Valentines Day Magnets

I couldn't wait to give my husband these little magnets I made for him for Valentines Day, so it's okay for me to post them now. I made ten, however I was having some trouble photographing them, so not all of them are shown. I also had to adjust the lighting with my editing software, so the colors aren't exactly true to life. It is neat, though, how you can change the photo by fine tuning the brightness, color, etc.



Holding my heart in the palm of his hand

These weren't made for my husband; I just wanted to make some neato red magnets. I found a page in a magazine with several different red tablecloths that was perfect. I like the speckled one so much that I think I might make a necklace out of it.


Want to make some for your sweetie? It's easy! I posted how I did it a few days ago, so check it out :) I'll warn you though, once you start, it's hard to stop!

Magnets from Dollar Store Glass Gems

I've seen these all over the internet: these adorable little magnets! I decided I wanted to make some of my own. I scoured magazines and cut out little pictures that made me think of someone. Pictures I've cut out range from vintage cowboys to music notes to cats to toilets. Yes, my friends, you heard me right.


I have a sick sense of humor. This little guy is going to my brother, John, for Christmas. You see, when I was little I used to tease him because his name means "toilet."


The first one I found was the plunger. I thought it was funny but didn't know if I'd end up using it or not. I cut it out and sat it in the pile. A little while later, I ran across the picture of the toilet, and I couldn't believe my good fortune! And then a little later, I found the word, "toilets." At that moment, I knew my brother was going to be a lucky man at Christmas.

After I found enough pictures, I traced each gem onto the picture, and then cut it out, just inside of the traced line. I used a little Uhu glue on the front of the picture, then pushed the gem onto the picture. I pressed hard to get as many air bubbles out as I could. I have not actually attached the magnets yet, however I have about ten freebie magnets that came with pizza places, doctors offices, etc. that I plan on cutting up and using hot glue to attach it to the back. Hopefully that works out.

The gems were not perfect to begin with, and I suck at photography, so please keep that in mind as you look at these photos. I just can't seem to do them justice.


These are for my parents who love Hilton Head, SC.

Cute little people at a party

I love this cat.

A treble clef for yours truly, the music teacher.

More music teacher-y stuff

Sunday Stash and Yesterday's Thrifty Finds

While hubby was at work yesterday, I went over to the Eastland mall area and visited the VOA and Salvation Army. They're right next door to each other; it's so convenient. The walking path between them was a muddy, snow-melty, puddle-y mess, but I braved it and continued anyway. Puddles mean that it is warming up- horrah! It actually hit 50 yesterday! I tried to tell Joel that the weather is perfect and that he should come on out now, but so far he has not listened. I'm told to get used to it because children in general don't listen to their parents. (What have I gotten myself into?)

Yesterday I mostly perused the baby and toddler clothes sections and got some good finds. I actually found several shirts that were still new with the tags! Most of what I got was either 50% or 75% off, however I did "splurge" and pay full price (99 cents) for some of the shirts that were too cute to pass up (like a couple hockey shirts... like father like son!). What the heck; it's for a good cause, right? I focused on 12 month clothing. Joel should fit into 12 month clothing this fall, seeing as what a fattie he is. Hopefully 18 month clothing would finish out next winter and early spring, when he would be about 12 months. I figure that once he's born and I'm back to work (hopefully...), I won't have that much time to go shopping so I might as well get at least some of it done while I do have the time.


A little Old Navy sweater with the plastic tag thing still attached



Planes, trains, and automobiles.

Maybe Joel will like football.

Or perhaps hockey will be more his thing.


Brand new with tags still attached! And all that for under $12.50

At one of the two stores, all toys were half off but they were pretty picked over so I didn't get any. Usually you can find toys still new in the packaging, but no such luck yesterday. I did get a few other things though: a piece of fabric with a fishing motif on it to add to my previously-non-existent "little boys" fabric stash (59c); a western themed bandana for Joel's room someday (50c); a baby bottle warmer for the car that plugs into the cigarette lighter, new in the box, for under $3; and an el-cheapo plastic "X" and "O" cookie cutter set, new in the package for 90c (although later at the Dollar Tree I saw an 8 pack of plastic Valentines Day cookie cutters for a buck...*grumble*).





I told hubby that I wanted to do a free Valentines Day, and that we should make each other gifts. He's not too keen on that idea. He says that he doesn't know how to make anything. I've told him numerous times that he makes stuff on his computer all the time, but he just isn't getting it. I just don't want to be spending a lot of money when I very well may be losing my job for next school year due to budget cuts. We need to save, save, save! I'm planning on cooking a nice dinner for us, complete with V-day cookies. I've also started making those little flat marble magnets that I've been seeing online everywhere, and I've made ten for him in a Valentines Day theme (as well as dozens for other people for gifts). They are so A. D. D. I. C. T. I. N. G. They are tons of fun to make! I went through some of my magazine stash, cutting out little pictures and have it all spread out on the dining room table. I'm planning on writing a separate post for those though so I will move on to my next topic now.

Last week I joined a group of gals who take photos of their fabric stash and post it on Sundays. Here's mine for the week!

These are all shots of one large drapery panel that I thrifted last week to use in Joel's toddler bedroom once he gets to that point.

Drats!

Every time I think I have a "new" idea, I google it just to see if anyone's ever done it before, and alas, there's always someone who's already blogged about it. Drats. For example, a few weeks ago I was figuring out which Advent Calendar I wanted to make. I found this tutorial on how to make mini stocking Christmas tree ornaments, and I had the "aha!" moment. I could just see 24 little stockings hanging on the tree with the numbers hand embroidered on them. I kept reading the blog and come to find out that she said that these stockings would make a great Advent Calendar.

And then today... I saw these adorable little puppets which looked to me just like stuffed animals. I then had another lightbulb-going-off-above-my-head kind of moment. Aha! I have a plethora of stuffed animals (and when I say plethora, I mean I could line them up end to end, and they would likely stretch to the moon and back.) I could just open up the seam at the bottom, remove some stuffing, and make hand puppets out of them. So I googled it just to see if anyone's ever done that before, and yes, sure enough, I found this and this within five seconds of looking. Oh well. I guess I am not all that original, however I still want to make some puppets for Joel! I had been making those paper mache puppets, however mine aren't turning out too well. I think I might abandon that project. Drats! Don't you hate it when you envision something, and it just doesn't turn out right?!

I had another one of those moments this evening when trying to make an ironing board cover. It came out about two inches too short so it didn't fit. Drats. I didn't have the strength to try again, so I put the old one back on. At least the padding I made for it was okay. I can deal with the dingy blue cover I guess

You know what else made me say "drats" today? Let me tell you a quick story: I decided to paint a few things the same light green as several items in the nursery. I already painted the dresser, the toy box, a mirror, a mini bookshelf, and a picture frame for the "Guess How Much I Love You" poster I bought the other day. I still have a little paint left, so I figured I'd paint a little wooden ball to fit onto the "Cowboy" wall hooks that was missing a piece, as well as a little wooden shelf thingie that my husband's Grandma got me for Christmas. Actually, I'm sure what she was going for was the toiletries that came inside said wooden shelf thingie, but after I took out the toiletries, I couldn't throw the packaging away! It's made of real wood so I decided I could use it in the nursery to hold Desitin and whatnot.

I do my painting in the dining room because that's the only flat surface I have on which to paint. I had some newspapers sprawled out to protect the table, and during lunch today, I began reading that newspaper (dated December 21). Who has time to read the newspaper just days before Christmas? Not this gal! I don't even get the newspaper because I don't like the waste, but my parents were in town and my dad bought the paper. Anyway, I was reading this section on all the different ways one could donate their time, and I said to myself, "Drats!" because I had missed it. Um, by over a month. They were calling on people to bake cookies and deliver them to the hospital, wrap gifts for needy families, etc., but then I saw one that really stuck out to me. They needed volunteers to wrap and send out books-on-tape that incarcerated parents read and recorded for their children. I thought that was a really neat idea, and made me say, "Double Drats!" I would like to start a tradition that every year we do some kind of volunteering over the holidays, and that would have been a good one!

On a more positive note, here are some pics of the freshly painted green stuff for the nursery:

This little bookshelf was my hubby's when he was little. It originally had been decorated with Noah's Ark characters, however all but one was ripped off; it was in an overall sorry state. I spruced it up with paint and these little wooden squares I got at Joanns on clearance for fifty cents. I'm not sure I like it because I think it looks a little busy, but oh well.






This is just a first coat, so it's not done yet. But you can see why I couldn't throw it out!

Cookie Monster Extravaganza

Tonight was a fun filled evening with friends! We ate out at a Mexican restaurant, and had these little lovelies for dessert:



They were actually pretty easy to make. They're Pina Colada flavored... Mmmmm! That's the closest thing this pregnant lady has come to an alcoholic beverage in eons! It's simply a yellow cake mix, about half a 20 oz. can of pineapple with juice, a splash of rum, and two eggs. Mix and bake for just shy of 20 minutes at 375. I then used food coloring to dye the coconut blue. I iced the cupcakes and rolled the tops in the blue coconut. I then piped white icing for the eyes, placed an upside-down chocolate chip in each eyeball, and then a cookie in the mouth. Yum!

Here's T-3 opening her crafted gift from me. Too bad I didn't get a shot of the other Cookie Monster items. The wrapping paper was a Sesame Street design, and I also bought her a little notepad on Etsy that featured cookie monster on the front. I did get her a couple non-Cookie Monster themed items too. I bought her a dress pattern that was a remake of a 1949 dress. She's into costumes so I thought she'd enjoy it. And lastly, I sewed up one of these babies:


It's filled with corn and is a microwavable heating pad. I upcycled an OSU bandana for the front, and some linen pants that I had thrifted awhile ago for the back.

Happy Birthday T-3!

Snowed in and Stir Crazy

Winter, winter, go away. Come back another day! I want to go out shopping but can't leave the house in this crap. Yes, it's pretty, and yes, I don't have to work today because of it, however, enough is enough! So to pass the time I have been reading crafty, upcyling, sewing and thrifting blogs and doing a little crafting of my own. Here's one of those big altoids can that I spray pained with black chalkboard paint. I figure it will be a good place to keep chalk and Joel can take it with him on trips for enjoyment once he gets older.



I also tried my hand at making liquid soap out of umpteen little hotel bars of soap. As it turns out, it was pretty easy. I simply broke up the little bars a few at a time and placed them into my KitchenAid blender with a little water. This made a pasty consistency which I sat aside until later. After I had converted all the bars into paste, I then put it back into the blender a scoop at a time with more water, until I got the consistency I wanted. Voila, free soap!



I actually have twice this much, however the rest is in plastic containers (an old Tang container and a large Softsoap refill container) which just weren't as pretty to photograph.


I also have been working on paper crafts these past few days. I was inspired by Meg of Montessori by Hand to make some stick puppets for Joel when he is older.
Here's what I've done so far. I traced around some animal pictures I found online, put them onto cardstock that I had laying around free in the recycle bin, and began ripping up newspaper strips for the paper mache. Here is one layer done, a few layers to go (mine aren't quite laying flat for some reason...)



Lastly, I wanted to make my birthday-girl friend a notepad of recycled papers from my stash, however I didn't really like the way they turned out. I guess I'll just keep them because they are functional, just not gift-give-away worthy.

My stash of recycling... yes, I'm ashamed to admit it but I sometimes shop at Walmart.


One side of the notepads...


And the other side.


A closeup of the wedding one- another friend of ours is getting married in a few months, and the birthday girl and I are both in the wedding. I just thought this was funny.


When making those notepads, I cut out the scrap papers all to the same size, clipped them together with binder clips, and used regular old Elmers Glue at the top to hold them together. This part worked okay. To make the front and back covers, I used remnant cardstock (from old birthday cards, boxes, etc) and decoupaged magazine pages onto it. This part worked okay too, except for some wrinkling. But then I had a hell of a time getting the front and back to connect to one another. If I had it to do over again, I would have made it one large piece and folded it, however I didn't have any cardstock onhand that large. This was a "use-what-I-have" type project so I didn't want to buy anything for it. Then the next problem I had was getting the stack of papers to adhere to the cover. I tried regular glue, hot glue, double sided tape... nothing I tried made me happy. So that's why I'll be keeping these guys for myself!

Advent Calendar Finished

Happy New Year!

I realize that I am a little late in completing my Advent Calendar, however to my credit, I didn't even START it until after Christmas.

I had been thinking about making an advent calendar, however I wasn't sure which way I wanted to go. I had been thinking about making mini stockings to hang over the fireplace, but when I saw these little mitten ornaments, I knew that this was it. I was also very happy that I had everything that I needed in order to make these little sweeties: felt (I just got some more for a baby blocks project at Michael's for 50% off), buttons, thread, and ribbon.

Here's a little peek at some of the buttons I pulled out to complete this project.


Here are some of the stockings mid-completion.










I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out. Now I am going to pack them away today with the rest of the Christmas stuff and definitely use them next year!