It's Amazing What a Little Paper Can Do

More paper used, wahoo!  I LLLLLLLOOOOVVVEEE Cosmo Cricket.  If they ever want me to advertise for them, I TOTALLY will.  They make the cutest designs. 

On a trip to the thrift store many months back, I picked up this little unit:

I'm not sure that I have knick-knacks small enough, but it was really besides the point.

95 cents seems to be my magic number.

I grabbed some paper I have that I've been saving cause I just love it too much to use.  I'm starting to get over that mentality.  I'm feeling quite proud of myself.  Just used some adhesive, did some super fancy measuring (guestimations) and got this:

I decided not to paint the wood.  I felt the rustic color matched the paper perfectly. 

Taking the Day Off

I just couldn't say no to this face.  SO, I'm taking the day off and gonna go play some barbies.  See you Monday and have a FABULOUS weekend!

Spotlighting Link-up Party

Since I didn't want to pay for thumbnail pictures on my link-up party, I decided to visit the blogs and feature everybody who linked up.  Check them out:

Shawna shared her first sewing project ever at A Very Dandoislion Life.

Shawna also showed us her bunches of barretts.  I would love to give this a try!

Shawna was been busy this week!  I cannot believe this ocean flower pincushion.  It's seriously gorgeous! 



I'm headed to Hobby Lobby this week.  Rumor has it that these bracelets are on sale.  I love what Terri did with it over at A Creative Princess.

Surviving the Etsy Madness used some creative  madness when she came up with this bracelet from rope.

I'm looking for surfaces I can recover.  I love the splash of color!  Dana at Saturday Mornings never disappoints when it comes to creativeness.



I really want to try my hand at making these necklaces!  I love the way they look.  And if you want to go for a more masculine look, try this keychain.  Thanks, Tiffany @ Killing Time (sorry, it wouldn't let me add the link)  http://justaboredmom.blogspot.com/2011/02/keychains-necklaces-and-headbands.html

She also showed us her awesome sewing caddy.

And her changing pad and washclothes are so great.  She's been a busy crafter!

Thanks for the inspiration,everybody.  I really need to take the plunge and maybe try a little copy-catting.  It's a busy weekend so we'll see what gets done between now and then.

Thrifty Finds

I had a little bit of thrift store fun this month.  For date night a couple weeks ago, I had my husband take me to Salvation Army before we ate.  It was only 15 minutes till closing, but that was okay.  I'm a quick shopper.  I quickly browsed the shelves looking for something that screamed, "BUY ME!!!"  I'm cheap by nature, so if the price tag wasn't to my likings, the item, no matter how cool, got passed up.

I saw this shadow shelf/box.  It was only 95 cents so I knew it was worth the investment.  We wouldn't take much imagination to make something great from it.

I also found a couple other items, but they are still waiting their potential.

We went again on Monday.  My son was looking for a particular shirt.  We didn't find the shirt, but he did find two pairs of wranglers.  One day I'll have to do a post about this kid.  He has more personality than any other 8-year-old boy.  He leaves an impression. 

Back to me.  After he found his pants, tried them on and decided he would buy them, I was allowed to look around.  I found this wooden doll for another 95 cents.  It was SO cool and couldn't be passed up....at least by me.  That's all I got though, so I was good.

I put my two items together and got this:

Needing some Inspiration. Link Up Your Projects!

Do you ever feel like you've used up all your creativeness?  You're feeling like you've done it all.  Well, at least what you feel capable of.  Then one day you're reading a blog and BOOM!!!  There's the most brilliant project and you think, maybe I can do it.  Well, I'm needing that BOOM--so please link up your projects.  Link up as many as you like.  You never know how many people you will inspire with your ideas. 

Corkboard Wall Art

I forced myself to open a tote in my craft room.  I'm always afraid to do this because I know when I look inside, I will end up dumping things and making a mess.  Lucky for me, I found something at the top of the box, took it, and put the lid back on the tote.  Whew!  that was close.

"What did you grab?" you ask. 

A pack of 4 6x6 cork boards.  Luckily, it was easy to come up with a project.  Cover them in fabric.  My first piece was a pair of pants.  I had to look carefully to see why I had discarded them.  No buttons missing.  No seam rips.  OH!  The grease stain.  Is that why people wear aprons when they cook?  Maybe I should make a really cute one so I'll remember to wear one.

I also grabbed some leftover fabric I had from a sewing project that accented the pants perfectly.

I cut about 7x7 squares (I'm not a measurer).



 I first glued my corners down.



Then I pulled the edges tightly and glued those to the back of the corkboard (no glue was used on the front).



Be sure to cut off any excess fabric.



 The final step was super fun.  I nailed all four pieces to my wall and had a practical piece of simple art.



This will most likely be relocated to my bedroom.  It matches my color scheme.  But I wanted to get it up for a photo.  At least I know that I like it.

Game Board Art

I have several vintage games resting in my daughter's closet...not quite sure what to do with them.  Maybe one day I'll decorate a whole wall with them, but for now, I started small:

I love the whismical feel of this particular game.  It adds a little flare of color to an otherwise drab wall.

1968 baby!  How cool is that?!! 

My Shopping List

My taxes have been filed.  I am so excited to be getting this refund.  It couldn't come soon enough.  Nope, I won't be spending it on new furniture or toys or anything fun like that.  We'll pay the bills and put the rest into savings.  I've had too many expenses arise in the past year to feel good about spending all this money.  BUT, if I were to go shopping, here's a few items I might purchase:

Make Your Own Paper Badges

I'm so excited at how much paper I'm finally using it.  I also want to add that I haven't bought any new paper in over a year and a half.  I really am trying to get my hoarding under control.

I've seen badges all over the place recently so though...."hmmmmm....I can make that myself.  Doesn't look too hard."  And it wasn't. 

First off, pick out some paper.  I used cardstock pieces, but any would work. 

The trick is getting your paper thin enough to be able to fan into the badge.  I used a 12x3 piece of paper but found that it was too thick to cut it in half to 12x1.5 inches.  Much better.

I accordian folded it into about 1/2 inch folds. 

The next part was tricky for me.  I pulled the ends together and stapled to hold in place. 

I then arranged it so it scrunched more in the center and turned it into a circle.  I held it in place with foam tape and added paper on top of that.

Then I decorated away.  I added my centers and some ribbon and love the finished project.  I'm just not sure where I'll put them or use them for.  Any ideas?