Homemade Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub...

I figure that since I forgot to post last week I should post twice this week!!! =) Plus this was just too cool & TOTALLY me, so how could I resist sharing it with EVERYONE!!!

My Dear friend in Utah emailed me this today & I am in LOVE with it! It is a homemade hand scrub. All you need is:

~12 oz Mason Jar

~2 1/2 cups of Sugar
~1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
~4 Table spoons Lemon Juice

Mix really well until you get a gritty paste, then spoon into your mason jar.
You only need a very small amount and it may need to be mixed before you use it. Tie a spoon to the side of the jar & leave it with the jar!!

WAHLAAA.......

My friend used this for gifts for her son's teacher & for her friends birthday gift!!! LOVE IT!!! Hope you enjoy!!

***You can find this & other great things at www.childmade.com.***

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Recycled Fabric Ideas....

This week I have been REALLY thinking ALLOT about how I can reuse some of my OLD 'JUNK'!!! Well here are some GREAT ideas:

One of my very good friends over at Lolly Jane Boutique had this AWESOME idea. I have so much left over fabric & with having 3 little girls I should be reusing it for fun girlie things. So here is a great idea for reusing your scrap fabric or old T-shirts like she used.

Head over to www.lollyjaneboutique.blogspot.com/ for the full detail!

NEXT :

While I was 'Blog STOCKING' Like I so often do when my kids nap (I should be cleaning or I don't know doing laundry!! But I don't!) I stumbled upon this Great tutorial on making a hand bag out of a pillowcase! SWEET!!! Check it out here...

www.3punkmom.blogspot.com/

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Diaper Clutch Tutorial...

I LOVE finding new sewing projects to work on & I LOVE this one. I would have to say that this is one of the BEST tutorials that I have seen. Very details with great pictures.

I am hoping to finish mine tonight....but we will see what the hubbs thinks about me breaking out my sewing mess. =) I may loose that battle & have to finish it this weekend. But for those of you with kids or baby showers coming up, these make AWESOME gifts. I think they are so cute. You can buy material that matches your diaper bag & have them coordinate. Check it out & let me know what you think. I will post pictures as soon as I finish mine. I am also making a matching Wipes case. I will attach a link on how to make one of those as well. Even if you don't have a baby in need of wipes I LOVE these for the random messes that happen when you have kids or a messy husband ;)...

ENJOY...

http://mudpuddlesanddaisies.blogspot.com/2010/03/diaper-clutch-tutorial.html

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Late Wednesday.....

Oh man this week has been NUTS!! So sorry for not being able to post on Wednesday. I figure better late than never...RIGHT?! =) I have company in town & we have ALL been sick!!! So this week I wanted to show you a fun thing I made a while back & I enjoy it SO much that I have to share it. Since I use it EVERYDAY!!!

1st item: A dry erase board made out of an old picture frame. I painted the frame black & then to add some color I simply added scrabook paper to the back cardboard piece to the frame & added a ribbon & a scrapbook flower. Then I hot glued 6 heavy duty magnets onto the back & it hangs on my fridge. So when I am cooking dinner & I run out of something or I remember something I need to buy next shopping trip. I simply right it on here!! WAHLAH!!!!

2nd Item: My Menu board. Also an old frame that I painted black. I then used the same scrapbook idea. My amazing sister-in-law owns...www.vinylwallenvy.com & she ROCKS!! I had her print off a grid with all my meals & days printed in "mirror" format. I then carefully placed the Vinyl on the inside of the glass. So that when I write on it the vinyl wont start to peel off with multiple cleaning....Because I have some MAJOR cleaning O.C.D.'s!!!! & WAHLAH....A Menu board for the fam!!

I hope you enjoy & give one of these FANTASTIC crafty/organizing thingy mabobs a try!!! =)

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Stop Me Now!

Okay, I admit it.  I love crafts.  In fact, I enjoy looking at craft blogs almost as much as I enjoy crafting itself!  And a lot of times my days are too full to sit down and craft, so looking at crafts is the second best thing.   Of course that leads to finding all sorts of cute things I want to try which then leads to a list of items I need to get at the craft store so I can try them.  And of course then I go to the craft store and get those items and add to my stash of "as soon as I get time I'm totally making that" craft supplies.  So, since I haven't had a lot of time to craft lately, here are just a few things on my never-ending "must make" list:

Nursing cover from Sew Much Ado

T-shirt Hat from At Second Street

Candle Mirror Centerpiece from Thrifty Decor Chic

Picture Charm Bracelet from Stories by Me

Sunburst Mirror from Room to Inspire

And yes, I could go on and on and on because my list of bookmarked pages is quite long!  Anyone else have this problem?  I am a craft addict!

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A dresser re-do

My cousin Jenny was inspired to do a little before and after work with some furniture. She took the plunge and painted her dresser!  Wahoo!  Look how awesome it turned out! 

BEFORE

AFTER

Close up of the hardware. She stuck with the original and it looks so good against the blue!

Way to go Jen!  We love it! Isn't it amazing what a little paint can do?

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Do it Yourself Wall Texture

This is the BEFORE picture of my basement. I actually don't hate the green it was painted when we moved in, but after two years of living with it, I was ready for a change. The walls were pretty hammered, so instead of fixing every ding/hole individually, I decided to take on the not so small task of re-texturing the walls all by myself.

I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! Is it called old world texture? I'm not sure.

Here's a quick how to. I used light weight joint compound (drywall mud) for the texture. Using a 6" plastic paint scraper spatula thingy I smothered the walls with it. You want to thinly and smoothly cover a 3'x3' section at a time. Then with the clean side of the paint scraper, drag it slowly over the top of the wet drywall mud to create the different lines and/or spots. Try to avoid leaving paint scraper lines. You just want the natural looking lines that appear while slowly dragging the scraper downward. Hmmm. That sounds confusing. Maybe I will video tape myself doing it sometime for a better explanation.

Next, let the mud dry completely and then sand over all the walls lightly with a swiveling sandpaper stick? Wipe dust particles off of walls with a damp cloth. Now you're ready to prime. Priming on top of drywall mud is very important. I used two coats of primer because the mud soaks it up like crazy. AND primer IS less expensive than paint. Then I used one coat of beige colored paint on top of the primer. You only need one coat because you will be covering any imperfections with the glaze.

Last but not least, GLAZING. USE DISPOSABLE GLOVES FOR THIS. Get yourself a few cheap sponges. I prefer to use the car washing sponges at Wal-Mart, cut in half. I bought a quart of Van Dyke colored glaze from Kwal Paint and only ended up using 1/3 of it for the whole living room in the basement. Dip one end of the sponge in the glaze and don't be afraid to just start working it onto the wall in small sections. Really get into the different grooves that you made with the drywall mud. You want the grooves to be darker. The glaze is oil based, which makes it easy to play with since it won't dry fast. Then using the other end of the sponge, wipe it off. Use circular motion and heavy pressure to put it on and circular motion and lighter pressure to take it off. If you like the darker look, do it dark. If you like a lighter look, do it light. Clear as mud, right?

This is the accent wall. I didn't glaze the accent wall. The red is from Behr Paint called Red Red Wine. It took like three coats.

This technique is time consuming, but WELL worth it. I think it turned out great and now I want to do my whole house like this! What do you think?

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REAL Tools for a REAL Boy

My son is six years old and has always been obsessed with how things works.  He loves to figure things out and he's pretty amazing at doing it.  Any time I work with my tools he likes to be right there next to me.  And whenever one of the toys in the house runs out of batteries, he is the first one to grab a screwdriver and batteries and replace them.  (Thank goodness because I really don't like doing it!)  I've never bought him play tools because he doesn't want to PLAY with tools, he wants to USE tools.  So for Christmas I bought him his very own set of real tools!  I found a small plastic tool box and filled it with a small hammer, screwdrivers, a tape measure, a wrench, pliers, oh, and some batteries so he can replace all the old ones to his heart's content.  I also got him a small battery operated screwdriver. 

I've been meaning to put his name on the outside.

Then, knowing his love for using a screwdriver, I made something for him to practice on.  I got a wood plaque and the letters to his name, painted it, and then pre-drilled the letters to the plaque.  I then outlined the letters with a sharpie so that when he removed them, he could put them back and match up the holes. 

He loves his tools! And he has something he can really put together and take apart with them.

Linking up to the usual parties on our sidebar as well as:

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Wednesday....

Well Wednesday came too quickly this week. I had planned on finishing A LOT more projects than I actually accomplished while the hubbs is MIA! Well unfortunately there was a lot more to do than I had expected. Isn't that usually how it goes? I always seem to think I can do more than is possible!

So here is the one & only project I completed......My China Hutch. I have to apologize for the poor lighting. I will post better pictures tomorrow when the sun is in that room. I was tired of the all over white. I have white dishes & I wanted them to stand out. So I painted the inside a barn red. I LOVE IT!!! I then painted the outside an antique white. Once it was completely dry I then sanded the edges for a warn look & polished it off with a "rub" technique. I used a dark walnut stain & worked it into the corners & grooves to give it a hi-lite. I am so pleased with the out come. I hope you all enjoy.

Now I have to try to finish the Living room set before the hubbs gets back tomorrow night.....I just don't see it happening. We'll see though.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

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At home with Jill

My cousin Jill sure has an amazing eye when it comes to design. She has so graciously let us use her pictures for our blog. Thanks Jill! Her and her husband, Rylan bought his grandparents home last summer and have really enjoyed fixing it up. I mean check out these before and after's of the living room. I am drooling.

BEFORE:

(the fireplace is behind the picture)

AFTER:

Isn't this to die for?? I mean complete transformation, right? They just put the built in's and the new fireplace right over the old red brick.

BEFORE entry way:

AFTER entry way:

BEFORE (other angle of living room):

AFTER:

Look at the walls! Look at the decor! So perfect!

Thank you, Jill for sharing your remodel with us. I am excited to see more before and afters of your beautiful home!

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