New year.... New crafts.... New obsession!

UGLY CRAFTS!!!!!!!! Seriously... THIS is a brilliant idea! A whole blog devoted to Nasty, Ugly, Horrid crafts!!! I bow to the master mind behind this blog!!!

Thanks Karli for sending me the link to Glitter Gone Bad. Really I have been laughing SO HARD since she sent me this link! I just had to share the chuckles! Some of these crafts I have seen.... some (VERY FEW) I actually think have potential, but for the most part, get ready to be WOWED by what the 'crafty' can come up with!

Oh.... and a word of warning... you may want to put the kid-o's out of the room before browsing this blog. Some of these crafts are on here because they are slightly REPULSIVE and extremely WRONG! Just use a bit of caution, unless you like explaining to your 5 year old why someone would crochet a giant naked woman giving birth........

With that said! GO ENJOY!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!! May 2010 bring you joy, organization, and peace with who you are! (at least that is what I am hoping to find in 2010!)

OOOOOHHHHH YUMMMM!!!!

My mouth is WATERING!!!!! I want to try these!!!!! I am thinking a few of these wrapped up in cellophane with a cute Christmas note would be a GREAT gift for friends and neighbors!!!!!! I am SO buying chocolate tomorrow!!!

Find out how to make these yummy treats HERE on Givers Log

YUMMMY!!!

So my hubby and I LOVE stew, but I don't make it much. The recipe I have from my grandma (that I totally LOVE) is really expensive and HARD to make. I saw this recipe today and it has my mouth watering!!! I WANT SOME!!!! Sunday dinner here we come!!! MMMMMmmmmm

Find it HERE on Nap Time Journal

Did you notice I went missing!?

So my life is at a changing point (again). I started this blog because I have this little problem. I fall in love with a hobby, dedicate myself to it for about a month or so... and then I am bored and off onto something new. I thought maybe with a blog about just my current interest I could keep up with myself. Unfortunately the hobby of blogging has now dropped down on my list of 'fun' things to do with my time! Ah well. I will still be posting here, but it will mostly be for myself. You are still welcome to visit my corner of the craft blog world, but I no longer am trying to make it huge and popular. (at one point I had visions of a thousand followers, giveaways, and an Etsy store. Now my feet are back on the ground and I am trying to spend the precious little time I have left with my son at home.)

Any who.... enough rambling already! I want to make myself an advent calendar this year. Only problem is there are about a MILLION cute ideas out there! HOW DO I CHOSE JUST ONE!???? And then there is the problem of finding the TIME to actually MAKE one! At any rate here is a list of sites I found with cute ideas for advent calendars! Give em a look if you would like! Send me any cute ideas YOU have for cheep, easy, and cute advent calendars!

Thrifty Decor Chick

Craft Jr.

Glue Gun Crafts

Canadian Family

Poppytalk

Craftster

Enjoy!

This is a super quick post for KIERAN! I saw these cuties and thought of you!! Make me some!? LOL

Find the tutorial Here on Little Birdie Secrets

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. Miss A. Is off track from school and I am getting NOTHING DONE!!!! UGH. She goes back to school next week and I can't wait! YAY!

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

Ok gals... I am a Halloween FANATIC!!!! I don't know what it is... but I LOVE the colors, decorations, and overall fun of Halloween!!! Seriously.... I think I like it better than Christmas..... GASP. (I know... total sin hu!)

ANYWAY... with my trip behind me I can now get my Halloween decorations out! YAY!! I am only sad that I have but a few short weeks to enjoy them!!!!! EEEEKKKK!!!!

I have been LOVING all the cute spooky craft ideas that are popping up all over the net! Here is one that I found that I am just ITCHING to do!!!!! SO SO SO CUTE!!!!! Think I am gonna do this one with my kid-o's today!!!

Get the instructions HERE



Enjoy a SPOOKTACULAR season!!!

What a week!!!!

Hey all you lovely ladies!!!! WOW I just had an amazing week! Sorry I haven't updated this blog for quite a while.... but I was on VACATION!!!!!! WOO!

I had the chance to go on a cruise up the Canadian coast and New England. What a beautiful and fun trip! I had a great time!

Getting ready for the trip sucked a lot of my time away... and then of course I was away from the world of internet for a week while on the trip... and now I am home but BURRIED in laundry and catch up! Oh goodness! I wish I could burn my to do list!!! lol. Oh well. Such is life and vacation! You always need a vacation AFTER your vacation!!!

I will be back here and posting for you all soon. I really thought I would stay away from the computer when I got home.... but so far that hasn't worked really well! lol. I have LOTS of crafty ideas up my sleeve that are just begging to be posted... but they will have to wait!!!

HUGS to all of you who read my blog! LOVE YOU TONS!!!!
Tina

Fall Garland

I am ALL ABOUT FALL!!!!! The fall is by far my FAVORITE season!! I love the colors, the crisp air, the holidays that occur in fall, and everything else associated with this season! I don't think there is one single thing about fall that I don't like! MAN.... suddenly I am in the mood to DECORATE for FALL!!!!! YAY!

This is an ADORABLE idea for a garland that you could use from mid Sept. all the way through the end of November! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!! There are SO MANY other things you could do with this same concept too!!!! I am thinking about garlands for my kids rooms, my craft room, all the seasons, birthdays....... STOP ME!!!!! lol

Find the wonderful tutorial HERE on Roots And Wings Co.

New Jewlery addiction!

So I finally did it. I bit the bullet. I dropped the load of money required to get all my jewelery making tools and supplies! I have been wanting to for a while now, but when I got a late birthday present of 35$ it tipped the hat! I only spent about $50 total to get everything I needed to start and make 2 necklaces so I guess that isn't too bad. So far I have only made a bit... and I don't claim in ANYWAY to be an expert!! But I would like to show you what I made!!! Here is a set I made for my mom. It was her 50th birthday last Saturday and I threw a '50's HOT' party for her! (pictures of that soon to come!) It was a blast and I think she really enjoyed it. Hopefully she liked the gift to!

Here are some pictures of the set I made for her. Since I am not doing a tutorial on this I will link you up to a few of my favorite Jewelry making sites. Hopefully you will find them useful in your jewelery making attempts too!




Ornamentea great step by step picture tutorials on jewelry making basics!

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. "Free beading patterns, tutorials, and Jewelry making instructions."

Beadage - all about beading "Make your own beaded jewelry with illustrated step-by-step tutorials."

SO CUTE!!!

Ok I LOVE this tutorial!! It is so simple that even I might be able to do it!!! I am SO doing this!!!!

Find it here on Lu Bird Baby

Paper sacks ROCK!

I have decided that I am big into upcycling! I am all about saving the environment. And even more so I am all about using something FREE to craft with!!! WOOT!

Here is a CUTE idea that you can use those paper sacks for! What a great way to package a little gift!

Find the tutorial HERE at PicnicBasketCrafts.

Calendar heaven!

I just had to hop on here real quick and toot about this great web store I found! I had the opportunity to go enjoy the 'Swiss Days' festivities in Midway Ut. this weekend with my dear friend and crafting cohort!

This is like the crafting fair of the year around these parts! CRAFTING BLISS EVERYWHERE!!! Though MANY of the booths drew my attention there was one in particular that I had to lay down the money at! Now you need to understand that I go to these crafty fairs for IDEAS. I am polite enough to not take actual pictures of the items I intend to go home and re-create at a fraction of the cost. (not that all crafters mind this... I am just too shy to ask) Instead I choose to move down a few booths and then snatch out my scratch pad and scribble furiously until the idea and all the details are listed out for me to remember.

Anywho.... This particular booth caught my eye because it isn't something that just anyone can do. This lady makes LOVELY vinyl calendars! They stick to any flat surface you want. You can use wet erase markers and wipe it clean for a new month! She also has OODLES of little extras you can buy with/for your calendar. Month names, dates, holiday pictures, practice reminders, medical reminders, even season decorations! SHE HAS IT ALL! And it doesn't stop at just calendars! To do lists, Job charts, and potty charts can be found on her site! TOO MUCH FUN! I am definitely saving my money to get me lot's o cute goodies for my calendar that I bought. This is definitely something that I don't have the resources to create at home. (though I am sure I could work something similar out... it wouldn't be so cool and easy as this!)

So WHERE do you go for all this lovley stuff!???
Right here
http://creativeclings.com

Enjoy!!
And if you get the chance tell her I sent you... maybe she will cut me a discount! LOL

Leather on the CHEEP! LOVE IT!

Found this tutorial and LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! I so can't wait to try this out!!! I can think of some GREAT things I could do with this golden nugget! (too bad I just bought me a tub of Matte finish Mod Podge. Oh well...... another trip to the craft store... break my heart! LOL)

Get the tutorial HERE at Flower Foot Designs

Mermaid Party

Well it has taken me long enough to post about this party hasn't it!! Ah well... life flies when you are trying to get everything done AND have fun!

Here are some pictures from Miss. A's Mermaid Birthday Party. I think all the girls had a really great time. I know I had a BLAST with the decorations!!! I surpassed even my own expectations!! Below I will post how I threw this mermaid bash for only 20$.



I told my hubby I would get this party together for only $20. I am ALL ABOUT throwing a great party.... but I don't exactly have $150 to take 7 kids to one of those great party places. Personally I think this was more fun and memorable anyway, and she got to invite as many guests as she wanted!

The first step in this cheep party was to hit up the dollar stores!!! Mind you I had to go to more than one to collect all my goodies! Here is what I grabbed up to create all the decorations!

about 7 large rectangle tablecloths - $7
a bag of sea shells - $1
plates, cups, and napkins colored to match my theme- $3
Large fish cut outs - $2
Small bubble favors to hand out - $4
Wood cutouts of sea creatures for the craft (on sale at 10 cents a piece! SCORE!) $1
Streamers $2

All the other odds and ends I grabbed up from my stash of goodies at home! And there you have it $20!

With the table cloths I pulled them out the night before and doodled seaweed and sea creatures along the length of them. I taped them up to cover the perimeter of the room. Then I used streamers to fill in the upper section of the wall all the way around the room! The streamers also served for a fun door passage into our deep blue sea! For the couches I found some blue cloth I had lying around and gave them a quick cover up. The table with the cake was fun to set up and decorate with the shells all around! I had the girls all sit and eat their cake on the floor so I lined up the plates and cups along the wall. I found that stuffing the green napkin into the green cup made a fun 'seaweed' looking display.

When I was all done decorating I had to just laugh at myself. I really think I did this more for ME than for my little girl! Oh well... so long as she enjoyed it. I know that I LOVED it!!! Nothing like having kids so you can re-live your childhood through them!

Riddle for the day -

What do you get when you combine
THIS
(raggedy stools I got at a yard sale for 50 cents!)

With THIS?

(bundle of beautiful large flowers bought for $5 at a yard sale)

You get a
REALLY COOL
(and super cheep)
FLORAL DISPLAY for the corner of you living room!

I really just LOVE how this came out! When I was out perusing the yard sales I came across these lovely gems. I didn't really know WHAT I was going to do with either of them.... I just knew that I HAD to have them for such a great price! While cleaning my craft room out on Saturday this idea was born purely out of necessity! I needed somewhere for these lovely... yet VERY LARGE flowers to go while I figured out what to do with them! While pondering this the stool just jumped out at me and said "ME ME ME.... PICK ME!" I stuffed the flowers in between the support bars that are below the missing seat and VOILA... a masterpiece was born. Guess I now know why I had to have them!! Now I can stop racking my brain to find a good use for them!!!

Scratch Tickets!

Oh I just LOVE this tutorial from ArtMind! I can think of SO MANY fun ways to use this!!! I can't wait! I am having a girls craft night in a few weeks and I think we are having a DOOR PRIZE!

Go to ArtMind Scratch off tickets tutorial

Swine flu got you down??

I have a little printable for you today! I made this little 4x6 graphic and thought I would share it. The Bishop of our LDS ward has been diagnosed with the 'swine flu' (H1N1 virus). The Young Women wanted to do a service for him and his family.

We didn't want to do just a boring old 'get well soon' card, so we came up with this. I ran out to the Dollar Tree near me and grabbed up a Signature Matte Kit. We are going to put this cute little piggy guy in the mat and then have all the girls sign it. We will then take it over to the Bishops house with a dinner that can be prepared at their convenience.

Ok- so I know the whole Swine Flu thing is kind of in the past. But apparently SOME people are still getting it! Anyway.. thought I would share with you, in case you need a cute 'Get Well Soon from the swine flu' card.

I made two versions... since I can't ever make decitions. I will let you decide which one you like best!

Feel free to tell your friends about this free gift but send them here to my blog. Please do not share these graphics from your own site, claim them as your own, or use them for commercial use. Thanks much! Hope you enjoy!

I AM A FINISHER!!!!!

Yesterday I devoted my whole day to crafting! I invited friends, ate pre-made food, and shelved the cleaning. What an AMAZING DAY!!!! Wanna see what I got done!??? Then I will let you know how I did it!


Oh I am just THRILLED with how this came out! I grabbed this project up a month or two ago when I found some canvas at 50% off. I had a bare wall over my couch and these just BEGGED to come home and fill it!

Here is what I did-

You will need
1- 22x28 in canvas
2- 12x12 in canvas
2- 12x12 in canvas with deep sides
1- 9x12 in canvas with deep sides
Vinyl decal or saying
5 sheets of 12x12 scrapbooking paper
2 colors of acrylic paint that coordinate with your papers.
mod podge






I painted my large canvas one color. To get the texture I wadded up a plastic bag, dipped it in the paint, and gently rubbed the canvas in a circular motion. Then I applied my vinyl saying in the upper right hand corner 2 inches in from each edge.







Paint the edges of all your canvases. I used the same color for the edge of my deep canvases and I had used on my large canvas. For the 2 thinner canvases I used a lighter coordinating color to help show off the depth of the pieces.







Mod Podge your scrapbooking paper onto the other 5 canvases (cutting down one sheet to 9x12 for the smaller canvas)

Now hang your masterpiece and ENJOY!!!

Three Word Thursday

BE A FINISHER

Lately I have done a whole lot of starting... and only a little finishing. I have so many projects left unfinished... some of them aren't even really started, all I did was buy the stuff.. and now it sits there, mocking me. I don't think I use my time very wisely. How do you other craft bloggers do it? I know several of you have small children at home... yet somehow you find time to craft and blog and bake and clean. STOP BEING PERFECT! lol..... Ok sorry... got distracted....

That is what happens with my projects to. I get the stuff for them (because I can strap my kids in a cart with a sucker while I shop) and then I can never find the time to work on them. Pretty soon my brain has left that project behind and I am on to the next thing that has caught my fancy. It is something I have discovered in myself, and I want to change it! I want to be a FINISHER.... not just a starter. I am going to FINISH some projects and get them up on this blog! I WILL! At least I will give it my best effort......

Halloween BLING!

Ok- So I have always wanted a cool egyptian costume for Halloween. HOW GREAT WOULD THIS LOOK WITH IT!??? I am in love....

Find the tutorial here on CraftStylish.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS IDEA!!!!

Hmm... Wonder if I am talented enough to pull it off!??? Probably not.... I fair better with glue and paper than fabric and a sewing machine! lol


Find it here at Sew 4 Home

Mermaid fun!

Stick with me!! I am excited for this coming week! I am hoping to have some good blog time starting Monday... (hey.. a girl can dream right!??)

Here is a sneak peek at what I have in store for you!

I am going to show you how I threw my daughter a great mermaid party for only $20.00!! We are talking decorations, crafts, favors, the whole deal! And also I will give you the 'inside' on this chocolate chip filled surprise cake!

Excited!??
I AM!

Ok- I SERIOUSLY DON'T HAVE TIME TO BLOG TODAY! lol.... why am I then???? I DON'T KNOW! Call it avoidance......

LOVE this necklace and the easy peasy how to! Find it on Dana's Jewelry Design. I think I have a new favorite site!! YAY!



Tonight I am throwing a crafting party! SO FUN! At least I hope it will be! Look for all the details and how to start your own crafting club later this week! Also I spent a WONDERFUL weekend at the CUTEST cabin this weekend! I have a whole week of cute cabin crafties for you!!! That will be next week when I have my life back though! LOL. LATER!

Three Word Thursday

NOT

ENOUGH

TIME!

I have LOVED doing this blog so far, and I am NOT about to give it up! I am finding however that all my great plans are requiring more time and effort than I had originally though. Well... no that isn't true. I knew this blog would take a good deal of time and effort, I just thought that I had given myself a great schedule to work it into. Life would have it though that I am using every second of my day and still coming up short! How annoying!!! Well at any rate, I am still going to do this blog and enjoy the distraction... but it will be less than I had originally planned. At least for now. Maybe I can get my life in control soon and dedicate more to it. I don't know how all you craft blogger's keep up!

Ok... enough whining.... here is a little something to keep you busy for a few minutes!



Splitcoaststampers has a great little tutorial for us on how to make paperclip bookmarks! SO EASY! I love easy.... I might even have time for this!!! LOL

I am actually starting a craft group and this is going to be our first months project. Maybe tomorrow I will blog more about that.... or next week... whenever I get to it! (right now I have a poopy bum to go wipe... don't you love potty training!)

Photo Light Box

Starting this blog I have decided that I am in need of a photo light box. I never thought that you could MAKE one! In searching the web for the best price I found several tutorial for how to make my own light box! I AM THRILLED! Here are some of the great tutorials I found!

Digital Photography School

wikiHow

Strobist - Includes a video

StudioLighting.net

Photo by Strobist-

Childs Art Display

OHHH I am SO excited to share this with you! This is my first ever picture tutorial!



Miss A. is crazy for crafting (I wonder where she got THAT from!? lol) She is constantly drawing, painting, gluing, and creating works of art for her dad and I. I have always needed a good place to display and keep her works of love. I finally came up with this cheep and easy idea. I am THRILLED with how it turned out!

Main Supplies-
Ball of twine
Clothes pins
Decoupage glue
Scrapbooking paper
Ribbon




Start the project by cutting a length of twine slightly longer than your desired finished length.


Next tie a loop at both ends of the twine


Next cut strips of your paper the size of your clothes pins


Decoupage the paper strips onto the clothes pins


Once these are dry use a sharp craft knife to cut a small strip of the paper off and allow the wire on the clothes pin to show. I also sanded and inked the edges of the clothes pin to give them a finished distressed look.

Next cut your ribbon in to several varied lengths. The lengths should be no shorter than about 2 inches and no longer than about 6 inches.



Now to assemble your art display
Tie the ribbon onto the twine about every two inches.
Clip the clothes pins onto the twine.


Now use some nails to hang your art display! Simply hook the loops of your twine over the nail and you have a beautiful and fun way to show off all your child's work!




ENJOY!

Photo Fun!

I have a quick photo tip for you today! Here is a QUICK way to give your photos some extra WOW!

Chose the photo you want to use. This technique particularly works well with portraits.
Open your photo in any photo editing program. You can get a free photo editing program called GIMP.

With your photo open find your 'burn' tool. It usually looks something like this


Now grab a large round brush shape and run it around the edges of your photo. I usually like to have my brush opacity set to about 50% for this.



Suddenly your photo has some pizzas, dimension, and a professional touch!
ENJOY!

Post-a-paloosa

I have about a million things to post on here. Really what I SHOULD do is just one post a day until I am caught up..... but since I come up with new post ideas everyday... I am NEVER going to get caught up!

I also have a confession to make. I think I am ill..... ill with HOBBY RAT PACKING. At least that is what I am calling it! With this new blog I find myself thinking of all these great craft things.... and GETTING the stuff for them... but never WORKING on anything! For example this last week I found myself uncontrollably drawn to yard sales and thrift stores. I collected ANYTHING that was inexpensive and I could see a project in. Now what I have is a pile of dirty old broken things that need some serious attention ASAP.



Scary isn't it!!! I will get to them... I just have to spend more time CRAFTING and less time craft HUNTING!

On to the posting!! I am adding a bunch of projects to my to-do list, and finally putting up a few of my own projects. ENJOY!