Some Before & Afters

Here are some projects I've done that were simple transformations.

I found these frames at a garage sale for $1 each. I was ecstatic to get such a great price since they are really huge nice frames with a matte.

I used one in my living room with our family picture. I spray painted the frame black and the matte white. Turned out just like I wanted.

I also got a 16"x20" picture for free from Shutterfly. Some coupon for $20 that came with my girls' school pictures (that I didn't even buy). A huge picture and frame and the whole thing was a buck. Can't beat it!

The other large frame went in my bedroom. A honeymoon picture, when we wore matching clothes.

Love it...don't think we've done that since our honeymoon. You know, where every honeymooning couple in Hawaii is wearing their matching silky, floral patterned outfits.

I think this table is actually a plant stand, but it was the perfect size for the little corner in my entryway.

  

It had rings on the top and looked pretty rough, but nothing spray paint can't fix.

I was kind of concerned about how the top would turn out, but by just covering up the rings it works fine.  When you put stuff on top of it you don't really notice the paint since you can still see most of the marble top.
I really liked it until my toddling 8 month old decided to pull it over.  Very thankful it didn't hurt him, but moved it for now.

This was some random wall decoration that my Mom brought me. 
If you can see it amongst the mess it's laying on.  I had already started painting the left side.

 It was sitting in my garage sale pile because I didn't want it either, then it hit me.

I have been needing a Christmas card holder and thought this might work.

I spray painted the whole thing green and the flowers red.  Let me tell you, this thing was pretty ugly even spray painted...or just not my style.

 I also spray painted about 30 clothespins green.  I think you could skip this step, but I wanted them to really blend in.  I cut little strips of scrapbook paper I had and used Mod Podge to adhere them to the tops of the clothespins.

 This is what it looked like with my old Christmas cards on it, because I had to test it out before I ever got Christmas cards coming in this year.

 When I got cards this year, this was perfect.  I could even use the clothespins for multiple cards.
I like that we can see them all throughout Christmas time.
I love that people still actually send out cards!

One last makeover.
I found a couple of these sconces at Goodwill for about a dollar.

Gave them a couple coats of black glossy spray paint and now they hang on my wall.
 Not really sure what to do with them...but there they are for now.

Canvas Pictures

I can't remember how long I've been wanting to do these with my kids' pictures, but I finally did it.

One reason it took so long was because I needed some good pictures. I took some when we did family pics this Fall and really love them.

If you want to make your own, this is what you will need:

Canvases

Black paint (I used acrylic)

Pictures

Mod Podge - glossy

About the canvases...I used the 2 inch thick ones because that's what I like, but used the thinner ones for a set for the in laws. Both look nice, just depends on what you like. You can usually find canvases for at least 50% off at Michael's. I happened to get mine for 70% off during the holiday one day deals. You just want to make sure to get the canvases that are wrapped all the way around the edges and stapled on the back and not the sides. Try to get the canvas the same size as your pictures or maybe a little smaller.

I printed my 5x7 pictures at Sam's for 38 cents each.

I actually used real Mod Podge for these, since I wanted them to be nice. Usually I would use the homemade version of Mod Podge for things, but lately people have said on certain things it turns out looking milky on their projects. Of course I used my coupon and bought it for 40 or 50% off at Joanns.

Now on to how to make them. I painted all of the sides of my canvases and a little up and over the edge onto the front. This way if your picture isn't quite perfect, you won't really be able to tell. I ended up doing two coats.

While that dries you can trim your pictures to fit the canvas if you need to. Not all canvases are created equal so you may want to lay your picture down and check on every one.

Once the paint is dry, put a coat of Mod Podge on your canvas and then lay your picture on top. I went ahead and then did a coat on top of the picture also. Let that dry and then do another coat. I brushed the first coat vertical and the second horizontal.

 

I took this picture so you can see the texture a little bit.  It kind of gives it that canvas look on top of the picture. I also went ahead and put a thin coat around the edges since some had gotten on them. It was glossy Mod Podge so you could see on the sides where it didn't have any.

In the end I probably spent about $3 for each one, which includes the price of Mod Podge that I'll use for many more projects.

I really love how these turned out. Have fun making your own!

The CUTEST Wonder Woman EVER

I actually finished Halloween costumes early this year!  Amazing.

So I had to share.

My 4 little munchkins are all going as super heroes this year.  I only had to make 2 from scratch, so here is Wonder Woman.

I would say she's the absolute cutest Wonder Woman I've ever seen, just sayin'.

She's showing how Wonder Woman twirls and changes here.  We had to watch some old clips from the original show.  She loved it.

This ended up being so fun to make.

I used an old red t-shirt for the top.  I also made some little shorts to go under the tutu out of some old jersey type pants.  Those same pants are used for the Superman outfit I made my little man...that post will be coming soon.

What I did have to buy was 3 yards of blue tulle and the gold material, which I bought a whole 3 inches of it and had plenty.

My best friend for this Halloween has been heat n' bond iron on adhesive. I used it for the gold on the top and red stars on the crown and cuffs.

I do have one great before and after picture.

I needed red boots, but of course wasn't going to go buy some just for this costume.  So I took some old rain boots and spray painted them.

Here is what they looked like before.

And like you've already seen, here they are for Wonder Woman.

 

Now, why didn't I do that earlier?!  They look so much better.  I will remember this next time our rain boots start looking crummy.

Now we only have to wait a month to wear it...

Framed Wall Decor

Here are some framed things I did awhile back I thought I would share.  

In my oldest girls' room I'm putting lots of framed things above her bed, including this flower wall art.  Here are a couple other things.

Her name framed.

I painted a wood plaque and painted on her name.  I glued it to fabric covered cardboard and put it in a frame I had spray painted.

I read a great tip on transferring images somewhere on Pinterest (one of those things I read, but didn't pin).  Print off your design and put a piece of newspaper between it and your surface.  Make sure the newspaper part has a lot of words.  I used a picture portion of the paper since I didn't have much area to cover.  Then trace your words or design that you printed off with a sharp pencil and it will leave a faint line on your piece of wood.

Another fun thing for her wall, a silhouette.

I took a picture and printed it out the size I wanted and used it as a pattern to cut out of white fabric.  I glued it to the brown and white fabric with spray adhesive and framed it also.

I haven't used spray adhesive until recently when I inherited some, and I love the stuff.  It's so easy for lightweight things.

I had a couple of old frames that I spray painted for our master bedroom.  Here's the before.

After I spray painted them, they hung on my wall empty for awhile.  I finally filled them.

I tend to go ahead and hang them on my wall until I actually decide what I want in them...go figure.

 

Put a painted wooden letter on some fabric covered cardboard in a frame, and there ya go.

I also did the list of dates I've seen everywhere lately.  This was the format I used.

I printed mine out on cardstock and put it in the same brown frame as the monogram.

I also had this big bulky frame.  I think it weighs about 20 pounds.  It's not one of those new "looks like it's heavy" frames, it's the real deal.

Yes, I do love Jesus, but I had to replace this picture.

I spray painted the frame white and put in a picture from our honeymoon.  

I still have so many frames to fill it's ridiculous, but I feel like I'm making some headway at least.

Crafty Gift Ideas

My sweet friend is getting married this Saturday so she got to be my guinea pig for some crafts I've been wanting to make.

I'm in such a mood to decorate for Fall & Christmas, I figured she should be too.

I took 3 wooden blocks and Mod Podged scrapbook paper on them and cut out the letters on my Cricut to Mod Podge on top of that.  Really quick and simple...why haven't I made one for myself?!

Pumpkin with painted monogram.

Clear Christmas ornament with painted monogram.

What is supposed to happen is the wedding invitation is supposed to get cut in strips and placed inside...I just didn't have the invite yet.

I think this would be a cute keepsake for a wedding or a baby or whatever occasion you want to be sentimental about.

I ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WAIT to decorate for Christmas.  It hurts.  I will FOR SURE be decorating for Fall on Friday though.  Maybe that will hold me out until after Thanksgiving.  I'm also thinking about wearing jeans, long sleeve shirt, boots etc. on Friday in honor of Fall, even if it's 100 degrees.  I'm so ready.

Happy Crafting!

Cupcake/Cake Stand

I LOVE all the cute cupcake stands out there, but couldn't bring my thrifty self to spend the money on one. That's like a whole new outfit for me!

So I saw homemade stands out there in blogland that inspired me to make my own.

There are so many variations, but this is what I put together.
I bought 2 pieces of foam board from the Dollar Tree. I cut my platforms the sizes that I wanted (9 1/2", 13 1/2", & 17 1/2" squares) and then made the columns in between out of pieces of the leftover foam board.

To cut the columns like mine, the top one is 4 pieces of 4" x 3", the middle one is 4" x 5 1/2", and the bottom platform holding it all up is 2" x 14".
This was my first to do, so I learned some things in the process. Here are some other ideas to use also.

For the platforms:
*Mod Podge them to match your decor and they would be super cute!
*Add ribbon around the edges...I think this is a must.
*Use 2 thicknesses of cardboard glued together instead of foam board.
*Make them circles or whatever crazy shape you think would be fun.

For the columns:
*Use stirofoam cylinders wrapped in pretty paper.
*Use the containers salt comes in...now I'll never throw away another paper salt container again (my hubby is going to love that).
*If painting, use acrylic instead of spray.
*Paint the pieces before gluing them on if you're worried about what it looks like underneath.
*Make them all the same size, or do different sizes like I did.

This is underneath each one...tried spray paint on the first one.
Next time I'm sure I'll be a little neater about things, but nobody sees underneath anyways.
Wrapping the columns in paper would hide where you glued them together also.I didn't connect all 3 tiers to each other because I wanted to be able to not have to use all 3 tiers. If you want it really sturdy though just hot glue them together.

This is a disposable type of thing, but I'll make mine last until it doesn't look presentable anymore.
Now go fill one up with those beautiful Valentine's Day cupcakes!
Happy Partying! (Even if that's not a word!)

Linking up to Sisters' Stuff & Tea Rose Home!

Curtains & Handprints

I am getting so close to finishing my girl's hot pink & zebra room!

I finally made their curtains. This really makes the room look complete, and actually isn't very encouraging to make their bedspreads like I thought it would be.
I guess it makes the room look so complete I don't think you would even notice their beds. How often are they really made anyways?! Maybe that will be my motivation. They will learn to make their beds every morning if I make these bedspreads...

And I also finished a project we started a year ago. Using leftover plaster from another project we did these handprints. Little did I know how I would treasure these.
I put the date that we made them on the bottom because this was the day I got the call that my dad had passed away. So it's a nice little thing to have hanging in their room.

I used a pie plate to hold the plaster while they pressed their hands and it dried.
A year later, I spray painted them black and then painted in the rest with a brush (not necessary to wait the year to paint).
I had to do something with them other than the plain ol' handprints.

Now about those bedspreads...

Painted Wooden Letters

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was GREAT!
I'll have to post some pics later of the 1st Thanksgiving meal I've ever done by myself.
For now, something crafty.

I've been adding a few things to the baby's room. My baby girl is due Feb. 6 and I can hardly wait to meet her!

Since I already have 2 girls, the baby's room isn't changing much at all. I made all of the bedding and trimmings for my first little girl, and I just haven't ever thought I needed to change it when I'm still having girls. But I do like to add a little something different for each one.

I have always had their name in the room somewhere, so I painted some thin wooden letters to match the bedding. I think I will hang them on the wall somewhere.
I still have a couple of projects left to do in her room, but hopefully I have enough time to do it.