{Happy 4th}

Just thought I'd say Happy 4th, (a day late;) & share with you a cute little craft I did for the holiday.  I can't take all the credit though, I made this at my moms relief society craft night.  What's better than doing a really cute, fun project,....... doing it with the girls.  Lots of fun!!

and all it consists of is.......wood blocks, cute patriotic paper, mod podge, & embellishments. easy peasy!

{teacher gift}

I just can't even believe it's the end of the school year.  In fact tomorrow is Little Man's last day of 1st grade.  My baby's growing up.  And of course I put off figuring out what to do for a teacher gift 'til the last minute.  At least I didn't completely forget let it slip my mind this year & rush out to buy something right after I dropped him off at school;) but I would never do a thing like that. In my quest to find the perfect idea, I came across this cute little bloggy;  She had a super cute idea for a teacher gift.  It ended up being exactly what I was looking for.  So I stole borrowed her idea & put my own twist on it.

So here enters the personalized teacher office supply kit........

As you can see I mod podged her name on the top of it, I think it turned out just perfect!

 

inside we put hand sanitizer, hand lotion, chap stick, rubber bands, large & small binder clips, staples, marble magnets, erasers, butterfly clips, small post-it notes, & of course some chocolate!

 

I'm sure you've seen this marble magnets around blog land a time or two.  You've probably even made some.  If not, you just cut the paper to size, mod podge to the back of the marble & hot glue a magnet to the back.  Easy peasy. 

And they have her initials.

   

these binder clips were as easy as the magnets were.  Just cut paper to size & mod podge.  Super cute & they match!

 

I saw this idea on a blog but can't remember where.  You just get some clear pens, pull the ink part out, wrap it with cute paper & put the ink back in.  And the best part, it matches. Of course;)

 

I've copied made cuter cards before but loved that it also coordinates with everything else.

 

the best part of the whole gift, the sweet message that Little Man wrote inside of the card.  He really loves his teacher & I know that he's gonna miss her.  I would agree with him, she was the best teacher ever!  We hope she loves her gift.  

We also added a gift card to Wal-mart in case she needs some more supplies or refills. 

{coffee table redo}

I refinished my coffee table over a year ago now.  I had posted about it on my family blog.  I had a few comment's asking how I did it.  I took before & after pics but got so excited to get it done that I really didn't think about the in between pics.  So I thought I'd do a tutorial the best I can with the lack of pics I have.  Here goes.....

I found this beauty at my local D.I. (Utah thrift store).  I loved that it was square.  At the time I had a sectional, so it was puurfect.  But then we bought new couches, yep plural; two couches.  We wanted the same amount of space as the sectional without the actual sectional. lol!  So it ended up being just as perfect.  Yay, for me!

sorry about the dark pic

I washed her up & then started sanding.  I sanded, & sanded, & sanded some more.  I even enlisted help from the hubster.  I wanted to get as much of the old finish up as I could.  

When I got it sanded the way I wanted, I started to stain her.  I had a hard time deciding on how dark I wanted it.  So I bought a Minwax walnut & dark walnut stain.  I did a small section with each color.  I ended up going with the dark walnut.  I just loved it so much more!  I just bought the plain ol'stain without poly in it because I planned do a finish at the end anyway.  But either would do, it's just a preference thing;)  

check out the difference from the original color.  Wowza, I know!  I LOVE it!!












After I got her all stained I did one coat of poly.  I then lightly sanded her, with a very fine grit sandpaper & added a glaze.  You just paint on the glaze & then wipe off.  Wiping if off can be kinda tricky.  My daddy-o who happens to be a custom house painter, well ex-house painter showed me the correct technic. 
*When you paint it on you want to do long even strokes.  So from one end to the other, as straight as you can.  Then when you take some off, you want your tack cloth or other cloth really, in kind of a waded ball shape & you do the same long even strokes.  If you get wavy, you'll see it.  Depending on the look you're going for, depends on how much you take back off. You also want to make sure you get it off as fast as you put it on.  Don't do it in direct sunlight, as it might dry faster.  You want to work with it still wet.  Also if you can't get it all off that fast, do a section at a time.  The purpose of the glaze is to give it a distressed or aged look.  I love how mine turned out! 

I also love how it left some really dark spots.  Some of those spots are from where I may or may not have sanded a little more than the rest;)  Even so, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.  The glaze also got into all the old scratches & groves.  Which I love too!! I then put a few more coats of poly, letting it dry in between coats.  If it gets where it feels a bit gritty in some areas, you can do a light sand, with a really, really fine sandpaper.  And then if needed another coat of poly.

Well there you have it.  Hopefully you get the just but if you have any questions please ask, I love comments any way I can get them;)

So what are some things your dying to refinish??  Please share, I'd love to hear what your up to........  Thanks for stopping by.  Ta Ta for now=)

{my knacks, my knacks, knickety- knacks}

Welcome to my new blog!!  I'm so excited to share some of the things I do.  I've been contemplating doing a craft-ish blog for a while now.  I'm really no expert on anything but I can say I have a knack for crafty things.  I've always got a project I'm working on or one that's been rolling around in my head just waiting to get out.  I wanted a blog as somewhere I could share my creative side.  If anything else I hope I can inspire someone else to get their craft on!!!!!

some of my knacks & things I love to do include but are not limited to:

• thrift shop & re-purpose the stuff I find. It's probably my favorite thing to do.  I find myself at D.I. way more than I'd like to admit. Which is hilarious since I wouldn't have been caught dead there a few years ago;)

• making beaded jewelry. this is probably right up there with re-purposing but I don't do this nearly enough.  It just really depends on my mood & lately I've just been in the mood to decorate my house or update what I have.  

• mod podge. really?!! you can mod podge anything, this probably goes along side of re-purposing since I mod podge a lot of the things I redo.  

• refinish furniture. again this goes with the re-purposing thing.  I guess I could have just listed the things I like to re-purpose & how, lol.   This could even become my new favorite thing to do.  It's really a great feeling having furniture that you refinished.  I've got several things in the works I can't wait to share.   

• making hair accessories for my girls.

• occasional sewing.   

• scrapbook & make cards. This I REALLY don't enough.  I love to do it but really never find the time, partly the reason I blog so much,(online scrapbook).  My goal is to complete at least a page or two every year. LOL!  Not really but it's the way it's been going.  

• I also love anything & everything that makes my job as a mom & a homemaker easier or funner. 

This list only touches a few things I love to do & the type of things you might find on my blog.  Hope you enjoy & come back often!  Thanks!!!