Train Name Plaque for the Boy

Because Andyroo loves trains, here's yet another fun train project, just for him.

It was super easy and took me all of an hour to complete. And it only took that long because I kept getting interrupted.

I found the wooden train plaques (I actually purchased 2 - not sure how I'm going to use the other one) on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I found a cute train paper, traced the train shape, and mod podged that baby on. I used my Silhouette to cut out Andyroo's name and there you have it.

Easy peasy. And cheap too!

Thanks to all the fabulous bloggers out there who take the time and effort to host these spectacular parties!! We're linking up here:


Mondays:
Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Turquoise Lovin', Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Mondays Marvelous, Creative Me Mondays, Made By You Mondays, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Made with Love, More the Merrier


Tuesdays:
Get You Craft On, Tuesday Confessional, Who's Got Glam, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesdays, Take a Look Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got, Tuesday Tutorials, Too Cute Tuesdays, Craft & Tell, Tutorials & Tips Tuesday


Wednesdays:
Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednesday, What I Made Wednesday, DIY Under $5, Woot Woot Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Lil' Luna Link Party, Hoo's Got Talent, We Can Do it Cheaper, Look What I Made, What I Whipped up Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday


Thursdays:
Strut Your Stuff, DIY Diva Thursdays, Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths, Get Your Brag On


Fridays:
Frugal Friday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, PityParty, Look At Me, Show & Share, Fantabulous Friday, Tickled Pink Fridays, I'm Lovin' It


Saturdays/Sundays:
Lovely Little Linkup, Weekend Wander, Sundae Scoop, Sunday Showcase Party, Think Pink Sundays, Anything Goes, Whatcha Got Weekend, Free For All

Framed Fall Letters

Part of the reason I wanted the entryway shelf that I posted about last week is because I want something to decorate. I don't have a mantle or a porch and our entertainment center is just too crowded with the stereo system and the overflowing DVDs.

So now that my shelf is up, I decided it needs to be a little more festive.

It's not a very big shelf, so there isn't a lot of room, but I still think it's cute! And those framed letters were super easy to make. Or at least they would have been if I weren't so indecisive!

The frames are just a 4x6 size - each of them are different and from the D.I. You can't beat $0.50 for a frame, especially since I just painted over them.

I picked 4 fall colors (I used a brown, green, cream, and wine), picked some paper (the hardest part) and them cut out the letters with my Silhouette (the most frustrating part). I think I changed my mind 10 times about the paper I was going to use. Even now, I'm not completely in love with it. I'm sure if I were to scour the racks at the craft store I could find something I LOVED. But I'm trying to be cheap and just use what I have on hand. It's growing on me though.

The inspiration for these letters came from this picture which I found through pinterest and then posted about here a couple weeks ago.

I think I'm going to do something a little more Halloweeny, or at least pumpkinish for the entertainment center. Be sure to check back and see what I come up with!




Thanks to all the fabulous bloggers out there who take the time and effort to host these spectacular parties!! We're linking up here:


Mondays:
Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Turquoise Lovin', Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Mondays Marvelous, Creative Me Mondays

Tuesdays:
Get Your Craft On, Tuesday Confessional, Who's Got Glam, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesdays, Take a Look Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got

Wednesdays:
Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednesday, What I Made Wednesday, DIY Under $5, Woot Woot Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Lil' Luna Link Party, Hoo's Got Talent

Thursdays:
Strut Your Stuff, DIY Diva Thursdays, Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths, Get Your Brag On

Fridays:
Frugal Friday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Look At Me

Saturdays/Sundays:
Lovely Little Linkup, Weekend Wander

Categorically Crafting

Recycled Magnetic Organizers

One of the things that drives me nuts is having piles of paper scattered around the kitchen counter and tables. We have a small apartment, so I try my hardest to keep things put away and uncluttered. (No comments from those of you who have seen my house at it's not-so-great moments!) I would love the ability to set up a whole functional (and pretty) station or desk to keep myself organized. I just don't have the space for that, so I came up with this instead.

Want to know what I used?

That's right! A Pringles container and a couple of empty boxes!!! I had everything on hand, so this project was completely free. Free is awesome!

This project is pretty self-explanatory. Pick a couple of boxes. I used some fruit snack boxes because they were big enough to fit full-sized piece of paper. I contemplated using a couple of smaller boxes, but just stuck with 2 fruit snack boxes and the Pringles can.

The Pringles can cuts down easily with just a serrated kitchen knife.

Pick some paper and mod podge it onto your boxes.

Attach some magnets. Initially I used hot glue, but the magnets kept falling off, so I pulled out my trusty E600 which worked like a charm. I used 2 magnets on the can and 4 on each of the boxes. I didn't want them sliding around on the fridge.

I also used my Silhouette to cut out some vinyl labels. You could easily print labels or use stickers. One box is for things that I need to file and the other is for things that need my attention or that I don't want to lose. I think they might have looked a little better if I had put the vinyl on a solid piece of paper then glued it onto the boxes, but this will work for now!

Thanks to all the fabulous bloggers out there who take the time and effort to host these spectacular parties!! We're linking up here:


Mondays:
Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Turquoise Lovin', Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Mondays Marvelous, Creative Me Mondays

Tuesdays:
Get You Craft On, Tuesday Confessional, Who's Got Glam, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesdays, Take a Look Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got

Wednesdays:
Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednesday, What I Made Wednesday, DIY Under $5, Woot Woot Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Lil' Luna Link Party, Hoo's Got Talent

Thursdays:
Strut Your Stuff, DIY Diva Thursdays, Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths, Get Your Brag On

Fridays:
Frugal Friday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, PityParty, Look At Me

Saturdays/Sundays:
Lovely Little Linkup, Weekend Wander

Quiet Book Page #1 - Train Tracks

Remember the Quite Book Overview I did a while back? I'm going through the book page by page and explaining in more detail how I did everything and linking to any patterns that I used. Be sure to check out the other quiet book pages that will follow through the next couple of weeks!

Quiet Book Page #2 - Shapes & Colors
Quiet Book Page #3 - Barn & Finger Puppets

Also, be sure to check out the Quiet Book FAQ to answer some general questions about putting a quiet book together.

I think the train tracks are Andyroo's favorite page to play with. I told him I was making some train tracks for his quiet book and he was so excited. He kept asking me when it would be done so he could play with it.

I designed the two pages in Silhouette Studio then got to work cutting everything out. The tracks were cut out of the Silhouette brown heat transfer material and the rest of the images were done with ink jet transfer paper from Joann's (also found at any craft/hobby store). To use the inkjet transfer paper, I simply sent the design to my inkjet printer, cut them out, and ironed them on. Soooo easy!

After the design was ironed on, I took 2 little train buttons and 1 little boat button and tied them to the middle ring with some embroidery floss. However, I've found that this isn't the best way to do it. Everything gets all tangled and is a pain to undo. But I have yet to think of a better way. Any ideas?

The trains and boat were leftover buttons from the I-Spy bag I made before our Iowa trip. There's enough length to move the trains all around the tracks, but not so much that they're a choking hazard.

Put in some grommets and stick the pages in your book. Using the same heat transfer idea, I'm also planning on doing a road page for some extra truck and car buttons I have leftover.

If you have any questions, let me know. I'd be happy to answer them!

Baby Shower Gift Basket - For a Baby Girl!

Earlier this week I showed you how I took a thrift store basket and made a new liner for it. And today I'm going to show you what I did to make it the cutest, most girliest baby shower basket ever!

Sorry for the not so awesome backdrop there. I was literally putting this thing together until the minute I walked out the door. And then it dawned on me that I should take another picture of it all wrapped up and put together. Poor Andyroo. He was all happy and excited to go to Grandma's (while I went to the baby shower) and he had to wait for mom to snap a few more pictures. I didn't have time to set up lighting inside the house, so this is on the stairs going upstairs and out of the house where there is more sunlight.

This awesome gift basket includes:

• A soft pack of Pampers wipes
• Rolled up diapers - about 25-30
• 3 Customized onesies
• 3 Flower clips
• 2 Ribbon headbands
• A boxed set of baby toys

In order to get some height in the gift basket, I used the wipes as a base in the bottom of the basket. Behind the wipes, I placed the boxed set of toys. I placed the diapers around the bottom and built up from there. The onesies were rolled up and set on top of the diapers. The flowers and headbands were placed around to add a little flair and then I wrapped the whole thing in a big cellophane bag. Here's a better picture of the basket minus the flowers, the headbands, and the wrap.

The diapers were each rolled up individually, then wrapped with a piece of ribbon and stuck together with a glue dot. Those size 2 diapers are tiny compared to the huge ones I was using for Andrew!

Here's a shot of the onesies. I would have preferred to use pink and brown, but I was out of brown Heat Transfer Material.

These were designed and cut using my Silhouette. LOVE that thing!

I didn't get a picture of the flower clips or headbands because I was running late. The flower clips were simple silk flowers with the plastic removed, re-glued, and then hot glued to a small alligator clip. The headbands were a small piece (about 5 or 6 inches) of ribbon sewn to a piece of soft, stretchy elastic (about 4 or so inches). After seeing our neighbor's new baby, I think I made them too big. But hopefully the baby will be able to grow into them.

The new mommy loved the gift basket and everyone was really impressed with the customized onesies! I hope she doesn't mind if I make some more girly stuff and drop it off on her doorstep!

Family Fun Fund

Hubs has been coming home with a lot more change and I needed a place to put it. The coin section in my wallet was already overflowing, so I can up with this:

I had borrowed some flour from my mom, which she gave to me in a #10 can - the big size metal can. I couldn't bear to throw it away, so I kept it in hopes of finding something to do with it.

I wrapped the can with some scrapbook paper, embellished with some brown satin ribbon, and cut out the words with brown vinyl. I used my Silhouette, but you could just use stickers, print something out, or paint on some words. Whatever floats your boat.

This was actually the first project I did with my Silhouette. It was pretty intimidating and took a couple tries to get it right. Don't ask.

Anyway, cut a hole in the top big enough to fit some change, put the lid on, and you're set. I love that we have a place to collect our spare change. And even better, I LOVE the fact that we're saving our change. In the three months I've had this out, we've saved about $40. Forty dollars in change. Even Andyroo gets in on the action and likes to put his pennies in the can (ones that he find or gets from grandma).

I'm not sure what our plans for the money are, but we'll eventually find something fun to do with the money.

What does your family do with all your spare change?


We're linking up with these super awesome parties:


Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednseday, What I Made Wednesday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, Just Something I Whipped Up, Frugal Friday, DIY Under $5, Lovely Little Linkup, Craftastic Monday, Woot Woot Wednesday, Strut Your Stuff, Our House of Joyful Noise, Get You Craft On, Wow Me Wednesday 

4th of July Blocks & Fireworks

The inspiration for this project comes from a combination of projects made by Made By Meech and Ginger Snap Crafts.

Candle Fireworks at Made By Meech

USA Blocks by Ginger Snap Crafts

I had some leftover 4x4 blocks from a Mother's Day gift last year and decided that this was just the thing to do with them. I loved the scrappy look of the fireworks, but didn't have blocks or candles that size.

The blocks are pretty easy. Not pics during the process, but I sanded and then painted the blocks red. Then I mod podged some scrapbook paper onto the blocks. The vinyl letters were cut from white vinyl with my Silhouette. Love that little magical machine!

I love these little fireworks. Any guesses on what the holders are made from? Anyone?

A Pringles can! Hubs got some cans of Pringles (or "Springles" as Andyroo calls them) for Father's Day and I couldn't let him throw the cans away. I knew I could find something to do with them, but I had no idea what. He looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him not to throw them away, but he humored me anyway. What a good guy! :)

I covered two cans with blue card stock, then embellished with a couple strips of red, white, and blue star paper and some red raffia. Easy peasy!

The fireworks were a little harder and I did some experimenting with the curling and type of paper. I used card stock for the red and blue fireworks. I liked that it didn't curl up so much and it seemed to hold it's shape a little better too. However, wrapping the card stock around the skewers was a little hard. The white firework was made with just plain white copy paper and they held a curl REALLY well, but I prefer the more relaxed curl. The copy paper was much easier to wrap though!

I cut the paper into 4-inch strips. Then I took those strips and cut along the strip every 1/4th of an inch or so down to about 1/2" from the edge. Sorry, I forgot to snap a picture! I found the best way to to do the fireworks was to precurl around the bottom (where it wraps around the skewer), but not the actual firework curls. I tried it both ways and if the fireworks are already curled, then it is harder to wrap around the skewer. Does that make any sense at all? I hope so! I did paint my skewers white before wrapping them also.

To keep the skewers in place and to give them a little more height, I poured some dry beans into the bottom of the can.

So fun! I love looking at them sitting on top of our entertainment center (we're not cool enough to have a mantle)!! Even hubby said they turned out awesome. He usually loves everything I make, but we don't have a lot of holiday decorations, so I think that's what he really liked these.

I also love how you can stack the blocks different ways. Straight across, stacked up, or in the pyramid style. So fun!

What kind of decor do you put out for the 4th of July?

P.S. Sorry for the sometimes dark pictures. We're in a basement apartment that doesn't get much light anytime, day or night. Plus, my camera is old and not so great anyway. Oh well. You can only do so much as poor college students waiting for a better job!

*UPDATED* Train Canvases

**UPDATE: I discovered the vinyl doesn't stick to the textured canvas in a long-term capacity. Sad, huh? Anyway, I did some more creating and came up with some Framed Trains. Go check them out!!! And if you know how to get vinyl to stick to the canvas, please let me know!**

As part of Andyroom's train room, I wanted to do something for the walls. However, whatever I put up on the walls needs to be 1) removable, since we have no idea how long we're going to be here (and since we're only renting), and 2) Moveable, as in something we can take with us when we inevitably move. I thought about vinyl on the walls - easily removable, but I would have to redo it in his next room. And who really wants to do that?

I tossed around the idea of vinyl on some kind of frame or board, but ended up with this instead.

Vinyl on canvas! Not exactly a new idea, but I haven't seen anything quite like this.

I scoured the internet for free SVG images of Thomas the Train, or even just trains, but nothing was quite right. After finding Andrew's Thomas the Train comforter on clearance at Target, I knew I had to do something that was definitely Thomas and friends. So I decided to create my own images to cut. It only took about 4 hours total to do all three of them. Once I did the first one, I was able to incorporate some of the basic elements into the others which helped save time.

Putting the vinyl on is pretty self-explanatory. I cut the parts of the train in multiple colors so that the image wasn't so one dimensional, so the hardest part was lining everything up and making sure each train had the correct parts. Because Thomas is the number one engine on Sodor - not Percy (who is number six!). And Andyroo would definitely catch that mistake! Here are a couple pics of the layering process.

I started with the big green piece, or the body of the train, then added everything else to that.


And some closeups of the finished Thomas and James.

The canvases are 11x14 - purchased in a pack of seven at Michaels for about $10 (with a coupon, of course). I used 3 of them for this project, so about $4.50 for all three. Most of the vinyl I already had on hand, but it's about $8.00 a roll, or about $0.30 per foot. I used about $5 worth from the vinyl I already had on hand and had to purchase a couple sheets of extra colors. I'm not counting the price of the whole sheets because they're colors I can (and will) use on other projects. Anyway, the total cost of all the vinyl was probably about $7. So $11.50 for three Thomas the Train wall hangings. Thomas the Train stuff is EXPENSIVE, so I think that's an awesome deal!!

What do you think?


We're linking up with these super awesome parties:


Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednseday, What I Made Wednesday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, Just Something I Whipped Up, Frugal Friday, Lovely Little Linkup, Craftastic Monday, Woot Woot Wednesdays, Made it by Monday