Brag Book

For Mother's Day I made my Momma and Grandma these cute little brag books. My best buddy Kierste over at Brown Paper Packages made me one for Christmas and I have been in love with it ever since! Go check here to see it - the one she gave me is actually the first one pictured on her blog post :)

Things you'll need:

- ID tag holders (I bought mine at Walmart in the office supply section for around $2 bucks)

- Metal clip (Walmart as well)

- Pictures

- Scrapbook paper

- Ribbon

Directions:

1. I made a front and back cover with scrapbook paper.

2. Printed and cut pictures to fit.

3. Hooked them on the ring and added some ribbon!


I have loved mine and keep it in my purse for when others ask me about my family. They are the cutest gifts and hopefully my family is putting theirs to good use as well! Thanks Kierste for the darling idea!

ENJOY!

Washer Necklaces

I decided to venture out and try this project I have seen all over the internet lately - washer necklaces.

Things you'll need:

- any size washers

- metal stamping kit (can be bought at a hardware place (I borrowed mine from a friend) for around $10 bucks for the entire alphabet and numbers)

- ribbon/chain

- permanent marker

-baby wipe

Directions:

1. All I did was go outside on our cement and use the stamping kit. You just pick out your letter, place it on the washer and then hold it REALLY steady and pound down with the hammer 2-3 times. (Try it out on some practice washers beforehand).

2. After all the stamping is finished color the indents in with permanent marker and then wipe clean with a baby wipe. This leaves the actual letters black (or whatever color marker you choose) and better able to see.

3. Place them on a ribbon, necklace, chain, etc.


I made this for my momma for Mother's Day. It has all her girl's names on it. These can make such cute necklaces, bracelets, key chains, etc! Try it out :)

ENJOY!

My newest project...

This is my newest project...

The best part??? Guess how much I got it for???????

99 cents

You read it right. I guess when the owners were delivering it to Goodwill the top two drawers fell out on the road and so they were selling it for yes - under 1 dollar!!!

For that price I didn't care if I got it home and hated it and threw it right in the trash. For now it sits in our guest room waiting patiently for a little redo. I'm gonna stick with white, add some new handles, and some cute baskets are calling my name to fill the empty slots!

Look forward to a cute little before and after sometime down the road. Don't hold your breath though - we're awfully busy at the moment!

Tin Can Vase

Throw lots of these in the recycling?

Turn them into this:

I hate throwing stuff away that I think could potentially be turned into something. I am always recycling tin cans and finally decided with the coming of spring weather to turn them into vases.

I used a 29oz. can but any size would be cute!

1. After the contents are gone wash well and remove all remnants of the lid.

2. Now you can choose to leave the tin alone, paint it with craft paint (that's what I did here), or the easiest - spray paint!

3. Add some flowers and viola - you're done! If you'd like you can embellish it writing (permanent marker - above) or ribbon (below) or anything else you can think of!

4. Now leave out to decorate around your own house or give a gift to a friend :)

Have fun and ENJOY!

Happy Mother's Day

ABC Eggs

Before Easter one of my sweet friend's dropped this basket full of Easter eggs off at my doorstep for my girls.


These weren't just any Easter eggs! She had written a letter on each egg complete with the uppercase on one half and the lowercase on the other.

What a great idea! My girlies (well mostly my toddler) have loved playing games with these! We go on hunts and they have to name the letter before putting it in the basket, sometimes I send them on a hunt to find a certain letter, we work on sounds, match, etc. So much can be done! Even the baby enjoys putting them in and out of the basket all by herself :)

Just thought I'd share my friend's lovely idea for a fun way to get some learning in!

Beautiful Blogger

Melanie nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award.

A big thanks to Melanie - who is someone who I absolutely adore her own decorating style as well! She's such a good mom, awfully sweet, and even knows how to make college apartments extremely cute!!!

As a recipient of this award, I must:

1. Thank the person nominating you for the award.

2. Copy the award to my blog.

3. Place a link to their blog.

4. Name 7 tidbits people don't know about you from reading your blog.

5. Nominate 7 bloggers.

6. Place a link to those bloggers.

7. Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the reward.

7 tidbits:

1. I have to sleep with my socks on. Usually with thick jammies, a heated blanket, and a down comforter as well. If I'm not warm and cozy I can't fall asleep.

2. Until I got married I could probably count on my two hands the number of foods I liked. No pickles, tomatoes, onions, peppers, mustard, etc. The list could go on! I don't know how the hubby did it but now I like pretty much everything!

3. I probably average taking a pregnancy test about every two to three months. I'm extremely nervous I'm going to get pregnant when I'm not planning on it. So far our plans have worked and we haven't had any surprises yet!

4. Until my sophomore year of college I probably had never run more than 1 mile at a time. Now I consider myself a runner (maybe jogger is a better word) and try and log between 3-5 miles a day. It's not something I love yet (don't know if I ever will) but I believe anyone can do it if they try.

5. I love movies but have never seen lots of the classics. No Indiana Jones, no Sound of Music, etc. Maybe one day :)

6. Besides good 'ole Canada I have never left the United States.

7. I used to have my belly button pierced. I should have listened to my oh so wise momma because that is one decision I regret. It's been out for almost 10 years and I still have a hole - ucky!


7 bloggers:

1. Two sites I check regularly are people I do not know but what they share. Amy at The Idea Room because she has tons of different ideas and Kari at UCREATE because she finds everything for me and takes the hard work out of blogging!

2. Sharla at My Little Gems. I used to teach school with her - she amazed me then and continues to amaze me with all her talents!

3. Kierste at Brown Paper Packages. My best buddy who always provides loads and loads of ideas and inspiration!

4. Jewels at Jewels of a Preschool. This lady has infinite wisdom when it comes to kiddos! I'm lucky enough to know her and ask her millions of questions!

5. Freebies for Moms. Who doesn't like free stuff? Enough said.

6. Rachel at Chronicles of Abigail. I met Rachel in college and she always gets my mind thinking of things I normally wouldn't have. Whether it's food, books, etc. I'm always drawn to reading her posts.

7. I love seeing redos - of anything and Better After features some cool ones. Whether it's furniture, kitchens, etc. I love seeing the somewhat crappy things people can turn into beautiful.

Entertainment Center

It's finished! I bought this about a month ago from Habitat for Humanity. It cost me $70. Add to that some primer I already had, $10 worth of paint, and $20 worth of new hardware and tad - I have myself a new entertainment center. The color has taken some getting used to - it almost has a little more of an orangey tint then a maroon one - but I think I'm in love with it - because I certainly don't want to repaint it!!!

Our formal living room got turned into a painting room for the last 2 weeks...

And after some imperfect coats of paint (I'm a little impatient and the thing has more than it's fair share of drip marks!) it's finally finished!

Here it is in it's new spot in our home. The only problem - the hubby now thinks we need a larger TV because the entertainment center could technically fit a slightly bigger one - haha...in his dreams :)