Hey, all!
Turns out nothing kills my creativity faster than grief. I had the worst summer. Thank goodness it's over. I'm starting to feel a bit better, just in time for Halloween. I whipped up these two wreaths in no time at all using things I got from the Dollar Tree. The only thing that didn't come from the Dollar Tree was the gold skull ribbon on the one below. That came from Michael's last year.

There's no real tutorial needed for this. It's all held together with chenille stems and the feathery wreath took two Halloween boas to cover it. The feathery wreath uses a styrofoam form. If you have any questions you can leave a comment or send me an email.

 Also, this crow is pretty judgmental. It's rating your costume, just so you know.

Have you created anything for Halloween? Please share! I'd love to see it.

Love,

Super Simple Memo Board Makeover

Hi, all!

I haven't had a lot of time for crafting lately, but I did get the chance to revisit my Makeover Monday: Easy Memo Board Re-Do post from 2011. Yes, 2011! Can you believe it? This one was much easier. The frame was already white. Score!

I was in desperate need of a cute memo board for my office. but I'm cheap. You know how that goes. I picked up the VÄGGIS Noticeboard from IKEA and covered it with the same fabric remnant I used with the quick envelope pillow cases I whipped up this winter.

As with the first memo board, I used a case knife to tuck the fabric into the frame. Just cut the fabric slightly larger than the inside cork area. There's no need for adhesive. It's Super Simple!

Love,

A pillow case and a table to match

An envelope pillow case with a felt flower embellishment.

It's Iron Craft time again! This challenge was In Stitches and, just as the title suggests, we had to sew something. Not my favorite thing, but I'm very proud of how this project turned out. It's completely hand-sewn with not a drop of glue used. Weird, I know.

Close-up of the flower.

My husband and I ordered a new chair that has shades of green and grey and it's all stripey. I love it to bits and can't wait until it gets here. In honor of our new chair to be, I whipped up this pillow case. The pillow is a cinnabar red that just won't go in my new color scheme.   This pillow case is so easy to do, I'm not going to bother with a tutorial. If you need step-by-step directions, try this envelope pillow case tutorial. And if you have any questions, just ask me.

The back.

 I had just enough fabric left over to change out my candlestick table. Yay! It needed an update.

And a matching table.

I love it when a project comes together exactly how I envisioned it. It's so rare when that happens.

From Cutlery Box to Ring Box

My new ring box

 It's been a while, but I'm still here. And still burning my fingers with my glue gun. Whatever. Iron Craft's Think Inside the Box challenge got me crafting again. Yay! This is a project I've been wanting to do for a while. I had a couple of wooden cutlery boxes laying around and since I saw the ring display case from Tea Rose Home, I knew I had to do it. I did a few things differently. I used a box instead of a frame and I didn't make individual rolls (sort of...more on that later). I think it turned out pretty well.

Original box

I lightly sanded the box top and quickly (not very neatly) slapped on a coat of white acrylic craft paint. I then attached a piece of scrapbook paper to the top with a couple of coats of Mod Podge. Love that stuff!

Pretty top!

Original insides

After that dried, I cut a piece of fleece to fit the inside of the box top and attached it with a glue gun around the edges, which is perfect for storing brooches. I then cut squares of batting, rolled them up and glued them to the insides of the compartments. I cut strips of the same fleece, glued one side down, and then tucked it in around the rolls. I used a flat screwdriver to tuck in the edges. I glued the other edge. And then did it all over again twice more.

Batting rolls

I left the last compartment free of batting rolls for chain rings and stretchy rings. I lined the bottom with more fleece. I then loaded the whole thing up and admired it on my shelf. 

Finished!

I want to find something to use as edging around the inside of the lid and the flat compartment just to finish them up a bit. I need a trip to the craft store for that. Can you believe that I didn't have anything appropriate in my overgrown stash? Seriously.

Oneida Adkins Toppins Benefit Sing Weekend

Enamel cross earrings

The Oneida Adkins Toppins Benefit Sing Weekend
Lincoln County High School Auditorium in Hamlin, WV
January 7th • 5-9pm • Gospel
January 8th • 2-6pm • Assorted Music 
Admission : $10 for adults - $4 for students

Raffles, Silent Auction and a Concession stand stuffed with great food will be available. Love Offering being taken both days. ALL money raised goes to funeral costs and last expenses. Come join us in the celebration of the life of Oneida Adkins Toppins, an angel who once lived among us. (This paragraph was taken from the Facebook event page and written by Laura McComas.)

Cupcakey Christmas Tree

Oh, Christmas tree!

A couple of weeks ago I took a nap and Seán and Zara took the opportunity to decorate for Christmas. So sweet! And speaking of sweet, we have a pretty sweet tree. Cupcakes and candy kind of sweet.

Super Simple Art Fix

Swirly!

For the past six years I've had a problem. A massive, ugly problem. A hideous, embarrassing problem that has cause me much stress and has made me think hard for a solution. Wanna know what the problem was?

Super Simple Wreath Napkin Rings

These wreath napkin rings would make great favors for your holiday party.

So now that you have a stack of No-Sew Napkins just in time for the holidays, you need a bunch of Super Simple Wreath Napkin Rings to go along with them. Well, that was my thought process for this week's Iron Craft Wreath challenge.

A Hard Candy (& Cupcake) Christmas

Cupcakes everywhere!

Zara and I made these for Iron Craft's Handmade Holiday Challenge. They were so easy and we had so much fun making them. I'm doing a candy and cupcake theme on our Christmas tree this year. These are made out of scrapbook paper, a glue stick, and a marker for the wrapper details. The icing is glitter card stock.

The two in the lower left corner were done by Zara. I drew the shapes on card stock and let her color them in with markers and glitter glue. Everything was free-handed (as if you couldn't tell).

For extra stability, I cut two pieces at the same time and glued them back to back. When the tree goes up, I'll hang them with decorative hooks. They could also be hung with some pretty ribbon and would make super-cute gift tags.

Boo! (A Jane O'Lantern)

This is Jack's sister Jane.

Iron Craft's Boo! Challenge was a no-brainer for me. I had some pie pumpkins that needed to be decorated. Zara and I used washable markers instead of carving so that the pie pumpkins can be turned into, ummm, I dunno...pie after Halloween.

Makeover Monday: Super Simple Berry Wreath

Berrylicious Wreath

For this week's Makeover Monday, I turned my attention to a wreath that had been given to me by my aunt. It had been in her basement for ages and needed a bit of a pick-me-up. During my last trip to a Dollar Tree, I found bunches of berries that I thought were sweet. I bought four bunches and used every bit of them for this wreath. And did I mention that this wreath is Super Simple? It took me all of, oh, I dunno, maybe four minutes to throw together.

Floral Photo Frame

A Spring-tastic Shrink Plastic Frame

What does spring mean to me? That's the question of the week posed by Iron Crafter Spring Contest. Well, sort of. Technically, it's "Spring." Period. But I did have to ask myself that question. Turns out, spring means flowers, butterflies, and my daughter running barefoot through the grass. Who knew? It also means the return of flip-flops, but I couldn't figure out a way to tastefully throw them into the mix. Anyway, I made this magnetic floral photo frame from one of my favorite things - Shrinky Dinks shrink plastic.

The Fruit (and Herbs) of My Labor

Painted pots courtesy of Zara.

 Last weekend was amazing. The weather was perfect for a trip to a greenhouse and the farmer's market. We picked up several herbs, strawberry plants, tomato plants, and some squash plants. I missed having fresh herbs over the winter, so I'm so excited.

We also bought some flowers to give my mother and grandmother for Mother's Day. I handed over two pots and some paint to Zara and told her to have fun. It looks like she did.

Makeover Monday: A Desk Chair Facelift

Much better, right?

My desk chair is an old cheap-o office chair left behind by my house's former owners.

1. Yay for free stuff!
2. Ooh! That poor chair needs help. Booooooring!!!
3. Lists should always have at least three things.

You might recognize the new fabric from the previous post Makeover Monday: Easy Memo Board Re-Do. Or not. Click the link to refresh your memory. Go on. I'll wait.

Whew! So glad you came back. I was worried for a minute. Anyway, here's how it all happened.

Seashell Candle Holder

This is my I Wanna Be At The Beach candle holder.

Some of you may recognize this concept from the post I did called Super Simple Easter Decor (Peeps!) using Peeps and jellybeans. Easter's over and it's time for a change. This candle holder (or vase, either way) is also Super Simple and made me long for the beach.

Happy Easter! - some eggs and a sun catcher garland

Easter eggs are just so much fun! We only did a few, so I had to use a few plastic stand-ins.

This is the first year my daughter Zara has been able to dye Easter eggs and we had a blast doing them. Here are a few of my favorites.

Super Simple Easter Decor (Peeps!)

Peeps = Instant Cute

This week's Iron Craft challenge posed an interesting question. Bunny or Chick?  Peeps, that is. The challenge was to make something, anything, out of Peeps. I knew almost immediately what I wanted to do. I had two candle jars, one small and the other large, with just enough space in between the two for some...you guessed it...Peeps! So I made a candle holder/vase. Seems obvious to me. Oh, and I chose bunnies.

Makeover Monday: Glass Vase Update

The pink tissue paper is purely for show. It just makes the text easier to photograph.

This Makeover Monday's project is more subtle than the other things I've done, but I think it's cute. I updated a glass vase that I've been using to hold paintbrushes. This was pretty easy to do and it carries a very important message: CREATE TODAY! And, yes, my vase is shouting at me. Sometimes that's the only way I listen.

Makeover Monday: A Candlestick Table

My freebie table. I <3 it!

I have been looking for a table forever to go next to my wing chair. My requirements: small, cheap, cute, cheap, sturdy,...cheap. So when I saw a table that Erin at Richmond Thrifter did using a lamp base and a picture frame, a light bulb went on over my head. Check out her Lamp Base Turned Pedestal Table post for complete details on how to make this. I made my table using a brass candlestick that my Grandma gave me ages ago, so I did a few different steps, but the idea is the same.

An Upcycled Pet Bed

Berkeley checking out her new digs.

Question: What do you get when you cross a cardboard box, a men's shirt, 

and a whole lotta shelf liner?

Answer: A pet bed!

And, no, that's not a very pathetic attempt at a joke. It's today's project.