Valentine's Pillows

I just cant help myself. I've gotten bit by the "Love Bug". Valentine's Day usually doesn't really do that much for me. My husband is very romantic and tries very hard to make everyday like Valentine's Day.....well, almost. So I usually don't get super excited for Valentine's Day. This year however I've had a lot of fun making new crafts and decorating the house.

My latest project is a few Valentine's Pillows for the bench outside my front door.



These seriously only took me 10 minutes per pillow start to finish. And I cant even sew that well. Despite a few snags (bobbin issues) these pillows were sew...simple to make. I used leftover valentine's fabric from a past catering job and some remnant pieces of striped fabric I had. I think the filling I used, I got at Goodwill on one of their Dollar Days (this I buy only if it is unopened/unused)its a great place to find batting, filling, etc... anyway, I let my girls fill them, and then I stitched them closed




and TA DA....instant color for a rather boring bench.



I also made a valentine's Day sign for out there, but that reveal is coming in another post. Happy "Love" week. Thanks for stopping by, see you soon.

Kristen

Sweet!!!!

Man, its cold outside. For this Arizona native, anything below 70 is cold, so imagine what these 30's and 40's are doing to me. Brrrr....but the good thing about this weather is that it has forced me to stay inside and get some crafts done.

Lets take a look at what I've been working on lately.



I made the "Sweet Shop" sign using a yard sale frame, some scrap book paper and a little red spray paint. Sorry I got so excited while doing this project that I forgot to take step by step pictures, but I'm sure you can figure it out.

So, first I found a frame in my frame stash and spray painted it "Apple Red" by Rustoleum....(love that brand) Then I took some red & white striped scrapbook paper and placed it behind the glass. I used my cricut machine to cut out the "Sweet Shop" in white vinyl. I placed the vinyl on the outside of glass. That way, I could easily remove it when I get tired of it. If you don't have a cricut machine, you could easily make your letters with white paper and a letter template. I would just adhere the letters directly to the paper at that point.

So simple, but so cute! I then placed a red piece of tulle on the counter and filled all different sizes of apothecary jars with valentines candy and ta da....SWEET!






See you soon,

Kristen

Love is in the air

I haven't decorated for Valentine's Day in a few years. Frankly I'm usually too exhausted from Christmas to even think about decorating again, but I was inspired this year by all the cute stuff out there. So, here is a sneak peak at one of the things I've been working on.

The first thing is this cute little "LOVE" display. I just love the way this turned out.


Start with a 4 pieces of plain wood.


Then I painted them all different shades of red and pink. I didn't have pre-mixed colors for this, I just took my red & white acrylic paints and mixed until I found the right combination.


Next, I cut scrapbook paper to fit, and picked out some really cute ribbon and embellishments. SO cute!






After it was all decorated and modge podged, it was time to find it a home.....that reveal is coming later in the week. Stay tuned.
Thanks for joining me,

see you soon
Kristen

For the boy who has it all

Hello Friends,

Well I know that Christmas has come and gone, but if you don't mind, I'm going to share with you today one of the crafts I did for Christmas this year (or last year, I guess)

My step-bro-in-law and his wife have been married for several years and had been trying to have a baby for a very long time and when they discovered that things weren't going to be as easy as, well you know just "doing IT" They found themselves going through several miscarriages and disappointing rounds of in-vitro. And just when they were about to give up......SURPRISE! "You're pregnant" Oh, what a joyous day for them and the whole family. 9 months later, they welcomed their precious baby boy!

Now, let me just tell you. This precious baby has been so wanted and so loved and so spoiled. So imagine my dilemma when one of my kids pulled his name for the kids gift exchange. "Aargg, what do you get for the boy who has everything?"

I'm all about educational gifts. Especially when kids already have tons and tons of toys. So, I decided I was going to make some alphabet blocks for him. Luckily, several months earilier I had found bags and bags of these wooden blocks for $.99 a bag at Goodwill. I knew someday they would come in handy.



I started by picking out #26 blocks that were all about the same size. Then I painted them.



I then used a square punch to punch out 52 pieces of white card stock.





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I picked up these precious alphabet stamps that came with a coordinating picture at Michael's for $9.99. I quickly got to work stamping away.






I cut out several strips of coordinating scrapbook paper to put on the other sides of the blocks, I attached all the paper onto the blocks with adhesive and then I sanded all the edges of the blocks. I did this for several reasons. #1, I obviously didn't want the block to have any rough edges, #2 I wanted to dull up the bright primary colored paint and #3 I wanted to "age" the sides of the paper. After I had finished sanding, I then took my brown stamp pad and a sponge and lightly "dry sponged" all the edges of the paper. This added to the "rustic" look I was going for.




I applied a clear coat of Modge Podge and let that dry. I found a wooden crate at Goodwill and painted it a barn red color and used my Cricut machine to print out his name in vinyl letters. I modge podged them onto the side of the crate and his custom Christmas gift was all finished.

**Sorry about this picture being flipped **

I absolutely LOVED the way they turned out and was even more thrilled when my nephew opened them on Christmas and loved them too.

I have a few more crafty projects I did this Holiday season that I will be sharing with you soon, and then its time for more furniture reveals. And then, follow me as I re-do my house one room at a time. Thanks for reading and
Happy Crafting!

Kris

Pep Talk

I had no idea that January is actually statistically the most "depressing" month of the year. Did you know that? Well, it is. And it has so far, proven to be no different for me. January is my birthday month..."yay, yippee" not really. Birthdays just don't have the same excitement once you hit 21 as they used too. Anyway, with the holidays over and all the built up stress done with, I have found myself in a "funk" kind of...well depressed. So, imagine my excitement when I actually read that it is normal to feel "down" in January. But I'm determined to turn my frown upside down.

I was talking to a friend yesterday and she said something very interesting to me. After several minutes of small talk, she asked if she could bring a meal over to my family. She knew I had been feeling under the weather with a horrible sinus infection and although it sounded wonderful, I graciously declined. I thought,"here is this mother of 4, who is just as busy as I am, and who is going through her own issues, offering to bring ME dinner." And that is when she said to me, "Please, please let me have the chance to be a blessing for someone else." She said, I've decided this year instead of "New Year's Resolutions" which I never keep, I'm going to make a "Personal" resolution to put my own issues aside and try to be a blessing to someone else." Wow, how could I possibly say No after that? What a wonderful thing to do, put your own issues aside and be a blessing to someone else?

So, whether I'm taking a meal to someone who is feeling blue, Taking the time to call someone who I know I should, or just saying hello to someone on the street, I'm going to try to put my own issues aside and be a blessing to someone else. Thanks friend for the pep talk. I needed that!

New use for an empty can

OK, so I've decided to get crafty with you all. Please bare with me as I try and explain this craft idea.

I'm always looking for creative ways to wrap gifts. I get so tired of gift bags and boxes, so when I saw this idea on splitcoaststampers.com, I decided I'd give it try.

Here is what you will need to get started


An empty soup can with a "pull tab" top. ...


(I used a large pinto bean can) Now this is REALLY IMPORTANT***Make sure you open the "wrong" end of the can. Don't open the can from the top, you will want to open the can at the bottom. This project will only work if you have a can opener that leaves a lip on the can. I used my Pampered Chef can opener.


Next, you will want to pick out your decorative paper and cut it to fit around the can. Then use your favorite adhesive to secure the paper to the can.



Then you will want to cut a circle of coordinating paper to fit on the top of the can. I cut a slit in the paper to fit around the pull tab part of the can



Slip the paper up under the tab and secure with same adhesive.




Once you have the top done, then you can decorate the rest of the can however you would like.
:


Its time to put whatever you want to wrap inside.



I give my kids a Christmas ornament each year,


I thought it would be fun for them to have to "open" the can in order to get the gift inside. This will be the perfect size to wrap it in.

Once you have finished decorating the can, you will need to glue the bottom back onto the can. You will need to use a liquid glue like this one.


It doesn't have to be this brand, but needs to be a clear, strong glue. After it has dried, your ready to go! Hope you have fun making one of these and remember to just have fun with it.

Happy crafting

Love,
Kristen

Doing it all and then some

Where oh where have I been? Going slightly bonkers that's where. I've been crying in my cherrios and toaster waffles, but I'm back....

I may regret this post later, but what do I have to lose?

I’ve been thinking lately about us gals, and how we seem to constantly be faced with the duty? responsibility? charge? opportunity? of doing it all.

I’m not complaining here, and I only tell you this because I think many of you can relate, but from my own experience and from chatting with friends, it seems like we ladies are responsible for quite a bit: Working outside the home; Working inside the home; Paying bills; Creating budgets; Meal planning (which must be healthy, kid friendly, and budget friendly, right?); Grocery shopping (ugh); Cooking (double ugh); Cleaning/Organizing the house (triple ugh, ugh, ugh); Cleaning vomit (kid…dog…whatever…it falls on us); Home repairs?; Cleaning the car; Looking pretty (within said budget); Being phenomenal wives, friends, mothers, daughters; And, of course, having a beautifully decorated home that’s blog worthy/guest worthy at any moment.

And does anyone else out there feel an enormous amount of guilt if they don’t accomplish all of these things to perfection? And does anyone else feel insanely overwhelmed and like they’re falling short all the time?

I feel strongly that I need to start talking about a few other things: The struggles and obligations we face as women (no offense to men and their own struggles); Healthy living,Fashion, and DECORATING!!!…which will of course continue my heavy emphasis on creating a beautiful home on a budget. And do-it-yourself-because-you-are-WOMAN! projects.

I have to write from my heart. I have to write from my experiences and passion…and hope that those things help, inspire and resonate with some of you out there.

Wow...I'm tired and overwhelmed again, better go sit down with some Oprah and bonbons

With love,

Kristen