Scrap Stash Yard Sale

Well I know I have been MIA for a little while but I have been getting ready for the Scrap Stash Yard Sale. Over the past few weeks I have went through every inch of my craft room getting ready for this sale. There were some days I only had a small path to walk where I had everything out on the floor but I was determined to destash and organize my room a little more. I will be honest I could not get motivated to craft until I got it finished. It was hard putting a few of my items in the sale stack, but I thought to myself this or something new and usually something new won.

The Scrap Stash Yard Sale is this Saturday, June 15 from 10am to 2pm so if you are in the Nashville area there will be several of us selling our stash for very reasonable prices. Most of my items are priced from $0.25 to $5.00. I will be selling my Silhouette SD, Crop In Style XXL Tote, tons of embellishments, wood mounted stamps, card making items, and much much more. So if you are in the area come join the fun.

The sale is located at Concord Community Church of the Nazarene - 9826 Concord Road, Brentwood, TN 37027. I hope to see you there!

Tracey

Bachelorette Party in a Box

Today I want to share with you a fun way to store memories of parties past. Last year during our Christmas in July blog hop Carol from The Answer is Chocolate shared a gift idea titled “Paris In A Box” and I fell in love with the idea. My best friend got married a few years ago and I still had all the party favors where I was planning to make a shadow box, but due to the nature of some of the favors and pictures I decided this was the best way for her to keep those memories all locked up so I created the Bachelorette Party in a Box.

I started with a wood box I purchased from Hobby Lobby. I used decorations from the party to decorate the box and used the invitations for the theme. This is the invitation I created using lace at the top for the “garter” and tulle as the fishnet stockings.

This was the inside of the invite

For the top of the box I used pink cardstock and a piece of lace overlay cardstock. To finish off the top I cut pieces from the feather picks that were part of the centerpiece that night and pink and black flowers I also purchased at Hobby Lobby.

For the sides of the box I used black and pink ribbon. I then added the black rhinestones to the front I purchased at Michael’s. The lace around the top of the box is the same lace I used for the invitations.

Now comes the fun part – the inside of the box.

I lined the inside edges with pink cardstock and zebra print ribbon for the bottom and clear rhinestones for the top. Then I lined the bottom and top of the box with zebra print paper. To finish the top I attached the invitation along with pieces from the black feather picks and pink feathers from her boa as layers under the flowers.

I wanted her to remember some of the fun and crazy events from that night so I created an acrylic album using the same pink, black, and zebra print from the party. I decided not to show the inside pages of the album to protect the innocent from the crazy fun we had that night.

Once I had the box and album finished I added some of the party favors and decorations in the box. Now she has a way to remember the last night of her single life without it being on display for everyone to see.

 

I created a similar box for my sister’s 50^th birthday bash that I will share with you later.

 

I link to these parties.

Tracey



Happy Mother’s Day & Prom 2013

First let me start off by wishing all of you mothers a Happy Mother’s Day. I hope you had a wonderful day filled with those you love.

I have a new toy! I have been using my Silhouette SD and wanted the Silhouette Cameo for larger projects! I am now in love with my Cameo because I can cut more images and work with larger images for my projects.   

 

 

Last night Brandon went to his first prom with his beautiful girlfriend Alexus, so I thought I would share a few of the photos. Aren’t they a cute couple? Everyone had a great time and made it home safely.

 

Tracey



DIY - Necklace Hanger

What girl doesn’t love a necklace to match every outfit (or almost every outfit)? As my collection of necklaces has grown I had to find somewhere to hang them while being easy to access those mornings I’m flying through my closet to get ready for work. To remedy this problem I decided to create this necklace hanger using a cabinet door and drawer pulls.

This is how the project looked before.

I started by adding two coats of Martha Stewart Beetle Black. The stencil is also from the Martha Stewart collection using the Metallic Sterling paint. This is how it looked after completing these two steps.

It seemed to need something else and with the black paint I lost the pretty details of the cabinet door so I decided to add a line of the metallic paint around the edge to add more detail.

I purchased drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby to use as the hanger for my necklaces. When purchasing these make sure the back of the pull is not too long for the thickness of the wood you are using or it will not lay flat after you hang it. After looking at the plain black pulls I decided they needed a little more detail as well. I decided to add the metallic paint but immediately wiped the paint off so it would only remain in the details of the pull instead of them being completely metallic.

Before

After

Once the paint has dried, determine where you want to place your drawer pulls and drill holes. Attach your desired hanging accessory to the back of the necklace hanger and there you have it a decorative and accessible way to hang all the necklaces you have made or purchased.

Tracey

Magazine Feature!!

I have some very exciting news to share with you today. In January I was contacted by Debbie Harrison the Editor for New Zealand Gardener magazine. She contacted me to ask if she could feature my Terracotta Birdbath in a special DIY Projects edition of the magazine. After exchanging a few emails I sent her the pictures she requested.

After sending the pictures I waited to see if my project would make the Editor’s cut until I went to the mailbox and found this beauty in a nice envelope from New Zealand.

 

 

I immediately started thumbing through the magazine to see if I would find my birdbath…when I turned to Page 27 under the Furniture and Features section this is what I found!

 

As I started looking at all of the great projects in this magazine I found another surprise waiting on page 115 – does anything on this page look familiar? You guessed it to my amazement there was my Tipsy Stackable Planter that had also made the Editor’s cut.

I am so excited to have not only one but two projects featured. This magazine has several cute ideas, so I have provided their website if you are interested in checking them out - http://www.nzgardener.co.nz/

Tracey

Top Project Blogiversary Countdown

Hello everyone – I hope you had a wonderful Easter with your family and friends. I know this post is a day late now that it is April but I was spending time with my family as well.

It is finally time to reveal the top viewed project during my first year of blogging. Again, I want to thank everyone for following me on this journey, for commenting on my blog, overlooking my mishaps along the way but we can’t forget about the fun of learning new techniques.

When I started my blog I have to admit I wondered if anyone would care what I was making, if my crafts would inspire anyone, and how I was going to learn the techniques of blogging. I am still learning but that is half the fun (except those days I’m pulling my hair out trying to figure something out). I have to say it is so nice to see how supportive everyone in the bloggy and crafty world have been and I cannot wait to see what this next year will bring.

Are you ready to see the top viewed project? Here you go, drum roll please…..

There you have it – my Terracotta Birdbath has been the top viewed project on my blog. Not only does this project add a little color to my yard I get to enjoy watching the birds play in the water.

If you did not catch the rest of my top 5 countdown here is a recap for you.

 

Burlap Wreath

Tipsy Stackable Planter

Book Christmas Tree

Baby Shower Decorations

Thank you again everyone for being so supportive!

Tracey

 

No. 2 Blogiversary Countdown

We are getting close to revealing the top viewed project during my first year of blogging. Any thoughts on what the top project might be? Before I can reveal the top project I first have to reveal the second most viewed project….

Out of the wreaths I have made I think this is my favorite. It was a little really messy to make with the burlap but I love the way it turned out. Have you seen all the fun burlap patterns that are now available? I try to pass by them but I know one day I’m going to give in to the temptation and have to make another burlap wreath. Here is the link to the original post with steps on how you can create this wreath for yourself.

Tracey

50th Birthday Bash

Earlier this week I promised to post my sister’s surprise 50^th birthday bash. I will share some of the decorations I created along with how you can create some of them yourself. There are several ideas to share so I’ll go ahead and get started.

Artist Table

First up is one of my favorite ideas for her party. If you have read my “About Me” you know my sister is an artist so I wanted to make sure I captured this part of her life at the party. This is the “Artist Table” I created and she loved it.

 

My Mom created the 50 using pictures of my sister through the years. She started by creating a template from poster board then attaching the pictures. Everyone enjoyed reminiscing as they looked at the pictures. This was inspired from a pin I found on Pinterest that was originally pinned from Martha Stewart. 

The garland on the wall was created by alternating red, white, & black cardstock with red & white bakers twine. I cut the garland on my Silhouette using #26234“scalloped globe garland”. Here is a close-up of the garland and if I was to make it again I would make the circles smaller than the default size.

Now let’s take a closer look at the table.

I purchased small glass containers from the dollar store for the M&Ms that we divided by color. I thought it would be fun to add labels with a description of the color that related to her life such as Kentucky Blue since she is a Kentucky fan, Lady Bug Red because my grandmother always called her lady bug, and poodnoobie green because that is the nickname by boys gave her. To create the labels I used a scalloped circle from Silhouette and tried out the print & cut feature for the first time to print the color descriptions.

The painter’s pallet was created by using white Styrofoam board that I purchased at the dollar store. We cut holes to add the M&Ms cups for the pods of color then I randomly painted the same colors to make it look more like a painter’s pallet.

I found several ideas on Pinterest that said “turning 50 blows or sucks” but I didn’t feel that went with our party theme so I created my own word and made this cute “50 and FaBLOWus” sign to go with the Blow Pops.

 

  

The last item on the table is the canvas I created. I started by painting the entire canvas black. Then I used Tim Holtz plain mask sheets and my Silhouette to create the template for my wording and designs I added in white. When using the masks you want to use the negative of the design you created and for the letters I had to hold the center pieces for letters such as the “a” and “p”. Creating this canvas was a little tricky and I had to try several different techniques but I think it turned out really good.

 

For a little extra detail on the table I added tubes of paint and paint brushes.  

 Dance Floor Pom Poms

My mom and I spent hours creating pom poms to be the centerpiece of the dance floor. We used mostly black and white but included a few red ones to add color. Because I had to make so many I tried cutting them in many different ways and they all turned out cute, so if you decide to make them I would encourage you to get creative and not use the same design you find on the internet. One of my favorites I created using pinking shears and cutting them into small points.

 

This banner was created using my Silhouette and I hung it in the area where the dance floor was located.

Table Decor

We rented black linens for all the tables. For the buffet tables I used different size pots under the linens to add some height and depth to the table. I also added a fresh bouquet of red roses with baby’s breath. I also used glass cylinders with white floating candles and added baby’s breath to the water which was an idea I also found on Pinterest.

 

 

For the dining tables we also used black linens along with fishbowl candle holders decorated with black and red ribbon. I also created tri-folds that had the year my sister was born, fun facts about that year, and important events.

 

If you want your guest of honor to feel special create a chair that is just for them but instead of paying for chair covers use a small round table linen. I created her chair cover by draping the chair with the red linen, gathering the fabric to the back of the chair and carefully pinning the fabric with safety pins. To cover the pins I added a bow I made from black & white ribbon.

Cake Table

Last but certainly not least is the cake table. This cake was designed by Publix using a picture of this cake I found on Pinterest. Instead of using strawberries I asked them to create roses. If you are decorating for a party and want the cake to match I highly recommend taking something to the bakery so they can use the exact colors. I took a piece of cardstock I used for the banner and garland which allowed them to easily match the correct color of red. The cake was beautiful and very tasty as well.

 

I know this was a long post but I hope you find the information to be helpful or inspire some ideas for your next party. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions I did not answer in this post. I also found several other great party ideas on Pinterest if you would like to check out my Party Ideas board.

 

 

Tracey



A Soldier’s Sendoff & Birthdays

 

This has been a busy couple of months for our family from a surprise birthday bash for my sister, my granddaughter turning 1, my grandson turning 4, and today we sent my son off for basic training. Today I thought I would share a few of the projects I created for these events and later this week I will share the details of my sister’s birthday bash.                        

I am so proud of the decision my son has made to serve our country but can I tell you that along with being proud comes the heartbreak of him being away from home. The longest I’ve ever been away from my kids is seven days and I have always been able to pick up the phone to just say “hi” whenever I wanted. I will continue to pray for him every day and countdown until he returns home. My heart really goes out to those who have loved ones deployed who are away from their families for even longer periods of time.

I used this “Good Luck” banner on Sunday when I had everyone over for dinner to spend some time together before he left. This was created by using design #16802 on my Silhouette with the Americana Cardstock by Canvas Corp and white cardstock for the letters. I then outlined the letters using my red Stickles to add a little sparkle.

For my centerpiece I used a vase I had on hand, red fabric and created the flags using design #29392 on my Silhouette. Once the flags were made I used the same red cardstock to make loops for the bamboo sticks.

As I mentioned earlier we have recently celebrated Brooklyn’s first birthday along with Ty’s 4^th birthday. Here are the birthday cards I created for each of them.

 

 

Ty is really into trains so I found this cute little train car in the Silhouette gallery (design #9590). I wanted to personalize it a little so I added the “engine number” which was 4 and also used my Silhouette to create “Ty’s Express”.

 

Here is a picture of both of them on their special day – aren’t they cuties!

 

Tracey

No. 3 Blogiversary Countdown

Today I am sharing number 3 on my blogiversary countdown….

This was a fun project that adds a little color and character to my garden.

If you would like to add this fun display to your garden you can visit the original post for a list of the supplies and instructions to create your own tipsy stackable planter.

Next week I will share number 2 on the countdown of top projects.

Tracey