July Decor aka Americana

October is really my favorite month of the year. but July is coming in a close 2nd.  I decided that I needed to summer up my home a bit (I still had Easter decor out).  So, I started on my entry table. 

I've had these two little frames (2x3?) in my home decor box forevah.  So, I pulled them out with this project in mind. But since I only had two, I needed to figure out what to do with it. I was looking around my 'crap'room and noticed this glossy white 's' (because I am a little obsessed with my initial) across the room and I knew that this was what I wanted to use.  I had the ribbon on hand from an after Christmas clearance sale at Wally's (the only thing that store is good for). The letters and background were cut from felt that I bought from the DI (thrift store) in a huge bag with 100 lots of other colors for $2-score!! I cut the letters out using a stencil.  I flipped the stencil backward and traced it with a pencil then cut it out and since I wrote on the backside you don't see my trace marks. I sandwiched the two layers of felt behind the glass and stapled the ribbon to the back of the frames and 'S' and tied the red to the 'S' to even out the colors a bit.

As for the rest of the decor.  The vase is actually a Valentine's Day vase that I got from Deseret Book at-yup, an after valentine's day clearance sale. I just turned it around so you can't see the "Be mine".  the 'fireworks' in the vase are shiny pipe cleaners from my kids' craft box.  The 4x4 flag was made at a Super Saturday way back in 2009-ish.  The 4x4 pillars were made last year for my boutique selling obsession business.  The fabric I bought last summer in the fabric remnant section at Wally's (again, another clearance item).  The 'N' I got in May at Ross for only $3.  I still want to spice it up by spraying it white, or lt blue, or even silver.  But, I think it works fine in black.  It balances out the Welcome sign (which I got back in 2009-ish from a friend that had her own vinyl business).

So, because I already had so much on hand the total cost is just a few pennies over $3 since I hardly used any felt and the 'N' is a very recent purchase.  I hope this inspires you to 'summer-up' your home.

I am linking up:

               

Countdown to....

The other day, we were driving down the road when we passed my son's school and he got really sad and said that he missed his school he wanted to go back. I love that he enjoys school so much and that he does well.  It would be so much harder to handle if this weren't the case-he is in Special Ed-he has High Functioning Autism.  So, awhile back I made a back to school countdown and I have had to break it out recently. 

I know, it's barely summer and I am already doing a back to school countdown.  But, wouldn't this be fun for Birthday, Vacation or any special and/or fun occasion.  I just used an 8.5x11 cardstock.  I cut the school bus and numbers from the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge, laminated everything then I attached a strip of velcro to each side of the sheet and to the back of each number using E6000-love that stuff! I also glued some velcro to the center of the sign to attach how many days are remaining.  And, I use the 6 and 9 interchanably so I only had to cut one of them.

Linking:

Today's Creative Blog

Emergency Diaper Kit

This would make a fun and unique baby shower gift. In fact, I am know to give this to any member of my family-immediate and extended-who is having a baby.  I am sure you are wondering what it is right?  Well, when my oldest was a baby, I found myself running errands one day and she just happened to have a blow-out.  No biggie.  I took her out of her carseat and proceeded to change her in the car.  Well, I forgot to put more diapers in the diaper bag.  We happened to be in the parking lot of a store, so I gathered her and all her 'supplies' and went in and bought more diapers-even though I had a practically new package at home.  It was then that I came up with this:

EMERGENCY DIAPER KIT

I put one of these in my car and it helped a ton!!  Since you are wonering what I put in it, I will show you.

diapers, wipes, butt cream, changing pad, hand sanitizer, disposable bags (to throw soiled diaper away), and nursing pads.  I also added an extra onesie, and a toy.  Then, when I had my 2nd, I added a change of clothes for the first child.

tag reads: "Have you ever been out driving around when that inevitable happens: a diaper blowout?   Keep this in your car for those occasions and you won't get caught unprepared again.

This kit contains the following:  10 newborn diapers, wipes, rash cream, hand sanitizer, disposable bags, nursing pads, changing pad.

All you need to add is a onesie, a toy and anything else you need out on the road.  Just remember to switch out the diapers to bigger ones as you baby grows."





I am linking today:

Crafts Keep Me Sane
The Girl Creative
Skip to My Lou
Delicate Construction
Sew Can Do

Just a Reminder....

...that today is the last day to vote here for me, #87!

And, thanks to those who have already voted.

***It's time to VOTE!!! {I'm #87}*** Ode to Mandi (Vintage Revival)

Mandi, oh Mandi with an 'i' at the end of your name

You are so awesome and no one is to blame.

Mandi, oh Mandi you have to stay up late

to get your stuff on Nate (Berkus, that is).

Mandi, oh Mandi you can turn something made of plastic,

that can only be described as "craptastic".

Mandi, oh Mandi there are no ifs, ans, or buts

we will always 'love your guts'!!

Why, you ask, did I just write a fabulous ode to someone I have never even met?
For this, of course!!!

Not only do I LOVE her crap-tastic redos, but I appreciate her honesty and openess with her husband's addiction.  So, here's the deal, you vote for me, I  win and  Mandi will go to the winners house for 1 week and redo the room of their choice. If you would like to sneek a peek at Mandi at my house all you have to do is go here and vote for me #87. Polls close Tues. May 2 at midnight!  So, hurry fast and vote for me!!! <please>  If I get my wish, and win, I will invite anyone over for a post-craptastic party to check out my new pad.

So, here are my reasons that Mandi has to come to my house:

1. Porter

She can feed him ice cubes. And, his mouth is so big that he can hold things for her. He will even pick something up and hold it in his mouth before she even asks him to.

2. My kids

My son is 8 and loves to paint. And my daughter is 10 and a half, and is already finding her style.

3. Thrift stores

Because I live in the Salt Lake valley, we have many options to choose from.  Within 20 miles from my home there are 12  DI's, 4 Savers, an IKEA, 7 Salvation Armys, and Restore (leftover home items from Habitat for Humanity builds).  Not to mention all the fabulous garage sales that will be happening in June!!

4. TOOLS

source

My hubby has a plethora of tools at her disposal: Table/chop/circular saws, brad nailer-with air compressor, power drills-both plugged and cordless, and a hand sander (which is actually mine).

5.  My Great Room

 yes, we keep sheets on our couches all the time because of that dog in the picture. I have a grand idea for that big wall , think fire and place (faux for now). The clock gets lost in the room, so I want that redone. And, this paint has been up for 6 years now, it's time for something fresh. And, the coffee and end table have seen better days, so I want redo them as well.

 this wall used to have a large fishtank in front of it that has since been moved downstairs. I have an onld window that I want to make into a sofa table. And, that picture of Christ is just too small, so I have a large 24x24 frame that I want to put our last family picture in. (pic will be 12x12)

 this hallway baffles me. I want to put something there so it's not a blank wall. But, we have the cold air return and my son's door on the left, sits further back than our door, so anything that's there may get run into. I want this dresser to go in the next spot, and I want to turn it on it's side to make a bookshelf bench.

 this looks like this all the time.  Because I have nothing there, it becomes a catch-all.

 this is the landing of our stairs, cuz that's part of the great room isn't it?  I think so since you see this from the couch. 

and, speaking of catchalls.  This photo is meant to be blurry. This is right outside our laundry room and it becomes the landing for all our laundry-clean, of course.  I would love some kind of console, buffet, something there for our church bags, resuable shopping bags, or anything else we can't find a home for.

And, 6. Crap that is begging to be redone

 these are freebies given to us. I have been wanting to redo them ever since we moved in.

 remember the landing on the stairs? I want to take this, split it in half lenghtwise and make a corner shelving unit with this.

yes, I have started hoarding lamps. I love this set and I want to put it on the old window sofa table under the large family photo.

and, apparently our table isn't inspiring enough to take our easter baskets off to sit down and eat dinner. Actually, we eat Sunday dinner here and spend the rest of the week in our awesome basement.

So, please find it in your heart to vote for me-or you can do it for Porter in the above picture. Have your mom, sister, bff, dog, guinea pig and chicken vote as well.  I will keep my promise if I win to have a fabulous reveal party at my home with all the Mandi-ness craptastic style you can handle!!

Hitting the books

I know that this isn't crap craft related, but please just humor me!!

I have made the decision to go back to school.  It has become apparent to me that this is the direction I need to take in order to continue helping my family.  I know that I will be a big adjustment, as I will be away from home 3 nights a week for four weeks.  I don't know how that will affect Alex, but I pray that he is mature enough to handle it.  Hopefully, playing tball on the 2 other nights a week will be enough of a distraction for him not to notice.  Jayci says that she is excited for me to do this even though I know that she will still miss me those nights.  I talked to my bro, Ty about all this, and he reminded me that you are never too old to learn something new.  He also said that it helps that I have been thinking about and wanting to do this for a long time, that it's not a fleeting thought, or something I am doing on a whim.  I also have 1000% support from Jason.  I know that I could not do this without him, as he will be a single dad for a few nights a week.

I am not going to tell you what I will be studying; you will need to guess.  I will give you a few hints.  And, if no one has guessed right, I will tell you once I finish my first class on Mon. May 2nd (yeah, I'm staring that soon!). 

1.  Like I said, I will be able to work for dozens of different companies.
2.  I will even be qualified to work in another state-it is a National certification.
3.  I have never worked in this field before.
4.  I have been interested in doing it since Jayci was born-in fact, I read about this opportunity the day after.
5.  It will allow me to work over the summer but still give me the time to do boutiques-my real passion.

Good luck on your guesses!

the fine print:  those of you who I have talked to about this-ie: Mom, Ty, & Dee (since I know that Ty has talked to you about this) are not eligible to guess.  You may, however, offer well wishes and words of encouragement.

Summer Craft Classes

Stay tuned for more information on how you can pass the summer creatively.  There will be kid classes, mom classes and mom and kid classes.  They will be offered Tues, Weds, and Sat morning, afternoon and evenings (for moms only). All projects will be $5 or less for kids and $10 or less for moms. Let me know if you are interested in this and include the best day and time frame for you.