June Crafts

As you can tell I like to pile multiple crafts into one post. Maybe one day that will change. But for now this is the way I'm going to be doing it!!

Made this little, easy "Welcome" sign for by the front door. The wood is a fence piece I bought at Lowe's.

Stained it and stenciled the letters on. See, easy!

Finally got some canisters for the kitchen. You can buy these at Walmart or Target.

I found site that had the "chalkboard" printouts for free and you can even

choose your own word!!

FINALLY got Qincey's dog feeder done!! Was working on this project for a couple months

because I couldn't figure out a cheap way to cut a hole.

Ta-da!! Saved me so much $$ too!! It's just perfect!!

Got this wooden sign from Goodwill. Of course when I bought it, it was an awful shade of purple and had

the words "Home Sweet Home" on it. Gave it a couple coats of white paint and stenciled the word

"Kitchen" on it. Perfect for well.....the Kitchen!! 

Found these at the Goodwill Outlet here in Indy. That's right, Outlet store!!

The one on the left is how we bought them and the one on the right is after I cleaned it up a bit

and gave it a new coat of paint and a shelf!

Wanted to make sure it was still a little "shanty" so I roughed up the edges of the new shelf.

This is for my nephew's room. Can't wait to see some pictures in those window panes!! :)

Mother's Day Gifts

This year I went the homemade route for Mother's Day. I know I know....it's like I'm 6 years old all over again! I decided I would stick with the "Office" theme and make some things for my mom's back office space at the house. Enjoy!!

Goodwill frames painted yellow.

Fabric instead of pictures.

Old brass lamp from Goodwill - $3

Gave it a coat of metal primer and a a coat of white spray paint.

Had an extra lamp shade laying around so I used some tacky spray and the same fabric to keep 

the theme going! Brand new lamp!!!!

Got an old frame at a flee market store for $5.

Gave it a coat of teal and attached some cork board!!

This was made from scratch!!

Cut some wood to size, attached chicken wire to the back with a staple gun

and found some cute clothespins and yellow flowers at Michael's!!

Got this Mason jar at Goodwill. Poured some paint inside and swirled it around a bit so it covered the whole jar. Then let it sit over night upside down on a paper plate. Added some more fabric and found those cute pencils at Michael's for $1!! Pencil holder!

Everything when I was done. Can't wait to see if mom's put everything in it's place yet.

If not, guess what I'll be doing this weekend?!?! ;)

Best Craft to Date!!

Ok guys...this was my most favorite craft so far!! And I am so happy with how it turned out!!!

Was inspired by a couple of different crafts and then just kind of made it my own!!

First, had wood cut at Lowe's (because Nate wasn't home to saw it for me.).

I wanted the wood to big a few inches bigger than the canvas I had planned to use.

Glued and nailed the pieces together like this. Also had to attach wall hangers to the back.

After that I stained all of them. Had to let them dry in the basement because of course it rained all day Saturday! Very surprised at how fast they dried!!

I didn't take any pictures in between, but I had 3 blank canvas that I stapled fabric too.

(The same fabric that I used with the tray!)

I would recommend a staple gun to anyone! Not only are they fun to use but very handy! After I had the fabric attached to all 3, I drew straight lines on them for my letters.

(I used the first part of our First Dance song!)

When all the letters were attached, I did one good coat of paint. The hardest part was letting them dry!

When they were finally dry, I peeled away the letters to reveal the fabric underneath!

I glued each canvas to a wooden background and "ta-da"!!

Personalized wall decor!

I LOVE how they turned out!!!! :)

DIY-Frame to Tray

It was a bedroom decor weekend!! Got this frame at Goodwill for $1.00!!! I can see why someone was getting rid of it!!

I mixed some paint up to try and get to color I wanted. After I was fiished and put it in the bedroom, I realized it was too blue. So I brought it back and gave it a thin coat of grey to darken it a bit.

(These pictures were taken before I added the grey.)

I found the fabric in the scrapes at Jo-Ann and it just so happen all scrapes were 50% that day!

Ended up paying around $3.00 for enough to cover this and plenty left over for another project!

The cool designed frame I found at Michael's for cheap and hadn't found a use for

it yet...until now! And 'B' is a stencil that I just used some grey paint on.

The hardware I got at Lowe's. Not the prettiest, but the price was right!

Here it is!!! We've kind of moved stuff around since this picture too.

But it passed the husband test!!!

Bedroom candle holders

Thought this was the perfect addition to our pretty much bare bedroom!! Paid $.99 for each wall "candle holder". Don't have a before picture, but each one was just wooden. I unscrewed the piece that would hold a tall skinny candle (do those have a name?), painted the whole thing with 1 coat of paint, distressed, and hot glued a couple of small mason jars that I got for $.50 a piece. All together....a $3 piece of decor!!

DIY-Flower Box

This weekend I worked on this indoor Flower Box!

Very easy!

Stained some wood from Lowe's. The hardest part was waiting for it to dry!

Found these vases at Goodwill this past weekend for half off!

Some as low as $.25!

The flowers were on sale at Michael's for half off this weekend.

Love the pop of color it brings to the living room!!
(inspired by: http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2012/01/diy-planter-box-centerpiece.html)

New Hobby!

Have been trying my hand at the crafty-home decor thing lately. Very fun and the outcomes have been pretty good so far! Here's some results:

Here's the before....$2 at Goodwill.

After: A little paint ans some distressing with sandpaper!

This lantern was already green. Just added the fun decor inside!

                                                   Found this frame at Goodwill. Added a fresh coat of white paint and

                                                 distressed it a bit.

                                                      Printed up the "facts" (if you will) in Word and added a green piece of

                                                 scrapbook paper!

Baptism gift for my nephew!

Before: Old candle stick and a small glass....$.99 each!

After: Added some paint, distressed, and hot glued together.

Brand new candle holders!

Before: (Sorry, no picture.) Just a black frame...no glass, no back.

After: Added 2 coats of paint (no distressing this time), spray painted some branches from outside,

found a link on how to make paper flowers online, and added some

fake grass already on hand from the green lantern.

Took this the other weekend when all the trees were blooming! Easy and free new

desktop background at work!! :)

Will try to keep posting my projects. Have a few in the works. It's just finding the time to do them!!!!



Helpful info.......

So.....as with most women these days.....I have sucked into the Pintrest world. I would have to admit it can be very addicting if you let it! However, I have saved my 'pins' for very serious ideas, things I'm REALLY going to try or use! Anyway, I've tried a few things so far and thought I'd share my thoughts.

http://gimmesomeoven.com/cake-batter-rice-crispy-treats/

 I made these last night in honor of Nate's Birthday this weekend! Actually taste pretty good.....

EXCEPT: I would have to add generic ceral to my list of things not to buy!

I'm hoping it was the generic "Rice Crispies" and not my baking skills that made these taste stale.

ALSO: Would recommend NOT adding sprinkles into the mixture like it says. The sprinkles melt and discolor the treats a bit. Just add them to the top at the end I think!

http://forkinit.blogspot.com/2010/09/crockpot-barbecue-chicken.html

Had this recipe cooking in the crockpot all day yesterday!!! Turned out great!!! Soooo tasty and easy!!!
I actually used balsamic vinegar and it still tasted wonderful!!! It passed the husband test!!


A new picture of Callum.....sweetest nephew ever!!!

He was cheering Uncle Seth on at his Senior Night!!!! :)

Oh.....and a Happy New Year!!!!

Hope this year is even better than the last.........

 Happy Holidays from Q-man!!

I'm Back!!!!!

 2012 calls for a few changes. First change is getting back into the blogging habit.

 Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and a wonderful Holiday season! I know I did.....

Callum Garrett McCulley!!!! My first nephew!!! Already looking forward to my next visit home!!