Crafty Stuff

So I have been having a blast decorating my new office. One of my favorite things is my new wall decor as seen above.

This was a four dollar project! The other amazing thing was it was super duper easy. The results were amazing, and I have literally gotten so many compliments on it from clients that have come in.

First Step: I went to the Dollar Tree, my got to store for everything since I am on a budget to save for a house. I got 4, 5x7 gold frames. This of course equaled $4.

Second Step: I Googled images like "blue arrows" for the first picture and "gold dots" for the second picture and so on. I copied and past the pictures into a word document.I sized the pictures accordingly and printed them out on normal printing paper. 

Third Step: I cut out the pictures using the original paper slip from inside the frame that was there when I bought it. This helped me get the pictures to the appropriate size to fit into the frame. 

Fourth Step: I put the backs, back on the picture frame, and I was done. As simple as that!! I loved my cute little creation. 

I got to work and hung the pictures on the wall using those office push pins haha. Now it is there for my viewing pleasure.

Here are some other cute things around my office:

Loved this Aztec Lamp: Target $14

MY DIPLOMA!! Super proud to have this hanging up in my office. 

Chevron Vase: $3 Walmart

 The Nehi Orange Soda was from my boss and it looked so cute and vintage

 

I of course needed Mason Jars, they were left over from my party and made a great candy dish as well

Then my lovely picture of me and Leighton!

How cute did she look today for school? My baby is growing up! She started going to Primrose last week, and she loves it.

Well, I hope you enjoyed all the cuteness! There has not been too much going on with me. I have just been working and being a mom. I just got back from Savannah this past weekend which was a blast!

I have been budgeting my money like crazy to save for a house next year. I will have to share my budgeting tips next. I have also begun planning Leighton's birthday party next month. Frozen themed, of course. I will share all my tips, I promise!

Hope everyone has a great rest of their week!

                                                                                                                                                                   

First I have to say, I did a good job today following my exercise plan. I have eaten okay, and I woke up this morning to complete my first day of the 30 Day Shred! I am doing so far so good...but then again it is only day 1 haha!

Well tonight I am going to kind of do what I did with the jewelry knob holder and show you a finished product and describe what I did to complete it. About a year ago I found this adorable antique chair at an antique mall by my house. It was nothing much to look at from the beginning, but I have completely transformed it into a chic desk chair that goes great in my room! I so wish I had a before picture for all of ya'll to see the amazing transformation of this chair!

Well here is the finished product...

I just love this chair! It is incredible isn't it? You would have never guessed it was a run down old chair before I transformed it with just some paint and fabric!

Supplies: An antique chair (I got mine for only $15!), sand paper, white spray paint primer, spray paint color of your choice, fabric foam, 1 yard of fabric (your choice), scissors, staple gun with staples, and glue or hammer and nails

Step 1: I completely took the chair apart, well just the place where you sit. I took it out of the main part of the chair. Then take off the fabric and old foam on the circle part of the chair. You should only be left with a circle cardboard material.

Step 2: I sanded down the entire frame of the chair with sand paper. This requires major elbow work!

Step 3: When completely sanded, spray the white primer all over the chair. Once dry spray two coats of spray paint (color of choice)

Step 4: While the paint dries cut out foam to fit the circle seat of the chair. Put it on top of the circle cardboard part of the chair. Drape fabric on top of both foam and cardboard, pull very tight. Secure fabric with staples and staple gun on the bottom part of the circle.

Step 5: When chair is dry, you insert the circle fabric piece back into the frame of the chair. You can put hot glue around the frame of the chair where the circle part goes before you put it back in or hammer the circle part in with a couple of nails once it is in. Your choice!

This should be about it and you should officially have your cute chair to match any room. The antique feel of the chair just gives it the most perfect touch. I swear my blogs will have pictures next time since words can get confusing, but ask me any questions if you get lost. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I know I did! 

                                                                                                                                                                   

So this is a how-to, but after unfortunate events of Leighton tripping in the parking lot, while I was car shopping, and scraping up her leg-we did not get to go to Hobby Lobby which was my next stop on my errands list when I started this blog Sunday. Therefore, I am going to show you a how-to of the finished product that I was going to make that I had already made (tongue twister.) It is a...rustic knob jewelry holder.

I loveee my original one that I made. I will hang it up in my house whenever I move out. It does not fit my current decor of purple Paris (the theme of my current bedroom that I decorated when I was 14). I am long over-due for a remodel hah. I am 23 now. Okay enough rambling. Here is how to make the most beautiful rustic shabby chic almost country themed knob jewelry holder...

Gather supplies:
-One slab of 2x4 wood, it can be old, new, blue, white, or whatever you want that wood to look like. It can be 4 feet long or a foot long. The wood characteristic is up to you. You can distress it with a sander, beat it up a little bit, paint it (don't forget a primer) a certain color, or stain it.
-A drill
-A table saw or picture frame hook and screws:I'll explain later-Hook from hobby lobby
-However many door knobs you need-If you can find them at the thrift store than go there although they go fast and are very hard to find, if this is the case Hobby Lobby or World Market has them all in all shapes and sizes ranging in price around $3
-With every door knob you will need a nut-Home Depot or they might come with the knob

Step 1: After you have made your slab of wood to your liking and choosing, you are going to need to get out your drill. An extra supply could be a ruler. Along a vertical line on the wood, make as many holes with the drill as you have knobs. (I unfortunately do not have this step in a picture)

Step 2: Now you need to make a place to be able to hang your piece at the end. You can use a saw to create the indention in the wood below...

Or, you can get a picture frame hook and drill it into the wood with your fitting nails and your drill.

Step 3: Now you are going to insert your knobs through the hole you made for them. Here are a couple of pictures of the knobs I have chosen!

 Step 4: Now you are going to screw the nut onto the back of the knob and twist until the knob is secure.

Step 5: If needed, saw off the end of knob if it goes past the wood to where you cannot hang it up on the wall it is too long. (Only do this step if you have this problem)

                                                                                                                                                                   

So, I ditched the idea of my last project. It was a spray painted vase decorated with dimes and nickles for a bling touch. I never have cash, therefore, I never have change. I just gave up haha. Instead, I am going to show you how to do my other side hobby, Diaper Cakes. I love me some diaper cakes for baby showers. I have made a ton in the past! I made one last weekend for one of my friends baby showers and thought, hmm I should incorporate this into my blog.

I am pretty sure I taught myself how to do these on my own, but I will not make you do that. I like to spread my advice and wisdom around! So enjoy, how-to make a diaper cake....

The supplies: There are so many different items you can use to make a diaper cake. You don't even need diapers if you want to use baby towels/wash cloths or onesies instead. This project is all about imagination. There are no guidelines in what you can use! One layer of my cake is even made out of bottles and baby hygiene products. For this diaper cake I used: diapers (newborn Luvs), fake sunflowers, yellow ribbon (I have four spools pictured, I probably only used about 2), a hot glue gun, cake platter, shiskabob sticks, A LOT of rubber bands, and baby items/decor: I used baby shower decorations E.g. clothes pins and baby blocks, you'll see these up close later on), little baby socks, bottles, hygiene products, etc. anything you want to use, use!

Secret: the Dollar Store is AMAZING for this kind of stuff. The Dollar Store, I swear is my lifesaver. I am not afraid to shop there for almost everything that I can. Now that you got the stuff, let's make a diaper cake!

Step 1: Put everything aside for now and get out the diapers. Roll up the diaper and secure with a rubber band, just like what you see below.

Step 2: Roll up up 9 more other diapers repeating step 1. Then make a 4-3-2-1 triangle with the diapers (like a pizza or pie slice) and secure with a large rubber band. Place diaper slice (this made me LOL and I don't know why? hah) on the cake platter.

Step 3: Continue to do step 2, 3 more times. Put each slice together until you make a full pie (circle) with the diapers.

Step 4: It's looking rough I know, but don't you worry. It will come together! This step, you are going to secure your whole pie with a strand of ribbon (not the rubber bands). Wrap the ribbon around the cake according to size. Hot glue the ends. Pin the ribbon into the diapers with metal pins to get the ribbon to stay up around the diaper cake. 

Step 5: For this step, you are going to roll up a couple more diapers. Secure them with rubber bands, and place diapers into the gaps in the cake layer. I needed only four to fill in the gaps. Now you are done with your first layer! Good job!

                                                

Step 6: This is a silly yet effective part, it secures the next layer to the bottom of the cake. Stick around 5 shiskabob skewers into the first cake layer.



Step 7: You are going to repeat steps 1-5 for the second layer. This time the triangle slice needs to be a 3-2-1 format, like what you see below. When you complete the slice, build the second layer around the shiskabob sticks. Then secure, like in step 4, the second layer with ribbon by using a hot glue gun and pins. Fill in the gaps accordingly, like in step 5.



                                                                                                                                                                   



As promised, here is my second creation how-to of the day. I am so proud of this one! It is not a thrift store creation though, I found the idea off Pinterest to make for one of my really good friends, Madison, and her bun in the oven, Mason. Her room colors were blue, yellow, and white, and I thought this would look adorable in a nursery. So enjoy this Pinterest project! I will go to the thrift store this weekend to get my next week's thrift store creation!

Step 1: Gather supplies.

You will need a picture frame shadow box like the one above, a bundle pack of crayons, a hot glue gun, a permanent marker of your color choice, scissors, and a white sheet of paper cut to fit the frame. I got my frame from Hobby Lobby, of course, for only $9.99 it was 50% off! The pack of crayons, from Hobby Lobby as well, were only $4 for like 20, 8-count packs with my 40% off coupon. That was a lot to say! You gotta find ways to save some how!

Step 1: Start with a white piece of paper cut to size, or the back of the frame in-slip, (which is what I used) basically the packaging staged picture that comes already in the frame, just turned over. Pick out the crayon colors you want to use, make a rainbow, all pinks, all blue, just whatever will work for the room.

Step 2: Cut the crayons to the size you want to construct a letter. I am making an M, this is how it looked when I first started the M. I used white, blue, and yellow crayons. Use a hot glue gun to glue the crayons onto the paper. Make sure the glue is on the crayon wrapper because the glue will melt the crayon wax.

Step 3: Continue to cut and shape the crayons according to the letter you are striving to make. Here is the full M!

Step 4: Hot glue the white paper to the back of the frame insert. This step is done because the crayons are so much heavier than the paper.

Step 5: Insert the picture into the shadow box frame! Close clasps.

Step 6: With a permanent marker, I wrote Mason's name cutely on the glass of the picture from the outside.

Step 7: You finished! I cannot get enough of this. I sent Madison a text message, but I still need to give this to her and her soon-to-be-here baby boy. She loved it! I am crazy about it. This project was so easy and so much fun to do! Good luck! Hope you enjoyed two how-to's in one day!

                                                                                                                                                                  




Please forgive me for my absence. I have had the stuff for this item for a while, but of course life gets so crazy hectic being a mom, going to college, and working full-time in a job in Atlanta. I barely have been able to sleep the last two weeks. For my delay, I have a treat for today's blog, I am not posting one how-to but two how-to's. As soon as I get done with this posts I am posting a second one. It is soo adorable, cannot wait for you to this item and the next one!

A couple of weeks ago I bought the cake platter supplies and this awesome shelf you'll see below from the local Goodwill. I already loved the color, the minty green, and the shabby chic appeal. I also loved the price. I got this amazing shelf for $3.95! Yeah you read right. It was a great find. I knew exactly what easy way I was going to transform it into a chic household item. I transformed this dated shelf into a hodgepodge picture frame. Enjoy as I show you step by step how I made this adorable creation with around the house items!

Step 1: Gather supplies

Here is the incredibly ridiculously cute shelf! I would post the other supplies, but I literally just played this creation by ear, adding items to it as I went. I used a power drill, 5x7 pictures, a square cork board, tape, hot glue gun, a staple gun, thumb tacks, and fabric from my sewing box. Most all of it besides the power drill can be found at Hobby Lobby (you'll quickly learn I love that store.)

Step 2: Using the power drill on reverse, take the three screws out that hold the top part of the shelf together with the bottom. I am too chicken to use power tools so my dad helped me out with a lot of this project haha!

Step 3: Once the screws holding the top and bottom of the shelf are all out, it should easily come apart. Toss the top part of the shelf.

Step 4: Now with just the bottom of the shelf, on the back tape down 5 different 5x7 pictures in the holes that are just roughly smaller than 5x7 inches. You better believe I used pictures of Leighton!

Here is the back of the shelf with the five taped down pictures for you to see where each picture goes.

Step 5: I found this fabric in my fabric box. It was left over from a tote I made a while back. It fit perfect to make a backdrop for the shadow box area of the shelf. I used, well my dad did haha, a staple gun to put nails all around the fabric to make it tight. Trim the edges of unneeded fabric when it is all stapled down. 

Step 6: I repeated step 4 on the other side, mirrored to where the other fabric shadow box is. As you can see our plan went awry with the staple gun, it got jammed. With quick thinking, I thought of another solution! I used thumb tacks to put in the rest of the fabric. Trim unneeded fabric.

Step : With a glue gun you are now going to be gluing the square cork board onto the last open square hole. Line the outside square with glue and then place the cork board on top of it. It is okay if it does not fit the square perfectly. It works better if its too big.

Step 7: And you are finished! Step 7 is to turn that sucker over. Is this not adorable!?!!?!!? I am crazy about it. 

The finished product was used as the back drop to my craft desk, by propping it up. It has hooks on the back, so it can be hung up as well. I put some tickets where the cork board is using thumb tacks of course (they saved the day.) The fabric parts make a great shadow box for other little memoir items. Look how adorable my princess looks in those pictures, and you can also put small trinkets in those picture shadow boxes too. It is just one big giant memory board! I cannot wait to get my own place in about six months or so, so that I can prop this on the mantle or hang it up some where!

                                                                                                                                                                   

I am so excited to share with you my latest thrift store creation. This one has to be one of my favorites! I took an ordinary, almost ugly, thrift store item, and I turned it into a chic stylish piece anyone would want to have in your home. What is the best part? It is super easy! It is a plate/platter, combined with a candle stick holder to make a fabulous dessert tray or cake platter. Great for special occasions, events, or just to have as decoration in your home. I had such a fun time shopping at the Goodwill and Hobby Lobby this week that I even went ahead and got the stuff for next week's item. I cannot wait for ya'll to see what I have coming next! So enjoy this how-to tutorial on making this adorable cake/dessert platter.

Step One: Shop and gather your supplies

For this project you are going to need to buy a large platter or plate (mine were these ugly, plain, gold-plastic plates that were in a set for only $3), buy a candle stick holder (this can range in so many shapes and designs that it really does not matter what you choose: tall, short, plain, lots of intricate detailing, whatever you find, and all that matters is that it is sturdy enough to hold the platter. I got mine for only $1.50), a can of spray paint white primer (Hobby Lobby for 40% off  equaling $3.50), color of choice spray paint (Hobby Lobby $3), a can of acrylic high gloss coat (Hobby Lobby $6), a pack on super glue ($2), and you are ready to go! 

Step 2: In the garage or outside on a cardboard box (or other floor protector) layout platter and candle holder. Spray paint both pieces with primer until completely covered, top and bottom. Let dry.

Step 3: When the primer dries, use the super glue to attach candle holder to the bottom of the platter. Let dry. The glue should only take a minute to dry.

Step 4: When glue is dry spray paint the entire item with color of choice spray paint. My choice was a matte hot pink (love it!). Spray top and bottom. Make sure every white spot of primer is covered in an even coat. Let Dry.

Step 5: When the colored spray paint dries, grab your clear acrylic high gloss spray. The picture shows what I used. This is what protects the paint and makes the coat shiny! If you want to, you can use glitter, paint a design, add a decoration, etc. but do that first before putting on this final coat. Spray gloss all over the top and bottom. Let dry.

Step 6: When everything is dry. You are done! Taaaadaaaa, you have a beautiful dessert/cake platter that will blow people away at a cocktail party, baby shower, wedding shower, or just any event you can think of. Let plate sit out in the garage or is weather permits, outside, for 2 days to let the spray paint fumes evaporate. Do not put in the dishwasher or microwave. Hand wash only!

Final Product :)

 Isn't this platter to die for? It goes great for Valentine's day! The Valentine's Day cookies looked effortless on the platter when I put them out for today's 31 bag party. I could not get enough of this latest creation, that I definitely am thinking about making more. I could even make a set so that everything is matching at my next event. Another secret, find 2 more candle stick holders and a small and medium platter, stack them up, use the same painting process, and you have a cupcake tower! Let your imagination run wild! I hope this tutorial was helpful, and let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy! See you next week when I make my next thrift store creation!