Along Came a Spider...

Happy Wednesday!  Here's a ridiculously simple and tiny addition to my Halloween decor:

I've seen them all over bloggyland and I love them!  Here's what I used:

• a tiny Dollar Store frame
• some black scrapbook paper
• one spider ring (ah ah ah ah)
• Modge Podge
• gorgeous aqua glitter - I bought a sampler pack of superfine glitter from JoAnn's for about $4

I'm sure this is completely intuitive, but here's the steps anyway:

• snip off the ring part with scissors
• lightly coat the top of the spider with Modge Podge
• cover liberally in glitter
• lightly coat the bottom of the spider with Modge Podge
• cover liberally in glitter
• go back and touch up any spots not fully coated in glitter
• let your glittery spider dry
• glue the spider onto the scrapbook paper (I used hot glue for instant gratification)
• frame you little 'weener decoration

Sure, I know aqua isn't a traditional Halloween color but it just pops off the black paper, especially in the evening!  I might make a few more to 'ween-o-fy a few more spots in the house :)

Magnet Doll Up

Happy Thursday!!  A few weeks ago I scored few packages of Making Memories flower petals from Tuesday Morning for $1 a package. (Oh Tuesday Morning, how I love your little craft section!)  I knew they'd come in handy for embellishing something, I just didn't know what.  Then when I saw packages of clear round magnets at the dollar store (and maybe I bought something like 10 packages), I thought some pretty flower magnets would look lovely on my fridge.  And maybe they'll work to distract company from the dirty fingerprints..

This was the best kind of project - quick and instantly gratifying.  Here are my supplies:

Just take one clear magnet, hot glue three flower petals of varying sizes and finish it off with a small button. 

And now off to clean those darn fingerprints!

Teensy Bit of Summer Decor

Happy Wednesday!  Today's Whateva is my newest bit of home decor.  Now, I'm a craftaholic by nature, but my crafting is going into high gear.  Spring has sprung, summer is a comin - and I have almost no fun summer decor.  And, of course, I'm ALWAYS coming across awesome new things to try and having crafty ideas wake me up at night (seriously, is this just me?)  If that's not enough of a reason to craft till the cows come home, the hubs is building me gorgeous bookcases on either side of our fireplace {swoon} and I'm going to have to fill these beauties up.  I've been working on a bunch of big projects (well, big for me) and I needed a bit of instant gratification.  I raided my always plentiful stash of craft supplies and came up with a little Dollar Store frame, some craft paint, a few pieces of scrap scrapbook paper and a little ribbon flower:

(ignore the egg carton - I used it to balance the frame while I painted it)

I painted the hideous less than awesome frame with two coats of this lovely aqua craft paint.  While that was drying I test drove a bunch of different color combos of the scrapbook paper and settled on this pretty mustard (it has a hint of an argyle pattern) for the background and a summery floral for the accent round (I just used a simple fluted-round paper cutter).  Then it was just a matter of hot gluing the flower to the accent round and then that onto the background paper.  Frame it up and call it done :)

What's that?  You'd like to see an action shot?  Well sure!  Here she is on my tray redux posing with a few other makeover vixens.  I love the way the color pops against the other cream accessories...

Oh and you also want a sneak peek of those bookcases?  I thought you'd never ask :)

Please ignore all the chaos going on in this picture - lots of projects = no time for straightening up!

This Little Piggy...

...got covered in Chalkboard paint and is so cute :)  I've been seeing alot of numbered items out there.  I love things with numbers on them.  I love things with letters on them.  I even love fonts (really, is it weird to love fonts?)  Here's my slightly whimsical take on numbered cuties:

I picked up 3 little piggy banks from the Dollar Store - here's what they looked like before

Then I just coated them in a few layers of plain old black paint and then another two thin layers of chalkboard paint (I really love the super matte look of chalkboard paint!) 

The numbers are written stenciled in chalk.  I thought I'd go with something a little prettier than my own handwriting.  Since a Cricut is still on my wish list, I just printed out the numbers onto plain paper.  Then I cut them out (with scissors no less) and used the stencil to chalk on the numbers.  I am loving these 3 little pigs!  Now I just have to find a home for them in the my little Piglet's room :)

Goose that Laid the Golden Egg

Happy Wednesday!  I know that Easter is over, but I have one last minute egg craft that I think turned out awesome.  I whipped up another batch of Rollo Cookies last Friday because I'm totally addicted my family loves them.  As I was unwrapping all of the little rollos, I was thinking that there must be something that I could do with their shiny gold wrappers (I'm really getting into repurposing!).  So I put all the wrappers in a baggie and put them up in my creative space, right next to a package of plastic eggs.  The lightbulb went off and after a little trial and error with the Modge Podge, I ended up with this beauty:

I LOVE it!  I wish that this revelation would have occured to me a little earlier.  How gorgeous would a bowl of glittering gold eggs be?!  Now I'm thinking that I might have to make those tasty cookies every few weeks to get a good supply of gold foil - the Modge Podging possibilites are endless!

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Easter Craft Countdown

Happy Wednesday!  Easter baskets pose a challenge to me.  Is it just me?  Am I just not thinking outside the basket (heheheh)?  Sure, candy is the star, but one little munchkin can only eat so much sugar (I'm sure he would disagree with me on that).  Bunny bum's basket will have some requisite candy (Sarris mmmmm), but we'll also be including cars (stuffed into the plastic eggs), books and a nice chunk of his basket will be filled with sidewalk chalk.  Now, I couldn't just put a plain old box of sidewalk chalk in :) 

I started with a plain white pail from the Dollar Store

A little chalkboard spraypaint and now it's bunny-worthy:

And just because I can't have less than a hundred projects going at one time, here's a list of the other things that I'm trying to get wrapped up before the weekend:

• The world's CUTEST bunting from Dana at MADE (guest blogging at V and Co)
• My Easter Rag Garland (it's serving as a backdrop in the picture above) - it's 4 feet long right now and I'm trying to get it to 6 or so
• The most adorable burlap bunnies from Missy at The Little Green Bean (guest blogging at Someday Crafts)
• A little something with a giant plastic egg (teaser!)
• A few spring-y pillows

Whew!  Well, I'd better get busy - have a wonderful Wednesday!

Quick & Easy...3 Words to a Happy Life

Happy Tuesday!  This is not a tip, per se, but more of a philosphy of mine (yes, I'm quite philosophical, ha!).  Quick and easy is just better.  Yep, that's my claim.  Maybe I am just really late to the quick & easy party, but I've spent alot of time over in the 'slow and crazy-labor-intensive' camp (hello Martha) and it is not much fun.  I'm way more over-scheduled and under-rested than I've ever been, but I'm also way happier and having more fun than I've ever had too.  If something (crafting, cleaning, working out) isn't quick and easy, it's not getting done (sorry walls, I'll wash you down another year).  I just don't have time for total burnout!  Soooo, in the spirit of quick and easy, here's a super quick & easy spring craft (10 minutes!):

I took 1 Dollar Store black frame, mixed in a piece of scrapbook paper and a dash Spanish moss. Garnish with three jelly beans for a crazy-fast piece of home decor:

I removed the glass from the frame and cut the piece of scrapbook paper to size.  Using hot glue, I glued a bit of Spanish moss in a circle to form a nest:

Hot-glue your jelly beans, give your unruly moss a little trim and viola - instant awesomeness:

ps - I saw a BRILLIANT idea from Rebekah over at All Thingz Related yesterday - she made clay eggs (soooo much better than jelly beans!!)  I plan to replace my jelly beans with clay eggs just as soon as I pick up some clay :)

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Shabby Chic Nest Wreath

All of my recent blog-browsing has infused my crafty projects with new shabby chic flair.  For this wreath I used a few of my newsprint covered eggs, a Dollar Store wreath, black paint and a lovely blue pillowcase that has been just waiting for a project.  I finally remembered to take some pictures DURING the crafting process so I actually have a bit of a tutorial :)

I started out with a small wreath from the Dollar Store and painted it with a few coats of black spray paint (satin finish):

Then I cut two strips of the pillowcase about 4 inches wide and 12 inches long.  I left the edges raw because I like the way it looks.  If I was using a satin-type material, I probably would have finished the edge.  I fiddled (technical term) with making loopy swirls it until I liked the was happy with the effect.  Once I had the general pattern of loopy swirly-ness to my liking, I used hot glue to affix it to the wreath.  (I set an egg on there at this point to make sure I would like the nesting idea).  Here's the wreath with one strip of the pillowcase and an embellished egg hot glued into place:

I used the same technique to add the second strip of pillowcase and second embellished egg.  Here's a close up of the nest detail:

And here's where the wreath is currently living in my house (amongst the bevy of cheap crafty delights):

And just because I love a cost breakdown...

• 
  
  Wreath from the Dollar Store:  $1
• 
  
  Newsprint Covered Eggs:  $1  (actually more like 15 cents since I only used 2 of them)
• 
  
  Pillowcase fabric:  $0  (on hand)
• 
  
  Embellishment for Eggs:  $0  (on hand)
• 
  
  Black Paint:  $0  (on hand)

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Dollar Store Doll-up

Ahhhh - another Saturday, another trip to the Dollar Store :)  Today, the little muffin man was unusually well behaved, so we really got to browse around.  We come home with lots of ingredients for crafty goodies, or at least enough to keep us busy this week ;)  At the top of my list of crafting to-dos is a knock off of a sweet little tray that I saw in a recent Starbucks add:

I saw this little tin tray at the Dollar Store and knew I had the makings of a lovely knock-off:

I used cream colored Valspar spray paint (Satin finish) to paint a few light coats for the base.  I let that dry for a few minutes an hour or so (I'm terribly impatient!) and then I mixed some dark brown paint craft paint with a little white craft paint and water.  I used a dry brush to highlight the details in the tray and viola...my lovely knock off:

Hmmm, something is still missing.  Oh right - I need to whip up some delicious scones...right after my nap ;)

And while I was working on this lovely little tray - the guys were tackling the much larger project of fencing in the backyard.  They were much too busy to be bothered to look at the camera, but aren't they still so darn cute :)

A Bevy of Cheapy Crafty Delights

Oh the delightful Dollar Store! A few short months ago I was oblivious to the joy of the Dollar Store. And then one day...I saw it - http://dollarstorecrafts.com/. I clicked on a link from somewhere, it was a link on a crafty blog (I have no idea which one - it was during one of my bloggy crafty binging sessions and I was clicking like a mad woman). I swear I heard a chorus of angels singing when I clicked. Oh.My.Goodness. Crafty ideas for CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. Sure I went in the Dollar Store now and again, looking for wrapping paper or cheap party supplies. But I never realized the wealth of crafty treasures hidden among the shelves. There I sat, clicking through craft after craft, my inspiration growing with each new project. The very next day I went to the Dollar Store with new eyes...and I spied an ugly little bird, a truly hideous painted candlestick and glittery mini easter eggs. And then to Walmart for two $3 vases and Kmart for two $3 candlesticks. Add in a little paint and glue and here is what I ended up with:




Oh how I love these!! I wish I had taken before photos - bad bad me! So let's have a breakdown shall we?

• Glass vase from Walmart: $3
• Glass candlestick from KMart: $3
• Glitter turned Robin Eggs: $1 (plus paint)
• Flirty birdy (c'mon...you can see it right?): $1 (plus paint)
• Candlestick: $1 (plus paint)

So that's a grand total of...$9 for this little vingette (not including the paint that was on hand). Under ten dollars! For all that lovliness! I am officially addicted to cheap crafting - especially since if it's not cheap, it's not in my budget! Let's have a little comparison of what I could have spent for all this:

• Glass Pedestal Vase from PB: $39
• Robin Eggs from PB: $14
• Ceramic Bird from Target: $5 (I saw a similar one there a month or so ago)
• Candlestick from PB: $24

For a grand total of ...$82 That means I saved 73 dollars! Now I know my time has to account for something, but still! The three items probably took 60-90 minutes total. At that rate I would have to be charging at least $48 an hour. The difference in price is AMAZING. And the bonus of saying that I made it whenever someone compliments one of the items... Ok, I'm HOPING someone will compliment something - otherwise I would have to figure out how to throw it into conversation. Me: "What's that - you're going to Hawaii for vacation? Have you seen my awesome robin eggs handmade by moi?" See - that might make for akward conversation ;)

Here's the brilliant tutorial for turning glitter eggs into lovely Robin Eggs:
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2010/02/robins-egg-vase/

And here's the equally brilliant tutorial for turning a vase & candlestick into a pedestal vase:
http://design-aholic.blogspot.com/2010/02/mass-o-glass.html

Happy Crafting!

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Easter Tree

As much as I love a good crafty project, I secretly adore quick transformations.  There's nothing more motivating than a little instant gratification!  We had a few errands to run this morning, so I obviously had to add a quick trip to the Dollar Store in (yes, I am addicted to the Dollar Store).  I picked up a few more packages of my favorite little styro Easter eggs and a plain cylindar vase (ok, maybe I also picked up a few *ahem* dozen other things...but you'll have to wait to see what I do with the rest of my booty)

After putting down the little nugget for a nap. I went out to the backyard for some twig collection (finally I can see a few spots of my backyard through all the snow), and raided the pantry for some dried beans.  Jelly beans would also look adorable, but we didn't have any in the house (and, let's be honest, I'd really rather EAT the jellybeans!)  After a little twig arranging, I just filled the vase with some dried beans and hung my pre-glittered mini eggs.  Easy-peasy Easter decor:

It's amazing what $2 and 10 minutes worth of effort can result in.  Not to toot my own horn (LOL...yeah, you know I'm going to), I could totally see this as a decorative background item in the PB catalog.

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