Nut Jar Upcycle

Can you guess this little container's humble beginnings? 

Well, you likely already have because of the name of this post. :)

But in case you skimmed over that part & really are wondering, it all started with a little almond jar like this.

After we ate the yummy almonds, I kept the little jar thinking it was a great size. But what to do with it???

I finally just started playing, not really having the whole vision when I started. 

Here's what I did:

1. Paint the lid black with craft paint.

2. Cut some patterned scrapbook paper to fit the jar. 

3. Apply the paper with Mod Podge.

4, 5, 6. One by one, layer the tabs on the bottom of the jar, using Mod Podge on top of each one. 

7. Apply a layer of Mod Podge over the entire paper surface. Let dry.

8. I learned how to make rolled paper flowers using this tutorial. I made 3 bigger ones & 3 smaller ones. Apply with hot glue. 

Now to figure out what to do with it now that it's all prettied up... any ideas? 

I'm thinking it would be great as gift packaging with a sweet little gift inside (maybe jewelry?).

Please share your ideas as to what you think I should do with it! :)

Enjoy your day!

I link up to these great parties! 

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10 Spray Paint Ideas!

Now that it's March I'm crossing my fingers for the weather to get a bit warmer soon so I can get out & SPRAY PAINT!! Not that it's all that cold (we've had a surprisingly mild winter), but just cold enough to deter me from getting to some of the spray paint makeovers I would love to tackle. After spray painting 1 coat on my lamp revamp in my basement, I've learned my lesson. Definitely waiting for warmer days out in the fresh air...

So for now, I'm just compiling lots of inspiring ideas to use when the warmer weather appears. :)

Heehee, isn't this printable too funny? Click here for source.

Look at these old lamps spray painted in fun colours!

via Mod Podge Rocks!

I know my friend, Sarah is going to love this chandelier! And purple too!

via Vintage Revivals

Spray paint an old shutter & use it as a note board.

via Better Homes & Gardens

How lovely & easy is this?! Glass vases with rubber bands & then spray painted. 

Remove the rubber bands when dry & you have a cool design!

via Pinterest (I couldn't seem to find the original post this photo belonged to. If it's yours, please let me know!)

This is just a normal chair painted in such a cheery colour!

via Domestically Speaking

I love these fabulous wooden crates painted & used as shelves! Nifty & thrifty!

via Be Different Act Normal

I'm in the market for a new pepper mill since ours broke. Now I'm thinking of just finding a thrifty one & painting it!

via Kotori

This is pure happiness. Take old kitchy finds (from your basement or a thrift store) & spray paint them.

Display with pride.

via Craft

Taking ordinary items like glass bottles & spray painting them to help you beautify your home is pretty wonderful.

via The Colorful Living Project

More thrifty finds spray painted in gorgeous, trendy colours! 

via Tattered & Inked

Are you feeling inspired yet? Eeeee! I am just itching to get out my spray paint! 

If this is not enough, check out some of my previous spray painted projects. 

Do you have any painting projects in the plans for this weekend? 

Whatever you have planned, have a great one. See you next week!

Enjoy your day!

Schmoo Torte

Happy leap day! Too bad having an extra day on the calendar doesn't actually mean having extra time.

To celebrate this special day :), indulge in this yummy dessert... one of our favourites, the Schmoo Torte.

This is a light concoction of angel food cake, whipped cream, caramel, & pecans. It's like a caramel cloud.

Schmoo Torte

sauce:

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

 In medium saucepan, over medium-low heat, mix together all sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Cool. Refrigerate until cold.

cake:

1 box Angel food cake mix

1 cup cold water or amount that cake mix says

1 cup finely chopped pecans

 Mix according to package directions. Gently fold in pecans. Bake according to package directions or at 350º for 40-50 minutes, until top is lightly browned & cracks feel very dry & not sticky. Turn upside down. Cool completely, at least 2 hours.

filling:

3 cups whipping cream

1/3 cup icing sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

 Whip cream. Add icing sugar & vanilla. Continue beating until soft peaks form. 

Putting it all together:

  Cut cake into 3 equal layers. 

Spread 1/4 of caramel sauce on bottom layer.

Top with 1 cup of whipped cream. 

Repeat the layers - cake, sauce, cream. Top & ice cake with remaining cream. Drizzle remaining caramel over the top. Decorate with pecans, if desired.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

And here's the recipe again all together...

Schmoo Torte

sauce:

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

 In medium saucepan, over medium-low heat, mix together all sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Cool. Refrigerate until cold.

cake:

1 box Angel food cake mix

1 cup cold water or amount that cake mix says

1 cup finely chopped pecans

 Mix according to package directions. Gently fold in pecans. Bake according to package directions or at 350º for 40-50 minutes, until top is lightly browned & cracks feel very dry & not sticky. Turn upside down. Cool completely, at least 2 hours.

filling:

3 cups whipping cream

1/3 cup icing sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

 Whip cream. Add icing sugar & vanilla. Continue beating until soft peaks form. 

Putting it all together:

 Cut cake into 3 equal layers. Spread 1/4 of caramel sauce on bottom layer. Top with 1 cup of whipped cream. Repeat the layers - cake, sauce, cream. Top & ice cake with remaining cream. Drizzle remaining caramel over the top. Decorate with pecans, if desired.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

~~~~~

So, what are you doing with your extra day? I'm planning for my husband's birthday tomorrow. 

Happy early birthday to him!!

Enjoy your day!

Check out these great parties I link up to!

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Girly Rag Wreath (a.k.a. The Never Ending Project)

  Have you ever started a project thinking it would be pretty straightforward & relatively easy only to be proven so wrong? This wreath was that project for me. 

  Before Valentine's Day, I was going through my craft cache, determined to use up some of the supplies I had on hand before purchasing anything new. I had several fat quarters of fabric that I bought a couple years ago thinking I would make some fabric flowers & scrapbooking embellishments. I did make a few, but had lots of fabric left over... especially a lot of pink. Great for a Valentine's project, right?

  After seeing some pretty rag wreaths on Etsy, I figured I could make one fairly easily. 

  Easy? Yes. 

  Fast? No!

  A disclaimer: If I had a rotary fabric cutter & mat, that would have made a massive difference. Alas, I cut all these fabric strips with my craft scissors. I would definitely recommend using a rotary cutter.

Now, on to the tutorial. 

Supplies:

4 & 1/2 fat quarters of fabric

wire hanger

Tools:

Pliers

Ruler

Scissors or rotary cutter & mat

I used a wire coat hanger as the round form. Take the hanger & bend it into a circle. 

Using a pair of wire cutting pliers (lineman pliers, according to my husband), cut off the hook.

Form wire into a connecting hook.

Cut fabric into one inch wide strips, into a few different lengths. I did 4, 5, & 6 inches.

I wanted the fabric to have frayed edges, so after it was cut I washed it in the washing machine to achieve that. Then it needed to be ironed & the loose threads cut off. This took a few hours.  

At last! Ready to make the wreath. 

Start tying, alternating the fabrics & lengths. I just had my fabrics stacked randomly by pattern, as you can see in the photo above.

Finished! Ta-da!

I have it happily displayed in my craft room.

I love it even though it took so long to make.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

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Taming of the Toothpaste

  I'm pretty sure every family has them both... The person who squeezes the toothpaste & carefully rolls up the tube after they're done. AND the person who squeezes the tube every which way & leaves it a mess. You know which one you are, right? Hee hee. I'm a roller. :)

  The way my kids have been squeezing the toothpaste lately has been bugging me. My youngest isn't quite to the point of being able to roll the tube after she's done & after a certain point it gets hard to get any toothpaste out of the tube.

  I needed a way to help the kids get the toothpaste to the end without them always having to ask for help. I had a brainwave last week when I was cleaning out the bathroom drawer.

  Enter the bag clip. These little do-dads are made to clip shut plastic bags of food that still have some food in them. They are inexpensive & pretty readily available. I got mine on a trip to Ikea, but I've seen them at dollar stores & hardware stores too.

  Add a large bag clip to the end & pull down towards the tip. It does a fabulous job of bringing all the toothpaste to the end with the opening.

It's been working great & the kids are happy that they don't need help with it anymore! 

Happy kids, happy mom. :)

Have a great weekend!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

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Crafty Thoughts & Mountain Layouts

  I have to admit something to you.

  I like to make crafts. Oh, you knew that already? Ya, I figured. :) I'm what you'd call "a crafter".

  I also believe that a crafter doesn't have to be holed up into one specific kind of crafting. Not sure what I mean?

  Well, when I started this blog I just wanted to share the stuff I made, created, & decorated. After I did just a bit of searching on other crafter's blogs, I noticed that not many crafters were scrapbookers or card makers. And if they were, they often didn't share their paper crafts on their blogs. The same went for the paper crafters out there. Scrapbook layouts or cards were pretty much all you found on their blogs. It's almost like "someone out there" determined that a blogger couldn't share more than one genre of craft on a given blog.

  After I noticed this, I started to feel pressured (albeit a self-inflicted pressure) to make more generalized crafts & keep my paper crafts to myself. But after a few months of "hiding", I'm ready to throw caution to the wind & just be me! I have come to the realization that I can have several different crafting interests & I can celebrate them all!

  Lesson leaned.

  Am I the only one who has felt this way?

  I want to encourage you to stop hiding your talents & let them ALL shine! The world has something to benefit from what you have to bring to the table. Even if it's just a smile. :)

~~~

I'm still working on scrapping last summer's photos. I'm getting very close to finishing. Here's some of the pages from our summer vacation to Jasper National Park in Alberta.

I used a lot of Bo Bunny for these layouts. I'm in love with the wood grain paper! 

Go celebrate the talents that God put in you.

Enjoy your day!

The (Map Covered) Notebook

  There's something about a blank notebook that just inspires me to write. Especially a really great looking notebook.

  I was due for such a notebook. My current one was getting pretty full & I had a plain, black one waiting in my craft bin. It was very uninspiring & I had plans to pretty it up somehow. I recently was blessed with a bag of great maps from my parents' numerous travels to Europe. (Thanks Mom & Dad!) After unearthing some great small maps of the city of Paris, I knew exactly what to do with the bland notebook!

If you would like to make one like this, here's what I did:

Gather your supplies:

~Plain notebook (available at any stationary store)

~Map or other pretty paper

~Mod Podge

~Sponge brushes

~Scissors 

1) Determine how you want your map or paper placed on your notebook. Trim it down with a wide margin around the edges. We'll trim it down completely later. Using a sponge brush, apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the cover of the notebook. Carefully place your map or paper over the Mod Podge, making sure to smooth out the bubbles with your fingers.

2) Let dry.

3) Once dry, trim the extra paper off of the edges.

4) Apply an even layer of Mod Pogde over the paper. Be careful to get right to the corners. Let dry completely. 

  This is quite a fast craft project. Maybe half an hour plus drying time. I think this would be a great gift too - maybe for a friend who's about to embark on a European adventure? It would be a great travel journal!

I'm ready to fill it's pages with goodies...

Enjoy your Monday!

Check out these great parties I link up to!

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