Pinterest: Contact Paper into Frosted Glass

About a year ago it really started bugging me that we the top maybe 1/5 of our front door and the entire dining room door was clear uncovered glass.  It bothered me that any person as tall as me could easily look in our front door and see the living room, office, dining room, and the long hall to the bathroom.  It bothered that the neighbors that lived across the street from our dining room door always seemed to be sitting on their front porch when we were sitting down to eat dinner.  It was borderline creepy.

I'd thought about curtains or blinds but I didn't really want to do much to keep the sunlight out.  I just wanted to feel a little less exposed.

Thank you, Pinterest.   I found this great pin that led to this great blog (not just this one post, her whole blog is pretty great.)

I already had contact paper.  score.  I decided to use the stencil for the front door and solid blocks for the dining room.

And I ended up tracing my stencil right off the computer screen because we didn't have ink in the printer at the time!  seriously, I didn't even want to wait for printer ink.  After lots of tracing and lots of cutting out and measuring, I gave it a go.

I probably should have worked slower and took my time, but well, I was excited and I rushed through getting it finished.  It's not perfect, but I really like it and I think it's much improved!

I put the contact paper on last summer (talk about slow on posting!) and I haven't had any trouble with any of it peeling off.  

front door glass

the dining room door

the 10 minute cardigan from pinterest

In January, I decided that I would actually make/do/cook two things a month that I have pinned on my Pinterest boards.  I've been really good at doing it.  But not so good at reporting it on the blog.

Here is my badly photographed attempt at turning one of Husband's old sweaters into one of my new cardigans. The 10 minute cardigan.

BEFORE

I told Husband to do his best mean face.  It took about 4 tries because we both kept laughing.  I like this sweater and I'm not sure why he doesn't like it or stopped wearing it.  But it wound up in my "clothes I can do whatever I want with bc Husband doesn't want them anymore" pile.

AFTER

I tried to duplicate the mean face.  I probably shouldn't waited until Husband was home to take the picture.  Daughter kept putting her fingers over the flash.

What I used:

an old sweater (v neck)

vanishing marking pen

scissors

Heat'nBond Ultra Hold Iron on Adhesive (5/8in -- the kind for hems)

Iron and ironing board

What I did:

first I marked the middle of the sweater front and carefully cut all the way down the middle.

Put the Heat'nBond on the inside of one side of the new sweater opening, following the directions on the box. Iron the Heat'nBond down.

Once cooled, pull the paper strip off and fold over to create the hem.

Do the same to the other side

Kelsey at Vanillajoy.com finished the hem by securing it with a sewing machine stitch.  I haven't done that yet because I can't find tread that's a close enough match to the sweater.

It was another fun an easy pineterest job well done.  And one more thing I pinned that I actually completed.

A Pinterest Shoe Makeover

Not so recently ago I found a great pin for turning regular old plain white canvas shoes into something a little less plain and white.

All you need it the cheap $5 white canvas shoes from walmart, Rit dye in your preferred color and a little elastic that 1.5 inches in width plus needle and tread (if you want to make your shoes laceless).   Simple, simple, simple.

So why did my white canvas shoes, fuchsia Rit dye and elastic sit in a bag on the back of my bathroom door for two months?   fear.  Mainly about the dye.  I'd never dyed anything before but I had convinced myself it was going to be a mess.

Well, imagine my surprise when it wasn't.   I just rinsed my shoes in hot water and followed the dye instructions on the box.  Then rinsed and let dry.

The next day I  just added the elastic in and let the kids have the laces.  (Visit the pin and blog for more pictures.  She dyed her shoes yellow and they look fantastic.)

So here's my first one.

And the pair.

I really like them.  And for $5 shoes they are really comfortable.  I always put mine on to go outside to water the garden or take the dogs on walks, or just piddle around outside.

It was a fun, fast, cheap project and now I am no longer afraid of Rit dye.

Son is THREE

Almost a month ago, we celebrated Son's third birthday.  We tried to fit in as many of Son's favorite things that we could into one day. We started out with a green airplane cake for breakfast and we didn't stop until both kids were sleeping hard in their car seats at 6pm! 

Husband created another great cake in his tradition of making great kid birthday cakes

He was THRILLED.  

Next he opened his gifts: a T. Rex book from Daughter and a dinosaur tail I made.

our first stop was free play at our favorite bounce house place. Two hours of this and  both kids STILL wanted more!

Then lunch at Nabeel's.

 Next, we stopped for two loaves of bread to feed ducks.  VERY hungry ducks.  We should have gotten FOUR loaves of bread!

the very hungry ducks following us

Son was feeding a duck that was so hungry it tried to eat his shirt.  He was done after that!  (and of course he's still talking about the very hungry duck that tried to eat him)

 Then we tried a new frozen yogurt shop in downtown Birmingham called Paramount.  We all gave it two thumbs up.  Fun place to stop in and it's so close to McWane, I know we'll be back more.


By this point of the day, I am exhausted and would have loved to go home, but it wasn't my birthday.  The kids were still going strong so Husband suggested Rail Road Park.  And my kids have NEVER turned down a trip to Rail Road Park

Pretending to be airplanes

Climbing to the "tippy top"

He finally sat down and took a break with me by the water.

Husband showing off for the group of girls on the right, er, I mean showing Daughter how to do a handstand. 

 My absolute favorite part of the day was when my mom called to talk to Son and wish him a happy birthday.  She told him she'd be over to visit the next day and bring his birthday present.  When they got off the phone Son said, "I wish Nanny would bring a dinosaur tail for Rylie for my birthday."  sigh.  He wanted his sister to have a dinosaur tail too.  So after lunch we stopped in at Hobby Lobby for fabric for a dinosaur tail for her.

now we have 2 scary dinosaurs in the house

We all had such a fun day and most of all our big three year old got to spend the day being king of the world.

Another Crayon Adventure

Remember those giant super crayons I made? Well, turns out the kids think those crayons are too big for their tastes.  So, I decided to get a box of those small bathroom cups and do a remelt.  PLUS, we have recently switched from bottle glue to glue sticks in our home.  And I've been saving the empty ones for just this purpose.

Off I went.

This time I melted them in the microwave.  At about 30 seconds a time. Stirring in between.

The key to the cups was to get the crayons in SMALL SMALL pieces so they'd melt faster.  I was using wax lined cups and some of my cups almost melted away before the crayons did!

one of the cups I poured into the glue sticks.  It doesn't take much melted crayon to fill up a glue stick.  the paper cup was perfect for pouring.  Just pinch it a little to form a mini funnel.

Son sat down at his make shift craft table and started to get to work.  He definitely seemed to enjoy the glue stick crayons and the smaller giant crayons.

Repouring Old Candles for NEW Candles

It's a common household  theme: You have 13 almost completely used candles at your house.  I have 13 almost completely used candles at my house (and I don't even think I'm a "candle person"  all mine have been gifts) ... I actually keep them in a box in my closet.  Apparently, I've been preparing for this candle project  for years and didn't even know it.  

What I used for my first new SUPER candle

these are all the candles I used, the wick (I got a pack of 5 from Hobby Lobby for a couple of bucks)  I used the pliers to reach into the hot wax and pull out the old wick.  and I used a pair of Husband's thick (never used before) fishing gloves to handle the hot glass containers. The tall container with the pink candle in it is what I used to be my new holder.  It was a Home Interiors Candle my mom gave me years ago and I really like the shape and weight of the holder.  

 btw, I've permanently taken ownership of those gloves.  They are fantastic!  Great for handling hot things.  And I may or may not have used them to reach into the oven and pull of a tray of chicken nuggets during the candle making process.

What I did:
-Put about 3 inches of water in a saucepan on the stove.  Towards the end of the project, I had to refill the water due to evaporation.
-I started by melting the one in the big container that I was going to use again.  When it was all melted, I pulled out the old wick, put in the new one and set it aside for the pink bottom layer to harden.
-And moved on to melting the white ones next.  (I added one of my mason jar lid rings around one of the jars so they wouldn't bump into each other while they were shaking/melting in the boiling water.  I was a little afraid they would shatter)
- I pulled out those wicks and after the pink had hardened completely, I poured the white on top of it.
-and continued adding layers until I was finished.

For the small pink candle, I melted it in one of the jars the white ones was in after they had been poured.

this is the first two layers after the white had hardened

And this is the finished result of my first candle.  I really , really love it.  And besides the $2 for the 5 wicks, it was completely free.  score.

The night after I finished the first one, I was browsing at walmart and found IDENTICAL jars for $1.67 each.  So, of course, I gathered a few more used candles and made two more.

1, 2, and 3

From this process, I learned that I pretty much only have white, pink and red candles.  (there's one purple one that's still in the box with lots more white ones!)

Also, you don't have to do layers like I did.  You could mix them all together at once.  It's a great way to get some more use out of your old candles for mostly free.

A Crayon Melting and Molding Adventure

Pinterest strikes again.  I'm excited about finally making and doing the things I've been pinning for months.  Makes me feel like all those hours on pinterest weren't a total waste!

We (well, mostly me ... and actually, technically, the oven) melted down all the kids' broken crayons into new "super crayons" (don't you love pins that tell you everything you need to know without having to go to the website?  I do.

The kids loved the ideas of new super crayons and were eager to help me peel all the remaining paper off (something they love to do anyway)

all our busted crayons.
Notice Daughter has started to "fill" the mold.  That's kind of how she thought the process would go.  One old crayon turns into one new crayon.

I filled the little leaf molds with solid rainbow colors and then went about dividing the rest of the colors in ways that made sense to me in silicon muffin molds.

my helpers.  They also helped test colors during the sorting process so I  wouldn't get the purples, dark blues and blacks mixed up.

the leaf mold stayed in for 15 minutes on 230 degrees.  And you can tell the mold is a little warped.  next time, I'll check on them sooner.

the biggers ones needed more time.  they stayed in for 22 minutes at 230.

All cooled off and popped out of their molds.
I saw other pins that used paper cups and I think that would be as easy as the silicon  molds.  especially cleanup wise.  This was a cinch.

My only complaint:  the new super crayons definitely do NOT fit in our crayon box.   The crayon box has now been upgraded to the same shoe box size rubbermaid containers used for race cars, potato head body parts and play-doh accessories. 

All in all, it was fun for the kids and I.  Plus, now instead of hundreds of crayons pieces, we have less than a dozen super crayons.  And after Daughter got used to the fact that her crayons don't have much of a point anymore, they both love using them.

Travel Pillow turned Rice Pack

When I made my scented rice pack, I also made one for Tina and Tena H. (my mom).  My mother said when my brother saw hers, he expressed something like disbelief that I could make something like that and also a suggestion that I should make one in a U shape specifically for neck use.

Well

1. Thanks, Bro. 'Preciate ya.

2. hmm, yes.  That's a pretty good idea.

And, as always, Pinterest came through for me.  I found a tutorial for a U shaped travel pillow.  And figured, sure, I could fill it with rice instead of stuffing.  

The tutorial was really easy to follow.  In fact, sewing it was the fastest part.  Cutting out all the little squares is what took so long!

I used the black/grey/white/yellow wal-mart fabric that I already had scraps of at home. (seriously, if you ever want to do something nice for me, buy me more of this fabric.  I love having it on hand for impromptu jobs!)  In fact, if we weren't out of rice, I could have done the entire project in under an hour and not had to go to the store.

the front before I added the rice

the back

filled with rice.  I have no clue how much rice I put in.  I just kept adding it until I felt like I  should stop so I'd have enough free space to sew the whole up.  

The only thing I did differently from the tutorial was top stitch around the edges.  I figured since I was using rice instead of poly-fil, the more reinforcements the better.

While I wouldn't call this a gender neutral fabric choice, I don't think it's overly feminine.  It should be something he and his wife would feel comfortable using.  Also, I added lavender to the rice ... and, well, that part may have made it feminine.  ;-)

Another Dining Room decoration: Borax Snowflakes

The kids LOVE snow. I like snow.  So when I found this borax snowflakes tutorial on pinterest, I was excited to try it with the kids.  Plus, I already had everything I needed to do it.  (hurray for leftover borax when making homemade laundry detergent!!)

What to do:

• boil enough water to fill up enough pint sized mason jars so each snowflake has its own jar
• while the water is heating up, mold your pipe cleaners.  (I used white, but colored pipe cleaners would give you colored snowflakes) I used two pipe cleaners per snow flake.
• put 1/3 cup of borax in each jar
• when water boils, pour water in each jar and stir to dissolve borax.
• put snowflake in the jar and suspend with string and a pencil on the top of the jar.
• wait.  like overnight (or all day if you do what I did and make them before breakfast)
• remove from jars and hang/place where ever.

one of mine in the jar.  I took a lot of "during" pictures in the jar, but it was hard to tell much was going on, so I'll spare you.

after. closeup.

all of the afters, hanging on the light fixture in the dining room.

I made 12 and the kids LOVE them.  Even though most of them look like flowers instead of snowflakes, I like them too.

I have one more dining room decoration idea.  spoiler alert: it's paper cut out snowflakes to go on the wall.  I'm pretty sure my scissor loving kids with love that project!

Decorating glass bottles, thanks again pinterest

I think this was one of my very first pins when I joined pinterest.  I loved the picture and I already had ALL the things I needed to do this project (except the epsom salt.)

glass bottles, adhesive spray, epsom salt, spray paint and some decorative sticks (um, I have no idea what those things are called, but I bought some last year after Christmas in case I wanted a silver wreath this year.)

Our glass recycling bin always take the longest to fill up because I LOVE to save bottles.  Wine bottles, food jars, anything that doesn't look like something I already have.  This has proven worth it, because I just went to my cabinet and picked 6 bottles for the project.

I used 3 wine bottles, a taco bell mild sauce bottle, a jar that peppercorns came in from TJ MAXX and a short little apple juice bottle.

I poured the epsom salt in baking tray, sprayed the bottles with spray adhesive, rolled them in the salt, let them dry, then took them outside and spray painted them silver.  After they dried I brought them back in, stuck some of the no-name sticks in and DONE.

on the buffet in the dining room.   I love the silver/red  contrast.
I thought about putting them on the mantle in the living room, but those walls are beige and  it definitely didn't have the same POP.

a close up of the little apple juice bottle.  

I seriously loved this project.  I love walking through the dining room and seeing the bottles.  The only downside is, you CANNOT touch the salt, period.  It falls right off.  So these will not be able to be used next Christmas.  I have plans to brush off the salt and store them and just redo it again next year on the same bottles.  And probably apply another coat of spray adhesive before I spray paint the bottles to see if that helps.   either way, I'm really happy with the result.

Hand prints on Canvas

Here's the great thing about Pinterest, I am great at replicating.  I can look at something, figure out a way to make it and often times make it better/something I like more but I am horrible at innovating.  which is basically why pinterest is so amazing for me.  I can see thousands and thousands of great ideas and then adjust them a little to make them fit me/us better.

I'm pretty much a gigantic copy cat and I'm starting to come to terms with that. 

I recently ran across this great idea of hand prints on canvas and I got to thinking about where I could display this in our house if I did it.  Well, there's a perfect spot in our long beige hall (that is already being filled up with pictures in black frames) that can not only be a great place for 4 canvases ... but many more can be added for years to come.

so the idea was to get 4 canvases.  8X10 for Husband and I because our hands are bigger.  And 5X7 for the kids. Then I decided that unlike the pinterest idea, I wanted all the backgrounds to be the same.  I decided black.  And I already had that at home.  Next, I had everyone pick out a color they wanted their hands to be.   Came home and made it happen.  

our colors.  Can you guess who picked the pink ...

I used another pinterest idea to paint the canvases.  I put push  pins in the backs of them, so they stood up off the paper. So there was no canvas drying TO THE PAPER.  fabulous idea and no touchups needed.

I decided to do the hand everyone writes with (even though Son uses both equally now, I went ahead and used his right)
I like how my blue hand is facing Husband's red hand.  Plus, you can see my wedding ring.  Daughter loved this and stamped about 8 pieces of paper after her canvas.  Son hated the paint on his hand and finally displayed his deep dark secret ... he has 6 fingers.  ;-)

After the hand prints dried, I added everyone's initials and the date 11-11.  We'll hang then just like in the picture and in  a year or two, do another set for the kids to hang under these.  And so forth and so on.  Until the space is top to bottom hand prints, with Husband and mine always on the top.   (sigh) this gives me a warm feeling.

Scented Rice Packs and Homemade Fabreeze

For years when I've been in need of a heating pad or pack, I've turned to a trusty gym sock filled with rice.  Pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes and there you have it.  warmth for my back, neck, abdomen, whatever.   Very utilitarian not very pretty.  

enter this pinterest tutorial. plus there's a link for the drawstring bag she made for it, also.  

The best part of this project, all I needed was some lavender essential oils to scent the rice.  I already had everything else.

The flannel I used was leftover from Daughter's Peppa Pig ears, nose and tail. We always have rice in the house.  And I happened to have a white ribbon that would match some scrap fabric that I love.  (seriously, this is part of the walmart grey/yellow/black/white fabric. love)

all my materials (the essential oils have already been added to the rice)

 In one hour, I turned all of that ^ into ...

this.

the rice pack in the bag

It's great.  I love it.  But sadly, after almost a month of everyday use, it only smells like rice.

I also made two mini ones for headaches.  The top on in the zip top bag stays in the freezer and the bottom stays beside the larger bagged one on my night stand.  I didn't scent these two.

I've also made a pack and bag for my mom (as sort of a make up for forgetting her birthday AGAIN) and a bag and a pack for TMDS.

Plus since I had lots of lavender essential oils left over, I've taken a few scented soaks in the tub.  A very rare wonderful treat.

AND I've made ghetto fabreeze. In a spray bottle I mix 1/2 cup of alcohol (I use 91% Isopropyl Alcohol because it evaporates quickly and the smell only lingers for about a minute), 1 cup of water, and 35 drops of essential oils.  (I think next time I will buy a bottle of lavender and either grapefruit or orange for a more fabreeze like smell.  I even wrote the "recipe" in sharpie on the bottle so I wouldn't have to look it up every time.  There are lots of other "recipes" on that pin, but this one is the one I use and love.

Done it List Revised

Sometimes I like to clean.  Most of the time, I do not.  But, well, if I wanted to never clean up after anyone but myself, I probably shouldn't have gotten married and most certainly shouldn't be procreated - TWICE.

sigh.  

Husband and I divide the household chores pretty evenly.  If one of us sees something that needs to be done, we do it. And as the kids get older they are getting better about learning to clean up after themselves.  But the truth of the matter is, I am the responsible adult who is home most of the time.  I should be the one taking on most of this responsibility.  And I don't want my husband to think all the kids and I do during the day is think of ways to trash our house and then do it.

About a month ago I found something on pinterest that keeps with my Done It list idea.  Well, I think it's actually a little more fun than my spiral notebook.  -- I just can't keep record of my cleaning beyond one week.  (man, I am such a nerd)

Anyway, I bought the picture frame at Wal-mart, filled the holes with card stock I've had for a decade (and on the card stock I wrote the things I would be recording: Dinner, rooms cleaned, laundry done and loads of dishes done) Then just wrote on the glass the things I did that day.

I've discovered I'm much more productive when I have a list right in front of me of the things I've done.  Plus, I've committed myself to doing at least one load of laundry a day so it doesn't pile up.  And doing at least one load of dishes a day.  That used to use Husband's job exclusively, but since he's started his new job, he's a lot more tired.  So, I thought one load of dishes a day is not going to kill me ... and so far it hasn't. And that's 20 more minutes Husband gets to spend with us instead of in front of the sink.

BTW, I named my board "Do it! OR be dirty AND hungry!"   I thought that was a little better than things I've done today.

the full board.  I haven't put it up on the wall yet.

Also, in the bottom right hand corner I keep up with  the physical activity I did during the day.  Either W for weights or R/P for Run to the Park (with the kids)

what I did a few Tuesdays ago.  We had biscuits and gravy, sausage and fruit for dinner.  I made tea and lemonade (Husband is on an Arnold Palmer kick and YES, I do consider that a chore worth writing on the board, esp since I don't drink the tea or the lemonade), I washed Husband's whites, loaded the dishwasher once and ran to the park with the kids.

It's been fun to do and I like writing down things after I've done them.  But I'm sure, just like the done it list, I will eventually get bored and have to think of another way to make doing adult things more fun.  wine as a reward? possible.