If you don't already know this, my kids share a room. Yes, we have enough rooms in the house that they could have their own. Yes, they are different genders. Yes, my son is almost 8. But also..... yes, they have grown much closer in their relationship since they share a room. Yes, I think sharing a space is a great thing for kids to do and to learn from. Yes, I will continue to have them share a room for at least a couple more years.
All that said, their room needed to "grow up" a bit. It was done in a "wheat" color on top and a dark brown on the bottom...in between was a jungle animal wall-paper border. It was cute. Their room was ok. The colors all went together, there was a theme, it worked.
But now we are changing it all! (and I am lovin' it!)

First I knew the wall paper border had to come down.

I was worried it wouldn't be easy to do. My worrying was pointless because it was a BREEZE! Georgia and I first sprayed the border (we used a mixture of warm water and Palmolive dish soap).

Then we peeled off what we could...mainly the top layer.

Then we sprayed what was left, the bottom layer.

We let that sit for MAYBE 3 minutes (we would play I Spy or sing a couple of songs) and then we scraped it off! We used my Pampered Chef pan scraper and it worked like a charm!

The stuff literally just came right off! Big easy pieces, in no time at all. It was wonderful! We did the entire room in less than 50 minutes!


Next I decided to go from bunk beds to twin beds.
I didn't want to spend the money on twin beds. I thought about just buying the basic metal frames...but then I would have to buy box springs. I went back and forth for a couple of days (which is a LONG time for me to decide something...I am usually a very quick decision maker) and then decided to go for it! How hard could it be?

First Georgia and I took the parts off of the bunk bed that I knew we wouldn't need anymore. These were pieces like the steps for the ladder, side beams, etc.

Then I measured and marked where all of the cuts would need to be. I marked all the way around the post (a friend of mine suggested that).

Then it was time to do the cutting. I was again worried that this would be hard.
Well, turns out...it wasn't hard at all!
Of course I actually didn't have to do the cutting, a friend of mine offered to come do it for me. (don't ya' just love gentlemen!)
First we tried a circular saw. It wouldn't hold a charge.

So then he decided to just try a hand saw~worked great!

He got the whole thing done in about 15 minutes! YEA YEA YEA!
Then I grabbed the hand sander and sanded the newly cut tops. It made a huge difference!


So now we have two twin beds that I am purchasing new bedding for. Then the walls will get painted and then bead board will go up! After that comes even more fun~decorating! WOOHOO!

Stay tuned for further updates as this project continues.
:0)

Hi!
Ok, so I'm pretty new to the world of crafting. Really new to crafting and blogging. I am completely addicted though and check out a variety (a LOT) of crafting blogs DAILY to inspire me.

This project is the first one that I didn't get from anywhere else. I have never seen it done (ok, if it's "out there" somewhere, please don't show me or tell me!) and was so excited that I came up with it AND actually did it!

So, here it goes...

my one-of-a-kind SIGN MADE FROM A FAN!

Once you get into crafting nothing, i mean NOTHING, in your house is trash again! I WAS the queen of just giving things away when I was finished with them...well, I may never be "finished" with something again!

We took down an inexpensive fan that was in our guest room that we didn't care for anymore and were finally upgrading.


Normally my prior-to-crafting-addiction self would have put it out to the curb free for someone to take or saved for my next garage sale and tried to get a couple bucks for.
But NOW I saw potential.
That's WOOD (well, really just particle board I think...I did say it was an INexpensive fan) that could be used for SOMETHING!

an idea came to mind...
and I did it!

Here we go (for real this time)

I took the fan blades completely off the fan.
Gave them a light sanding. Just enough to rough it up to make painting more efficient.

Then I knew I'd have to do something about the holes. I thought about using them as part of the decoration...maybe running ribbons through them...decided not to. So I filled them with spackling.

(this is just the spackling I already had on hand..you can probably use a variety of things for this step!)
Let that dry really well.

Then I painted them black with a mini-roller. (sorry no photos of this part..I'm new to this!) :0)
After painting them I knew I'd have to figure out how to get them to stick all together.... dum dum dum dum (trumpet blaring tune...maybe even a drum roll...!)... paint sticks! I am ALL about trying to use as many materials that I can get for FREE that I can. So I got a few paint stirrer sticks and glued them to the backs of the blades. (again, no photo BUT I can take one soon!) I used 4 sticks.
Once that dried (I used bricks to weigh them down and make sure they were stuck-fast!)
I set out to use my Silhouette to make the letters.

Here it is with the words all on it:


Don't you love what I decided to "write" on it?! I LOOOOOVE sweet tea and since this is for my guest room, I wanted to incorporate "family" and "friends" into the sign. :0) And what I "wrote" is TRUE for me too!

Here are close ups of some of the papers... the colors are really hard to tell...


then I knew it needed more so I made my first attempt at fabric rosettes. I've been seeing them all over blogworld so I gave them a try and they really were as easy as everyone says they are! YEA! I cut up some of my daughter's shirts and a pair of pants that she has outgrown (they were actually already bagged up in the garage to take to GoodWill!) . :0)




Then I needed a way to hang it. I used the little ruffle from the bottom of the same pair of my daughter's old pants! Just cut it off and hot glued it to the back of the top blade! WOOHOO!

The last step was to distress it a little to just rough it up a bit...so I lightly sanded the edges of everything. (please forgive my horrible photos...I had no idea how blurry these were until now!)

And here it is again:

BEFORE:
and AFTER:



Thanks for looking!

I posted this on:

I've always wanted to make some terrariums to have around my house. I absolutely LOVE having live plants. The problem is...I'm not so good at maintaining them. I do OK...I've had some for MANY years (seriously, I had a peace lily and some ivy for 9 years so that's not too bad!) but usually they have to be extremely resilient (such as previously mentioned types).

I wanted to give it a try though...so I did.
Here they are!
I used two containers that I already had in my house and then the third is a votive from the Wal Mart and a base from the dollar store that I glued together! What do you think?

This photo shows them done simply and cute. I really liked them!But then I decided to use my handy Silhouette SD, some paper, and some ribbon I already had in my craft stash to make some labels.
NOW...I LOVE them!





fun huh?

I posted this on:

This is my first time posting a craft that I've done and I KNOW there will be many more to follow! I am super excited about all that I have been working on and have on my project lists! YEA!

This one is not my own idea, I saw it here and loved it! (BTW, ALL of her ideas are amazing and I am constantly getting ideas from her! She's fabulous!) I have a clock much like hers that I just wasn't thrilled with. I have been trying to incorporate some more color into my kitchen and decided this was a perfect way to do that! SO...here we go...
This is the original clock. I think it's fine but I mainly bought it because it was red and round. Two things I wanted to incorporate into my decor on top of my kitchen cabinets.
I grabbed a BUNCH of paint chips from WalMart. These paint chips are the large ones of one color (obviously...but on the site I referred you to,she uses the strips with various shades...either way works great!) These are the colors in my home. My kitchen has been mostly red, tan, and black, so I am looking for ways to incorporate some blue and green. :0) YEA for FREE craft supplies, I love me some paint chips!

Ok, I don't have photos of the process BUT the blog where I got this idea DOES! (I'm new to crafting so I promise to get better about photos).
Here are my steps:
1~take apart the clock. I removed it from the frame and took off the hands.
2~ Started cutting all of my paint chips. I made them 1.5 in x 1.5 in AND/OR 1.5 in x 2 in. Here is what I learned...make sure you do good measuring, they ALL have to have the same WIDTH measurement in order to line them up right!
3~Decided to start at the top center. I painted (sponge brush) a little ModPodge down, enough for a few cards. I did NOT sand it first. It seemed to work just fine without sanding.
4~Started placing the cards down, in random order. This is where I learned the lesson of them all needing to be the same width. :0) I painted on some ModPodge, placed some cards...over and over. I did NOT do this ahead of time like Amanda did (on the other site)...I just put down some ModPodge and stuck on another strip...
5~When it was covered, I painted a layer of ModPodge over the top of all of it. Then let it dry.
6~ Once dry, I turned the clock over and used an exacto knife to cut off the excess.
7~At this point I knew that I didn't want it too look quite as "bright" as it was... So I grabbed my Distressing Ink stamp pad and rubbed it across the front. I would rub it onto a few cards then use my finger to rub it around a bit. I did that all over until I was happy with the results. :0) I know that doesn't sound super professional but well.. there ya' have it!
8~While all of that dried a bit, I used my Silhouette SD to cut out numbers from an off-white cardstock I had on hand.
8~I used ModPodge to apply the numbers to the clock. When I did this, a bit of the ink came off onto my numbers...I loved it! It helped everything blend a bit.
9~Let it dry and reapply the frame and hands. That's it! It was super easy and quick!

Here are the finished results





I love it! Here it is up on my cabinets...but please ignore my ugly cabinets..painting them is my HUGE project I hope to complete this summer....

So here are the final before and after photos:
BEFORE
AFTER!


I posted this on:

Hi and good morning!
As I go about getting more organized, I have learned something. It's pretty common but still effective.
I do better with a list.
I do much better with a list with check marks.
I also do really well when things have containers.
I do amazingly well with things have containers that are labeled!

If things have a place, a truly designated place, I put it back there. I don't put things that don't belong there. It makes things easier. It is WONDERFUL! :0)

SO, my newest project is one I made last night. I'm not sure that I'll use it this week though because it's not completely finished.
I saw this idea at another blog and fell in love with hers (and therefore made my own just like hers!)
(as soon as I can find her blog again, I promise to post it!)

Here are mine:





I would show you the one for each day but some of them are still png format. These are the ones that are already jpg. :0)

I want to laminate these so I can mark on them each day but then clean it off. I am going to attach them all together with a metal ring and hang them on my refrigerator.
:0)

wish me luck!

Hi! I hope this post finds you happy and healthy. :0)

I am getting motivated.
Motivated to clean, create, and organize.
I have been doing a LOT of organizing in my home this past month. A lot. And I'm lovin' it!
I am also getting craftier than ever!
There are SOOOO many wonderful blogs "out there" with amazing craft ideas! I'm having a blast!
I have also taken a big step...a big step in my world. I am making the switch to PSE for scrapbooking. I started to scrap digitally about 5 years ago but have always used Microsoft Digital Image Suite. I love it. I love it completely. I have had PSE for 2 years, sitting in its box waiting for me to take the plunge. I've always been pretty scared about it. BUT with a great friend of mine, we took that step last week. She has since then been going nuts and learning all sorts of things, I haven't opened my laptop since. BUT I will. I am no longer scared.
I am also cooking new things. I REALLY enjoy it...but...well the mess doesn't usually seem worth it. I despise cleaning my kitchen. It's a never ending battle and it takes away the joy of cooking. I will continue to cook though (and continue to hate cleaning!)

:0)
SO...wanna try some things with me?
I challenge you to get motivated!
I challenge you to step out of your box and try something new.
I am!

I am going to try something new EVERY week...whether it is a way of crafting I have never done or a dish I would normally never consider (I never even really look at multi-cultural recipes!). I'm in! Are you?

Mine for the upcoming week are:
an asian-inspired recipe for the crock pot
AND
glass "etching" using my silhouette and etching cream

Should be interesting!

Have a great day!
~robin

Hi! I'm just stopping by to write something so I don't forget...

Caleb does something pretty often that I am so proud of.
It's something I don't ever know to expect, it comes from out of the blue.
It is genuine, it is heart felt, and it is just sort of second-nature-easy for him.

He asks people, total strangers, "Do you know God?"

We were at a nearby park playing the other day and he was over by a girl and her dad. They were climbing on this big fake rock/cliff thing....
I almost missed it.
I almost didn't hear him.
Thankfully I was paying attention and did (because it sure does make me smile).

He simply looked at the dad and said "Do you know God?"
The guy sort of paused and gave a "uhhh...yeah." answer.
Caleb said "Ok, I was just just checking."

It was wonderful!
I'm not sure how much the guy liked being asked, he didn't seem real pleased by it. BUT if my son's question made him ponder, made him give it another thought at all...I am thrilled!

Caleb has done this a few times now, to the cashier at Hobby Lobby, to a waitress at Chili's, even to a doctor. (the one about the doctor was awesome because the doctor was telling us that he was moving back to South America to help give medical aid to less fortunate people. After Caleb asked him if he knew God then he also said "GREAT! Be sure to tell people over there about Him too, they might not know.")

I have talked to him about being prepared with what he will say if someone answers "No." Caleb has shared with me that he would say "Well you should" or "He MADE YOU!" and such. This past weekend we talked and came up with a few better answers....just in case. :0)

I pray that Caleb is always bold enough to ask and loving enough to care.

:0)