This is a paper towel holder I bought a few years ago.  I was never all that crazy about the color, since my kitchen walls are red, it just sort of blends in.  I repainted it black and white, and now I love it! 

Trick or Treat

Here's one of my favorite door decorations I made....

Halloween

Got this idea off of Pinterest.  My 7 year old helped me make it.  We had fun doing it together! 

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I cut out some "candy corn" with my jigsaw.  Thought they were a cute addition to my little witches.  The witch above I cut from wood and painted, but the witch below I made from cornsilks. 

Some new jewelry I made....

My best friend Carla and I got together this summer for a girl's weekend. No kids. No hubbies. Just time to talk and craft, drink coffee leisurely (what's that?), sleep in. It was SO much fun. We decided it was going to have to be a yearly retreat for us! Here are some of my jewelry pieces I made that weekend.

Hard to tell from this picture, but these beads are maroon. I refer to them as my Aggie earrings and bracelet! (Now I need to make an Aggie necklace to go with them!)

Fabric Flowers

Fabric Flower Pins

These are flower pins I made using my big shot machine and die cut. They are so cute attached to a purse or tote bag. I've made some with fall fabrics, halloween fabrics. The possiblities are endless. And they are actually pretty easy to make! Here I used four different pieces of denim for the blue jean one, and four different shades of yellow for the sunflower.

More Fabric Flowers...

These are a birthday present for a friend of my youngest son. I attached a barrette clip and a pin on the back, so they can be versatile in how they are worn. The barrette clip can be used in your hair, but also to attach it to a headband.

Rag Rug

This is a rag rug I've been working on and off for a while now. Everybody that sees it always asks the same question, "How long did it take to make?" It's hard to say, because I would just work on it here and there, mainly when I was bored while watching tv. But if I had to estimate, I'd say it took maybe a total of 10 hours. Again, spread out over a year, just a little here and there.

The material I used was scrap pieces of material, saved from various projects over the years. And I'm talking years....curtains from childhood, bandanas from pets over the years, onesies my kids wore as babies, shirts they wore as toddlers, material I used to make a changing table cover when I thought I was pregnant with a girl (and it turned out to be a boy!), material from a skirt my mom made me when I went on the one and only date my husband and I had before we got married...etc. Stuff like that. So needless to say, it is a rug made with love and memories!

I bought the actual rug from Wal-Mart for around $4 dollars.

I cut the material strips 10.5 inches in length, but made them various sizes in width. I used a rotary cutter on a self-healing cutting matte. Makes cutting SO much easier. And you can do several layers at the same time. Then I just used a crochet needle and pulled the material through the rug strands. I did not knot them, because my mom thought the knots all through it would be uncomfortable on the feet. (The only thing about that, is when it comes time to clean it, I don't know if it'll all fall out or not. I'm thinking I'll just spray it down with Lysol and it toss into the dryer to fluff for a few minutes.)

Jewelry Holder

So with all my new jewelry I've been making, I needed a new holder for my necklaces and bracelets. I hate it when I'm trying to pick out a necklace and they're always tangled up. Now I should have plenty of room.

I took a picture frame I bought at a garage sale for $2, turned the canvas around and sponged painted the back of the canvas with 3 colors of brown. Then I painted all the knobs, screwed them in, and there you have it. No more tangled necklaces!

Jewelry Making

My newest endeavor...

I'm trying my hand at making jewelry. I'm still new at it, but I thought these turned out pretty cute. My best friend Carla and I are going to have a girl's weekend this summer and we'll be learning together to make a few more that are a bit more complicated.

This is a little spice rack I found at a garage sale. The person obviously smoked because it was covered with what I know was yellow nicotine. It took a lot of sanding, but after it was cleaned up, I think it turned out cute.

I use it for crafting items.

This is a kleenex box cover I also got at a garage sale. It was VERY ugly when I got it. Amazing what a little paint can do.

Again, I found this jar at a garage sale, and it was even uglier than the kleenex box cover, if that's possible! We use it as our gum jar now.

My Country Chickens...

I just love these chickens. This is probably the hardest jigsaw creation I've made, because all of the little pieces of each chicken are cut individually, then wired onto the piece as a whole.

Thanksgiving.....

Here's a Thanksgiving Turkey I made. Cut it from 1/2" pine, sanded, and painted it.

Christmas Crafts......

Here are a few of my jigsaw creations for the Christmas season. Each of these I cut using my jigsaw and then painted.

"Let It Snow" Snowman

Heartwarming Hugs Snowman, with two other snowmen

Snowbunny with Christmas Tree

Ho, Ho, Ho Santa

Snowmen Trays (I did NOT cut these!)

Hair Bow Holders

My best friend asked me to make her a bow and ribbon holder for her (adorable) daughter, Ashlyn. Right now, she shares a room with her brother, so we didn't want it to look super girly. So we went with a red, white and black lady bug theme. Thought they turned out cute! (The ladybug holder has a spot to add a picture, which hasn't been added yet!)

Beading!

Beading!!!

I've started teaching myself how to make jewelry. Here are a couple of my very first trys. I also want to try making some beaded crosses. I saw one at a friends house recently and thought it was so pretty. I googled "beaded crosses" and found a really neat website, Rustique Art. She has some gorgeous examples.

Blog Change

All of my personal pictures will be on the Family Life page.

Teacher's Stool

My cousin Stacey asked me to paint a stool for her classroom of first graders.

Here is what it looked like in the beginning.



Here is what it looked like when I was done.





This is the underside. I added some inspirational quotes along with a picture of a sunflower. My 13 year old son commented, "But no one will see those." I told him, "But Stacey will know it's there. It gives it a personal touch." And then the next day while I was painting on the top, my 5 year old was crawling on the floor and said, "Oh mommy, I see the pretty sunflower underneath." There you go.

These are tacks that I made out of polymer clay and painted.


We use a cork board daily at our house,
so these make it a little more fun.

Everyday Decorations

All of my wooden crafts, I cut myself, using my jigsaw, and then paint.

Snuggle Inn



Sweet watermelon












Honey Bees









Garden Girl














Thyme for Friends Girl