princess and the pea

candlestick.

 

I love the graphic, edgy look of these easy-to-make industrial candlesticks.

paint.

 

 

I love the idea of this….colored chalkboard paint!  Hudson Paint supplies 1 quart sizes of chalkboard paint in 24 shades of color!  I have two places in mind that could use a coat of this:)

[Altered Vintage Pin Magnets]

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE to collect vintage pins, but I never know what to do with them.  Then I realized that they would be perfect magnets for my fridge and magnet board.  So after attaching magnets to the back of a few vintage pins….ta-da…they became instant magnets.  Bonus?  These pretty pins are now beautiful and functional instead of tucked away in a drawer gathering dust! 

 

 

 

 

 

Just attach 1-2 strong magnets (the size of magnet depends on the size of the pin) to the back of the pin using E-6000 adhesive. You may have to snip off the latch on the back of the pin before you can attach a magnet. Oh, and FYI, please keep magnets out of reach of children.

 

 

 

{Mother’s Day Gift Idea}

 

 

I love making gifts for Mother’s Day.  I don't know...they just feel more personal or something (although a box of Fannie May chocolates goes a long way with my Mom:).  For this Mother’s Day I thought I would make a mini book with the top 5 reasons I love my Mom.  I dropped it into a dressed up little box.

 

{EasyEasterTiles}

 

 

 

 

Altered tiles make charming gifts or home décor.  To welcome in spring, I just finished this one of T to hang in her room, and am now starting on J’s.  They’re so easy, I’m thinking about doing some mini ones for the grandparents.

 

Ingredients

 

• 12x12 white tile from your hardware store (I also picked up some mini ones that are 6x6 for some wallet sized photos)
• Photo(s)
• Embellishments
• Paper
• Mod Podge
• Brush

 

Directions

 

Cut your photo/photos to fit the tile, mine was 4x6 cut to 4x5.  Attach the photos directly to the 12x12 white tile (or to your favorite scrapbook paper first) with Mod Podge.  I included the following quote, since I just LOVED it!

 

“How does one become a butterfly?”  she asked.

           “You must want to  fly so much

     that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”

                                               

-Trina Paulus

 

Brush more Mod Podge over the entire layout/tile and allow it to dry for a couple of hours.  Once the tile is completely dry, add any additional elements (I used E-6000 glue to attach mine).

 

Display on an easel or attach to the wall with a ribbon.

::Pot of Gold::

 

After learning a little more about Leprechauns the kids figured they would make their own pots of gold (sorry I found the idea somewhere and I can't remember where so that I can give them the credit).  The kids painted a flower pot black and made a rainbow out of pipe cleaners.  They were pretty proud of their art work. When they got home from school the next day, they found their pots filled up with gold.  That little rascal, Patrick, is trying to sugar up my kids, he left more chocolate.

 

 

 

[Photo Blocks Gift]

 

  

A little anniversary gift for Mr. Charming:

 

Supplies needed:

• 1 -  small chalk board
• 6  -  2” wood blocks
• 5  -  4x6” pictures cut into 2” squares
• 1  -  4x6 sheet of patterned paper
• blue paint
• mod- podge
• Rub-Ons

I wanted to make a little “puzzle” that Mr. Charming had to arrange to see the hidden message and pictures. 

I had 6 2” blocks that when I put them together would fit 4x6 pictures.  And then I realized I needed something on which to put the 6 blocks.  I found a small chalkboard at a local craft store that had an opening that was exactly 4x6, so the 6 2” blocks fit inside the edges perfectly.

 I painted chalk board edges with blue acrylic paint (make sure to mask off the inside so it doesn't get painted) and used rub-ons to decorate the inside of the chalkboard. 

 

 

I cut 5 - 4x6 pictures into 2” squares and mod-podged (is that a word????) them to the 2” wooden squares. I had to trim a couple of the pictures after I had glued them on because the blocks were a little off so I just clipped them off with scissors.  I wrote a note on a 4x6 piece of coordinating patterned paper and cut it into 2” squares and mod podged it to the squares also.  Let dry, arrange on the chalkboard and tied it off with a ribbon.

 

[DIY]

 

 

 

 

I’ve been drooling over this cherry blossom wreath (in white) for over a year, but the $40.00 price tag and petite size (the white only comes in 10”) kept me from purchasing this whimsical beauty.  Then it occurred to me that I could … maybe …. possibly … make my own wreath.  So, off to the local craft store for an 18 inch grapevine wreath, some cherry blossoms stems (I ended up needing 6) and some floral wire.  Surprisingly, the blossoms were 50% off and I had a 40% off coupon for the wreath (I also remembered I had floral wire at home from another project, whoohoo!). 

 

 

 

 

 

Total cost $13.00 and I got the size of wreath I wanted.  $27.00 saved (which Mr. Charming would probably point out is not saving money if you spent money…..yeah, I don’t get it either), not bad for an afternoon of spontaneity.