You light up my life...

Happy weekend all! I hope that you all had a great week. I'm back to work and even though I am all sorts of tired and sore after my shift, it kind of feels good to be back in the swing of things.
  This weekend my siblings, the hubs, and I are going to finish my parents Christmas present. I know it's a little early but we are painting their front room for their gift and it's easier for all parties to do this in the warmth of September rather than the freezing temperatures of December. We have already finished part of the walls and it looks BEAUTIFUL. In the entry way of their home is a light fixture that was is pretty out of date. I just could not imagine having these gorgeous walls illuminated by these not-so-lovely light. I have been searching KSL for a new light with no luck. And then, quite by accident, I stumbled upon this:

A lamp that needed some love. And did you see the price?

   At $3.12, I can try to show it some love. With the assistance of my suave brother, we removed what ever covering was on peeling on the lamp so we could start fresh. And then... it sat... for a good week until I figured out just what I wanted to do with this little misfit from the home improvement store. Out of nowhere, it hit me, mosaic! Since really didn't want to try to find glass squares for this little project, I tried to think of what else could work. Do you know that book, "Everything I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten"? The older I get the more I find this to be true, especially in crafting. Once upon a time in elementary school, I made a mosaic design using tissue paper squares. This would be perfect for the light fixture as it will give me the design that I am going for as well as let the light shine through. After a trip to the dollar store for tissue paper, I whooped out my handy modge podge and got to work.
   I decided that I really wanted to have some of the squares to have a sea shell effect. But how to accomplish this.... And then, all on my own, I figured out how. You will all be so proud not only because I thought of this by myself but because I actually took pictures! Behold: my first tutorial:

Sea shell Tissue Paper
Materials:
-White tissue paper
-Antiquing stamp pad

First I took a square of white tissue paper and crumpled it. You can do this any way you would like. This gives texture and makes step 2 much easier. Mine just happened to look like this:

Next dab the tissue paper on the stamp pad. Be sure to move the paper around so you can get the brown distributed throughout the paper.

It should look something like this:

Open up the paper and if you are satisfied with the amount of brown than you have your done!

If you think it could use a little more, simply crinkle it again and repeat. I modge podged this to the light and it looks great if I do say so myself.

 This could also add a great effect on a picture frame, a vase, etc. You could also use it to add some pizzazz to wrapping gifts with bags and tissue paper. And don't be afraid to think outside the box. You can use the same effect on various sizes -I used it on the wide piece around the middle of the lamp as well as the little squares for the top and bottom. Try us same technique would look great on other colors of tissue paper and stamp ink. If you do try this I want to see it! Post a pic and show it off! I can't wait to see what your imagination can come up with!

Well folk, I hope you enjoyed my very first tutorial and that you make your way back to this little corner of the world wide web soon. Have a great weekend!

Head shoulders knees and toes

Happy Sunday all! Last week I did in fact have my gallbladder taken out. It has been an interesting experience. I have learned a great deal over the past week. I would like to share some of those with you today:
1. My family and friends and the bee's knees- To everyone one who brought in meals, called, sent messages, sat with me while the hubs was at work (especially my mom- she's always been one of my heros and this week you have gone way above the call of duty-your the best mom!), said prayers and good thoughts, and just showed some love-Thank you!
2. You use your abs for just about everything- I have had a couple of other surgeries that required some incisions in my midsection and it never ceases to amaze me just how much those tiny incisions can hurt when you try walking, sneezing, coughing, sitting up, sitting down, and so forth.
3. Things can always get worse- On top of having my gallbladder out this week, I developed a sinus infection. And my hubs has had to work all week. I know, way to much fun.
4. Things can always get better- Last night the hubs took my on a cute mini date (I still get really tired really quickly) and my mom has brought me a fresh Dr Pepper almost every day. Plus I found Season 2 of I Love Lucy.  All in all, it's been a pretty good week.
5. Just because you want to do a thousand things (such as crafting) while you are recovering, doesn't mean you actually have the energy to do so- I really wanted to do a whole plethora of crafts this week. In my mind it seemed pretty feasible. That idea lasted until I woke up from surgery. But I have done a few things and have a few more in the process. Here is my favorite one. Sorry there isn't really a before shot or a great tutorial- I blame the pain pills.

At work, I sit next to the lovely gal who has one of the cutest babies I have ever seen. So when I was up at the outlets a couple weeks back and found this darling white baby hat for a dollar, I knew I could make this little boy hat into something as cute as her baby girl. I can't take credit for the flower design-  I totally used a tutorial from one of my favorite blogs (I can't seem to remember which one though... again, I blame the pain pills). I made the leaves of the flower from burlap and with the assistance of my handy-dandy glue gun, put this all together. I can't wait to see this on her cute little head!

Well folks, I'm pretty much exhausted and I think that it's time that I go and take a nap. Thank you for dropping by and have a fantastic week!

This to shall pass...

Like I said in my first post, I can't guarantee that I will be very consistent with my posts. This week has been a crazy one. I found out that I need to have my gallbladder removed and will be having that procedure tomorrow. Even though I'm not thrilled to be going under the knife, I am excited to start feeling better again. I'm also hoping that this requp time will give me some extra crafting time. I already have one project that I want to finish. And because I'm an impatient person, I'll give you a sneak peak:

For Christmas this year, my siblings and I are re-painting my parent's front room. While we were at lowes getting some supplies I stumbled across this for their entry way. The light they have now is so out- dated and a royal pain to change the bulb in. It needs some love as you can see from the peeling cork but I like a good challenge. And did you see the price? That's right, it was $3.12! So even if I totally mess it up, I'm not even out 5 bucks. I'll keep you posted on this little adventure and anything else I may concoct this week here at home. Hope you all have a wonderful week! Be safe and laugh much!

Don't judge a book (or a hat) by it's cover....

Happy Sunday all! I love Sundays. Currently our church doesn't start until 1pm so I take the morning to sit and relax. And often relaxing leads to crafting. That's how this little beauty came about. I was cleaning out my closet one day and stubbled across this:

A little hat that I got from my last job. I started to put it in the DI pile and then I realized that this little pink hat with the awkwardly placed logo has potential to be more. And what kind of crafter would I be if I didn't try to find what it could be. So I whipped out my handy dandy glue gun and got to work.

The plain-jane hat now has some new life in it. What do ya think?

A little burlap and ribbon with a flower for pizzaz totally transformed this little misfit in my closet. And one of my favorite features:

The cute little button I added to the back. Isn't it adorable! I can't get enough of it! I totally forgot I even had this hat and now I wear it all the time. This project showed me that there are some amazing crafting opportunities  hiding in the most unlikely places, like the far corners of your closet. Now I'm off to find more hidden treasures. Thanks for dropping by! 

Craft Intro

Welcome back friendly bloggers! Since my last post was more of an introduction to me I thought it would be wise to highlight some of my very first projects on one of my very first posts. These don't have any kind of before or instruction pictures but that's because they were my very first attemps. Enjoy!

Ah my very first modge podge project. I was suprised how well it turned out. I still love this darling little vase...

I LOVE the blog Tater Tots and Jello! If you have not checked it out, you need too. She made the cutest burlap flower wreath! You should check it out here:

http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2010/01/2010-burlap-wreath-and-giveaway.html

Here is my attempt at her darling wreath. It's actually on my front door right now. I love the little bow. You'll notice quickly that I am in love with bows. Their just so sweet and whimsicle.

These earings are one of my most favorite modge podge projects. It took me FOREVER but it was totally worth all the time. I found the pink earings and Down East on super clearance (my favorite way to shop). In the store, I loved them. When I got them home however, I hardley ever wore them. I'd go to grab other earings and think "Man I wish there was something I could do with those." And one day while craft blog hunting it hit me... Let's modge podge those suckers! With a little paper and modge podge, they went from blah to Bam! I love these things!

And finally for today, the sock sorter I made my mom for mothers day. My parents are awesome. They let both my little sis and bro in law as well as my hubs and I use their washer and dryer all the time. With three families using the same washer and dryer, there are a lot of socks that mysteriously loose their other half. I found this idea on a few diffrent blogs and thought this would be a brilliant addition to the popular laundry room. A family nickname that many of my siblings friends and my friends have given my parents is Fuzzy (its kind of a long story) so when I started this project, I knew that I needed to use it. I love it! And the best part is, my mom loves it. It's hanging in their laundry room and it just looks so stinkin' cute.

Well folks, there's just a little sample of some of my crafts that I've done so far. Since I have the long weekend so I'm hoping to create something new and fun to post. Have a great weekend all! Thanks for stopping by!

Tada!

Alright world! I have finally taken the plunge. After months of drooling over craft blogs both far and near I decided that I too should add my two cents. I am a twenty something wife, student, daughter, sister, full- time employee that likes to distress from life with crafts. This blog is apart of that creative release so I can't promise to be vigilant at updating daily nor can I say how long I will keep it going. But after stewing over it for months now I have come to the conclusion that I will give it go. 


I currently live with my sexy beast of a husband in a darling and remarkably spacious one bed room apartment- our first home. We've been lucky enough to live in this darling place the whole time we've been married thus far (two and a half years baby!). Due to sheer boredom on the nights the hubs was gone to class and I was at home I took up crafting and have since transformed our wee corner of the world to a pretty decent first home. I'm an actress at heart and so I love to show off, which is partly what drove me to set this little blog up. But I also enjoy learning and copying from other people's brilliant ideas. 


Well, I'm not sure how first posts are supposed to sound but I hope this works. Its time to study and then to bed. Thanks for reading and come back soon!