What I whipped up....

I FINALLY finished this little 3-tiered display to hold all of my lovely punches that I use all the time!  Instead of them all being piled into a bucket on my work table I came across this original idea on Pintrest.

(Pinterest)

I did score some of those lovely old baking pans at an estate sale recently but could only find the bottom two.  So, I waited a few weeks, visited the antique mall and still nothing!  I got impatient and decided to do this...

I added a pail I already had and I actually LOVE it!  I can put all the small punches in it & stand them up!

Here it is all filled up!

I already had the candle sticks-the clear glass ones-I primed & painted them-used E6000 to attach them to my pans & voila!  How fun, right?  I can also take it to my shows & use it as a display piece too!  

Check It Out :-)

I stumbled across this blog one day & thought hey I could make that!  So, I know we are leaving tomorrow & I should be packing & cleaning but I would rather be sewing & crafting.  :-)  I did just that.  I follwed the instructions from, Make It and Love It to create this adorable headband.  Cute, huh?

(don't mind my treadmill behind me, lol)

They have a super easy tutorial to make them.  You should go check it out & make some up!  I just think I might have to whip a few up for the farmer's market when I get back.  :-)  Happy Sewing!

DIY Kind of Weekend

I guess you could say I have been itching for that summer change!  I have been working on little projects here & there.  The first two pictures are from a couple weeks ago...I just forgot to share them.  I re-did up above our microwave.  

 I put everything into this cabinet beside it instead of in the baskets above it.  I love it!

 Gabe & I dug up our potatoes & onions.   Gabe had so much fun seeing everything grown & how it produced actual veggies!

I totally scored this awesome white wicker chair on Friday night at our friends garage sale.

 Saturday morning I was spraying it green!  I LOVE this green color right now!

 I picked up a new cushion at Walmart!  It fits perfectly on my patio!  I got to sit out there this morning with my coffee & bible!  I could listen to the birds chirping & the wind blowing-pure bliss!

I also had this sage green color (boring!) texas star outside that I painted the same color green as the chair to use up the rest of the paint & hung it up on the other side of the patio!  I forgot to snag a picture but it looks great!

Another DIY we did this weekend was this....I started out with 2 plastic flower pots that I purchased at Walmart, 2 silver rings found in the plumbing department at Lowe's & some vinyl for lettering.  Well, needless to say after several burnt up screw tips & a trip to Lowe's we couldn't get through that tiny piece of metal...so we ended up just.....

 screwing right through the plastic pot-2 times with the screws.  We drilled right into the wall on the patio.

I cut out some vinyl letters on my cricut and now I have a nice place to catch all those little bottles of bubbles & chalk!

 How cute, right?  (Notice I put the bubbles higher....they have to ask before they get those out, haha!)

I also sewed up some pillows yesterday afternoon for our on-going bedroom makeover.  :-)  It has been a slow, long, process but it is getting there.

Friday afternoon I worked on making up a couple of these to see at out local Farmer's Market at my booth.  They are fabric grocery bag holders.  I actually have 2 of them one hanging in our laundry room & one out in the garage.  I can stuff them full of all those plastic bags you get from the store.  If you are like me you always have good intentions to bring your resuseable ones...you know the big stack of them that sit in the garage but seem to forget every single time.  :-/

 I also whipped up some of these to carry at my table as well.  Travel Kleenex Holders.  I have a bunch of fabric that has been left over from different projects so I thought I would make some of these.  How fun!  

Needless to say we had a busy DIY weekend but it was so much fun being able to create things!  We also had a visit from some special friends...pictures to come later.  :-)

Chalkboard Picture Frame

I am loving me some chalkboard paint these days!  I am fixin' to put a big chalkboard in our kitchen & in my craft room!  I saw these frames at Michael's and thought they would be perfect for leaving love notes, scripture...whatever you want on them!  Here is how I made them!

 you need a paint brush too!  :-)

Voila!  Sit back and Enjoy!

First "non-papercutz" Craft

So I kicked off my new year with a fabulous little craft I did for my bff's birthday!  She asked for a sewing machine for her birthday so I thought it would be fun to get her a sewing basket & fill it with all of the things she would need!  But who wants a boring pin cushion?  So, I made this one!

Super fun & super cute!  Hope you make one too!

Advent Calendar

Here's a little tutorial on a really easy & cute advent calendar you can use each year.

You will need a mini muffin tin, magnets, double stick tape...

24 2" circles

 24 1 3/4" or 1 1/2"circles

Punch your circles out & tape the 2 layers together then you just need to add a piece of magnet to the back.  I cut the roll of magnets (one side is sticky) into little strips then I cut each little strip in half so they were narrow.

 Just like this!

Then put them in the order you want on your pan!

I added some numbers I cut from vinyl, but you can buy numbers, stamp some, print some off the computer or simply write them on with a sharpie!  

Fill each day with special things to do or have!  

We started ours a little late this year so we jumped right into the fun festivities, we made cookies one day (slice & bake ones), an ornament, family movie night, today we get to make our gingerbread house!  Some days they just got a candy treat or we read a part of the Christmas story from the Bible, or a book.  Super fun!  My kids look forward to it each afternoon when Gabe gets home from school!  The best part is that I can use it every year!  I can change up our ideas & we can keep the focus geared towards Jesus!

Some Days Are Just More Productive Than Others

I often wonder if I had this much energy & motivation every day how much more I could accomplish in a week. I woke up at 6:30, had some coffee, got into the word, showered, and got to Albertson's around 7:30 this morning. I forgot it was Hawaiian day at school and Gabe had to bring grapes for the fruit salad, oops! So, I figured why not just get groceries while I was there so I did. I raced home to get the kids ready for summer camp, put away groceries,pack lunches, and get get them to their school by 9:00. I then hit up Hobby Lobby, McDonalds for a yummy hazelnut ice coffee and an oh so fattening breakfast sandwich that was oh so yummy and then went to Lowe's to pick up some things for Gabe's room, flowers, and soil. Came home to realize that I was locked out of the house! A friend watched our dogs and I still need to get my key back and Bill locked up before going to work as usual. So, he had to come rescue me! :-) In the meantime I planted 2 new perennials out in the front flower bed before he arrived.

Once I got in the house I decided to finish planting the flowers out back. I planted 7 flowers today 2 which I already had. My goal was to just put them in the existing flowerbeds but that didn't happen. I had to be over adventurous and dig up all along the side of our house where we have a walk way into our back yard. This is what it looked like before.

And after much sweating and planting, flowers and seeds this is what it looks like now.

In between planting I would be working on this for Gabe's room makeover! (shh it's a surprise)

I started with a frame that I bought like 4 years ago at that huge garage sale that Meals on Wheels puts on each fall for like $3. I just knew it would come in use one day.

Then I gave it a new coat of black spray paint.

I inserted a piece of sheet metal that I bought at Lowe's.

I added some cardboard to make it sturdy. You could spray it black too but I didn't. :-)

I also added some new wire and hooks so we could hang it up. Voila!

It's a magnetic frame for Gabe to put all his art work on, school stuff...whatever he wants in his room. I love it!

Along with doing laundry (6 loads I think) I decided to start organizing. Oh boy did I need it! Since we have traveled so much this summer, the kids busy schedule and not to add taking the house off the market...I just needed to get cleaned out and organized again. I felt like I just couldn't stand it anymore. Organizing is an ongoing process at my house but these 3 areas really needed some TLC! Besides feeling slightly embarrassed by my craziness I thought it would be fun to post some before & after pictures!

I forgot to take the inside of my cabinet before I took everything out so here is all the stuff that was shoved into this little cabinet.

Here is the after

I also did the pantry...again.

Before

After

Tackled the laundry room next!

Before

After

Well, that was my day in a nutshell...well besides some coloring with Lily this evening and making brownies with Gabe oh yeah and painting in his room...lol. I need to get off here so I can go fold the last few loads of laundry while watching America's Got Talent! :-) Good Night Friends!