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July 31, 2011

Bottlecap Magnets from Everyday Lovely.....

 


I really love the vintage look, so when I saw these magnets over at everyday lovely, I asked Cailan if I could share some of her projects with my readers.


What I love most about the magnets.....the fact that you are using everyday materials to make something pretty and practical!






Cailan just added some mod podge and shoe polish to give the magnets their vintage look!




For a complete tutorial of how to make these magnets, hop over to everyday lovely!  




While you are there, you can also make this magnetic chalkboard to use with your magnets!


Or, you could also make this Mossy Monogram mounted on some old book pages for your wall!



Cailan has a lot of other fabulous ideas!!  She transformed this glass caddy with a little bit of spraypaint!


So if you get a chance, stop over to everyday lovely!




This week I am cooking for 85 raucous (but lovely!) teens.....
so it just might be a light blogging week!





July 29, 2011

How do you organize....beads?





I have decided that before we start doing school again in August, I am going to organize my life....


I am tired of "things" laying around....out of place.....in my way....I am frustrated with trying to get a baking pan and having numerous plastic bowls fall on top of me.....I am tired of crumbs and goo under my waste basket!


So I am starting small.....but I am starting to organize!


My daughter loves to play with beads......I love her to play with beads......the problem though is that the bead kits that she has are bulky plastic with no lids...translation....beads spill everywhere!!


Instead of buying an expensive organizer, I went to Kmart and bought this...



....a tackle box....found in the fishing department!  Cost:  a mere $6.00!!



The box is wonderful!!  You decide where you want to put the dividers and how you want to arrange it!

The best part.....the beads are in ONE place and are easily accessible and transportable!



Hint:   I also did this for my son's Lego men and weapons!




Now if there was only a way to organize this.....






What have you been organizing lately?

July 27, 2011

Thrifty Thursday #19

Once again....I am inspired by your projects that you linked to last week's Thrifty Thursday!  If only I had extra hours in my day to attempt doing all of these fun ideas!


I wish that I had seen this idea from A Step in the Journey years ago!


What a wonderfully creative way to keep track of the places that you visit as a family!

As you may have seen, I finished my desk makeover this week. The desk used to be a dresser and I also have the mirror that came with it. I've been tripping over the mirror in the garage not knowing what to do with it, but I am truly inspired by what Fancy Frugal Life did with hers!



I just love how she turned it into a chalkboard!!


Homespun Happenings did an amazing transformation on some unfinished end tables...


I really like how she stained the top and painted the bottom!  Great job! Tammy also earned the spot of the most viewed link!


This Simple Prairie Life changed an ho-hum brown chair into this beauty....



I love the little "chair belt" that she added!




Cherished Bliss made these $10.00 pillows from a $128 Antro knock-off....please, tell me who can afford pillows that cost $128!?!



That idea definitely got pinned to one of my boards!


Finally, I just thought that this was such a cute idea from c.w. frosting!



Caroline made a "mini" one to go with her other elevenses candles!  She gives an excellent tutorial for how to make them....including how to add the candle and wax!



If you were featured this week, be sure to grab a button!



We are already at week #19 of  Thrifty Thursday.......

Here are some very simple suggestions for the party:
1. Please become a follower of Thrifty Decorating.
2. Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.
3. Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in your post
or blog so that others can link back.
4. Share some comment love....We all love to get them!!



And remember that you can go over to visit Johnnie and link 
up with another Thrifty Thursday at


ThriftyThurs Thrifty Thursday Week 29



July 25, 2011

Fancy-up your flip-flops....

I spend my summer in flip flops....here's the proof...


Yep...that's a flip-flop tan line! 




I start my summer by making a trip to Old Navy to buy flip-flops..... don't you just love their wall of flip-flops???  Despite their beautiful wall of colors, I am quite boring in my choices.....brown, black and white!  One year I bought red, but they are still sitting in my closet!


By July, those $2.50 pair of flips are looking a little ragged....and I'm getting a little bored of my brown, black, white rotation!


So, I decided to "spice" up my flips!




It's super easy.....no sewing skill is required!  (My sewing machine and I aren't always on speaking terms!)


Grab a pile of coordinating fabric....yes, even that was overwhelming for me so I bought a pack from Joanne's that was already put together.  It cost about $6.00 on sale and we made at least 6 pairs of flip flops from that pack.






Decide on a pattern and start from the middle working your way out.....tying double knots as you go along.




One helpful hint is to make the fabric strips longer and then trim them at the end.


...and that's it!  An easy, inexpensive way to spice up those summertime flip-flops!




Here are a few other ideas to use on your flips....


You can wrap fluffy yarn around them for fuzzy flips...



...you can also use ribbon instead of fabric.  I made these patriotic flips!




The nice thing about this idea is that it is not a permanent change to your shoes!  If you get tired of the color....just undo the knots!


Do you wear flip-flops??



July 24, 2011

Desk Makeover....





Months ago, a friend dropped off this old desk....she was moving and wanted it out of her house, so it came and sat...on my front porch....like a "hill-billy-house-with-a couch-on-the-front-porch"....for too many weeks!



Hubby finally said....Enough!  Get this thing out of here!  But the problem was....I was feeling uninspired!




I had spray primed it and tried spraypainting it, but it wasn't turning out like I pictured in my mind....






I let it sit....for many more weeks and then pulled out the roller and paintbrush and painted it the "old-fashioned" way!




After all of my hard work, I grabbed that sandpaper and started to distress it....



....and distress it some more!





But then....I hit this little snag...the drawers!  I had the brilliant idea to use scrapbook paper instead of fabric.  I wanted to mod podge it to the drawer....the only problem....the scrapbook paper was too short!



So....it sat some more until I finally went and bought some contact paper....so much easier to work with!




Then...I spraypainted the handles with my favorite go-to color Krylon Oil-Rubbed Bronze!


But....alas....I had drip marks....so that caused another week (month!) of delay as I tried to decide what to do....I just started over with primer and it covered my mess!


So finally......here is my desk in all her glory!  After about 5 months....I think that she turned out beautifully!









Have you ever had a project that you've been "stuck" on?

July 22, 2011

You know it's hot when.....

So this is what my thermometer was reading....actually, it dropped 4 degrees because I pulled into the garage to take the picture....




I know that all you Texas and Midwest readers are saying..."Buck up, girl!  It's summer!"  But here in PA, summer means 89 degrees not 106!!


Take for example my tissue paper wreath.  Remember this.....






Well, I awoke to this......




Yep!  The heat MELTED THE GLUE right off the wreath!!  Unbelievable!


So what's a girl to do??  I'm off to make some of Pioneer Woman's Watermelon Granita....some lime juice, sugar and watermelon....Yum!



How are you staying cool?