How to add a watermark....

Are you feeling lost without Picnik?  I'm still trying to adjust to

PicMonkey...I really wish there were a way to open multiple photos.

Did you use Picnik to add a watermark to your photos and now that is gone?? Well, 

a {day} with lil mama stuart has developed an awesome tutorial 

for how to add a watermark to your photos.

Watermarking has become absolutely essential with the invasion of Pinterest.

So many photos are being pinned without credit being given to the creator.
From what I've read, you want to add a watermark to any photo in your post.

If you get a chance, head over to a {day} with lil mama stuart
and learn how to create your own distinctive watermark!

Thanks so much for sharing with us, Mindy!

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Mother's Day Gift Idea

Do you still need some Mother's Day gift ideas?  
(Maybe one to forward to the hubby for yourself???)

Wendy at Hemmed In made these adorable matching aprons!

They are $54.95 with free shipping and can be bought on www.hemmedin.com. 
She offers a secure paypal checkout system and other adorable styles!


Wendy has also started making camera strap covers....and they are adorable!


I'd show you a picture, but I put mine on my camera right away....much to my husband's displeasure! {wink!}

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Thrifty Thursday #58

Mother's Day is coming.....I am always scrambling to buy, create, or just think 
of gifts.  Are you like that or do you plan ahead?

This week on  Thrifty Thursday , I decided to give you a little help.  
Here are a bunch of ideas that linked up that would make easy, 
inexpensive....yet thoughtful and beautiful Mother's Day gifts! Enjoy!

Kim from too much time on my hands turned this old bread box into a beautiful planter!

You could also use a pretty glass container to house an African violet like 

More Style Than Cash.

Sew Fantastic designed this dry erase calendar using paintchips!  You 

could customize your colors or style!

Just a little Creativity shows how to turn ugly into useful and beautiful....all

while spending hardly any money!!

Are you looking for fun dessert ideas?  How about this mama swimming in a 

pool of chocolate from More Style than Cash?

Growing in Grace made this Strawberry Kiwi Angel Food Cake and there 

is a yummy surprise in the middle!

Finally....for any dads out there...us mothers would love a craft like this

from our little kiddos!  Thanks, One Artsy Mama!

Thank you to everyone for linking!

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab one of my buttons!

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.

You can also party with Johnnie 

at Saved by Love Creations!

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Seed Starter Ideas

It has been so cold here to be thinking about seeds...but that's exactly when

you should start planting them indoors....I'm probably 3 weeks late...nothing new!

I originally saw this idea from Carolyn at Homework.  Her pots are SO cute!

I'm more of a burlap girl, so I wrapped my newspaper around a can of beans to 

get the shape and tied them with burlap and string taping the bottoms.

The goal is to make your supplies biodegradable because the pots go right into

the ground.....I can't promise that all my materials are, but I'm pretending they are!

{Please don't leave me mean comments if they aren't...I'll probably take all the 

"cute" stuff off before I put them in the ground!}

I was trying to go for cute with what I had on hand...so I just used a the font "old typewriter" and printed out paper labels.

Here's what I did last year for seed starters....it was also very successful.

I was just too lazy to dig up the baseball card holders!

Are you growing a garden?  I'm determined this year not to kill mine!

Green thumb, I am not!

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DIY Stenciled Pillows

I recently had the opportunity to review the Julia stencil by Cutting Edge Stencils.

I just LOVE it!!


I had a hard time deciding which stencil to review.   Cutting Edge 
Stencils  has so many amazing designs to choose from!





The stencil came packaged with a free stencil and wonderful instructions.  It 
was a lot bigger than I expected.  If I were doing a wall, the coverage
of one pass of the stencil would great.


I've had the stencil for weeks (months!) and couldn't decide what I wanted 
to do with it....there are just SO many great ideas.


I decided to start small and make a pillow.  I've been recovering my living room 
furniture with drop cloth and needed new pillows.


I started with a piece of drop cloth...

Because the stencil was so large, I taped pieces of newspaper under the parts 

that I didn't want to paint.  You can just use blue painters tape on the stencil.

I watched the online videos to make sure that I understood how to correctly

use the stencil.  Even though my project was smaller scale, I still wanted to do it right!

One suggestion was too roll off the paint on a paper towel or piece of newspaper. 

 Because this was my "test" project, I just used regular acrylic paint. I did not add a fabric additive to it.  I plan to do this again because I want to paint a pair of curtains.  I will add a fabric additive that time.

To make the pillow, I used my favorite stuffing method....old bed pillows!

Isn't drop cloth fabulous!  It has given my living room an awesome

new look for very little money!

I love my Cutting Edge Stencil.....it is very versatile and can be used

for so many different projects!  Painting a wall, stenciling a piece of furniture, 

stenciling curtains or even.....a pillow!

What have you stenciled recently?

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Tea Party Hats {and party pics!}

Confession.....when it comes to crafting, I'm not always very patient!

I'd much rather paint a wall or use a meiter saw.  When it comes to

crafting 9 little tea hats....ugh!

So lest you be fooled by the above photo....here's my version of a high tea hat!

My sweet daughter calls it her "zookeeper" hat!  My mom came over to help, took one look at my version and said..."How about if I take some of this to my house and work on it??"

The wrapping paper idea....a BIG fail!  It just kept crumpling....that, and I needed to buy about 7 more rolls to make 9 hats!

Instead, my mom used white table paper....traced a circle and cut it out. She then used white duct tape to make the hat shape and wrapped it with some pink ribbon.

A MUCH better result.....I am indebted to my mom!

Each little girl got to take home a tea hat and a tissue paper flower...and no,

I can't take credit for those cute cupcakes either....I hired a teenage girl to make them....best decision EVER!

 Thanks to your many suggestions over on my FB page, we had awesome food!

I wrapped deli turkey around string cheese, made PB & J sandwiches in flower shapes, 

finger jello and pretzel sticks in cheese.

My mom made the adorable carrot curls, chocolate-covered strawberries and

chocolate-covered oranges.

Each little girl had the opportunity to "dress-up" in gloves and jewelry..

...and we also had a special time "doing our nails!"

The day was a HUGE success....this group of girls is so sweet...and so quiet

compared to a group of 9 boys!!  I couldn't believe the difference!

Although it was a lot of fun....I think that next time we'll just have a 

picnic and run through the sprinkler party.....and skip the hats!

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Update your switches with custom colors!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Leviton for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you painted a room a beautiful new color only to realize that those ugly cream switchplates no longer match??

Yep.....white beadboard wallpaper and "lovely" cream switchplates!  UGH!  For some reason, it didn't hit me until after I got the whole project done that they didn't match....

Leviton's newest product Renu is a smart way to update to look of a room in a snap!

After the intial installation, you can change out your switches and wall plates using their easy-to-use snap on system.

The Renu collection includes:

-switches

-combination switches

-wallplates

-dimmers/remotes

-tamper resistant outlets

-tamper resistant GFCI outlets

-quickport connectors

All are available in 20 popular paint colors that were picked out by decorating experts!  So if you are like me, and change the color of your kitchen 5 times in 6 years.....you don't have to worry about matching your wallplates.  Just snap on the new Renu wall plate and you are good-to-go!

Leviton is hosting 3 Twitter parties on:

Wednesday, April 18th 9pm EST

Thursday, April 26th 9pm EST

Wednesday, May 2nd 9pm EST

Just follow@ Leviton and #Renu to participate and you can possibly win a Home Depot gift card!

Leviton also is offering 2 sets of Broadway tickets as a grand prize for the twitter party on Wednesday night! Join in on the fun and see if you'll win!

Be sure to check out Renu and like Leviton on Facebook.

So, if you are a compulsive painter like me, Renu allows you to customize your look in a snap!

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Tea Party Sneak Peek

I've been a little bit stressed about this tea party for my daughter....I'm not the greatest

of party planners and many times, the ideas in my head don't always translate well into real life....ever happen to you??

Son to my husband at lunch: "Yeah....watch out.  Mom's a little grumpy today!"

{Um...maybe it's because I'm trying to homeschool you, clean the house,

do laundry, and make 10 'flowers' from tissue paper that look more like

rumpled balls rather than cute flowers???}

Thankfully, my artistic (kind and patient!) hubby is always around to "rescue" 

my ideas and turn them into something usable!

Case in point....the R2D2 cake...

Totally was a hubby rescue!!

{I had to laugh when I looked at these pictures....it was about 2

colors "back" in my kitchen that has been about 5 colors in only 6 1/2 years!}

So.....I am rather pleased with how the place settings are turning out...

I just made some tissue paper flowers, cut scrap fabric with pinking shears

and tied them around a napkin with baker's twine...

My other "brilliant" idea....making "high-tea" hats from wrapping paper...not so successful.

I'll keep you posted on that one....I had to call in help from my mom!

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