Toilet Paper Rolls to Decorate With??????...

I was a bit sceptical when I came across my next DIY, since the instructions said to use Toilet Paper Rolls???... But since seeing some pictures, I have seen from what people have done with them, I decided that maybe it's not such a bad idea after all and for some odd reason, I had been storing some up (not sure why) just in case I could use them for something! Well, I finally found that something, this is my inspirations:

Valentines Heart Wreath



Square Decorative Piece

I tackled the second "Square Decorative Piece" first. It seemed to be the easier one of the two, since I was a "newby" at doing this. These were the supplies that I started with:

Toilet paper rolls, straight edge, scissors (or something to cut the rolls with smoothly) and a stapler.

My first idea was that it would make the project go much faster if I used a stapler to staple the cut toilet paper rolls together rather than wait on them to dry using glue. WRONG! this just made it nearly impossible to get between the rolls, even with such a small stapler.. So, I decided to change up my supplies, to the original suggested supplies:

Toilet paper rolls, straight edge, scissors (I used a rotary blade and Mod Podge (the only thing glue like in the house).

Now, with the correct supplies I could continue with my project. Much to my surprise, the mod podge worked GREAT! As you can see in the above picture I had already began attaching these "flower" shapes that I had made by simply applying glue to the edges and holding them for a few moments to adhere to each other. Here is a picture of my first partcial flower:

I just cut each roll into about 1/2 inch stips and bent them in half.

Once I got this far, I could add more to the flower by attaching more cut strips to the four corners of the flower. This made it a little more full. Once I got all the flowers finished, I began attaching them to each other at the three ends. In this process is where you form the square shape.

This project came from "The Evolution of Home" and there are other great idea there as well! I know I will be referencing this blog in the future for more DIY projects.

I finally got finished with my "TP" decoration and was VERY pleased with it! However, it took me a VERY long time to get it completely finished! I've had this sitting on the table for (so embarrassed to say) several MONTHS! This is the finished product, BEFORE the paint:

I think it turned out SO cute! It just needed to be painted!

Now like I said earlier, MONTHS have gone by and we are now in March and I decided to get out in the yard, since the weather was perfect, and spray paint it black! It turned out better than I could have imagined! You really can't tell it's "TP" rolls that have been cut! It REALLY looks a like rot iron piece that I got from an antique store or something! I am SO SO SO pleased with the end results, SO....here's the end PAINTED results:

Painted Faux Rot Iron Piece

I hope you love it as much as I do and I'm saving more rolls to make more things!! Keep checking to see other pieces!

Happy DIYing and remember, the sky is the limit when it comes to what your imagination can come up with!



Decorations for Holidays...

Easter is coming up fast! So, I've decided that this year I want to decorate for the "Major" holidays! However, that is not so easy, especially when you have NO decorations to decorate with! So, of course I have turned to Pinterest yet again, to get some ideas! The ONLY thing that I have been able to do this year so far, is a center piece for the coffee table! It's not much by far, but I plan on going to Target, Wally World or the Dollar Stores or just about ANYWHERE after Easter, to stock up on decorations for future years! So, since I have only one thing that I have been able to decorate, this blog is going to be short, but KNOW that next year it is ON!!! I am going to be a decorating fool for each holiday! LOL!!! Here is my center piece:

It's not much, but at least I have a little bit of Easter in the house! I do have some frames that I have some idea's for. Thankfully, I've gotten these ideas from my sister, Lianna, because she has done some of her picture frames this way too. She has TONS of free printables that she has posted on her Pinterest. So, I plan on printing them out for my picture frames! So, hopefully BEFORE Easter, I will have some more decorations up!

I'll keep you posted!

Happy Easter,,,bock bock......

Helping a Stranger....

Odd title I know! But I wanted to get your attention on this particular post!

About 2 or so weeks ago I was on Facebook (FB) and I saw a post from an old friend from high school about her friend she was trying to help, here's the Stranger part. The post was a link to her friends blog, Wondering, Hoping, Praying..., so naturally being in the blogger world I wanted to see her blog, maybe get some ideas and just in general be nosy! LOL!!! Once I began reading her blog I understood why my friend had posted her blog on FB:

She is in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia and from what I am understanding, she has gone through all the proper channels starting in the Spring of 2011, she began thinking about adopting, then in October of 2011 she made the final decision that adoption was for her and her family! Once I read this part of her blog, I began to think of the battle she must have gone through in the decision process...having a child is not something to take on lightly, much less adopting. Then in December 2011 they decided to go through an agency to do the adoption, January 1, 2012 they made an even bigger decision, theywanted to adopt a child from Ethiopia, which also triggered an astounding respect for her, not only is she adopting, but she is adopting from a child from a foreign country that TRULY NEEDS a home and lastly, she's STILL (at this point) a perfect stranger that I have this new found respect for! On January 3, 2012 she sent in the initial adoption application to the agency "Lifeline" and on January 12 she mailed in the paperwork to start the Home Study process, which included the first payment, (thinking begins again). She has had to do all kinds of research on this particular agency considering she is sending them money and entrusting them with such precious cargo, i.e. a child that would soon be their own, WOW, what enormous research/background checking she must have done to get this far, not to mention all the day to day things she does, i.e. home schooling her daughters, daily household things, bible study preparations and. other day to day things. The paperwork has been sent in to "Lifeline" the agency and now she is awaiting the Phone Orientation, On January 20 she gets her phone orientation done with "Brittney" and is now waiting for her Home Study Visit. But not long after the phone orientation she gets her first Home Study on January 22, I found this to be quite fast considering all this has happened in just one short (but probably seemed long to her) month. O.K., back on track, now it's February 2nd and this is when I started reading her blog.

As you would expect, the process of adoption is not free, heck, NOTHING is EVER really FREE! I'm sure during this wait from January 22 to February 2, she did a lot of brainstorming to figure out a way to pay the fees that come with the adoption process, hence this post! (I know, I took a very long time to get here, but I wanted you to know all that she has been doing to get to where she is now, so I though it important to add this info!).

The idea she came up with was a very "crafty" and very adorable bracelet that she has decided to sell as a fundraiser to come up with the money to pay the agency fees. Here's SOME of the bracelets:

Aren't they the cutest!

She is selling them in different sizes, adult size at $12 and children size at $10 and of course she has different prices if you buy more than one at a time. You can check out the prices here, she has different colors and patterns and they are just too cute for words.

On February 24 she put all that IMPORTANT paperwork in the hands of our U.S. Post office. She got everything mailed off, then came the waiting game. During all this time as she has been patiently awaiting information from the agency and filling orders for her bracelets and coming up with more patterns and colors for different bracelets so that there is a wide variety to choose from. Now that her paperwork was done, to her knowledge the next steps were a home study, making sure everything was correct with her paperwork and all she was suppose to have done was included with her paperwork. (I mean can you say STRESS upon STRESS upon STRESS???). Her Home Study was finalized and sent to "Lifeline" (the adoption agency). Now comes more waiting. As I read I began to realize that this one person, whom I've NEVER met, had become someone I had grown to respect (immensely) and seemed drawn to, in some way, to help out, thus this post!

Even though she has already gone through so much just to get to the point she is currently at, she still has the one issue that is the most important issue of all....(it's what makes the world go round) MONEY! Like I said previously, for some reason I felt compelled to help out as much as I could and due to my current situation (NO JOB) I could not help monetarily, but I could help by posting a blog for her in hopes that maybe my readers, even though they are few and even if it's just one, someone would some how feel as compelled as I did about her and help her in their own way, weather it be buying some bracelets or posting something on FB, or blogging about her decision. It would at least get the word out and help her family raise the money they need to complete this adoption.

As far as she knows there are several other steps she must complete before everything is done and they can finally have her baby she so desires, which her and her husband have decided to be a boy (another post I read on her blog). With the Home Study finalized, there needed to be immigration paperwork done and an appointment to have fingerprints done, so yes, wait, wait, wait!

I have gone through her blog and read numerous post and have become familiar with what I can only call, a Stranger. However, I am hoping by posting this and putting her story out there, I can soon no longer caller her a Stranger, but a friend. I am a firm believer that God has a plan for everyone and a reason for that plan. I trust in my heart that God lead me to read this Stranger, whom now has a name, Heather, for a reason. His divine, amazing and some how strange plans, don't always seem clear to you as quickly as you would like for them to, but in time I know that I will realize what and why I was so immensely compelled to tell Heather and her families story.

As I await the answer to the plan God has already set in motion, I can only ask of you, as my readers and as my friends to please read Heather's blog, Wondering, Hoping, Praying... and find it in your heart to help out in a way that you feel is the best that you can do. I also can't help but think that this is my way of "Paying it Forward" (I know cliche') and hoping that you too will do the same. With that said, I will end my post in saying that I hope you keep reading Heather's blog as I will be doing and soon see pictures of this wonderful baby boy that she will soon be calling their SON.

Happy Blogging...

Finding Myself...

When I originally started this Blog I had every intention of doing things that I have found on Pinterest and showing my "craftyness" from what I have found. BUT, (there's always a but) I have come to see that through all this Pinteresting that I'm doing, all the blogs that I get these ideas from and tutorials from have their own "Knack"! So, lately I have been doing A LOT of thinking and trying to find MY "KNACK". I don't just want to copy everything from Pinterest and show you guys what someone has already done and come up with, hence finding my "KNACK".

That is why I have been so sparse in doing my posts. I don't want to bore my readers by showing them things they can "copy" from Pinterest too. I want them to come to my blog to "copy" my ideas! In the midst of all this thinking, I have come up with a few ideas, but non that I have had that "Aha" moment with!

So, I'm going back to my, proverbial, drawing board and doing some more thinking. Which doesn't mean I'm going to stop posting things that I do from Pinterest, it just means that HOPEFULLY soon, I will have an idea that will make others interested in coming to my blog and continue following it daily! I hope to find something soon that will show off my "craftyness" that everyone will enjoy doing. Until then...

Happy Pinning...

Valentines Day Present...

I have had this great idea for a present for Jenn for a while! Of course I found the idea on Pinterest, but I did make it my own, in a round about way! But in the process of doing this, I found that I do have a knack for crafty things and  pretty darn good writing freehand on wood! LOL! So, here goes my idea for a great present for our 2nd Valentines Day together.

Our garage has a surplus of odds and ends, which includes wood of all shapes and sizes, scraps and probably just about everything you would need to make almost any project! However, it is in shambles right now and is in need of a HUGE make-over, that Jenn and I plan on doing in the near future! With that said, I scrounged around and found the perfect piece of wood that I would need to get started on her present. It was a long piece of 1/4" plywood. Since I have no saw or skill saw knowledge or for that matter even have one, I asked my awesome neighbor to help me (he lives right behind us). I put the wood on the back fence and went to his house to get started. He is sort of a perfectionist when it comes to making things, so I knew I was in good hands! He measured out three 20" long pieces and cut them. He, thankfully, had a scrap piece of wood to use to screw those three pieces to so that they made a sign, AND without my knowing, he put a nifty wire hanger on the back for me (he's craft that way!). Once it was spray painted black, I was ready to get to writing. Here is the beginning of the pictures:

Start of the project

Now, I'm not too crafty when it comes to having my own ideas, but when I see something I love, I try to duplicate it, but "make it my own". When I originally started this project, I had everything ready, thought I could do all of it without measuring how big/small the lettering should be and just went to town! WRONG!!! I got about 5 hours into the project and had to put the paint brush down and call it a night. Thankfully the next day was a rainy day and my neighbor (the one that is crafty and knows how to spray paint) was home. So, in a panic, I called him and asked if he would help me, YET AGAIN, spray paint over what I had painted so that I could start again! As he laughed, he was willing and very sweet to say yes! This time, since it was raining, it took a lot longer to dry than the original painting did (needless to say I was stressing since it was the day BEFORE Valentines) but in about 2-3 hours he called me and let me know it was ready to pick up and (to my surprise) he had sort of done a "mock" drawing of how I needed to space my lettering out! HA! (I think that was so he didn't have to repaint it again for me! :-) ) Now that I had it back, I put it in the bathroom downstairs, so that Jenn couldn't see it, with a fan to let it continue to dry. 2 hours later, I was ready to paint the words, this time I wrote them very lightly with a pencil, so I could get my spacing and everything correct because there was NO time for a re redo!

I decided this time I would start from the bottom and work my way up so that I had the correct spacing and everything would fit. Here is how it looked a little more than half way done:

I was doing great so far! I was surprisingly happy with myself when I look back on it, because I did all this free handed! As you can see, (at least to me) the words look almost like they are stenciled on! But enough boasting...After this I took to the bathroom to finish, so that Jenn could fix dinner :-)! After about 2 more hours of painting and going back over what I had done so that it would look almost rustic, I was FINALLY finished! I left it in the bathroom with a fan on it over night so that it would be VERY WELL dried for Valentines Day. Here is the finished product (keep in mind, I'm not crafty but I did a pretty darn good job):

Jenn's 2012 Valentines Day Present

Not bad huh?!?!?!? I am pretty proud of myself and the way it turned out and happily, so was Jenn. She will never admit it, but I think I caught a tear when she saw it for the first time! :-) of course it was a tear of happiness. She told me after seeing this, that she has never had anyone go to so much trouble to give her a present before and I assured her that I too had never gone through so much to give a present like this, that means so much to the both of us!

So for now we are on a mission to find out where the best place to hang this will be and I will post that as soon as we decide! For now, I am off to do some more projects so that I can hopefully, make our house a home to us!

I hope everyone had a very Happy Valentines Day! I know I did!

Happy Valentines Day...

MeeMaw's Coupons...

My Mom's Mom, MeeMaw, will be turning 80 this year, February 7th. So, in honor of her huge milestone birthday, I have decided to make a homemade birthday gift from the heart. In my many "pinning" ventures, I had found a tutorial on how to make yourself your own note pad. Well, I took that one step further...I made a "coupon" book for her that has about 15 pages of things she can "cash-in" with me and I will do them for her when ever she wants, I did tell her she had to give me 24 hours notice when using these "coupons" so I could plan accordingly!

Here's what you will need for this project:

1. Scrap book paper, 2 sheets (I used 2 different sheets but you can use just one sheet cut twice)
2. Card Stock
3. Computer to type up pages for Coupon Book
4. Printer that will except 4.5X6.5 (or 4X6 will work too) card stock
5. Mod Podge and brush/applicator
6. Clothes Pins or Paper clips (those black ones)
7. Scissors/Rotary Cutter
8. Stick on letters from Hobby Lobby or any craft store

Now that you have your supplies ready, let's get started! First, you'll need to think of some ideas for your "coupons". Since I was giving this coupon book to my MeeMaw, I thought of things that she would need help getting done, or things that she wouldn't normally do by herself, i.e. going out to eat, making a meal for herself that will last her a few days, etc. etc. Here are some of the things that I put in her coupon book:

1. Good For: "Lisha" Time - We love spending time together!
2. Good For:  Give Buster Brown (her foster dog) a bath
3. Good For:  Cook a meal for her
4. Good For:  Take her out to eat any where she wants
5. Good For:  Take her to Magnolia (Jenn's Parents House) to go fishing (she LOVES to fish)
6. Good For:  Mop/Clean her house
7. Good For:  Taking her to Joe V's (a new grocery store in town) to go grocery shopping
8. Good For:  Buying her a 6 pack of beer (she likes the cheap stuff :-))

Example of one a coupon

All the pages of the coupon book

After I thought of all the coupon ideas, I went to my computer and began typing them up. I set the page parameters to fit so that when I put the card stock in my printer it would print perfectly to the pages. These happened to be 4.5X6.5, so I set the parameters on my computer to 4X6 and it worked the same. Now that the hard part is over, YES that is the hard part, and all the pages are printed, I used 15 pages total, you will need to prepare your cover and back pages.

Pages cute and ready for letters

I didn't show you how I cut the cover and back pages because I just simply used my rotary cutter and cut to size, it's that simple. Now that you have your front and back pages ready, you are ready to add the lettering to the front and if you want to the back pages. I went the cheaper way and got some stick on letters that are already ready to go, you just have to pull off from the page and spell out what you the book to say/what its for.

All the letters are attached and the pages are printed

I decided to add the date of her birthday and on the back I put whom it was from, Jenn and myself, along with how old she was turning, just as a reminder as to when and what the coupon book is for, for in the future. I found these letters at the spur of the moment at hobby lobby and it was a VERY lucky find, they turned out to be VERY helpful! Back to the coupon book, you will now need your Mod Podge and your brush/applicator to put on the Mod Podge and your clothes pins/black paper clips. Make sure you line up the edges of the pages so they are all even on the side that you want to stick together. My choice was to Mod Podge the left side of the book, but you can make that call when you get to this stage once you get all your pages arranged how you want them. Here is where the clothes pins/black paper clips come in:

Front of the coupon book

Back of the coupon book

Now that they are aligned so that when you Mod Podge the pages, you get them all stuck together, get your Mod Podge brush/applicator and Mod Podge ready. (Sorry I get a little picture happy!). Take your brush/applicator and apply a small amount of Mod Podge to the side you want to adhere.

Applying Mod Podge

Make sure when your using your Mod Podge that you use it sparingly so as not to cake it on and make a mess. I used the Mod Podge twice, so that I made sure that ALL the sheets of card stock and the front and back pages were secured well (I'm just a worry wart when it comes to things falling apart). Since it doesn't take long for Mod Podge to dry, when it is used lightly, it didn't take long for it to adhere and be sturdy, however, I left the clothes pins/black paper clips on an extra 5-10 minutes, just in case.

I used extra clips once I finished Mod Podging

I put it on paper towels just  in case it ran

After about 5-10 minutes of dry time, I took off the clips and I realized that even though the Mod Podge dried clear, on black you can still see the dry Mod Podge. So, I had to come up with a clever way to hide the dried Mod Podge. Since I didn't have any fabric that would match my front and back pages, nor did I have any ribbon to add to the edges to cover up the small blimpish's, I came up with a pretty quick and simple way to hide it, I used ALL the dashes and dots on my pages of sticky letters. Here's the front:

Notice the dot dash dot along the left side

Then I had to tackle the back too. Since I had used all the dashes, I decided to use just the dots that I had left and LUCKILY I had JUST enough. Here's the back:

Notice the dots along the right side

Now that I had the pages done, the front and back pages done and all of it was Mod Podged together, I was FINISHED!! It seriously only took me about 30-45 minutes total, the longest parts were thinking of the ideas of things to do for her and printing them out. Once I had that done, it was easy as pie!

So, now that I have shown you basically how to make a coupon book and Valentine's Day is just around the corner...you can make your "sweetheart" their own "coupon book" full of things that the two of you can do together or apart if you maybe have children, i.e. you could take the kiddo's to the park or movies for a couple of hours so Mommy can have some "Me" time (just a thought). 

I think this coupon book was a great idea because it comes from the heart and it's something homemade, so it is definitely a one of a kind!

Happy couponing...

Making Glitter...

One of my many projects that I have been doing lately is this VERY simple one, making glitter. I thought it would be messy and hard, but it turned out to be the easiest project I've done by far! Here's what you'll need:

1. 1/4 Tbsp Food Coloring
2. 1/2 cup of Plain Salt
3. Foil
4. Baking Sheet
5. 350 degree oven

That's ALL!! Ok. so here's how it works. Start by turning your oven on to 350 degrees. Take a bowl, any bowl will work, I just prefer to use my glass ones, just in case the food coloring dyes my Tupperware. Put your 1/2 cup of salt into the bowl, measure out 1/4 Tbsp of desired food coloring (I LOVE purple). I found these new food coloring colors that come in Pink, Purple, Blue, and Yellow and I got the traditional colors as well, this way, I didn't have to mix colors to come up with purple or possibly pink.

1/2 cup Plain Salt

Once you have added the food coloring to your salt, stir with a metal spoon (so as not to discolor your wooden spoons or plastic ones) until completely mixed with the salt and you can not find any white in your bowl.

Food coloring and salt completely mixed

Next, take a normal baking sheet and line it with foil. Pour your salt mixture onto the foil covered baking sheet and spread it out until its all even and level.

Both purple and blue on one sheet

I decided to do two colors since I had such a large baking sheet. This was just my way of killing two birds with one stone...I wanted to make this glitter for another project that I've seen on Pinterest, however that didn't work! I'll explain that in a minute. Once you have all your salt mixture(s) on your baking sheet, your ready to put it in the oven. Place your baking sheet in the oven for 10 minutes or until the salt has no moisture in it. Once your done baking the salt mixtures, you need to let it set for a good 15 minutes or so, that way it is cool and completely dry. Then your ready to use the glitter like you would use regular glitter! It's that simple! I originally got the idea (of course) from PINTEREST on PlanetPals.com!!! It's such a great website to get some good ideas that are simple like this one!

My next project, that involves glitter (which is why I wanted to do this project) is making your own personalized glitter key that I got from Oceanside Dream:

Aren't these SO cute?

But when I used the glitter that I made the glitter on the key project went TOTALLY WRONG! Turns out when you go by the directions given for making the personalized keys, it comes out in a clumpy mess and looks HORRIBLE! That is the reason I mentioned it not working on this project that I REALLY want to do.

However, I have read on the site that you could also use the same recipe with sugar and put it on your food and decorate with it in sugar form and there are SO many things I plan on using the sugar mixture for in the VERY near future! (This weekend, with posts to let you know how it turns out!)

I hope you enjoyed this small little project and decide to do it on your own, and if you do, please let me know how you use the glitter and how things turn out!

Enjoy and Happy Glittering...