Easy DIY Halloween Decor

I pinned this first idea a few months back and couldn't pass it up because it's just so easy.  I was very happy (and surprised) to find out our front door is magnetic.  All you have to do is buy those cheap plastic spider rings, simply cut off the ring part, and hot glue some magnet to the back.  I was able to get a pack of 50 spider rings from the dollar store and I got magnetic strips from Walmart (for like $3) that you can cut to any size you want. And I have a ton left over for a different project.  So easy!  And I love how it looks!

We wanted the spiders to look somewhat realistic, but you could totally add lots more or do any design you want with them on the door.  So fun!

My second project was a redo of the ghost I made last year.  It turned out so much better this year!  This time it's sturdy enough that I should be able to save it. I think the key is that this time I used fabric stiffener (called Stiffy from Joann's).  I did everything just the same as last year, but just used the stiffener instead of the cornstarch mixture (HERE'S the tutorial from last year).  I also had more cheesecloth this year (3 feet instead of 2), so I did 3 layers.

I stuck the ghost on the couch so that it had a dark background.  It doesn't normally sit here ;)

I told Aiden it was a ghost and every once in a while he'll randomly point at it and say "dhost" :)  My little buddy!

Now we just need to get working on Aiden's costume ;)

Scrabble Love

I made a Valentine's decoration last night around 8:30 p.m.  Yes, I do realize yesterday was Valentine's Day..haha.  I had been meaning to make this for a while, but we've been sick around here for the second time in like a month (I don't know how we keep seeming to catch things), so I was finally able to get out this week to get a frame.

I got the idea from a PIN I pinned several months back.  I thought it was a tutorial, but found out it was actually up for sale in the United Kingdom. I thought to myself, well that can't be too hard to make!

Here's how mine turned out :) 

I had to take the picture at a bit of an angle to not get my reflection in it.

It's pretty self-explanatory.  You have to get a frame where the glass is pushed out front of the matting so that the Scrabble pieces will fit under. I got mine from Hobby Lobby with my handy gift card from Amber for Christmas.  I used some leftover magenta cardstock from my WREATH a few years back.  Just cut it to fit the frame.  I traced the little square opening to make sure I was gluing the Scrabble pieces on straight.  Then assemble and wa-la!  So easy!  This literally took me 15 minutes tops!

In other news, we had a low-key Valentine's Day.  I surprised Trent with this new recipe for a Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake from Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss when he got home. It was yummy!  I may just make it a little tradition for every Valentine's Day :)  If only I had a cute heart-shaped pie pan like Julie :) 

We ate a quick dinner (thanks to Bertolli!) and hurried off to Aiden's swim lesson.  I got a LivingSocial deal for four swim lessons and this was Aiden's second.  The first time Trent got in with him, but his nose was still really running so I got in last night.  Aiden likes it pretty well except floating on his back..haha.

Sometimes Aiden tries to drink the water :/  He does this in his bath too..haha.

Peeking over at Daddy :)

Oh..we sent a Valentine's shout-out to all of the aunts. I got this picture before we headed off to Aiden's swim lesson.  Notice Aiden's crabby flip flops.  Aiden and I did a little shopping yesterday and picked them up. Aiden doesn't know what to think of something being wedged between his little toes..haha.

We headed home after the lesson and Aunt Jen stopped by with Valentines.  She brought mini m&m's for Aiden since he's "mini."

We got Aiden new jammies yesterday too, as pictured.  I don't know why, but I love two-piece jammies!  I think Aiden looks so darling in them :)

We haven't exchanged gifts yet, so we'll do that tonight and go out and celebrate :)

Floating Ghost

This'll be short because I have a lot on my mind, but I finally got around to making my Halloween craft!  I made my own floating ghost :)  It didn't turn out exactly how I was hoping, but I thought you all may want to see anyway (if you haven't already seen this project floating around blogland and Pinterest..haha).

I followed Shatzi's tutorial exactly (HERE).  Make sure you really coat the cheesecloth with the cornstarch.  I don't think I did enough because mine wasn't completely stiff when I went to take it off my stand and it kind of collapsed.  I tried to spray it with some spray adhesive I had on hand to see if it would keep it's form better, but I don't know if that helped much. I was hoping my ghost would be a bit taller and thinner like Shatzi's. Because I didn't use enough starch, my ghost is all misshapen in the back and doesn't stand up on its own very well, which is why I propped it against the TV ;)  I think I'll just end up trashing it after Halloween and making a new one next year.  Luckily it's super easy :)  A friend made these ghosts with her kids and used fabric stiffener from Joann's, which I think I'll try next year!

A Not-So-Fall Wreath

I don't know if you all have noticed, but it seems that I lean towards wreaths when I am in a crafting mood :)  I feel like a door is so bare when it doesn't have a wreath (or something) on it.  And it seems my door is always totally bare during the months of August and September.  Not good!  Luckily I found some inspiration when I happened on Dara's blog teach. craft. love.  I saw THESE wreaths of hers and had to have one for myself.  What a neat idea to put your house number on it.  I think it's especially helpful since we're in an apartment complex where every door is exactly the same (skip down to my picture if you don't want to read all the details :)).  So off to Hobby Lobby and Michael's we went (that's what Aiden and I were doing in this picture).

I picked up the flowers and wreath form from Hobby Lobby and I picked up some gray paint and floral wire from Michael's.  The only reason I went to both places was because I was looking for the numbers, but like Dara I did not have success.  For some reason no one sells numbers anymore, only letters.  Big bummer.  So after a week or so of all of my supplies sitting on our dining room table, I finally looked for wood numbers online and found SJA Wood Design.  Here you can choose the kind of wood, size of numbers, and font you want (I love fonts so that was fun for me!).  I went with 3" pine letters in Century Schoolbook.  I didn't realize the gray paint I chose was going to be such a close shade to our front door, which I always thought was a blue color..haha.  They must have similar undertones.

Anyway, I simply stuck the flowers through the wreath vines and they were snug enough that way.  I had to use a little floral wire to get the leaves to stay.  For the numbers, I hot glued some floral wire on the back of the numbers and wired it through.  Pretty easy!

I didn't get any pictures of the process like I usually do, but here's the finished product!  I think it turned out pretty well :)

So I ended up finishing this last Monday and then I realized it was October 1st and time to get out the Halloween/Fall decorations.  I seriously lose track of what month we're in because of the weather here in AZ.  It was still above 100 last week and this week it's finally supposed to get into the 90's.  That is not October weather in my book.  So now I made this Spring-y wreath and I can't even get it back out until like March (I have other wreaths/decor until then)!  I kept it up from Monday to Friday though because I wanted to admire it for at least a few days before I put it away :)

P.S. I'm working on a Halloween craft this week so come back soon!

I Got Crafty!!

I was able to finish this beauty - my 4th of July wreath - this afternoon (I was actually able to finish before the 4th - hurray!) and I absolutely LOVE it!  You can find the tutorial HERE.

Aiden and I took a little trip (love our little trips) to Hobby Lobby to gather all of our supplies.  I just went ahead and got a 14" styrofoam wreath form.  And you can't tell, but my foam stars have glitter on them :)

Definitely the hardest part was cutting all of the little squares.  I'm a perfectionist and wanted all of them to be the same size.  Since the felt sheets are 9" by 12" I cut my squares as 2" by 1 1/2" (instead of 2"x2").

Actually, maybe the hardest part was dividing the wreath form evenly..haha.  I had my smartie husband do this since there was some math involved ;)

Do you love the Rhodes rolls rising in the background?  And Aiden's toy on the table?  Life with a cute baby :)

Trent snapped some shots for me of my work in progress.

I didn't even realize Aiden was smiling on the ground behind me :)

Making his way over to Dad.

Nothing to do with my wreath, but Aiden made it over to Dad :)

And ta-da!

I seriously love the 4th of July and all that it represents.  And I think red, white, and blue is the perfect color combination!  I could wear it all year long!  Last year we spent the 4th at the Stadium of Fire with Amy before she went into the MTC on the 6th.  Can't believe it's been a year!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Independence Day!  And save this wreath idea for next year :)

Googly Eyes!

Last Saturday, the 8th, I had some girls over for a Halloween craft!  I saw THIS frame tutorial several weeks ago and couldn't get over how cute it was.  What a clever idea!  

I had Brinly (who I've crafted with before) and Christie from the ward over, and Kristell (who I just wrote about here) happened to be in town so she came too :)  We headed to Michael's to grab our $1 frames (what a steal!), paint, ribbon, little wooden letters, and googly eyes.  The other girls got more creative and adapted their frames with different colors and words, but I pretty much did mine just the way the tutorial has it - I'm just that kind of girl - not very spontaneous..haha :)  The "E's" for "EEK" were all out at Michael's (they sell the letters separately for 39 cents each) so I picked up a whole pack of like 60 wooden letters for about $4 from Hobby Lobby.

Anyway, it's pretty self-explanatory, but check out the tutorial if you need any help.

Christie and Brinly both headed out before I realized we hadn't gotten any pictures!  Luckily Kristell was still around and we actually got a picture together (we've been friends for a good 2 years and I've never gotten a picture with her!)

In the process of creating our cute frames!

And my completed frame!  

 

I guess I didn't follow the tutorial exactly (go me!).  I didn't fill the whole frame with googly eyes and I did my "EEK" in purple :)  Sorry the picture is so dark!  It was hard to get a good one.  It looks much better in person! Now if we just had a picture to put in it ;)

My Patriotic Craft

Sunday I finished making this 4th of July craft to display in our home and we just love it! You can find a tutorial for it HERE.

I started this project on Friday when I got together with two other girlies from the ward (congregation) for a craft day. We all decided we wanted to make our own "grand old flag" so we were off to Hobby Lobby for our materials.

You pretty much just need a styrofoam block (I was able to find 12" X 10"), glue, fabrics in red, white, & blue, and ribbon if you want to wrap it around the sides of your flag (you can't really see the ribbon on my final product, but it finishes it off nicely).

The most tedious part was definitely cutting the fabric into 2" x 2" squares. We went to Ashley's and turned on "The Proposal" while we were crafting :) It seriously took me like the whole 3 1/2 hours we were there to cut the fabric. My back was killing by the end! The girls were quite a bit faster than me. I guess it's the perfectionist in me!

With Brinly and Ashley before Brinly and I headed home so Ashley could head to work. You can see my blank styrofoam block..ha. The girls had already started their flags. Ash made a bigger flag than us because she already had styrofoam on hand.

I took a break for several hours once I got home. Later Trent helped me measure out how wide each stripe should be. Obviously I wanted it to be perfect ;)

Then you simply wrap your fabric around a pen or pencil and dip the point in the glue...

...and then stab it into the foam! This is the fun part!

On Saturday finishing up the stars.

Sunday - getting close!

I am very pleased with how it turned out! I have leftover fabric and can't seem to walk by my flag without seeing a white spot and filling it in with more fabric..ha.

I was kind of bummed when I finished because it was fun for me to make! It didn't take much concentration so it was actually pretty relaxing! I hope you like it and consider making one for yourself :)

My Valentine's Wreath!

I am home sick from church today. Not only is my nose running like a faucet, but I'm on my period. No fun, no fun at all.

But enough of that. This is supposed to be a happy post because, guess what! I just hung up my Valentine's wreath!! Haha, I know it's almost a week past Valentine's, but I made this wreath and it took a whole lot longer than I thought it would. I discovered the tutorial for this wreath through a friend back in January and just knew I was going to make one for myself! Is it not gorgeous?!

One of the reasons I wasn't quite able to get my wreath done before Valentine's Day is because we couldn't find plain red cardstock anywhere. We could only find cardstock in multi-colored packs so there'd be like 10 pieces of red and then a bunch of other colors that I obviously didn't need. I finally just had to order online from Jo-Ann's and then it took TWO whole weeks to get here. I couldn't believe it! I knew then that this wreath was not going to be ready by Valentine's.

But that's okay. It's done now and I love it! Oh and the name of the color of my cardstock is Raspberry Splash! Isn't that fun?!

Here are all of my supplies before I got started (and knew what I was getting myself into..haha)

I have to admit that when I first started rolling my roses, and they weren't turning out the way they look in the tutorial, I was definitely frustrated. Luckily I got the hang of it! And it was fun to be able to pop in a movie while I was rolling.

Rolling yet another rose..haha. It was definitely tedious at times. Towards the end though, Trent jumped in! And I swear his roses turned out better than mine. What the?!

Sorry I don't have any other pictures. Trent was assigned to take candids, but was pretty sick during the week I worked on this. The only thing I did differently from the tutorial was that I waited to spray the adhesive and sprinkle the glitter until the very end. I thought it was easier that way.

And my final product!

What do you think?! I'm in love with it! And trust me, even though it's past Valentine's Day, this wreath is staying up for at least the rest of the month, if not longer!

I Made a New Pillow...

and it was super easy! We made it out of a placemat - an idea my mom got from a friend, Julie's, blog :)

To begin, all you need is a placemat that is made with two pieces of fabric sewn together, a seam ripper, and some polyester fiberfill.

My mom found this cute placemat at Target for $3.99 so this ended up being a really inexpensive and quick project :)

You simply use a seam ripper to pull the thread from one side of the placemat. You'll just need a hole big enough to fit your hand in.

Then, as I'm sure you can guess, you stuff your newly created pillow form with poly-fill.

And lastly you sew it all up. You can use a sewing machine or do it by hand. I just did it by hand. How easy it that?!

Loving my new Christmas pillow :)

Blessings Board

Lately Trent and I feel like all we ever do is pay bills, and sometimes we feel like we can't keep up with them. It's hard to go about life without complaining, worrying, and stressing about all that isn't going quite right. Often we (I mean "we" as in everyone) have to make a conscious effort to be optimistic. In reality we are all spoiled and have so much to be grateful for! I know because, for the most part, anyone reading this are family or friends :)

I was thrilled when I happened upon this project several weeks ago, and could not pass it up. And it's so easy to make :) I found the tutorial here.

We found a red frame. Here Trent is spray painting it black.

Here's our final product. We are so pleased with it!

Julie, the woman who came up with the idea, is using her Blessings Board as a Thanksgiving decoration, but Trent wondered why we wouldn't just use ours all year round. We think it'll be fun to change out the fabric for the appropriate season and time of year :) We can't decide if we want to add flowers to ours like Julie did. It would be harder because we'd have to change them up everytime we change the fabric. We may just add some ribbon to a corner because it would be easier. Who knows! My mom thinks we should just leave it plain, but Amber thinks we should definitely add a flower or ribbon ;)
Trent and I took turns writing our blessings with glass markers (I found them at Walmart for about $3.50). It's fun to be able to change them up whenever you think of one! I don't know if you can read them all in the pictures.
They are (I started):

1. Trent
2. Jess
3. Our home
4. The Atonement
5. Our jobs
6. Scriptures
7. Midol (earlier that morning I had terrible, terrible cramps)
8. Pumpkins
9. Cooling weather
10. Date night
We have our Blessings Board right near our front door. As silly as it sounds, it helps keep things in perspective. There's something about having a tangible object that we can look at and write on :)

Hope you guys will think about making one too!

Magnets!

I've probably been saying since January that I've wanted to make magnets. I didn't get any when we got married so I've always just used the ugly ones that come in the mail. Monday Jen, Jill, and I finally went for it! I found the idea on another blog and you can find it here.

We decided to just use scrapbook paper instead of fabric. After a trial run, we discovered we needed to double up on the paper b/c the glue was going through the paper and we could see the black magnet right through it.

First we traced around the crafting "bubble"

Then, of course, we cut it out

Then we glued the paper to the "bubble" and glued a magnet to the back of it. Definitely look at the blog I mentioned for more specifics!
SO quick and easy!! Aren't they adorable?!
And finally on to my fridge :)