Monday, March 25, 2013

Week 1: Bulletin Board Project

Well, life threw me a couple of curve balls last week and I'm just now getting around to posting the first week's project in my craft room makeover.  I took the before pic late at night and the lighting was horrible and its not even worth posting on here.  But you can just imagine an empty space on the wall above my craft table.  I bought the bulletin board at Hobby Lobby for $4.79 (using a 40% off coupon on the original price of $7.99).  I painted the wooden frame of the board using turqouise acrylic paint.
I originally covered the cork board with red polka dot scrapbook paper but I wasn't happy with the look of it.  I have used this method many times to cover bulletin boards but the polka dots weren't lining up properly and it was making the board look busy and messy.  So instead I bought 1/2 a yard of red polka dot fabric from Hobby Lobby for $2.10.  I attached the fabric with thumbtacks that I hot glued some red buttons to. 


After the bulletin board was complete I added lots of momentos from different parties and celebrations I've had a part in.  I chose not to display any pictures on the board.  I only wanted a place to put the little odds and ends that I had left from events that I couldn't part with but didn't have any real use for.

While I was looking through some boxes of old party stuff I came across something I had printed with one of my favorite quotes on it.  It was the perfect finishing touch to tie by bulletin board together.  I printed the quote on some regular pinter paper and taped it to some pretty scrapbook paper and attached it to the wall with some more thumbtack buttons.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Love Birds

As I was looking for a past post on my blog this evening I realized I never posted pictures from the bridal shower my sister, mom, aunt, and friend Rebecca gave me almost two years ago!  The shower was too beautiful not to share so here are a few pics from it.  Better late than never.  Rebecca came up with a "Love Birds" theme for the shower and it turned out absolutely amazing!










 


New Weekly Series: Budget Craft Room Makeover

When we bought our house 2 1/2 years ago we intended on using one of the spare bedrooms as a nursery.  In the meantime we've used the room as a workout/craft room, but we've never really done anything about decorating it. But now since it looks like a baby isn't in God's plan for us anytime soon and instead grad school is (for me) I decided its time to give the room a makeover.   In the fall I'll also be using this room as my study area so I can have a quiet space away from the hubby and furbabies.  So I wanted a room that was comfy and inviting for studying (since I'm sure I will be spending a LOT of time in there), fun and inspiring for crafting, and still had enough room for us to do our workouts (currently we are doing the BeachBody Combat workout and LOVE it!).   I didn't want us to have to paint our tan walls since the room has very tall vaulted ceilings so I decided to bring in color through accent pieces.  I love the combo of red, turquoise, and white so I decided to use those colors.  I have a master plan for how I want the room to look and the projects I'll need to complete in order to get it there.  There's just two small problems.  1.  Right now I am working at my full-time job and also working at a part-time job to help save up money for grad school so my "free time" is limited.  2.  Hubby and I are currently taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University classes at our church to get some advice on how to prepare for our impending drop in income while I'm in school.  As part of our new budget we've decided to only allow ourselves $75 each of "spending money" a month.  So obviously this makeover has to be done on a very tight budget.  I have a six week timeline planned out to get all of the projects for the room completed.  As a way to keep myself on track I've decided to make a new post each week sharing the progress I've made so far.  Tomorrow I'll be sharing the bulletin board project I'm almost finished with!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Winter Owl Baby Boy Shower

In December I had the pleasure of helping plan and host a baby shower for a sweet friend who was expecting a baby boy.  After deliberating between a "mustaches and bowties" theme (the "fun" option) or a "winter owl theme" (the "classy" option) we settled on the owl theme.  The mother-to-be's sister (and shower co-host) was a big fan or owls and I knew I had lots of "winter" decorations we could use, so we decided to go with that theme.  As it turned out it was a good thing we had plenty of wintery decor because in true Arkansas-weather-form we had a random 70 degree December day for the shower. 

 
 

 
 

 
We had a little tree in our front yard that died and when we replaced it I asked my husband if I could keep it to decorate with.  I found the perfect use for it for this shower!  I made a few owl "ornaments" for it and I thought it was a cute touch.  I just wish it would have photographed better.
 
 
 
 
Wreath I made for the front door
 
Super cute favors the mom-to-be and her sister made for the guests!  There were also cards for the guests to fill out with advise for the new parents and to help pick the baby's name.

 
 
 Hot Cocoa Bar

 
 

Chocolate Chip Cheeseball

I've had a lot of repins on Pinterest of the Mickey Mouse Chocolate Chip Cheeseball so I thought I would post the recipe for anyone who was interested.  My friend Kelly introduced this recipe to me at a shower 7 years ago and I've been making it for every event I've hosted since then.   Its always a huge hit and very easy to make!

Ingredients:
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup real butter (softened)
2 T. brown sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 t. vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans (optional-I never use these)

In a medium bowl beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Mix in powdered sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.  Shape chilled cream cheese mixture into a ball, wrap with plastic, and chill for 1 hour.  Roll ball in finely chopped pecans before serving, if desired.  Serve with graham cracker sticks.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

"I Do" Love Burlap Banners

Here is my latest burlap banner creation.  I wish I had done this one for our wedding!  Its now available in my Etsy store:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnythingThatGlitters