Pinterest Inspired Projects

Holiday time was the perfect opportunity to create some Pinterest inspired projects/gifts! 

First up, I saw this on http://www.iowagirleats.com/ (one of her Friday Favorite finds).  You thread three different sizes of ornaments onto a knitting needle, largest on bottom and smallest on top.  Yep,that's all it is!

And here is my version:

Not sure I love how it turned out, but the hostess who I gifted it to did.  She said she had eyed one on Pinterest and really liked it.  I think with some garland around the bottom it will look better.  The ornaments cost $10 (three packages of varying sizes) and one knitting needle (purchased in a package of two for $3). 

Moving on, the next project was for my goddaughter.  I saw this and knew I wanted to create a headband/bow/brush caddy for all of her cute hair accessories.  This is not the original one I saw, but I can't find my pin right now :( 

So I gathered all of my supplies-Oatmeal container, Modge Podge (which looking back, I could have done without), rubber cement, sponge brush, fabric (I changed my mind after this picture was taken),  a pair of scissors, ruler, 2 kinds of ribbon (one not pictured) and printer paper (not pictured).  I didn't buy one single thing for this project.  I had everything I needed, I love when that happens!

First, I covered the the container in printer paper (to hide the writing) and then fabric.  I used rubber cement for both of these steps, but you could use Modge Podge. 

Next up, I covered the fabric in Modge Podge to coat it.  I don't think it made much of a difference (this is why I said looking back, I would have skipped this step). 

After that, I spaced out skinny purple ribbon around half of the container for clips to be placed on.  I hot glued the ribbon at the top, middle and bottom.  This secured the ribbon and allowed some areas to be lifted up for the clips to attach.  Then, I hot glued the white ribbon around the top and bottom edges.

The final step, was to decorate the top and add some bows!

This was an easy project that took about 20 minutes froms start to finish. 

The next pinspired project was chalkboard serving plates.  I saw these wine glasses and thought they were too cute! 

The friend I thought of when I saw these is not a wine drinker so I wanted to make something else she could use when she entertains or goes to her bunco group. 

Sorry, no picture of the supplies before starting.  I bought two large plates at Ikea for $8 a piece, a bottle of Martha Stewart chalkboard paint from Michael's for $7 and I already had a sponge brush.  First, I taped off the center and then got to painting.  The bottle says to paint one coat and then wait an hour before applying a second.  After your two coats are applied, you have to wait 24 hours for the paint to set.  I followed these directions exactly and it worked out perfectly. 

Once I took off the tape it looked pretty good :)  Sorry for the blurry picture.

I repeated the process with the second plate, cured the plates by lightly running a stick of white chalk sideways around the painted edges, then wiping it off with a damp towel and then packed them up.  I found these appetizer recipe cards at SteinMart and knew they would be pefect with the plates.  I added some chalk and this gift was ready to go!

Maybe I can fix my camera and pick up my work area next time so you can have some decent pictures to look at. 

The last pinspired project was an edible one, yum!  I saw this:

And knew it would be pefect to bring to my mother-in-law's house for our Christmas Eve get together.  I stocked up on veggies and created this one:

The veggie Christams tree was a big hit with my MIL's delicous dill dip!

Those are my Pinterest projects, have you been crafting/baking/making lately?

 

Vintage Shopping (Alternative Title-The First Real Post With Pictures)

One of the goals for my time off of school was to hit up some places that I have never been.  So yesterday my mom and I headed to Deep Ellum (downtown Dallas area) to visit Lula B's. 

This is a vintage shop chock FULL of knick nacks, clothes, furniture, pictures and more.  Lots more!  I saw some really cool pieces and then I saw a lot to make you go, hmmmmmmm.  As soon as we walked in I spied this sign which I fell in love with.

If you can collect it this store had it.  Anyone need some dishes or perhaps a radio?



I stumbled upon a tiny booth (barely big enough for me to fit in) that had bins, buckets and boxes full of old black and white photos.  There must have been hundreds of pictures.  It was fascinating to flip through snapshots of people's lives.  I was trying to think of something I could do with these when my mom suggested cards.  Perfect!  Too bad she suggested it after we left the store.  Guess that means I will have to go back to the store, darn :)





I came home with this little guy.  I don't know how I grew so fond of roosters, but they have been slowly taking over my kitchen for the last seven years.  I am hoping since he's small and translucent maybe the hubs won't notice him ;) 

Since vintage browsing/shopping can work up an appetite we went to the Mad Hatter Cafe.  I had read good things, it was ok.  Not bad, but not what I hoped for.  They had a cute Alice in Wonderland theme going on and they had lots of vegetarian options so that was neat.

Since the day was still early we ventured into another funky area of Dallas, the Bishop Arts District.  One of my favorite places down there is a micro botique called Indie Genius.  It is in a warehouse and broken up in lots of different stalls with wares all made by local artists.  I have bought lots of gifts there before and I always admire the uniqueness of the things inside. 

All in all, the day was a success and we had a blast.  Now, I am off to continue checking things off the list!



Jumping in with both feet

After admiring dozens of creative and witty bloggeres share their lives, recipes and crafts I figured I would try and do the same.  Although I will never measure up to some of the lovely ladies whose blogs I read (stalk) on a regular basis I am ready to give this the ol' college try. 

One of the high points for every teacher is the well deserved WINTER BREAK!  I have a mile long list of Pinterest inspired projects to complete, two books I want to finish reading, long ago played in the theater movies I hope to watch and lots of lunch dates to look forward to.  In addition the all the items listed above I hope to clean, organize and entertain.  Oh, if time allows I might relax ;) 

Even if no one ever reads this little slice of the blog world I will have a record of the projects I tried (and hopefully completed sucessfuly), recipes I experimented with and adventures I had along the way!