Candy Corn

This year I decided to offer a fun Halloween crafting party.  I found some rounded triangle blanks that were just screaming to be made in to candy corns.  I had a blast making my samples.  I made one with bold colors and one with a more distressed look.  I gave the attendees a few options for the words, they could choose "Trick or Treat," "Happy Halloween," or their family name.  I also gave them a choice of applying vinyl decals or using vinyl as a stencil and painting on their wording.  My first sample, with the lettering in different colors, is painted.  My second sample is vinyl lettering using outdoor rated black vinyl.  I live in the humid south and I have had no problems with the lettering peeling off.

We finished off our door hangers with fun ribbons.  I have simple taste so I just wanted one type of ribbon, but I had a whole basket of options for the attendees to play with.

Jungle Bedroom

Our home is going through some big changes.  I have a new teenager in the house who wants his own room.  And I have a little guy who is not so little any more and wants to say goodbye to mom's jungle theme.  I checked, and I had never posted a picture of my jungle vinyl.  I made a cute name for his door, but I am most proud of "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."  My brother is an amazing artist.  I envy his artistic talent.  When my first son turned one, he drew several adorable animals to decorate his cake.  I took his monkey and patiently worked until I made a vinyl design with it.  It will come off the wall soon, but it will quickly find a new home in a scrapbook.  Good buy jungle room.  Sniff.

Teacher Gift

This is not my vinyl design.  I am wracking my brain trying to remember where I acquired it so I will update my blog to give credit if I can remember.  I first put the design on a tile, and I wasn't overly thrilled.  But I loved it on a cute, decorative frame on top of notebook paper!

You've Been Assigned This Mountain...

I came across a beautiful quote.  It says, "You've been assigned this mountain to show others it can be moved."  It really struck a chord with me.  I have had some significant struggles, and when I finally opened up rather than hiding my pain, I discovered several other women making my same journey.  I was shocked.  I think there is power when we share our trials, and I think if we share our stories we can provide hope to others.

I felt there was another person who could benefit from this idea, and decided I wanted to give a sign as a gift.  I found a wood sign at Hobby Lobby on super clearance.  I brought it home, sanded it until I had a new canvas, then created this design.  I experimented with several colors and in the end I decided I wanted to go bold.  I really love color.

I hope the message inspired that person.  And I hope that maybe it will inspire you.

Christmas Craft Party

It had been a while since I hosted a party for some very special young ladies that I adore.  (I call them my "adopted daughters" and I have been lucky enough to serve them at church for the past 4+ years.)  I found some really nice cursive Christmas words in the Target $1 section and I cleaned them out.  I also found some 3-D wooden Christmas trees with great crafting potential.  Then I pulled out paint, glitter, paper, bells, ribbon, and other embellishments.  I truly loved their Christmas masterpieces.  But note to self, have them do the glitter outside next time!  Lol!

Christmas Tree String Art

I was asked to put together a holiday craft for our monthly Relief Society meeting.  I was given a picture of a Christmas Tree and small ornaments made using string art.  I was asked to duplicate the craft exactly, to which I had to decline.  It didn't take me long to find the source of the picture and it was an item for sale on etsy.  I respect the intellectual property of other crafters, so I asked them to trust me and I would come up with my own design.

This was my first experience with string art and I am pretty happy with out it turned out.  Again, I really enjoy giving people options, so I came up with two tree designs and purchased several shades of green thread.  I also pre-painted approximately 40 wood boards.  That was a ton of work, but still enjoyable.  Based on feedback from the women, about half ended up brown and the other half ended up gray, but each board was unique.

The other fun outcome was that my crafty son got very excited about string art.  He is dreaming up ideas and I can't wait to see his creations.

Thanksgiving Craft Party

This morning I will be hosting a holiday crafting party!  I'm so excited!!  I expect about 10 friends over to make wooden Thanksgiving letters. I have even more coming to make wooden Jingle Bells.  (I have a second date also scheduled so I am not entirely sure how many we will have today.)   I have everything lined up and ready to go- wood, paint, paper, modpodge, paint brushes, vinyl, scissors, ribbon, buttons, and probably the kitchen sink!  Lol.  I love crafting with good friends!!  I have finished my Thanksgiving craft so that the women can look to it for inspiration, but I will also be crafting with them to complete a custom order. 

Enter If You Dare

Confession.  I don't always cut my own vinyl.  I found this gem while scrapbook and craft shopping in Utah.  Once upon a time there were seven scrapbooking stores in the Houston area, and now there is only one.  And it is a 90 minute drive away.  So when I am lucky enough to make it back to Utah to visit family and mountains I soak in the creativity and inspiration and probably spend a little too much.  But I digress...

I saw this vinyl in a store and immediately knew what I wanted to do with it.  I wanted to put it on glass, and frame some Halloween fabric.   I love this decor approach because it allows you to use a larger frame, not being limited to a 12 inch scrapbook paper, plus there are so many wonderful fabric choices to consider!  I landed on this vibrant green and hung it on my front door.  I think I might find a new spot to hang it next year, I was so nervous that my boys would slam the door and break the frame.

Happy Halloween!!

Love is Spelled Time

I love this!!!  This was a custom request from a girl I used to teach in church, and who is now a newlywed.  She approached me before her wedding to have this made because she wanted it hung in their new home together.  She purchased the sign and we worked together to find fonts and embellishments she was happy with.  I hope they have a long, wonderful life together!!

I've discovered wood signs!

So I learned about a business in Tomball named Junkin Gypsies that helps you create wood slat signs.  I love the look of these signs so I was glad I was able to visit with my neighbor.  We had an absolute blast!!!  I know many do not like to get dirty, but I love working with my hands.  I loved the smell of the wood as I sanded the edges.  I loved hammering the nails.   And I loved painting my creation.  They had so many adorable designs to choose from, but ultimately I opted for  this Christmas tree design.  It definitely took longer than we expected, but I am super happy with how it turned out and I am already looking forward to returning to make another sign or decoration.

Families Are Forever

My heart is breaking.  I lost my dear friend after a long fight with breast cancer.  I will miss her dearly, and I ache for her husband and young children.

While she was fighting I made her two crafts.  My hope was to inspire her, to lift her up, and to give her family some comfort.  I would like to share those crafts.

The first craft I made was an anchor.  I chose this symbol in part because my friend loved the ocean, and a small group of us were lucky enough to take a cruise with her as we "Threw Cancer Overboard."  There are a few phrases you can tie to an anchor.  I ultimately landed on "Refuse to Sink" on one side and "Anchored in Christ" on the other side.  I painted the anchor her favorite navy blue and added fun chevron paper.  I then added some rope to give a 3-D effect.

The other craft I made for my dear friend was a temple.  We are both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  An important tenant of our faith is our belief that there is life after death, and that our families can be together forever.   I decorated the temple in embossed white paper, and then I added white glitter on top.  I was honored when her family displayed it at her funeral.  I miss her dearly but look forward to the day we will have a happy reunion.  Please hug the ones you love today. <3 p="">

I have tagged this post with "craft party" because I was asked to organize and lead this craft later for a Relief Society Super Saturday activity coming up in a few weeks.

Dinosaur Skull

This was a custom request for a birthday party!  I think the customer might be putting them on buckets for little excavators.

Star Trek

This was a custom request meant to be given as a gift to a Star Trek fanatic.  Live long and prosper!!

Super Saturday

I am currently serving on the activities committee for my ward's Relief Society.  Once a month we try to throw a fun, educational, uplifting activity.  And every few years our group hosts a Super Saturday full of crafting goodness.  I have sort of been designated the crafting guru of the group and will be leading three crafts.

The first craft is a small wooden perpetual calendar.  It is really adorable finished, with ribbon tied around it.  Unfortunately I didn't take a finished photograph before many hands sort of messed up my pristine craft.  I haven't had time to touch it up yet.

 The other two crafts I will be helping with  are Christmas designs on decorative charger plates.  I know simpler would have been easier, but I am all about letting people customize their crafts to fit their home and their tastes.  So I let them choose between a few colors of plates and a few colors of vinyl.  I was cutting so much vinyl between the calendar and the plates!!  But the crafts were well received and I had fun bouncing around helping the women.  I thought the Wise Men design on the red plate was stunning!

Teacher Gift

Oh my goodness I love how this wood craft turned out!  I hope our awesome teacher loves it too!

Birthday Gifts for Grandparents

Both of my parents have birthdays in July, two days apart.  This year I wanted to give them a homemade gift from my kids, with my crafty flair of course.  I decided I wanted to capture their footprints in a manner that they looked like hearts, because these boys of mine just won't stop growing up!

I purchased 20 inch long canvases and painted them neutral colors, then painted my boys' feet and carefully positioned their feet on to the canvas.  Someone we managed to get it all right the first time and we didn't even get paint on my floor.  My dad loves everything western so I added on some sheriff stars with their names and called them "little buckeroos."  I pick a quote to tug on the heartstrings for my mother's canvas.   I love how both of them came out.

Wedding Sign

I happen to know a really talented wedding planner who lives in California.  She hired me to make a vinyl decal for a wedding, and I about died laughing seeing it in action!

Halloween Countdown

This might be one of my favorite Halloween crafts.  I found a metal sign on clearance at Hobby Lobby for a few dollars.  I painted over the original design with black and purple.  Then I cut some Halloween designs I had acquired.  I decoupaged the haunted house and tree on to the board (they were cut from paper).  And then I added the title and numbers using vinyl decals.  I glued a magnet on to a green decorative marble, which we use to mark the days as we progress through October.  The only trouble we have now is remembering whose turn it is to move the magnet each day!

Mickey Stache Bank

A good friend is leaving on a Disney cruise in a week.  She wanted her children to help save up for the trip and so a while ago she asked me to make a glass block bank.  She loved it so much she decided to make additional banks as her Fish Extender gifts.  She just posted a picture of her finished banks and they look so adorable!  (She applied the vinyl herself.)

I think this is my favorite use of that somewhat strange mustache fad going on right now.  :)

The wording on the bank says "Disney Stache."

Western Fun

I was (very willingly) 'roped in' to helping with a western themed fundraiser.  I handled table decor, signage, and a photo booth.  I vinyled, I painted, I paper crafted, I even did a little digital designing.  Here are some shots from the night.  Yee haw!

The Young Women from my church congregation hosted a chili cook off.    We placed a list of voting categories on each table. 

 

 

 

Here are some shots of the photo booth props.  The finished pictures were just adorable!  I included a few shots of my family so you can see how they turned out.  :)

I also managed to squeeze in a little extra crafting to donate a set of countdown blocks to the silent auction.

I had an amazing partner in this endevour, who was actually the brains behind the operation.  She created this super jail for our party, and during the course of the night you could give our sherriff a dollar to arrest an outlaw:

 

This game was fully embraced by my middle son.  He was begging us for dollars all night and when he arrested someone the reason was usually "because I can."  Lol!  It was a super fun night!