What I would LOVE for Christmas!

Not Thunderbird's bag

My husband and I met some good friends at a bowling alley a month or so ago. My friend Thunderbird (no not her real name, just a nickname) had this AMAZING purse made out of her hubby's old uniform. I fell IN LOVE!!!! It is so cute with the green and the fabric that she picked out to match it. I had to have one, so I asked her where she got her fantastic, wonderfully adorable bag. She informed me that she ordered of off www.Heroonmyarm.com

As soon as I got home I pulled up said website and admired all of the purses. What I love about this business is that is an Army wife owned business. I am all for helping out another Army spouse, keeping it in the family I guess you could say.

You can send in your husband's uniform, they pick it apart and sew it back together as a purse! So now whenever he is gone I can still have a piece of my 'hero'. Such a wonderful idea!!!

What I have been working on

I feel bad that I have not had too much time to craft. By the time I get my boys settled down for bed all I want to do is relax on the couch and do nothing that requires brain activity! I did get my husband to cut out some letters with his jigsaw before he left so I could make a Halloween decoration. The letters didn't cut out quite the way I wanted them to but since it is Halloween it is okay not to have it exactly perfect right? It turned out pretty cute I think, and goes nicely with my mantle!

I bought a ribbon necklace kit on clearance that had like a silvery purple, this blue, and another purple color with it. I also bought the birdy on clearance too and some attached the ribbon clasps and some chain. What I love about this is that if I want to use another ribbon with the bird it is SOOOOOO easy to change it out.

I am also making a 'Sugar n Spice' baby shower present, but that is about all I have worked on in the past couple of weeks. Kudos for all the single moms who can juggle crafting with their life! I do not know how you do it! Tips would be greatly appreciated!!!! Happy Crafting!

Confessions of a lonely army wife...

My husband is gone right now at mobilization station. For those who do not know what I am talking about, mobilization station is where soldiers get ready to get deployed. Even though he is not getting deployed overseas there is a chance he will get picked up if someone gets hurt so he has to go through it for six weeks and then come back home.


I would just like to take this time to really express how I feel. Being an Army spouse is the hardest job in the military. Sure the soldiers are the ones that have to endure the fighting and dangerous stuff. But really, its the spouses who have it rough. I have to continue with day to day life without my husband here to help me. I get double diaper duty, cleaning (which is not only making sure my list is done but I also have to make sure his gets done too), I have to play mother and father, I don't get a chance to be the good guy I have to be the one always saying no. Even with the taking care of kids and keeping up the house and all there is another factor no one else sees.

I miss my husband so much when he leaves, that it physically hurts. There are times that I lock myself in my room for a few minutes and just bawl. I do this so that my kids do not see that mommy is crying. I do not want to upset them more than what they already must be feeling. I have to be the strong one right? Daytime is not so bad I have the kids to keep me busy and luckily I have a very understanding sister who lets me call her a million times and day just because I am bored. After the kids go to be it is a different story, the time between bedtime for kids and bedtime for me seems to drag on. That is usually myself and my hubby's alone time, since having three boys takes most of our attention. So instead of watching TV together, I watch TV alone. Which isn't all THAT bad since I get to watch whatever I want! Then bedtime for me comes along.
At night, I grab his pillow and hug it tightly because the smell of him is still on it.

I sleep in his tshirts... believe me I do ANYTHING to make it seem like he is there at night.

I wake up in the middle of the night and realize he is not sleeping next to me. Every bump and noise I hear in the house scares me. I now do not have my tough Army man to go check out sounds.

I do not mean to sound like a wuss but really I need to vent a little bit. I did get some things done that have been on my to do list for what seems like eternity.

I went through my kids' toy boxes and threw away broken, toys that are not used anymore.

I thoroughly cleaned my bathroom. (HUGE accomplishment since I HATE cleaning bathrooms)

I cleaned off my mess of a kitchen counter.

I finally got started on a 'Sugar n Spice' baby shower present I have had in the works.

I have also been doing a little crafting too. I made some 'BOO' letters for my mantle and also cut out like 50 bats to put in my window for decoration. I will take pictures of the 'BOO' letters tomorrow since the light is not the best in here. Thanks for letting me vent a little.

Spider Topiary

I love Halloween, it is hands down my favorite holiday of the year! The air is always so crisp and the leaves are changing all different colors. To see all of the fun, spooky decorations in peoples yards to me is fantastic!

During the summer I bought some supplies to make a traditional topiary, I never got to it. So while going through my craft stuff I came across a wooden dowel and reminded myself how I did not complete a project I was so excited for. I thought it would be fun to make a topiary Halloween style I thought of doing a spider with furry yarn instead of moss and spiderwebs at the bottom. I started with a half sphere of floral Styrofoam and started wrapping the fun fir yarn all over it. My oldest son told me it did not look anything like a spider, telling me it needed legs and eyeballs. He has such opinions for being the tender age of FIVE!!!

My husband actually suggested the pipe cleaners. I have such a clever husband! I cut each one in half and stuck it into the spider body. Which was not as easy as I had imagined it at first since it was covered in yarn! I also found two red beads from my jewelry kit and two headpins and stuck them it. I then showed it to my five year old who was pleased haha!I bought some buckets this past summer at the DI for a dollar a piece and used that instead of a terracotta pot. I spray painted it black so it would look spooky!!
I painted my wooden dowel orange and did not worry too much about the bottom of it since it was going to be in the bottom of the bucket anyway. I picked up some spiderwebs from Walmart and did not even use a handful of them! WOOOHOOO more for decorations!

After the bucket and the wooden dowel was dry I then assembled my spider the same way you would a regular topiary. I now need to find a place for him that the kids will not try to tear him apart. Happy crafting!

This is for you Andi Jo!

It is about time I actually posted on here. When I first set up this blog I had every intention of keeping up and blogging at least once a week about the crafts I had been doing. However life happens and sadly I did not have much funding for crafting due to our car needing a new engine!!! However I love to craft, it helps me take my mind off of things and just chill. Plus who doesn't like looking over something they have created and say "Ya, I made that!"

I found some charger plates while wish shopping at Hobby Lobby. The plates were only two dollars a piece so I couldn't help my self. At first I was just going to use it for a candle holder but I didn't have any candles to put in it. So I opted for items I already had on hand. It was pretty simple I just took some rhinestones I had in my jewelry kit and truth be told I super glued it haha!!! Then I just printed out the vinyl and stuck it on. So simple but yet I love it! Even my husband liked it!!! I am working on something that I actually did buy supplies for but it is going to be my weekend project! So I will have that posted hopefully by Sunday!

Post It Note Holder Tutorial!!!

YAY! I am back and ready to show you this ultra cute super easy project I made to give to my oldest child's teacher! I cannot believe that my little boy is starting school! It is such a weird thought. So I found this online on youtube somewhere but I can't find it again. So if this is yours please tell me and I will give you the credit! So let's get started!



Supplies:
Piece of chipboard
Scrapbook paper
Binder clip
Ribbon
Scissors
Glue

First take your paper and cut it to the size of the chipboard. Apply glue and stick it onto the chipboard. After glue is dry, take a sanding block and sand down edges of paper.

Take smaller piece of paper and glue that to the binder clip. Let dry.
After clip is dry, get some post it notes and secure clip onto board. Then all you need to do is tie a small piece of ribbon around the clip!

TADA!!! All done super easy it took about five to ten minutes to complete. Sorry about the dark pictures, it is a cloudy rainy day here in Utah!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Not Missing.

I just wanted to make a post letting you know that I am not missing in action. We went on vacation to California this past week to visit my dad. While we were there my husband found out that two of his friends in the Army had sadly passed away. So we cut our vacation short and headed back home to Utah to attend services. I do have a tutorial to post and a fun subway art that I am working on. I promise I will be back with some fun things!

Downeast Basic Knockoff

I saw a necklace at Downeast Basics here. I like how girly and pretty it was, but for 13.00 I thought I could make it for myself at half the cost. I already had the pink bicone beads from another necklace I had made. All I really needed to buy was the chiffon which I bought 1/8th of a yard for about .62 cents and I didn't even used the full piece of fabric. I think it is pretty dang close to the necklace and maybe cost me about $3.00-$5.00 to make. I also bought some ivory chiffon to make a similar necklace but with ivory, clear beads, and brown ribbon. I cannot wait to wear it!

Not Your Grandma's Pearl Necklace

I was surfing the web yesterday and ended up on some jewelry pages. I love the new look right now with pearls but I have always felt a bit cheesy for wearing them. I found a few that had a chain element to them. I thought they would be perfect, fancy but not too fancy. So I pulled out my jewelry making kit and made one of my own. The hardest part was deciding what pattern to put it in and I had some other beads to it to give it a younger feel. I have a couple of pictures to show it in a few different lights.



The one below I kinda laughed while I was taking the picture. I was reading that Catalog Life blog where she kinda pokes fun at random items sitting around. So while taking this one I thought. In case I need to leave my necklace just sitting on the lawn at least I know it will look pretty.

I found another necklace on Downeast Basics website that I am going to try to make. It is right here .

Happy CRAFTING!!!!
Linking to:

Cheapo's Apothecary Jars

Does anyone else have the problem that once you get one thing organized all of a sudden everything else in that place seems a mess? I made that junk bucket for my brushes and all of a sudden where I kept my bobby pins and hair ties bugged me. Me being the cheapo that I am thought I wouldn't even bother looking to buy some 'real' apothecary jars. I went on over to Dollar Tree to find something that might possibly work. I found some Two Way Spice Jars tucked away. On a side note why are things that are awesome always tucked away? Why can't they be out for everyone to see?

They once had ugly stickers on them that indeed said, Two Way Spice Jars, but that would look funny in the bathroom right? Peeled them off and scrubbed them to get all the leftover glue off the jars. I pulled out my handy dandy Cricut cut out some vinyl and stuck them on the jars. B for bobby pins, H for hair ties, and Q for Q-Tips. All for about $3.50 swwwwweeeeeeetttttt!!!!!!

Simple Wreath

Phew the past week has been crazy! After getting that amoire finished and in our bedroom, my husband had drill for the Army and that ALWAYS makes for craziness! So I finally sat down yesterday and said I need to relieve some stress and I need to make some stuff or I am going to go crazy!!!! The first thing I made is this wreath. It was super simple to make and I did it all without a drop of glue! Instead I use sewing pins, that way I could change the fabric anytime I wanted to and didn't waste a wreath.

First I started off with a stryofoam wreath that I purchased from Dollar Tree. I just used scraps of fabric that I had. I first pinned a piece of fabric to the wreath on the diagonal that way it wouldn't pop out the other end. Then I just continued wrapping the fabric overlapping the fabric.

Then once I was finished I simply stuck a pin at the end on the diagonal again.

I cut out some fabric and some burlap to make flowers and stuck them into the wreath by using some colored brads I found on sale. That is pretty much it! Simple, quick, and easy.

FINALLY FINISHED!!!

Oh ya I said it!!! I have completed my very first furniture transformation! It looks pretty dang close to what I had pictured in my head. YAY for not having to put our 'bedroom tv' on a dresser!!! (I know, I used to hate the idea of a tv in a bedroom too) It was pretty aggravating at first to try and figure out what was the best way to paint it. However we endured and pushed through it and now have a beautiful armoire to set our new television in!!!

BEFORE

AFTER

I went to my version of yard selling at my landlord's house. Who happens to live right next door to us. Which some might think is annoying, I happen to love it. My husband is gone quite a bit for the Army so it is nice to have someone I can call over in a second to help with something. My landlord yard sells like no ones business (I love sleeping way too much to get up early on a Saturday). He sold it to us for.... get ready $10.00!!!! We finally decided on buying some mis-tint paint and using the project spray gun. After it was painted I used a glaze to fill in all the detail work. I found a tutorial on how to use glaze at All Things Thrifty, I LOVE this blog, I spent hours looking at all the fun stuff she has done. I am in awe of the blog, if you are not a follower I suggest becoming one.

This has been one of the most challenging but rewarding projects I have done so far. I love it and cannot wait to get it into my bedroom! Thanks for reading my blog!!!!

Almost finished

I haven't posted something for a couple of days, not because I have not wanted to but because my husband and I have been working on a piece of furniture. But we are almost finished and I am quite pleased with how it is going along. Then I can start something new! Like LAMP SHADES!!!! I found some at the DI this weekend that are still in the plastic and were only $2.00 a piece! Then there is another project with baby jars... I have many ideas swimming around in my head. I hope to have the new piece done tonight so I can move it into the house instead of under the carport in the driveway. I will give a little sneak peak.

Isn't it pretty??? I bought it from my landlord/neighbor/junk collector for a mere $10.00. So maybe I will have some pictures of it finished tonight. *fingers crossed*

Ring Tray

I have a little confession to make. I refuse to wear my ring while I am sleeping. I am always afraid that I am going to scratch my face or snag it on something and lose a diamond out of it. So I usually just place it on my nightstand every night. I once lost it on the floor :( I freaked out of course, but I found it. I know pretty irresponsible right? I kept looking for trays to put my ring on at night, they were all either too expensive or kinda ugly. So I came up with this quick and uber easy tray!

I went to the dollar store and found some tea candle holders. They had a pretty big selection and guess what??? All for a dollar haha... I got this green flower looking piece:

And this clear smaller one for the base....

First turn the base upside down and apply hot glue or E-6000, whichever you have.

Then just put the larger candle holder on top of it!!! SUPER EASY!!!!

But the glue showed through :( That is not cute! So this is where your creative instincts tell you to go!!! I just used some paper cut flowers that I had hanging around and a jewel from my jewelry making kit.
PERFECT!!! Now go to the dollar store... it is calling your name!!!

I love my kids!

Here are a few reasons why I love my little boys:

• They love me just the way I am.
• The way they are so sweet in the morning with their sleepy little eyes.
• How they have no concept of time or money,
• How they think they are soooo sneaky, when really I know exactly what they are doing.
• They do not care that I cannot carry a tune, they love to hear me sing to them.
• Also they don't care that I dance around like a fool.
• The way they say I love you.
• Their hugs are the best I have ever had.
• How they think that my kiss makes everything all better.
• They think I can do anything... (this is also pretty bad if it is something that broke and I cannot fix it)
• They don't care if we just sit around in jammies all day.
• The way their faces light up when I come home if I have been away.
• Their smell, even if they are kind of smelly...
• MOST OF ALL I LOVE THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE MY KIDS AND I WILL BE THEIR MOMMY FOREVER!!!! :)

Junk bucket...

While on a date with my husband at the D.I. I found four buckets tucked away on a shelf. I loved the detailing on them and for only a buck I figured they were worth the dollar and would figure something out with them later. Today I was getting my hairbrush out of the drawer I keep them in and as usual I had to yank the drawer open from them getting stuck. Something needed to change. Either I get something else to put the brushes in or build a bigger drawer. Since I rent, obviously the getting something to put them in won. Some paint and some decorative pieces would turn one of these buckets into my new bathroom accessory! Here is a before picture.
I am really into aqua right now (pretty much like everyone else it seems) and just so happened to have some leftover spray paint from my lamp makeover. No point in buying more paint if what you have is good right?
Then trial in error came into play. I tried ribbon, didn't like how bumpy it would look on the bucket. I tried making some of those fabric flowers by burning the edges of some satin, per the candle in the background. After burning my fingers a few times I bagged that idea too. I pulled out a rosette I had made and compared it to the bucket. YAHTZEE!!!! The contrast between the blue and the off white color of the fabric was pretty.

I made a bunch of rosettes, and hot glued them to the bucket and pressed down firmly to make sure they would stick.

I keep doing this in a row at the top of the bucket and a little over the top to make the rosettes look even.
After burning my fingers a bunch tonight making all the rosettes I finally got done in about an hour. Quick and easy just the way I like it... OH and cheap, the project probably cost me all of two dollars if you count glue sticks, fabric, and leftover paint. The cost of not having to yank open a drawer everyday??? PRICELESS!!!!
OH want to see what I got for FREE from my landlord/neighbor/junk collector???

When he told me I could have it for free I just about did a jump in his garage! It is one thing to find cheap finds at the thrift store. It is even better to find something next door for FREE and not having to drive somewhere to get it! I put it in my bathroom since I think of it as one of those old time washing stations.

Last minute 4th of July shirts.

I wonder if other moms who have all boys have the same frustration as me. I hate trying to find clothes for my boys. The shirts they usually have are pretty lame with little teddy bears giving hugs and what not. My boys want trucks and dinosaurs going RAWR! So while shopping for 4th of July shirts I ran into the same dilemma. All I could find were shirts that were in my opinion too girly. I read on a blog called Imperfectly Beautiful that I can cut fabric with my Cricut! I was at first a little timid about doing it, but I was going to go for it? What was the worst that could happen? I had an old mat that I didn't care if it was ruined or not. The mat wasn't very sticky anymore so I just put some adhesive on it waited for it to dry and away I went.

First I washed all materials, fabric I was cutting and the shirts I was going to put the transfer paper on (to prevent any shrinking after the iron on). After they were washed and dried I cut a section of fabric and cut some Heat N Bond. I ironed the fabric to the heat and bond.

I got the design and size adjusted per the Design Studio. I changed the blade on my Cricut to a deep cut blade. Which I had a really hard time buying since for two it was 15 dollars!!! I justified it by saying that I will only use it for cutting fabric so they will last for a while. I put my speed and pressure on max. I peeled off the back of the iron on transfer since the mat was very sticky now and I did not want the paper sticking to the mat. I placed the fabric on the mat and loaded it into the machine and took a very big GULP! I watched to make sure my Cricut wasn't going to blow up haha! SUCCESS!!!! I had done my very first fabric cut! I gave myself a smile thinking how crafty I had become and how much I love my husband for the fantastic Christmas present. Then I cut out two more designs! I was so pleased!

I practically ran down my stairs to the ironing board and plugged in the iron. Tapping on the board impatiently waiting for the iron to heat up. I looked over the shirts that I was going to put the applique on. The shirts were a little wrinkled after they were dried so I ironed them out to have a smooth surface. After they were all ironed (which I am not very spectacular at. It is a good thing my hubby is more of a T-shirt jeans sort of guy). I place the first transfer onto the first shirt and pressed and held for 8 seconds all over the fabric. I held it up and marveled at how cute it was going to look on my baby.

FINALLY, shirts that are boyish enough for my trio. My oldest son said that he was a bad guy since his had an eagle. Where he got that I have no clue?

Stars and Stripes

Who doesn't LOVE the month of July? It is warm, there is always BBQs going on, and the FIREWORKS! Most importantly it is the birth of our country which my husband so proudly protects for us. It is seriously one of the funnest months in my opinion! I got a new cartridge for my Cricut called Stand and Salute which I have a TON of ideas for. I wanted to use it right a way so I came up with an idea for this centerpiece for my table. I found some plastic tumblers at Wal-Mart for like a buck a piece a few weeks ago and while I was at the DI I found a wooden crate I guess that is what you would call it.

First I took some spray paint which I bought from Wal-Mart the 96 cent can. (Probably the worst can of spray paint ever) I painted the crate the white.

I then printed off some stars from some extra vinyl which happened to be red. Perfect right? Then I put them on the tumblers so that I could paint them and get a stencil type of effect. After I put the stars on I kind of liked it the way it was. But decided to stick with my original plan.

See how cute they look just with the stars on them? But I wanted the look of a flag so I went out and sprayed them a deep blue. I did the first one right side up put soon found out that it works better with them upside down. Then I let those dry some picked up my wooden crate and went inside.

I took some craft paint, the color was red apple. I painted the slats the red to get the effect of stripes on the flag.

I cut out on my Cricut the Stars and Stripes with some vinyl and stuck that on the sides. After the paint on the crate dried I decided to rough it up a little with a sanding block. Then I went and got my tumblers and peeled off all the vinyl stars. I put it in the crate, lit some tea candles and admired my work.