Friday, March 02, 2012

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!


Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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!

This recipe featured on:


52 Mantels

Monday, February 27, 2012

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!

This project was featured at:


Friday, February 24, 2012

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!

This tip was featured at:


thecreativepaige.com

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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!

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