Jingle Bell Shadow Box! Guest Posting over at {i love} my disorganized life

Hey! Happy Friday! 

Are you decked out for the Holidays yet? We finally got the decorations up and finished this week! Whew--what a project! But, I love the coziness of it!

Today I am guest posting on the 25 Days of Christmas Series at {I Love} My Disorganized Life, where Rachel is featuring projects from other bloggers!

I created a cute little shadow box--perfect for keeping or gifting! To find out how I did it--just click the picture!

There is also a great give-away Rachel is hosting too! 

Have a great weekend!

Crazy-easy Polka-dotted Wooden Frame

Remember last week when I shared a quote and said that I had a project for that quote? Well...I finally took pictures and can share it with you. Just in case you missed my previous post, you can find it here.

This has got to be one of the easiest craft projects to do. Hardly any skills are required. My kids could do this. Which means if you don't think you are "crafty"...you need to try this! It's crazy-easy to do! I dare you to try it!!

Here's the basic instructions for this polka-dotted frame.

Materials
Wooden Frame ($1 from Michaels)
Spray Paint (2 colors, I used black and platinum silver)
Circle Stickers (I used garage sale stickers)

Instructions
Wipe off frame with cloth. Spray paint base coat. This will be your bottom layer or the color of your polka dots. Allow to dry. Arrange circle stickers over the frame. Press each one down to secure it to the wood. Take second color and spray paint over the frame. Allow to dry. Peel stickers off of frame and enjoy your new crafty creation!
 

I love it! You could use green and red for a holiday theme, add a bow or leave it as is. I can't wait to give this as a gift this holiday season!

Guest Post - Live Your Love Outloud --Bath Bombs

I'm so excited to introduce you to my final blog friend that is helping me out during my "European Vacation!" I'd love for you to welcome Heather from Live Your Love Outloud. I think you'll love her! She is sharing a project that, well...just read on and you'll see!

 

 

 

CRAFTastic. Bath Bombs that BOMBED!

HI! Wild Mama Heather Novak here. I’m visiting y'all while Cindy Lou Who is living it up on vacation. I figured I would help you all miss her even more by posting about my craftastic disaster with DIY Bath Bombs. You are welcome.

It absolutely kills me to fork over a chunk of change for something I can make myself. With better ingredients. And just the way I like it. I also love anything spa and pampering and have made scrubs and what not for eons. I am very into aromatherapy for everything and so I’m ready to tackle The Bomb. The Bath Bomb! Instead of $4 for a chemical and preservative laden bath confection, I found this recipe on Pop Sugar quite by accident. It looked so simple even I could manage it.

1 C baking soda

1/2 C cornstarch

1/2 C Epsom Salt

4T cream of tartar

3/4 T water *

2t essential oil(s) your choice

2 1/2 t oil (I used olive oil)

Directions were to mix all liquids together and all dry ingredients together separately before combining. They measured everything in ounces, so my mathphobic self had to go online and translate the ounces into cups, you’re welcome. I’m in love with the combination of peppermint and citrus, so I chose Peppermint, Bergamot, Grapefruit and Chamomile essential oils for the bath bombs. If I did these again I think I would puree mint from my garden for color instead of using dye, but for this first go around I used my Wilton color in just a green.

For starters, this is the first time I’ve thought about really ‘staging’ my ingredient pictures. Since I am a guest here at Cindy’s I want to do a supercalifragilisticexpialadocious job. I realized I might have the UGLIEST measuring cups that ever lived and I will be thrifting for cuter ones ASAP.

So here are all the pretty ingriendents. And the pretty bowls. And the mixing process.

I thought the directions messed up the water amount, as I had to add more water (and oil)

to get everything damp enough to shape and hold together. I might have been wrong. I also do not have an ornament dealio to shape perfect balls so I did muffin tins. But they wouldn’t come out. So I scooped the gunk out and made roundish shapes by hand. It is handmade, right? No need for perfection. Fragrant lumps of spa like possibility is good enough, right?

Then when I went back through the kitchen I saw to my HORROR they were all spread out.

Maybe I did add too much water/oil (about 1/2 cup extra from recipe). UGH. I think if I mixed all together

 and then waited ten or fifteen minutes...it might have gotten to a better consistency. I will try that next time instead of adding more water....which I think activated the fun too quickly. I frantically started trying cupcake tin liners, adding more baking soda....UGH.

Finally I just had to take a break and read a book (Wives Behaving Badly By Elizabeth Buchan) and eat those new Goldfish Puffs. Awesome.

I love the idea of crafting and always keep trying, but this was a potential disaster! I always picture the outcome being Martha Stewart, but it ends up, more often than not, more like FOURTH GRADER. UGH. Like my homemade sock Hobby Horse Adventure and wretched DIY body butter take 2 disaster. (I got a dermatologist involved....) But I digress.

It turned out that after mixing more baking soda in by hand, the bombs got better firmer texture. I did the quick dry of one hour in the oven at 250 degrees rather than waiting out an overnight dry time to see how it worked out. They worked out! My littles enjoyed one in their bath, and John my husband said it broke apart and acted like others I had purchased in the past. So the Pop Sugar DIY Bath Bomb went from BOMB to THE BOMB. I will be making these again SOON. Want one?

Heather

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DIY Father's Day Gift {Last Minute Idea}

First of all, I want to wish my Sister-in-Law Kristen a Very Happy Birthday! Enjoy your day!

Can you believe Father's Day is coming up this weekend? I've got a last minute gift idea you can whip up with the kiddos help! You can buy these items at the Dollar Store or Craft Store and it won't break the bank! The bare wood frame was from Michael's for $1, the river rocks were from the Dollar Tree for $1, I had the glue, paint and popsicle stick on hand! So this project only cost $2!!! And it's a piece that is treasured in our home!

Dad Rocks Picture Frame

Supplies

Bare Wood Picture Frame
River Rocks
E600 Glue
Popsicle Stick
Paint
Marker

Instructions
Gather your rocks, we used about a bag of the smaller sized river rocks. Have them out on your work surface, ready to place. Apply glue on frame, we were very generous. Because this is very sticky glue, I applied the rocks to the glue (very carefully). We moved them around to fit. We applied more glue as necessary, working in a small area at one time. Once all the rocks have been applied, allow glue to dry and set over night. Check for loose rocks and reapply glue if necessary!
While the glue is drying, the kids painted the popsicle stick brown. I broke it in half and sanded the edges. Then I hand wrote DAD ROCKS with a black marker. This is what the kids wanted; I think I would have done something a bit differently though. Perhaps vinyl? Anyways, its handmade and I think it turned out great. We added some glue on the back of the popsicle stick and placed it on the rocks on opposite corners (per direction from my daughter!).
After that dried, we added the picture and wrapped it up! The frame is heavy and the little wood peg that comes with the frame won't hold it up. I suggest a holder or make sure you can prop it up against something else.

Super easy, inexpensive and something you could totally pull off before Father's Day this weekend!

What do you think?

 

Father's Day Survey

Good Morning! Hope your day is off to a great start!

You know how Mother's Day falls during the school year? And you know how the teachers like to have the kids do something special for their Mother's? I love and cherish thos gifts, believe me! This is what I received from my son this year (he was in 1st Grade):

Cute, right? Who ever thought I would be as smart as his dad??? I know his dad didn't think so! Anyways, our kids get out of school before Father's Day, as I'm sure most other schools do too. Why should Mother's get all the fun out of these cute survey's? So, I created a fun Father's Day Survey Printable...just for you guys!

Go ahead and print it out, share it on Facebook, Pin it to Pinterest, email it to your friends! Have the kiddos do it and surprise their Daddy on Father's Day! 

You can download the page by clicking HERE or click on the picture and it will take you to the PDF file!

Cute? I think so! Thanks for stopping by!

Super Simple Coach Gifts!

We've hit sports season full swing in our household. Thankfully, one of those sports has ended and we are back to a manageable schedule (sorta!). Hailey finished up her volleyball season at the local YMCA two weekends ago, but her Pizza Party was this past week. Unfortunately, it landed on the same night as a soccer game, so she was unable to go. We quickly stopped by the party on our way to the game to present her coach with a little gift. He was a great coach and really encouraged her to move forward with volleyball. It was a great season!

I framed this volleyball subway art that I created. To PRINT, right click, select SAVE PICTURE AS and download to your desired folder. Print on 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock paper. I cut mine down to fit into a 5x7 picture frame. 

I then made a customized candy wrapper for him.

They are simple gifts, but at least he knows we appreciate what he did for the girls! Now, I'm off to run in the 5k Color Vibe run with a few friends! I'll post pictures later on Instagram--come check them out!







School is over--Summer is here!

My kids were officially out of school at the beginning of last week--can you believe that? And I'm already hearing the "we're bored!" phrase from them! Seriously?!?! I wanted to share the quick and easy gifts we prepared for their teachers for the end of the year. We also did something for each of the teachers for Teacher's Appreciation Day.

My daughter had inspiration from my Painted Tumblers I shared here on the blog and created a supply holder for her teacher. Hailey hand painted the jar with the school colors; I think she did a great job. I added an etched letter "P" for her teachers last name. We filled the glass jar (from IKEA) with paper clips, thumb tacks, pens, pencils and a hanging ceramic Thank You plaque. Cute and practical! She also wrote a thank-you note!

For Carson's teacher, we decided on a simple gift. She was a Substitute Teacher for the last month and a half while his real teacher had a baby. I got the idea from Pinterest, which brought me to the Skip to my Lou blog. I took it one step further and decorated a large clothes pin clip with Washi Tape and sealed it with Modge Podge. He also wrote a personal thank-you note.

Are your kids out for the summer? What do you have planned?

 

Wood Photo Block

Happy Wednesday! I'm sharing a project I made for our mom's for Mother's Day this past weekend. (by the way, here is a pic of me and my kiddos on Mother's Day--aren't they cute?)

Okau, now on to the project! I originally saw this idea from the Groopdealz daily email about a month ago. I already had the supplies on hand so this project/gift cost me nothing! Even if you didn't, it still wouldn't cost that much to put together.

Wood Photo Block

Supplies
Wood block (size depends on how many photos you'd like to display)
Scrapbook paper
Vinyl letters or stickers
Modge Podge
Mini Craft Clothes Pins
E600 Glue

Directions
Sand the wood block and wipe away dust. Measure scrapbook paper to fit the size of your wood block. I chose a neutral paper. Apply Modge Podge to the wood block and carefully place the paper over top. Smooth out the paper. I also sanded the edges of the paper for a "rough" look. 
Cut out the saying you want to put on your block. I used the one that was on the Groopdealz, because I thought it was perfect. But, you could use this for Graduations (Class of 2013), Mother's Day (My Precious Blessings), Father's Day (My Cool Kids), etc. Once you have your vinyl letters or stickers ready, place them on the block, centering it on the block, but also allowing space on top for the clothes pins. 
Next, space out the clothes pins evenly. Apply E600 glue to the back of the clothes pins and place in desired spot. Allow to dry. Find your favorite pictures, cut to size and stick in the clothes pin! 
This project came together quickly, too. With the drying time included, it was less than 1 hour! I love how these turned out--and I believe the Grandma's loved them too!

What do you think? Cute, huh? I'm loving the expression on Carson's face in one of the pictures--priceless!!

Thanks for stopping over today! Please be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!

Quick Mother's Day Gift Idea {Dry Erase Menu Plate}

Since Mother's Day is fast approaching (hint, hint), I thought I would share a quick idea that is also very useful! This can be put together in less than 10 minutes and is a perfect gift for a mom or special mom friend that enjoys cooking! Here is my Dry Erase Menu Plate I created for my sister-in-law:

 

Dry Erase Menu Plate/Board

What you need:

White Plate
Vinyl
Cricut or other die-cutting machine (or scrapbooking stickers)
Plate Stand
Dry Erase Marker

How to make:

I wanted this to be a small menu board because she has limited counter space. I bought this plate at a discount store for $2. I also bought the plate stand there as well, for around $2. Next, I used a fancy font for the word MENU and used my Cricut to cut out on vinyl. I buy my vinyl here. This site is inexpensive and they ship quickly. They are always having sales, so be sure to sign up for their emails. (not getting paid, just enjoy buying from them) Now, carefully center the word at the top. This plate had a ledge/border, so I placed it there. You're done! The most difficult part was centering the word--and I hardly broke a sweat doing it!

You could do many different variations on this--like MEMO instead of MENU, for example! On Pinterest, I've seen picture frames that have: I LOVE YOU BECAUSE..., that would be cute on here as well! Leave it in a common area of the house! What fun! Use your inner-creative self--I'm sure you'll come up with something brillant!

{Simple} Teacher Appreciation Gift Idea

This week we celebrate our Teachers! They are amazing people who help mold our children into great individuals. We have been blessed with awesome teachers for both of our children. Each year I try to do a little something during Teacher's Appreciation Week as well as the end of the year. This year those two events are very close together! Today I'm sharing what I did for our teachers a few years ago, only I gave this to them at Christmastime, not during Teacher's Appreciation week, but it still work great!

sorry for the picture quality--I took this before I decided to become a blogger!

This is an idea I got from my friend Kim--she made me one for my desk and I love it! It's so personal and functional! This gift starts with a simple acrylic picture frame you can pick up at the store for around $1.For Hailey's teacher, my daughter selected the scrapbook paper (cut to size) to match the sticky note pad (I got this personalized through VistaPrint for practically pennies--I think it was a Black Friday sale!). I added the ribbon and the adhesive scrapbook letter.

So, what do you think? This would literally take 5 minutes to put together and is could be less than $5 to make! Pair it with a gift card to their favorite store and you're done! You've got a useful, meaningful gift to give to your favorite teacher!

Fun Kids Craft--Ribbon Key Chains

I've been in a funk lately. I was off of work for 3 weeks for foot surgery and I had big plans of preparing blog posts, making fun enhancements to the blog and various other little things that I could do with my leg elevated and my butt planted on the couch. But, instead, I caught up on all my shows, watched a few movies, wrapped Christmas gifts and played on Facebook and Pinterest. Oh, and I did work from home a bit too.

So, now that I'm back at work full-time and the kids are back at school, I'm trying to get in the swing of things. It's just harder than I thought. And now I have to fit physical therapy into my crazy schedule! ARRGHHH! Anyways....

This is a project Hailey and I did before the holiday madness. She gave this to her teacher for a gift! Along with this really cool plaque for her desk (you can buy it here).

Here are the simple instructions and a picture tutorial:

Ribbon Keychain

This is a fun project to do with kids and something they can give as a gift or keep for themselves. It’s a just a few simple materials and about 10 minutes to pull this craft together!

I did this with my eleven year old daughter, but I think it would be a good craft for kids 6-12 years of age.

Materials:

Jewelry Split Rings

Ribbon—2 patterns: 20 inches of one, 4 inches of another

Scissors

Ruler

Hot Glue

Instructions:

Step 1: Cut a piece of ribbon 20 inches long and two coordinating pieces 2 inches long.

Step 2: Slip key ring onto ribbon; fold over and secure with hot glue (done by an adult if it is not a low temp gun)

Step 3: Use the small pieces of ribbon to wrap around the top part of the key chain, spacing them slightly apart.

Step 4: Cut to the length you wish the key chain to be.

Options:

You could use fabric paint to decorate or personalize.

Super simple and quick! Plus this is something that someone will use! How cute would it be if you added some stick on rhinestones, too?

Here is the picture tutorial:

 

 Her teacher sent us a note thanking her for such a creative gift! Love it! What creative things are you up to? This is the project we did over at RockfordParent.com, too! Come on over for a visit!

Don't keep me hanging--I love comments!

Cindy

Painted Tumblers

Pinterest leads me to be inspired again! I've been on Pinterest for a long time, pinned over 2,600 pins! And, I actually enjoy recreating the items I've pinned! I've also discovered new and wonderful blogs because of it too!
This crafty project was something I pinned over 6 weeks ago. The title of the Pin was Easy Anthropologie Confetti Tumblers. 

With Christmas approaching, I knew I wanted to try these! I was at Target one day and in their Dollar Section (love!!), they had the tumblers! So I picked up two. And then I was at the Dollar Tree store and BAM! they had tumblers too! 
Next, I needed to figure out the colors I wanted to paint the tumblers. I figured I would gift two sets of tumblers. On my next visit to Michael's I bought a few different colors of the enamel paint. I wanted to do metallic colors and bright colors (I used Marta Stewart Enamel Craft Paints).

This project began when my girlfriends came to visit in November. We started crafting around Midnight (yeah...it was that kind of night and we may have had a few HIGHKICKS, too!). We worked on the metallic colors--with silver, gold and bronze. We used Q-tips to apply the paint in a sporadic manner.

It was really that simple. After a week or two, I went back and added more painted confetti. Love how they turned out and I hope the recipients like them too!

So, what do you think? Do you go on Pinterest? Have you ever made anything you've pinned?

Have a great day!

Cindy