Happy Valentine's Day!

Wow, I haven't posted in forever!!!
      So I didn't exactly take the internet by storm last year when I created this blog.  What can I say, there is only so much time in the day.  But here's a quickie that I just came up with and wanted to share.
      I am going to my son's Valentine's Party at school this afternoon, and I wanted to make one of those Lego heart necklaces that I've seen on Etsy.  To make the necklace, you need 2 coupling plates.  You can order them on Lego.com in the Pick A Brick section, but right now they are only available in gray.  I figured my kids probably already had some, it was just a matter of sifting through their Lego bins.  Well I went into their rooms, but I couldn't find the pieces I needed.  And since I was trying to do this last-minute, I came up with a different way to make a Lego heart necklace that I am sharing.  I don't know if I like it as well as the other method, but at least you can make this with the pieces you have on hand.
     You will need 2 plates, 2x3, and two circular plates with holes in the center.  See the pictures below.

Once you have the heart made, you can feed your necklace through the two holes.  I used a ball chain that I had on hand.
     The lengths I will go to in order to impress my own kids!!!

Painted Utensils for Christmas

So I have been busy, busy, busy...just not busy updating my blog!  What's been going on, you ask?  Most recently, I planned my 9 year old's Mad Science birthday party (blog entry forthcoming, hopefully, no promises).
     Now I'm in full blown Christmas mode.  Crazy, right?  Not really.  Every year I move right from Jake's birthday to making Christmas gifts.  It's how I preserve my sanity during December, by getting it all done ahead of time.  I decided a couple of years ago no more baking goodies as gifts.  If you give crafty things, you can make them way ahead of time and put them in a closet somewhere.  Besides, butter and eggs aren't exactly cheap anymore.
     SPOILER ALERT...if you work at my kids' school in the office, are a neighbor, take care of my dog, are friends with my grandmother, etc. you are about to read a post about what I am giving out for Christmas.  If you don't mind finding out early, and won't be offended by my frugality, read on!
     I love giving gifts to everyone at Christmas who touches my family's life, and I mean everyone!  But as the years go by and life gets more expensive, it's become a challenge.  Each year I look for something that is fun, thoughtful, and cost effective.  Some years I miss the boat.  Once I made sugar scrubs for everyone but I didn't realize how much I was going to spend on light olive oil and it wound up not exactly being thrifty.  But this year I'm pretty excited about what I've done, and I managed to not break the bank.

     I saw on Pinterest some wooden utensils with painted handles.  Here's a link to the original site, Apples and Onions, if you are interested.  I thought they were super cute.  My Dollar Tree had sets of bamboo spoons for $1.  You got one large wooden spoon and one large slotted spoon.  So I bought a bunch of the sets.  I painted one handle green and one handle red, and I stress that I painted the handles only.  I didn't want to worry about my spoons not being food safe.  I used painters tape to create a clean edge where I wanted to end the paint.  Then, because I like to get a little complicated and painting a handle is too simple for me, I cut some words out of cardstock with my Cricut.  I Mod Podged "Merry" and "Christmas" onto the handles.  Add a little ribbon and a cute tag and voila!

    
 

Lego Gift Wrap

What a busy summer!  So hard to get on the computer while the kiddos are on summer vacation!  I'll have lots of new posts come the school year.  But I had to post on something I literally just did today that only took approximately 2 minutes.
     My oldest is going to his first ever surprise birthday party tomorrow.  We've gotten the birthday boy a gift card and some of those tiny Lego minifigure packs, because he loves the minifigures.  Something that little will get lost in a gift bag, and I wanted to do something using supplies I already had on hand.  So here is what I came up with, and I think it turned out super cute and would also make a nice goody bag at a party.
     I took those clear cellophane treat bags that you can purchase at Walmart.  Sometimes they are with the wedding supplies.  Using your basic black Sharpie, I free handed a Lego minifigure face.  Then I wrapped my gift card in yellow tissue paper.  I inserted it into the clear bag and tied it off with some ribbon.  There was excess tissue paper sticking up over the edge of the bag so I cut the tissue paper to be flush with the edge.  Voila!  Super easy.  Check out some of my step-by-step pictures below.
     I am working with some moms to start a school Lego club at my kids' school.  Look for more great Lego projects!

Preschool Graduation frame...thanks Dollar Tree!

So this is what it's come to...I only have time to post once a month!  Oh well :)    
     I wanted to make my niece a gift for her preschool graduation, but I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money.  I came up with this cute frame using $2 worth of materials from Dollar Tree, my stash of scrapbook paper, and my Cricut, of course!
     Dollar Tree often has those white, autograph photo mattes.  They hold a 4x6" picture, and have lots of space for decorating.  I have a stash of them in my craft closet.  The mat itself is 11x14", and you can also get 11x14" picture frames at Dollar Tree, albeit those aren't of the best quality.  The wood is pretty cheap and I recommend them for painting.  For this project, I painted the frame white.
     I measured the photo matte, and using my Cricut I cut out some pink cardstock to fit it exactly.  That took a little trial and error.  Then, also using my Cricut, I die cut out my niece's initial and the phrase, "Preschool is SO last year."  I found the phrase used on some items being sold on Etsy.  You could easily substitute another grade for the word "preschool" and have this work for a variety of ages.  For the font, I used "Simply Sweet."  Then, I cut a graduation cap out using my "Locker Talk" cartridge.  I glued all those components down on the photo matte.  Then I inserted the matte in the painted frame, and voila...a personalized gift that didn't break the bank!

Legoland Florida!!!

Oh, the project ideas I have after my recent trip to Legoland in Florida!  This here is a quickie...I took a photo of a gigantic Einstein head made out of Legos and then added a famous quote from Einstein using Picasa.  Friends, you will see this hanging in my kids' rooms very soon!

A Cheerful Bike Basket

So I am on a crafting mission to do things that involve zero dollars and cheer me up.
     I had a plain old boring bike basket from Target, a plethora of spray paints and acrylics, and a Cricut machine.  I decided to give my bike basket a makeover.  I am hoping to sneak off to the beach once or twice before the kids get out of school, and I may not be able to afford a tricked out beach cruiser, but my basket can be cute. 
     I had the cheap Bell brand bike basket from Target.  It was a metal mesh.  I hit it with a couple of coats of spray paint.  Then I made my stencil using my Cricut and the Mini Monograms cartridge.  I used just regular old craft store acrylics for the floral medallion and the "M" monogram.  For the "M" I used the Platin Schoolbook cartridge.
     And there you have it...a cuter basket for my bike.  Now will I be bold enough to actually use it????

Welcome Summer Frame

I felt the need to do something cheerful...
     I saw a super cute "wreath" on Pinterest.  Check it out here on the blog The Diary of Dave's Wife.  It was a little unconventional, but I loved it!  However, it was a little too unconventional for my hubby to want it on the front door.  We keep it pretty classic around here out front.  So, I decided to use the same concept to make a Welcome Summer picture frame instead.
     Whenever I see a cheap, paintable wooden picture frame at a thrift store, I grab it.  So I went into my stash and found a 8x10 frame and painted it a fun shade of blue.  Then I used my Celebration Cricut cartridge to create the "Welcome Summer" pennant out of paper.  I used colored brads to hook the pennants together.  I attached them to my frame using my trusty glue gun.  Next, I decided to make a mat for a picture out of some patterned cardstock.  Then I had to select a picture from last summer, and voila!
     I took awhile to select papers, etc. At first I was looking at some really beachy papers and embellishments to add along with the "Welcome Summer" banner, but in the end I'm glad I kept it pretty generic.  That way, a picture from the pool, beach, park, Disney, etc. would look good in the frame.
     Happy crafting!