Inspirational Print

I found a blog called Make it Perfect with some great inspirational printables. I printed one for my daughter's room and I added a little something extra to the frame :)

I made some bright pink rosettes out of leftover tulle & hot glued them to the frame.

Cute, cute & totally inspiring...

Linking up at :

Flamingo Toes
Sisters of the Wild West
Funky Junk Interiors
Oraganize and Decorate Everything

Silhouette Portraits

I needed something to cozy up my downstairs hallway. I decided to give the Silhouette Portraits a try. It seemed a bit intimidating at first, but really was pretty simple. And CHEAP :)

The first thing I did was take a side profile photo of each child. I had them stand against a white cabinet so there would be a good contrast. The tricky part of this was getting the head shots about the same size since they would be hanging right next to each other. I did try a couple times before I thought they looked about right.

Next I just took the scissors and cut around their silhouettes. I then traced the paper cutout onto the back of some black vinyl I had on hand. Make sure it is facing the way you will want it when flipped. Now cut around this.

I found some black 8 x 10 frames at goodwill for $1.99 a piece. They had some bird prints in them that I didn't think I liked at the time. (They have since grown on me & are on display) Make sure the glass is nice & clean & dry before you place your vinyl. I put plain white paper as the background for each of mine.

Carefully peel your vinyl silhouette away from the backing & place it directly on the glass in your frame.

I love the way they turned out. They make the perfect addition I needed for my hallway AND make me smile everytime I walk by them.

My girl. I have seen some other silhouettes since I made mine that make the girls hair look so cute in the back. I may have to try one of those one of these days. But this is just fine for now :)

My boy. Love his puggy little nose ♥

This was a great fun Frugal project. You should give it a try!!

Linking up with the following:
The Shabby Nest
Tatertots and Jello
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Serenity Now
Lolly Jane Boutique
The DIY Home Seet Home Project

DIY: Frugal Board & Batten

One of my all time favorite blogs is called Shanty 2 Chic. These ladies have beautiful homes & the most amazing projects!! During some home renovations I was looking for ideas & found this accent wall done by them I knew I couldn't live without. We were going to try this along one of our newly sheetrocked living room walls & chickened out. So, the scrapbook room it was :)

My most favorite part is the little ledge. I am in LOVE...

As always, my husband thought I was crazy when I suggested this project. It really was so easy & inexpensive. He ended up thinking it was really nice!!

I am partying at the following:

A Beach Cottage
Domestically Speaking
Someday Crafts
Sweet Peas and Bumblebees
Fingerprints on the Fridge

Baby Room Redo: Before & After

My husband was gone for a week so I needed to keep my self busy. My sister needed help with her baby room that looked like this:

 She lives in a fairly small 2 bedroom apartment.

We had to figure out where to put all of this stuff!!

The closet wasn't too bad to begin with, but did need some reorganizing.

AFTER

She plans to put a rocking chair in the corner where the swing is. The swing will go to the living room.

We painted the walls & assembled the crib & changing table all in one day.

This was a 2 day project. The little rocking horse in the corner was ours when we were little.

Reorganized the top of the closet using stackable storage. The bins are so nice. We have them filled with bibs, burp cloths, onesies, socks, hats, etc. We used a hanging shoe organizer to store receiving blankets & blankets.

We have since added a nice big rug (to cover the sad carpet). Found a 6' x 9' rug at Big Lots for only $30!!

What have you organized this summer??

**UPDATE**

WE HAVE CONTINUED WORKING ON THE NURSERY & FINAL AFTER PHOTOS CAN BE SEEN HERE.

I'm partying with Sisters of the Wild West :)

Gender Party

My younger sister is pregnant. We had a wild idea to have a party to announce the baby's gender as soon as we found out. We planned this party in a matter of 1 day & I think it turned out really well. It was a lot of fun too!!

We decided to have everyone over for hot dogs, chips, beans & macaroni salad.

We found polka dot blue & pink bowls, trays & napkins at Dollar Tree.

We put her sonogram photos on pink & blue scrapbook pages & set them out for all to see.

Pink & Blue cookies & cotton candy for sweets.

The pinata we found at Party City & we filled it with ALL PINK candy, gum, coins, etc. mostly purchased from dollar tree.

We had about 25 friends & family members attend & when the pinata finally broke the secret was out. IT'S A GIRL!!

It was a great time & a very fun way to announce the gender.

DIY No Sew Tutu Skirt

Around here tutu skirts have been all the rave. I see girls of all ages wearing them. My 12 year old daughter & her friends love them so she & I thought it was only appropriate for my little niece to be to have one. We can't wait for her arrival so she can wear it!!

Here is our baby doll model wearing our creation.

We wanted it to be super colorful.

It was a pretty simple project that took us about 30-45 minutes to complete.

We used this no sew tutorial  by Casey at Gettin Crafty as a guide.

We used a ribbon for the waist because we did not know how big around to make the waist. This way we can just tie it as tight as we need it.

I'm linking up at A Beach Cottage for her Good Life Wednesday party :)

My ACORN eggs

I had a couple of ugly old plaques from my days of "grape loving" in my kitchen. I wish I had a before photo, but I can't seem to find one. They were a spongy looking gold color with tuscan related decor on them. I got out my black spray paint & used my Cricut to beautify it.

UPDATE:  I FOUND A BEFORE PICTURE :) (and I really wish it wasn't sideways, but couldn't figure out how to rotate it)

The little "eggs" in my mason jar are acorns I found out under our tree. A little spray paint & I think they make cute robin "eggs".

Cost of this project. $0.00  By using all supplies I had on hand.

I am linking up at the following:

The Shabby Nest for her Frugal Friday party :) And at Sisters of the Wild West at her Sister Sunday Link party.
Also at Young & Crafty for her Free For All party. And Skip To My Lou for Made By You Mondays linky.
And last but definnitely not least!! At Fingerprints on the Fridge. I LOVE her blog!!  Head on over & be inspired!!

Cricut Creations

After sitting outside ALL DAY LONG IN 106 DEGREE WEATHER at our garage sale all I wanna do is this:

This is some Vinyl that I cut out with my Cricut for my bathroom wall. And it sounds oh so good right about now :)



On the Menu

This week's menu:

Grilled Pork Loin
watermelon
macaroni salad

Huntington Chicken
green beans

Hot Dogs
macaroni & cheese
mandarin oranges

Pizza & Salad
(I buy a package of crust)
topped with:
pizza sauce
black olives
mushrooms
cheese
pepperoni

Grilled Rope Sausage
Fried potatoes
corn on the cob

I am linking up over at I'm an Organizing Junkie. Head over and  check her party out!!

Camera Card & Photo Cd Organization

I don't know about you all, but for me keeping track of all my SD camera cards & photo CDs has been a disaster!! Anytime I am looking for specific photos I would have to look and look through cards/CDs to find what I need. Well, NO MORE!!

This little box has made a BIG difference in my life :) It is just an index card box that I got at Big Lots for $1.00.

I labeled each card with a letter that corresponds w/ the SD card & the SD card case.

I then

put the date & a list of everything that is on each card.

Same idea for photo CDs. Label CD & envelope with a letter.

And on the back of the envelope the date & list of what is on each CD.

I always enjoy a good inexpensive way to organize.

This method has worked well for me. I hope you find it helpful!!

Linking up over at Keeping it Simple for her Motivate Me Monday party :)

Also at Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday.

Scrapbook Layouts

I went to a crop yesterday that went from 10am to 10pm so I was able to get quite a bit accomplished! I now sort my photos and pull out paper, stickers, embellishments, etc. ahead of time & I think it really makes a difference on how much I can get done. I will post just a few of the pages I got done.

Cousins page :) The little stars I bought at Big Lots for $1 for a whole package. Have you ever been there & looked at scrapbook stuff? They sometimes have some cute stuff for cheap.

Page 1 of 2 page layout. My little skater boy ♥

This sweet boy loves to skateboard. This paper is double sided. I use my tearing tool and flipped the top piece over since it is the perfect match. I also added a journal box on this one.

The full 2 page layout.

Page 1 of 2. Our Earth Day Project. I used scissors to follow the curve of the patterned paper & used 3 different papers for this layout.

We planted flowers together.

Full layout.

Have you been scrapbooking lately. It is one of my most favorite hobbies!!

Before & After- A Chandelier

When we did my daughter's room makeover we went with a Paris theme. I knew that the room would not be complete without a chandelier. I searched online & in all the home improvement stores, but the prices were just too high! I had come across some great light fixture transformations in blog land & thought that just might be the route to go. So when I spotted this beauty at Goodwill for $14.99 I knew it would be MINE!!

BEFORE: Nothing a little spray paint can't fix right??

OR AM I CRAZY!?!

After a lot of dismantling, priming and painting (and then having the hubby figure out how to put it back together).

I think it adds that sophistication a 12 year old girl needs in a Paris room.

The jewels were from Hobby Lobby 1/2 off Christmas decor. I just strung them around until it looked good.

I am more than happy with the way it turned out. Oh the power of paint!! Domestically Speaking is having a Power of Paint party and I am linking up. Go find some inspiration for your next paint project :)



Also linking up at The Shabby Nest. She has a beautiful blog! Go check her out :)



I am so excited!! Angela from Simply Creative invited me to join a party she's having over at her blog :)
 Be sure to check out these great blogs!!

Thrift Store Finds

I had to run to town this morning for a few things so I popped into the little thrift store there. This is one of my favorite thrift stores. It has so many "treasures" and the prices are great!!

The book on the left is called "The Little Giant Book of Science Facts". Still had the original price tag on the back of $6.95- I paid $0.29.  The middle book I bought for my daughter because she was born in 1999 & I thought that would be cool for her to look through. Paid $0.25. The third one is an American Girl book of Mini Mysteries. The girl really likes American Girl stuff. Paid $0.25.

I took the kids to see "Cars 2" over the weekend so now the boy has been digging out all of his "Cars" toys. We bought him one new "Cars 2" car at walmart & they are not cheap. I was super excited when I spotted this VW Peace Van today. It was in a baggie full of toys. Paid $0.49 for the whole bag.

This was probably the best purchase of the day. I love vintage/antique stuff & I found this typewriter just charming and adorable so I bought it! The boy has already been typing away on it ;) Paid $2.49.

I would love to see your thrift store finds!!

For the LOVE of a list

I stumbled upon a blog called Ordinary Days. She is having a blog party called "Make a List Monday". I thought I would join the party hoping it would give the motivation I need to get something done :)

So here's my list for the week:

1. Continue to work on purging rooms for our upcoming garage sale
2. Make more signs for the sale
3. Organize & prepare my photos & scrapbook stuff for a 12 hour crop on Friday {YIPPEE}
4. Work on the pile of things that I need to mend. Tears, holes, buttons, etc.

I think 4 is a nice even number so I will stop there. I wouldn't want to overdo it ;)

What's on your list for this week?

Sincerely~ Sara

Linking up at http://crystalsordinarydays.blogspot.com/2011/07/make-list-monday-linky-party-4-going-on.html.



Garage Sale Signs

Working on more preparation for our upcoming Garage Sale. I got busy with my Cricut today & made a few signs.

I bought my poster board at Dollar Tree. I was so excited becuase it was 2 sheets for $1.00. They had nice bright colors to choose from too :)

I cut out a cardboard template for my triangles and traced it onto the colored paper. I am in love with pennant banners, so I most definitely had to have one for our Garage Sale.

 I am sticking with a yellow, blue, green color scheme just because I think it is appealing to the eye.

Lots more work to do before I am really ready for this sale!!

I am linking up at Mama's Little Ladybugs. Go check out all the summer inspiration over there!!