Happy New Year!!!

Dreaming of a White Christmas......................

Crowns, Toile, and Newsprint,...Oh my!!!

Shame On Me! Shame on me for not posting for 15 days,...especially when I promised my little blog that I would be more conscientious about posting often. OOPS!

Moving on,...it happens to be Frugal Friday over at the Shabby Nest and I thought I would share a little project. I decoupaged a container so that I could use it as Christmas gift wrap and it turned out so cute that I think I may just have to keep it.

(Along with many other things which I have no need of or use for, and have no idea where to put.:))

I started out with this left over canister from some Harry and Davids chocolates that I bought from Costco....

and ate all of (not by myself.)

Well,....sort of by myself.;)

I found this fabulous crown paper at the Graphics Fairy and printed some out. Don't you just love the Graphics Fairy!!??

I used some leftover Toile wrapping paper for the lid.

Decoupaged it all on to the container.

Used my new "Stampin Up- Big Shot" to cut out these flowers. I am a terrible person who would tear the pages out of an old yellowed vintage book to use in a project. But,...in my own defense the book is in very bad shape and I use it for many projects rather then destroying multiple books.:)

Crumpled the flowers really well, stacked them, and fastened them with a brad. Then glued the one big posy that they made to the top of the lid.

It will make such fabulous gift wrap, don't ya think?

Welcome Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has made it's warm cider and cinnamon scented way into our home. I adore this cozy and nostalgic time of year.

A few jewelery projects.....................

This bracelet was a gift. I have never worn it . It is lovely but a little to big and just not quite as chunky as my usual tastes. It is much nicer than anything I would ever buy myself, and even personalized with an H. I decided that it was time to make it work!

I took some lengths of chain from my jewelry making supplies. I cut them shorter then the existing bracelet so that I could solve the 'too big' problem and chunk the chain up at the same time. (I didn't end up using the shiny yellow gold chain. I was just the wrong color for this piece.)

I rounded up a bunch of charms that I had collected from the clearance jewelery at Target over the last few months.

I staggered them on the different chains and even attached some of them to two chains at once.

And the outcome. A totally "my-style" bracelet that I will wear over and over again. The original bracelet had such good bones that I had to stop letting it go to waste.

And........................Teacher Presents.....................

Got these cute Halloween beads at JoAnn's. Hollowed out the holes in the beads to make them a little bit larger with my dremmel. Strung them on beaded chains. Soo Easy!! Have I mentioned recently how much I really ADMIRE teachers? I think that they deserve a little something for every occasion!!!

XOXOX -Holls

Just use a canvas..............

Sometimes searching for the right frames can be such a chore!! Especially when you want half a dozen of them that match. And,...the store doesn't have any white ones!!


....wait, what's up with that?? Last season when I wanted mahogany all that they had was white!!!


Besides that,........frames can be expensive. So why not just use canvas??


Especially when you have a 50% off Jo Ann's Fabric and Craft coupon and the canvases are on sale anyway.!?.




I was actually really afraid to do this project for fear of ruining my photos. (Which is pretty silly since Costco is like the least expensive place on the planet to have photos printed.)


None-the-less,...afraid I was! So I put it off for a while. Then I realized that if I didn't use these photos soon they would be so out-dated that I would need to have new ones taken.


So I dove in.




I used a large sponge paintbrush so that it wouldn't leave bristles behind. I literally poured the Mod Podge right onto the canvas so that I could spread it around before it started to dry. Then I eyeballed the photo and tried to center it.


Remember,...perfect is over-rated!!


I did not Mod Podge over the picture. There was no need. It affixed very well with no curling up of corners or bubbling. I did however go over the exposed Mod Podge left around the edges with a semi gloss polyurethane since it tends to remain the teeniest bit sticky and collect astronomical amounts of dust.:(





Voila,...I think I even prefer these to frames. (Especially since I live in major Earthquake territory and these are going right above my girls bed.)


I am in the process of redecorating their room and I will post pictures when it is all done


...............assuming I ever finish!!:):)


XOXOXOX -Holls

Today was a good day..............

My 5 year old slept for 12 hours and woke up happy (for a change),

..............and didn't cry while I brushed and braided her mid back length curly red hair,

..............and remained happy until I could get her safely off to school.

These arrived in the mail from the Shabby Nest..................

Wendy (my big sis) sells them in her etsy store. So yes,...you can have some too............

they are darling and I am going to wear them on everything! (my sweaters, my bags, my hair...).

I ate a candy bar without guilt. (The guilt may come later, but for now........none.)

My daughter who has an auditory processing delay is making progress and remembered two more letters in her alphabet today then she did just yesterday. (Hazzah for baby steps.)

I am nesting. (No,...not expecting!!) Just nesting. Have managed to clean and organize both of my boys bedroom and picked out three paint colors for other parts of the house. (I am soo over my main floor dark red powder room!)

I can smell autumn and feel alive with craftiness.

Made sugar cookies...........and plan to eat them too.

In an effort to de-clutter I decided to throw out some old magazines.

................ended up daydreaming over many dog eared pages instead.

Am I the only one who actually sticks file folder tabs to pages of magazines.

...........couldn't throw them out.

But,...discovered new inspiration in the pages of May 2006 Mary Engelbreit's Home companion.

Isn't she wonderful??

No, not the cat,...the dress form. (although the cat is equally wonderful.:))

She gives me an idea...................................

And this bench,...sigh,...someday!!!

Today was a good day!!!

Easy Ribbon Project.......................

I found this cute little project in a box set at Target about a year ago, and finally got around to assembling it. It was so simple that anyone could do it at home, so I thought I would share.............

It came with a long thick piece of ribbon (any size you want).

Two o rings........

3 metal frames ( use card stock, or no frames for that matter).....

3 metal clips.....(I am going to buy more and add them later.)

And, it came with a ribbon bundle. Each piece was approx 24", because I cut them into fourths and they were approx 6" each.

You just tie the o rings to the ends..............

.......and start tying your 6 inch pieces of ribbon to the large piece. I am also going to go back in and add more ribbon to make it more ragamuffin.

Loop your ribbon through the hole in the metal clips to tie them onto the large piece.

Then you can clip whatever you wish to the clip.

I thought that I would hang it in my girls room, but now I think I may have to use it in my office to clip ideas to. (My magnet and cork boards are full.) A girl can never have too much idea storage, right??

Although,...it looks really cute with my daughters art on it also! What to do?????????????