From The Drawer to The Wall

I've always felt that I needed an organizational something for my necklaces. As cute as the one I did for my mom turned out, I just didn't know if that was the style I was going for for me? Picky, picky. When I have something in mind, a style for my hair, a paint color for a room, etc. I MUST have perfection- or the closest thing I can get. OCD? Maybe.

So, if you've looked on Pinterest at all, you've seen a few necklace/jewelry organizer thing-ies. I pinned one that was made from a 1x4 and some drawer knobs, easy enough?

I had NO idea how much fun picking out knobs from Hobby Lobby would be? Seriously, my sister was with me and she thought I was a little, teeny, tiny bit crazy. Have you seen their selection? If not, I suggest you run to the nearest HL QUICK! Maybe it's just me?

I have boards, 1x4's around my garage from previous craft projects. And the more unfinished and/or craft junk I get out of the garage and make something out of, the happier the husband is! It's a win-win situation.

So, I got to work. Sand, primer, paint and sand again. Measure out for even spacing of the knobs and drill the holes. My knobs had pretty long screws and I didn't want them scraping the wall, so I borred out the back and screwed on the knobs then cut the screw off even with the back. Pretty tricky, I even impressed my father- that's amazing. I attached some picture hangers to the back and called it done.

I just love that my necklaces don't get tangled in the drawer! I just have two problems. For one, after all was said and done- all of my necklaces didn't fit with the bracelets. For two, my husband now knows how much jewelry I have, and can see when I buy something new. Oh well...
So back to the drawer for the bracelets and back to Pinterest for an idea on how to organize those. Oh what a sad life... :)

This is about an 1/8 of my stash. Yes, I love owls!

This post has been linked up at Sweet Peas & Bumblebees & Sassy Sites.

Burlap Blessings

Because of Pinterest, my head spins. 

I've seen alot of uses for burlap on that site. And so I purchased some burlap... 

and then I just sat there staring at it. 

What to do with it? 

Things I learned about burlap:

*it stinks! Seriously, it smells like gasoline. My sister told me this prior to buying it. It's not that I didn't believe her, I just didn't think it was THAT potent. It is! I suggest you let it "air out" for a couple days before using it. Put it in the basement or the garage, on the back porch would be nice, too. I have too much wind to leave anything outside- it would be over in the next block the following morning.

*it frays QUICK! I used Elmer's glue on the edges, after I lost a few inches to fraying. I just put some wax paper underneath and put a strip of glue on the edges. Let it dry for a few hours unless you're impatient. Unlike me :)

*it stencils beautifully! I was amazed at how clean the lines were. I expected alot of bleeding, not so.

So, what did I create?

A holiday table runner

I cut out the word from the Cricut and some vinyl. A foam brush and some brown paint and you got it. While it was drying (which I hated waiting for) I cut out some felt leaves, berries and acorns and hand sewed them around the "blessings." I sewed some ricrac to the glued edges. The top edge was finished, so I left it alone.

 Maybe next year we can enjoy it for longer than a few days... 

Gratitude

Every time I read this I can't help but to count my MANY blessings. This time of year truly puts life into perspective. I have so much to be grateful for. I need a reminder everyday to be thankful.

This happy little turkey is one of my favorite decorations. I only have a few fall/harvest/Thanksgiving decorations so I made this cute banner. And it also serves as a reminder to be thankful everyday!

I cut half circles from polka dot scrapbook paper. I put my Cricut to use and cut out the word "thankful."
I mounted to half circles on chipboard and inked and sanded the edges. Using one of my bajillion swirl/flourish stamps, I decorated my half circles. I pulled out some leaf shaped chipboard and some buttons and went to town. I adhered my letters to the banner, after I sent them through the embossing machine. It's all about texture! The edges were screaming for something else. But what? The look I was going for was more vintage-y/old. Coffee filters, yes! I cut the edges off the filter and bunched them up with glue around the edges of the 1/2 circles. I inked the filters for that old look. Last, I punched holes and tied the letters together with jute.

Can you see the texture? And the ruffled filters? I'm happy with this one.

I'm thankful for the little bits of creativity that I possess!

DO NOT EAT OFF THIS PLATE

One more Halloween project for the eyes. I made this about a week before Halloween and I'm just getting to posting it.
*A Dollar Store plate
*white vinyl
*a few different fonts from Cricut
It was totally easy!

It's Been Fun

Now help me count down til Halloween with this fun block calendar.

Project 13!

A little vinyl, some paint, a few cuts of paper and some wood blocks.

This is just one of those cut & sand the wood blocks projects. Then paint them. Cut scrapbook paper and mod podge it on. Cut vinyl numbers and month. Apply it to the blocks and mod podge over the entire project. 

This was actually a get-together-with-my-sisters-and-one-of-our-cousins projects. The funnest part of these little craft days is that each person's completed craft turns out different. 

It's been fun to share some of my Halloween stuff with you. I could create things for this holiday all year 'round. But then my children would think I was crazy! And I would need an additional house or two to decorate when the holiday rolled around.

 (More project views- just so you can see a small portion of my Halloween paper addiction.)

Winding Down...

Today's Feature: Monsters! 
Project 12 of 13

What's Halloween without a monster or two? But they have to be cute monsters! Colorful, googly-eyed monsters! And if you love glitter as much as I do, monsters must have glitter, too!

 I'm giving these monsters to my nieces and nephews for Halloween!

I used my Cricut and the PaperDoll Dress Up cartridge for the monster cut out. I cut 2 each from felt and sewed them together, leaving an opening at the top to make a pocket. Each monster got an outline of glitter glue, some googly eyes and a fuzzy puff ball nose. It was super easy. The hardest part was thinking of what I was going to stuff them with... Skittles it was, because when I look at these colorful monsters- they remind me of Skittles. It's perfect!

My favorite one is the purple cyclops monster. Which one is your favorite?

I'm linking up at Simply Crafts in their contest. (Although I don't know if I was supposed to make a card or just a project?)

Project 11

Simple yet awesome! A paper craft-ish candy corn!

A styrofoam cone from the dollar store (refer to last post to as to $$ spent there lately.)

A glue gun- NO JUDGING. I've owned this glue gun and plate

for years. It's older than my oldest child!

A few buttons and some scrapbook paper strips.

Starting from the bottom, loop the orange papers and glue them even with the bottom.

Do a few layers like this.

Repeat process with yellow papers and white, layering up.

Stack & glue the buttons on the top.

You can whip one or ten of these up in no time flat! Ready? GO!