Fabric covered {Memo/Message/Idea Board}

I was missing one final piece in my little crafty corner...a memo/message/idea board. I had planned on making it Friday, but the stomach bug struck our house and my plans were delayed.

These memo boards are super fast to make and can be made to match any room and decor. There are many different ways to make these...but here is what I did.

I started with a stretched canvas, some fabric, ribbon, decorative brads, staple gun and an exacto knife. I am terrible and rarely measure anything, so I just guess at how much stuff I'll need...sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't and I have to make a second (or third) trip to the craft store. The amount of fabric and ribbon you'll need will depend on the size of your canvas.
There are tons of tutorials online about how to make these so I'll spare you all the steps, but I bet you can figure it out yourself. Besides, the back doesn't have to look nice, no one will see it! I simply stretched the fabric over the front, stapled in the back (folding and trimming bulk at the corners). Then, I laid out the ribbon in a diamond pattern and stapled each ribbon in place on the back also. I used my exacto knife to cut a small slit through the ribbon, fabric and canvas so that I could poke a rhinestone brad through all the layers and hold the ribbon tight to the board. Then I hung it in place and tacked up a few of my ideas and notes for projects I want to make.

Now, I think this little crafty corner is complete! {and my last picture of this space...I promise!}See some of my bead stuff laying on the desk? I was actually in my crafty space making some jewelry last night (but didn't get it all put away because my daughter woke up sick...again). My HUGE goal for 2009 is to FINALLY get serious about turning my hobby into a little extra $$$. I'm considering opening an etsy store but also looking for some craft shows in the DFW area. Anyone know about any spring craft shows in the DFW area?

{Craft Room Organization Week}

Ready for some updates on all the organization I've been doing in my craft room this last week? Great! That's what I'm going to be sharing this week...lots and lots and lots of pictures of how far that sad little room has transformed over a week. If you need a reminder of how pitiful it was before, just scroll down and look at my last post...you can't miss the wreck/dumping grounds. {Okay, for those of you that are too lazy to scroll down, here is what it looked like "before".} Here is the "AFTER"Better? I certainly think so! This lovely transformation cost less than $50. I moved the table that was covered in a cloth in the previous photo into the kids playroom for crafts and puzzles. Then, I began the search for a desk and chair that would fit into the corner. I found both at a local thrift store for $30.00. Solid desk, but it was in need of some TLC and of course, black spray paint. The chair was the same color as the desk and had an awful green cushion tied on. Two coats of black satin spray paint, mod podge, zebra tissue paper and some new hardware:

Now I LOVE this little desk! {and I'm loving that there is a clean floor to walk on now too!}

Okay, so a few more pics of the peg board now. My wonderful hubby called last week to ask if I wanted a big old frame that his company was getting rid of. YES! I had to spray it black also...but practically free since the Walmart brand of spray paint is less than a dollar a can. :) I took the inside measurements and had the guys at Home Depot cut me a piece of peg board to fit the frame and then my hubby hung it for me. It will be so nice to have most of my tools right in front of me while I'm working!!! Can you tell that I'm excited over this?

It feels so good to get this room organized! I've still got a few more things to do and then I want to paint and redo the bedding in this room...but it will have to wait for right now. I'll be posting lots of other craft room organizing ideas this week so make sure you check back soon!

Making progess {and hair clippies}

Just wanted to give yall proof that I am getting the guest bedroom/craft studio cleaned up and organized. Here is an old spice rack I picked up for a dollar a few months ago. I just cleaned it up, gave it a nice coat of black spray paint and then lightly sanded it along the edges to make it look a little worn. Here are the before and after pics.

Before: Ugly, worn spice rack

After: repurposed and repainted acrylic paint holder

I've also redone a desk for my craft studio but still need to buy some hardware for it. Hopefully I'll get that done this afternoon and post those pics soon.

As I've been cleaning and reorganizing, I stop and make a few fun projects (hmmm...maybe that's why it's taking me a while to get this finished!) Here is what I made for my daughter last night after she went to bed...lots of hair clippies!

I made this bow board about a year ago for her. I took off most of the bows so you could see it. Just a frame that I inserted a piece of card stock (coated with Mod Podge to protect against the humidity in the bathroom) and hot glued ribbon scraps to the backer board before reassembling the frame and hanging. Super quick and would be adorable with fabric instead of the card stock. Like most projects, I just wanted to do it and was too impatient to wait and find the right fabric...besides, there are usually so many bows on the board that you don't really see the card stock or ribbon (so keep that in mind if you make one).

And here she is modeling one of her new bows. Okay, really, I just wanted to show you how cute she was (because you don't really notice the bow unless you're looking for it). Little Miss B was sitting in the front window singing with her snow globe. Yes, I do know it's mid-January but I can't put this away yet. The kids LOVE this silly, cheap, plastic snow globe from CVS. My hubby didn't want to buy it but has since admitted it was probably the kids favorite purchase from Christmas. It's all plastic so the kids can handle it and I don't freak out if they drop it. It's got a little fan inside that blows the fake snow and it sings several different songs that the kids adore. Seriously though...this picture just made my morning. :)

My only Christmas decor right now...

Well, my youngest has been sick since Saturday night and sleep has been a little sparse in this house since. I'm behind on my Christmas decorating (and house cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, Christmas shopping, and the list goes on...) as a result. I finally finished pulling the lights off of 10 branches on our pre-lit tree last night {a serious pain in the rear}. We spent too much money on that tree and I didn't see the point in trashing a pretty tree with half the lights working...so I pulled, yanked and cut those things off and restrung the tree at 11:00 last night. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it decorated today! I've got the stockings hung, a wreath on the front door and boxes littered across my living room and entry hall...can't wait to get those taken care of and everything put up...hopefully in time for Christmas! :)

Here is one little project I managed to get accomplished this week and I really like the way it turned out! I promise that is looks a lot prettier in person! {geez, you think I could at least take the picture so it was centered on the wall and not so weird looking with my iron piece there on the wall behind it..but this is what you get when I take a pic hanging from a ladder in my kitchen} I just wrapped an extra piece of garland around the chain on my light fixture and shaped it like a tree and then decorated with a little garland, ribbon and some gold glittery birds and assorted gold balls. Once I get all my Christmas ornaments out to decorate the tree, I plan on setting a few aside and hanging them from the metal scrolls on this fixture.

Well, I am going to go start decorating the tree since my baby girl is sleeping {YEAH!} and my son just left for school. I'll post pictures once I get everything up and decorated so I can participate in Thrify Decor Chick's Favorite Things party.

Trash to Treasure {Jewelry Organizer}

See this BEAUTIFUL picture I picked up last week at the thrift store? I have just the place for it.

Well, maybe I don't have a place for the picture, but the frame will work for this project. I took off the backing and set the picture and glass aside. See, doesn't it look better already? This is one of my little helpers. Isn't she a cutie? :)

I took the frame outside and spray painted it a matte black. I didn't bother painting the back. Next, I measured and marked on the frame where I wanted to predrill my holes for the hooks for my necklaces and bracelets to hang from. I drilled the holes and screwed in my hooks. Then I simply stapled a piece of metal window screen to the back. I did use quite a few staples because I don't want the screen to move as I'm putting earrings on and taking them off. After I took this picture, I cut off the excess screen and rolled the rough edges close to the frame so that it wouldn't scrape up my walls or be visible from the front side.

Then, I repositioned the saw tooth hanger so that my frame would hang horizontal instead of it's original vertical position. Here is what it looks like now:

I haven't loaded all my jewelry on yet {but I couldn't wait to share it with you gals} because I realized I need to put another saw tooth hanger on it. With one hanger, the piece tends to move on the wall if the weight isn't even on both sides. It would probably be fine if I was only going to hang earrings on this...but I'll take it down and put a saw tooth hanger on the top right and left sides of the frame. Maybe I'll go do that right now since the baby is sleeping! Then I can finally get my jewelry out of all the little dishes on my dresser and vanity so I can see it all again! I've also got plans of making a smaller version of this jewelry holder to sit on my vanity for my earrings with a post and back. The one I just hung will really only work well with ear wires. How do you organize your jewelry?

From "Blah" to "Oooo, Ahhh"

I am proof that you don't have to be a scrapbooker (is that even a word?) to love and use scrapbook papers. In our MOPS {Mothers of Preschoolers} meeting today, we transformed some boring pine 4x6 frames from Ikea and took them from "Blah" to "Ahhh!"

Here is just a small sampling of what everyone created:

I received a lot of good feedback from the ladies today and it appeared that everyone was genuinely having a good time. That makes me happy! :) This is my first year as the creative activities coordinator and I've spent a lot of time trying to come up with projects that fit into our budget, our short time frame to complete the project and have them be practical or fun projects (ie: not something they're going to trash on their way out the door). It's been fun teaching some of the ladies new techniques and seeing that sense of accomplishment. I'm hoping to make some craft addicts out of this group!

This project can be done in so many ways! For the sake of the above mentioned reasons {time & budget b/c this craft was done for ~75 people} we kept it pretty simple and had the ladies paint the frames with sponge brushes and acrylic paint of their choice. Then, we cut out our scrapbook paper and adhered it to the front. {If I was doing this at home, I'd be covering it with Mod Podge too} Then the ladies got to have fun and embellish to their liking. It was fun seeing how creative some of the ladies got and I'll totally be copying some of their awesome ideas! :) We had a table set up in the back that had an assortment of stamps, scraps of papers, ribbons, rhinestones, stickers, paper punches, paint, fake flowers etc. {If you decide to do something like this with a group of friends or with your MOPS group, see if any of the ladies are willing to share their stamps, paper punches and scraps for the day. That will really help save you some money!}

See the creativity around the ribbons, stamps and rhinestones? :) They all made some great stuff!

I think creative activities are such an important part of a MOPS group! It allows everyone time to get up and move around the room & meet new people, have discussions with other adults AND not be interrupted by your kiddos while doing so, it offers women the opportunity to learn new crafts, and you're able to start and finish a project that you may otherwise not have the time to do at home. I am really enjoying this opportunity as creative activities coordinator and it's forcing me to make time for creativity in my life. I realized a few months ago how little I was doing and how much I missed and needed that for myself. Besides, all the crafty blogs give me SOOO much inspiration and I hope to be able to do MANY of the fun projects I've found with our MOPS group.

Here are two frames that I made. The first one is for my daughters room and that picture was taken the week of her first birthday. I LOVE it! The second one is for my son's room. I couldn't find any 4x6 pics of him last night when I was finishing up my prep work at midnight so I found this old one and used it. I look sooo young...that little booger is now 6 1/2 years old! :) I roughed up the edges of both frames with a little sand paper and I really like the way they turned out.

I found a great tutorial at SplitCoastStampers for this craft. While you're there, check out some of their other free tutorials-lots of cool projects!

Custom {Organized} Binder Clips

My husband thinks I've lost it. He came in last night and saw me applying Mod Podge to binder clips, shook his head and walked out. Haha! I for one, LOVE them and have already put them to use organizing my stacks of papers!

So, here is a QUICK and easy project that will help you stay organized and would make a great addition to a teacher gift, too.

You'll need :

*Binder Clips {I had an assortment of cute colored ones from Staples-that's what is in the plastic tub, but plain black ones will be fine also.}

*Mod Podge

*sponge brush {or your finger if you really want to get messy}

*Your sayings printed out

*scissors

The binder clips come in varying sizes but the ones I used here have clips that measure 3/4" long and 1/2" high. I used a text font size 11 so that my text would fit on my clips once cut out. Adjust your font size to fit your clips.

So, determine what sayings you want. I chose to do "today", "soon", "later", my name, my kids and husband's name all for sorting the papers, bills, field trip slips, etc. that seem to find their way to my kitchen counters. I also did a few sets with things like "2 be graded", "graded", "2 be copied", "handouts", and teachers names for teacher gifts. Type them up in a word program and print out. I then cut each word out and applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to one side of each clip. Next, I positioned each word in the middle of the clip while the Mod Podge was still wet. I let that coat dry and brushed another coat on top to seal and I was done.

Super quick, easy and cute...not to mention, practical. What other sayings or words would you put on yours?

Creating a {Cute} purse size calendar...

{Edited 12/1/08 to add more pictures and another embellishment to the calendar!}

Chris, over at Just a Girl, was hosting an I Can Make That party on her blog this past Monday. I thought I'd make a submission and be fashionably late. Hey, I'm new to craft blogging...that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Check out her site for TONS of cute ideas and gifts that you can make also!

{First, a disclaimer: several of my friends will probably be receiving these as gifts this year, so please act surprised when you get one and pretend that you never saw this post!}

Two girlfriends from my MOPS group came over this morning for a few hours to help get our next craft prepped and make some examples for our next meeting. We spent the morning making cute picture frames {I'll post that craft next week after our meeting} and I decided after they left that I'd take advantage of having half my supplies sprawled out all over the kitchen and make some more stuff instead of cleaning. :)

Here is my submission to the I Can Make That {seriously, anyone can do this...cheap, quick and something everyone really uses. This would be great as a gift for a neighbor, stocking stuffer, mail man, friend, etc... Scroll all the way down to see just how cheap thrifty this project is}

So, up first was a quick transformation of a purse size calendar. I started with all of this:

{Small calendar in clear sleeve, piece of scrapbook paper, scissors, glue stick, paper punch and not pictured: ribbon, glue, stamp pad and stamps}

1. Remove the calendar from it's plastic sleeve and trace it on the backside of the scrapbook paper.

2. Apply glue stick to the backside of the paper and adhere to the cover of the calendar.

Your calendar will now look something like this.

(I used a bone folder...that white thing next to the green mechanical pencil...to smooth out any air bubbles and make sure the paper is adhered. You can also use your finger or save those fake credit cards that come in your junk mail and use them to smooth your paper)

Next, I just embellished it a little. I didn't want to do too much with this wild pattern so I just stamped my name on a piece of paper, framed it with a scrap and glued down some ribbon. I put it back in the plastic sleeve and I was done! {If yours doesn't have a plastic sleeve, you may want to apply a coat or two of Mod Podge to keep it from getting torn up and ruined in your purse.}

Click on the picture for a larger view and you'll see that it's in the plastic sleeve.

What do you think? I certainly think it's much cuter now than it was when I originally purchased it. Oh, and did I mention that the total cost for this project was $1.00? I found the calendar at DollarTree and everything else was stuff I already had and you probably do too. If you make one, please comment and let me know. :)

{I've made several more of these since I first posted this but I won't show you pics yet because they're going to be gifts. Anyways, I have gone back and added a cute rhinestone brad to the front cover (punched a whole through the plastic cover, ribbon, paper and all) and added a piece of elastic that is held in place with an eyelet on the back) I found the idea for this over here. Now I like my calendar even more!}

Sprucing up the fireplace with wood appliques

We had some friends over Saturday night for dinner and to play cards and somewhere during the conversation I mentioned how I would LOVE to change our fireplace. Our home came with a WHITE cast stone fireplace and mantle. It's nice and all...it's just that it's the only thing that is white in the whole room and it's HUGE and pretty much the focal point. I would love to stain it or something to make it a little more warm {and less white} but my husband insists that it can't be done and would ruin it. {sigh} So, my friend Angela came up with a brilliant idea {at least, I think it's brilliant} of adding a medallion or applique to the fireplace to tie it all together. So, what do you think? (It's the small fleur de lis in the middle of the fireplace that I'm talking about)I was at Joann's buying some more fabric for a window mistreatment (from Nesting Place). I'll show you what I did with before and after pics soon. Anyways, while I was there, I decided to take a look at their wood appliques and I found both of these for $1.99 (and a 40% coupon).

I already had black and gold paints and a plethora of sponge brushes at home. So, in a matter of minutes, I had them looking like this:

All I did was paint them black {graphite if we're being technical here} with a sponge brush and then used my blow dryer to speed up the drying time because I'm that impatient. :) Then I applied gold metallic paint with my finger so that the raised surfaces would become gold and the recessed areas would remain black. It took about 3 minutes to paint and dry these gals. Then, I applied them to the fireplace with scotch tape to see what they looked like and which one I wanted in the center. Now, I may go back and buy one more of the serrated squares {the one on the right in the picture above} and apply both of those to the fireplace also...hmmm....too many choices to make. Three might be getting too busy!?! Oh well, I'll still buy another one to see how I like it and then I can always use those appliques to spruce up something else.

So what do you think? No appliques, just one {the fleur de lis or the square in the center} or the fleur de lis flanked by two square medallions (which I need to go buy another but you get the idea)? Leave a comment and let me know what you think! Oh, and ignore all the clutter on the built in bookcase...need to clear that out and reorganize it all!

Embellished Notebooks

I really need to figure out my camera settings and learn how to take better pictures! Thankfully our next speaker at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) will be covering this topic. Yeah! Hopefully you can get a general idea despite my terrible picture. I was going to take more pics but then my camera battery died. I'll add that to my growing list of things to do today. Here is the first craft we did in our MOPS group this year. It's a bit of a challenge trying to come up with inexpensive crafts that you can do in a short amount of time with 50 or so women. :)

Anyways, you could use this idea to alter any spiral notebook but I really like the steno books with the spiral at the top. (Think of all the not-so-cute notebooks you can find for less than a dollar...oh, the possibilities!) You simply cover the notebook with scrapbook papers- including the spiral. I just made small cuts in the paper next to each spiral in order to completely cover the front and pressed the paper down between each spiral and glued. Because we're limited on time at our meetings, we just used a glue stick but when I make these at home, I use Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the notebooks and to seal it. Then you embellish with stamps, rhinestones, buttons, brads, stickers, etc. and then cut assorted ribbons that match your papers and knot onto each spiral. It's a quick and easy project and it seemed to go over well with the ladies in my MOPS group.

I had taken this picture before I decided to start a craft blog. In the future, I'll take more pics so you can see the progress and steps to completion. :) Now I'm off to see the dentist and get a new camera battery. Have a great weekend!