Christmas Storage

This is the BEST idea for storing Christmas ornaments. I love this idea from Design a la Mode!! So darn clever.

My only "additional thought" would be to add ribbon loops to each level of cups. Something to help pick up each level. Hope that makes sense, hot glue ribbon handles to each side so they are easier to pick up.

I'll have to try that this year when putting away all the ornaments.

Have a great day,
Cathy

Merry Christmas

It has been quite a while since I've entered anything here!!! So sorry about that! I've started substitute teaching in my kids' school. They are keeping me very busy and TIRED!!! After being home with my kids for almost 9 years, it is very hard to get back into the swing of things!
I've got some new crafts to post and promise to do it as soon as I get time. I miss sharing my thoughts and crafts with everyone!
Thanks so much for being patient!

Merry Christmas! I hope you were on Santa's good list and he delivers everything you wished for!

Happy Crafting.

Quote for the Day

I believe that everything happens for a reason, people change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so that eventually you learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so that better things can fall together!

~~Marilyn Monroe

Candy Corn Fudge

This past weekend, I volunteered to bake at a Bake Sale at my church to support Pediatric Cancer Awareness and this was my creation. Being the lazy baker that I am, I searched for an easy recipe for fudge. On You Tube, of all places, I found this easy-peasy recipe! After trying out the easy fudge recipe and tasting it, I thought this really needs something....but what?!?! Ah ha, marshmallow!! So for the second batch I also melted some marshmallow and added that to the original mixture. This was better!! It actually had the texture of candy corn too. Pretty cute too if I do say so myself! The second change I tried was to use the small cupcake tins rather than the square pan and cut squares. Either way is great, I just didn't want to have to cut them up - I know my cutting skills and didn't want to risk making uneven pieces.

Don't forget to use PAM in the cupcake tin to make it easy to remove the treats.
Yea!! Super Duper cute! They were a big hit at the bake sale!! I just hoped they tasted good!

We asked for donations only for our baked goods and raised over $1400.00!!! Thanks so much to everyone!

Thanks for looking and have a great day,
Cathy

First Try at Fabric Spray Paint

I saw this cute spray fabric paint in Tuesday Morning, and I knew there was something I could do with it. So of course I bought it without having an exact idea of what to do with it. Thought I would contemplate it! So, being the "bag lady" that I am, thought I could spruce up one of my bags. Make it a little cuter, and try out the spray paint. Used my Sizzix to cut letters from shelf liner (has sticky back and is cheaper than vinyl!).
Next adhered the letters to my bag. This bag is from 5 Below, a store that sells all items for $5 or less! Kinda like the Dollar store. So I figured that if it didn't turn out exactly right, it wouldn't be a great loss! Randomly sprayed the paint over the letters and waited a couple minutes. Finally took the letters off! TAaaa DAaaaa! Not too bad. Next time I'll have to think of something cuter to put on the bag! Not too bad for my first try.

Thanks for looking and have a great day. Cathy

Twas the Night before School Started

A friend shared this poem on Facebook! Too cute not to share. Enjoy parents!

Twas the night before school started,
When all through the town,
The parents were cheering...
It was a riotous sound!
By 8, kids were washed and tucked into bed...
Where memories of homework filled them with dread!
New pencils, new folders, new notebooks too!
New teachers, new friends...
Their anxiety grew!
The parents just giggled when they learned of this fright-and shouted upstairs:
Go To Bed! It's A School Night!!
Have fun kids!!!!!! Enjoy PARENTS!!!!!!

Shell Mirror

After our beach vacation this summer, my daughter had her usual bag of shells that she collected. The shell collecting is an annual event so I have to come up with a new craft for her each year! This year I found an old zebra print mirror that I thought would look nice painted and embellished with shells. This is the original mirror! YUCK!! Can't remember where I had this in the house, but I'm definitely embarrassed by this!!!

My original thought was to bring back a bag of sand and Mod Podge it to the mirror, then hot glue the shells on top. However, after the earthquake hit and Irene coming through I totally forgot to fill up a bag - bummer. Had to go with Plan B!

First I painted over the zebra print - YEA! Picked a sand-ish color.

This is an up close picture of the color, the first one seemed a little washed out.

Finally we added the shells and some tulle to hang it with. Not too bad, I like it! Next we are going to try to make a ceiling fan pull with some of the left overs. Not sure how to do it, but it will be a trial and error process.

Thanks for looking,

Have a great day

Cathy

Quote for the Day

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes.

~~ Frieda Norris

Pom Pom Flowers

While out seaching for cute crafty ideas, I came across this easy to make pom pom flower. Very easy to make tutorial can be found here! I'm definitely making some for decoration, and a little addition to a gift! So darn cute. I love the white ones!
She also has a very cute pumpkin! Check it out here!!

Could probably make apples, and other fruit! Hmmmmm, makes me think.

Have a great day!
Thanks for looking,
Cathy

Quote for the Day

"Don't exchange what you want MOST for what you want at the moment."

Wish I would have thought of this one, but I read it somewhere and took a picture of it. Don't know who to give credit to, sorry! I think this is my new all time favorite quote!

One More Bag Creation

As I've admitted before, I'm a bag-aholic!! I'm checking on a 12 step program for this addiction!! Love creating and using reusable shopping bags. I have so many it is hard to count because they are everywhere and I forget where they are "stored"! (And by stored I mean I've put them somewhere and now I have no idea where they are!) Here is my latest creation, started with a 12"x18" canvas bag - BORING!!! With the help of my tons of material scraps, I added embellishments to spruce it up a little. Just kept making fabric flowers and hot gluing them onto the bag until it was all covered.

Hard to see some of the flowers, so here are a couple upclose. The black ones are difficult to see, but they are constructed like the purple one shown here.

Some are made with ribbon and some are from material scraps.

The gold one is from some type of wire mesh, not sure where I found this stuff!

The one with red and yellow is scraps from an old bed sheet. I used it for many projects, including one where I made a throw pillow! Stay tuned for details about that project. This is a sample of how I did the yellow/red stripes. Started with strip of bed sheet, added the stripes with a Sharpie marker and rolled it into a flower.

Probably more information than you ever thought you'd need, but there it is - my latest reusable shopping bag!

Thanks for looking and have a great day,

Cathy

My 1st Try at a Flag Cake

The flag cake was so cute, I had to try it myself. I used 2 boxes of white cake mix to make the entire cake. Started with white cake so I could add the red, white and blue food coloring.

Made cakes exactly according to Glory's instructions -
1 blue cake, with the center cut out
2- 8" red cakes
1- 8" white cake
She has great directions on her site, check it out there.

I embellished with an exploding firework on top of my creation, but the colors are very bright. Note to self - use LOTS more food coloring next time!


Here is the inside of the cake. Turned out pretty nice! It was a big hit at our 4th of July celebration. Kids liked it.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day.
Cathy

LOVE this July 4th Cake!

How awesome is this!?!?! What a great idea from Glory at Glorious Treats. Such a clever idea.
When I saw it I just wanted to say Ohhhhhh and Ahhhhh!! Check out the instructions and try your own Independence Day cake.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Cathy

End of Year Teacher Gifts

June crept up on me and it was so late in getting my teacher gifts together there wasn't enough time to create something cute! I went to me back-up plan! While walking through the Dollar Tree I saw some FUN things that I thought would make a great teacher gift. Started with the styrofoam cooler, then after walking around there were so many items that would be great as summer "things"!

Summer means July 4th to me! So I found some great Independence Day things that I would enjoy getting! The little red flip-flop looking thing is a nail kit (had a nail clipper, nail file and 2 other things but can't remember what they were!).

Finally the wrapping up was the most difficult part! Had to make 4 of these gifts, so carrying them into school was so funny! On the way into the building I dropped one, and broke the side of another one. GASP! With a litte extra glue, everything was good as new!

They were a big hit! Everyone LOVED them.

Have a great day!
Thanks for looking,

Cathy

Quote for the Day

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight. When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.

~~ Helen Keller