What Do You Want On Your Tombstone?

I wanted to spruce up a shelf on our bookshelf with the arrival of Halloween (right around the corner), and as I was looking at a small pile of cardboard scraps heading into the recycle bin…I had an idea.

I folded a piece of paper in half (long ways), and drew the shape of a tombstone on it, then cut it out. Now, I have a perfect sized small tombstone! I grabbed those cardboard scraps and traced small tombstones on every piece by tracing around my template I just cut out.

Next, I took my X-acto knife and carefully cut out the cardboard tombstones. (with a cutting board underneath to protect the table)  And, before I forget to mention, I also cut out small triangles (as you can see in the above photo) that were glued to the back of the cardboard tombstones as a stand.  (if I had forgot to mention this, I know I would have had someone ask “how did you get the tombstones to stand up?”)

Once I had a bunch of cardboard tombstones cut out, I grabbed some spray paint and covered the cardboard with a nice coat of paint. Once dried, I took my white paint pen and also tried a gold Sharpie Marker and went to work writing on the tombstones.

I’ve gotta tell you, once I started writing on them, I was hooked and wished I had cut out a few more cardboard tombstones because I thought of a few more funny epitaphs to write down. My Sweets will laugh when he finds the one I placed on his nightstand…”Death by my girlfriends snoring” (LOL)

So, what do you want on your tombstone?

Send me some of your funny epitaphs that I can use, because I want to make some more of these!

Hello Spring

Welcoming the arrival of Spring is so much fun! And even though our weather has not yet started to cooperate, I came up with an idea to at least make me smile.

I purchased some really awesome “leather look” shelf liner contact paper at a great price at KMart for sprucing up some drawers, and I have been thinking that I could use this for something else, not sure as to what, but today I got an idea!

I opened up my Publisher and scrolled through all of my fonts, and finally chose the “Grand Hotel” font and sized my text box font to 300. Yeah, I know that sounds really large, but the Grand Hotel font is smaller in size than other fonts. Since I found the font I wanted, I typed the word “Hello” and then printed it out on a piece of card stock paper.

Next, I got my very sharp x-acto knife out and carefully cut out the “Hello”.  This card stock hello will now be used as my template for tracing it onto the leather look contact paper.

Make sure you have a steady hand and hold down your hello template onto the contact paper, then just trace around it with a black Sharpie marker.  (note: the piece of contact paper that I cut out kept trying to roll up, so I just laid something heavy on top of it to flatten it)

Once I traced the “Hello” onto the leather look contact paper, I used my x-acto knife again and cut out the “Hello”.

You’re almost ready to welcome the arrival of Spring… all you need to do is pull off the backing on the contact paper and carefully place your Hello on your door!  Make sure you line it up straight too, if not, you can just carefully pull off the contact paper and realign it.

Now, every time I head outside, I smile!  And, when your guests come over, they will be greeted with a nice friendly “Hello” even before you open the door!

You can make your own “Hello” greeting for your door today by printing out the HELLO PDF template I made for you!  I just hope you have some adorable contact paper to use!

How to Make a Photograph Coaster

It’s a new year and that means more craft projects!  Yippee!  I am one who is never at a loss for craft projects, and I have lots of ideas floating around my head to create this year.

I have made numerous cork coasters before, but I painted them. I was trying to think of a unique idea to make my Sweetie for Valentine’s Day, and I thought that making some photograph coasters of our dogs would be the cutest gift ever.  I was right, it was the cutest idea because he came home from work the other day and noticed them drying on the bookshelf and ruined his surprise!  (Happy Valentine’s Day Sweetie!) Oh well, he loved them, so I can now do a post on how you can make some too!

I was at the Dollar Store the other day and purchased a few tile coasters for $1 each, and they had a nice cork bottom which I liked.  Making these was really easy, but the hardest part was trying to figure out what photographs to use!  Oooh, I can see some great Christmas gifts in the future now!

Anyhow, all I did was measure the tile coaster.  It measured 3 5/8″ x 3 5/8″.  I opened up one of my photo editors, chose my photograph and resized it to the measurements of the coaster. Print out the photo, let it dry, then I used Mod Podge to adhere the photo to the coaster.  Once it was nice and dry, I used Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to the top of the photo.  Let it dry.  I was not sure if the photo was good and sealed enough, so I did a nice layer of varnish on top of each coaster. Let it dry.

I think these turned out beautiful and I will definitely be making more of these in the future!  We always use coasters and what better way to show off the gorgeous photos of Nikita and Bella in a fashionable way!

What do you think?  This is an easy project that I am sure you would love to try making yourself!

Also, I created a new page on my blog where I will save all of the craft projects for 2014 that I personally make, so check back often to this page to gather some inspiration for yourself! 

Repurposing Garbage Into Magnets

Repurposing everyday items is a hoot, and even neater when you pull it out of the garbage and make something adorable.  Orange juice is a standard household item around our house, and I will never again throw out the top of an OJ container every again, rather I will repurpose it into a magnet!

The nice lip around the OJ lid gives your magnet a wonderful finished look, and the lid itself is light which is a perfect fit for a fridge magnet.  Obviously, you need to clean the lid first with soap and water, but you can lick the frozen OJ off the lid before you do so if you wish.  LOL 

Next, take out your Mod Podge and apply a nice layer to the lid and spread it around with your foam brush.  By now, I hope you have found a nice piece of artwork or a photo that you want to use for your magnet and have cut it out into a 2 1/2″ circle on card stock paper.  Place your artwork  on top of the Mod Podged OJ lid, and press down to remove any air bubbles.  Let it dry.

Next, apply a layer of Mod Podge on top of your artwork with your foam brush and let that dry.  (as you can see from the above photo, you can see the foam brush strokes)  To make your new magnet get that completed look, apply a layer of Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to the top and do not shake the bottle either as that will produce air bubbles.  If you see any air bubbles on top of your magnet, pop them quickly before the Dimensional Magic dries.  (after your Dimensional Magic dries, you won’t see any brush strokes)

Now, turn your OJ lid over and use your hot glue gun to attach a magnet to the back of the lid.  Let it dry.   

There you have it!  A lightweight repurposed household item that would have normally been thrown away, has now been transformed into an adorable fridge magnet.  You might want to re-examine what you throw out because you might find some other uses for it!   (IE:  Side note – For example, you can use a tuna can as the bottom of a $1 glass hurricane vase, add candle!)

Piece of trash.  Repurposed.  Cool magnet.

Sock Bunny Tutorial

A Sock Bunny Tutorial just in time to make these for Christmas or hang them out of the top of your Christmas stockings!  I never knew that making a Sock Bunny could be this easy, but it is, not to mention a lot of fun!  While I was making this Sock Bunny, both Nikita and Bella hung by my side because they thought it was for them, but this one is for Me!  (I will have to make each of them one too, since they will probably not leave mine alone!)

Anyhow, let’s begin with the tutorial!  If you are making these for a child under the age of 3, just stitch the eyes on instead of using buttons so there won’t be a choking hazard.  First, you need to purchase knee high socks, which you can pick up rather inexpensively.  (the ones I used were from KMart and they were $3, now today, I see that they are marked down to $1.50)  Pick out a pair that has vibrant colors or choose a design like I did that has a nice holiday flare!

STEP ONE:  Lay the first sock flat on a table with the heel on top, then cut the foot of this sock right down the middle and stop about an inch from the heel (as the heel will be the face).

STEP TWO:  Cut the other side of this sock down the middle as shown, as these will be the legs of the bunny.

STEP THREE:  Cut the foot off the second sock.  This will turn into the bunny’s arms.

STEP FOUR:  Cut the foot of the second sock down the middle.

STEP FIVE:  Back to the first sock, turn your sock inside out and hand stitch or use a sewing machine to sew the ears shut.

STEP SIX:  Sew the bottom of the feet and insides of the bunny legs as shown, leaving a large 2 inch hole to insert stuffing into.  Fill the body, ears, and legs of the bunny with stuffing.  Now you can sew the bottom of the body together once you have all the stuffing inside.  (Since I did not have any regular filling, I used a snow blanket and cut it into strips for my stuffing)

STEP SEVEN:  Back to the second sock (the arms).  Turn these inside out and sew each arm shut, but leave the ends open.  Stuff each arm, then sew arm together at end.

STEP EIGHT:  Hand stitch the arms onto the sides of the body of the bunny.

STEP NINE:  Stitch on buttons for eyes, and you can use embroidery thread to stitch on a nose.  (I have not added my eyes yet because I am still deciding on what I want)

The sewing on this project is minimal thanks to the knee high socks, but you can make a bunch of these in a weekend if you have lots of Christmas stockings to fill as they are easy to make!  Have fun and let me know if you make any, because I would love to see what you created!

DIY Spooky Halloween Cork Coasters

 

What a perfect DIY craft project for a rainy day!  We picked up four cork coasters at our local KMart in the plant department for 99 cents each.  These coasters are actually meant to be used under a plant to keep your tables safe from scratches, but we thought they would be better used as a coffee coaster!  These coasters are actually nicer than other cork coasters you will find because they have a nice hard plastic bottom, so check out your local plant department to see if they have any in stock.

First, peel off the store sticker on top of the coasters, and place them on a piece of newspaper or cardboard.  Lightly spray paint the coasters orange.  Let them dry.  If the color is not a deep enough orange color, spray another coat of paint.  Let dry.

While the coasters are drying, you can either draw a 4″ diameter circle or trace the coasters on card stock paper to get the face template ready.  Hand draw pumpkin faces onto the card stock and cut out with an exacto knife.  Then use scissors and cut out the circle template.

Once the orange spray paint has dried, place the pumpkin face template on top of the cork and carefully paint with black paint.  Let dry.  Once the black paint has dried, spray paint the top of all the coasters with a coating of clear coat to seal the paint in so your paint won’t chip.  Total Cost of this project:  $3.96 just for the coasters since I already had the orange spray paint and the black paint.

What a great way to make you smile when you see these spooky faces under your morning coffee cup!  Try making some today for yourself or they would make a great gift too!

 

 

When you Turn Another Year Older – Surviving A Birthday

Birthday’s sure sneak up on you.  Just when you celebrate one, it seems that another one is just around the corner and it appears that they seem to arrive quicker and quicker after you hit a certain age.  After Daddy spent the entire weekend working hard while at home monitoring things at the office, today he woke up to enjoy his birthday! (he took a well-deserved vacation day on Friday to enjoy a nice long weekend)   He walked into the kitchen today to find a huge “Happy Birthday” sign and a pile of presents waiting for him on the table.  Man, was he surprised!  Nikita was right there next to Daddy as he opened his presents, one by one, as she wanted the wrapping paper really badly.  (if you crinkle a piece of paper, Nikita thinks it is for her)  A birthday is not complete without a birthday cake, right?  So Mommy went to work and baked Daddy a triple chocolate cake with triple chocolate frosting and even let Daddy sample the batter!

Daddy even got a surprise when he opened up the back door as he saw his birthday driveway art that Mommy drew wishing him a happy birthday!  Aw, is what Daddy said and his birthday surprises for the day continue!

Mommy made Daddy something really special for his birthday, as she is very creative and he loved it.  Since “Home is Where the Heart is” she made him a wood house plaque and made a string art heart on the house.  She will show you how she made it, in case you want to make one for yourself. 

She started out with her house template that she used to make her Fourth of July house boxes, and cut out a house from pressed wood.  She then sanded it really smooth, and painted it with a gloss black finish paint.  The next step she cut out a heart shape big enough to fit in the center of the house and taped it to the wood house.  Then she carefully, one by one, hammered small nails around the outside of the heart shape (approximately 55 nails) about 1/4″ apart.  Next, she removed the heart template from the center of the nails.  Now comes the fun part, as she tied the end of a piece of yarn to one nail, then just strung the yarn continuously from one nail to another, back and forth across the heart until she strung the yarn around each nail head.  The finished heart is now a puffy string art heart!  (Click HERE for the house & heart template)

Daddy had such a great birthday as his phone rang off the hook with incoming birthday wishes and his family stopped by to help spread the birthday cheer through the house.  Nikita spent the day amusing everyone with her cute antics and now she is pooped and will probably sleep the rest of the night.  LOL   We all had a great day with Daddy helping him celebrate his birthday and have definitely over dosed on the triple chocolate cake and will slip slowly into a chocolate coma tonight!  It is definitely confirmed that the best way to survive a birthday is to celebrate it with family.  Happy Birthday Roy, we love you!

How to Make a Night Light Cover from Melting Beads

Well, just when you think that you have exhausted all of your craftiness, we have gone and done it again!  Yep, we came up with a really neat way to make yourself a modern night light cover – – by melting some pony beads!

We headed out to the Dollar Store and picked up a Tinker Bell Night Light for $1 and knew that we could use this in our craft project.  The Tinker Bell front cover was removable (phew) from the night light and we were happy to see that, as we were prepared to cut it off if it was not.  (this saved us a step for sure)

Anyhow, if you viewed our first post on how to make a sun catcher from melting beads, you will remember how we got started.  If not, click here to catch up with the process.

First, we pulled out our metal mini loaf pan and started creating a design in the pan with pony beads.  Once we got our design complete, the next step is to head outside and get the grill all fired up.  Once the grill is nice and hot, place your metal loaf pan on the grill – – and watch as the beads start to melt.  This melting process takes between 10-15 minutes as the beads are laid in a single layer in the pan.  Once the beads are all melted, and you will know when to take them off the grill as the top of your design is all smooth with no bead bumps.  (once you do this, you will know what I mean)  Remove the pan from the grill (and remember that your pan is extremely hot) and let your pan cool.  Once the pan is cooled, just turn it over and tap the bottom of the pan and your melted bead design pops right out!

Now, comes the fun part – attaching your plastic design to the night light.  As we mentioned earlier, we removed the plastic Tinker Bell night light cover already, and since we did, we needed to add a little spacer between the night light and your new melted design, so we hot glued a clear pony bead to the front of the night light (which worked out perfectly).  If we did not add the clear bead to the front of the night light, our melted cover would have been a bit too close to the light bulb, so we did not want it to get too hot from the bulb and perhaps melt, so that is why we added a clear bead as a spacer.  Once the glue dried around the bead, we just hot glued the plastic design we just made onto the bead and just created the neatest modern night light cover ever!

The steps are quite simple, but making the bead design in the pan was the most fun part of this craft project.  You could go crazy and make all sorts of designs as the possibilities are endless.  Make some for yourself, your kids room, or even the kitchen as these will for sure be a great conversation piece!  Even make a night light cover so your pooch can see their water dish at night!

How to Make a Sun Catcher

I got my inspiration from I’m Feelin’ Crafty’s blog and just had to try this craft project for myself!  And, I am glad that I did!  This absolutely fun craft project uses those plastic pony beads found in any craft store, a pie pan, and your gas grill. That’s it!  If you would like to make some for yourself, keep reading for the steps on how to create some today for yourself!  These would also make some incredible gifts for Christmas too! 

Let’s begin…  First, you can use any metal pan in any shape, we used an aluminum pie pan for the one we just made, but the next time we make one we will use our metal pie pan instead.  The reason we will switch to the metal pie pan is so we don’t get the little indents on the bottom of the sun catcher from the aluminum pan.  The metal pie pan will have no indents on the bottom. 

Next, take out your platic pony beads and start placing them in your pie pan and lay them flat in the pan with the hole of the bead facing up.  Create any design you want, but keep all the beads close together.  Once you fill up your entire pie pan with your design, the next step is to melt them. 

Get your grill all nice and hot.  You can melt these in your oven at 400 degrees, but you may experience a nasty smell from the melting plastic, so we suggest you use your grill.  Place your pie pan in the center of your grill.  Creating your design was a lot of fun, but watching your beads melt was truly neat to watch.  You may have to turn your pie pan to ensure that all the beads melt evenly, so make sure you use a pot holder to touch the pie pan.  We had our pie pan on our grill for approximately 15-18 minutes.  You will know when to take the pan off the grill when you see a smooth finish on top of your design, as this shows that all the beads have melted completely. 

Remove from grill.  Your sun catcher will dry quite quickly, so make sure that nothing falls into the plastic as it is curing, like a bug!  Once you can touch the pie pan and feel that it has cooled, you can remove your sun catcher.  Carefully move the side of the pan a little and your sun catcher should pop right out! 

Now, depending on what you want to do with your new sun catcher, you can either leave it as is, or you can drill a small hole at the top to attach a suction cup for hanging.  (this is what we are going to do) 

The possibilites are endless of what you can make with this craft idea.  For example:  Try making some ornaments for your Christmas tree by using metal cookie cutters (just place the cookie cutters on a cookie sheet and fill the cookie cutters with beads), make some adorable gift tags, or even use a square cake pan to make a different shape.  Also, you can make yourself a wind chime too!  Just purchase a cheap wind chime from the Dollar Store, remove the chimes and attach them to your new sun catcher by drilling small holes at the bottom & attach the chimes!  Let your creativity go wild & have fun!  Don’t forget that this is a great craft project to do with your kids too!