Glitter-tastic

Who watched the series premier of GCB on ABC?!?  I love Kristen Chenowith (is that how you spell her name) and knew this show would be funny because A)its set in Texas and we all know Texas is the best state :) and 2) it has a great looking cast.  Your probably wondering what does GCB stand for...well I was wondering through the whole show too until the very end when they threw a line out at you and you have to be stealthy to catch it "Good Christian B****es" and let me tell you the show was every bit about that.  I like to think I am a religious person but I have to laugh at the stereotype that southern women have about Christianity and this show plays up that stereotype and its hilarious.  If you didnt catch it Sunday night get your butt on Hulu and watch it, you'll thank me later.

Ironically I have a glitzy post for you today (GCB ladies are covered in sequins, hense the irony) and it cost me a whopping $15 yay!  Let me first start be reminding you of the horror that is the fish eggs/water beads that had formally inhabited my glass vases.  Check out my post here for the full story.  To remind you of the ugly here it is, oh and I was oh so fortunate to find nasty MOLD in one of the vases so GROSS on those nasty fish eggs and I will forever be calling them.

It looks so sad doesnt it?!  Well I thought of adding rocks to this to fill it back up but rocks are expensive and I was going to need a lot since these are larger vases.  Then I ran across this pin on pinterest.  Whoever pinned the project originally was not a good pinner, they pinned the main page so I had to go through each post to find where the post was, which thankfully an excerpt was posted in February which had a link to the original post so it didnt take too long to find the awesomeness that is the glitter project.  The original post was for ornaments but you can easily use it for anything glass.  To see the original post check it out here, also they have the original tutorial so I will let them show you how its done but I have some additions below that might help.  The site is Plum Adorable and the site is plum adorable (pun intended lol)

 The pledge cleaner is the one for title and vinyl floors not the hardwood one.  The original post shows the really fine glitter but I didnt want to spend $8 for one container of glitter so I went to the craft section (instead of the scrapbook section) and found this bigger sized glitter for $4/bottle, much better price and I got black and purple to make a pretty mix.  Confession, my eyes are always bigger than what I need and I have 80% of the glitter left, so even though you think you may need the giant bottles, you will probably only need the smaller ones.

 Be careful when you pour in the cleaner if you get it on the outside it gets really sticky and grimy so make sure and wipe it off asap...and if it gets on the counter same goes there this stuff isnt really meant to be on granite.

 Put the glitter in right away...I wasnt sure if you needed to let the cleaner dry or not, I assumed not and that seemed to work for me.  See my glitter mix isnt it pretty?!  I used only like 3 spoons of the glitter and it covered the whole vase, it was fun to swirl it around and watch it cover everything.

 Shot from the inside, I covered everything as much as I could, you cant really see here but on the inside it looks like from the outside you will be able to see right through the vase...

 But see here you cant it looks awesome!  For my glitter project this was for the flowers so from here is my own project spin off!  I had extra flower foam pieces from when I made the flower box so I cut those down to fit the vase.  Cutting foam is super easy you just need a regular knife and it cuts like butter...easy peasy.

 I hot glued this to the bottom of the vase but with all the glitter that really was useless since it just came off.

 I added all the flowers and now it looks awesome because they stay put, they look fuller and they are in a vase that sparkles...literally!

I think the black and purple glitter mix was great it gives the vase a little more dimension which I was looking for and it didnt cost very much and that is almost the best part.  The best part being I love glitter :)

 See how nice they look on our pretty dresser!  I am so happy with how this project turned out and it took less than 20 minutes to do both.  What do you have around your house that you can glitter-fy?!

Project Housewife Out!

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Crochet Part 3

As you all know I am on a journey to crochet.  So far I have only made one mess that cant even be called anything, and the other I claim is a pot holder but lets be honest it was another practice mess.  So this past weekend I went to my moms, looked up a pattern (which you can see here) and tried to make it.  Well as you can see here the hat is totally cute and looks pretty easy.

So cute right!  Well first it said you need a pom pom maker, and I dont know what that is, so that part I didnt do but I set out on making the hat under the supervision of my mom.  According to the pattern I needed a P needle but I didnt bring anything but my K needle, but hey how big of a difference could it make right?!  WRONG!  So take a look again at that cute orange hat that would have looked so cute on my head...ok and now look at what I ended up making.

Ok so its not an adult sized hat, but hey SUCCESS it does resemble a hat, a baby hat, but a hat none the less!!  Even though it didnt turn out even close to the picture, I learned how to read a pattern (ok well just that particular pattern) and something other than a square.  An overall success, a success that I will deposit in the garbage because really what am I going to do with it, but still.  Its pretty yarn right, I thought so too, Im trying to make a scarf so we will see how long I can get it before the ball runs out, Ill keep you posted on that one its taking a little longer than I though it would.

Have you checked out Lion Brand Yarn's website yet to get some awesome patterns and tips on how to crochet?  You havent?  Well why not!  Get your butt going!

Project Housewife Out!

I DID IT!

Happy Monday everyone!!  Today's post isnt really a project I can teach you (yet) but its a project I have been working on for a while.  I dont know when it started but it seems that the crochet trend is back by popular demand.  I love crocet hats and scarves and decided I wanted to learn as well.  I bought some supplies and had my mom and Geri teach me the basic single stitch.

This is what I started with but Geri quickly told me to get started I needed a bright color yarn and a thicker guage so that it is easier to see what you are doing.

So after getting super frustrated with this teal piece, I moved on to bright yellow and a pretty thick yard.  Mom and Geri helped me for a while but then I went home and was on my own.  I thought I was doing pretty well, set my work down and realized I was not.  I was doing something wrong on the turn but didnt know how to fix it.  So I set it down and picked it back up the next day, tried a different tecnique and that seemed to work so I finished my ball of yarn and was just happy to have a finished product.

I realize its not much of anything really but I was happy to have something to show for all the work I did.  I am great at the single stitch now but still need to work on the turn.  My next attempt will be with the teal yarn and with the double stitch...stay tuned to see how that adventure turns out.  One day I will have a pretty hat to show you but it seems like that day is a little further off than I thought.

I did want to share a really great website with you, Lion Brand Yarn has a great website with videos and print outs, free patterns and of course yarn and supplies.  I love that this company has all these free resources to show you how to crocet.  I watched the video to figure out the beginning slip knot but needed someone to actually sit with me and show me the chain, Im really not a great visual learner but I caught on eventually.  If you are interested in learning how to crochet go check out Lion Brand Yarn, see their resources and buy some of their yarn (I really like martha stewart styles) and get started. 

I did realize though that this may be a hard project for me, my joints get really stiff when I do this and that may just be because I am just learning and my fingers are a little too tense but I have to take frequent breaks to let my hands rest.  So just be patient and keep with it dont give up keep plugging along.  I cant wait to share more crochet adventrues with you!

Any of you out there crochet?  I would love to hear some tips you have or your favorite pattern, share with us!

Project Housewife Out!

Eggs Over Easy

This is what I have for you today...a pretty egg!  Yay!  And to top it off its super easy...BIG YAY!  Below is the final product to get you excited for the building process.  My mom made these when I was a kid and they were always my favorite ornament on the Christmas tree.  Well she finally showed me how to do them the other day and I was over the moon excited to try them out.  Like seriously excited!  I thought these were made from fabric and I was thinking they were going to be super hard but boy was I wrong!

What you will need for this project:

• 1 1/2 inch ribbon (a whole spool)
• styrafoam egg (any size you want, I used the larger egg)
• flat top stick pins (make sure they are point on the end and not straight)
• Decorative ribbon, any kind you want
• Scissors
• Hot Glue

To start, cut a bunch of ribbon in 1 1/2 inch strips.  Start with about 20 then cut more if you need it.  If you are using a smaller egg maybe dont cut as many to begin with.

Once you have all your strips cut you can start pinning them to the egg.  To start pinning, you want to start at the bottom of the egg (the smallest end) and make 4 points to cover the styrafoam.  I did the 2 sides facing each other then the other 2 sides and that seems to work best for me, but do whatever works for you.  To get the ribbon the nice pointy look make a triangle fold on the ribbon length-wise.  Press the edges down and make a good crease.  Flip the triangle over and use 2 stick pins to hold the ribbon in place on the egg.  I used one pin in each corner but if you want to do just one in the center that works too.

Work your way around the egg, remember that they wont line up exactly, but make sure as you work your way up the egg that you cover up the top of the ribbon triangle as well as the pins.

It doesnt look pretty at first but as you plug along it starts looking like a fancy egg.  I was getting more and more excited as I worked my way up.  Ok so once you get to the top this is what you have (kinda) right?

Wow what a pretty egg you made!  But how do you cover the top?  Well take one more of your ribbon strips and fold it like so.  What I did was do the triangle fold on both sides of the ribbon to make this little box, that way all the edges are clean.

You dont have to make a nice box like this you can just use a regular stip of ribbon, but I liked the finished edge look better.  Now pin this to the top of the egg

Ok you have all your ribbon on, now you are ready for the finishing touch...FANCY RIBBON.  I have an unhealthy love of ribbon Im sorry I cant help myself :)  So cut a LOOOOONG stretch of ribbon and cut as many pieces of it as you want in all the lengths you want.  Make sure (if you want to turn this into an ornamanet for Christmas) that you leave on long enough to make a loop to hang and another long enough to make a pretty bow.  Once you have all your ribbon ready, start gluing it to the top.  Make sure its centered otherwise those of you that are OCD, it will drive you insane.  What I did was glue the strands of ribbon on first (although for the second egg I pinned them on), then I glued the loop, the I topped it with the bow, that way the glue as covered by the knot of the bow.  If you want to pin the ribbon on thats ok, but keep in mind that if you are planning on hanging these then the pins may not hold, thats where the hot glue comes in, but pins are just as good if you are just using them for decorations.

I know the picture looks a mess but doenst the final product look so pretty!

What I love about these, besides them being so darn pretty, is you can do different ribbon so they dont just have to be for Christmas ornaments, you can make them for Spring and Summer and even fall!  You are only limited by what ribbon you have (and of course the fact that it needs to be 1 1/2 inch, that makes it hard).  Have you made one of these babies?  I would love to see how yours turned out!

Project Housewife Out!

Im linking up!  Come check me out at A Bowl Full of Lemons , Tip Junkie, Lil Pink Pocket, Southern Lovely, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blissful and Domestic, House of Hepworths, Bacon Time, Serenity Now, While he was Napping

   

Thankful Thursday

Well its Thursday and you know what that means...its THANKFUL THURSDAY!  Today I am thankful for Michaels store.  Yes I know this is a silly thing to be thankful for, but they always seem to have what I am looking for.  For my crayon art they had a 64 pack for crayons for $1!!  What a bargin, and they always have 40% off coupons.  I love that store, I just wish Michaels and Hobby Lobby would have a baby and then that store would be the most amazing store in the world!!  If you dont know what Michaels is or you dont have one if your area I am truly sorry to hear that.  You  need to start your own franchise of Michaels and you will be a millionaire, you know how much we ladies love to craft, you would never go out of business...no seriously when have you ever seen a Michaels shut down...NEVER thats when!  Here is a link to Michaels so you can check it out in case you dont know what it is.  http://www.michaels.com/  Now get out there a shop till you drop and come up with some fantastic crafting ideas!!  Until then here is a little inspiration for you.

I wish I had an awesome craft room like this, sadly I dont but we can always dream!  Happy crafting!!

Project Housewife Out!

An Organized Mess

A while back my friend Lauren and I decided it would be such a good idea to organize and share our recipes with each other.  Lauren found this cute idea on a blog and I cant remember where she found it from, but the pages were so cute, each section given a scrapbook paper to define them.  We thought that was cute and wanted to do one for ourselves.  Boy did we have a MAJOR project in store for us!  Let me tell you, the putting the binder together was sooo easy compared to typing up each recipe!  I have to say I think someone may have hit me on the head when I agreed that we should do this.  It has taken me...so far...2 weeks to type up the recipes I had in 1 binder...thats right ONE!  I didnt even type them all I copied and pasted them from the originating websites (thank you Betty Crocker/Better Homes and Gardens for making my life easier).  I do admit they look amazing all uniform and pretty with no food on them from previous cookings, but it really is a lot of work.  If you are going to take this project on be warned that it will take a looooong time to get all the recipes together.  What I would suggest is get the binder done first, then you can add the recipes as you go.  From the beginning of the blog I said that the idea came from a lady who did scrapbook paper on each page, yeah well we thought she was crazy because A) thats even more work and B)if you run out of paper and want to add more recipes you are screwed because then it wont be uniform, so we came up with our own twist to the idea.  Below you can see the binder I used (super cute from target!) and the index we made.



So for the index, we picked scrapbook paper that we liked and used Lauren's awesome scrapbooking supplies to make the circles, she had one of those big circle hold punchers so they are all the same size and awesome.  We found that centering the text and using an arrow to point to the corresponding circle worked best for us, but you may have a better idea so of course feel free to make it your own (we did!).  To make the tabs we realized that using sheet protectors hid the dividers and that stunk so what we did was take the 12x12 scrapbook paper and cut it down to 9 1/2 x 11 that way it stuck out enough that we can see it but not too far that it sticks out of the binder (trust me we cut that paper and measured so many times it was getting insane).  So once we had all the paper cut, we realized that it didnt do any good if it could just get wet/ripped/torn so Lauren with her amazing scrapbook supplies had 12x12 laminating sheets.  So we lamanated each sheet, 3-hold punched it and now had awesome dividers.  You can see some of the colors here, but the 2nd picture is a full shot of the divider.

Aside from the horror of typing up all the recipes, this project took all of 2 hours (with all the cutting and laminating and just plain being tired because of the rain) and looks awesome!  Now that this is all done I cant wait to get all my other recipes added to the binder.  If you make one share!  I would love to see what you came up with.

Project Housewife Out!

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Patterns

As promised, here are the patterns for the calendar I made.  I couldnt figure out how to make the word documents load so I did the best with what I had :)  The star and the ornament fit on one 8.5x11 piece of paper, so copy and paste and enlarge.  The tree should take up 1/2 of one side of another 8.5x11 with the tree trunk on the other side.  Also remember, that for the tree pattern you want to cut out this pattern 6 times to get the biggest tree.  For the numbers, I used the Berlin Sans FB Demi font size 200, that seemed to work the best for us, but find your favorite font to make it more personal. 

 

Below are the 25 activities that my husband and I decided on with a christmas-y twist as you can see :)

Deck the halls!
Make a house so sweet
Do you hear what I hear? New Christmas music
 Don’t be a mean one, Mr. Grinch
Let it snow with Harry Potter
Rush home with our treasure
Wrap presents ‘round the tree
Make a new Christmas Decoration
Say hello to friends you know at the neighborhood Christmas party

Comfy cozy are we at breakfast

Have a cup of cheer or hot chocolate

Bearing gifts to travelers afar…or the neighbors

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and popcorn!
Baby its cold outside, so lets go out for a treat
Here we come a caroling

Visit a Winter Wonderland
Jingle Bell Rock all night at a concert
Painted candy canes on the tree, a new one each year
Mix and mingle in to a Jingling Beat

Holiday treats for Oreo
Bring good cheer to someone
Away in a Manger…the real story

It’s a sugar date with cookies
Hang the Stockings with care
Holly Jolly Christmas!

I hope you have as much fun making yours as I did mine!

Project Housewife Out!