July 2010Occasionally Crafty: July 2010

Monday, July 26

An Award!


Elizabeth at Habitually Crafty gave me my first blog award!  Thanks for the bit of sunshine!  Ironically, today in the Valley of the Sun it is very cloudy- a rare occurrence.  

Anyway, the rules are
1.  Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
2. List 7 things that people may not know about you.
3. Pass the love to 15 deserving bloggers that you have discovered recently.  Probably won't do that many as I am fairly new to this.
4. Let them know that you gave them an award.

So, here goes!
1.  I play the flute- I was a music major in college and actually taught band for five years before I had my kids.  Now I teach piano lessons at home.
2.  I have rheumatoid arthritis- which causes a lot of pain and swelling in my joints.  It is mostly controlled through medication, but it sure makes crafting more difficult.  Still, I really enjoy making things, so I have to take things slow and in several shorter sessions instead of one big long crafting session.  Sigh....
3.  I was known as the "Fast Food Queen" for years because all my early jobs were fast food in some form or another--Burger King, Dairy Queen, Hogi Yogi, etc.
4.  I love to read- my favorite book of all time is Les Miserables.  I've read the unabridged version several times because it's just so beautiful.  I like the classics but I'll read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.  I got a Kindle for Christmas and it has helped feed my reading appetite
5.  I snore.  Ha ha- usually it's the husband that snores and the wife who wears earplugs.  Sadly, the reverse is true for us.  So glad I have a loving husband!
6.  I am a baseball fan.  I never watched baseball until I got married, and then I figured it was either learn to love it or lose my husband for six months of the year.  Now I really enjoy it.
7.  My favorite food is probably mashed potatoes.  It's just a comfort food that just doesn't go wrong.  I don't eat them often, though.  

Okay, so since I am fairly new to the craft blog world, I will try and feature some of the different blogs I frequent so you can find a new friend or two....

A Chelsea Morning- this lady has some great recipes!  I just love reading about her life and trying out her yummy food.
Babes in Hairland- my go-to place for great hairstyles for my daughter.
Giggleface Studios- okay, so she's my cousin- but she does some amazing things!
Love, Actually- fun tips to keep the love alive
Serving Pink Lemonade- fun things to do and make with young kids!


Thanks again for the award!


Wednesday, July 21

Family Wall Hanging

I never said I was creative- just crafty.  Occasionally.

I'm really not great at coming up with my own ideas.  Instead, I often just copy things that I find in blog-land.  I do usually try to put my own spin on projects, but when I saw this "Family" wall hanging at Dittle Dattle, I pretty much loved everything about it.

IMG_1412

It's beautiful- so I made my own.  I used my own font, but everything else down to the color scheme is pretty much the same.
Oh- here's something else different.  Carrie used leftover molding, and, well, I didn't have any molding.  So I bought this wood at Michael's for about 87 cents a board.  I needed three pieces to complete my project.


I cut the boards into uneven pieces- mine were 2 each at 6 1/2, 5 1/2, and 5 inches long and the wood was about 4 inches in width.


Mod Podge the paper on.  I am loving black and white these days.


Apply Vinyl.  I used the "Harrington" font on my Silhouette to cut the letters.



Attach ribbon with hot glue.  I wanted mine to hang at the same level so the ribbon length varied.


Finished!  Now all I need is a black curtain rod- or some black spray paint- to get this baby up on my wall.  Thanks again, Carrie for the inspiration!


Thursday, July 15

Ruffle Shirt Attempt- eh

I loved this ruffle t-shirt from Tea Rose Home as soon as I saw it.  I finally made one of my own.







Eh.

I think my problem is that I don't have her cute little figure.  The ruffles just make me feel bigger.  And I think I probably should have added some more ruffles.  Maybe I will.  But, I'm not sure if it's worth it at this point.

It is pretty cute under a cardigan, so maybe I can wear it in the fall.  When it's not 115 degrees.

Friday, July 9

Cute Summer DIY Pedicure

If you're looking for something cute to adorn your feet this summer, look no further!  I got this pedicure done a few years ago
Toenails

I watched carefully to duplicate it, and minus the white underline, came up with this:

Ready for the how to?  Here goes:

By the way, sorry for the poor images.  Our digital camera broke, so I am using my HD video camera in the meantime and I CAN NOT figure out how to turn the flash off and otherwise adjust the settings!  Grrr....

Anyway, start with a base coat.  I use NYC base coat/top coat double.

Take your color and, following the natural line of your toenail, paint down about 1/8 to 1/4 inch.  I usually extend mine just below the line to allow for some growth.  Don't worry about being too precise- you'll clean it up in the next step.


Next, dip a cotton swab or tiny paintbrush in some nail polish remover, and carefully even out the bottom line of your polish.  Also remove any polish that may have gotten on your skin.

I have to admit, this tutorial is done on my 5 year old daughter, and I wasn't as precise as I was on myself since I know she'll just have it scraped off in a few hours.

Next, take some white craft paint.  You could use white nail polish, but I find it easier to work with craft paint.  Load a toothpick with a small amount of paint, and lightly press to apply polka dots on the painted toenail.  I varied mine top to bottom, but you could be random, and even do different size polka dots.

Let it dry for a few minutes.  While drying, apply flower nail stickers underneath the painted toenail.  I only do it on the big toe, but whatever suits your fancy works.


Finish with a double topcoat to seal in the sticker and the nail polish.

It's pretty easy, it's cute, and you'll get lots of compliments.  Enjoy!

Linking to some of these parties.

Tuesday, July 6

Dollar Store Sign Makeover

I have been inspired by Dollar Store Crafts to look at things in a different way.  Before my trips to the Dollar Store were to buy cheap toys for my kids.  Now, when I go, I try to look for things I can make over into something better.

My first Dollar Store Re-do is this sign.  With a little paint and vinyl, this rustic sign (not my decorating style)


became this sign for my laundry room:


The sign was a thin metal.  I gave it several coats of black paint (maybe four?), then cut the words in vinyl with my Silhouette.  I hot glued a matching ribbon to the back and hung it in my laundry room.  
Simply lovely.  Easy.  Just my style.  


Linking up to some of these Linky Parties!





Monday, July 5

Bathroom Redo

Painting the kitchen got us in a painting mood. I was inspired by a blog post at Show and Tell to convert our boring sheet mirror in the bathroom into something a little more classy by adding molding as a frame. We had some mis-steps along the way, but eventually it turned out great. Well, then we decided we really liked the black in the bathroom, and since we didn't want to replace the cabinets, we simply painted them black. We also painted our clock and added a new light fixture over the mirror.
Here's the before: (ignore the pajama-clad photographer)


Here's the after:


I love my bathroom!  And, since this is UCreate's project of the month, I am sending the link there.  Perfect timing!

Summer Blocks

A few months ago, I made my Spring Blocks to display on our sofa table.

Someone (probably a few someones) out there in blogland made reversible Spring/Summer blocks, which I thought was brilliant.  Why in the world didn't I think of that?  So, I finally turned mine around and decorated the other side.


I'm really loving these word blocks.   I just love how you can personalize them- I've seen so many different versions and you can just see each person's style and personality shine through.  So go make some of your own if you haven't yet!

Friday, July 2

Bread Box Re-do

I was so inspired by this Bread Box Transformation at Paisley Inspirations.  I had never even considered making over my breadbox until I saw this.  However, we just painted our kitchen red, and I couldn't really find a patterned paper that went with some of the other elements in our kitchen (like my curtains), so I decided to just keep my bread box redo simpler.

Sorry, I don't have a before picture.  This is a cheapo oak-colored wood breadbox I got 5 or 6 years ago from Target.  I painted it black, slapped on some vinyl cut with my lovely Silhouette, and voila!


Again, if you don't have vinyl, a stencil would work just as well.
I don't think it could get easier than this.  And yet, it looks lovely in my newly painted kitchen.

Linking to
Making

The Girl Creative

Keeping It Simple