A Few things

 I just wanted to let you all know a few things that are going on here.  First off I am going on a trip!!!!  No, not my family ME.  So what exotic location am I off to?  UTAH!!!  I know some of you are thinking that doesn't sound like fun but let me tell you.  I am from Idaho.  All of my family lives in the north.  I am in the south.  I get to go back north to the cool summer weather and see my sister, that I haven't seen to two years, and my mother.  We are going to be crafting and sewing up a storm.  I am so excited I will be gone for 5 days.  This will be the longest that I have been away from my kids and hubby.  There may be a few tears.  I will have a few posts but I will be slow in getting back to you in e-mails and comments. 

Now I want to show you a few things I have been up to.

I found this at a yard sale.  It is a OLD tape measure.  It is so cool.  I have a place of honor  that I want to put it in my crafting,sewing,crap corner.  (That is what my hubby calls it)  I will have photos later.

I found this small tool box at a yard sale. I is perfect for the boys.  It even came with the tools for $2.00.  They love it but Oak wanted it green, his favorite color.

Here is what I came up with.  It turned out cute.  I told the boys that I thought it needed to be decor instead of a toy.  They didn't like that.  They play with it often.  The tools did have to put up until they can help dad "fix" something.

Well I am off the airport.  I did just want to say a big THANK YOU to all the new and old followers friends.  I am so grateful that you are here.  I hope you all have a great week, I know I will!!!

Shabby Candle Stick Holders

 I thought as I finished projects for my mantle I would show them to you.  Then at the I will show you all of it together. My other finished piece is my Family Mirror seen here.  I am on a pretty tight crafting budget. Aren't we all?!  So, I didn't want to spend much money on redoing the mantle.  You guessed it, I am up-cycling instead of buying.

 These candle sticks were given to me as a housewarming gift several years ago.  They are cute but plain and didn't really go with what I visioned for the mantle.  So I took out my sample bottle of Behr paint, color Sandstone Cove, and painted the holders.

After letting them dry for a few minutes, using a rag, wiped off some of the paint.  Then I let them dry a little more and wiped them again.  So there are spot with a lot wiped off and spots with only a little.

Then I added some burlap to the candles themselves.  My burlap was sent to me by Mimi, from Messy Mimi.  Thank you Mimi. Yes, you will be seeing burlap a lot over the next while I am loving it!  The flower I made the same way you would with regular fabric and hot glue.  I just trimmed off all the pieces that had frayed when I got done. The strips of burlap I just glued on to the candle.

They turned out better than they had in my mind.  I LOVE it when that happens!  They fit in great with the other pieces that I have on the mantle so far.

Thanks for hangin' out.

Movie Night Pillow

I thought I would take a break from the mantel redo and show you the movie night pillows I have been making.  We have movie night every week usually on Fri.  We have a carpet picnic and then the kiddos all pick a spot and lay down with a pillow and blanket.  I got tired of everyone fighting over the same blanket and pillow.  Or not being able to find something.  So here is my fix.

They each have there very own pillow with their initial on it.  It also has a pocket in the back.

With their own blanket in it.

I put the same decorative stitch on the side, and flap of the pillow and, around the blanket.

They are pretty simple and perfectly soft to cuddle up with for a movie.  I will be linking this up here.  Have you entered?  I wrote more about it here and why I will be sending in pillow cases!  You should it is a great cause and the prizes are pretty fantastic too!

 Thanks for hangin' out.

Family Mirror

A while ago I was in my father-in-laws work shop.  I was telling him about some projects I had in mind.  He has lots of old frames and things that his father made.  Then he pulled out this and asked me if I could do anything with it.

 There is baby C in the stroller.

 I think my eyes about popped out of my head.  I know it doesn't look like much.  My hubby's grandfather made it.  The mirror is about 2 inches thick and it is heavy! There is some damage to the mirror but it just makes it look better.  However it was painted this weird green with an ugly gold over it.

It looked better after I sanded it down. 

It was old enough that it had crackled on it's own.  I didn't know what to do with the paint color so I left it for a while and moved on the the mirror.

 I took a laundry basket and, on the back of the mirror, traced the arch of the top of the basket.

I cut out the word FAMILY and traced that on the arch I had already drawn on the back of the mirror.  Then with an exacto knife and a razor blade I scraped off the black paint and slivering.

Normally you  would take the mirror out of the frame.  However this frame was literally built around the mirror.  I didn't think I could take it out without ruining them both.

After I finished the mirror I thought of leaving the paint color the way it was but in the end I just couldn't do it.  So I painted it. 

 I painted the frame white and then a very dark green.  I don't have a name for the green color because I mixed it myself.

 

 You can see some of the damage to the mirror.  I love it.

I took these photos in my bathroom, as it has the best natural light.  I will be using it on my mantel however.  My mantel decor is out of date and as my mom says just isn't me.  So I am redoing it.  I am almost finished.  I think it is turning out quite well.  I will have photos soon!

Cost rundown: FREE 

I had everything on hand and the mirror was handed down. 

Thanks for hangin' out.







I will be linking up to these party's and the others in my sidebar.  Please check them out if you get a chance.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I feel I need to explain my absentees over the last week.  As you could see I didn't post like I usually do nor did I make comments or "party" like I like to do.

The Good news:

The Mavs won the NBA championship.  I don't think I have said on here how our family is about sports.  I personally am not huge into sports.  I more go along for the ride.  The rest of the fam is a different story.   To call my hubby a fan of sports would be an understatement!  Mostly he follows football and basketball, in all honesty he will watch just about any sport.  (maybe not golf on T.V.)  So it should be no surprise to you that Thursday morning we were up at 5:00 am so we could get to Dallas and see the Mavs  victory parade.  We left our two youngest kiddos home.

 I am not sure if you have heard of the heat we have been having in the south.  I will just say it was HOT! The boy in the white shirt behind my hubby and the girl in the striped shirt both about passed out at different times.  Yes, we caught them both and gave them water and snacks.  I was so glad that we came prepared. I considered it a early father's day gift that I didn't complain (to much) and stayed for the parade.

The grassy knol is on the other side of the red brick building you see in the background.  Yes, that is the building that Lee Harvey Oswald was in when he shot JFK. If you would like to see more photos of the parade you can go here.  It was estimated that 250,000+ people were there, it was crazy.

The other thing that kept me from blogging this week is organization.  Have you ever looked up from the computer, crafts, life and realized that your stuff has taken over.  This happened this week.  So much to my hubby's delight I was throwing out/donating tons of old stuff.  Don't worry I kept plenty of things to up-cycle!  Good news I think I am done with that.  What am I saying, are we ever done with that?

The Bad,

Google Friends Connect has been acting up again.  I have gotten several comments saying they are having a hard time following.  Or some of you have followed but you are not showing up.  So if you have followed in the last week and a half and haven't gotten a re-follow this is why. So pretty please try again, I think it is fixed. I do always make it a point of re-following.  It is a great way to see new blogs.  Also, please make sure that you are leaving a comment and tell me you are a new follower, so I can follow you back. If you have followed in the past and forgot to leave  a comment telling me (or for some other reason didn't get a re-follow)  just leave me a comment.  Thanks y'all!

The Ugly,

Or gross as hubby would say.  I burned my finger on Tuesday.  Making fried green tomatoes is dangerous! It is feeling better now but was bothersome to type with much this week.  My bro.,the nurse, told me what to do to take care of it so it is on the mend.  I did take a photo I was going to post it but hubby thought it might gross some of you out.  So it will stay away.

The BEST news is that I should be good to go for this week.  I am looking forward to checking out what you all have been doing and linking up to the party's I missed last week!!!  I have couple of things that I can't wait to show you!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Thanks for hangin' out,

I'm so excited!!

I am so excited to share this post with you!!  Have you  heard of the blog called Etcetorize?

If not let me tell you a little about it.  It is a beautifully written blog. Tamara is the oh so talented, lovely lady behind it all. She is so creative, and has a great eye for color.  Her sewing skills are awe-inspiring. A while ago she was having a giveaway and yes, I entered it. The giveaway was for a shirt and bracelet both made by Tamara. I am so glad I entered.  Because I won!!!  I was so excited.

Well, do you want to see it?   I thought so.

I couldn't get a good shot of the bracelet so this photo is from etcetorize.

 I know isn't it cute!!   My hubby took the photos he did a pretty good job! Do you want to see what else she makes? I thought so.

I LOVE this bib shirt.  Isn't she gorgeous!  I know, she actually knows how to act in front of a camera.

Both of these dresses would be perfect for a day out in the sun. 

And this one so simple and perfect for everyday!

 This shirt is beautiful.  I love the colors she chooses.

Did I mention that all of the above photos are for sale in her ESTY shop. You can find it here.  Seriously, I had such a hard time choosing witch pieces to put in this post.  They are all so beautiful.  She has cloaks, bottoms, dresses and tops for women.  Even cloaks for kids.

Get this, she even crafts! 

She took her ironing board that looked like this. (actually, quite a bit like mine!)

And recovered it to match her curtains. It looks beautiful and she has a great tutorial. This one is on my to do list.  

She also took an outdated bracelet and with a little mod podge, a paper napkin, and a little lace she made a cute shabby chic bracelet.

 So if you haven't already, you should check her and her blog out.  I am sure you will find something that you love!

Just so you know,  Tamara didn't know who I was when I entered the giveaway.  We have e-mailed a few times after I received the shirt.  I in no way, was given anything to write a positive review.  The idea to write a review was mine because I loved the shirt so much.  I was given permission to use the images I have posted here.

Thanks for hangin' out.