10 Year Wedding Anniversary Gift

Today is my 10 year wedding anniversary to my best friend. Yippee!! We reached a pretty significant milestone!!

Hubby and I are not trading gifts for our 10 year anniversary. We thought our new car purchase was gift enough. Although we are not buying gifts, I could not let the day go by without some type of gift. I thought I would make him something homemade!!

This cost me $0 (unless I get it printed) but the value is priceless.

I don’t think it takes much explaining just a little corporation from everyone. Getting a 6 month old to lay her hand straight is NOT EASY!!

Then I used the fantastic Picnik Program to edit and add the text.

I love the fact it documents where we are at 10 years by not just our faces but our hands. I think I should do the same thing at our 20th and 30th wedding anniversary. What a great story it would tell. Do you think 20 years from now I will have age spots? Ugh! I am getting sidetracked…it is still sweet!

Here is another version I did.

I hope you enjoyed! I am sharing this at these linky parties.

Strictly Homemade Tuesday #16 (Really) plus Features

Happy Tuesday everyone!!  It is time for another week of Strictly Homemade Tuesday.  I am so happy you are here.  Did anyone notice my mistake last week?  Apparently I can’t count.  I had it listed as Strictly Homemade Tuesday #16 when it was really #15.  Oh well, good thing this blog is not graded because I would fail in both math and English.  Geez!!

It is fair to say you guys look past my grammatical errors and enjoy my craftiness so I am not going to beat myself up too much!  Moving on…

FEATURES!  I love this part…

Kim from Too Much Time on My Hands made this amazing Paper Mache Lamp Shade.  I love this and so easy to make.  Go check it out!!

Jennifer from Science, Softball, and Something Sweet is Dressing up Everything.  Love this idea!!

Last but certainly not least my friend MOMentum from Feeding Four made this 100% homemade Fresh Sweet Cherry Crumb Pie.  Can you say YUM!! I am going over to her house tomorrow with every expectation I am having Cherry Pie!!  Wink!!  Go check out her blog.  She is always making something super yummy!!

Thank you ladies!! Be sure to grab a Feature Button and display it proudly!

Onto the Party!! As always, thank you so much for linking up and please help me spread the word about my party!!

Today I am over at The V Spot

Hi Friends, today I am guest posting over at The V Spot.

Vivienne’s blog is one of my all time favorite blogs and I am beyond thrilled to be guest posting over there today.  Go on over and check it out!!

Hint:  If you are a mom to boys I think you are going to like it!!

Stating the Obvious

Stay Cool, Friends!

Thank you for your help!

Twice in the past month I have asked for your opinion and several of where kind enough to leave me your advice/thoughts or good wishes.  I so appreciate your advice and thoughts.  I think a lot of women out there are like me and appreciate others opinions- when solicited. 

The first advice I asked for was what I should do with this antique soda crate.  I thought you would enjoy seeing where it is now!

Here it is before:

Now:

Do you like it?  Many of you suggested a plant/herbs.  Great idea!  One of the most creative idea came from

Michelle Paige said...

I love the serving tray idea to hold silverware, glasses, napkins. Fun to use in a craft room for supplies. It could be adorable as a little planter box filled with pepper plants (garden variety or the indoor pepper plant)...get it? Dr. Pepper!

So smart.  However, to keep this on the cheap side, I bought nothing for this arrangement and shopped my house.  To make the number plate I took an old white plate and used vinyl with my Silhouette for the first time to make the number.  Why No. 5?  First, I have a thing with numbers and there are 5 people in my house. I love this display and I really enjoy having a lamp (another source of lighting) in my kitchen. Another reason I like this display…it will stop me from throwing crap junk up there!!

Next, I asked you your advice on a Large Family Car.  I am happy to report “Momma’s got a new ride” and it is not a minivan. Woot, woot!!  I made it to the kids’ swim lessons yesterday without any issues, hallelujah!.  Thank you so much your thoughts and opinions.  It made me feel good to know I am not alone in my desire to NOT own a minivan.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Maridith

Play Kitchen Makeover- The Reveal

My first kitchen makeover is complete and it isn’t even a REAL kitchen.  Geez! 

Some of you probably think I am a little crazy for painting and ripping up a perfectly good play kitchen, but ever since this kitchen had to be placed in a very visible place (my living room) there were only 2 options in my mind.

1. Get rid of it because it was so kid-ish and outdated
2. Complete a makeover. 

Because I try to keep the peace in my house- I chose Option 2. (I am so nice!)

I will not lie it was very time consuming only because I waited a VERY LONG TIME between spray paint coats – like months- oops!  Well, it is done now and my kids are THRILLED and I am thrilled because it does not seem to be such an eye soar.

Here are the steps I took…

Spray Paint with Krylon Fusion Spray paint for plastic.  I used 2 cans.  WARNING..cover the entire surface extra well…

I painted the faucet silver with Metallic Plastic Paint.  You know…make it real looking.

With vinyl I replaced most of the stickers…

A little chemistry lesson never hurt anyone.  ha! 

Lastly, I added window panels in the pantry area.  I used sticky velco adhere them.

Ready for the kids and some delicious meals they will be preparing!

That pretty much sums it up.  My kids are happy, and I am happy!!

Hope you enjoyed.  I am sharing this here.

Strictly Homemade Tuesday #16 - Plus Features

Hello friends! Welcome to another week of Strictly Homemade Tuesday! I love Tuesdays, how about you?

Before we get the linky party I first want to show some love to some of my favorite projects of the week.

I am serious sweet-a-holic. I have very little control. So when I saw this my mouth started watering uncontrollably! Christina from It's a Keeper made this S'mores Bars. Need I say more...


Over at Cookie Nut Creation she shows us how to make Corner Bookmarks. SO SMART!!


If you are a reader here you know I love a great upcycle project. Blooms and Bugs is showing us how to upcycled a t-shirt into a dress- in this Sew Easy Tutorial.



Thank you ladies. Please pick up a Feature button and show it proudly!!

Onto the show of your latest and greatest projects!

Play Kitchen Makeover: Work-in-Progress

You never know what to expect here!! 

This week I am working on giving my kids' kitchen a little makeover. 

We have an older Little Tikes kitchen that we all love but goodness the colors are SO OUTDATED!

A before picture with McKenna playing with it…

Here it is semi-complete.  My son was thrilled to see it out of the garage and in the house for the last of the makeover. 

I will show you the finished kitchen on Wednesday. I think you are going to love final results!   In the mean time be sure to join me tomorrow for Strictly Homemade Tuesday!!!

Large Family Car–What do you have?

Picture credit

This blog post is not crafty related but personal…excuse the interruption but I need some opinions.

Looks like my family is at a crossroad and needs to start really thinking about a larger car for a 5 member family. Currently, I drive a Ford Explorer and it is FALLING APART!  Ugh! 

I will be honest here, I am 33 years old, a mom to 3 adorable kids, but I am having trouble getting on board the whole minivan thing.  Although my husband (probably because he doesn’t have to drive it) is 100% on board and ready to buy me a minivan tomorrow. Am I weird that I am not ready to buy a minivan?  I mean, I LOVE this stage of my life with 3 young kids and I want them to be comfortable, but I am having a little complex about buying a minivan.  Don’t judge me, please.

It got me thinking there are lots of blogger moms out there with 3+ kids out there.  What do you drive?  Do you love it?  Tell me your thought!! My ears and mind are open…

87 Cent Dress…Part 2- Bloomers

On Monday I showed you how I made my oldest daughter a dress for 87 cents from a shirt I bought at Target,  I explained how the bottom half of the shirt was not used but NOTHING goes to waste in this house. Here is what I made from the bottom half,,,

Ha!  I love babies bums!!!

Here is the summary in pictures,,,

I think I REALLY got my moneys worth on this shirt.  I have to think outside the box sometimes to make the most of our money. This time it really paid off and looks super cute too!

Let me know if you would like to see the tutorial on the bloomers,  The tutorial for the dress can be found here.

Strictly Homemade Tuesday # 14 Plus Features

Welcome back to Strictly Homemade Tuesday! I can't tell you how much I love seeing what everyone is up to every week. You ladies are amazing!! Thank you so much to those that I see every week!!!

Here are a few posts that I want to show off today.

It is summer and the all over the country there are fruits and veggies a plenty!!! Why not can them for the winter? Tastes better then store bought by far!! Frugal Upstate shows us how to can with a wonderful step-by-step tutorial on how to can. She make is look easy enough to do even for a non-cooker like myself!

Then Too Much Time on My Hands made this awesome shelf from a pallet. Seriously, does it get any better? LOVE IT!! Not only that she is giving one away. Go check it out!!!

Now onto the show!!! Show me watcha got! I would love it if you were to spread the word about my weekly party!!! I would love to get over 50 entries this week. Just a silly personal goal I have. XXOO

87 cent Dress

Last summer I bought my oldest daughter a shirt from Target for 87 cents.  I bought it a size too big with the intention of her wearing it a plain shirt this summer.  Well, if you know my daughter she LOVES dresses and skirts and it got me thinking…why not make this top into a dress. 

Somehow all of the stars and the moon aligned for me because I got 2 yards of green knit material from my neighbor who thought she could make a shirt for herself and realized she couldn’t… (I love being the recipient of peoples botched projects- is that mean?)

I first cut the shirt to be a high waist bottom. 

For the bottom piece I used the width of the material as the width of the skirt and cut to the desired length I wanted. I then sewed the selvage edges together.  Then I ran two gathering stitching on the top of my skirt material. Shown below.

I pulled my thread to gather the material to the width of the shirt bottom.  Sew it to the shirt bottom.

For the hem I did two stitches about 1/3” apart.  From the front side it looks more like it was made by a manufacturer rather then home stitched.

Your dress is done.  I decided to add some rosettes to the top of my daughter’s dress.  She is big on “girl” colors and all green was not going to cut it…

Here is my cutie pie in her 87 cent (tax not included) dress!!  I love it and actually she loves it too.  This will be a perfect dress for her when she starts the 1st grade in three weeks (sniff, sniff).

I am sharing this here.

PS- Remember the bottom half of the shirt that I removed.  Nothing goes to waste here.  Come back on Wednesday to see what I made with that!! 

Best Dessert Ever…

At least according to my husband. This weekend my MIL made an Éclair Cake and it was AMAZING! I was shocked at how good it was and even more surprised at how fast it was eaten.

As soon as we got home I made another one! I will be the first one to tell you I am not the best cook so in order for me to share a recipe it has to be easy and DE-LI-CIOUS!! Your family will thank me when you make this. I adapted this recipe from here.

Éclair Cake Dessert

Ingredients…

• 2- 3.4oz of Instant Vanilla Jell-o


• Pack of Graham Crackers


• 3 cups of milk


• Whipped Topping (thawed)


• Tub of Chocolate Frosting

1. Mix two Jell-o packs with 3 cups of milk. Mix together. Fold in whipped topping.


2. In a 9X13 put a layer of graham crackers covering the entire bottom.


3. Cover the graham crackers with half of the Jell-o mixture.


4. Put another layer of graham crackers down and cover with jell-o mixture. Put another layer of graham crackers down.


5. Put the chocolate frosting in a microwavable safe dish and melt for 20 sec (of until easily pourable. Pour chocolate over the last layer of graham crackers.


6. Place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

ENJOY!!

You will be shocked how much this tastes like an Éclair!!

I am sharing this at Sweet as Sugar Cookies

Wash Your Hands- A Gentle Sentimental Reminder

This tutorial I shared over at Babes and Sage a few weeks ago. Now I am sharing it here.

Today's Post is a Gentle Sentimenal Reminder!

When your kids were little there was nothing cuter and precios, then when they get big you often find yourself reminding them constantly...wash your hands!! So today, I am combining the two in what I like to call...

"A Gentle, Sentimental Reminder"

Supplies Needed: Cotton Material (scrap piece), embroidery thread (different colors if more than one child), needle, hoop, pencil, scissors, letter cut-outs

First step (not shown) Trace your children's hands on paper. Cut out.


1. On the wrong side of the material trace your cut out hand with a pencil.

2. Insert material in hoop and tighten

3. Of the 6 strands of the embroidery thread only use two of them. Sew with a simple straight stitch around the pencil line. Make sure your knot is on the pencil side. The non-pencil side is what will be seen when finished

4. Shown is the finished side.

Repeat 1,2 & 3 according to how many children you have. My children are 6 years old, 3 years old and 5 months so I knew their hands would fit snuggly inside one another.

5. With cut out letters ( I used my silhouette) glue on "Wash your"

6. Wrap material around a frames insert and tape on the back.

7. Assemble frame. I added a satin ribbon to the top.

You are done!! I love that this will forever be in my guest bathroom and it will capture a moment in time with my children that will soon be priceless and in the mean time remind them to WASH YOUR HANDS!!