Melted Crayon Glass Ornament

I love all the melted crayon art on pinterest!! And I've had these glass ball ornaments for years that I wasn't sure what to do with. This cute baby game together in about 5 minutes!

Take one ornament and a couple crayons of your choice. I used purple & teal.

I broke them into 1/2 inch pieces and put 3 of each color in the ornament.

Heat with a hair dryer and swirl around as the crayons start to melt. You may want to wear a glove or hold the ornament with a washcloth. As I was turning it my fingers were feeling the heat. 

**Don't forget to cover your work area w/ newspaper in case any melted crayon drips out the top.

Isn't it pretty!?!

Add a pretty ribbon and hang on the tree. 5 minutes to prettiness. 

I can't wait to try different color combinations!!

Yellow House w/ White Trim

I'm posting this one for my mom. : ) What a pretty house. But she couldn't convince dad to have their house painted like this!

30 sucks

30 doesn't really suck, but I thought this was a fun gift for my sis-in-laws surprise party.

The day before the party I got a pkg. delivered in the mail. The base is a big piece of styrofoam that I covered with scrapbook paper. 

Here was my inspiration.

They have a tutorial on their site:

http://sistersstuff.blogspot.com/2010/07/30-sucks-tutorial.html

Rag Quilt

Randi told me she wanted a quilt with unicorns AND rainbows. I thought that would be close to impossible, but then, tho & behold, I found this fabric at Hancock.

She was super excited and said it was "so pretty!!"

I found a few other fabrics with rainbows. My mom is a big quilter and had some miscellaneous pastel fabric that she gave me. I had to cute 260 squares - 130 for each side. Not my favorite part!

This was not my easiest project. I think the batting I chose for the inside was too thick and sometimes left me with spots where I missed sewing of the edges together.

But all in all, I was happy with how it turned out. And, most importantly, so was Randi!!

To see the inspiration and tutorial, go to Imperfect Homemaking blog here:

http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2012/01/easy-thrifty-pretty-rag-quilt-tutorial.html

Monogram wall hanging

I'm sure you've seen these on etsy.com. Super cute monogram wall hangings.

You can find them here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/79692400/custom-button-letter-wall-art-orange

This is the one I made.

I was really a lot easier to make than I thought. I should have taken photos as I was working on it, but I was just so excited to get it done. And my hubby gives me a hard time if I have too many projects going at once, so I wanted to prove him I would finish it in 1 day!! : ) Luckily I have been saving buttons for years and found a bunch at a garage sale last summer.

Old Window Wall Art

My parents live in an old house that is over 100 years old. Gradually over the last few years they've been replacing some of the old windows. The last time I was there they had just replaced this old window.

I removed any hardware and sanded it down.

First I painted it brown for a base, then a burgundy wine color over the top.

I lightly sanded and distressed the window so you could see the brown or wood underneath the burgundy color. I cleaned up the hardware that I wanted back on and replaced it. I also add some hangers to the back so I could put it on the wall.

Tie on hooks with twine, add photos and voila! - it's done.

Some of my inspirations:

http://pinterest.com/pin/66287425735187212/

Project Complete - Eclectic Couch

I finished the couch in our basement / kids playroom. I found this couch on pinterest that I loved - a cool mix of crazy colors & patterns.

http://www.raftertales.com/rooms/kids-room-decorating/kids-playroom-ideas/

Here's our finished couch.

We happened to have the striped blanket. The couch was dirty & dingy looking, so I just covered the pillows w/ a fabric pillow cover. The kiddos helped me pick out the fabric. Of course it doesn't matter how pretty it is, they still love jumping on it!

Funny Valentine

This one is so cute and sooo easy.

Everything is in 3D now. Well, this is a 3D Valentine card -

from http://www.designmom.com/2010/02/done/.

Just take a photo of your little one w/ their hand clenched and sticking out towards you. Add your own Valentine greeting (I did mine in Photoshop). Print 4x6 photos. Punch a couple small holes or use an exacto knife for the lollipop to fit through.

Super cute - right? : )

Their own art

This has actually been hanging in my daughter's room since she was 2, but it seems like something you would see on pinterest. I just got a canvas frame at Michaels, got out the fingerpaints, and let her go at it. I made sure I wrote her name and the date she painted it along one of the sides. Perfect art for her room!

Owl Pillow

Owls are everywhere right now! I just love them all. Some cools ideas from pinterest.

super cute from The Pioneer Woman

http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeandgarden/2011/11/i-really-wish-i-could-sew/

really adorable

http://www.aspoonfulofsugardesigns.com/search?updated-max=2012-01-10T16:18:00%2B08:00&max-results=4

My daughter and I made our own owl pillow. There's some alliteration for you. : )

We just used some scraps of fleece we had on hand. Miranda's 6 and I let her draw the pattern for the eyes. She was also in charge of making the beak. The owl's a little lopsided, but all in all, not a bad job for an afternoon of fun.

Making Pillows & more

This project is actually a combination of 3 inspirations from pinterest. We have this couch in the basement that is supposed to be creme colored, but it's getting very dingy looking. We don't have any rules with this couch - the kids can eat on it, jump on it, make it into a fort, etc. But I wanted it to look nice and actually be useable. So the first step was to cover the pillows (and fix that huge rip in the cushion).

So on pinterest I found a tutorial called "Easiest Pillow Cover You'll Ever Sew - A Tutorial" at this website - http://www.hookedonneedles.com/2010/03/easiest-pillow-cover-youll-ever-sew.html

And it was super easy! It's a work in progress, looking for the perfect fabric. But I've made 4 pillow covers so far.

Here's the pillow from the tutorial.

Here's 1 of my pillows. This is the backside (duh : ) The front side is my 2nd inspiration from pinterest. I saw this cute wall hanging with handprints on it. I love anything with handprints. They just kind of stop time for a minute, saying "I was here! I was really this big once!" I don't think I'll ever be able to throw away and hand turkey my kids make, ever.

Someone on etsy.com is selling these cute kits to make a handprint tree for Father's Day.

Cute - right!?! 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/75396498/fathers-day-gift-diy-childs-handprint?ref=v1_other_2

I made one with our handprints, but painted it on some fabric I had.

And added our name & date "carved" in the tree. Next post will be this cute pillow on our finished couch. Only 2 more pillow covers to make!

A change in plans

So it's been a pretty decent winter, but we still aren't really hitting the parks. I'm still going to call this XYZ Experiment, but my main focus is now going to be my obsession with pinterest. It's so cool & fun & inspiring. I'll be posting my inspirations from pinterest and how I used them to make my own version. I've already been working my crafty fingers to the bone. I can't wait to share what I've done!!