Altered Candy Box Dots Gift

I am so excited for tomorrow night! I get to go to dinner with my long time friends who I don't get to see nearly enough! We are just going to Panera, but with my friends, it might as well be Disneyland. :) I love those ladies!!
Anyway, we get together to celebrate the birthdays that happen during each month and so, there are 4 friends we are celebrating tomorrow. I don't have a lot of money to spare right now (especially since we pay for our own dinner,) but I still like to do some kind of something crafty, just because I love to do those sorts of things. I will share with you what I came up with.
Super easy... I bought 4 boxes of candy from Dollar Tree. Then I sat down with my Silhouette machine and went to town. I printed an "L" and a greeting, which I cut into strips and dovetailed the ends to make them look oh-so-chic, and cut out white circles to act as a background for the "L"s


... and yeah... That's about it! I just used my tape runner to attach them to the boxes and that was it. Super easy and hopefully they will think I am super thoughtful too. They will, right?? They know I don't have a ton of money. Just keeping it real. ;-) Happy Birthday friends!! Love you!!

Starry Eyed Craft Idea for MOPS/MOMSnext 2016/2017

I am so excited to be on my MOPS/MOMSnext leadership team again this year!! I am heading up the creative activities for another year. It is my absolute favorite thing to do in this world, aside from going to Disneyland and eating lime Tootsie Rolls. Anyway... I thought I would share the crafts that I am doing this year since I tend to get a lot of questions about what our ladies' favorites have been etc. I am happy to share my plans (as I discover them.) ;-)
Feel free to take away any inspiration that you find!

So, here we go:

Craft for September- Painted Wood Beads and Tassel Keychain with Shrink Plastic Theme Charm

I used 20mm natural wood beads that I painted in theme colors, or at least as close as possible to theme colors. I found the beads at Joann in the jewelry making section. 

I bought the leather jewelry cording at Hobby Lobby, also in the jewelry section, along with the jump rings and keychain rings. 

I used a 2 1/2" star shaped punch to cut shrink plastic and edged the shape with a silver paint pen and used a permanent ink pen to write the theme in the middle. I also punched a hole before I shrunk the plastic and then added a jump ring to attach it to the key chain split ring. 

I followed a very simple tutorial to learn how to make the tassel, using this Youtube video.  

And then I just assembled all the pieces. It was that easy! It ended up averaging out to be around $1.50 per mom, and I planned for 65. Hopefully the ladies will love it as much as I do!

Thanks for stopping by!

MOPS and MOMSnext "Be You Bravely" Wood Sign

I thought I would share this sign I made recently. I am a coordinator for one of our local MOPS/MOMSnext groups here in town, and I thought I would try to come up for something cute for one of our "on-time" basket prizes. I designed it using my Silhouette (which I looooooove so much!!) and painted over the vinyl. Tada! An excellent reminder of the yearly theme of Be You Bravely! Also, I will be selling these in my Etsy store, so be sure to check back for that. Someday. Soon. I promise..

Patriotic Pallet Tray

I was recently commissioned to make some patriotic accessories for a relative. I was given some odds and ends from a goodwill store, and challenged to make them into some cute Americana decor. One of the pieces was a woven serving tray that I just couldn't get to cooperate. I decided that it would be much easier to make one on my own. And so I did! This is what I came up with. It was a matter of cutting some wood pieces about 18" long and then painting them, then I cut the 13" rails and painted them as well. Next, I attached the handles, which I decided to distress a little with sandpaper, to give them a little more character. To further embellish my pallet tray, I decoupaged some scrapbook paper flags that I had cut out and finally added "God Bless America," that I had cut out of vinyl with my Silhouette. I used the outdoor Mod Podge over the whole piece and then finished it with Annie Sloan finishing wax to make it more durable for outdoor use. That's about it! I have plans to make some more of these. I picked up some additional handles today, in fact. I am so excited to see what I can come up with! Stay tuned!

Patriotic Wooden Fireworks Decoration

So, apparently I like wood. Or at least I like to craft with it. I can't seem to get away from using it every chance I get. But that's ok! I have been coming up with some awfully cute designs, if I do say so myself. Oh, wait... I just DID say so. ANYWAY...

It's about time for another monthly crafty group meeting and I was asked to come up with something Americana/patriotic/4th of July-ish. I had some wood 1x4" boards and some navy blue vinyl and some assorted paints and stuff on hand, so I went to town.

This is what I came up with. A cute little trio of firecrackers wrapped in twine with a little sign hanging from it. I just think it is precious. Yep. Americana preciousness. Awwwww.

So now I am on to assembling all the kits for my friends and I to put all these together. I am blessed to have friends who like to craft with me. It really is my passion. Love love love it!
I wish I could start a business making and selling the things I made. Oh wait!! I did! ;-)

Note to self: stock your dang Etsy store....

Patriotic Banner

Here is another project I made to coordinate with the other patriotic decorations I made for a friend. Pretty straightforward craft. I just cut the banner "triangles," made some embellishments, punched holes in the corners and assembled. 

I found the papers at Hobby Lobby, in case you wanted to give it a shot. The project is hanging on navy blue organdy ribbon. That's it!

Patriotic Chevron Decoration

This is another one of the crafts I made recently for a friend of mine. She had shown me a picture as inspiration and asked me to come up with some patriotic decorations. Not sure why, but this was a brilliant idea I had. I keep seeing chevrons everywhere and thought it would be a perfect way to represent the stripes in the flag. I think it is a super fun way to do it! I am just now kicking myself for not doing one of my own. I think it will be my next project. After all, it is my original idea!! Can't only be one of these in the world! ;-)

I made it by base coating the top of the wood board (purchased in the wood section at Joann Fabrics,) in navy blue and then base coating the bottom in red. I waited for the sections to dry, measured for the center of the board with a ruler, and then, using the width of painter's tape (about 1 1/4th inches,) I taped off the chevrons. With a light amount of paint, I painted the white chevrons with 2 coats of paint. Then when it was dry, I lightly sanded the whole surface to very gently distress it. I found the two layered wooden star at Joann Fabric store and painted the whole thing in the white color and then painted the surface of the small center star in navy. Sanded that piece lightly too. Before I attached the star, I wrapped the top blue section in red and white baker's twine, in a random fashion. Lastly, I used simple hot glue to attach the star to the board. Simple as that!

I am hoping that I will actually get motivated to make myself one. My friend just posted a picture of it decorating her mantel and it is just perfect! Very proud of this one...

Patriotic Wreath

I wanted to share a wreath I made recently for my "benevolent benefactor," AKA, friend Kim. She showed me a picture on Pinterest of a patriotic mantel, said she loved it all and then told me to go for it. I mostly used the photo as inspiration for the feeling of the projects that I ultimately completed. I did 5 total and will be sharing them all as I find time. This wreath is the first that I completed. I made it by wrapping two kinds of ribbon around a straw wreath form. I then made a poof out of tulle, and added some rick rack to the back of a tin star ornament that I disassembled to make it more simple and usable for me. The small tag was actually part of the star ornament but the design on the other side of it didn't match, so I used my Cricut to cut out the "4th" in navy blue and mod podged it to the tag. Then I hung that from baker's twine and a ribbon bow which served to separate the two ribbon colors. That was it! Easy and fun!