Show Me Yours and I'll Give You Something

Hey guys, so it's finally been a year and I finally have over a hundred people who follow my blog for some reason or another.  This makes me HAPPY 8)!  Although, when you think about it, there are about 7 billion people in the world.  This makes me SAD 8'(!  Just kidding.  I'm happy with the followers I do have.  Thanks guys!

For those of you that are new to this site, I will explain what I'm about.  There are a few ways to describe my blog.  First, let me state that I'm not a stay at home mom.  I wish I was, but it hasn't worked out that way.  My point is, that anyone can carve some time into their schedule to create.

 I am a special education teacher by trade and I normally stress to impress, but when I'm making something, somehow I forget those worries and the stress just melts away.  No need for Prozac. I win!

I'm also a thrift whore.  I love a bargain!  The cheaper, the better, and free is the goal.  So, a lot of my projects here are either free or done for very little money.  The goal is to make things useful again but in a chic way.  The mantra is reduce by re-using and recycling the re-used into something functional. Huh?! Get it, good.

I consider myself a jackass of all trades in that I dabble in more than just a few types of projects, but I am by no means a master of any type of art medium.  The projects I feature are do-able even if you're missing digits on your dominant hand.  Yeah, I do realize that my crafts sometimes look like I made them with my feet.

Many times you will see that my projects are inspired by pioneers that came and crafted before me.  These are true artists!  I never try to steal someone's thunder, so I give them full credit and a link to their site so you can experience genius for yourself.  I love it when I can actually recreate something from someone's tutorial and I try to spread the word.

I would love to see what you've been inspired to create.  So I have decided to include a Show Me feature to my little blog where you too can show off your goodies.  Great, good, or ugly, I want to check it out.

Bottom line is, some of the things I make turn out great and some turn out barftastic, but the time working on crap-fts has and continues to be time well spent.  Enough about me though, I really appreciate your support of this little blog and I want to show just how much by doing this little giveaway.  I am giving away a $20.00 AC Moore gift card this time.

What do you have to do to win?  Well that's easy. I want you to show me something you've made and grab a button.  If you're a follower, then comment that you are.  If you're not, then what the heck are you waiting for?  Follow me and comment that you're new.  If you're a stalker, then kindly go pound sand.  I will close the giveaway on Monday, January 2nd and the winner will be chosen randomly.  Good luck, I hope you win a buck or 20.

Nydia 8)

Ornaments Made Out of Aluminum Cans

So are you looking for a way to reuse a soda can?  Yeah, I thought you were.  Here are some easy ornaments you can make using an empty aluminum can.

This poinsettia is made out of a can of soda.  Go figure.  

Here's another example of soda can ornaments.

Here's another one.  This one is glittery.

Ok so here's a quick tutorial on how to make one.  

Drink some soda pop and cut out the top and bottom.

Trace a star shape onto the aluminum and cut that shape out.

See this is all you need. 

Use something to crimp folds into the star shape.

Here is a five point star.  

Here is a six point star.  This one became the poinsettia.  Notice that I primed it. 

I painted them red and used puff paint for the centers. 

Your last step is poking holes through them with a nail and hanging them.  

Ta-da!  

Nydia 8)

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Christmas Joy Wood Vase Christmas Arrangement

Post Christmas sales are the best. Aren't they? That's the time of year when you find everything you already paid full price for, on sale at 90% off. Isn't that precious?! It makes me want to tear someones eyelashes out! Last year I found a couple of wooden joy vases, at least I think they are vases, for $1.00 a piece at my local craft store. I snapped them up so quick, I almost created a sonic boom. I didn't know what I would do with them, but the potential was clearly there.


 This year when I pulled these puppies out, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. Here's what they ended up looking like once I was done working my magic.

 Elegance. Pure elegance, I tell you. Ok I'm an encyclopedia dramatica. Please forgive me, but I love them. 

 Here's what they looked like before. Plain Jane aren't they.

 I spray painted them red with some left over spray paint. I tell you I've made like 4 projects with that same can of paint!

 My next step was to add height with some pine clippings from the yard. Geez, I hope all this clipping doesn't kill my evergreens. They're practically bald.

 Last but not least, I added some charming little handmade poinsettia ornaments. I'll post about those tomorrow so stay tuned. These cost two whole dollars to make! What?! Yep $2.00!

Nydia 8)

Christmas In A Can Christmas Arrangement

Is there any site in the internet that inspires more than Pinterest?  I don't think so.  I saw this little project posted there and I instantly fell in love with its quirkiness.  I mean, this is recycling at its finest.  So I created my own version and here it is.

I am not a patient person, therefore all the things I make need to be easy and take a microwave minute to finish.  This was not one of those projects, but I was on a roll with excitement.  I was fueled with the thought of the finished product.

I think the original is made out of a coffee can.  Mine is made out of a soda cracker can.  I am obsessed with eating soda crackers!  They are delicious and crispy, nom, nom, nom.  Anywho, I eat a lot of these so I have plenty of these large cans around.  I don't like to throw them out so I reuse them here are some projects I've made with them.  A Ballard Designs knocked off dog food container. Home accent piece.   Pretty Monogrammed storage container.

Fugly can that no longer contains goodies.

I took this can.  And I spray painted it red with left over paint from this project.  Then I cut some black pleather left over from this project and I used a glue gun to attach it like a belt.  The belt buckle was made from cutting a soda can into the shape of a buckle.

I went into my yard and took clippings from various pines and placed those into some floral foam inside the can.  I sprayed the clippings with spray snow to give it a snowy look.

To make the letters, I took a piece of foam board, free handed letters onto it and cut them out.  I spread glue on them and sprinkled glitter all over them.  Then I stuck some left over bbq skewers and placed them into the floral foam.

The final touch was adding the ornaments.  Those were left over from last year.  I can't get over how adorable this is.  And best of all, I recycled so many things!

Nydia 8)

Ornaments Made Of Toilet Paper Rolls

I'm pretty frugal all year long, but around the holidays I try to scrimp where I can.  Usually, this means decorating on a Budget with a capital B.  If I said it once, I've said it a thousand times, you don't need tons of cash to make your home beautiful.   Case in point these toilet paper roll ornaments that I made for FREE! 

Aren't they adorable?! 

They were incredibly easy to make.  The whole family can get involved with this Christmas craft.  Think about the possibilities.  You can do this craft with students, a senior citizen, as a camp activity, I could go on.  

Assembling these is basically the same as I explain here.  You just have to arrange them by fives instead of fours.  I used a glue gun to attach them but you don't have to.  Regular glue will work fine but takes some time to dry.  Remember to cut the toilet paper tube down into same sized pieces.  To adhere the glitter, you can use spray glue or do what I did and just spread a thin layer of school glue.  Sprinkle the glitter color of your choice over them and attach a ribbon, wire, or fishing line to hang.  

Ok now I'm going to be preachy but I want to emphasize that the holiday season is about family.  Don't go crazy spending and stressing.  Give handmade and do more things instead of buying more things.  People tend to remember the times they shared not the things they had.

PS.  I got the idea from http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/2009/04/craft-coardboard-stars-from-toilet.html
 Here are some others you might like as well.
http://thehappytulip.blogspot.com/2011/11/glitter-ornaments-and-frustrations.html#axzz1gzibS6Pf
http://www.squidoo.com/simple-crafts-toilet-paper-roll-star-christmas-ornament
http://greeneyed.com/2011/12/paper-towel-roll-stars/

Nydia 8)

Huge Popsicle Stick Snowflakes

I don't know if you're like me, but come Christmas time I tend to over decorate.  Is that a bad thing?  Nah!  I like my house to look like the spirit of Christmas threw up in it.  So this past weekend I was looking around the house and saw a blank spot on the living room wall on either side of a large mirror.  I decided right then and there that my wall looked nekkid.  I remembered seeing these snowflakes on Pinterest and since I had a ton of popsicle sticks left over from this project, I decided to go ahead and make them.

These would be perfect hanging in a window.

It's all really simple.  All you need to do is use a glue gun to attach the popsicle or tongue depressor sticks together in a snowflake pattern.  Once that's all dry, you can paint it.

Here they are all ready for paint.

I went with white spray paint and I glued epsom salt all over them to give them a snowy look.

You can't tell from the pictures but they look like crystals.

I'll keep decorating until I run out of steam, usually sometime around Christmas Eve eve.

Here they are all finished again.  

Here are some sites that feature more of this.

http://sewfantastic.blogspot.com/2011/11/popsicle-stick-snowflakes.html

http://ballardbunch.blogspot.com/2010/11/let-it-snow.html

Now go stalk check them out. 

Nydia 8)

Make Your Own Popsicle Stick Bracelets

This is such an easy craft to do with kids!  You could make a ton of them in one sitting and give them out as Christmahanukwanza gifts.  Aren't they super cute?!

Here's what you'll need:

• large tongue depressor popsicle sticks as many as you like
• a pot to hold both water and sticks
• pretty paper or fabric or paints
• glue 
• scissors
• a pvc pipe or glass with a narrow opening

First you will want to boil your sticks to make them pliable. Once you've boiled them for an acceptable amount of time, just take them out and check how bendy they are.  If they are extra bendy, you can begin to curl them into the pvc or glass depending on how tiny the wrists of the wearers will be.   

Take care to bend them slowly so as not to break them.  I used a pvc pipe because I have puny wrists and I wanted snug bracelets.  I let my bracelets dry inside the pipe for two days because I have the memory of a dead squirrel.  You only have to wait a day.  

When I finally remembered to check on the bracelets they were completely dried and ready for decorating. I decided to use decorative papers in patterns that I like.  All I did at this point was add glue to a small length of paper and place it onto the bracelet.  I let this dry and when it was completely dried, I cut the overlapping excess paper.  

To finish the bracelets off, I simply used a paint marker in a complimentary color to paint the raw edges and I sealed the whole thing with Modge Podge.  

These make cute stocking stuffers, fundraisers, classmate gifts, etc.  Try some with your shorties over the winter break.  At the very least they will keep from destroying your home.

Nydia 8)

DIY Ipad Case

It is so easy to make an ipad case!  If you have two hands with at least four working fingers on them, you can make an ipad case.  It is also an inexpensive diy!  Let's face it, if you are buying an ipad for a special someone this holiday season, you are going to be broker than you care to be.  And wouldn't it be tragic if your gift broke soon after unwrapping?  Tragic!  I'm here to help you through this dilemma.  You too can make this and come out looking like a hero!

Looks pretty classy.

Here's how to make it:  I must first ask you to brace yourself, you'll be shocked at how easy this is.  

Take one old book.  I got a librarian's ok on this, so don't judge.  

This baby was in the trash pile at my school and it was just the perfect size to protect my ipad.  Some call it luck, I call it divine intervention.

You will need to cut along the inside spine of the book to separate the pages from the cover.  Gah! I felt so guilty breaking a book!  It felt naughty.  I'm such a boring good girl.  

The next step was covering the cover with some pretty fabric that I found at the fabric store for $2.89.  

I just used spray adhesive to make the job faster.  This stuff is super sticky and holds nicely too.  Use some Allene's tacky glue or hot glue for the inside fabric on fabric stuff so it's more secure.  

Now you need to make a holding board.  That is what holds your ipad secure.  I used elastic on the corners to hold the ipad in place.  What you see in the picture is actually an old picture frame backing out of a broken picture frame that I used on another project.  You can even see the area where I ripped off the stand piece.  The little stand piece looks like a tie so I think I'll save it for a father's day project.  Lol, I'm such a hoarder.  That's sad.  

I'm showing you the back side because this is where you will attach the elastic.  You will do this by securing elastics with hot glue to back side of each corner.  Place your ipad in it to make any needed adjustments.  Then attach it to the cover with hot glue and let it all dry.  

I have a sexy ipad cover and all it cost was about $3.00 worth of materials and about 15 minutes of my time.  

If you make one of these please do share so I can show you off.  

Nydia 8)

Sophisticated Tree Skirt Diy

This weekend I went out looking for a tree skirt to replace my fake snow blanket that I usually use.  I couldn't find anything in the colors I wanted because by the second week of Christmas, the stores are focusing on Valentine's Day!  I hate that!  Ok I'm exaggerating- there's still some Christmas decor available but all the good stuff is basically gone at my local stores.  No worries though because I figured I would try my hand at making a tree skirt myself.

I rushed right home with unrelated purchases in hand and set out to make this.

Guess what I used to make it?  A curtain!  Yes a curtain.  I found this one curtain panel at Ross in the clearance section for $2.00 and at the time I didn't know what I would do with it, but I liked the pattern and the weight of the fabric and I felt at worst I would make some pillows out of it.  I just couldn't pass up such a large piece of fabric at $2.00!  

So here's what I did.  First I laid out the fabric and cut out a circle using my little snow blanket tree skirt.  

I cut around the pattern of the little snow blanket tree skirt.  Then I cut out a ruffle piece that was twice the circumference of the snow skirt.  

I sewed the ruffle piece around the edge and then I hemmed everything.  This took only about 20 minutes and cost less than $2.00 because I still have a ton of curtain fabric left over for another project.  

I like the simplicity of it.  

I think it suits my little tree.  

Nydia 8)