Flower shadowbox

http://whimsikel.blogspot.com

This is the story of a sad little shadowbox frame that has been sitting on the window seat in my kitchen ever since I moved in. It used to have a cute porcelain sunflower in it (with this fabulous Japanese print background) that was just a little thicker than the shadowbox is deep so I had the back hot-glued on. It worked in the kitchen of my old apartment (and I LOVED it; I wish I had a picture), but the move broke the hot glue seal and the back came off, and I never got around to fixing it. Now my vision for this house has taken me away from mustard yellow accents...t o pinks. Much to my husband's dismay - ok, actually I don't think it really bothers him. What a keeper! I think he'll be ok only as long as the pinks remain the accentsrather than the dominant color.
But back to the story. I found these to-die-for silk flowers (silk flowers? yuck! I know, right, but I sold out. Just goes to show you, never say never), but I couldn't quite decide how to display them. The decor in my house is coming along so so slowly. Today I had a brainstorm, and of course couldn't wait to put it into action.

So, start with a shadowbox. Size is irrelevant depending on what you're putting in it. Mine has a mat, but again, that's optional.


Disassemble it. All of it. The mat, the frame, the back, the glass, the little square that ensures the mat stays at the back of the frame. All of it.


Now switch gears to your flower. Isn't this one gorgeous? (OK, you can see the one I'm actually using in the top of this picture, but I forgot to take a pic before I did the next step, so I'm showing this step on my other flower.)


Next take your wire cutters, take a deep breath, and cut the stem off about 1 1/2" - 2" from the base of the flower. Then use pliers to turn the stem so it lays flat along the bottom of the flower (this will make more sense in a few pictures).


And back to the frame. My flower it big enough to cover the empty space behind the mat, so I just used white printer paper. If yours is smaller, use a coordinating colored paper. Tape the paper to the front side of the back of the frame. Make sense?


Then place the mat. No need for tape here.


I used red tape on the bottom of the flower to secure it to the paper. The color only really matters depending on whether it will show or not. In this pic, you should be able to more clearly see what I meant about bending the stem stub back.


Then tape the flower to the backing paper (NOT the mat; you want to be able to change it out easily when you get bored!), and you're so close to done!


This next step is a little tricky because my flower is thick enough that I've decided to forgo the glass. But that means I need to support my frame up a little higher so I have room to put the backing on the frame. So I grabbed my super-expensive, made just for this kind of project, lifts.


See? Deluxe.


Put the backing in (remember, no glass unless you have enough room), turn it over and voila! Sorry the lighting isn't the best, but I think you get the idea.


Cost estimate:
shadowbox frame - I had it on hand, but I saw one at the thrift store the other day for about $2. Or you could splurge and get one for $10 at Target.
flower - on hand, but originally $5 at hobby lobby (but I always buy my silk flowers when they're 50% off, which is about every other week, so it was $2.50 several months ago).
Tape, printer paper - on hand

Total:
FREE!

Home Theater chore/tickets

http://mymixofsix.blogspot.com
Home Theater

I LOVE doing this because the kids clean like crazy trying to earn tickets AND we don't spend a bundle at the theater on tickets and treats (Believe me EIGHT people at the theater adds up). I bought generic tickets at Wal-Mart for $2 which have lasted and will last forever. The morning of our theater I start handing out tickets for various completed jobs. It amazes me how quickly things get cleaned and done.

I then set out my theater concessions. They have to have so many tickets to actually see the movie. Then pay for various treats AND for pillows and blankets to snuggle in and on.
It's fun to see how the kids spend their tickets.

At any rate the kids sure enjoy this, AND I LOVE having the house all clean. What do you do for your family movie nights?

The Planket

http://www.thecraftersfilebox.com


The "Planket": A Tutorial From the File Box

They say that necessity is the mother of invention... and I couldn't agree more! My kids love to have their pillows and blankets with them when the travel, but with FOUR PILLOWS and FOUR BLANKETS it gets mighty crowded in our minivan. So... the night before a recent trip to Disneyworld, at 1 AM, of course, I whipped up these puppies. And. the. kids. LOVED. them. They christened them "plankets" as in Pillow+Blankets, and the name stuck. I am happy to report that there were ZERO fights over "So-and-so-has-my-blanket-and I can't-find-my-pillow". And when not in use, we didn't have huge piles of excess pillows and blankets, and they had comfy pillows to use instead! Also, the fact that EVERYTHING is washable and that the pillow can be removed for washing is a huge bonus with a car full of pukers! :)

Now, on the good stuff....

STEP ONE: Lay your pillow on your fabric. How much fabric you will need will depend on how big your pillow is, but just make sure the length is roughly three times the height of the pillow... more on that in a bit.

STEP TWO: Cut the width with about five inches wider that the pillow on both sides.

STEP THREE: Measure the length of the pillow and make it three times longer than that.

(I just wrap the pillow three times, not really measure specifically... it doesn't have to be exact!)

STEP FOUR: Sew the ends under at the ends of the fabric. (It will be the smaller ends NOT the long end)

STEP FIVE: Lay your fabric in the three layered pieces, wrong sides together. (Wrong sides means that the BACK of the fabric is showing.) You will want to lay it so that the sewn edge is about one inch from the bottom on both sides.

TIP: You can pin it closed on the egdges closed here, if you want.

STEP SIX: Sew straight down the both of the sides.

STEP SEVEN: Turn it all inside out. Lookie, lookie! You made a pillow case!! Almost done now...

STEP EIGHT: Find the center of your fleece blanket by folding it in half and holding it at the middle You can put a pin at the center to keep it's place. (I used a preemade fleece 'cause it is already finished at the edges.) Then find the center of your pillow case and match it with the center of the top of your fleece.

Pin it there together, then fan out on both sides, until the pillowcase is securely pinned to the edges. I overlap the case on the pillow by about one inch.

Make a straight stich down one way, then turn it around to go the other way. I prefer this double stitch for longevity! :)

STEP NINE: Tuck the pillow on the UNDER SIDE of the flap.

STEP TEN: Fold the sides in of the fleece to match the width of the case. Then fold up and tuck the extra in the open flap of the case.

Voila- you have finished your planket! But don't stop there... this can be so easily personalized and embellished! Choose a fabric that matches your child's taste, then add an appliqued design or initial, then a ruffle or ribbon hemming along the edge... The sky's the limit! Have fun! :)

Cardboard box organization

http://www.makeit-loveit.com

First, gather some old cardboard boxes.

(Try to collect some sturdier boxes so that you don't have to glue many layers together to make your storage boxes sturdier.)

Decide how many boxes you want and cut enough for all of the sides of your boxes. I am giving directions for boxes that are 10 inches tall by 10 inches wide and 11 inches deep. These are perfect for my shelves.....but adjust for your own shelves.

Here are the pieces for one box.

The bottom piece is 10 x 9 inches, the two side pieces are 11 x 10 inches, and the front and back pieces are 10 x 9 inches.....with a 1.5 x 3 inch opening on the front piece. Each piece is 1/2 inch thick and are two pieces of cardboard thick......for added strength.

To assemble, I glued (with the hottest setting on my glue gun) the bottom piece to the inside bottoms of the front and back piece.

See from the bottom how the bottom piece is glued to the inside of the front and back piece?

Then glue that section to the inside of the side pieces.......so the side pieces cover everything and all of the raw edges. You will be surprised at how study this new little box is.

Next, I spray painted the sides and upper edges white. You can leave your boxes brown or alter them with spray paint if you'd like. You can also spray paint the inside/back/bottom but I didn't bother.....because they aren't really seen.

Then I applied a moderate layer or Mod Podge to the front section of the box...

And then placed a slightly bigger piece of fabric over top...and smoothed it all out.

Then I made slits in the fabric, where the opening is on the front of the box.

Then I folded those pieces over while applying more Mod Podge.

After the Mod Podge underneath was dry, I trimmed off the edges.....

.......and then applied another layer (pretty thick) of Mod Podge over the top.....making sure to Mod Podge all of the raw edges of fabric and pressing them firmly against the box.

Allow to dry completely......

And that's it.

Your boxes are ready to be filled.....

...and the clutter organized.

Personalized Notepaper

http://brownpaper--packages.blogspot.com/

This is super easy, and SO fun. Any one would love this gift!

ITEMS YOU NEED:

• 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of white paper
• pen
• printer
  
• your imagination!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Using a pencil, draw a line at the bottom of your paper, approximately 2-2 1/2 inches high. This is the area that you will place any artwork, etc.

2. Start creating! The space is yours! I give my kids the freedom to do what they like, but I make sure their name is included.

3. Once that part is finished, completely erase the pencil line.

4. You could actually do this step first if you prefer, but it doesn't really matter. (Unless the artwork at the bottom would be ruined going through the printer--then you would want to do this step first.) I also do it in this order, just in case someone wants to start over. This way I don't have to keep printing out the words until I know they are ready to go.
In Word (or other word processing software), type any text that you would like to be at the top of your notepaper, then print. I chose a different font for each child, and sized it to 16. You don't want it to be too big, so you have plenty of space for the actual notepaper.

5. Now you're ready for the printer! I use a local print shop, but I called first to make sure they made notepaper. I had them put four to a page, so 1/4 sheets. (25 copies = 100 pieces of notepaper) When I made stationery, I did 1/2 sheets instead, so they would be a little bigger.

And this is what they look like when you pick them up!

I LOVE how they turned out! Now I need some for my own desk!

Frosted Cabinet

http://mybackyardeden.blogspot.com

This cabinet is the only storage we have in this bathroom, so all of this non-displayable stuff has to go here. And since we only have two bathrooms, when we entertain, someone invariably ends up here in our master bathroom. (No doubt, checking out what brand of dental floss we prefer.)

I thought about lining the glass with fabric, but then I remembered seeing Frosted Glass spray paint at Home Depot. Bingo!


I sketched up and then cut out some leaves and vines.

I arranged them in a pattern I liked and using spray adhesive, affixed them to the back side of the glass door.

Then I sprayed on two coats of the Frosted Glass paint.

Make sure you have a friend nearby to help you watch the paint dry. In only a few minutes, it’s dry and you can peel the design off.

Admire how pretty it is when the sun shines through the glass.

I love how it turned out. I’ve got to say that this was one of the easiest, quickest , most satisfying projects I’ve done in a while.

Stenciled wall

http://soyouthinkyoucandecorate.blogspot.com

Adding paint to your walls is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to make your home your own. When we moved into our house, every wall was tan. I felt like I was drowning in T.A.N. Don't get me wrong, I love tan to a certain extent, but I needed a little variety. Below is a picture of my office. Do you want to know how to create this wall in your home? Creating a wall like this is much easier than you may think, and it only cost me around $12.00! Don't believe me? Keep reading! :)
Items needed: Painter's tape, scissors, wax paper, paint in the color of your choice, and a little paintable caulk. (Click on image to enlarge).


Step 1: Cover a sheet of wax paper with painter's tape. (see above image)
Step 2: Cut out leaves in varying sizes, and peel off the wax paper.
Step 3: Stick the painter's tape leaves on the wall where you want them (see below image...we were not quite done yet when I took this picture). You want to make sure that the edges of the tape are pressed firmly against the wall.

Painting tip: If you use a small amount of paintable caulk along the edge of the tape and let it dry before you paint over it, it will seal the edge and prevent bleeding. Doing this will you give you a nice clean, crisp line with no touch ups needed when you peel the tape off. (See illustration in the collage above).

Step 4: Paint the wall.

Sidenote: I ALWAYS check for "OOPS" paint when I go to Home Depot. These are paints that didn't get mixed quite right, and Home Depot sells them for $5.00 a gallon. I lucked out and found a scrupulous blue Ralph Lauren gallon of metallic paint. And if you plan to only paint one wall...why pay full price when you will only need 1/2 a gallon anyway!?!?

Total Cost: $6.00 for painter's tape, $5.00 for a gallon of oops paint, $1.00 for paintable caulk=$12.00!

I was thrilled with the end result. Don't be afraid to paint your walls. This is definitely a crowd stopper in our home. Visitors love it!

Magnetic Dinner Calender

http://kimboscrafts.blogspot.com

oh, dinner. Just like laundry..no matter how many times you do it it still needs to be done.

And i am horrible at planning out dinners.

horrible.

My kids are starting to hate Mac and cheese.

Which is why this idea is the bestest idea ever.

And that is why all my sisters got together to make one.

Supplies:

12x12 frame, paper, and a clear calendar

magnetic primer

Some magnets

Paint

A list of recipes.

Prime your frame with the magnet stuff (3 light coats)

And while that is drying....cut out your recipes and mount them on cute paper (make sure they fit in the squares of the calendar)

You'll need a piece of paper for the background.

(My sister is aspiring to be a hand model...isn't she great!)

Once the paint is dry...paint over the outside edge with paint that matches your paper.

WE used this kind of paint:

Okay you can't really tell what paint...just wanted to get another hand picture in there.

And while that is drying laminate your recipes and adhere your magnets to the back.

seriously, this girl is amazing...

I tried to use the magnets that you get from all the local business but they were too thin and wouldn't stick so great. So I opted out for the heavier duty ones.

When everything is dry. You lay down your paper, your calendar and it should fit pretty snug.

Turns out the back of my frame was pretty bowed...the frame and back were all one piece...so I ran to Home Depot (well, drove acually) and got a sheet of 8x12 metal flashing and hot glued it behind than put it all down....my sister bought a framet that had a removable back so she didn't run into this problem.

This baby was only 96 cents. Sierras have 12x12 of the exact same stuff for 6.99 a piece.

Then you just add your days with dry erase marker.

Stick on your recipes.

Store any remaining recipes around the edge.

And never think again about it all month.

My sisterhad the same frame as me...she just put a piece of magnet on each day.

Dinner is served!!!