Shh...Baby's Sleeping

My kid can pretty much sleep through anything; dogs barking, doors slamming, husband sneezing, he can handle it. So, I suppose one of these adorable little door hangers isn't really necessary, but it might help keep the solicitors away...ah yes, my ulterior motives surface and I'm totally using my child.

Of course I was originally inspired while putzing around Etsy and figured I'd eventually make one, but after an unruly encounter with a solicitor last week, my intentions were kicked into high gear and I finally got around to making this:

It was as simple as buying a door hanger at Michael's, painting it, then writing on it. Less than a dollar. Let's hope it works. Hey, even if you don't have a kid you should try it...keep the door-to-door folks away. :-)

<3 dani

Another Chalkboard Paint Project

It's probably a good thing that I waited until recently to buy a can of chalkboard spray paint...otherwise my entire house might be covered with the stuff.

In case you missed it, a couple weeks ago I did THIS project. And today, while Ryne was napping, I did this!! (again, sorry for the crappy pics...camera is still at school...)
 

For months I've been trying to figure out a way to incorporate a menu/notes board into our kitchen, but I'm working with such limited wall space, that finding a spot has been difficult. But on Monday, as I sat in our office, paying bills, and staring at the whiteboard hung on the wall that still had notes from last school year, I had an epiphany.

 That whiteboard (that my hubby brought home from work..i.e. FREE) shall be my new menu board and it shall go right here:

A while back I put up the shelf. Check out the post HERE.

To make my board, all I had to do was spray the chalkboard paint on, let it dry, tape off the chalkboard area and spray the frame green. Let it dry. Done. I'm so in love.

And speaking of Opening Day, a little Cubs love!

<3 dani

Easter Bucket

Remember back in the good ol' days when finding something with your name printed on it was like the coolest? Or maybe you were one of those kids who could never find anything with your name on it because your parents clearly didn't think that far ahead when naming you...(I am one of those parents).

Luckily for my little guy, the internet, Etsy and vinyl die cutters exists, otherwise the closest thing to a personalized item he'd get would be an off-centered, puffy painted, white t-shirt that I, most likely, wouldn't let dry long enough, so the paint would smear all over. Yeah.

Instead he gets this cool thing.

Even though in my mind it was a novel idea, apparently I'm not the first one to think of this. I went to Etsy and did a search for "easter bucket" and this is what I found. I realized two things: first, some are way overpriced; second, I could totally make one on my own with a little help.

All I had to do was buy the bucket (Dollar Store), grab the ribbon from my craft supplies (reused from a diaper cake) and search Etsy to find a shop that would make the name decal (Design Threadz -- all I did was give my dimensions and BAM I had my own listing. That's service.)  the correct size and finally order it!

I ordered the bath sticker toys here.

Love Love Love.

<3 dani

Mobile Shmobile

Seriously? Mobiles are unbelievably, unnecessarily expensive. And is it possible for them to make one that matches my son's nursery theme? Noooo.

So, once again, we must improvise.

 

These poofies from momadvice.com inspired me. Of course, I'm not making mine pink. I already get in enough trouble when I make my son watch Clueless and sing Madonna. Heaven forbid he have pink poofies in his room ;-)  

My version:

Here's what I did. 

For the large poof, I took 10 sheets of tissue paper out of their package, unfolded them, then refolded accordion style. Be sure to crease your folds. --For the two small poofs, I cut 2 large sheets in half to make 4 smaller sheets (that's all I had -- oopsie -- a tad under prepared and over-excited).

Then, I wrapped and tied the middle with the ribbon I planned to hang it with. 

Next, I  separated each sheet from the other.

I forgot the rounding of the edges step on my big poof...yes, I was rushing.

After that, I carefully poofed each sheet. A few sheets were sacrificed by my hastiness.

And finally, I hung them above my little guy's changing table. Nice.

Yet another quick, inexpensive craft that you can even do half-assed and it still looks pretty neat. High-five.

<3 dani

Chalkboard Herb Planters

 
Hallelujah! I finally bought a can of chalkboard paint. I was inspired by a Michael's email suggesting this project:

How pretty, right? Although, I'm 90% sure no one's handwriting is that perfect...

My version:

Here's how I did this.

 I got me some pots. $3 total

Masked them off...literally...I couldn't find my painter's tape, so I used my masking tape. By the way, it worked just fine.

Sprayed 'em down.

 Completely painted and pretty.

And in their new home. I went to buy plants, but they all looked so gross and sick. Maybe I'll start from seed. So for now they sit empty, but you get the idea.

In total, this took about two hours and that's only because the pots had to dry before I could fill them.

Try it. This will be way easier to maintain than my outdoor garden that I let go straight to hell last year when I was preggers. I'm not a fan of weeding.

<3 dani

Upgraded Monogram

Over holiday break, my bff and I redid the photo collage on the wall above my couch. The "S" which usually sits on my mantel, changed neighborhoods and moved into the blank spot on the wall. It looked fine enough and filled the space better than anything else we could find (without buying something new of course), but after I saw --> this  <--I had to upgrade.

Here's my version:

This how it looked originally:

 

Not bad, but doesn't this look better?

Here's what I did. Start out with some words and print 'em. Then cut 'em out.

zero clue why this is photo is sideways...absolutely zero...

Place them on your letter. 

You'll end up with this:

Trim it up, then glue them on. You could (and probably should) cover with some sort of sealer, but I didn't have any on hand, so I didn't ;-)

I painted the edges black. Little contrast never hurt anyone.

Super easy, practically free.

  

Try it.

<3 dani

Flashabck -- Halloween's Past...

 Flashback...
Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Fall and Halloween...More?...Oh Yeah!

Halloween Bottles and a new front porch!!

The Hubs got the afternoon off unexpectedly and because I was so super excited, we made a trip to the Farmer's Market to pumpkin pick! One for me, one for the Hubs and one for the Pup. Transporting the cornstalk in my Mitsubishi was hilarious, but when I want something, I force it to happen! ;-) Here's our new front porch.

Earlier in the day, I stopped by Organize and Decorate Everything  and saw these stinkin' awesome Halloween poison bottles. I had.to.try. They would go so perfectly in the kitchen/dining area a.k.a zoned spooky area. And the best part about this project...totally free - weee!

I dug into my pile of bottles (which the Hubs says I hoard, but it's just one little shelf in our kitchen, I swear!). I came up with a few good ones and filled them with a little food coloring and water. It took a few tries to get the color right. My first looked similar to a bottle of...well...let's just say the yellow was a little much.

See, I keep the bottles for moments like this (honey!). Back to work! I've got the potions brewed and poison bottled, now I just need some labels. Oops, forget the lids (mostly on purpose). Craft paint to the rescue. Yup, I definitely painted the lids after I filled the bottles. Hey, I'll admit to my laziness. I want things done now, not ten minutes from now!

Okay, back to the labels. Leanne at OaDE suggested searching "Halloween Labels" for plenty of options and boy was she right. Seriously, just Google it. Tons of options. I allowed myself five whole minutes to make a final decision and printed! Any longer and I don't think I would have completed this project today. I pasted  the images into a Word.doc and resized them to fit my bottles.

I wiped the paper with used coffee grounds to create a little aging. Originally, I wanted to dip them in tea, but I thought it through and, yeah, that would take waaaaay too long. This way, the paper was pliable and still dry enough to adhere to the glass. I spritzed the paper with Elmer's Adhesive Spray and slapped it on. Perfect.

My center piece went from this:

To this:

Which do you like better?

Huge shout out to Organize and Decorate Everything for fueling my fire!

<3 dani

Fall Mantle

This year's fall mantle looks rather similar to last year's mantle. That's mostly because my brain is in pregnant mode and my creativity has been spent on the nursery. Nonetheless, I think it looks beautiful and it was inexpensive.

Most of the decor I had from years past, but I picked up a few things at Michael's with my 20% off coupon. Including the candles and flowers. The books were gifts from my sister-in-law. PS -- old books look great with any decor. Try it. I use the books my sis gave me in just about every room in the house. Obsessed!

Here are the dollar store pumpkins and garland I snagged last year. I should have bought all the pumpkins when I had the chance. I went back this year to get some for my momma and of course they didn't have them. We'll never see these cute little pumpkins again.

And the beautiful flower bundles i bought for 80% off.

There you have it. Simple, cheap, and purdy.

<3 dani