2013 Word of the year

Ok since everyone else is doing it... and I think the idea is a good one since I am not much for the whole resolution thing, here I am to play along.   My word is PASSION.

http://www.123marketing.com/blog/internetmarketing/general/im-just-different/

Passion for life, for crafts, for taking photos, family, working on my Mary Kay business, running, eating healthy (most of the time), and so much more. I don't really have too much to say about it other than I am going to focus more on my passions each and every day. I see too many people let their passions fall by the wayside for whatever reason whether it be kids, life events, or other things that keep us from doing what we love even if just for an hour a day or an hour a week. We all need time for us to make and keep us all who we are and who we are meant to be!   So get out there and live your passion.. whatever it might be and wheterver it might take you :)

http://envisionedentrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Passion.jpg Be back tomorrow with some fun projects to share! Hope everyone enjoyed their New Years eve and day!

Wrapped "E"

This project started out with a pretty sad looking letter "E" which I bought for next to nothing over the summer at one of my favorite hotspots. Olde Factory Antiques. And by sad I mean, chunks are ripped out (which you can see by the parts that aren't blue). I really wanted to wrap this with, what else, burlap, but wasn't sure if my husband would appreciate this too well. Instead, I tried some ribbon I had on hand that just didnt work either. Finally, I remembered this random black fabric that I don't remember what I used it for but had quite a bit of. (see below)

 



From here, I cut strips abotu 2 inches wide and the length (width??) of the fabric and just begin going to wrap town.

I really thought I took more pictures of the "during" process, but apparently this is it- OOPS! Either way, I think you get the point.

So here it is, all wrapped and ready for some decoration. From here I actually initially purchased some random items from Party City in hopes that something would work out. I bough some rub on tatoos which I used and placed on paper to rub on. This worked out wonderfully and I had them all cut out but by the time I came back to the project to finish up, some (ok, most of them disappeared. BOOO! Thankfully my mom came to the rescue since I still haven't been able to take the time to figure out why my color printer won't work, and since I was going over to work on Christmas cookies, I used hers while I was there.

I cut out every little piece, laminated and cut again. I wanted to make sure the little pieces would last. I also wanted them to be sturdy and durable. It worked! Then figuring out a way to attach them was next. I flipped each picture over, put down a straight pin and added a glob of hot glue, after they dried I slid each one into its designated parking spot . WALAH!

So here there you have it... make any rough looking wooden letter into a personalized gift :) (also, my apologies for the strange looking pictures, it was the best I could do in SECRET before Christmas to ensure hubby did not see. That being said, he almost saw anyway because I accidentally clicked SHARE on my cellphone and it got posted to facebook. OOOPS!! Luckily he isn't as obsessed doesn't go on as often as me and was very surprised on Christmas)

Handy hubby feature

So I think I have meantioned before that I have a pretty darn handy hubby. Here is some supporting evidence. To preface, I will apologize that there are no BEFORE pictures and not really any during pictures either because I wasnt around for all steps of the process. It is really too bad because the shutters that he started with had lots of old pastel yellow and kind of a kelly green underneath. (we do still have some of the wood with the original paint colors on it that I will post later)

So, are you ready to be amazed??

 The fun part about these shelves, is hubby made 2- one for my mom and one for my sister. Sister wanted her shutter to stay all together and be wider, as seen here. Hubby didn't like it plain and we dabbled with the idea of these stars  (which funny enough came from a string sister gave me a while back and has been seen on other projects here).

 We chose these types of hooks because they were sturdy enough to hold heavy items such as coats, or light duty items too.

This is just a side view to show off a little more of the detail on the side pieces of wood and how he worked it so it looks great!

Hubby, a while ago, experimented with creating this really neat look on wood by burning certain parts before staining to really pull out the awesome grain and make it a great showcase. Great job, right??
Now onto Mom's- she wanted her shutters apart to make a longer shelf (like the original she had seen at a craft store near Sister's house. The reason this was a challenge, is because, as you will see below, it changes the whole game of putting the pieces together.

 Now this one you can see has shaker pegs- Mom just wants it to hang crafty items on and this will serve to replace an older, shorter shelf she already has.

 A nice little side view. Hubby stained the boards and shaker pegs a different color, which you cannot really tell here and either way I think they are a nice compliment.

 Stars were also added to this shelf, but very different ones at that! These were stars Hubby created a while ago using his jigsaw (yes- made by hand folks) and stained differently before putting together. They also complimented the colors well and I think really gave a great look.

 

 

Once again, Hubby used his burning technique. Same kind of wood, different stain and different burning technique. Gorgeous, right??

 

We finished these up at about 2am Christmas eve morning and I took these photos around 10am in the freezing cold outside before wrapping them up and loading them up on the present mobile. I was glad I did it when I did because it began to snow just a few hours later.. and boy was it nuts!!

 

Needless to say they both loved their shelves but hubby really wanted to keep them both!! I guess we will be in the prowl for more shutters soon because now he is dissatisfied with the shelves we already have, which he also made a few years ago (before he had so much experience). 

 

There you have it, the Handy Hubby's creations. Aren't they gorgeous???

Thanks for stopping by. See you all on Monday for a fun sports-enthused project I created for Hubby for Christmas. 



Snow globe DIY

Hey everyone!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  I thought I would make it back on Wednesday, however until the end of the day Tuesday I was battling a full fledged sinus cold AND was exhausted.  We went to bed about 1:30am Tuesday morning and those kiddos were up by 6:30am (although I blame my BIL and his brother who was visiting). Needless to say Wednesday we got a late start and headed out to spend the money dad gave us for Christmas.  I really just bought running gear (YAY!!) and for the first time in years, I didnt really recieve any craft items. Kind of sad but excited for the running gear definitely. Anyway, today I am sharing a post that I actually wrote BEFORE the holidays and never got a chance to share :) Even though these are trees, I might switch them out for someother "wintery" items later once I take down Christmas deco.

I have noticed a big trend right now are these awesome little DIY anthro inspired snow globes and I just love them!! Although I have seen them all over blog-land, when I searched while out and about, I found a tutorial on Whipperberry and went with this.

I originally had actually put these on my list of things to make in prep for NEXT year thinking I would never find trees this late in the game. Leave it to Walmart, a place I despise and try to go to as little as possible, to have a few for $1/each. Hubby and I were actually there for other things and I just mosied into the holiday section and scored a few. I made out even better because 2 were broken (aka no base) and the cashier just popped them in my bag. I also got a wide mason jar there ( I had the typical big and small ones already) and picked up some more epson salts. So this is what I started with.

From here, I trimmed up some of the trees so that they appropriately fit into the jars- since I am soooo spacially challenged and just grabbed whatever trees I could.

Since two of the trees didn't have bases, I improvised a little and attached some cardboard to the bottom so that I could attach my glue dots to keep the trees in place on the mason jar lid. So basically, glue your trees to the lids, put some epson salts in the jar, put the lid on tight, and flip!! I could have used bufallo snow and I guess it would have stuck the trees a little better, but just going with what was easy and cost/time effective considering my last minute decision to make these.

And finished product pictures- GO!

 Side note is that these lights were SO weird- Christmas lights I think of being white- they actually look ORANGE!! I kid you not. So so weird.

Either way, I was pretty tickled about making these- even if it was 1am (monday  , after being up since 6am (Sunday) and then we proceded to be up until after 4am working on this that and the other thing. Color us crazy and you'd be right.

Hope you enjoyed my little project!

My little tree and homeade cards

Well with it being Christmas Eve, I thought it was high time I share my tree and cards with you. I was a little late on the boat to getting a tree and by Saturday (last weekend) was teetering with not even  getting one. I made the mistake of telling my mother this and since she was visiting my sister, I got the disapproval of this thought from both of them! Since I was still out running around I stopped at this little place close by some of the stores I had been shopping at and low and behold they had $15 trees- PERFECT. So I picked one out, they netted it up and off I went on my merry little way.

 Isn't it purty?? The ribbony stuff was a last minute purchase at Christmas tree shop and at 1.49/pkg I couldn't step away. They were really the perfect addition to my tree since I really didn't have anything to just pull it all together. You can't see it here, but my tree skirt is new too, because I somehow misplaced mine a few weeks ago when I got out some lights to take pictures of my handsome baby nephew.  My mom told me this is because I am destined to make a burlap tree skirt that we keep oogling over. Maybe for next year??

This little guy was an ornament I forgot ALL about but made me smile. I am not even 100% sure who gave it to us last year but I am a fan of all things sock monkey and this is snowman themed one.  

The story behind this wreath ornatment is a short but cherished one. You see, I had a Great (Great?) Aunt Sereta who I who I don't think I ever met, but was devestated when she passed away. You might ask, why in the world??? Well, it is because of little treasures such as this one that she would send us at Christmas and I will cherish forever. She made all kinds of cool crafty things and a few years when we were younger she sent us these felted ornaments and some little felted dolls (which I still have as well). She also was known for creating these little curled up paper (which apparently is called Quilled paper and you can see examples here) which my mom still has.

 This last little guy I wanted to highlight is also a favorite. This is my little scrapbooker marshmello pal. Isn't he cute??

I have seen lots of other fabulous and gorgeous trees out there- great job to you all!! My tree may be small and simple, but it was decorated with love and memories.

Now a quick look at cards made for coworkers and family.

 

 

Merry Christmas everyone :) I ran out of time to share with you all my Christmas treasures, so there will be a few more to share later this week, and hopefully some good shots of those tiney hineys on my poufs!! I sure hope everyone has a joyful and safe holiday. Talk to you all on Wednesday!!