Finding delight in everyday things...
This is my birthday gift from Jess.
Of course she made it herself. Don’t you love it?
She used the same technique as her spring candle holders from here.
I believe she found the bottom part from Value Village and then everything else was from the Dollar Store.
I love how perfectly the rose matches with the shells. I also love how you can glue a few things together to make something super cute!
What will she make next?
~Jenny
A good friend of mine had surgery last week. She loves flowers, so I bought her a flower pot. I planned to drop it off on her porch, but I wanted to add a card and was hoping it could be ‘attached’ somehow.
I decided to use one of the printables that I created here. I tried to think of what could hold my card. I walked into my craft room (or as my husband would say-‘his office’…mmmhhhmmm…) and the clothespins were just calling my name.
You could just use a clothespin to attach a card, but because I can’t leave ‘well enough’ alone, I decided to spruce it up a bit. If you have everything on hand, it really only take about two minutes. I painted one swipe of paint on the clothespin and while still wet added some glitter and let dry!
Isn’t it cute and simple? These would make great gifts for teacher’s too!
I love it!
~Jenny
Do you have a Cricut or a Silhouette? Or possibly a friend that does? Well, if you do, then I am going to show you how easy it is to make your own wood sign with whatever saying you want. But, first I have to share something that will make you smile.
My friend Andrea painted her guest room the perfect gray color. I’m still waiting to find out what the actual color is and here is why.
I tried to text her one day to find out the color. But, because I have her number in my phone as ‘Andy & Andrea’ I always get she and her husband Andy mixed up. Andy is like my little brother. I’ve known him since I was ten. He’s the younger brother of my best friend Amy. He’s the sort of person that can make you laugh and he doesn’t even realize how funny he is. I’m going to share the text back and forth when I was trying to find out this color. I can’t believe it’s still on my phone, but I’m so glad it is.
Actual Text:
Jenny: Hi…when you get a chance could you tell me the color of that gray paint in your guest room?
Andy: Ahh…gray? (I know you are already smiling)
Jenny: Seriously? Is this Andy? What brand of paint and it can’t just be gray. ;)
Andy: Oh yeah, I’ll look. Just a sec.
(Ten minutes later)
Andy: Ok, it is satin…(and now you are laughing)
Jenny: Uh…that is the type of paint…not the color..it’s ok…I can figure it out or ask Andrea later…:)
Andy: Sorry. Not great with paint…
Don’t you love it? You have to give him credit for trying! Thanks Andy!
Ok, back to the sign.
First Step. Find a piece of wood you’d like to use.
Next, cut out your saying on a Cricut or Silhouette to fit your wood. When I am painting I don’t like to waste my vinyl, so I have always used contact paper. One roll goes along way!
I wanted the words in this sign to be two different colors. Iplaced the words on the wood where I wanted them. Then I drew a pencil mark where I wanted to paint each color. Like this below.
The next step is to place your text onto the wood sign.
This next step is optional. Depending on the color of paint you are using you may not need to do this. But, because I used gray paint on the top and bottom section and the middle was white, I didn’t want to see a contrast when I painted the yellow over all of it. Does that make sense? So, to avoid this, I painted white over the gray while the letters were still on.
Next, paint the whole sign yellow.
I don’t have a picture of the last step, but once your paint is dry then you can peel off your text (contact paper) and your cute sign will be revealed!
I like to sand down my signs to make them look a bit more unique.
Hopefully I will be able to figure out that perfect paint color. I wonder what would happen if I just asked for ‘satin gray’ at the paint store? I may just do that and make someone else’s day. Thanks for keeping us smiling Andy!
~Jenny
Click Here To See The Winner Of The Mom Connection Book
I know, I know there are a lot of these DIY tiered platters out in blogland, but I really like mine, so I wanted to share.
In fact, I actually made the one below for teacher appreciation week. The teachers got to put tickets into baskets for different items that were being raffled off. My friend happened to be running the raffle and she said this platter was a big hit with the teachers! Hmmm…possible teacher gift? You could make some cookies with your kids and wrap them up cute to put on the platter!
I’ve made a couple of different platters and I’ve definitely found my favorite stand to use in between the plates. The platter above has a small and a medium sized glass candle holder. I found them at Walmart for around $2 to $3. It is definitely the sturdiest one that I have used and is now my favorite. The plates were from Target and also between $2 to $3, which means this platter will cost you only about $10 to $15 to make yourself.
What you will need:
- 2 plates and a bowl (or 3 plates). I am always looking at the clearanced melamine plates at Target. Always cute.
- candle sticks (either wood like the ones below or my favorite, sturdy glass ones from Walmart.)
- E-6000 glue
- paint (optional for wood candle sticks)
I think the rest is pretty self-explanatory. If you have the wood candlesticks, you could paint them to match your plates. Then simply take your candle sticks and center them in the middle of the plates and glue them on. Once you have it all glued together I suggest you put a can of food on top to weight it down. Let it sit over night so that it dries really good.
The last one I made with the glass candle sticks I put rocks inside of it. It’s hard to see in the other finished platter pictures, but it’s cute!
I put the bigger candle stick on the bottom and the smaller one on the top.
Here is one I made with a solid plate on the bottom.
I can’t wait to see what the next set of melamine plates will be at Target. I already know who will be getting the next platter!
~Jenny
I wanted to share a couple more pallet signs I’ve created.
Click here to see how easy it is to make these cute signs.
I created these first two for Mother’s Day.
I made the sign below for my daughter’s school. This year their librarian started a garden that will help provide fresh food for those in need. The whole school will eventually be a part of taking care of this garden.
I think it turned out cute! It’s a bit bigger than the signs I’ve made in the past (24×18 inches) but I really like it with the points on it to give it a ‘fence’ look. This would be simple to make following these same instructions, just don’t cut off the tips!
Jess and I have been busy this month!
But, as always we have lots of things to share, so stayed tuned!
~Jenny
So yesterday Jenny shared with you her amazing flowers and painted mason jar tutorials, and today I have another flower and mason jar idea too! Totally different concept, but oh so easy and oh so functional for your little girls room!
My little girl Kaylee has tons of barrettes, clips, pony’s (this is what she calls her rubber bands that hold her pony tails up) and headbands. I have forever used the very simple solution of keeping them within reach in her room, on her dresser (so she can use them on her dolls and Barbies too) in simple Mason Jars. And since I wanted them to at least look a little bit cute, I just added some ribbon around the jars to dress them up! Can you guess what her favorite color might be?! Her room is a combination of pinks, and purples and princesses galore!
A couple of weeks ago at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), we made extremely simple and totally adorable Ribbon and Flower Barrette holders that went perfectly with Kaylee’s room! So I moved all of her clip-on barrettes to this holder and got rid of a couple mason jars! (We are now down to the 3 you see above, originally there were more!) And seriously, these are the EASIEST barrette holders to make EVER!!!
Here is the finished product hanging on Kaylee’s princess mirror!
All you need are about a foot and a half of ribbon (you can really go as long or short as you want here), a Gerber daisy (fake of course from any crafting store and cut off it’s stem) and a girl’s bracelet (like the kind you find at the dollar store in a pack of ten) and a hot glue gun!
Here is the back of the holder. You simply put your ribbon, through the bracelet, fold it down and glue it in place and glue the flower to the front! There you go!! Now add your clip on barrettes (or even photos with really cute clips or decorated clothes pins to the ribbon) and hang it up!
But now I think I might just have to go paint those Mason Jars like Jenny just showed us!!!
~Jess
Uh…was the title long enough for you?
Normally I wouldn’t do two tutorials in one post, but because Teacher Appreciation is next week and Mother’s Day is the week after that, I wanted to share a simple gift idea that I think either one would love. Plus, I’m going to bet you will end up making some for yourself as well.
Painted Mason Jar & Bottle Tutorial
I realize there are a lot of blogs that have posted about how to paint glass jars, but because I think I finally found my favorite ‘mixture’ I thought I’d share it with you.
What you will need:
- Clean Jar (Mason or other clear jar: spaghetti sauce jars, soda bottles etc.) (Always save your clear jars and bottles. You just never know when you might want to break one out and make a craft with them.)
- Gloss-Lustre Mod Podge
- Paint Brush
- Food Coloring
- Water
Mix together:
1 tsp. of Mod Podge
3-4 drops of food coloring (or more if you want it darker)
1.5 tsp. of water
This is where you can have fun and experiment with colors. If you want the aqua/turquoise look, try two drops of blue and 1 drop of green. One ‘mixture’ can actually be used on four to six jars depending on the size.
Next, paint the glue mixture onto your jar. It will look something like this below. Don’t worry…it won’t stay like that. I took this picture when there were still some bubbles on it. I tried to paint most of the bubbles off so that it was smooth. Also, I made these jars (the blue ones) a little lighter than I have in the past, so your ‘paint’ may look different than mine.
Let It Dry:
Either let it dry on it’s own upside down over night, or (here’s the cool part) put it on a plate upside down place it in the microwave for 30 seconds. You will see your results almost immediately.
I didn’t take any pictures of just the jars because it was late at night and I got straight to work on embellishing them, sorry.
I love the purple one. It goes perfectly with the tulips my hubby and daughter ‘surprise’ planted me years ago. Tulips always remind me of my friend Kristen who was one of my bridesmaids. She’s always loved them. And I love how little things like tulips bring back memories of friends.
Ok, so once you have painted your jars set them aside. If you’d like to add some fabric flowers to them then keep reading. If you’d just like to add a card, then scroll to the bottom to download and print.
Fabric Flower Tutorial
(No Sewing = equals = A Good Thing)
I’m going to show you how to make fabric flowers that can be used on a variety of things. I realize there are lots of fabric flower tutorials out there as well, but these are very simple to make, yet look so elegant.
What you will need:
Silky synthetic fabric (chiffon, taffeta etc.)
A tea light candle or a lighter.
Glue Gun
Card stock (for circle templates)
Scissors
Felt circles
Embellishments: tulle, pearls, feathers, beads, buttons,
Optional for hair: headbands, clips, bobby pins
How To Make Your Flower:
1. First cut out a template of 5 to 7 circles on card stock paper. I like my smallest circle to be 1 inch. Then I make each additional circle a 1/2 inch bigger than the next. (ex. 1in., 1.5in., 2in., 2.5in. etc…)
2. Depending on how big you want your flower use your template to trace and cut out your circles. If you use a dark marker, make sure you cut inside your marker line so that it doesn’t show on the fabric. I usually make dots around the circle just to give me a visual of where to cut. When you cut out your circles don’t worry about them being perfect. I also like to cut the same size circle two or even three times especially when I am doing smaller flowers. Since your circles are not perfect they will just add to the layering effect.
3. Next, take each fabric circle and put it close enough to the flame so that it starts to curl slightly. Turn your circle around until all edges are curled to your liking. I suggest that you do a couple of practice ones first. Also, for safety, it’s best to do it over the kitchen sink with the water running.
Are you wondering how I held the flower, lighter & took the picture? Yah, that’s not me. That’s my ‘hand model’ and friend Andrea. Thanks Girlfriend!
4. Once you have curled your edges they should look something like this. I ‘barely’ curled the edges for these flowers.
5. Next, start with the smallest circle and put a dot of hot glue onto the bottom/middle of it. Then layer it inside the next biggest circle. Now take those two circles and add another dot of glue and layer it into the next circle. Continue until they are all glued together.
If you want to add tulle in the middle of a couple of the circles like I did with the one below, just add it to your layering steps. You can embellish your flowers with pearls, beads or whatever else your little heart desires.
I like to attach alligator clips if they are going to be worn in your hair mostly because they are easier for my girls to put in their hair. You could also attach them to a flat back bobby pin or a headband. If you do this it’s best to cut out two identical felt circles. Glue one felt circle to the flower and then glue it onto the top of the headband. Take the second felt circle and glue it so that overlaps the the underside of the headband and attaches to the felt one you glued on the flower so that it holds it in place.
Ok, let’s finally bring the two tutorials together and make our gift!
There are a couple of ways to attach your flowers. If you want to put it on a bobby pin so that it can hold a card I think it’s best to attach a piece of felt to both the glass and the bobby pin flower. Sorry these aren’t the greatest pictures. I was working late at night when the kiddos were sleeping. But basically it seems to stick better when the felts are glued to each other.
Or just add the felt to the back of the flower and glue directly onto the jar.
If you want to skip the flower then simply add some ribbon, flowers and print one of our cards below.
I’ve designed these cards so that you could easily attach a gift card if you’d like. Or if you’d rather skip the gift card then just cut it down the middle and use only the printed side.
I’ve separated the cards into four categories. Scroll down to download and print cards for Teachers, Mother’s Day, Birthdays and Thinking of You.
*I also added a fifth category as well. You can print plain ‘Thank You’ cards as well they just aren’t in the grouped picture below. 
Click on the images below to download and print. We recommend that you print on a quality matte paper using an ink jet printer. Each print below is sized to print on an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper.
Teachers
Mother’s Day
Birthday
Thinking, Praying & Get Well
Thank You
I’d love to hear if you make one or both of these projects.
They really are simple and oh so cute!
~Jenny
Linking up with… Tip Junkie, Six Sisters Stuff, I Heart Naptime, Positively Splendid, Not Just A Housewife, Chef In Training, How To Nest For Less The 36th Avenue, One Artsy Mama, Toys In The Dryer, Skip to My Lou
My little Kaylee-Girl (5 going on 25) already has a great love in her life, SHOES!! And the more shiny, glittery, sparkly, the better!! Her FAVORITE pair of shoes for the past couple months have been a pair of silver glittered flats. She would wear them with ANYTHING, and I do mean ANYTHING!!!
Sadly, her favorite shoes have taken quite a beating as she is wearing them everywhere. And I haven’t been able to find them at Target (where I originally got them.) I think we only paid $12.99 for them, which really isn’t too bad since she literally has worn them OUT. As they started to get more scuffed up, I started to wonder if I could possibly do anything to “touch them up.” I figured I would just need more silver glitter and some glue.
So I did a little checking around on Pinterest and there were a few different ideas on Glitter shoes, some people used Mod Podge, some used Tacky Glue, some recommended spray adhesive and I decided to go with what I had on hand…
Mod Podge and Glitter it is!! You can’t really tell that well since the shoes are pretty shiny but there are quite a few “bald” spots all over her once glittery shoes!
I just mixed up the Mod Podge and Glitter, (and there was no measuring or science to this, I just poured some Podge in a cup and sprinkled in lots of glitter until this is what it looked like…)
Then I painted the glue mixture onto the “bald” spots and let it dry.
Once it dried, I could still see through the glitter in some spots so I just repeated the process (I had saved my glue mixture JUST IN CASE by putting foil over the brush and cup) and then let it dry again and VOILA!!! PERFECT GLITTER SHOES!!!!
She was SO EXCITED!! And I didn’t do anything else to them and they are holding up quite well. I figure I can always add some more glitter and glue if I need to! But this would work great on shoes that weren’t glittered before and just got scuffed up! I think I’ll try that next!!! I like glittery shoes too! I just don’t think I can pull them off as well as my 5 year old!!
~JESS
Over Spring Break, I went to visit my best buddy Char and her fab family! Our kiddos LOVE her adorable little girl Faith and they get along so great! The kids seriously spent the whole day just playing together, we barely heard a peep out of those kids! Char and I loved being able to catch up and spend some time crafting and scrapbooking in her craft room!
I love one of the ideas she had for displaying some of her scrapbook pages in her craft room! Perfect idea to fill the wall space and inspire your crafty side while you scrapbook!
And OF COURSE, it was super easy and super affordable too!!!
Not only do I love her page layouts but the display hangers are really cute too! And she found them at the DOLLAR STORE!!! Told you it was super affordable! LOVE IT!!
This basket of goodies sits on the bookshelf in the room and is full of a bunch of mini albums and mini calendars that Char has made. They are all really cute and it is a great way to display your own work for friends to see!
So many GREAT decorating ideas! Thanks for letting me take pictures Char!!!!
~Jess
