Organizing!

I love Pinterest, but I find that most of the time I just pin a million things and then never actually use the idea. Well, one weekend we didn't have a lot of plans so I started organizing the kitchen. About half way through the job, I remembered a pin I'd seen here: http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2011/08/organizing-measuring-cups-and-spoons.html  about how to organize measuring cups so they don't stay lost in a drawer. So... I sent Allen to Lowes and we began our project! It was very easy and I love that each of my measuring cups and spoons now has a home where it can easily be found when needed. Here's how we did it:

First Allen went and bought/ found the supplies we needed: 

Paint Sticks (for a 5 gallon bucket)

Spray Paint 

Hooks

Small screws

Drill 

Label Maker

Next, Allen spray painted the paint sticks so you could no longer see the words 

Once they had dried we took the cabinet door off and organized everything the way we wanted it to look. 

Then, we drilled small holes where we wanted the paint sticks to go and then screwed them to the door.

After that we put the measuring cups and spoons where we wanted them and made a mark on the stick using a pencil. Then Allen drilled holes and I screwed the hooks in.

Last, we used a label maker to title each spot and give each place a home!

  Then ... Tada!.....Organization! 

My Day with Noah!

Last Friday, I got to spend the day with my nephew, Noah. Noah lives in Texas, so I don't get to see him very often, but we had lots of fun spending the day together! 

When he got to my house, I was in the middle of making a cheesecake, so he helped me with that!

Then we made some Christmas cards.

After that we played with the dogs. Noah loved my puppies.. and they loved him too! 

We rested a while and then we went to the neighborhood playground and played on the swings.

 That night, Allen and I drove Noah to Greensboro. We enjoyed listening to him talk (he likes to say "yay, Noah!") and practice new words, like Marcy (Sarsy!). He is absolutely adorable and we can't wait to see him again!

Scrapbook Paper Coasters

My latest craft project - Christmas Coasters! These coasters are an easy, inexpensive, craft, - in other words, my type of crafting!

All you need is:

- Scrapbook paper (Any color or design you like - my mom has even done this with pictures)

- Ceramic Tiles (From hardware store)

- Mod Podge

- Felt

-Glue Gun

- Ribbon (optional)

Step 1:

Cut your scrapbook paper into squares that will fit on the top of your tile

Step 2:

Glue the paper to the tiles

Step 3:

Cover the paper with Mod Podge (I did 3 coats)

Step 4:

Cut the felt to fit on the bottom of the tiles

Step 5:

Using a hot glue gun, glue the felt on the bottom of the tiles

Step 6:

If you are going to give your coasters as a gift, put a cute bow around them and... 

Voila!

Girls Weekend!

A few weeks ago, my mom asked if she could come visit me for a weekend. I of course said yes and couldn't wait for her visit! That Friday, I was cooking dinner, when she pulled into the driveway. Allen told me to go out and welcome her and he would keep an eye on dinner. So, I walked outside and gave her a hug then went to help her get her things out of the trunk. When she popped the trunk, this is what I saw:

I screamed and jumped back and then realized it was my wonderful sister!! I was completely, surprised (and excited!)

The next morning, we woke up and Allen fixed us eggs, biscuits, bacon and grits! (He did a great job spoiling us all weekend, and he has been invited back to the next girls weekend!) Then we went to get manicures and pedicures.

After our nails were done we did some shopping and eventually headed to Michael's and Hobby Lobby, where we decided we were going to craft!We got on pinterest (of course!) to get some ideas and finally decided to make shadow boxes and wreaths.

Mary made a Halloween shadow box, Mom made a fall one, and I made an NC State one.

We got Allen in on the crafting too.. he cut some wood for Mom and Mary in the shape of an S and an R. Then they decorated it with leaves... to use for a fall wreath. I made an NC state wreath.

After pizza and crafting, we decided to end the night with some chocolate fondue and fruit! (We let Allen join in too!)

Sunday morning, we woke up, went to church, and then Mom and Mary headed back home. We all had such a great time and I can't wait to have another weekend with my favorite girls!

Etching Glass

One of my favorite new crafts is etching glass.  I have etched several Pyrex dishes (with people's last name) , a glass for Allen, and most recently, I etched wine glasses.  There are so many different things you could etch.. I keep thinking of new things I want to try!

So, here is a quick tutorial on how to etch glass!

Things you will need:

- Something glass

- Cricut Machine (or stencil and utility blade)

- Vinyl

-etching cream

- sponge brush

-paper towels

Step 1:

The first thing you want to do is get ready: Wash the surface of the glass you are using, and set your Cricut machine to a blade depth of 5. (If you don't have a Cricut machine, you could try cutting your own stencil by using a utility blade. I haven't done this, but I'm sure it would work.)

 Step 2:

Next you want to cut the words, letters, shapes, or numbers that you plan to etch. To do this, use your Cricut to choose what you want. Once you know what you are going to etch, load a piece of vinyl into the Cricut machine and hit "cut". 

 Step 3:

After your stencil has been cut,  gently peel the vinyl away from the backing and place it in the desired place on your glass. 

 Step 4:

Now you will apply the etching cream.  Dip your sponge brush into the cream and then carefully brush the cream onto the glass.  (Make sure it's not too thin of a coating)

 Step 5:

Wait. --The directions on the bottle say to wait 5-10 minutes, but I usually wait about 30.

Step 6:

Once time is up, use a dry paper towel to wipe the excess  cream off. Once the excess is off, peel off the vinyl and then use a wet paper towel and wipe over the area you etched. 

Step 7:

Clean your glass and ... TADA! 

Wall Words

I'm sure many of you have seen the vinyl sayings you can buy to put on your walls. Every time I go in a store and see them, I look through the many sayings to find something I like enough to put on the wall. However, I usually can't find a saying I like, or if I do, it costs more than I'm willing to spend. So, I decided I would attempt to make my own :)  Here's how I did it:

My Cricut Machine.. I love this thing! 

I bought brown vinyl at Michael's for $10. I cut a strip to fit in the machine, typed in the letters and watched as it cut.

Next, I peeled off the scraps and was left with my letters

Then I arranged my letters the way I wanted them to look on the wall

Then I covered them with transfer tape

Here, my awesome husband helped me by "burnishing" (big word they use or rub/press) the tape to the words

Next I flipped the transfer tape over and took the back off my vinyl letters



Ready to go on the wall



Then we just took the transfer tape and put it on the wall. "Burnished" the letters and slowly peeled back the tape.

Ta Da!

I love the way it turned out! If I do it again, though, I don't think I'll use the transfer tape. I think it made things more difficult and more time consuming than necessary. Next time I'll just use a pencil to draw lines on the wall to line everything up and then erase the pencil marks - but overall this was a fun, inexpensive, and easy project! :)

Picture wall

I've been contemplating hanging picture frames in my stairwell for a while. I had a lot frames hanging in my living room, but Allen took them down when he was cutting huge holes in the wall (another story!) and we decided to replace them with another frame we got for Christmas. So I've had frames sitting around the house for a while (almost a month!) and wanted to do something with them. Well, Allen had to go out of town earlier this week and I got bored.  I was on pinterest (I know, I know!) and I saw a great idea for hanging pictures. It said to cut out pieces of paper the size of the picture frames and use blue paint tape to hang them. This way, you can rearrange the "frames" without having to put a million holes in the wall - genius, I know! (Told you pinterest was awesome). So anyways here's the result:  

Step 1: Hang paper "frames"



Step 2: Hang corresponding real frames



Not a step: Break the glass in one of the frames



And there you have it.. the final result!