Category Archives: EVERYTHING ELSE DIY

Halloween Clay pumpkins

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Lately I have been trying my hand with clay. While I was growing up I always wanted to take a pottery class but it always seemed like I had to much on my plate. However, you are never to old to try new things and I just decided to use some of my hubby’s clay that he had stashed away in his desk. At first I was little intimated by it. Then I get those little gremlins whispering evil thing in you ear, saying I am not good enough. The good thing is I have a hubby who loves me  and he encouraged me to continue on my adventures. He  went out of his way and found me some reference that I could use to get inspired. Guess what I was super inspired and just could not stop myself from getting my little pumpkins done. I also learned that when you concentrate for long periods of time, it could be quite exhausting! Do you want to see what I came up with?

You know every well that I could not make the pumpkins sweet and cute. Halloween is around the corner and they are getting ready to rebel!
This one is coming for you! You might want to think twice before you cut into a pumpkin this year, hehe.

Happy Haunting’s!!

Mason Jar Ideas

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I never knew what mason jars where until I went to hobby lobby and found them. Now I am in love with mason jars and would love to have a cabinet full! I decided to find inspiration in what to do with mason jars. I found that their are endless possibilities for this jars. 
I found that I could use them as planters. I just love to bring the outdoors inside. 

Another favorite is a mason jar chandelier.  I hope to one day have a chandelier in my home, it gives the home that extra touch.
Kaboodle
Colored mason jars with tea lights for a special occasions look fantastic. I need to make and excuse to make one of these. 
Apartment Therapy
Do you want a cute garden in your home with out all the mess of dirt? Well this next idea can help! You  can have a cute little garden on your bookshelf!
Last but not least is a turquoise mason chandelier. The color just pops and in any room and looks fantastic. I just saw a chandelier at the salvation army and I going to go back and get it to make this. 
Shabbyfufu
I have so many cool things coming up soon for Halloween, keep stopping by.  
Till next time! 

Etsy Mechanical Animals

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I know most of us go to pinterest for inspiration but at time the best place to go for some unique inspiration in Etsy. I especially love to see all the wonderful thing people do with gears and metal. Mechanical animals are what I call them, they can be made part of clay or molded from metal. There is no limit to creativity and these artist know what they are doing. I would not limit myself to pinterest when it comes to inspiration. 
First up is one of my favorite artist Kimberly Hart over at monsterkookies. She quit her job and just focus on doing her steampunk figures out of clay and watch parts. It took her a year before she was able to make her business take off. She is an inspiration in herself, go check out her store!
Next up is Branded and Burned he makes fantastic steampunk necklaces and animals. I just fell in love with his spider! I am so going to try to make this!
Do you want to see a birdie? You are able to see all the things this artist used to make his bird. I especially like how he made the flower out of spoons! 
Joe Pogan 
The next artist made my jaw drop when I first saw his creation of a scorpion. You can see the detail he use to make his creation. I just love to just stare at the piece and try to figure out how they do it and 
what kind of parts they use. 
Daniel Proulx
I bet you would love to wear a bug, right?! How about a steampunk looking bug? I know I would, you will definitely get attention with this ring. Robin over at Ranaway has one in his store. 
Come and join me tomorrow for more fun!
Till next time,

Halloween Bookshelf Curtains

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A while back I made bookshelf curtains to go with the decor of my apartment now I used the same technique but I have a new set of curtains.
Can you guess what’s on my mind?
You guessed it, Halloween!!! I love Halloween and I can’t wait to fully decorate my home. 
Adding the curtain is an easy way to add a little bit of holiday in a subtle way.  It super easy to make, you can see the tutorial here.
I got the cute spider fabric from Joann’s. I saw it and I knew I had to have it, don’t forget to have your Joann’s coupon handy. 
Bookshelf curtains are a super easy way to decorate and to hide your mess. 
Till next time!

Bird Cages Chandelier

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I’ve been wanting a chandelier for quite a while now but since I live in an apartment it really isn’t something I can have. Then I had this idea!
I have been holding on to the bird cages for a while now. I got them in the spring during a Michael’s sale. I just fell in love with the bird cages and had to buy them. The problem was that I did not have anywhere to place to display them. At the time it did not go with my current decor, that was until now. The bird cages where all different sizes which was perfect for a chandelier! 

I had to first paint them all the same color. I decided to use a cherry red spray paint. The three things I always use during spray painting is drop cloth, cardboard and a mask. The last thing I wanted to do is paint the patio red. 

It took about three coats to cover all the bird cages. Once they dried I use two different kind of ribbons, I use a thin red ribbon to attache the smaller bird cages to the larger one. Then I use a thicker red ribbon to hang from the ceiling. 
Now I just need to go buy some tea lights and a lighter to light it all up! It’s a simple bird cage chandelier. 
Till Later,

Tips for traveling with a toddler

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We have been stuck in a hotel with my little monster for 5 days and he has been bounding off the walls. The time difference between Dallas and San Diego is 2 hours which has also not helped. I’ve been trying to figure out ways to keep him entertained while we are in the hotel room. 

The first thing is that new toys are always lil monster approved. New toys, as any parent knows, is key to keeping our children entertained. We went out and got our little monster three toys that he picked out at Marshall’s.  They were not super expensive and they have toys for all ages. We also brought with us toys from home for his bathtime.  Bath time is always another way to keep your little toddler entertained.

Night time can also be a challenge when your child does not have all the things of comfort from home. I decided to bring with us all his favorite books to read to him at night. One of his favorite book’s is The Ernie and Bert Book which happens to be my hubby’s favorite as child as well. He actually has his copy from childhood that momma in-law sent us.

One key thing you will need if you have a small child are outlet covers (I am having a brain fart moment and I can’t for the life of me remember the correct name! I guess that is what happens you get little sleep).

Of course we could not forget his woof woof and blanket. Every child while growing up has some kind of teddy bear they take with them everywhere they go which in one form or another is comforting to them. Woof Woof usually never comes with us anywhere unless I am going to leave him at day care. However, on this trip he comes everywhere especially when he cannot sleep without it. Woof Woof was a name my hubby gave him since our little one can’t say many words and that is what we all call him now. Woof Woof was actually a teddy dog that I gave to my hubby while we were dating for an anniversary present. At the time the dog had a sweater which had “I love you” written in three languages, English, German and Spanish but after my little one got his hands on it the sweater disappeared.  We all need the comfort of home. 

Another item that we could not leave without in our hotel is netflix! Our little boy will only fall asleep with Futurama and having our laptop or phone for him to watch has been a life saver. Our little boy at times gets night terrors and nothing can get him out of it for at least 10 minutes. However, when we put Yo Gabba Gabba or  Futurama on TV it will get him calm enough to were he can become more aware of his surroundings. Travel and time change can be difficult on a little one and we have to make sure they stay happy. Bringing a little bit of home to any place you are staying will help with the adjustment. 
I hope these few tips will help you with traveling with your little toddler.

Till Later,

Bath Salts Singles with Kayla **Guest Post**

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Hey everyone, I’m Kayla from SayNotSweetAnne.com. I’m super happy to meet you all and do this guest post! I’m a graphic designer by day who loves crafting, creating, and just having fun. Stop by my site for free printables, more tutorials and lots of other crazy stuff!!

Remember that conference I went to a while back? Well, one of the coolest things about it was that at breakfast we were served toast with mini jams. Oh no, not those plastic squares of jam you get in a diner. These were in teeny tiny glass jars! Needless to say I stuffed a bunch in my purse and came home with a little collection.

I knew that I had to do SOMETHING awesome with these. But I didn’t know what. They’re a bit too big for lipgloss, and too small for most other things. Then, I saw this post on Renewed Upon a Dream. Oooh, bath salts! I love bath products. Its actually pretty painful because in our current home we only have a shower. You’re going to think I’m nuts but more than once I’ve sat in a 30 gallon tote on the shower floor just to relax a little. =P
More than just the salts, I loved the idea of different colors/jars! But, it would take me years to go through three jars of bath salt, and one jar doesn’t get the mixed color/scent. Enter those adorable little jam jars! These buggers are just the right size for one bath. So, I can give them away in a 3 pack sampler that allows my dear ones to get all of the colors/scents!!

What You Need:

  • Epsom salts. Check the sore muscle aisle. DO NOT use rock or table salt. Its not the same chemical make up.
  • Essential oils / soap scents. I got mine online and at craft stores ~$3.
  • Soap colors.
  • Jars!
  • Paint (To paint lids)

How To Make It:

  1. This is just too easy. It could be SO CUTE for a little one to make bath salts for mommy! Pour the salt into a bowl.
  2. Add a few drops of the scent. Use a whisk to mix it around. Make it a little stronger than you’d think. The smell will dissapate in the water. I used Cucumber Melon and Angel Food Cake.
  4. Add a few drops of color. I made green for the Melon and brown for the Angel Food Cake. Use the whisk to mix it. If needed, add more.
  6. Clean your glass bottles with warm water, a razor blade to scrape off the goo from the labels, and nail polish remover to remove the sticky residue.
  7. Paint the lids of the jars. I used spraypaint because it was faster. =P
  8. Once the bottles/lids are ready, spoon your mixture into the jars. Add the lids.
  9. I went ahead and printed teeny little labels for the jars. You could easily just leave them bar, or tie a pretty tag to the top.
  10. DONE! Now there is a cute sampler of bath salts!
Thank you Kayla for her guest post, I had so much making my own bath salts!! I hope you all enjoyed the tutorial!
Till Next Time!

Baby Wipe Storage for Inks

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 We were in the process of moving from Texas to California and I had to figure out how to store my inks so if one broke they will not spill all over everything. I started looking through the apartment to see what would be good to fix my problem and, of course since i have a 21 month old,  I have plenty of baby wipes containers that sparked my idea! Why not just use the baby wipe container to keep all of my inks while they are being transported.

I have over 50 different kind of ink and I packed each one individually in their own little bag to make sure if one broke they will not get all over the other inks. 
They fit perfectly in the baby wipe container! They container is also sturdy enough to take any punishment from the move. I have get to find out how the ink did, but once I do I will let you know.
My next problem was how to store my many cute tags that I have made. All of our belongings where being packed by the movers I wanted to pre-pack certain thing to make sure they will survive the move. I know from past experience that moving companies don’t take great care of your items.
I again went in search around my apartment for something water proof of sorts and sturdy enough that it won’t bend in trasport and I came to the same conclusion, baby wipe container.
I know you are probably looking at my cute socks right, but really you should be looking at the baby wipe container I used to keep my tags safe. If you have a small child at home and you are moving than likely you have plenty of wipe containers at home. If you don’t have a child and would like any old reason to buy wipes, then let me list a few. 
You can use wipes for craft projects, 
cleaning your car, 
cleaning your dogs paws after a rainy day
and even
cleaning your shoes after a run.
See you have a few reason to go buy some wipes. 
I stored all my tags that were decorated into the smaller container. I am crossing my fingers everything gets there okay. 
Once I am settled back at our new apartment I will get into decorating the containers. I did not want to decorate them before the move because I did not want them to get damaged. I can’t wait to show you all the new look of the baby wipes container all decked out! 
I hope you all have a wonderful week. 
See you tomorrow!

All about an Avengers Room

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The best movie of the year in my opinion is Avengers. It was the first movie my hubby and I where able to go to as date and probably the last, haha. Once you have a child is difficult to find time to go out on a date but we try. We need to keep the spark going, right?! Since I loved Avenger so much I decided to change my little monster room into avenger themed. The best part was that due to the movie being release Joann’s had plenty of Marvel fabric. 
The first step is easy enough which is to cute the fabric. I made it a little longer than the measurements because we are always moving to different apartments and each window is different. Its always better to have a longer curtain than a short one. I used muslin on the back of the fabric because it helps keep out the light. 
Ta-Da! 
After I finished the curtains I had fabric left over so I used it to cover canvases that I had around the apartments. There is no waste in my home when it comes to fabric. 
I purchased  all the different fabrics at  Joann’s. I only needed to use half a yard of fabric to cover each canvas, so I did not spend too much money on each piece. 
Its all coming together slowly. I can’t wait to show you all the before and after of my little monster room.  
Till Next time,

Magnetize your toddles puzzles & The Zoo

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Don’t you just hate it when you can’t find all the pieces to your toddlers puzzles? Or you find some pieces to one puzzle that don’t belong to that board. I know I do, its a constant struggle to keep all the pieces in one place. My little monster is always running around with the pieces and I find one in every room. That’s until now. I figured out away to keep all of the pieces together and not misplace them while storing. 

I cut up small pieces of magnets and glued them to the board and the pieces. I used crazy glue to make sure they would stay. 

Ta-Da!!
Super easy project to do on a busy week. We went to the Zoo today and we had a blast! It was my little monster’s first time visiting the Zoo and he was so excited to see all the animals. He was running around and falling down, but that’s what happens when you have a little boy.
He was holding a little bird by himself! I was so surprised, can you see it in my face? haha

Here hes is learning about fish with daddy! 

Till later,