Crafting>Nesting {halloween and a tutorial}

So, if nesting is a pre-requisite for the baby to come...she may never come!! :) I'm sorry, but when I have a minute, I'd rather be sleeping or making something! Of course, I do love organizing her room and her baby items around the house. Does that count?

Here's a few things I got together today that I thought were so cute and easy!

Jack-O-Lantern Treats:

 How cute, right?! It took me 5 minutes to create - even better! My nephews in GA are coming in this weekend and I wanted to make sure to get their Halloween treat to them before they left! I also made one my Colby & Cameron, and Lana {my cousin-in-law}.

Here's how to make:
*pint size mason jars
*candy corn & pumpkin treats
*black vinyl
*ribbon
All I did was fill the jars with the candy, lay the black vinyl on the white side (back side) and drew out a mouth and 2 triangles for eyes.  Then I peeled it off and stuck it to the jar! Lastly, just add cute ribbon! Make sure the lid in on tight just in case the parents don't want their kid's fingers in the jars all the time! {although, candy corn is a fat free treat! ha!}

So easy, right?!

Next I made one for our house to keep on one of the end tables in the family room.  I took out the little topper insert to make it easier to grab a few candies at a time. :)  I just added ribbon with double-sided tape and then a ribbon bow around the lid.  I LOVE candy corn!!

Argyle Pumpkin:
Ok, so you all know I am Pinterest-illiterate! I found a cute photo of an argyle/polka dot/and striped pumpkin set floating around Pinterest.  I'm going to say probably all of you have too since it's been re-pinned so many times! WELL, the thing I dislike so much about Pinterest is that I never found where it truly came from and a tutorial for it.  So, I made up my own way of making one and I've got an easy tutorial for you!

I used teal, yellow, and brown instead of orange and black because I thought it matched better where I put it in my family room.
Here's what you need:
*ghost pumpkin (real or fake, mine is real)
*3 paints of your choice
*one sheet of paper
*tape
*paint brush
Here's the tutorial:

1. First, make sure your pumpkin is super clean!
2. Take a piece of paper or card stock and fold in half.  Then draw a triangle where the point is the opposite of your fold. (I traced my triangle I had cut out a while back from my Gender Reveal banner)

3. Next, cut it out and tape on the paper. Then start with one of your colors and paint.

 4. Remove and place next to the triangle and repeat. Do this around the entire pumpkin or just the part that will show. :)

5.  After you've painted your pumpkin, use a skinnier paint brush and start making quick, short, dotted lines through each triangle.

6. Viola! You are done with your super cute and preppy pumpkin! :)

Let me know if you try!!!

I'm Linking Up with A Bowl Full of Lemons :)

Nursery Chandelier {& a tutorial}

I'm finally posting our nursery chandelier! I was trying to decide whether to show H's whole room all at once or not, but I'll go ahead and share this little part because I'm so proud of it!

Now, most of you creative bloggers won't find this that exciting, but I am really proud! ha!

I wanted do to a chandelier in her room and found a few online that were way over budget {like $300!!} - plus, who would pay for that?! So, I set out to make my own and made it a goal to stay under $35! Not only did I make my own, but, I came in $1 over budget ~ $36!! :)

What do you think?!  The feel of the room I am going for is very simple and serene.  I could have added more color pops or different trim, but I like how simple and girly it ended up.

So here's how I did it and a little tutorial ~ although it was pretty simple and I just made it up as I went; so you could probably figure it out!
1. I searched many places, but ended up finding a nasty, beat up light fixture at the Habitat Restore Shop in my hometown.  This picture does not even do it justice how nasty it was. I had partly cleaned it before taking the pic! Cleaning was easy - only needed water and a towel.  {cost: $5.30}  Then spray paint.  Husband took care of this for me since smelling aerosol is frowned upon during pregnancy ~ and because he offered! It took 2 coats to get it beaming white! {cost: $6.00 at Lowe's}

2. Next you need to find lamp shades.  Again, I'm always making things hard on myself! I looked everywhere except for right under my nose! I needed small "clip on lamp shades" that were rounded so that I could cover it with fabric easily.  They had lots to choose from that had more of a design to it, but if you want to cover, you need the plain ones. {cost: $8.00 total for 6 at Lowe's...but we had a gift card. they are regularly $5.64 each}

3. Find fabric you want to cover your shades with.  Make a template by rolling your lampshade over paper {I used tissue paper so it would easily fold} and then matching it up and making sure you have a little extra fabric for the top and bottom to fold over.  {cost: free}

4. I got lucky with my fabric! :) I actually used one side of my crib bed skirt to cover the shades! Most crib skirts will come with 4 sides.  So unless you have one of the cribs where it will show, you don't need the 4th side.  I also knew my lavender shade was hard to match up with other fabric's so I was excited to use it.  I was nervous at first to look too matchy-matchy, but I'm ok with it in the end. :) My crib skirt is also reversible, so I actually have an entire other piece of fabric to make something else out of...maybe. :) Below are the pictures of the steps I took. {cost: free b/c it was a shower gift!}

5.  Once you've traced your template on to your fabric and cut, it's time to apply! I used Liquid-Stitch glue because it's easy to work with and I'd used it already to make my wedding table runners and family room curtains and I liked how easy and well it worked.  I started by applying a small amount on to the lamp shade edges and slowly applied the fabric little by little making sure there were no bubbles and it was staying on track.  *Make sure you start and end with the seam of the lamp.  Then you just fold over the extra fabric from the top and bottom.  It only takes about 5 minutes to dry and it dries clear! {cost: I already had this, but it's usually about $4 at Hobby Lobby.}

fold over your end seam so it will look better

6.  Add trim.  I had it hanging for a while without trim, but thought I needed to add some just to give it the 'nursery' feel. *spoiler alert: my nursery isn't very baby-themed, but you will see when I share the entire room* I bought a few different samples, but ended up going with the rosettes because I liked the 'boutique' and girly feel it gave me.  To add, I just measured the trim, cut, and applied to the bottom only with my Liquid-Stitch glue and let set. {cost: $13.42 for 1yd. 3/4in. at Hobby Lobby - a bit pricey!}

7. Add small chandelier light bulbs. {cost: $2.99 at Wal-Mart}
8.  Get your hot husband to hang! :)

I thought about adding crystals around the bottom but I have a tendency to go a little too far so I decided to quit while I was ahead!

Hope you like!!! It actually gives off more light than the standard dome fixture that was in the room before!
I'm adding this to:

"Yea, I Make Curtains..."

That's what I'll be sliding in to conversations from now on. :) Our Sneak Peek Reveal is here!
Although the pictures DO NOT due this fabric justice {can't wait to get a decent camera, sheesh!}, it looks really good in our family room. It looks so good that we are re-thinking needing curtains in the breakfast area. 

Do you like the puddle-look of the fabric, or should I hem it just a little to just barely touch the carpet?

I've been looking for fabric for a while because A) I like custom things, B) I wanted super long curtains to start close to the ceiling and end touching the floor with 9 ft. ceilings, and C) I'm too cheap to pay over $50 for something I felt like I could make myself.

And here it is! I MADE THESE! And my wonderful hubby hung the rods perfectly! I am so proud of myself! ha!

the picture makes it look more green than it actually does in the room:)

We chose this fabric because it ties in the greens and yellows from the kitchen, the blues and grays in the family room on the couch and chairs, and the beige and tan from the wall and trimming.  We found a really pretty green pillow with the colors in the fabric from Wal-Mart and I'm debating on getting it to add to the couch. Again, I like textures, designs, and colors all mixed in.

I used the technique from this post to make all the edges look hemmed and seamless.  I also chose ring hooks to hang the curtains from the rods for a few reasons.  I felt like fabric going over the rod would make this room feel 'fancier' than I wanted and I got the last bit of fabric from the store so I was afraid I didn't have much to spare! {Wrong!}

Total Cost:
2 Rods from Wal-Mart: $25 each
2 bags of ring hooks: $6 each
2 panels cut of 8ft 3/4in fabric: $32 total {this was 40% off and I got the end of the fabric, so one panel was 50% off!!}
1 bottle of Unstitch: left-over from wedding...I think the bottle was $4
Saying I made my own custom curtains: PRICELESS! hahaha :)

Hope you likey!

AND...remember this post? We did it! I got the cheaper stencil from Hobby Lobby that looked just like the $40 one at the on-line store. Brian takes all the credit for this! He was even being creative when he asked if we should do the entire wall or just a strip.  At first I wanted the entire wall, but after we saw how bold it was, we both decided we really only wanted it to add an 'extra layer' to that area, so we left a strip. I like it!! But Brian is still debating. He may end up painting the whole inset section. :)

Total Cost:
Stencil{50% off}: $9
Valspar Churchill Hotel Vanilla paint: 1/2 pint - $2.95

Hope you're having a good weekend! Go Green Bay!


*I'm Linking up with A Bowl Full of Lemons! {7/12/11}

Wedding Wednesday

I have been so distracted by making wreaths I haven't had time to write in a while! While I'm still trying to figure out all the kinks in The Craft Store, I've actually had several people want monogram wreaths and sports wreaths!

---For my look-back on my wedding stuff, I'm going to share with you how I made my own table runners. We looked at all the reception place had to offer, but everything was a one-color option. Since I wanted to incorporate paisley in my wedding colors {of pink and green}, I knew I needed an extra something.

My mom and I searched for quite a while trying to find the right color paisley pink to match the Watermelon colored bridesmaid dresses. It was not easy! It was also not easy to find fabric in bulk that didn't cost an arm and a leg.

We finally found some fabric that was being discontinued. First of all I liked this because that meant no one else would have that in the future. But secondly, if we didn't measure correctly we wouldn't have enough!

We decided on placing the table runners on every other table as to not overkill the design.

Directions:
First we got the round table measurements and decided how long we wanted the runners and how wide.
Next (my mother and I do not sew...) we bought some No Sew glue from Hobby Lobby. As we cut down the length, we folded all 4 edges of the rectangle shape to make it look neat and clean. And it did actually look like we sewed!




Then I used the rest to wrap all my bridesmaid's bouquets.