Target inspired Snowball Wreath
Target. We all know its an evil place that longs to reach into the depths of our pockets. I have a love/hate relationship with Target. I sometimes PURPOSELY try not to go because I KNOW what will happen. I go for one thing, and come out with 10 more things i didn't even know i NEEDED!
So I saw this beauty as a part of Targets Threshold collection - their super chic home decor collection. I LOVED it, but in an effort to be frugal and maintain some kind of strength to not get all things awesome at Target, I decided to attempt to make it myself.
Target Inspired snowball wreath
Get:
Pom Poms (you can use cotton balls - but the result wouldn't hold up nearly as good!)
1 inch sized Bells
Foam wreath
Hot glue and glue gun
And yes I typically have a glass of one while i get crafty ;)
Glue balls and bells in semi random order around the wreath
Below i was about a quarter way done :)
And Tada! - Finished product! I love it. So festive and unique. Would make a cute gift as well.
Homemade scented pine cones
Super easy! I had Blake help out with this one.
We gathered pine cones. Brought them inside and washed them. Basically let water run on them for a couple minutes.
Put them all on a tin foiled baking sheet for about 45-50 minutes.
Take them out and let them cool.
Put them inside a big closable baggie( i used 2 gallon ziplock)
Put any fragrance oil inside the bag-i used apple cinnamon spice from yankee candle. Close bag and shake!!
3 step laundry soap
I know what your thinkin. who in this day makes their own laundry soap. It is such a "old time" thing to do. Nowadays people can get away with getting some pretty inexpensive soap to launder their clothes. My go to was Tide. It does a great job, but 1. it is pretty expensive, and 2, most importantly, its got all natural ingredients.
While cant really say at this point that i notice a difference good or bad using this vs the Tide we were used to but i love the idea that its all natural and cost a bit cheaper.
Homemade laundry soap:
1c Borax
1c washing soda
1 bar fels naptha
I was able to find all of the ingredients at Wegmans (NE grocery store)
mix the borax and washing soda together in a bowl.
Grate fels naptha -i used my kitchen grater. This took me about 15 minutes to grate.
Mix grated soap and powder mix together.
Thats it!
I am gonna give this homemade stuff a shot and see how well it does. Guess we'll see!
victory whirlwind beer cupcakes
I decided to make these for a male friend who was going through a rough time with family health problems. They turned out to be pretty big hits with him and at home as well! My inspiration came from this talented girl.
I based my version on hers but tweaked it to reflect the use of a different beer. Heres a little something you didn't know about me…i make wine and the husband makes beer. He also made his own keggerator (He is a DIY man himself!)
Victory Beer Cupcakes
3/4 cups butter
1-3/4 cup sugar
2-1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lime zest
1 cup Victory Whirlwind, About 1/4 cup for brushing on tops
1/4 cup milk
lime wedges for garnish
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add eggs, beating after each addition then add the vanilla and zest.
- Combine milk and beer and alternatively add this mixture and the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture with the mixer on low speed, starting and ending with the flour.
- Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 18 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.
- When cupcakes are done, poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes with bamboo skewers and brush beer on each while still warm.
lemon lime butter creme Frosting
1 can store bought butter creme frosting with juice of 1/4 lime and 1/4 lemon
I made a meager attempt at frosting these with a star tip and a ziplock baggie. For not being a baker really at all - they came out not too shabby!
Makes 18-24 cupcakes (depending on how much batter you load into each liner)
easter buckets -very easy DIY
OK. easter is around the corner and i have been thinking of how to coordinate our baskets. See we have oh about 5-10 different baskets collected through out the years from when we first got married, to later when we decided to upgrade to nicer ones - to the kids', which were either given to us or we had gotten in a non coherent fashion.
I like simplicity and i love things to match.
So these baskets were just not in the cards, i decided, this year.
So i did some pinteresting an came across a very modern way to do easter baskets. My pinspiration.
And here my version.
I was able to pick these buckets up at target in the "dollar" area up front when you first walk in for $2.50 a piece!
I actually ive that they were shallower and wider. Makes for a better use of space i think to have a nice shallow layer of grass. I do wish they came with handles - i have seen ones that do - matter of fact they had a few in the easter isle with handles and were printed but i wanted plain color buckets to keep it simple. (and these were half the price!)
(i plan to do my own homemade grass this year as well - i seriously loathe the green plastic stuff, bleh!)
I used scrapbook letters (1 package) for all of us - luckily for me we all have unique letters so there was enough to go around, and i changed up the letters a bit to make it work. But it gives our names character.
The letters were white - but i decided to paint Porters and mine yellow to change it up a bit.
I had Porter help me paint the painting - a little DIY for him, and he was so proud he got to help make them!
I would be super excited to see yours if ya'll make them yourself! Link up in the comments!
DIY blue vintage mason jar
You will need:
Clean jar
White Elmers' glue
Paint Brush/sponge brush
Food coloring
Start with clean clear jars. I found mine at our local goodwill. I have a couple more glass jars that i plan to do this DIY with later. (repurpose bath bubble jars from World Market)
I experimented a bit to get the right consistency - you'll want it to be thick enough to paint with: I came up with this ratio:
1.5 tsp of glue : 3 drops of food coloring : 1.5 tsp of water.
The more food coloring the darker the jar will be. In order to make a turquoise shade I used two drops of blue and 1 drop of green.
Using either a paint brush or a sponge brush paint the OUTSIDE of your jar.
If you paint the inside, you will not be able to use the jar for fresh flowers- since you'll most likely be putting water in with your flowers and the paint will come off if you do.
Paint a bit more at the tops and bottom of the jars for a more real vintage look.
Turn turn painted jars upside down and let the remaining larger drips fall. At this point your jars will look sorta streaky - thats ok it will dry much different.
A fair warning, if you plan to use these as flower vases - BE CAREFUL putting water into the jars. Use a funnel if possible. Otherwise you may end up with water streaks down your jars.
beautiful colored vases
While browsing the home goods section of Marshalls, i came across the most beautiful colored vases. I have always been inspired by the look of many vases as use in decor, so i thought i have vases at home why not try and color them myself! I used the Martha Stewart tutorial as a guideline and here is what i came up with.
Supplies:
Different sized plain glass vases (i actually had a few around from those time when the husband had flowers delivered), dishwasher safe PermEnamel paint in any color you choose, PermEnamel Michaels Arts and Crafts store, paper towels, paint brush and a mixing bowl. from Surface Conditioner
Heres whatcha do:
1. Clean the vases with hot, soapy water.
2. When they are completely dry, pour some surface conditioner in and cover the inside of the vase.
3. Pour desired mix of PermEnamel paints inside the vase.
4. Paint the inside of the glass using the paint brush to cover the inside surface.
5. Once the vase is painted, lay it on a paper towel to let the thick paint drip off. You will be amazed at how much comes out! The longer it's upside down, the thinner the coating will be. I liked the thicker look so I only kept it upside down only for a few minutes.
6. Turn the vase back over and touch up the drips inside. Every fifteen minutes you can even out the thickness on the bottom of the vase as the paint will start to collect.
7. Let dry for at least 6 hours and then you'll have a beautiful decor vase!
This is the look i was going for with the vases. Think I will def be doing more!
{via real simple}
happy painting!
DIY - branch jewelry holder
This came out a little better then i thought it would and it was really easy. I wanted a new way to store my jewelry so i researched the fine internets and came up with a couple things.
A little background: I had a stand alone jewelry box that housed everything. But 1. Blake likes to scale it as though he is training to be spiderman and 2. i was getting sick of it. I felt as though i would get so rushed in the morning that i would forget to even put any jewlery on. So i decided it was about time to showcase it all and put it right out in the open where i could easily choose from what i wanted without going through 5 drawers and 2 doors while trying to untangle the messes in there.
I was done with it!
So this is what i came up with.
Supplies included:
-a branch (mostly dead works best)
-cutters to cut straight edges on each branch out
-wet foam (from local craft store)
-vase
-rocks (i used the river rocks we had put down for our landscaping)
-triple thick spray gloss
All ya do is spray your branch, put foam in your vase around the dried branch, top off with rocks and there ya have it! So nice to bring the outdoors in, and be able to utilize what ya have.
This is where my necklaces currently live now.
Tell me whatcha think!
Don't forget about the giveaway!! Monday is the last day to enter!
easy peasy mini apple pies
Since i have 5 munchkins to entertain - i usually try to find stuff to keep them fairly busy, helps keep me to go a little less insane. I kid swap. basically it allows me to spend a bit more time at home with my munchkins. I still work, part time. it is really a great balaance to be able to spend time with them - annnnd it allows for actual adult conversation at work!
So as for the mini apple pies. Gotta be honest - im not much of a recipe follower. I usually change a recipe - most times it turns out - some not really. I also tend to make up dinner based on whats left in the fridge, somehow i have a knack for creating some awesome dinners based on randomness in the fridge.
On that note - i made this up. Totally last minute, based on the stuff i had in the fridge and the need to keep some boys occupied without the use of TV. (we aren't much inot TV - matter of fact we do not even have cable!)
The super hard recipe
Whatcha Need:
~about 4-5 medium size apples
~pillsbury apple pie crust
~brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg
~about 1/2 cup melted butter or margerine
(i told ya i don't measure - sorry for all the "about's")
The wicked hard recipe(not really):
Cut apples into slices. mix in to cut apples butter and rest of ingredients. except pie crust.
Heat oven to 350 deg. unroll pie crust and cut into about 8 pieces with pizza cutter. give apples and pie crust pieces to the kiddos and let them roll them up in whatever shapes they want. have them sprinkle a little extra brown sugar on the top.
Place on cookie sheet. And your set to go. Cook for 15-20 minutes.
Yumminess thats super easy and quick.
Enjoy!
*blue skies*
DIY camera bag
Friends I did it again. I went all crafty on myself. Heres how it went. I needed a camera bag for my new camera (Birthday gift via husband - Nikon D5000). Its a hefty thing and as much as i researched for something non boring - I came across a few I liked.
These are the ones I was eyeballing for a bit. But I couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money. This is where the fun begins. I decided to make my own camera bag. Its from the Gap. I looked online for it - but I think it must be an in store purchase only. I bought it in Mid October - so they should still have them available.
Here is what you need:
3-4 feet of sticky back velcro tape
foam - I used the dense foam by the yard from Joanne Fabrics ~
1 - 1 1/2 in piece about 3 inches by 24 inches
1 - 1/2 inch piece about 6 inches by 24 inches
1 yard of fabric - your choice!
no sew glue
Alrighty - So as I have said before I am not at all a crafty girl. Lately I surprise myself! Let me say - this can be done to any bag really. I chose this one because I wanted the measurements to be exact to be able to fit my camera with some extra padding.
{The bag - Gap}
First: I measured the bags dimensions. I cut the foam pieces out to be able to cover the bottom (leaving a bit of room on each side of the purse at the bottom for the sides to squeeze next to it)
Next: I cut out the fabric pieces to cover each of the pieces of foam. This is where the lack of REAL AUTHENTIC craftiness comes into place. I used no sew glue to adhere the fabric together rather then actually sewing. Those of you craft gurus - by all means have at it! As for the rest of us non crafty crowd - new sew glue is going to be your best friend. (You may notice that some of the fabric may not be perfect but you can always cutoff excess later.)
{Used my sons books to put pressure on the fabric while it dried}
Then: You have your fom pieces all ready to be put into your bag. WooHoo! Now youll want to cut strips of the velcro tape to line along the sides of the bottom piece and the bottom of all the side pieces. (should be 4 side pieces - one for each side of the purse). I decided I wanted a divider so I added in an extra piece of foam in the middle - this also helps keep the camer from sliding around in the purse since it is a bit bigger then needed. Bonus - I am still able to utilize the pockets on the side of te purse since I cut the faom a bit shorter then the height of the bag!
Finished product:
I hope this wasn't too hard to follow!! I tried to explain best I could. Swear! If you have any questions feel free to comment away!