Happy Fourth of July everyone!

This week, I have been covering in the church office for the secretary who has been on vacation, so my crafting time has been limited. However, I did get to one of the projects I had on my list: using the empty frame, I created a little wedding vignette.

This project was really easy and cheap! The frame was probably from the dollar store, but was missing the glass. I scanned a copy of a wedding photo and cut it out in photoshop, then added text from Ephesians 5:21-33 in The Message paraphrase. I really love how it talks about husbands cherishing their wives, and wives supporting their husbands. The language is so romantic! Any romantic poetry or verse can be used, song lyrics or even an old love letter would work for this part. When I was happy I printed it.

For the matting, I took an awesome silvery printed Tiffany looking sheet of card stock and ModPodged it to the mat. I used a craft knife to cut it after I glued it so it was the perfect size. The rings were tied to a ribbon and draped across the top corner of the frame. The men's ring was one that I found when the former owners moved out of the house - they had left it in a jar of nails. The "diamond" ring was one I had since I was a kid, and I love the touch of sparkle it adds (though I wish my wedding ring diamond was that size, hehe!) and both rings echo the silver in the matting.

Lastly, I added the year we were married on a little placard at the bottom of the frame. I really love how it turned out! This month my husband and I will have been married 14 years (!) and I wanted to do something special to honor that.

I have moved over 11+ times in the 14 years we've been married, so a lot of my wedding stuff has been broken, lost, or destroyed, but I do want to try and make a wedding shadow box at some point. I think this is a wonderful project to preserve this memory though, even if much of our things haven't survived to make it into that shadow box.

If you have a project like this or try this one out, post a link in the comment below and show it off. I'd love to see what you come up with!

Happy 4th!

Easy-Peasy Book Holder

So today I had an amazing find! When we bought this house last summer, the old ladies who lived here left a lot of stuff when they moved out. Most of it is in a shed in the back yard, so since I was putting in the air conditioners today (Please, summer, get here already so I can use them!) I stumbled on some fantastic stuff!

A picture frame with no glass, an old story book, a frosted glass globe from a ceiling light, some rope, clothes pins, and burlap! I have so many exciting crafts planned, but first on to today's mini make over part one.

Em home schools and has had some difficulty in claiming a space for school. She was using the dining room table, however it proved to be too much of a distraction - Jay loves to ride in his plastic car around the island in the kitchen, and you have to pass through both rooms to go from the living room to the bedrooms or the bathroom. Also, it appeared the allure of the TV was a bit much for her at times as well.

Our den has a built in desk and it is usually piled up with crafts, toys, books, and junk the girls don't want to put away. I have been going through each room of the house systematically attempting to recycle, donate, upcycle, corral, or trash the constant flow of junk that seems to continually threaten our home. The den was pretty much last on my list, being that it is out of the way of the rooms we use every day (and the ones company sees, hehe). Frankly it seemed a bit too over whelming and I had other places to clean first, but giving Em a place she can work is now a priority.

First of all, I cleaned all the junk out of the room. It took three garbage bags! One bag for DI, one bag for recycling, and the last bag was split between garbage and craft items we didn't need anymore that I donated to the church.

Second, I looked at the walls and tried to figure out something fun to do there. We had STACKS of board games that Jay had gleefully pulled apart and lost pieces to, so I grabbed my trusty hot glue gun and assembled as much as I could of the game boards, then hung them on the wall.

I wasn't thinking about showing the step by step when I did these so there are no "in progress" pictures, but basically it was just an act of a girl and her glue gun. Very easy-peasy.

Now, Em needed a place to keep her school work where it was organized and safe. I saw this idea on Pinterest somewhere, but evidently didn't pin it but I did remember it. It's really easy though!


First, you need a cereal box, then you need ModPodge, a craft knife, scissors, ruler, black marker or pen, and cool paper/pictures. I measured up 3 inches on the corner of the box, then made a mark. Then I took the ruler and lined it from that mark, across the cereal box, up to the top corner.

I repeated this step on the other side, then connected the two lower lines with one straight line across the thinner end of the box. Then I took my handy craft knife and followed the lines, slicing the box apart.

I cut off the last box tab left then went back with scissors and evened out all the edges so they were smooth. Next I cut some of Em's favorite pics out of this old book I found in the shed:

...then added ModPodge to the backs and pasted them onto the box. I also used some cute scrap book paper Em picked out, then put a label at the top so she could write her name on it. The finished project:

Now Em has the perfect place to keep her school books, and a place to work in peace without Jay and Bea bothering her. I am going to keep working on the den, and promise I will add pics of the room as it continues in its transformation.

Have a great weekend!

No Sew Super Hero Cape!

So I heard on the radio today that there are 300 registered superheros in the United States. What?!? Really??? I wonder what the qualifications are for that, and how did they form a registry anyways?

But it got me thinking about my own little superhero, and how to make him a cape. So I came up with this really easy, no sew cape that you can use for dress-ups or costumes, birthday parties - whatever!

Step one: Get a shirt in the color you want your cape to be. Lay it out on a table/flat surface face up. If the shirt doesn't already have fold lines, you may want to iron it so it does. It makes cutting easier later.

Step two: With chalk or wash out marker, trace out the following pattern on the front of the shirt:

Up the sides across the corners, and around the collar.

Step three: Turn the shirt over so the back is facing up, and mark it like so -

run the line from the top of where it ended on the front up to the side of the collar on both sides.

Now you have your cut lines!

Step four: Cut the sleeves and the front of the shirt off, following your cut lines, keeping the back and the collar intact.

You should end up with a triangle shape topped by the collar of the shirt.

Lastly, clean up your cut lines to ensure that there aren't any funky cut marks and everything is in line. I also took some fabric paint and added a letter "J" to the back, using tape to help make it straight:

So Bea was watching me do this part, and she said "Oh are you adding an ego?" 

"A what?" I asked.

"An ego, you know," she said.

"You mean a logo?" I questioned.

"Yeah, ego, logo, evo, pickle - what ever," Bea replied.

Man I love that girl, she's always good for a laugh.

It took about 2 hours for the fabric paint to dry. I pulled off the tape and walla! One happy superhero :) 

Jay loves this thing, and one of the best parts is that he can put it on and take it off himself. No need to worry about tying, or it coming undone while he's flying around fighting crime. And if it gets dirty, we can throw it in the wash easily. If you don't want to add a painted logo you can skip it, use an iron on transfer, custom make an iron on transfer with a special kit from the craft store, or just leave it off entirely. 
*Update, found this site sugartotdesigns.blogspot.com that has easy superhero logo tutorials - brilliant! Use these if you like to add an insignia to your cape using felt.

Bea has already claimed the scraps to make into a shrug, so I will be posting that tutorial later.

Happy crafting!