Stenciled Plate for Valentine's Day

With the holidays over and my house undecorated, I feel a need to decorate again. My house just looks so plain without all the hoopla from Christmas, and I miss the hoopla! So, next comes Valtentine's Day and I am on it! Here we go...

Isn't is Cute?! It's easy too and you probably have all the supplies at your house already, like I did. I took advantage of the kids nap time and knocked this out in about 30 minutes. The longest part of the whole process is "making" the stencil and as long as you can cut paper, you can make a stencil.

Here's what you will need:

1. A plate (mine is actually a charger that I already had)
2. A computer and printer
3. Scissors
4. Tape
5. Paint
6. Glitter
7. Q-tips
8. Paint brush or sponge

First, you will need to choose your saying, font and size to fit your plate. I used the Kunstler Script font in size 425 and printed the word Love for Valentine's Day. You could really make any word or words that you wanted to fit your decor.

Next, you cut out the word, making sure to cut carefully because once you cut out the word, the paper that is left will be your stencil. Then, cut out the little pieces for the o, and the l and the e. This is what you should have left. I trimmed it out so it would be easier to tape while I was painting.

The little part for the middle of the e was too small to cut out in one piece so I took the little piece from the bottom of the l once I had already painted the l and made it smaller to fit in the middle of the e. Then, make sure to tape all of the pieces down. I taped along the edges and then I rolled tape to hold the different parts of the stencil down. Doublesided tape would be great if you have it, but I didn't so I rolled it and placed in under the stencil and it worked just fine.

Next, you get to start painting. I used white acrylic paint and a sponge to paint.

When you are done paiting, sprinkle a little glitter on and press it down to make sure it sticks.

Then pull off your stencil and look at your beautiful work!

I had a litle paint that oozed under my stencil so this is where the Q-tips come in. Wet the Q-tip a little and then gently wipe off the excess paint.

Perfect! Now Enjoy!

Homemade Laundry Soap

What an AMAZING and BUSY Christmas season it has been. I hope you all had a GREAT Chsrimas! I was so blessed this Christmas to have some extra time off with my family and I was spoiled by getting a sewing machine AND a new dishwasher! So excited!

Now back to the fun stuff! I took the whole month of December off from blogging to try and finish all the Christmas presents that I made for people and to enjoy time with my family. I will be sharing some of the homemade gifts I made for my family and friends very soon :) For now, I wanted to share with you something that I recently found and LOVE it!

If you are looking to save money in 2013, this is one major step to take, and it's green to boot! Are you ready to hear what it is???

Make your own laundry soap!

You only need 3 ingredients and it takes about 15 minutes to make! It's easy, it smells great, it's green, it works and it is EXTREMELY cost effect. So here's the scoop ;)

1. Super Washing Soda

2. 20 Mule Team Borax

3. Fels Naptha soap

The Super Washing Soda and the Borax are right next to each other on the bottom shelf in the laundry isle. The Fels Naptha soap is actually in the bar soap isle even thought it's for laundry. I had trouble finding it at first, but it helps to know what you are looking for, hence the picture.

Recipe:

1 bar of Fels Naptha soap

1 cup borax

1 cup Super Washing soda

First, Shred the bar of Fels Naptha soap with a cheese shredder. 

Then add 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Super washing soda. Put it in a fun, clear container and add a 1 tablespoon scoop and you are all set. You only need 1 tablespoon scoop or two if it's an extra large or heavily soiled load. I actually make 2 batches at a time and then I only have to make it about once a month. You will have plenty of Borax and washing soda left over so you will just need to pick up a bar or two of the FelsNaptha soap to make your next batch. This is an all natural alnernative to the expensive laundry detergent that you normally buy. Enjoy!

Vintage Framed Christmas Tree

I love the vintage, simple, elegant Christmas decorations. And even better is when I can make them for little to no money! I am all about cheap but cute decor! I picked this frame up at Goodwill for $1.29 and it was a set of two! The lace and linen I already had on hand so here it is, my latest little DIY project.

All you need is:

1. hot glue gun

2. lace in two different shades of green.

3. frame 

4. linen 

This is the lace I used. They are both green even though the one looks white. 

First, iron the linen and hot glue it around the glass. Then all you have to do is scrunch up the lace to make it ruffle and hot glue it down in sections. Cut the lace when you reach the end of the line. Alternate the greens so you have a pattern. You could make the tree in any color lace to match your decor! 

Make sure to overlap each row as you go to cover up the hot glue. And here it is all finished!

Once you are done, just pop it in the frame and start enjoying it! It's a fun little project that doesn't take very long but adds a little vintage touch your bathroom, mantel or end table. 

The frame adds a vintage touch too. I just love a great Goodwill find! Enjoy!

Happy Black Friday!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I did! AND now we get to focus on Christmas! Yay! While many of you are braving the blistering wind and long lines today, I am cozy at home get my house ready for Christmas. Now is the time to adorn your front door with a beautiful Christmas wreath! So here is a fun little project that only cost about $5 and takes about 15 minutes.

 These are the supplies that I used and how much they cost

1. An evergreen wreath of your choice.  I got this one last year on clearance for 1.99!

2. Christmas ornaments that go with your decor. I picked 2 packages of these gold and pewter sparkley ornaments at the Dollar Tree costing me a whopping $2

3. Pipcleaners! You can also use floral wire, but I didn't have any and pipe cleaners are super cheap and easy to work with!

4. Ribbon to hang the wreath! I also got my ribbon at the Dollar Tree.

First, "fluff" the wreath! Noboby likes a wreath that is flat as a pancake! Second, cut the pipecleaners in half and string an ornament on the pipecleaner. 

Pick where you want the little booger to go and twist it around on the back like so:

Easy Peasy! Repeat until you have used up all your bulbs or your wreath is full of beautifully decorated Christmas ornaments! And this is what it will look like when finished.

I didn't like how sparatic the ornaments were and I thought it needed a little something extra. So I moved them around a bit so they were in clusters of three and then I added some gold twirly branches that I already had to make it a little more festive. The great thing about moving them is that you can just adjust them without having to undo the wire, just slide them around a bit until you like the arrangment! 

Ahh, that's better! Well, there you have it, $5 and 15 minutes and you can tailor a wreath  to beautify your front door!

Christmas Centerpiece

I started decorating for Christmas over the weekend much to my husband's chagrin. I wanted to show you an updated picture of the box I made for my Thanksgiving gords and candles. I think I love it even more for Christmas!

I LOVE the sparkle of the ornaments! I got all of the ornaments in the centerpiece from the Dollar Tree. If you have haven't discovered what an AMAZING store that is, you just HAVE to check it out! The picture doesn't do this sparkley piece any justice. Here is a close up.

Hope you enjoyed it! I would love to see pictures of your centerpieces. I always love to gain more inspiration!

Secret Chili Recipe

Fall is my favorite season and there is nothing that goes better with fall than chili! I recently made this chili for my daughter's birthday party and got a ton of compliments. My husbands Grandma, who is very picky about her chili, told me is was "...very good", and then raved about it to my mother-in-law saying that it was better than her own chili. It is super yummy if I do say so myself, and really healthy to boot! The perfect blend of carefully choosen spices is the key to this recipe :) Okay, maybe not. I will let you all in on my secret ingredient: V8 Spicy Hot. There, the secret is out. So, here's the recipe that I created with the V8.

You will need:

- a green pepper
- an onion
- a pound of ground beef (I used a pound and a half because that is what was in the package)
- two cans of kidney beans, dark or light - your preference, I use dark
 - 3 -12 oz bottles of V8 Spicy Hot (if  you can't find the small bottles, then just get the big bottle and use            about 36 oz of it)
 - one can of rotel diced tomoates with green chiles undrained

First brown the ground beef in a big pot. While the beef is browning, cut up the green pepper and onion and add it to the browning beef. Once it's browned, drain it and set it on a cool burner for about 5 minutes to let it cool down. Then take about 5 paper towels folded together and soak up all the yucky grease that didn't come out when you drained it (I learned this healthy tip from my friend Alison, so THANK YOU Alison!) Repeat with 5 more paper towels and you will be amazed at all the grease and fat that comes out of the beef. This helps make the beef SO MUCH healthier!

Next, put the browned beef back on the hot burner and add all the remaining ingredients. Don't drain the beans or the diced tomoatoes, just throw everything in and bring to a boil, then let simmer until ready to eat. You can always add more spices, such as chili powder, but my kids and husband do not enjoy really spices meals and the Spicy V8 gives it GREAT flavor that you certainly don't need to add anything else unless you LOVE a really HOT-n-SPICY soup.

Super healthy, easy, and yummy, all in one! I hope you give this a try and let me know what you think!

Footboard Turned Coat Rack

Good Monday Morning! I wanted to share the newest project that I completed this weekend. What do you think?

I was in desperate need of this project completion. It's nice and low to the ground so that all the little ones at my house can hang up their own coats and get their coats without yanking them down from above. A few weeks ago, my son was yanking his coat off of the coat rack and broke one of the knobs off. There were only 3 knobs on there to begin with and now we were down to two. The next day he broke another knob off leaving us with only one knob to hang about twelve coats. So, for the last 2 weeks we have been throwing coats on the stairs, on the floor and on top of the shoe basket. Needless to say, it was driving my crazy! To tell you the truth, I was glad that it broke because it gave me the incentive that I needed to complete this project. I got this antique child's headboard and footboard in Pittsburg at an little flea market way back in June. I knew I wanted to make a coat rack out of it right away, but it didn't fit where I invisioned it going, so it went in the garage until I could figure out what I wanted to do with it.

Here is the before picture. I just fell in love with it right away and when I saw that it was only $10, I knew it would be coming home to Ohio with me! This is such an easy project to make! So here you go.

My, always willing to help, husband cut the legs off of the footboard with a circular saw. I sanded the bottoms where he made the cuts and then cleaned it up really well. I debated on painting it, but I really like it just how it is for my space. Then I went to Drug Mart, yes Drug Mart, and got these cute hooks! Discount Drug Mart saves you the runaround...just sayin'! There were only 2 for $3.49 and I got 3 packages.

 Position the hooks where you want them to go and screw them in. Easy, peasy! And here's the final product.

I would love to hear what you think. The best part is that I still have the headboard for a future project!