My Very Productive Week


This has been one of the most productive weeks, craft-wise that I think I have ever had. It started out with me making 4 sets of 4 Scrabble tile coasters, for my brothers friend. I made her a set for herself before, and she enjoyed them so much she ordered some for a friend and family members for Christmas. A chance to make a little extra money? Yes, please!

Then, on Wednesday I was at scouts with Ben, and one of his lovely, crafty leaders told me that she had a booth at a craft fair, and if I made some stuff-I could bring it to sell. I could've died from happiness. A chance to sell something I made? For someone outside of my family and Facebook to see it? Fantastic! So I came home, got on Pinterest to look at the things that I had been wanting to make, and narrowed it down to things I can make with what I had-or very little money. Then I borrowed some Cricut cartridges from his scout leader, and set out to make some stuff.

From Wednesday night until Saturday morning (when the fair was), I got 5 hours of sleep. None of which was Friday night. And It was worth it. I love crafting, and would gladly forgo sleep any day of the week to have the chance to do it! Whether or not I sold anything was not important, since I had someone in mind for almost anything I made-just in case.....the chance that people would get to see it was what made me happy.

I didn't get everything done I had planned, and some of it didn't turn out like I wanted. That's alright. I had a blast, and I am SO grateful to Cheryl for the  excuse opportunity to craft.

On that note, here are a few pictures of what I did........

My Camp Half-Blood Painting, with hand cut vinyl. I love this, and am planning to make a few for my family members that are as in love with the Percy Jackson series as I am. This one sold though.



This is also a painting + vinyl, that I gave to my sister for my niece, Mia.

These are natural stone tiles with vinyl coasters that are now my Mom's.

This was my attempt at melted crayon art, using a glue gun. NOT A FAN. Too hard to control where it goes, and it takes forever to do. Sold.

I love this saying. This tile is now hanging in my kitchen.

This is also a wonderful saying. I think I want to put this up on the wall in my family room so I can remember it. I need to learn to live by this. I'm not the best at apologizing when I don't feel like I did anything wrong. This makes an awesome point. Sold.

Vinyl and tile coasters, Asian Edition. Sold.

Animal print vinyl and tile coasters. Sold.

This is what I came up with to try, after I wasn't happy with the melted crayon. Paint drips! Much easier to control, and I love how some of the paints started to blend. Since this wasn't dry in time, it didn't make an appearance at the fair. This is now my sister and brother-in-laws.

These are some of the coasters that were ordered for Christmas by my brothers friend.

More of the coasters......

Almost done........

last of the 16 coasters that were special ordered.

Though it is by no means perfect (owl anyone?!?), can you guess which coaster is my favorite? Can you? Hmmm.....  =)

I had one more 12 x 12 tile that said "Gratitude turns what we have into enough." I wasn't able to get a picture of it though, since it sold literally seconds after I put it out on the table at the fair. Awesome. =)

Going Green...Literally

I found one of the most genius things while browsing through Pinterest today. Moss. Paint. Seriously? Moss Paint!!

See:

http://www.designmom.com/2011/08/moss-graffiti/

This is such a cool thing. I love moss. Just the green, spongy, beauty of it. I think it should be everywhere! And with the amount of moisture in the air outside right now, I won't have to remember to water it. This is definitely win-win. Here's what you do.....

"You’ll need several handfuls of moss, 12oz of buttermilk or a can of beer and a teaspoon of sugar. Mix in a blender until liquid and paint on the wall. Spray daily as it grows, as moss thrives when moist." Thank you ohmontreal.com for your description on how to make this. I couldn't have said it any better, so I didn't. =)

I am going to buy some moss tomorrow and make my yard GORGEOUS. Trees, brick walls-nothing is going to be safe. This is going to be so much fun!

$5 Snowman Craft

My kids have been asking to decorate for Christmas since the day after Halloween. Then when I was going to my friend's house for a Girls Night Out, I saw one of her neighbors already had their Christmas tree up in front of the window, and lights around the house. I was a bit shocked at the timing (November 4th!!), and said something to Misty about it, and she said that she was thinking of putting hers up soon too. Not feeling validated in my shock, I said something to my hubby when I got home and he said it made sense as well!

"That way you get to enjoy it longer than a month."

?!?!?!?!? Am I the only one who thinks Thanksgiving is being forgotten? Mind you, Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I do listen to Christmas music all year; but I think the full on decorating should wait until the day after Thanksgiving. At least. What do you think?

It seems like I'm being out ruled in my house though with the constant asking, and the everyday pleads to decorate for Christmas. I have to admit, I am softening up to the idea-just a bit. We are still going to be making Thanksgiving decorations for the inside, but I compromised and did decide that if I put something up OUTSIDE it wouldn't take away from the spirit of Thanksgiving, and I would buy myself some time before I get barraged with pleading again.

So this is what I decided to do. My $5 craft from the dollar store. Thank you Pinterest for the idea.

 These are what I had for inspiration.....

http://carolannbychance.blogspot.com/2011/11/is-it-too-early-to-dream-of-christmas.html

http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/2010/11/tool-time-tuesdaysnow-wreath.html

Of course, if you want the wreaths to be nice and full like these, it is going to cost more-but the dollar store does have both the green faux pine, and a light wicker-ish wood type wreaths for you to pick from. For my snowman I got an 18 inch, a 16 inch, and a 12 inch faux pine wreaths. Then I got a wool scarf, and a hat that I liked to go on it. At home I had pipe cleaners, a door hanger and bells to accessorize. It was very easy, and quick. The whole thing took maybe 5 minutes, and I love it. The boys were SO happy when they came home from school and saw it. how do you like it?

My doors are nowhere near as fancy as the ones online, but I like it. I did take a couple of twisty ties and secure the hat, branches and scarf to the wreath underneath, and the bells were above the snowman instead of on it

like I was planning, just so I could hold the door hanger down to a hook on the door. Now if it gets windy, or the door gets slammed-I'm not worried about it falling down. In the end I love it, and the price could NOT be beat!!

Blingity-bling bling!!

I have 4 boys. 4. Boys. No cute clothes will ever adorn my children, since they don't make "cute" boy stuff. They make functional clothes, that have either skulls or dinosaurs on them. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I love functional clothes! I prefer them to ones that are just for show. Stains in clothes just means to me that those clothes were lived in. Like the random commercial that just happened to just play says, "The bigger the mess, the bigger the adventure." I agree. Plus I, myself am not a very "girly" girl. I wear clothes that fall into my 3 B's wardrobe rule-black, blue and baggy. I also grew up saying that all I ever wanted was boys. A fact that my fabulous friend Alicia reminds me of every time I call her with crazy stories of how my offspring are attempting to send me to the loony bin. I can't do girl hair, and I am terrified to think what my girls would look like if Alan tried to do their hair-and this is reason enough for me to never really have wanted any. That is until I saw those little tiny ruby slipper girl shoes in the store.....

 I wanted them SO badly! I pretty much wanted a girl-just so that I could buy those! If they made them for adults, I might even be convinced to buy a shoe that is not a sandal, Converse, or snow boot for myself. Like I said, I am all about functionality and comfort!

Then I met a sultry little temptress by the name of Pinterest. She has the ability to convince you that ANYTHING is possible. You can be Martha Stewart if you are so inclined, all you need to do is purchase some glitter and craft glue, and Presto!! I'm positive that she is a "she" because she is so organized, and knows everything. Plus-you can spend hours with her, and even if you didn't accomplish anything-it feels like time well spent.

I was gawking at the little ruby slippers at Walmart the other day, grieving over the fact that I will never have an opportunity to have those in MY house, when I had a thought. It was kind of crazy, but I wondered if it was possible.....I would have to talk to Pinterest and see.....

Side story-I have always wanted to own red Converse. Like real red. When I couldn't find any my size, my mom was kind enough to buy me the maroon ones. Close, but I still wanted red. See where I am going? Oh yeah. This is what Pinterest had for me.....

http://cottonandcurls.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-make-sparklyglitter-shoes.html

GENIUS!!

I am convinced within myself that if Dorothy Gale had been given the choice between the Ruby Slippers or a sassy, sparkly pair of comfy Converse shoes to make her long journey along the yellow brick road, she would have picked the Converse. Hands down. Have you ever walked any kind of distance in heels? Please! I can't even wear flats for 3 hours of church.

So this is what I did......

I took a pair of my old Converse (and by "old" I mean "already owned or not bought for this project), and got all my supplies ready. Well, most of them. I did have to get up a few times and search for stuff when I realized that I needed it.

Modge Podge (MP)
few various sizes of paint brushes (just depends how big or small you are comfortable with. 1/2 in to 1 in woked best for me. Then I used a smaller one to get it around the lace holes.)
glitter of my choice
masking tape
Acrylic sealer spray
X-acto knife
Tacky Glue

Ok, ok-I should tell you that I read a few "glitter your shoes" websites, and I kind of took what I wanted from them all to get the general idea of how to do it, then I completely "Tammy-ized" it. Simply put, I pretty much ignored most of what they did, and did it my own way, with what I had. Pretty typical of me.

Step 1) Taped off the part of the shoe that I didn't want blinged out.

Step 2) I mixed some Modge Podge & glitter, and started working in sections to paint the glue on the fabric part of the shoe. I make my own MP by the way (hence the Macadamia Nut bottle). It saves you serious money!!

Step 3) I got completely impatient (again typical me) and where I had painted the MP-I dumped glitter all over it and gently pushed it down into the glue. When I finished both shoes, I put them in front of the fan to help along the drying time. (Drying between coats can take a while, so if you do this-you can follow my example and take in a movie or two. Forget doing anything productive-you are already making fabulous shoes, why push it? Also, a refreshing drink is an absolute must!!)

Step 4) I added a few layers of MP to completely seal the glitter and made sure there were no unsparkly holes. I found it very hard to let the shoes dry between each coat, but thankfully Captain America kept me company. =) The fan did a great job of cutting this time down also. Then I let them dry over night.

Step 5) When I got up, I took the tape off the dry shoes, and used my X-acto knife to define the edges, and scrape away stray glitter.

Step 6) I got a Sharpie and colored in all the lace holes, and colored in the toe of the shoe all black because that is what I had decided I wanted.

Step 7) I completely sprayed them down with the acrylic sealer I have, which seals the MP, and makes them glossy and waterproof. It says to do this in a well ventilated area. I didn't do this. It is too cold outside for the sealer to cure, so I just put them on our freezer to dry. We almost died. J/k. It smelled really bad, and eventually I had to turn on the fan to blow the smell away form us, and open a window. This is one area where following the directions pays.

Step 8) Not unlike most women, I have a way of changing my mind. Constantly. I decided that I didn't like the black tip, so I taped off the toe area, took Tacky Glue and smeared it all over the part I wanted red. Then I dumped glitter all over the toe area and pushed it into the glue.

Step 9) When it was dried, I MP'd it to seal the glitter. Then I sprayed the sealer on again!

Step 10) I laced up these bad boys, and enjoyed my new fancy shoes!!

What do you think??

I want to start this tradition.....

I was pinning away on Pinterest tonight, after one of the worst days in my recent memory-feeling very down/agitated/exhausted-when I came across this simple looking post of a pretty, smiling lady and just decided to click on the link with her and read her story.

http://mixmingleglow.com/blog/?p=1358

 It was an immediate pick-me-up. I read her blog post (her name is Robyn by the way) and the comments from her readers, and I feel inspired to follow her example and be selfless on my birthday as well. I think it would be a fun tradition for me and a great example to set for my children. Hopefully they will want to do it as well.

I was thinking of the random acts of kindness I have performed lately, and how it felt to do them. It is definitely a kind of high that is addicting.

One that pops out in my head is a few weeks ago, I was at the grocery store and after just finishing my late night shopping I got into the line to check out. The lady in front of me had 2 kids with her, and as I was putting my things on the belt, I heard her tell the cashier that "she was short on cash, so could she put some things back?" When I saw that she was putting back things like bread, milk, and cereal I told the cashier to just add the remaining balance to my order. The look of shock and confusion on both their faces were priceless. The cashier asked if I was serious, and I assured her I was. I had a little extra money, and this was worth using it on. The lady kept thanking me, and telling me she was sorry. I just smiled and said "I've been there. I'm glad I could help." Then she came up and gave me a huge hug! That was awesome. She left with her much needed groceries, and I think I restored the cashier's faith in people. She kept saying she had never seen someone do that. I just smiled, and told her I was happy to surprise her.

Random acts of kindness rock, so I hope this experiment can be a success! My birthday isn't for another month and a half, but I thought I'd share this lady's GENIUS idea. I truly love it. I hope I have given you guys something to think about. Check out her blog, it is fantastic! I dare you to try and be in a bad mood when you finish it.

I am now in a good mood, problems behind me, and my mind running with all the possibilities of R.A.O.K. I can plan for my birthday. Mine will be less financially involved than hers, but I think I can still brighten people's days by being creative.

Have a Glorious day!!

My Latest Project....

Freshly painted clock for my notoriously delinquent brother and sister-in-law. See, I drew their names for Christmas in the family "grab a name out of a hat" tradition. While I did get them a normal gift-I had to do this. Jabbety-jab-jab. I'm always making fun of them for being so late. It's PERFECT for them, whether they want to admit it or not. I wonder if it will ever make it on their wall? =) Only time will tell.......

Drying now, waiting to be sealed. I'm hoping it looks better then.....Reads "Whatever, I'm late anway."

Speaking if which, My dad got me a Cricut Create. It is the smaller version of Cricut, but I love it!!! Give it up for early birthday presents!! I just need to make friends with a LOT of people that would be willing to share their fabulous Cricut cartridges with me. They are far too expensive! Meanwhile, my friend Misty has 2 of them, and we had fun doing some creative cutting last night. I see many awesome projects coming up!!!

Also.....

Tonight was the annual "Trunk-or-Treat" at church. Here are a few quick pictures of the boys. The older 3 anyway. Miles was WAY too fussy, and sleepy to come. It would have been miserable bringing a tired, crying 2 year old around a huge crowd of people. He will be doing Trick-or-treating on Halloween, after a nice, refreshing nap.

Ninja Assassin

Spiderman

Vampire Sheriff

Real non-vampire teeth



wanted a beard painted on when getting his face painted.



Cupcake treat!!!

Me and Miles hanging at home, after I got home.

My new love....

I have discovered a new obsession inspiration, for the paintings I want to do. I am just in awe of this man, and literally just sit and stare at his talent. I am a HUGE fan of color. The more vibrant, bold, and in your face, the better for me. Rainbows everywhere would be my ideal. I discovered a painting on Pinterest, and then another-but two wasn't enough. I searched, and searched, and finally found out his name. Leonid Afremov. Oh, you better believe I Googled him! What I found just blew my mind. I honestly could spend hours just looking at his work. I would die to own one of his original pieces, but besides being WAAAAY out of my price range, dying for it would be rather counter-productive. I wouldn't be able to enjoy it! Ogling them all the day through has inspired me to attempt to paint something like it. I think I'd do one of his Park scenes, since the Italian cityscape that I LOVE, is just a little bit out of my league. Baby steps. I will try painting something like his, and see what comes of it. Art and crafts give me peace, and make me so unbelievably happy that there is no wrong in the world when my hands are busy creating things. But the perfectionist in me may keep anybody from seeing the painting if I don't like how it turns out. Sorry. It's something I'm working on. =)

Meanwhile, enjoy some of his GENIUS I borrowed from Google images.......

So cute.

This would be such a gorgeous place for a stroll.



I can just imagine walking through the rain at dusk here.



I want to sit there forever.....



I love this.




The orange, yellow and red captivate me.



This is what I imagine Heaven looks like.



This is one of my favorites. Ah, Itlay.......




Couldn't you just die?




WOW!



Still here....

Taking pictures everyday is surprisingly harder than I thought. Well played, life. Many things have happened in the past few months, most of which I don't remember. But of the things I do: my Dad has moved in with us, my sister (Holly) and her hubby (Justin) have moved here, and Holly has had her baby, Mia. Plus school started, and with that; I now have a preschooler! First kid to go to Preschool-third kid. Is that weird? Am I the only one that usually doesn't send the kids to Preschool? It's a pretty big adjustment, schedule-wise, since he has a different time-frame than the older boys. They leave for school at 6:25 (gotta love bus times), Nathan starts at noon. They get home at 2:10, and Nathan ends at 4:00. My days are crazy with running around, doing dinner, Scouts, homework, errands, etc..... Thank goodness for Dad and his car! Nathan wouldn't be able to even go if it weren't for him, since the Preschool bus can't come here. Also, I'm volunteering in Nick's class this year. Which is actually, REALLY fun.

I'm randomly doing Pinterest projects, which I keep meaning to add pictures of here-but I am terrible at remembering to do so. Here are a few pictures of the things I have done, or am currently working on.

This is a journal that I am covering with fabric for myself.

The Zorro ornament I made for Nathan today. Pre-painting. Zorro ornaments? Impossible to find! Who knew? Nathan is kind of obsessed with Zorro right now.

Yoda shirt for my friend's son's birthday. I painted, "My Lego Yoda shirt, this is." underneath Yoda.

The Beatles painting I did for my brother, Jason.

The custom Scrabble coasters I made for my brother, Aaron's friend.

I made 2 sets of these Flight of the Conchords coasters for my brother, Jason, and sister, Wendy

I have to make a few more ornaments for Nick, Ben and Miles. And I'm going to be making some Camp Half-Blood shirts for my boys, as soon as I find either orange shirts or orange shirt dye. Percy Jackson books rock! =)