Cupcakes Galore!

(paint­ing by Etsy seller, jennys­bakeshop)

A few days ago a friend posted a similar picture on my facebook wall stating "This so SCREAMS Julie."  Little did she know how my week was shaping up, these little words of encouragement helped me make it through. 

 Jade, you were inspired in your post, not only did I have A cupcake - but I had THREE HUNDRED cupcakes! 

 Just to clarify, I did not EAT three hundred cupcakes.  I only ate one, or two...!

Want to know a little secret?  I didn't start building this bad boy of a cupcake tree until Thursday night around 8:30.  Friday was my "bake the 300 cupcakes and cake day" and Saturday was the wedding.  I started to think I may have procrastinated a little to long.  But, it all started coming together.   I then realized I shouldn't doubt myself.  I had everything all under control.  All I needed was to heed these wise words of advice:

KEEP CALM and HAVE A CUPCAKE!

Stay calm.  Eat a cupcake.  Or two.  Everything is going to be fabulous!

Update:  When talking the bride and discussing the theme of her wedding, I found this cupcake stand.  This is where the inspiration came from in creating the piece.  The first website I found, the stand was selling for $349.99, Boss Manufactoring has it for $229.99.  I knew I could create something on a larger scale for MUCH less than that.

Easy, Inexpensive and Cute Baby Gift!!

Sorry friends for my lack in posting. I will admit it: I have been a slacker! Moving on....a friend of mine had a baby recently and so I made her this little frame for her daughter's room.

I didn't know her baby room colors, so I chose something I liked, hot pint and black. I used the common and super inexpensive wood frame found at Michaels. Love those frames. I use them for EVERYTHING!

I originally found this idea on Rachel Berry Blog last year and have made some for other friends, but remembered to actually take a picture this time.

added some fabric roses and tulle for some girly flair

There you have it! Simple, inexpensive and personalized for that special touch.

Valentine's Day Heart

Here is a fun, cute craft project Holly and I did together one afternoon!  I love how simple it is, yet it sums up the whole meaning of Valentine's Day - LOVE! 

"Owl Always Love You"

And I Will!

I am not sure why, but I love Valentine's Day!  Maybe it's the colors, the fun, the candy, the sweetness.  I don't know?!  All I do know, is I LOVE IT!

You gotta LOVE the cricut (or other cutting machine!), paper, vinyl, wood and Mod Podge.

You can't go wrong in life with all of the above!

Isn't this little owl the cutest?

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Just a side note - I HATE my camera and I am saving for a new one!  It take the worst pictures in the world and one day, ONE DAY, I will have a better one!  But for now, this is the best I can do!

Chic Vintage Door Decor

I must tell you I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS DOOR!

I wish it was mine!

Want the story?  A few months ago my sweet friend Kesha called asking me to help her with a project!  Of course I was excited and couldn't wait to get started!  Kesha told me what she wanted to use the door for and we got busy turning an old ragged door into this CHIC VINTAGE WALL DECOR!

Kesha found this AMAZING door tucked away in her Father-In-Laws garage.  I believe it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!

Can you just imagine the possibilities when you look at this beauty?

We began by sanding it down and applying two coats of a light tan paint.  For the life of me, I can't remember what it was called.

Then - DON'T BE SCARED!  We hit the door with a hammer giving it even MORE character!

Pulled out the orbital sander and sanded the heck out of it AGAIN!

Put on a nice thick coat of glaze and gently wiped it off, making sure to leave plenty of glaze in all the nooks and ridges.  (Glaze is on my top 10 favorite things in life - Just thought you would want to know!)

Kesha knew she wanted to use this to display photos (she is an amazing photographer!) but she didn't want them to be permanent.  I suggested she use plexiglass to showcase her photos.  This way, she could update her photos or change them out whenever she wanted!  After drilling four small holes (one in each corner) of the plexiglass and each section of the door, use small screws with the decorative bolt to secure to the door.

If you want to check out Kesha's Photography, click HERE!

Two of the sections are magnet boards! Apply scrapbook paper with Mod Podge to the metal and you have a beautiful coordinating magnet board!

Isn't She Beautiful!  I love this Chic Vintage Door Decor!

So question for YOU!  If this was YOUR door, what would you do with it?



Home Movie Theatre

Holly needed a super cute decor idea for her parents home theatre.  A sign for POPCORN!  She wanted something different and unique.  One that no other theatre would have. 

Here is what we came up with!

We found a an old cupboard door that needed a new home!  We spent a few minutes sanding down the old stuff, making it nice and smooth so it was ready to paint!  Decided to use Krylon Antique White spray paint.  Why?  Because spray paint is AWESOME!  Spray the first coat and allow to dry.  Apply a second coat and let it dry.  Once paint is completely dry, glaze over the top using Ralph Lauren Technique Glaze tinted Old Violin Brown.  Cut out vinyl and apply!  Simple as that.

Now, I can't wait for her parents house to be finished so it can be displayed for all to see!  Oh and maybe if I am super duper nice, Wendy will let me hang out in the theatre and watch Holly play Wii Just Dance 2!



Candy Corn Wreath Tutorial

Candy Corn is to Halloween like Santa is to Christmas!  You have to experience candy corn or Halloween just isn't Halloween!  Not only is candy corn yummy to eat, it's colors are some of my most favorite!  I wanted to do something with candy corns and a Candy Corn Wreath is what I got!

I didn't want to have to spend any money either, so I rummaged around in my craft closet and wood supplies.  After some searching, I found all of this!

I cut out the candy corns on masonite board using a band saw.  If you don't have the wood or tools to cut wood, you can use the foamy paper stuff...any color will do because we are going to cover it with CUTE candy cornish paper!  I made a candy corn shape template, traced it onto my different paper color choices and cut them out.  I distressed the edges with an orange colored ink.

Now, glue them onto the wood.  I just used a glue stick but Mod Podge works great too.

Once all candy corns are completed, pull out the hot glue gun!  Now, glue all those bad boys to a wreath.  I am sure a foam wreath will work well.  Like I said, I just used what I had in my closet!

I found a piece of fall garland that was the perfect length.  Seriously, how lucky can one get?  I made a circle out of the garland and placed the wreath on top, pulling the stems through to make it look full.

To fill in the gaps, cut six or more long pieces of coordinating fabric.  Wrap them around the garland and wreath.  Not only does this fill in the gaps, but it hides the wire on the wreath.  It was still looking kind of blah in the center and this cream paper with black flowers gave it just the kick it needed.  I cut a circle and glued it to the back of the wreath.

Just like that....that's what the back looks like.

Now, put up your candy corn wreath and enjoy the Spirit of Halloween!

Halloween Subway Art

Subway Art is a fun and trendy way to spice up your Halloween decor!  I found making this VERY fun!  I loved finding spooky, ghostly and creepy fonts!  I had the most fun was arranging it all, like a puzzle, making it fit and look fabulous!

Halloween Subway Art!

Want to make one of your own?  Here's the how to:

SUPPLIES:

One board whatever size you prefer.  Mine is 12x18 MDF board.  You can use glass too!

Vinyl in preferred colors and transfer tape

Paint

Glaze

Paint Brush

DIRECTIONS:

1. I painted my board white, then glazed over it using a gray/black tint.

2. With black paint, paint on spider webs in desired areas.

3. Cut out Halloween words in different sizes, fonts, and colors.  I cut out a witch hat, spider, pumpkin, black cat and spooky tree to fill in the little spaces.

4.  Arrange on the board to achieve the look you are going for.

5. Apply your vinyl.

There you have it!  Pretty simple and really fun!  If you don't have a "cutting" machine to cut out vinyl, you can always paint it on free hand!

Happy Haunting!!



Fall Pumpkins

Here are a set of wood pumpkins that were inspired by my friend Kellie.  Are they not ADORABLE?

Thanks Kellie for the inspiration!  And thanks to my sweet friend Anne, we had lots of fun crafting and making pumpkins together!

Halloween Give Away!

A little tid bit of info behind this post...I ran A LOT of miles today in my training for the marathon that is in TWO weeks.  My hip flexors are killing me and I was hobbling around like a geriatric lady who just had a hip replacement.  Because I couldn't move to well or pretty much at all, I knew a craft would make me feel a lot better.  And, it did!  I have had this project in my head for a few days and today was the day, and it is your LUCKY DAY too! 

Trick or Treat Plaque

Give Away!

RULES:

SEVERAL WAYS TO WIN

1. Leave a comment on this post for your 1st entry!

2. Follow this blog and leave a comment stating you are a follower for a 2nd entry!

3. Post about the giveaway on your blog and leave a comment telling you posted this for a 3rd entry!

You must enter a separate comment for each entry and make sure to leave me your email or blog address so I can get in touch with you if you are the WINNER!!

Give Away will close on Monday, Sept. 27th at midnight.

TIME'S UP!

Winner will be randomly selected and posted on Tuesday, Sept 28th!

Used Random Integer from Random.Org

CONGRATULATIONS!

The Winner is..... #4

HOLLY WORTHINGTON!!

GOOD LUCK!

Want some more GIVE AWAY GOOD NEWS?  Each Tuesday (from now through October) after we have named the winner, we will post ANOTHER Halloween Give Away!

Gotta Love Pumpkins!

I know, I know!  I am obsessed with FALL and one can never have to many pumpkins!  Right?  Wanna make some?  I can tell you how!

Supplies: 

1 - 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 board (at least 30 inches long)

Orange Paint - I used Delta's Terra Cotta

Glaze (mine is Ralph Lauren Glaze, tinted brown)

Ribbon

Wire (or an old wire hanger maybe!)

Green Spray Paint (I used Krylon Hunter Green...from Walmart, only $2.50 a can!)

Glue

Drill

Sand paper (mine was 120 grit)

Hammer (yeah, I will tell you why!)

Glue

Directions:

1. Cut your 3.5x3.5 board into lengths of 12 inches, 8 inches, and 5 inches. Or, whatever desired length you choose.

2. Paint each pumpkin orange.  Let dry.

3. Grab your hammer and hit your boards along the edges, the sides, the top.  Wherever you want to "distress" your pumpkin.

4. Pull out the sand paper and sand the as desired.

5. Paint on your glaze, let sit for a few minutes then wipe it off with an old damp t-shirt or cloth.

6. Now, you need to wrap your wire into some curly q's then spray paint them green.

7.  While you are waiting for the spray paint to dry, drill small holes in the top of your pumpkin.  The holes should be roughly the same gauge as your wire.

8. If your green curly q's are dry, dab a little hot glue on the end of the wire and stick into the hole.  Arrange stems as desired.

9. Wrap each pumpkin with ribbon.  Tie in a bow or knot.  They also look cute without the ribbon, ooh, they would even look great with some twine!  I may have to go try that right now!

Pretty easy right?  So go, have fun....create your own FALL PUMPKINS!

Reclaimed Headboard

Oh my goodness!  I am in LOVE with Ana from Knock Off Wood.  Tara has posted about Ana's skills and talent before, and I am here to agree with Tara, this woman is amazing! 

Mike and I finally decided it was time to upgrade our Queen size bed to a King.  Now, we are both fairly small people and a queen should be more than enough for the two of us, but Mike is a bed hog and a blanket hog too.  He likes to claim that he only gets 10% of the bed and blankets, but I beg to differ.

Solution- KING SIZE. 

We have a KING mattress now but only a queen bed....uh oh! 

Solution- KNOCK OFF WOOD!

Here is our completed Reclaimed Wood Headboard. 

See the cute little bench at the foot of my bed?  Mike made this for me YEARS ago to go with our log bed.  We decided to not do a foot board and use the bench instead. After a coat of primer, paint and glaze, it matches perfectly!

Now, don't focus on the bed skirt wrinkles....or the fact that I have a queen duvet cover on my bed.  New bedding is in the works, I just haven't found what I want yet!

The plans to the Reclaimed Headboard are here, the instructions are simple to follow and make perfect sense.  We had the headboard built in just a few hours, the next day we sanded, primed, painted, sanded again, and glazed.  By dusk the second day, our headboard was attached to our bed frame and looking beautiful as ever.

As Tara said before, all the plans at Knock Off Wood are free.  Can you believe it?  Isn't that great?  I think so!  She creates very sturdy pieces and they can all be done very inexpensively.  The total cost for this headboard was only $50.00.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  The wood cost just under $40, the primer was $8.  We already the paint and glaze leftover from a previous project (sweet!) and the bolts to attach to the bed were about $2.00.

Once you build something from this site, you will never want to purchase another piece of over priced furniture again.  With the help from Ana, some power tools and wood, you can build just about anything!!

Now, get over to Knock Off Wood, find something fabulous and get to building!  You will be so happy you did.