If You Can't Find It...BUILD It!

I have never, as an adult with my own home, had a coffee table. I know, sounds crazy and I didn't even realize I had gone all these years without one until Christmas Eve while admiring my parents new, beautiful Blue Stone topped coffee table. We've always had ottomans, large and small which serve both functions. And this just seemed more convenient, and safe with small children.

Until the coffee table envy introduced itself on Christmas Eve. I began an exhaustive search in back issues of House Beautiful (finding the end-all-be-all in this month's issue in the home of Pottery Barn/Crate and Barrel designer/product developer) and on Pinterest. Without spending upwards of $500 I could not find anything I fell in love with. 

Enter my DIY inner diva. She said "if you can't find it, make it" so that's what I did. I found a link on Pinterest to a blog with a plumbing pipe and cedar plank table which seemed to be calling my name.  I changed it quite a bit (not only the materials but the size and finish as well) to make it more my style. 

It was rediculously easy and quick and SO affordable.  Here is how we did it:

I found vintage ceramic casters at a local antique store and my husband figured out how to attach them with wine corks inside the lower leg pipes.

We used 12 1/2" black plumbing pipe for the horizontal and vertical pipes, attached them with 6 1/2" T connectors.

My dad cut the plumbing flanges to size for us (we couldn't find black but figured silver was fine as they are on the underside and not visible) and we used these to attach the wood top to the frame.

We used a 36" black plumbing pipe as the center stabilizer. Here is the finished frame with casters:

We used a 48x17x1" pine plank as the top and had it cut to 41" at Home Depot. I stained it with True Gray Minwax wood stain but it was a bit too gray and not warm enough so I added mahogany wood glaze and worked it in until I got the color right. Finally, I sealed it with oil based clear polyeurathane.

I love the finished color and that we can still see the wood grain and lots of knots in the pine.

Thanks for checking it out!

From Vintage to Versatile

A few years ago I started looking for a chalkboard for our kitchen.  I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted it to look like.  I also had a price point in mind.  A few years after that...I was still looking.  Even at ANY price point I couldn't find anything that measured up to the image I had made up in my mind of what I wanted it to look like.  So my hunt changed.  I started looking for a way to make my own chalkboard - and still met a dead end.  Until one day - in Main Street Antiques in Mesa, my mom and I found a vintage frame that was so crusty with all its layers and layers of paint, chips and beautiful details that I knew I'd hit the jackpot.  Amazingly, it was still sturdy, quite a find for a frame marked as circa 1950.  Not only did I love the way it looked, it was the perfect size for the ONLY empty wall in the kitchen.  I snatched it up and set about deciding how to turn it into a chalkboard.  I settled on plywood, cut to size, and spray painted with chalkboard paint.  Strolling down the plywood isle in Home Depot the heavens opened up and I stumbled across pre-made chalkboard!  Who knew?!  Well, you maybe, but I had no idea that it existed.  So I dragged my big, old frame in and they cut a slab of chalkboard to fit it perfectly.  My dad helped out by using finishing nails and wood glue to secure it all together.  24 hours later I had the chalkboard of my dreams for $55.  Quite a steal compared to the several hundred being asked for a pre-made chalkboard of this size from most catalogs and stores.

It was finished just in time for Christmas last year and I used it to make an Advent Calendar for the kids (mentioned in my advent calendar post previously).  I saved toilet paper and paper towel rolls and covered them in faux bois wrapping paper.  I used those, along with white lunch bags, to wrap 24 days of little treats, then hung them with twine and mini clothes pins.

Over the past year, I've used the chalkboard for all kinds of things - fun and inspiring quotes, seasonal messages, passages of scripture and Happy Birthday signs.  I've decorated it with garland, the kids names spelled out in little ceramic discs and glitter letters.  Its turned out to be one of the most complimented items in the house and quite a bit of fun for my family...very versatile indeed! 

Who Needs an Excuse to Kiss?

Browsing Pinterest, looking for new Christmas decor ideas, I came across a "Kissing Ball".  I was intrigued by this Christmas symbol I had never heard of and did some research.

The history of the Kissing Ball, according to ask.com, dates back to the middle ages in England and is the precursor to mistletoe.  It was originally known as a Holy Bough made of evergreen branches and containing a picture of Jesus, the Holy Family or a passage from the Bible and was hung in an entryway as a sign of goodwill.  By the Victorian era it began to be decorated with an apple or potato along with herbs and foliage.  Mistletoe was often added as a symbol of good fortune and fertility.  It was then renamed the Kissing Ball as kissing underneath it was the custom.  Over time the Kissing Ball was seen as a romantic symbol and mistletoe was the most commonly chosen herb.  Even more recently the rest of the "ball" was dropped and we were left with just the mistletoe under which those caught standing are expected to kiss.

The history struck a chord with me because I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Northern California which are known for their abundance of Oak Trees.  Nothing loves Oak Trees more than Mistletoe - though the feeling isn't mutual as Mistletoe is a parasite that chokes and eventually kills the tree it takes over.  Every Christmas as a child I climbed one of the dozens of Oak Trees on our acreage and plucked a large bunch of Mistletoe that I tied up with a big ribbon and hung in our dinning room entryway.  I knew nothing of the history other than it was a big part of the old tavern scene in the Micky Mouse version of A Christmas Carol when a shy, young Ebeneezer Scrooge is confronted by his love who wants a kiss.  At eleven that seemed like as good a reason as any to hang some myself. 

Since there isn't an oak tree in any part of Arizona I've seen, and I am not likely to run across any Mistletoe, I decided to give this historical symbol a whirl and see if I could make one to match my Christmas decor for this year.

I am going with a sort of glam vintage look mixed with a bit of rustic charm this year and decided that silver and white would work out perfectly.  Not to mention I have an affinity for Mercury glass and decorate with it year round, not just at the holidays.  I found some beautifully affordable large Mercury glass balls at Tuesday Morning along with white wired satin ribbon.

I started by attaching both large glass balls together at staggered heights with the ribbon they came on.

Then I cut two lengths of the satin wired ribbon and strung it through the hanging loops on top of each large ball and left them to drape down the sides.

The smaller balls are shatterproof and came in a set of four, also from Tuesday Morning.  I tied these on at staggered heights, cascading down the sides of the two large balls.  As you can see, I started with twine, thinking I would incorporate the rustic look but it looked terrible by the time I was done - there was too much contrast between the twine and the white ribbon and silver balls.  I cut it all off and used the sheer white ribbon that had been tied around the box of four balls.  Re-purposing at its finest!

Once I had finished the balls, I used a large piece of burlap and woven cotton ribbon from Hobby Lobby to make a huge bow.  I attached this at the top to conceal the conjunction of all the ribbons and knots.

Here is the finished product - pucker up!

It looks a little different hanging in an entryway rather than against the wall because the smaller balls cascade around the back as well.  It was a very inexpensive - under $15 total - and quick project.  It only took me about 10 min. not counting all the time to stop and take photos.  I think it would also make a great hostess gift if you are visiting friends and family this Christmas.

Light a Candle For Me

I have, in recent years, become something of a candle connoisseur.  There are several factors that play into the right candle for me.  First and foremost, the smell is really the essence of a good candle.  It's important that the smell, both when lit and when the wax has hardened, smells natural.  There's nothing worse than synthetic fragrance in a candle.  Even more important is that the fragrance is strong enough to perfume a large area.  I love having a candle lit downstairs and walking upstairs and getting hit with the smell from that far away.

Next, it has to burn well.  The wax should liquefy evenly and as it burns down to the bottom, should be completely used up by the wick.  Speaking of the wick, it should also burn properly and not blossom which, more often than not, leads to miniature explosions that splatter burnt wax all over.  Cotton wicks with no additives seem to be the best.

Finally, but definitely no less important, is the container.  The best candles come in beautiful vessels that, when the wax burns out completely can be used for other things like office supplies on your desk - or as I am about to share - made into new, homemade candles.

Okay, I realize I sound like a total candle snob but as is true with so many things in life, you get what you pay for.  A whole bunch of cheap candles that die before half the wax is gone or even worse, don't smell at all, are not worth even the small amount of money they cost.  A more expensive candle that looks good and does its job well is worth every penny.  Best yet, is one that does its job well that you can make and enjoy, or give as a gift.

When I was in middle school, one of my friends and I used to make candles.  These were not the modern fragranced candles in a jar, but the hippie era candles made in wet sand forms and of course they were not perfumed.  They came out looking like a sandy, mottled blob that got hidden under the kitchen sink because they were so ugly.  I figured if I could do that way back then, I could surely make some container candles that smell good and look better.  I found a link on Pinterest that led me to a materials supplier but quickly realized that my old friend Amazon.com had a better selection, at better prices and, of course, their signature free shipping.  You can't beat that!

I purchased 6 inch cotton wicks, soy wax flakes and 100% pure essential oil.  I found several oils at Sprouts - lemon, tangelo, vanilla, cinnamon and clove.  But I really wanted a pine or balsam oil which was tough to track down so I eventually just ordered that from Amazon as well.

I started with a hodgepodge of containers.  Some old jars with twine, some painted wide-mouth Ball mason jars (which I painted the interior of with homemade chalk paint) and some re-purposed candle containers I had washed and saved.  My first attempt worked out fabulously so I decided homemade candles would make great Christmas gifts for colleagues, the kids' teachers and my mom's friends at her horse ranch.  Of course, in the case of gifts, I wanted much nicer containers and we lucked out finding super cute little porcelain spice jars on clearance at Anthropologie for $4 each.  We bought them all and wished they'd had more.

I started with my trusty glue gun and glued the metal end of the wick to the bottom of the container.  

Next, I melted the soy flakes in the microwave until the melted wax reached the temperature recommended on the package.  I then added the essential oils.  This is the tricky part.  Each oil's strength varies and you will need to experiment with how much oil to add to the melted wax to get the strength of fragrance you want.

You can also experiment with mixing oils to make custom fragrances.  Since these are Christmas gifts I made several seasonal smells.  My favorite is the pine but I also really like cinnamon-vanilla and clove-vanilla.

Last, I poured the wax into the containers and propped the wick in the very center with a pencil.  This keeps it from leaning to the side as the wax hardens which will cause the candle to burn unevenly.

I found tubes of mini Christmas balls in the Target $ section which made great packaging for the completed candles.  

I think this will make a really nice, smelly Christmas for our friends.

For the Man Who Has Everything... a little birthday humor

November is a busy month for us.  Our wedding anniversary and our son's birthday sandwich my husband's birthday and we wrap it all up with Thanksgiving in the same week.  As if that doesn't make birthday parties and gift giving interesting enough - we have Christmas less than a month later.  Now, depending on how you look at it, having a husband that doesn't want to acknowledge his birthday can make this situation either easier or much, much more difficult.  My husband is a fun guy but not one who wants to have a party, get gifts and who especially hates surprises.  We are the quintessential "opposites attract" which means that year after year I try my darnedest to get him to enjoy his birthday and to find a surprise that will change his opinion of them.

This year I *think* I came the closest yet with an Oklahoma State University themed family party (no pesky friends bringing birthday joy for us).  Not living in, or anywhere near, Oklahoma, you can imagine it can be tough to find OSU party supplies.  Enter the genius of Amazon.com and I was set with everything black and orange I could hope for.

Part two was to tackle the gift giving and make that a hit too. I found a Pistol Pete (OSU's mascot) golf head cover that is so ugly in a perfectly mascot-faced way that I couldn't pass it up. I paired it with OSU ball markers and it was a success.

Now that last thing - make him laugh.  I found a great idea on Pinterest that I knew would, at the very least, get a shy smile out of my love - which is a big gesture for my stoic man.  I took the idea I found and put my own twist on it.  "Papi's Stache" - here it is:

I started with a wide mouth Ball jar and hot glued the lid to the ring.  Next, I painted the lid with homemade chalk paint.  

I hot glued on a mustache and used a white chalk pen to write "Papi's Stache".  Finally, I filled it with his favorite candy - Lindor white chocolate truffles.  

Despite it's name, the kids still attacked the "stache" and Papi let them - because that's just the great kind of guy he is. 

ADVENT-tures at Christmas

When my kids were very little we always got them Advent Calendars from Cost-Plus with a little chocolate behind each door. Last year I started a new tradition of creating an Advent Calendar's with a different surprise for each day. I made a large, framed chalkboard and and hung paper tubes and bags with twine and used chalk to number the days. All the bags and tubes held different candies, toys and other surprises. They LOVED it! This year my mom and I found a precious cardboard Santa calendar with 24 little drawers at IKEA. It's almost a personal creative challenge to come up with 24 surprises (times 2) that aren't junk or, on the other end of the spectrum, over the top expensive. The bonus is that some things come in 6's or 8's and can be used for multiple days.

Here's my list for this year:

1) Angry Birds (Star Wars) Telepods for the iPad -they come in a set of 8 so can be given as 4 days of 2.

2) Lindor dark chocolate and peppermint truffles.

3) Trident Candy Cane gum

4) LED finger mini flashlights

5) Mini solar toys (car & turtle)

6) Inflatable Star Wars light sabers

7) Telepods

8) Mechanical pencils

9) $5 Target gift coins -these come in sets of 5 so can be given as 2 days of 2.

10) Gumballs

11) 2 more LED mini flashlights

12) Chocolate Santa pops on a stick

13) Lindor truffles

14) Telepods

15) 2 more LED mini flashlights

16) 2 more Target gift coins

17) Nutella dipping cookies

18) 2 more LED mini flashlights

19) Lindor truffles

20) Mrs. Fields peppermint cream sticks

21) Lindor truffles

22) Gumballs

23) Harkins movie gift cards (our family tradition for Christmas Eve, Eve is movie and dinner)

24) A not to find their Christmas Eve gift- we always open one gift on X-Mas Eve

Any of the treats that are too big for the little drawers are replaced with a note and a witty (or at least I think so) riddle telling the kids where to find the treat-and some chocolate gold coins. 

Diamonds Are a Gourd's Best Friend

Everyone loves "bling", right?!  Ok, not everyone.  But the cool people do.  I know there are those apposed to the flash and sparkle of bling encrusted shirts, jeans and jewelry but those are probably also the people whose favorite color is beige.  Not that there's anything wrong with that - but we can have a lot more fun!  The draw of bling is not lost on even the darkest holiday - Halloween.  And now that you can buy sparkles by the pound there is really no reason not to bedazzle everything within reach right?  That might be a little extreme.  But certainly there are some fun ways to add a little shine to your Halloween decor.  My 8 year old daughter and I found just what we needed at Hobby Lobby.  A pound of multi-sized sparkles and a hallow, black craft pumpkin.  You can choose the tubs of sparkles come in different shapes and you can also vary the pumpkin size and color.  But I do think the sparkles show up best on the black pumpkin.

This was a very easy and quick project.  The most important step is to lay out your design before you even plug in the hot glue gun.  Regrettably, I didn't take photos of the process of designing the pattern and gluing the sparkles on systematically but its not too tough to follow.  We chose to create a pattern that would vary the size and spacing of the sparkles so it looked like they were dripping down the pumpkin.  We then designed a script capital "N" for the front.  

Its also very important to glue side to side.  What I mean by that is, start one row going down the pumpkin then cross over the top and glue on the exact opposite side and work you way back and forth so that the sparkles end up evenly spaced.

Here is the final product:

If you are an 8 year old girl (or her *slightly* older mother) this project is a great way to bring a little glamour to your Halloween decorations.

I'm Not a Professional, But I Play One on a Blog...

The hardest part of this blogging business, for me, is the photography.  I LOVE taking pictures, as my kids (and probably my dogs if they could) would grudgingly tell you.  I whip out the camera every chance I get.  I immortalize every trip, event, and sometimes the usual Tuesday, with many a photo.  The problem is that I have no idea what I'm doing and I am pretty sure it's obvious in my pictures.  Don't get me wrong, everyone is almost always in focus and for the most part centered, but I know I am missing all the nuances of composition and lighting and all the other important things that professional photogs get paid the big bucks for understanding how to do.  Although, I am pretty darn good at close ups of things like flowers and cacti because my fancy Cannon does mostly all the work for me.  But realistically, how many close up flower photos can you have if you are not a botanist?

Whats my point?  Well, I tell you all this as a preamble to an apology and to ask you to bear with me as I stumble my way though showing you the objects of my posts.  And, because I am not that great at it (going back to the perfectionist affliction), most of the time I create something I am in love with, I grab my phone and snap a pic onto Instagram (which also does mostly all the work and hides poor photography with glorious colors, blurring and framing) which never seem to translate well into actual photos outside of Instagram.

But, as I said before we will muddle through and just do what's in front of us today.  If you have any amount of patience and can try to focus on the crafts and projects, I will work on my photography.  I am pretty sure I have the manual around here somewhere and that if I figure out what the knobs and buttons do, I can probably make them work.  If you are a photographer (professional or just a really darn good amateur) and you want to throw some tips my way, I would be grateful.  

Sample of my photo skills - my cute kids in Prescott, AZ

What's That You Say... You Want Me to Plan a Party???

For my family, Halloween is purely a social holiday.  My kids LOVE dress up - year round.  But on Halloween, getting to dress up full tilt, and go out with other kids who are all dressed up is a huge deal.  Both of my kids, especially my 10 year old son, are very influenced by their surroundings.  They appreciate the comfort of a cozy home with familiar decorations and good smells.  Having them take part in the decorating makes the holiday even more special and also becomes a time to make great family memories.

What makes better memories that having your friends over on Halloween?  We all love a good party.  However, if we step back and really think about it, parties are a lot of work.  We are not The Real Housewives with party planners and home decorators at our disposal.  Nor are we Martha Stewart with her warehouses of amazing decorations and party supplies. This means that really doing a party right takes some serious planning, effort and creativity to pull it off in a way that feels special.

One great way to build your party decor stash is to wait until the post Halloween sales and stock up on all the 75% off deals.  After a few years of that, you can have quite a bit to work with.  The second great way is to put your Creative Mama hat on and make some of your own decor.  Creating things as a family  makes them even more special and again, builds those wonderful family memories.

Last fall (after hacking down a large bush in my backyard), I had a lot of branches at my disposal.  Rather than sending them off to the landfill I thought they would make great, spooky, decorations - with a little prep work.  I stripped all the branches of their leaves and wonky twigs, and hosed them down, then left them to dry in the sun for a few days.  Now here is my disclaimer - don't hack down anything you really like.  This particular bush had to go and was not sacrificed merely for the sake of Halloween decor.

I chose to use the branches as is - but they would have also looked great spray painted black.  I had enough branches to use in several places in the house.  My first idea was to make a Photo Booth Backdrop so that, prior to Trick-Or-Treating, all the kids (and OK, all the grown ups too) could take some fun photos.

I chose a place in my house with enough room for several people to stand together.  I used a large mirror that is leaning against a wall to support the branches but you could use a fireplace mantle, large terracotta pots or even galvanized buckets/French flower market buckets filled with rocks or sand for support.  I arranged the branches so that they were evenly spaced and overlapped slightly - you can mess with them until you get a good arrangement  I strung orange twinkle lights throughout the branches so that at night it looks a little spooky.  Next, I used a package of cobweb cotton to cover them - the trick with that stuff is to make sure it is very stretched and thinned out so it looks authentic.  The Happy Halloween banner is from Target but you can make your own with card stock or even burlap (remember you have your Creative hat on so you can do whatever you like). The finishing touch was to add bats - some are black and though they are hard to see in the photo, some are glow in the dark - hanging from the cobwebs.  I didn't want the mirror to reflect the photographer so I draped it in mummy cloth.

This display became a focal point at the party and everyone, literally EVERYONE, stopped by to take pictures of their kids and themselves.  The gorgeous kids in the photo above are mine ;-)

The next place I used the branches was to make what I aptly named the Trick-Or-Treat Tree.  Now, I know how most people (moms) feel about party treat bags.  Usually they are full of junk that ends up under the car seats or couch or falls apart immediately.  On the other side, as the person throwing the party, the stuff in the bags isn't cheap and you know where it ends up so it seems like a total waste.  But my kids think treat bags are the end all, be all of a party and an essential component that cannot be skipped.  So rather than doing big bags full of crappola, I chose to use tiny drawstring bags with just a couple items (vampire teeth, sticky hands and poppers) that were very inexpensive in bulk from Oriental Trading Co.  I figured if we were going to do the treat bags we should do something different and fun with them that the kids would enjoy.  The tree started out as just a display by the door because I had a copper umbrella stand there and thought the branches would work perfectly to give a spooky forest feel to the entry way.  Again I strung the branches with twinkle lights, cob webs and bats.  Then decided that it would be really fun to hang the treat bags as well as a convenient place for kids to grab one on the way out of the party.  Here is the final product:

I did use the branches in a few other places through out the house but in more of a "Fall" display than Halloween.  My goal was also to save them to use on the front porch at Christmas time but that never panned out.  Maybe this year?

Starting again...

This is my third attempt at a blog and I vow (hand over heart) to give it a real effort this time...I think I can, I think I can.  Let me back up.  I am an elementary school teacher and a mother of two young kids and a wife and dog owner and home owner and, and, and... and lets face it, we are busy. Kids get sick, husbands travel and well, life just happens and suddenly its been 10 years and that great idea you had seems like fairy tale without a happy ending.  For me, the biggest problem is follow through.  I am great on the front end!  I have fabulous ideas and tons of enthusiasm up front - then time goes on and something happens to all that optimism.  I think this is true for lots of reasons but I have finally pin pointed the biggest one.  The affliction of perfectionism.  The thought that - if I cant do it PERFECTLY, then why do it at all?  I'm not alone here right?  I cant be, because I know a lot of type A people.

So, how do we rectify this?  Think I have it figured out.  We just do it and let it be what it is.  So instead of having delusions of grandeur as, my dear friend Jennifer's dad use to tell us, we humble ourselves to just doing whats in front of us today.

Today what is in front of me is starting this blog.  As a wife, mother, teacher... I need to be crafty and creative.  Its my outlet (and its better for me than eating or shopping).  It allows me to let go of lesson plans and worries and lose myself in something that, when I am finished, gives me a sense of accomplishment and a way to stand back and say "Heck ya! I made that!".  It also allows me to show other people how much I love them because, as we know, everyone loves gifts.  And for many of us, myself included, its a love language.  My other love language is words of affirmation.  Though I would love to be like my husband and not give a rats patooty what anyone thinks, I like hearing that I've had a good idea or I've done something to please someone.

So here we are.  I have claimed our guest room - which is blue and lovingly called the "blue room" - as my craft room and decided to name it Studio BLU.  I designed it to be a place where I can start projects and not have to put them away.  Where I can create and make a mess (and of course as someone with mild OCD, clean it up) on a journey to creating things for myself, other people and maybe (hopefully) you, whom

ever you are.  I will show you how I, on a teacher's salary, created this studio and some of the projects that are born in it.  I hope you will come back and visit and maybe take away some ideas that will allow you to lose yourself and your worries in your own way.  Without feeling like it has to be perfect.