Cute Glass Magnets

Hello all-

Since I posted this post about my magnet board, I've had a few questions about how to make the super-easy glass magnets.

They only take a few minutes and you can make them with ANY cute paper you want. Also, a great way to use those adorable scraps you just can't bear to part with.

Here's how:

Mine are pretty big and not perfectly semetrical, so start by rough tracing around the bottom of each. Don't worry about it being perfect (trust me, i'm OCD too)......you can trim it later.

Then, get your handy dandy bottle of Diamond glaze and put 2-3 drops......seriously you don't need much.......in the middle of the paper and put your glass pebble down and PRESS. A little glue will squish out, but just wipe it away.

Let it dry and then use your craft knife to trim off the excess.

After, I smoothed a thin layer of Diamond Glaze.....just to seal the paper.

Once that's dry, use E6000 to glue your magnet on (I llooooovvveee these awesome super-strong magnets....you can get them for a great price on Etsy).

Then,

Ta Da!!

Cute magnets!!

I used "Very Berry" paper from K & Co. since these are for my girls' magnet board.

Have Fun!

Easy Cheesy Bake

Well, tonight we had a fabulous cheesy casserole that took only minutes to make!

I didn't take pics since the lighting was so bad by then but......

Here's the recipe:

• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups rice
• 1 can of Cream of chicken soup
• A 13oz can of pre-cooked chicken breast
• 1-1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

Boil 3 cups water and then add rice and cover. Turn down to simmer and cook til rice is done.

Once rice is cooked, add can of COC soup and pre-cooked chicken. Stir til well blended and then put mixture into a 9x13 pan.

Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top (as much as you want) then broil til cheese is slightly browned on top.

Mmmmmmmm......It was yummy! And soooooo cheesy!

This is something I made up on the spot with ingredients I already had. Since dinnertime was looming and I still hadn't thought of anything!

But, maybe next time I'll make brown rice instead (same amount of rice, but increase water to 3 3/4 ish), decrease the chicken a bit, and add some chopped broccoli to make me feel a little less guilty about eating it. I could also decrease the cheese a bit (but probably not :)

Bon Appetit!

Freecycle Friday - Glowing Jack O'Lantern Revisited

Sooooooooo, it seems that these cute glowing jacks are something a lot of you are making these days....

And, since I made a fresh batch of monsters this afternoon, I decided to re-visit this one and do a show-and-tell of some of my readers who have posted them on their blogs!

So, I'll start by showing you the new ones I made. They turned out super-cute!

First, I envisioned ghosts, but then I said to myself: "Self, if you can make a bunch of ghosts & pumpkins, then why can't you make a bunch of different monsters?"

So, I did.

Let me introduce: Boo, Pointy, Happy (my oldest made this guy after my last batch of pumpkins), we don't know the mummy's name yet.......he's not saying much :), and last, but not least Frankie.

Yes, you can get the faces here. And if you were wondering, I used grey paint on the tops of the ghost & mummy.

And for this little guy, I took a black ink pad and "dirtied" his bandages a little before doing the coats of mod Podge. It streaked a little, but it came out cute anyway.

Here are some cute ones my friend Katie did when we had an impromptu craft day at my house. She found this cute tissue paper and I LOVE the way the little eyes shine through when you light them up!

LOVE the cute way she tied the raffia & ribbon....genius!

My friends Jessica (just had her little baby BOY today), Leslie, Ginny and Chanelle came over too, but sadly, I didn't get any pics (hint, hint). Except Chanelle, who just came to hang out :)

Here are some of my readers that promptly made their own at home (ok, not promptly, since I posted those a few weeks back :)

Xazmin.....All her cute kiddos pitched in for this one and she decided to spray paint the lids instead and they turned out so cute. Check out her post here to see a little video of her pumpkins in action!

Cori.....Made these with her kids too and sat them next to an awesome "Harvest" banner she made. Check out more pics here!

Melissa.....Made some even though it's still 90 degrees where she lives (here too!!!) and was even able to let her little guy help. Check out more here. Plus, she thinks my blog is awesome :)

Thanks ladies! And to ALL of you who make this blog worth the effort!!

Keep on crafting!!

Come see me here:

And here:

Cute Magnet Board

So,........

I LOVE magnet boards!!

Well, ANYTHING magnetic :)

They're soooooo fun.

Anyhoo, this is something I made to go in my crap craft room awhile back to hang supplies and stuff on. I got those magnetic tins at Ikea for $5 bucks (for 3 of 'em!!).

Then I made some cute glass pebble magnets to hang pics with.

So, I just went and got a 12"x 24" frame and spray painted it white (since it's soooooooo hard to find cute white frames).

Then, I got 3 8"x 12" metal roofing shingles from good 'ol Home Depot and glued them into the frame. Be sure to use E6000, it's the best! I also glued a thin piece of plywood to the back of the metal shingles for stability.

Then, voila!! Great magnetic fun for all!!

Stay tuned.......I have more magnet boards in store. Told you I'm addicted :)

How I Get The Juices Flowing

Hey!

Just wanted to show you all a little bit how I like to organize.

Now, if you've ever seen my craft room......you're probably laughing that I even remotely referred to myself as organized......but there are a few areas in there that are organized.

This is one of them.

This is how I store the awesome ideas that I find in the few magazines that I subscribe to.

I got a few 1" binders and used purdy paper to decorate the covers with. I used vinyl wording to label the spines of each one........but a die cutter works great too.

Then, after I read through the magazine, I'll go through once more and tear out all the pages that inspire me in some way (ie. color scheme, layout, technique, or even just a basic idea that's cool).

Every now and again, I'll sort through, and pull out any pages I don't like anymore (cuz I'm a girl, and my tastes change :)

But these are sooooooo GREAT! (and pretty too)

Whenever I get stuck on a (scrapbook) page or need an idea for a page or card, I just curl up in my cozy chair and flip through my books.

It always get my juices flowing BIG TIME!!!

Have fun!

I WON!!!!! And.....Follower Giveaway

Hey kids.....I just wanted to take a few minutes tonight to tell you all that

I WON!!!!

I am ssooooooo lucky, too. 'Cuz it's ca-uute!

I actually won it back on August 24th, over at Chrissie Grace's blog "In his Grace."
She is such a talented artist and makes TONS of cute stuff AND she's even having a sale RIGHT NOW, as I type. So, hurry on over there to get yours!

This is what I won. They came in the mail on Friday and I was so happy........'cuz I LOVE to get packages AND it was a PRIZE!

Perfect for a gal like me who has 2 very girly girls. Thanks so much Chrissie and the folks over at All Children's Furniture!!

So,

Since I won something cool I wanted to give something away to one of you. Here goes:

I was asked by MyBlogSpark to sample this super-yummy Yoplait Delights (and they sent me a cute "Delight your day" gift pack as well!).
So, I tried their Chocolate Raspberry (of course I picked chocolate!) and tried it that night when my craving hit.

It was so good! And hubby liked it too (but I only let him have 1 :) The best part was that each one is only 100 calories!

Alas, they are all gone now......so I must use this coupon to go get more! But and they said they want to give a a free 4 pack AND "Delight your day" gift pack to one of my lucky readers. So, I decided this time I would randomly choose one of my followers.....

So,

Karen (of "The Snarkington Post")
e-mail me your info and I will promtly pass it along the the great people at MyBlogSpark so they can get your prize to you.

For everyone one else, you can go here to download a 1.25 off coupon for Yoplait Delights so you can try them for yourself!

Enjoy!

Freecycle friday - Cute halloween Bucket

Hi there....Happy Friday!!!

Wish I could say mine was good....but I had "A Day" today with my kiddos. Hopefully they sleep late in the morning.

Well,.......this HUGE bucket of M&M's should cheer me up :)

Take a gander at this up-cycle:

I took this from my junk stash,

and did this.

Told you I was thinking Halloween-y for this bucket.

It didn't turn out quite as I imagined.....but it's growing on me and I like it now.

(I think the big mound of chocolate candy helped considerably)

But, I think I want to use this bucket to put a "Halloween Tree" in. Think, black twiggy tree with cute halloween ornaments.

I'll keep you posted.

How I did it:

I took the snowman bucket (only .50 cents, by-the-way) and sanded it down a little. Otherwise, you would be able to see the shapes through the paint.

Then, after spray painting it black......I cut out a bunch of fun Halloween words in different fonts. I got my inspiration from some A-Dorable Halloween paper I just got from Making Memories (the words paper).

I used vinyl, but you could also cut them with your die cutter and decoupage the words onto the bucket. But, yours will probably look better than mine, since I had a hard time getting the letters on straight :)

Have fun!!

SO GIDDY!!!

K, so I didn't post yesterday 'cuz I was playing with my new junk stuff!!!

And I'm ready to show off!!!!

(a little)

I spend most of my free time yesterday......spraypainting. I forgot to take pics of my hands, but they were three different colors :0)

So, here goes......

I took this:

Eeeeewwww!!

And turned it into this:

Isn't it so purdy??!!!

It turned out wwaaayyyyyy better than I visualized.

K, here are more pics!!

From the top......still lovin' it!

Closeup of the hardware spray painted a brushed nickle color.

I discovered this new spray paint, and I LOVE IT!!!

It's also great for spraying the tops of your up-cycled jars to make them look nicer.

K,.....another top shot., can't get enough!!

Love that paper too!!! I thought Beth's looked so cute with paper in the windows of hers, so I decided to get rid of that old-fashoined etched glass and put in some cccaaauuuuuttteee paper instead.

So, what I did was:

First, took the thing apart!! I took the hinges (and door)off, the handle off, the drawers out, and even the magnet out. Then, I had to pull the @#$*@%&!@%!!! faux velvet lining out!!! It was old and yucky and had to GO!

Then, I sanded the whole thing down a little so the new paint would stick well.

After that, I sprayed the heck out of it til I was happy with the white and couldn't see the dark brown underneath.

But,

It didn't look right just yet, so I took the sandpaper to it again....very scared that I would have to paint again.

But after taking a step back to get a good look.....I LOVED IT!!

I gave it a quick spray of clear matte finish to keep it safe.

It has a cute "shabby chic" look to it, and it will go great in my craft room to keep cute little things in :)

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Have fun and stay tuned for Freecycle Friday tomorrow!

Some Bad News, But Good Too

Well, I hate to have to tell you guys this.....but I will be closing down my Etsy store.

I am REALLY sad about this, but it's for a good reason.......

We are NEXT in line to get a referral for our adoption (that's when they finally match us up with a child)!

YAY!!!!
(Cue the marching band!!)

So, we don't know when it will happen, but I need to make sure we are ready to drop everything when it does happen.

And also since the Holiday season is coming, that means things will be extra busy and I need to try to get as much done ahead of time, so I won't be soooooooo behind when we travel.

So, I will stay open for 2 more weeks and take orders through September 30th. I will try to make sure and restock as often as possible during the next 2 weeks, so check back if my shop is out of something you want.
Also, I will be busy filling orders, so it may take a little longer to get orders in the mail....so please be patient.

I will continue doing my blog, though!!!

I really love it and have enjoyed getting to know my readers and other super-cool bloggers since I started back in March.

YOU GUYS ROCK!!

Thanks so much for your continued support and sweet comments. I try to reply to all of them (I am a little behind right now), and LOVE checking out all of your awesome blogs! You all are so talented too!!

So come back often and we'll continue to have LOTS of crafty fun!!

And The Winner Is........

Ok, business first, and then on to the goodies!

The WINNER of the super-fabulous Halloween sign is.......

comment #8 Shaken, not stirred.....AKA Kelly over at Honest to Blog

She said: "Ooh! Very nice! :) Halloween is wonderful."

Soooooooo, Kelly, Please e-mail me your info so we can get this awesome sign on it's way to your house for halloween.

A huge

THANK YOU!!!
to everyone who played.

That was a big increase in entries since my first giveaway (6 whole entries, but that's when there were only 4 people who read my blog). I wish I could send you all a sign, but alas....my hubby would not be too happy with me.

So, onto the show-and-tell!

There was a neighborhood garage sale this weekend (I guess technically, last weekend), and I SCORED big time!!!

I was soooooooo happy, that I practically skipped home (in my car) with all my junk goodies!

So, here they are to make you all jealous :)

First up is THE BEST FIND EVER!!!!

I got all these pairs of boots for my youngest for around 2.50!!!!!

When I asked the lady at the first house how much she wanted for both pairs of boots (the cute cowboy and light brown).....she said "um, how 'bout .50 cents each?" I almost wet my pants trying to NOT act too excited. I quickly gave her the $$$ and wanted to RUN away before she changed her mind.

The cute cowboy boots are the EXACT SAME ones I've been drooling over at Target and trying to find an excuse to get them!!!

The last pair boots I got at another house along with an (almost NEW) DisneyLand princess jacket for M, and ccaauutteee pair of jeans for A. Here she is modeling them (actually, she told me NOT to take pics, but I did anyway.....secretly), and a little purse. I offered her $5 bucks for everything and she said yes!!

Here are 2 really cool, real wood, wine boxes that are pretty and sturdy.

An old milk container??? There were yucky cobwebs on it.

And another fake milk container.

A vase for .25 cents.....I'm thinking etching.

Another old vase thingy. And a huge roll of raffle tickets. Will be cool for something!

Oh! And I was happy to get this after seeing this transformation Beth (From A to Z) made from an old jewelry box!!! So excited!!

A snowman bucket that's actually kinda ok the way it is.....but I will still be compelled to change it :) Maybe something Halloween-y.

That's pretty much it. I scored a few other odds 'n ends like some scarves (I want to start wearing these, but I'm too cheap to buy any new) and a few cute clothes for me! But, stay tuned to see what the "after" looks like!

Have fun and happy thrifting!!

Freecycle Saturday - Sundae Cup Ribbon Dispenser

Looking for my giveaway? Here it is, but hurry, it ends tomorrow at midnight.

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Yeah, so "Freecycle Saturday" just doesn't sound as good as "Freecycle Friday".....sorry.

But, here it is! Yay!

So, I'm really into this re-cycling/up-cycling kick right now, (if you haven't noticed by now) and I'm always challenging myself to turn ordinary trash into something cool.

So,

Awhile back I took the kiddos to get sundaes at McD's. And when they were finished (and I had eaten the remainder), I looked at the cup and thought: "Hey, I bet I can make something cute out of this!"

So here it is!

A Sundae cup ribbon dispenser!

Yeah, I know it's kinda cheesy, but you have to admit......it's cute and totally useful!

So, here's how:

First, you eat all the ice cream goodness and be sure to get every last drop.....it's all in the name of re-cycling, after all.

Then, once it's all clean.....go outside and get a rock and glue it on the bottom inside of the sundae cup. Yes, I know you think I'm weird, but get used to it the rock is there to weigh down the cup. Once you get the ribbon in, you won't even see the rock. Or, if you can just omit it all together (I know you will :) But, if you choose to use the rock, don't hot-glue it, you may melt the bottom of the cup.

Then, take your handy-dandy eyelet-setter-hole-puncher-thingy and punch a bunch of holes in the lid. I did 7....but, go crazy.
But not too crazy.

Now, string your ribbon through, and admire your so-easy-my-3-year-old-can-do-it very hard work.

This is a great thing to keep filled with your flavor of the month ribbons and keep it close by on your workspace so your can reach over and just yank some out.

Or, great for gifting some cute ribbons to a friend! 'Cuz this takes like, a minute to make, so you can churn these puppies out for everyone you know. Plus......you have an excuse to eat lots of ice cream!

Anyhoo, stay tuned....I went garage sale-ing today and got some GREAT stuff, I can't wait to show you all!

Have fun!