed to be washed...

 

 I made my "homemade" soup and poured the sugar...

 

 

 

Made some quick labels...

 

 

 

 

Put it all together with some pretty flowers and we got...Operation: Get Well Great!

 

 

 

Not bad for $10 huh?

Sweepstakes Frenzy

So, here I sit at 11:09pm finally getting around to completing the surveys from my numerous but necessary shopping excursions to Home Depot, Target (pronounced Tar-jey), and the lovely Dollar Tree.  I have already completed 6 and have 5 to go. 

Yes! These purchases have all happened within a 7-10 day span.  They have been small things here and there, with a few returns in between.  I've been working on a few projects which you will see posted very shortly. 

I can't recall ever winning anything! But, I figure the more I enter the better my chances, and me being the VERY opinionated person that I am...I might as well share my experiences with the stores I frequent.  Otherwise they wouldn't know what they were doing right or wrong...RIGHT?

BTW...I entered about five sweepstakes at the Novi Home and Garden Show today.  Which was AWESOME!!!  I promise you I'm not becoming a sweepstakes addict...or am I?

What sweepstakes have you won? (I want to know so I can live vicariously through you :)