Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Chevron jewelry organizer


My jewelry situation is a sad mess. All of my necklaces are tangled in one giant knot (both from being clumped together and from little hands playing with them). I've been keeping all of my jewelry in an old, standing jewelry case in my bedroom, and I'm tired of looking at that big, clunky thing in the corner of my room everyday. I wanted to make something that would keep all of my jewelry organized, but look cute at the same time. Can you guess what I used?

A bulletin board! (OK, maybe it wasn't that difficult to guess...)


I originally wanted to buy a bunch of mismatched drawer pulls and drill them into my wall, but when I found this bulletin board for $6, I immediately knew what I wanted to do

To make your own chevron jewelry holder, here's what you need:

Supplies:
  • Bulletin Board
  • Spray paint or acrylic paint - 2 colors
  • Clear sealant
  • Foam brush
  • Nails
  • Double fold bias tape
  • Vinyl or contact paper for the stencil
  • Masking tape

Step 1: Paint your bulletin board.

First, you'll need to paint your bulletin board white. It may take a few coats to cover it completely, but make sure you have good coverage, especially over the wood frame. You'll want to paint the cork board too. Spray paint would probably be best, but it was night time and I was impatient, so I used acrylic paint instead.




Step 2: Apply your stencil.

Now, you'll need to apply your chevron stencil. I used my Silhouette to cut out a chevron design and apply it to my board, but if you don't have a craft cutter, just Google "chevron" images and then trace the pattern onto the paper backing of your contact paper, cut out, and stick to your bulletin board.


Step 3: Apply your second color. 

Next, put tape around the wooden edges of your bulletin board, right up to the cork so that when you apply your other color of paint, none gets on the wood border. Apply your second coat of paint and let dry. You will probably need several coats of your second color as well.
 

After your paint has dried, peel off your masking tape. As you can tell from my picture below, some of my turquoise paint leaked into my white areas. I just took a small brush and touched everything up until it looked good.


Here's what it should look like when you finish painting!


Step 4: Add nails and bias tape to hold your jewelry.

Finally, I used a ruler to evenly space my nails. I simply used a hammer to gently hammer them in without pushing them completely through the cork. From there, I just hang my necklaces on the nails.

To hold my earrings and bracelets, I folded the ends of a piece of bais tape under and hot glued them. I then placed the looped ends over a couple of nails, that's it! The earrings I just hook onto the bias tape and for the bracelets, I string them onto the bias tape and when I want one, I just take slip the end off the nail and choose the one I want.


This project turned out better than I could have hoped. I'm so glad to have a functional, pretty new jewelry organizer.



I won't even pretend that this is half of my jewelry. I might need to make myself a couple of these...

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Push Pack Giveaway with Small Batch Studio

***This giveaway is now closed***

I have another great giveaway for you this week! If you're a follower of my blog, chances are it's because you found me because you saw my Hospital Survival Kit on Pinterest or another social site. I could have never guessed how popular that little bag of goodies would be! I made the kit for a friend of mine who was due with her first baby last year. Since she had never had a baby before, my friend didn't know what kind of things she would want or need when she went to the hospital. I thought back to my last two births in the hospital and the things I wished I had brought with me, and that became my inspiration to make the kit.

Laura, a mother of 3 girls and owner of Small Batch Studio, had the same inspiration that led her to create the Push Pack, a pre-packed bag of wants and needs for laboring mamas. And the best part? The Push Pack is already assembled for you and can be customized in your choice of pink or blue. 



Laura says, There is nothing like preparing for the birth of your first-born...One thing I struggled with was what to bring to the hospital. There are lists out there, long lists. I know people who brought birthing balls, boom boxes, aromatherapy massage oils, as well as the clothes for themselves and their baby. Now, I am not saying that those things are unnecessary, but I don’t know any mom who brings the same stuff when they’re having #2.

The packing list for the subsequent births are much smaller and more practical. The only problem is now that you have a child or children, when do you have time to pack all of your essentials? Do you want to live out of a travel bag for two weeks? I came up with the idea of the Push Pack. I interviewed a bunch of moms asking them what things they were so glad to have or wished they’d had while they were in labor. The push pack includes the items that were mentioned most often. Call it wisdom and experience, peace of mind, and a gift of love all wrapped into one bag.






The Push Pack includes so many fun and useful goodies for new moms, and all bath and body products are either natural or organic. The pack includes:
  • EO® lavender scented shampoo, conditioner and bath gel
  • washcloth
  • make up remover
  • razor and shaving cream lotion
  • deodorant
  • comb and hair bands
  • lip balm
  • toothbrush and toothpaste
  • breast pads
  • maxi pads
  • disposable underwear
  • comfy socks (your choice of pink or blue)
  • playing cards
  • Motherlove Organic Nipple Cream®
  • notepad
  • thank you cards and pen
  • gum
  • Preggie Pop Drops®
  • Bellybar®
  • cup of oatmeal and spoon
What new mother wouldn't love to have all the essentials on hand when their new little one is born? The Push Pack would make a great shower gift for a friend (or keep one on hand for yourself!)

Laura is giving one of my lucky readers a chance to win their very own Push Pack! Each pack comes with the items above in your choice of blue or pink.

You can enter 3 different ways to win:
  1. Tell me which item in the Push Pack you love the most
  2. Like Small Batch Studio on Facebook
  3. Follow My Own Road and leave me a comment on this post letting me know

**The giveaway ends February 23rd at midnight CST. The winner of the Push Pack giveaway will be chosen using Random.org, and announced here on February 24th. Please make sure that your email address is linked to your profile when you comment, or include it in your comment.**

Saturday, February 18, 2012

I want candy

Valentine's Day is over....which means there are a lot of these on sale.


No matter how old I get, I still love these things. Each year I have to have several boxes of these chalky little hearts candies. They're nothing special really, but I still love them. They're kind of the fruit cake of the Valentine's Day season. You can find them in every store and people give them out because they're a staple of V-Day, but nobody really likes them. Except for me. Maybe it's because I can only get them once a year.


As the years have gone on, the messages have gotten more "high-tech" to reflect the times. Now you can find hearts that say "text me" and "dial my #." I'm going to die the day I get a conversation heart that says "facetime me."


I'm stocking up while I can, but in case your candy heart stash runs out, I found this awesome recipe to make your own at Capitol Hill Cooks so you can get your candy heart fix throughout the year :)

Now onto Cadbury Creme Eggs!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Giveaway Winner: The Sharp Crochet Hook

Happy Friday! If the promise of the weekend around the corner didn't make you happy enough, I'm excited to also announce the winner of the The Sharp Crochet Hook giveaway. I've had a lot of fun using this little tool to add decorative edges to my projects (and plans for quite a few more soon!)


After plugging all of the entries on Random.org, the lucky winner of the Sharp Crochet Hook is..............

#14, Susan D!


Congrats Susan! The winner has been sent an email. I'm sure you'll have just as much fun as I have playing with your new crochet hook.

Even if you didn't win, you can buy the Sharp Crochet Hook by itself for only $6.99, or you can purchase the combo pack that includes the hook and the Crochet Edging Handbook with 15 different crochet patters for $10.99. It's a great deal for such an awesome product. You can crochet decorative edging on all sorts of fabric (and even paper!) with this baby.

Thanks to all who entered, I appreciate each and every one of you! Make sure you check back next week - I have another really great giveaway for you then too!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

First haircut

**Make sure you go HERE to enter my giveaway for The Sharp Crochet Hook! The contest ends tomorrow at midnight**

Well, we finally did it. We took Haley to get her hair cut for the first time! For almost 3 years, we've let her hair grow....and grow and grow. She has such beautiful long curls, but it had finally gotten to the point where her hair had a mind of its own and needed a trim.

I took her to Sweet and Sassy Salon, a salon and spa geared specifically to little girls. The facility itself is the ultimate in girly-ness - everything is pink and sparkly. They do haircuts and styles, spa services, and even parties! While we were, there a princess birthday party going on that Haley was absolutely captivated by (hence the zoned out look below.) The little girls were dressed in princess dresses and tiaras and were dancing around the place. I'm anticipating a future princess party for this girl.


Since she had never even had a trim before, Haley was skeptical when the stylist put her in a chair, draped a blanket around her so she couldn't move, and broke out a pair of scissors. Each time we visit the doctor's office, Haley screams and cries, so I was preparing for the worst.


This was the first cut when her little baby ringlets were chopped off :(

Thankfully, she did surprisingly well. Maybe it was the little television that each station is equipped with or the fact that there was glitter everywhere. Whatever the case, she was all smiles by the end. After cutting her hair, they also sprayed it with glitter (are you sensing a theme?) and then she had the option of having it sprayed with her choice of several scents. We chose strawberry :)


After that, she got her nails done too which is a special treat for her since we don't usually let her get them painted. She was very clear that she wanted her nails painted orange which is news to me. Usually everything has to be pink pink pink.


On top of her strawberry-scented glitter hair cut and orange nails, she also got a tattoo on her hand, her choice of sucker, AND 2 glittery flower tattoos on her cheek, all included in the haircut. Why don't they offer this to adults??


She was such a goober after we got done. She kept asking to go home so she could show daddy her pretty nails and hair. In fact, I couldn't get her to stand still for a good picture, so this is what you get.


I hope everyone is having a great week!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Review and Giveaway: The Sharp Crochet Hook

***This giveaway is now closed***


I love to crochet, the only problem is that I can only crochet things that are square or rectangular. When my daughter was born, I made a huge baby blanket made entirely of about 70 or so crocheted squares joined together. I was pretty impressed with myself because before then, all I had made was a ton of scarves. Needless to say, when Laura from The Sharp Crochet Hook contacted me about doing a review and giveaway of her product, I was thrilled to be able to make something other than a scarf.



The Sharp Crochet Hook is a brilliant little crochet hook with a sharp point on the end that lets you easily add decorative crochet edging to projects without having to poke holes through the fabric before crocheting. You simply push the sharp end of the crochet hook through the fabric as you crochet. It's perfect for people like me who aren't experienced crocheters because you can easily add crocheted edging to projects to give them a beautiful handmade look.


Armed with my new Sharp Crochet Hook, I decided to make an appliqued shirt for my daughter. for Valentine's Day.

Supplies:
  • Shirt
  • 2 colors of felt squares
  • Sharp Crochet Hook
  • Yarn
  • Sewing machine and basic sewing materials 


First, cut out a heart from one of your squares of felt. Make sure it's about 1/2 inch smaller than you want your final heart to be since you'll be crocheting a border around it.


Next, use your Sharp Crochet Hook to crochet a border around your heart. I used The Quick and Easy Variation stitch in the Crochet Edging Handbook that came with my Sharp Crochet Hook. It was really easy to follow, and it contains 14 other stitches that I'll be trying on other projects soon.

Since the felt was so thick, I had to wiggle the fabric a little to get the crochet hook to poke through, but if I had chosen to use knit fabric instead I wouldn't have had any problems. The hook made edging SO easy since I didn't have to bother with poking holes through the fabric beforehand. I simply crocheted away while watching television and after a little while, I had a beautiful little crochet-edged heart!


Once you have your edging finished, pin your heart to your shirt and sew around the border to secure. Cut a second heart from another piece of felt and place on top of your crocheted heart. Pin and stitch to secure.



That's it! The the crocheted edges really made the shirt and gave it some personality. I can't wait to use my new Sharp Crochet Hook to add decorative edging to other projects!


So how would you like to win a Sharp Crochet Hook for yourself?

Laura is giving away one of her Sharp Crochet Hooks to one of my readers. The Sharp Crochet Hook is perfect for adding decorative edges and borders to receiving blankets, gloves, clothing, towels and even paper products!


You can enter 3 different ways to win your own Sharp Crochet Hook:

1. Like The Sharp Crochet Hook on Facebook and leave me a comment on this post letting me know
2. Tell me what you would make if you won
3. Follow My Own Road and leave me a comment on this post letting me know


**The giveaway ends at 11:59 pm CST on February 16th. The winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced here on February 17th. Please make sure you include your email address in your comment if it's not linked to your profile.**

Even if you don't win, the Sharp Crochet Hook would make a great gift -- or just buy one for yourself! You can buy the Sharp Crochet Hook by itself for only $6.99, or you can purchase the combo pack that includes the hook and the Crochet Edging Handbook with 15 different crochet patters for $10.99.


Good luck, and thanks for entering!

Friday, February 10, 2012

DIY Valentines Roundup

Need some fun ideas for last-minute valentines that you can make yourself? Here are a few great ideas I've spotted around the web!






Matchbox valentines @ Inchmark

 Valentine fish bowls @ Faboolous

Hopefully this roundup inspires you to try your hand at making your own unique valentines this year. Happy (Valentine) crafting!

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