Revamped-Mug stand to jewelry-holder

                

I currently can't get enough of thrift stores and finding items on the cheap to makeover into items that are fun and functional! This past week, I found a mug holder at my local thrift shop in the ugliest color of green I have ever seen! I've been working very hard lately to see past ugly colors and marks on products like this one, so after determining that the item itself was in great shape and was able to be revamped, I paid my $.99 and brought that bad boy home with me, determined to turn it into a bracelet holder using chalkboard paint (which, I absolutely love and encourage any crafter to purchase and have on hand at all times!). I sanded it, sprayed two coats of chalkboard paint on it, let it dry and Voila! I plan to keep this on my nightstand to hold all of my bracelets, but I may also use it in the future for craft shows to display bracelets I've made, along with their prices, which can be easily labeled with chalk! Yaaay for old items made new again (and for very little moolah, no less)!

Before-seriously, how uggo is this color of green?

After

                         

Ta-Dow!!!

Quiet Book

Due to my overabundance of felt and love for quiet books (not to mention, quiet!), I decided it was time Claire got her very own quiet book. While she's only one and can only seem to manipulate the pieces into her mouth (she is heavily supervised when using this book, by the way, so not to worry!"), I know it will come in handy for many of the activities where her noisy, rolly, crazy days just aren't acceptable!

Front and inside cover complete with giant pocket to store all the pieces.

Page 1-gumball machine with felt gumballs; Page 2-flower and petals

Page 3-Ice cream cone and scoops; Page 4-Animal beads on ribbon to practice counting and fine motor skills

Page 5-Tree with multi-colored leaves; Page 6-fish tank with felt fishies to practice color recognition

"I Love You More Than" Chalkboard

And the chalkboard paint obsession continues...

Using a metal, serving tray I purchased at my local dollar store, chalk paint, and a silver sharpie, I created a hanging chalkboard to proclaim my love to my faves by comparing it to some of the greatest pairings the world over (ie-peanut butter & jelly, bagels & cream cheese, etc.). Not one for thinking inside-of-the-box, I would be remiss if I didn't also create some celebrity-related and silly analogies, as well (ie-"I love you more than" Sir Mix-A-Lot likes big butts, Kim Kardashian loves stupid baby names, Anthony Weiner loves camera phones, etc).

Spray two coats of chalkboard paint onto serving tray

Write "I love you more than" in silver Sharpie on the tray leaving plenty of room on the bottom to express your love in chalk.

Express your love in your best analogy

Get as creative as your little heart desires!

Beaver baby bunting

My awesome Aunt Patty strikes again! Her oldest daughter, Kristin just had her first baby, a sweet little boy named Kore, which makes her a grandma!!! Being the knitting extraordinaire that she is, she made him the cutest sleepsack and hat combo to look like an itty bitty Beaver! Note: For those of you who don't know, my maiden name is "Beaver," as is my cousin's maiden name; hence, the hat/sleepsack combo. My favorite part of it is, by far, the giant, brown tail! Sweetest little buck-toothed rodent I ever did see!!!

Back to School Ideas for Teachers

I still can't believe that, in a little over a month, it will be back to school time! Gah!!! Buzzfeed posted 25 awesomely, clever ideas to get us all back in the swing of things when the time comes! My personal faves are the paint chip login reminders, Starbucks cups to hold paint and paintbrushes with less mess, and glue sponges! These ideas actually make me excited to start the school year off with a bang! Ok, excitement over...back to milking this summer for all that its worth! HERE is the link!

Chevron Painted Children's Stool

One of the (many...just ask my husband) gifts we gave Claire for her birthday was a wooden stool. While she probably can't use it the way it is meant to be used just yet, I could not pull myself away from buying it when I saw it at the craft store (story of my life)! Do you ever start thinking  about the endless amount of possibilities there are to decorate something and then get so overwhelmed that you have to put the project away and give it a few days (or weeks, or months...) before actually picking it up again and making it happen? Yeah, me neither ;) After thoughtful contemplation for longer than I care to admit, I decided on the pattern and color-scheme I wanted and got to work.

 Here's what... 

 Materials needed: 

 -acrylic paint (I used a light purple and a light blue for my color scheme) 

-foam paint brush or roller

-painter's tape 

-vinyl, adhesive letters -sealant spray 

 Instructions: 

 1. Paint the stool with two coats of acrylic paint in the color chosen as the base.

 2. After paint is completely dry, place painter's tape across the seat of the stool in a chevron pattern. 

     My pattern is, in no way, even, but I think its got character!

 3. Paint two coats of second color over the seat of the stool.

 4. Once the paint is completely dry, carefully peel off the painter's tape. Touch up any spots that may 

     have bled.

 5. Adhere vinyl letters to the seat of the stool. 

 6. Spray two coats of sealant on the stool. 

While it is not perfect, and I can see the lines I should've made straighter and marks of paint I could've made cleaner, I look forward to watching her use it to brush her teeth on her own or to sit on to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the morning and to hopefully keep for years and years to come because mommy made it for her! In my book, there is no greater reason to craft than that!

Sooo Proud of Sissybabes!

So, I really hope she doesn't hate me for doing this, but I am just so stinking proud of my sissybabes for all that she has accomplished in a year's time that I am willing to suffer whatever consequences may ensue...


Before and after



This hot mama has (literally) worked her butt off this year, not only to lose about 45 pounds, but also to establish healthy eating for she and her family, live a more active lifestyle (can we say from walks to a half marathon in less than a year??? Hiyo!!!), and somehow find the time to blog about her incredible transformation regularly. I encourage you to check out her blog, as it is written in a way that only Kyra can write and is absolutely inspiring! Sissybabes, you were amazing before, but you have raised the amazing bar to incredible new heights now, and we could not be prouder of you! Get it, girl!!!

Kyra after one of her races and with her beautiful family, hubby Michael and sweet little man, Royce



Despicable Me Minion Popcorn Bucket

In celebration of Despicable Me 2, in theatres NOW, and the return of the MINIONS (who...in my humble opinion, are some of the best characters ever created), I've created a bucket resembling these adorable creatures to use for movie theatre popcorn, snacks, or simply to shovel sand on the beach. Whatever your mischievous little heart desires...

Materials:

-yellow, sand pail (I found mine at Michael's for a little over $1...Whoop!)

-felt (white, black, gray, red, and brown)-one sheet of each color is plenty and scraps will suffice for the red

 and brown parts if you've got 'em!)

-low-temp glue gun and glue sticks

Template:
(be sure to expand picture to 8.5"x11" size for correct sizing)

How-To:

1. Use templates above to cut out felt shapes in colors designated.

2. Determine which side of the pail you wish for the face of the minion to be and glue the white circle

    (eyeball) in the center of the side chosen. Be sure to glue only the middle of the circle, as you'll need to

    place the goggle straps under each side of it.

3. Glue one of the goggle straps behind the eye on one side and around to the middle of the opposing side of

    the pail. Do the same on the opposite side so that the straps connect in the middle. Cut off excess if the
    straps overlap.

4. Place the gray felt (goggle) on top of the white circle and glue down entirely

5. Glue the brown circle in the middle of the white circle.

6. Glue the black circle in the middle of the brown circle.

7. Glue the red tongue to the bottom of the black mouth.

8. Glue the teeth along the top of the black mouth.

9. Glue the entire mouth to the bottom of the bucket.

Claire's 1st Birthday Panda Party

It is still so hard to believe my little munchkin is a year old! When people tell you how quickly the time goes by with a little one, you assume its cliche...until it happens to you! As you may or may not know, I love me some theme parties, and since this is probably the only time in her life Claire cannot tell me exactly what kind of party she wants, my hubby and I decided on a panda theme, because of our love of all things panda bears (don't ask...). You might be surprised to know there are very few panda party supplies out there...enter craft nerd! Claire's outfit consisted of a pink onesie and two appliques found at my fave, Hobby Lobby. Her skirt was made from pink ribbon and bright pink, lime green, black, and white tulle. You can find instructions for making a tutu using these materials HERE!

http://bebehblog.com/the-most-unnecessary-craft-tutorial-ever-baby-tutu/

Colors chosen to go along with this theme were black and white polka dot, pink, and lime green. I found pink and green tablecloths at Five Below and taped down black and white polka dot streamers to the middle of each table (streamers, along with pink, green, and polka dot balloons were purchased at HL). Each guest received a fortune cookie to go along with the panda/China-theme (and who doesn't love fortune cookies!).

I used plastic, iced tea jugs as a base for these panda centerpieces. Faces were cut out of sticky-backed felt and google eyes were adhered to black spots using a low-temp, glue gun. Black, duct tape was wrapped around each jug for the panda's chest, while rectangular pieces of tape were cut and folded so that there was a short tail of duct tape remaining to stick onto the jugs for ears. Ears were rounded off using scissors. Arms were cut out of black felt and adhered to the jug using small pieces of black, duct tape. Balloons were then easily tied to the handles of the jugs.

 

Panda decor proved to be pretty easy to find, considering all of the stuff we have sitting around our house. The smash cake was created using a bear cake pan purchased at Michael's, cake mix ('aint nobody got time fo' cake made from scratch!), white icing, and black sprinkles that my awesomely, creative sister-in-law helped me place in all the appropriate places to make it look like a panda. Panda cupcakes were based loosely on a Pinterest picture I had seen. Ears and black behind the eyes were made with baking chocolate discs and noses made with regular, chocolate chips. We placed a little icing on the backs of candy eyes and placed them on top of the baking discs to complete our masterpieces!

Lovely panda cutout models

Panda cutouts were made using foam core boards (purchased at my local dollar store) and black paint, and scissors and kiddos' favor bags were created using white, paper bags, black cardstock, and a low-temp, glue gun. Since the contents of the girls' favor bags were a little different than the boys', I also glued some pink bows to the girlie bags!

The banners read "Happy 1st Birthday Claire" and were made using fabric cut into triangles and sewn onto white ribbon and sticky-backed, felt letters. The pandas below the banner featured monthly pictures of Claire on their bellies.

 

I found green, paper, lanterns at my local craft store and transformed white, paper lanterns into hanging pandas using a permanent marker for the face and black cardstock for the ears. Claire's chair cover was made using a white pillowcase decorated with black felt made to look like a panda face. This was a super, easy project that I would highly recommend for any birthday theme!

 

Claire's chair cover, table centerpiece, and the birthday girl (in panda outfit #2 due to the cake massacre) checking out some gifts

Total cake demolition



Bubble and water-play stations were set up outside for antsy kiddos...an absolute must for summer, birthday parties!

 



Happy 4th!!!

Happy Fourth of July from our family to yours! To all of the men and women who serve...we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! God Bless America!!!



My sister, Kyra and her handsome little man, Royce (left) along with Claire and I (right)



My mom with two of her three, little firecrackers, Royce and Claire

Birthday Twins!!!

Today is my 32nd birthday and, as my birthday wish, I would love it if you all would simply allow me a brief opportunity to get a little mushy. You see, I have the incredible honor of sharing my birthday with my sweet, baby girl, who turned a year old today. How amazing is that?!?! On to the mushification...Claire has brought my husband and I more joy that we could ever imagine, and we are completely in awe of every accomplishment she has made in the 365 days that she has been ours! I am so humbled and honored that God chose me to be her mother and am astounded by the amount of love I feel every time she grabs my finger or flashes me a beautiful, four-toothed smile. Happy 1st Birthday, Claire Alexandra Eyer!!! I love you to the moon and back (and forth, and back, and forth...)!