Followers

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Scrapbook Borders

I wanted to share with you the borders I made for my National Scrapbook Day as an Independant Creative Memories Consultant.  These were so cute, but honestly, I feel that I almost didn't do anything, because the bases for these came from the Simply Beautiful Power Palette from Creative Memories.  I used the foam stickers to raise some of the smaller tags.  I can't wait to use these in my albums!

I am linking up to:

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Winter Sowing Follow-Up

Do you remember our experiment in winter sowing?  Well, we are starting to put plants and early seeds into the garden this last week, and had to check our winter sown seeds out.  Here is what the cabbage looks like in the winter sown containers.  The great thing is that they are outside already, so a transplant to the garden will be  a smooth transition for them.  We will keep a bottle cover on them for awhile, as we still have chilly nights, and who knows, maybe even a freeze yet.  I'm very excited that this worked for us and my 5-year old is very proud of his cabbage that he grew.

I am linking up to:

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Book Wreath

I know that these book wreathes are all over the blogs for awhile now, but I was waiting for the right opportunity to do this with my daughter.  I have to admit, I am nesting right now and am trying to get all kinds of projects done with my kids, so that the month of the fair (my due date month) I won't have to get all this stuff done at the last minute with my kids.  Well, I'm way to practical to not have them make things that are thrifty and what I want to try for around the house.

I started with a wreath that I purchased at Goodwill on clearance for $.50.  I had a great picture of it, but I have completely lost my SD card and even a good cleaning of my house has not resurfaced it!  If I find it, I'll add it to the post, but anyway, you get the point.  It had fake fall leaves hot glued all over it.  I had a book I got as a free demo in the mail and used brown acrylic paint on the edges to antique it.  We paniced a bit when we realized that one book wasn't enough to fill the entire wreath!  Thanks to the Dollar Store and the perfect sized book and we finished for only $1.50!

After many tears and burns, I think what we came up with was worth it.  Ok - we cried through this project, because I am a perfectionist and was having a hard time letting my daughter do it her own way.  Ultimately, I think it turned out beautiful and I didn't need to worry one bit!   I also love how they look with my new mirrors and shelves, although I like how fat this turned out, and want to move it above my tv... of course, then I would have to fill this space again!  Let me know what you think!

I am linking up to:

My First Feature!

I am so excited!  I am being featured for my first time ever on: Penny Pinching Party - The Thrifty Home!  My recycled bench made by my son was featured, check out my bench here.  Don't forget to check out this weeks Penny Pinching Party too and leave me a comment on the bench!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Recycled Headboard Bench

I found this in front of someone's house on the day before garbage day.  I couldn't resist it because it was free and because it had such great bones to it!  My husband was not pleased with this find, it meant work and it meant storing it until we got around to the project.  My 13-year-old thought I was crazy, but my real plan was to use this for a project for him for the county fair.  We have a category at the fair for recycling and the local power company gives cash prizes for the top three in recycling in each category.  Because there aren't many in the county entering, both of my kids have been able to get between $10-$25 each year.  This in turn has created an eagerness in my 13 yo and 11 yo to find great projects to make!
I have seen people make benches out of the headboard and footboards before, but just haven't quite lucked out in finding the free perfect set!
This was actually very simple to make, once I got my son and my hubby on the same page.   (Yes, it might have been quicker to just do it myself, but I really liked the idea have having one of their projects done for the fair!)  My son measured the footboard and cut it down the center.  He then screwed each half to the outside of the headboard.  Then some careful measuring and some L-brackets went on to hold the front board in place from one of the side rails of the bed.  My son also took an extra piece of scrap wood to make a cleat across the headboard to set the slats of the bench on.The final step was to use the rest of the side rails and some extra scrap wood for the rest of the slats on the bench.  Those were nailed into place.  Then a good sanding (this is for the fair you know...if it were just me, I would have just primed and painted)
I chose black paint for it.  We used the cheap ($.96 a can Wal-mart brand) of black indoor/outdoor spray paint.  I think the end result is just adorable.  My son is trying to fundraise for an exchange trip to Japan, so we were thinking about making more of these to sell.  How much do you think that they would sell for?  I would love to hear your input.  I was thinking somewhere between $50-$100, but am not sure.  (When my son heard about that, he suddenly really was enjoying spray painting, and the pain in his fingers stopped suddenly!  It's nice how quickly they can get motivated by money!)

I'm linking up to: