Living Room Inspiration Board

It's been a while... hasn't it?  

I have a lot to share with you!  At least, I've taken a lot of pictures.  Maybe I'll get the motivation to post about them sometime...  :)

Anyway~ I've been a long time follower of I Heart Naptime, a today they launched a new website called "The Inspiration Board".

This site is soooo groovy!  You can take the pictures that move you and put it on a virtual board.

It's different than Pinterest, because you can make groupings of the things that inspire you and see how they look together.  It's so much fun!

I literally spent half the day putting together this board for my living room:

Pretty nifty, isn't it?

Check out my boards here.

Go over there and make some of your own... like NOW!

Magnet Chalkboard

My friend Tiffany moved to New York the day after Christmas. ***silent sobs*** And although she will be missed immensely, I know this will be a great adventure for her and her family!

Well, because she is moving all the way across the country, she had to get rid of a lot of stuff so they won't have to move it all. She was nice enough to let me have first dibs on most of the stuffs she was parting with in exchange for doing whatever she needs for her hair for free. A pretty dang good deal if I do say so! I'm all about bartering! I got 3 wood saws (these will def come in handy for some ideas I've had in mind), a Dremmel tool, some home decor stuff, a refrigerator, just to name a few. Thanks Tiffany!

Among all the stuffs was this picture frame.

There was no glass in it, but I loved the details in it. I wasn't sure about what I was going to do with it until I remembered my dad has a ton of sheet metal scraps. He and my brother build custom chopper style trikes and always have scraps of sheet metal. So I had him cut a piece down to fit the frame.

I was just going to make it just a plain magnet board, but changed my mind and wanted it to be dual purposed. So the sheet metal got a couple coats of Rustoleum chalkboard spray paint:

Then the frame got a coat of black paint:

Then a couple coats of Heirloom White,
distressed the details a bit with sandpaper so the black would show through just a tad:

Put it all together, and I have a super cute magnet/chalkboard!(sorry...not the best picture...)

YAY!

The best part is, I did it all for FREE! (I had all the paint on hand.)

Don't you love projects like this??? Cheap/free and easy!

I even made some cute bubble magnets to go with it:Oh, joy!!!

What have you been working on lately?

Linking up:

Another Cloche Call...(and a possible giveaway?)

Well! Heavens to Betsy!

It feels like I haven't posted anything in ages! So much has been happening in such a short amount of time. We put offers in on 2 houses, the Hubs is putting in some mandatory overtime, the Jedi is really getting into schoolwork now, the other 2 little ones need mommy-time (all the time), and I started working again last week at a local Salon & Spa. They have me almost every night of the week, so squeezing in a post here and there has been a little but of an obstacle, not to mention coming up with things and projects to post about. *sigh* I guess it's true that a mother's work is never done...especially if she has gone back to work.

BUT...here I am! We're getting into the groove of things again over here (despite all the busy goings on), and I was able to get a few things done!

Now, as some of you may know, I have promised to become a Stashbusting Blog for the month of September. What this means is I cannot buy any new craft supplies this month. I may only use what I already have in my stash. Hard stuff, but I know I can do it!

In the middle of August, I did one of my routine trips to the Gee-Double-Yuh for 50% off Saturday, and came home with this great stuff:
I got all this great stuff for $23!!! The pendant lights alone were worth the $$$. They were only $5 a piece, but more on those guys another time. Today, we're talking about this lovely:
Now as fascinating as these clocks are, this gal just wasn't cuttin' it for me, but for $2.99 I decided to take her home anyway. Little did she know that she was coming home with a cosmetologist, and makeovers are our specialty! So I stripped her bare:

(Oh! I feel so exposed!)

Gave her some new makeup and (of course) a mirror to look in:

(Mirror: 99 cents @ Michael's, Rustoleum Heirloom White:Not pictured)

A pretty new bow:

And... voilà!!! Look at her now!
Big improvement huh? What makeover would be complete without the before and after shots?

Before

After!

Is she not divine? *happy sigh* I love a fast and easy makeover! Minus the dry time this probably took 15 minutes to do, and for only $4! Awesome!

Now... what shall we accessorize her with? Any ideas? Accessories never were my forte.

On another note, I have been thinking about doing a giveaway for my fabulous followers once there were 50 of you, but I may be forced to do one sooner. I was approached by some super cool people who saw my blog, liked what they saw, and offered to sponsor a giveaway! eeeEEEEeee! Isn't that exciting? We're brainstorming what we want to do, so stay tuned for your chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by today!

In an effort to follow proper etiquette and show my appreciation to the hostesses, I will now be posting my Linky Parties directly to my posts. Have a lovely day!

Topiary Wreath

I have this secret love affair with topiaries....(shhh....don't tell my cloches!) I don't know what it is about them. I guess it's just that simple elegance and I love the GREEN!!! I also love this boxwood greenery from Hobby Lobby:
I have this stuff in various places throughout my house. La-HOVE the stuff, but I never pay the $7.99 price tag. I rarely pay full price for anything...not when there are sales and coupons to use! For those of you who shop Hobby Lobby, you know that the greenery and floral are on sale nearly every week! Good to know...

Anyhow~ I've made MANY topiaries in the past using different floral and greenery, but for some reason I never put my love of topiaries and the above greenery together. The boxwood comes off in little sprigs like this:
DUH... Why didn't I just put 2+2 together? It's so simple!!!

So, a few of weeks ago I went to work putting a topiary style wreath together using this boxwood greenery. I purchased a foam wreath form similar to this one (but green):I poked TONS of little holes in it using a skewer. I put a tiny little dollop of hot glue in the hole and shoved a sprig of the boxwood inside for security. (This keeps my little ones from easily pulling them out.) I left the very back of the wreath naked, 'cuz who sees that anyway? (Isn't that the same theory as hospital robes?) I got about 1/4 away from the end when I ran out of greenery. So, I took a little trip to Hobby Lobby, only to find they were sold out. I tried both locations near my home, and came out empty handed. For TWO WEEKS I was unable to finish my project, then finally they got a shipment of it in and luckily it was on sale! Anyhow~ I ended up using about 4 1/2 bushels of the greenery. Here is a breakdown of the cost:

Boxwood Greenery (Hobby Lobby) 5 @ $3.99 (50%off) : $19.95
Green Foam Wreath Form (Michael's) $3.59 (w/40% off coupon)
Hot Glue: Had on hand
Total Cost: $23.54

Not the cheapest project I've ever done, but if you have ever purchased a custom wreath, you know they are upwards around $50+. I prefer to do things like this on my own because it is so satisfying to see the end result! Look how pretty it turned out!
I made the flowers using a roll of muslin fabric used for waxing that I had on hand. Yes...waxing...as in legs, armpits and brows. :) I switched to using synthetic strips for waxing my clients, so I had this stuff lying around. It made some lovely flowers and I didn't have to spend extra money for the fabric.
So purdiful! I love how simple and classic it looks. I used some long pins to secure the flowers in place. This way I can take them out and put something else on the wreath when I want to change it up for Christmas and the like. Huzzah!

For those of you who don't feel like they can "craft", I'm tellin' ya, if you can poke holes in styrofoam... you can make this wreath! This beauty is gonna look great hanging up just about anywhere!

Do you love topiaries too? What are some that you've made/found?

I'm linking up to these fabulous parties!