Modge Podge Book Page Canvas Cover

I had a large canvas piece of art that I had bought from Homesense for $15 a few months back (At this size, it would have cost more to buy a blank canvas). My husband thought I lost my mind as the "art" was honestly kind of UGLY. Never fear.... Modge Podge is here!

I decided to cover the canvas with pages from an old book that I tried (and failed) to read... It was just too boring, but the font and page colour was perfect for this project.

I started by ripping up the pages so there were no straight edges then I applied a liberal layer of Modge Podge on the canvas with a foam brush. After applying the paper I brushed more of the Modge Podge until the piece were evenly covered and smooth.

 This was a messy but SERIOUSLY FUN project.

 

Here's the finished product. I'm still deciding what to paint on it.... Maybe a quote?

It's been too long

Wow, so I have seriously dropped the ball and I'm very sorry. It has been far too long since I wrote a post, but there was a very good reason for this.
We had our baby Alessio Baptized this past Sunday. It took me a few weeks to get everything made and ready for the big day. (I made a lot of the decorations, so while it added stress, it saved money.)

Here's a little post about the day.

The theme was a "Country meets Circus with a little Blue and Green sprinkled on top".

The Decor

Triangle banners
Pinwheel Center piece
The wish tree
Large outdoor event tent. (we rented it)

The Food

Hotdogs and burgers
Easy Peasy Baked Beans
Coleslaw
Fruit
Veggies
Spinach Dip
Raspberry Vanilla cupcakes with Fresh Lemon Butter cream
Chocolate Cupcakes with Turtle Caramel cream

Candy buffet

It was a perfect day, we had about 25 people over after a beautiful Baptism service.

Pinwheel Center Piece

I love Pinwheels, they take me back to when I was a little girl. Who doesn't love them!? I decdied to use them as center pieces at Alessio's baptism. Easy to make, cheap, and fun. Three things I look for in decorations.

I bought the little watering can from Michaels, I filled them with sand the day of, but you can fill it with jelley beans or what ever you wish.

How to make a Triangle Banner

I love, love, love the triangle banners you see all over the web. I decided to use it as part of the theme for Alessio's Baptism and I made yards and yards of it.

It looks a lot more difficult then it actually is, here's how I made mine. (PLEASE NOTE - THEY ARE NOT PERFECT! Some of the triangles are not the exact same size, they may even be cut a little wobbly. That's OK!)

What you need.
Fabric of your choice. (I used a polka dot canvas fabric, about 1 yard. Blue, Green and turquoise that I had left over)
Fabric scissors,
Twine (I got mine from walmart in the housewares department)
Thread

1. Cut the fabric into triangles.

2. lay the twine over the ugly side of the fabric about 1/2 inch from the top of the triangle.

3. Fold the fabric over the twine and proceed to sew along the fold. (I used the zigzag stitch so the tread would stay put.

4. Leave some space between the triangles and repeat until the banner is long enough.

That's it! A fun and cheap craft that really helps your party decor pop!

How to Grocery Shop while saving money (and your sanity)

For a while now I have been wanting to blog about grocery shopping.

I know, I know, not the most exciting topic, but it's something we all have to do, so why not do it the quickest, cheapest, most efficient way possible?

There was a time (recently) when I was spending WAY to much money, going grocery shopping without a list, therefore going too many times a week. I knew I had to get it under control as our family is now living on a single income.

Step One : Plan Ahead

Before I head out to the store I make my meal plan for 2 weeks. (I have dinners outlined, as lunches/breakfast are pretty standard around here.)

We don't necessarily stick to the specific days, but at least the options are there.

Step Two : Bring your list

I categorized the menu by section of the grocery store. I also left a space next to the item title so I can indicate if I have a coupon or not.

You can download the printable grocery lists  I use help keep track of your shopping.

Step Three : Leave the kids at home

If possible leave them at home. My kids are NOTORIOUS "add on salers". An easy way to save money is by not having them  there.

Step Four: Eat before you leave

If you shop when you're hungry you are more likely to buy more than you anticipated.

Step Five: Walk the perimeter

Stores spend a lot of money of setting up the store to entice you to throw your list out the window. If you walk the perimeter of the store first you will fill the cart with all the essentials. (Milk, cheese, bread, deli, veggies etc.) When walking through the aisles, try to only hit the ones you need. Otherwise you will fill your cart with lots of extras!

Step Five:Use laundry baskets

I take laundry baskets and leave them in the car so I can put all of my bags in the baskets, making it easier to unload the car after.

You can print the grocery list here.

It's Raining Crayons!

Week 3: It's Raining Crayons! 

Hi Friends,
This week I thought I would have my 6 year old Angelo help me with a project for his room. He is an artist through and through so I thought we would combine his two favorite things, coloring and robots.


Here's the inspiration (Thanks Pintrest once again!):

 

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Supplies:
10x13 canvas
96 piece box of crayon
glue gun
Black Acrylic paint
fine tipped paint brush

Step one:
Organize the colors in the order you want them.

Step two:
Paint the robot/umbrella on the canvas

Step 3:
Glue all of the crayons down on the top edge of canvas.

Step 4:
Using a blow dryer I held it close to the crayons until they melted.(Aim it up and it will drip better than if you have the blow dryer aimed down)

The crayon didn't melt exactly how I wanted (I had been hoping for long smooth drips, but I still like the result)


TIP*cover everything around the craft area with newspaper as the blow dryer will send melted crayon EVERYWHERE!

Owl Mobile (the result)

Week 2 - Owl Mobile (the result)

Hi Friends,

So it took some time as I hand stitched the owls but I am so happy with result!

Supplies:
Felt sheets (what ever color combination you want) x 5
Thread to match
Stuffing
Dowel


OWL

Step one:
Cut out the owl body shape (I folded the felt in half so I would cut two identical shapes)
as well as circle for belly, white circles for eyes and wings

Step two:
Sew any decals you want to on the tummy. (I used green thread to add some extra detail)

Step three:
Sew on the eyes and beak

Step four:
Stitch around the owl body leaving the bottom open and stuff with pillow stuffing. Close bottom of owl.

Step five:Stitch wings on owl.

Tree

Step 1:
Stitch leaves on tree and buttons (if you choose to use one)

Step 2:
Stitch front and back of tree and trunk together leaving bottom open.
Stuff with filling and stitch closed.

Here's the result:

I can't wait to hang it up!!

project: owl mobile (inspiration)

I love owls, they're wise and beautiful creatures. I'm decorating my sons room with owls so I thought I would create a Owl mobile after being inspired on pintrest. Once I get my pattern perfected I will post it here.


Here's the inspiration:

baby birth information print

Hi Friends,

So as I am watching my little one playing in his jungle gym I thought I would create a cute poster to track all of his birth information (before I forget it!) that I am going to frame and put in his bedroom.

Here's the inspiration:

 Here is what I created. (Yes, I know I have pretty much copied it, but I love the original.)

I used a great program called PAINT.Net that I downloaded from the net. It took me about an hour and cost $5.00 to print.

Some Tips:
1. Make sure you have the image sized properly, I made it an 11 x 14 poster, and the resolution is 210. The reason you need to do this is so it is a printable image, not just for viewing on the web.

2. You can't go back and resize the text once you unclick it using this program so create a new layer for each word so you can go back and resize/rotate etc. with any issues.

Happy poster making!

yarn covered letters (results)

Hi Friends,

So I covered all of the letters and have found that I missed a bunch of the wood. I got better as I proceeded from the first tot he last. Take a look here:

First Letter:

 

Last Letter:

project: yarn wrapped letters (inspiration)

Hi Friends,

This is my first week and I decided that I would make some yarn covered letters for my baby boys bedroom.

We have painted it Thistle Blue and are going with chocolate brown accents.
Here is my goal: 

(inspiration from Pintrest)

You can find the instructions here: How to...