Dollar Tree Frame Makeover

Have I mentioned that I love, love, love buying frames from Dollar Tree? Seriously! I think I may have a problem! But who can say "No" to cute frames that probably only need a coat of paint and a little imagination? I mean, the do only cost $1 . . .

Fortunately for me, I have discovered something to use all the frames I've been purchasing . . . for my wedding!

I love the idea of decorating with pictures of FH and I throughout our relationship.

These photos were taken by a friend at a wedding she recently attended. So pretty!

So now I'm on a mission to collect frames to do this with! Lucky for me I had some already that just needed a bit of a makeover. Like this one:

So first thing's first . . . Take apart the frame

Then I removed the inner frame from the ugly mat

I used the mat to trace a template on the pretty paper I was using. Because the paper's kinda flimsy, I used double-sided tape to stick it to the ugly mat (I taped it to the back of the mat, so the ugly black wouldn't show through the paper).

I used a small bead of glue to stick the inner frame back in place and put the whole thing back together again. Now my beautiful new frame is ready for a picture!

Total project cost: $1 for the frame (the paper I already had). The whole shebang took me only about 5 minutes!

Now, in case you were wondering what I did with the paper before (notice the square missing from the paper in the top picture), let me show you.

Another Dollar Tree frame makeover. I spray painted the frame white, added the paper, and used a bit of wire to attach the pendant (that's what it is, in case you couldn't tell) to the cardboard backing.

This piece is also for my wedding. It's part of a "In Memory of . . . " display for my grandmother who passed away last June. The pendant was hers. It even has her name inscribed in it

I'm sure she'd love it! :o)

Decoupaged Eggs for Spring

So this post was totally supposed to be an Easter post! Unfortunately, I spread myself too thin (as usual) and didn't get this project done in time, so now it's a "Spring" post! Flexible, aren't I? ;o)

I love decorating for the holidays, which for me usual means just Halloween and Christmas, but MAN do I go all out! Why don't I do this more often?? It just never occurred to me that I could decorate for Easter . . . er . . . spring in an "adult" (i.e. no big fuzzy bunnies) kind of way.

Until now!

I decided I was going to decoupage some plastic Easter eggs (eggs are springy, right? Goes with the whole renewal of life thing, right? Right?)

Here's how to get started:

I started with some plastic eggs (small and large), small scraps of pretty paper, and some mod podge.

First, I glued the 2 halves of the eggs together so they wouldn't come apart while I was working with them. Trust me! DON'T skip this step!

Then I started playing around with gluing techniques (since I've never really decoupaged before). Here's what I found worked best. I brushed some glue onto the egg. But before I stuck on the paper, I soaked the strip in a glue/water mixture to help loosen up the paper so it would mold better to the egg.

I decoupaged half the egg, then set it aside to dry.

Once that half was dry, I repeated the process with the other side.

When completely dry, I coated the eggs with a couple layers of mod podge (on half at a time, like before).

Do you see why this project took so long? I spent all my time waiting for stuff to dry! :op

But it was worth it! I really like how pretty they turned out. When they were all done, I threw them in a trifle dish with some natural dried grass and WAH LA! Instant Easter . . . I mean SPRING decoration!

How do you decorate for spring?

My Army of Cameras! (And an Apology)

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

I've been a bad, neglectful blogger and I apologize! Who knew that with my wedding still being a year away, planning and crafting for it would take over my life already! It's gonna be a busy year!

Anywho! I just finished one (gigantic) wedding craft project that I wanted to share with you all. Like literally just finished . . . 2 minutes ago!

So I'm sure you all are familiar with the idea of placing disposable cameras on the dinner tables as a way to get some candid pictures of your wedding. But then you have to collect them all (assuming someone didn't walk off with any . . . which happened to a friend of mine). Then you have to pay to have them developed. Some pictures are good, others . . . not. And we're living in a digital age anyway, right? Everyone and their mother has a digital camera!

So I came across this BRILLIANT idea at the Intimate Weddings blog. Have your guests upload the photos they've taken on their own cameras into an account you've set up on a photo sharing website (like Photobucket or Flickr). How do you get them to do that? With these!

How cute and clever are these?!? I don't know about you, but I've never been to a wedding where they've had these before! These "cameras" are from the Etsy shop of chicaandjo. Unfortunately, this photo sharing set is sold out, so I decided to do it myself!

It took a lot of measurements. A lot  of cutting. A lot of time. And a lot of patience. But here they are! My army of cameras!

15 in all! Don't they look dangerous? Ready to fight! ;o)

I plan on using these cards to fill the cameras and spread the word about uploading wedding photos:

These are a free printable I found at How About Orange . . . Don't you just LOVE free stuff? I know I do!

I'm going to put a cute saying in the bar across the front and the details about uploading on the back of the cards. I can't wait to see what my guests will think! I'm just gonna have to wait! :o)

I'm Moving Up in the Blog World!

I am extremely honored and proud to announce that for the first time EVER, I'm being featured on another blog. YAY!! Exciting! I feel almost like a big girl blogger now! :o)

Stephanie Lynn over at Under the Table and Dreaming is featuring the cowboy baby shower I threw for a co-worker a few weeks ago in her Celebration Party Wrap Up. She had a party link-up a week or so ago and I added my post to the party. I guess she liked it! :o)

This "Wrap Up" features lots of awesome party ideas from some pretty creative people. Go check it out!

Hope ya'll enjoy! :o)

Laundry Room Art

What room makeover would ever be complete without a little art to spruce things up? For me, that includes the laundry room.

As part of my laundry room makeover, I've been working on creating some artwork to brighten things up. Most is stuff I've recreated from things I've seen elsewhere. We're all trying to save money, right? Gotta do it ourselves when we can!

I've talked about this particular art piece before, but here is the inspiration for it (from the mag Secrets of Getting Organized):

You can't see it that well in this picture, but the two art pieces are silhouettes of clothespins. Love it! So I made my own!

It still needs to be framed (I've bought one, but am in the process of painting it), but I love it. If you didn't read the post where I showed how to make this, you can find it here.

While perusing the internet, I also found a picture of these:

How funny are these?! They're paintings done by Khiti and sold on her Etsy store. They're sold out now, but that didn't matter to me, because I, once again, just made one myself! Ta da!

I also love the idea of having this sign hanging in my laundry room:

This I would buy. I'm not talented (or patient) enough to try and recreate this myself. And for $17 on Amazon.com, I think the price is well worth saving myself the headache!

And what laundry room would be complete without a stain removal chart like this one I saw in 100 Decorating Ideas Under $100?

 But orange really isn't my color. Aqua it is! :o)

I can't wait until the room is done so I can display all these beauties! What a pretty laundry room it will be! :o)

Inspire Me! (Time Management)

It always seems like there's not enough time in the day. The world moves so fast. There's things to do, places to be, appointments to keep. With all that hustle and bustle, we busy people can use all the help we can get to try and help manage our time.

Here are some creative and crafty ways to help!

At the center of the idea of "time management" is "time" (I'm cheesy . . . I know). How about updating the look of "time" by adding some pretty paper and scrapbook numbers to your clock? I found this idea in an issue of Good Housekeeping. Once I work up the ambition to get out the ladder to take down my clock, I'm totally going to do this!

Most of us have some type of message board in our homes. Wipe boards, chalk boards, cork boards. How about using a different board for each member of the family? I love this idea from Woman's Day to help organize the whole troop!

How about a DIY magnetic calendar made from a cookie sheet? You'll never have to buy a new calendar again! Plus, it's magnetic so You can stick up notes about appointments and stuff. Just spray paint a cookie sheet, glue on some pretty scrapbook paper (incidentally, I have the exact same paper used in this picture), and add magnets to the back of chipboard letters and numbers for the months and days. So cute!!

I don't know about you, but I also spend a good chunk of time clipping coupons and grocery shopping. How can this be made a little easier? Enter "The Cart Coupon Caddy". I found this super easy tutorial at Blue Cricket Design! You just attach it to the handle of your shopping cart, and it helps you keep your coupons and shopping list close at hand and the pockets help keep things organized. Here's the one I made:

Not much of a sewer? The Organized Shopper makes these super cute shopping organizers that she sells in her Etsy store. Even though I've just made a handy coupon caddy, I'm still lusting after one of these babies! It has tons of slots for sorting coupons, plus it includes an attached notepad for your shopping list and it attaches to your shopping cart! You'd think I was paid to say all this, but I swear I wasn't. I just love this idea that much!

With all these cute ideas, managing time never looked so good! :o)