Screen Printing The Easy Way!

After cruising through blogland, I ran into a blog called Lil Blue Boo. You have got to check her out! She is awesome, and she has some great tutorials! She silkscreens alot of her stuff, makes her own patterned fabric, daughters clothes, and I could just go on and on. She is Good! Instead of using a big ol silk screen machine for simple designs, she simply uses contact paper, traces the design, cuts it out with an exacto knife, then sticks it to the screen, and squeegees the ink over the design. And Voila! She made it look so simple and cool! I had to try it...

You all know how it is to have that favorite pair of jeans, flip flops, hoodie sweatshirt you don't want to take off, right? Well when my 6 year old son was about 4, he had a favorite black t-shirt. He loved to wear it everywhere, I think because he got a lot of attention when he wore it. It said "Sorry girls, I only date models" (I know, I know) way to encourage it huh? It was cute!

The other day I was picking him up from the bus stop, and almost before he even got in the car he saw his baby brother wearing it...what can I say hand -me-downs are awesome! Well Trevor got really upset and said "Why is Brody wearing my shirt?" Now lets get this straight, if Trevor were to put it on...it would be like spandex on him...way too small.

I felt bad...the little pity party he was putting on didn't help much either. So I was thinking about putting my YUDU to some good use. My hubby got it for me right after Christmas...I think it is super cool, but just kinda complicated for me. I want to do things fast, and see the result NOW!

So heres where the project comes in. I'm gonna make Trevor a new shirt that fits him! hmmm? whatta ya think of that! I went to Joanns got a simple black t-shirt for $3. Then today, I was on a mission. I followed every step...

1 print out the design/saying
2 traced it onto contact/adheisive shelf paper from 99 cent store woo hoo!
3 used my exacto knife to cut it out
4 got out my screen, ink, and squeegee
5 did the deed

plain black t-shirt before


Cute black t-shirt after


And now, I get to see the happy look on my boys face when I pick him up today! (Best Part)
I'll have to update this post later on with a pic of him wearing his new shirt!


And here he is! He loved it by the way! 1 point for mom!
So check back soon...

Trendy Treehouse: Shutter Love - Water

Trendy Treehouse Shutter Love Tuesday
Theme~ Water

Every Tuesday Trendy Treehouse hosts this great little linky party!
Every week there is a different theme, and this week the theme is "Water"

I chose this pic of my boy to post!
Isn't he friggen cute!



"and his eyes are the color of water"





Come join in on all the fun. If not just come over an vote because there will also be a prize for "Viewers Choice"
Woo Hoo!


Have a Wonderful Day!

Its Game Time-Checker Board Table

So I went MIA for a few days...Sorry, just went through a little slump, I have to go back to work this week after having 1 month off. I have really enjoyed my time off.... *sigh*

I had a few projects going on, the only one I'm really ready to reveal is this super cute Checker Board Table. My 6 year old really likes to play games, and sometimes its just a pain to break out the board games, so we don't play as much as we'd like...

My resolution to this little dilemma... make one of the games a piece of furniture that is out all the time, so when we see it, we can play! sounds fun huh?



And here it is... wanna play?

All I did was revamp the top of a little side table I already had in our livingroom.


Here it was before, with a pleather upholstered top. Cute, just could be cuter! and now it is!



First step was to unscrew the top. Then peel away the pleather. I was super lucky, it wasn't all sticky...phew...


I sanded it, then painted it white. taped off the squares one section at a time. To get the color I wanted I got out my craft paints, and mixed up some blue, green, and some brown. PERFECTO!
To add to the look of it, I painted a black border all around the outside...Love it!

Now the best part...Sand the top to age it a bit. I took some dark brown acrylic paint, watered it down then covered the entire top...added just the right tint! woo hoo!

Last but not least I cut some trim, 45 degree angles...for the clean look, painted them espresso to match the base of the table and brad nailed it to the outside, like a frame. then screwed the top back on.

And presto chango now you have a Checker Board Table! Cool Huh! Now I have to figure out what is going to work best for the playing pieces... any suggestions?

See ya soon!

Rain rain go away.

Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Little Johnny wants to play;
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!

This post, might be a little boring...but I just need to get some stuff out of my head. This rain is over staying its welcome... BTW, Mother Nature, I said I like rain when its warm not 38 degrees outside...sheesh some people never fully listen...lol

Yesturday was a hard and emotional day. My baby had minor surgery (circumsition) Yeah eeewww huh...but because of the darn insurance companies blah blah blah. The poor thing just barely got it done, and hes a week shy of being 21 months. I cringe every time he cries. Hes usually so tough, and has such a great sense of humor, but that has disappeared briefly.

After some trial and eroor, I realized from some advise given from my mom, to let him go diaper less....it worked! I love that woman. He layed spread eagle on my bed for hours, and actually dozed off for about an hour, until the urge to pee came upon him, and that heart wrenching squeel came out of his little sweet mouth. It took all I had not to cry. Ugh, lets hope today is a better day for him.

On a lighter note....Remember the crate I made a couple days ago? Well it was featured at Under the table and dreaming! I know right! What a great feeling! If you haven't yet, you really should check out Under the Table and Dreaming by Stephanie Lynn.
She has a truly great blog over there. I think my favorite is her Craft Workshop! Can we say A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! well I can!

So that is all I have to say. Some goods and some bads...but most of all... Rain please go away, so my (dramatic)son wont miss soccer practice tomorrow...If he does he will for sure make my life super duper crappy, for the next couple days!

Love to see you soon!

Revamped Industrial File Sorting Box

Maybe I was a librarian in a past life? Thats the only reason why I think I am seriously obsessed with books, and card catalog drawers... I dunno?

Speaking of libraries...check out this Rustic Industrial File Sorting Box, from about the 1940s. It is an index card filing system. Awesome right? I grabbed this beauty at a yard sale for $3! I know...I've been getting super lucky lately. I debated and debated on whether or not I should paint it...but hey whats a little paint? Everything! I really had no clue what the heck I'd do with it..but after getting it home and prettied it up a bit, I knew it had to go in the living room. Perfect for the remotes :)

Befores...

So I cleaned it up, sanded it a bit. Then painted it a creamy white color, then took some Dark Walnut stain to it, and of coarse took off the hardware and freshened it up with some ORB!... I really love how it turned out.

Afters...

See what'd I tell ya perfect for remotes huh?


And here it is with a couple fancies atop of it! An this is the other corner opposite the star with the balls...I will be taking a better picture of the whole fireplace...when the lighting is better, until then enjoy...one piece at a time :)

Thanks for coming by!

Hand Painted Monogram

Ok so...the T.V. in our livingroom is huge! 65 in of huge-ness. I really don't have any complaints about it...believe it or not I love it because sometimes I don't like to wear my glasses while watching television, and with a small livingroom like ours, and a huge-mongous t.v like ours, I don't have to if I don't want to... so ha!

The only problem I have been having is this blank space above the t.v. I would stagger a couple shelves up there...but fortunately the fireplace mantle (which is about 12 foot long) is adjacent to that wall, and I think that is just way too many shelves... So after browsing around the internet a bit, I decided that I wanted a monogram with some frillys would be the perfect thing! And like I said before...Who needs Vinyl? I decided to some more hand painting. Here are some of my inspirations...





After looking at every single design out there, I decided to take the "L" from the first one, and the design og the 3rd one, and put em together.

So I recruited my hubby to do the circle for me...with his own little trick (he got it perfect) whew...I though that was going to be the hard part... Then I tried a million different ways to try and cut a stencil..but nothing would work. While a little frustrated, I took out a sharpie and went crazy... thank goodness, my temper tantrum didn't turn out too bad, I then copied over it with a dark espresso brown latex paint, was a little time consuming but it turned out nice. I then Free hand drew the "L" on some freezer paper, and taped it up on the wall, and painted, I wish the rest would have been this easy?

Before...After...
I think I like it? I think? I think it needs to grow on me though, It really reminds me of Cinderellas Carriage! Don't laugh...I know right...ehhh. OOOOOh you know what I really need? Crown molding. My hubby is going to kill me lol!

Whatta ya think?

"Happy" Passed on!

Where in the heck do I start? Angie! yeah over at Treasures recieved this award....which was well deserved, She rocks! Well she passed this award over to lil ol me.
I am super happy! And here goes for the top 10 things that make me happy.

1
My Boys!
Trevor (6)
Dramatic.
Everything is a dire emergency...everything he gets into he gets super into, his mind and potential is amazing!
Brody (20mo)
Real.
He hasn't been shall I say tainted...so every look/expression he makes is so pure and innocent! I really wish I could make faces with him all day, every day!
They are both extreme. When they are Happy they are REALLY overly happy. When they are ornery they are REALLY overly ornery!
Those are my boys!

2
Kreative Knack
This blog has allowed me to breathe. Really though, I have finally found it ok to have "me" time. A few times a day, I come to my desk and breathe. I create and share. And find that I have blog friends...who are super supportive. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Really!

3
Music
I'm that crazy lady you see in the lane next to you "Rocking Out!" Sublime is my favorite...the feel of the beat, and the tone of the words gets to me. Oh and nope, I'm not a pot head. lol just like the reggae beats. they are great for road rage.

4
The Sun
Just sitting or laying in its rays are a blessing. The warmth shining on me goes down to my core. I love that feeling.

5
Shopping
Let me rephrase that...Bargain Shopping. But honestly I like to do it alone, so all the ideas in my head can bounce around freely, and I can walk by the same thing over and over again, before I decide..." ugh thats is soooo not worth that price" and I don't have to worry about anyone else, just what I'm going to do with a dinged up, paint peeling off, wax all over candle stick. :)

6
Rain
The smell on the hot ground.
I just want to run out and do cartwheels, and twirlies in it!

7
Skittles
Original
Red ones
enough said
8
Jeans
I am a t shirt and jeans girl. I aspire to be more...but my roots come out eveytime. Something about being in an incredibly comfy pair of jeans, I just love!
9
Silly
yep being silly with my boys. Sometimes I talk with funny accents, and joke alot. Just to hear my oldest son say " mom! stop I'm gonna pee my pants" ah ha ha...I got that Perma-Smile going on!
10
Family
Something about knowing your not alone. I may feel alone sometimes, but I'm really not!

Ahhhh that was cool! Being a mom, wife, cook, working full time, soccer mom, chauffeur, teacher,trampoline (yep)...and other things I would much not mention...this post is rated G...or atleast PG. I really don't have time to think about Happy Stuff. I think thats where the saying comes in...
"Stop and Smell the Roses"
Question?
Can mine be tulips?
I love tulips.

So now to pass this awesome eye opening happy award on! I have to choose 5 right? k.
Well I really want to send ib back to Angie...but then the poor thing would have to do hers all over again... So you gotta know I love ya girl, but I just can't do it to ya!

The ladies I would like to pass this award to are,

Kate at Centsational Girl. Because of her choices in design and use of color. Her DIY projects are truly inspiring to me. I have yet to try any of them...call it cold feet, or just bad timing...but I will, promise.

Alison at House of Hepworths "HoH" . She is definately creative, she transforms ordinary things into super pretty decor. She has been recognized for her ingenuity before, so whats one more :)

Amanda at MOTB. I love reading her rantings, and ravings about being a mother and wife. and the playroom, she did for her boys is Awesome!

Alicia at Thrify and Chic. Because She is super elegant. And very talented with her decor tastes. Oh and thats were I saw the wonderful books I recovered yesturday! Yay! Shes great!

Denise at Copy Cat Creations. I just found her and I love her. I want to urge her to do some more projects. I want to see more of that talent! Just check her out.

I hope everyone has enjoyed this as much as myself! Thanks again Angie!

Books! Pretty-fied with Paper!

Lets talk fireplace decor! My mantle rocks! But the hearth...is blah. Last week I posted a little makeover I did to a metal star here, and remember it needed a little beefing up...welp here was my solution. Just stack stuff on top of each other...in a pretty way anyways. From that same yard sale I grabbed a copper square, plate/tray. I spray painted it with a metallic brown color(sorry no pics)...super pretty with alot more contrast than ORB. hey, I still ♥ ORB, just needed a little complimenting going on.

I also snatched up a candle holder from a thrift store last week. So I attacked it with some ORB and Gorilla Glue, then attached it to the bottom of the star, just to give it some height (oops sorry no pics).
Still not good enough...I have realized I ♥ books. HATE reading, but love books. I gravitate toward them everywhere I go? Don't ask me why, cuz I have no clue?
Anyways back to the decor situation...I have a little collection of books, that are just chillin in my closet ( not a great place, I know) So? Why not cover them to make them pretty! and stack em up, under the star thingy? yeah! I know I've seen it done under a lamp over at Thrifty and Chic....so why not now?

I scavenged through my stash of scrapbook paper, and picked a few coordinating colors, and went at it. I used Mod Podge, to adhere the paper to the books and some sandpaper to rough up the edges.

Before...

After...

My Favorite! This book's hard cover was all black, so I really only needed to use a bit of paper to snazz it up, so I used some fancy scissors to give the edge that cute frill :) ♥ it!


And after the after...even added a few thumb tacks to the spines to add a litle somethin-somethin. I really like this now! Its grand enough to stand up to the hugest of all huge fireplaces!
Oh and I'm workin on the other corner, so stick around, and you'll get to see the whole thing super finished! (wait? is anything every really "super finished?") hmmmm?

Well Come back anyways! lol

Recycled Painted Jar Lanterns

Theres nothing like a softly lit up patio in the evening for me! I love the ambiance of a flickering candle in the corner of my eye. Candle just induce a relaxing atmosphere! In an outside space, I absolutely love the look of little lanterns and votives floating around everywhere. Like the inspiration picture below.

Hanging jar lanterns by Martha Stewart

So as I'm preparing to up the cozy feel in my courtyard...I decided to take on a lil project, and recycle while I'm at it. Ready?
Like everyone else reading this(probably) I save jars. Who knows what you can do with them later, right?! So first step is to collect some jars.

Now we are going to paint them...snazzy them up a bit. So get together your supplies, Mod Podge, food coloring and, or paint. Oh and some paint brushes, and we're ready to roll.

All you do is mix some mod podge with a mixture of your choice, be it paint or food coloring, and paint, you can even water it down a bit...I think that will make the end result more translucent. ( I didn't water mine down) Check out this other tutorial at Gingerbread Snowflakes. Hers turned out very pretty!

My son and I did these together. They were fun, and quick! We just painted on like normal then tried a few different techniques to add some texture, instead of seeing just the brush strokes. We dabbed the surface with a paper towel, stippled with the brush, oooh and on one I did a swirl effect with the brush...they all turned out great.

Here they are all painted, now to wait until they dry, and I'll add some wire hangers to it for extra spunk :)


Here are some of them all lit up. eh hem please pay no attention to the candles inside... I couldn't find my stash of tealights anywhere! So I cut down some birthday candles to get the effect in the pics :)


Now for some wire play... I purchased some stainless steel 16 gauge wire ($3).


I first cut a long piece (lengths will vary depending on how wide of a mouth the jar has). And I began to wrap it around, manipulating it with needle nose pliers as I went along...

And the result.



For the handle I started with a long piece again, approx 8 inches long worked it into a "U" shape then took the pliers to the ends and and made some loops to hook onto the wire around the mouth.


And here is the finished result. How cute huh? *Beware of picture overload*


This one was inside...the lighting was all wrong, and my camera (the operator) was not working well... So I waited til morning, and did a little shoot outside :)




I have decided...you have to try this! The result is awesome...even if you don't put candles in them, place a few on your window sill and let the sun shine through them. Do a vase, to place some pretty bright white flowers in! So yeah try it and let me know how they turn out...k :)