Gators!

Okay, in case you didn't know, I happen to be a very big Florida Gators fan. So the other day when my father bought me home a roll of Gator duct tape, I of course needed something to put it on. That thing just so happened to be my laptop. It only took a few minutes and I happen to love it!

Rollin' in the crafts!

I've been trying to get a little more organized lately, but that doesn't mean I can't make organization look cute!



Before, it was just a little too plain to me.



I started by spray painting the frame light blue and the drawers yellow, but it was still too plain for me.



I had these how to paint bird books, so I cut out some of my favorite ones.



I glued the birds onto the front of the drawers. It was super easy and I love the way it turned out!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

This Valentines day I wanted to do something special for my coworkers at church. So I decided to make homemade goodies for them. I looked for a good no bake recipes and I found these peanut butter truffles. They were so easy to make so I thought I'ed share.



I started by melting the butter and peanut butter together.



Then after it was all melted I added the flour, sugar, and vanilla.




Once everything was together I rolled the ingredients into balls and let them set in the freezer for an hour.



Before I dipped them in the chocolate covering I added my own spin on things by sprinkling a little cocoa powder and powder sugar on top.



After they set I melted some chocolate chips on the stove and covered them. Later I wrapped them in plastic and a put them in some snazzy bags. Everyone said they loved them so I though I'ed share.


Now I changed the original recipe a little because I was making more than it called for but I'm going to post the original one that I got from www.cookingwithchopin.blogspot.com

It's a great blog and you should check it out!

5 tbsp butter
1/4 cup peanut butter (preferably natural)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Coating:
3 tbsp butter
1 (4 ounce) bar of bittersweet chocolate

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place butter and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl, and melt in 30-second increments in the microwave, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the sugar and vanilla. Add the flour in three batches, stirring to combine well each time. Dough will be quite thick.

Working with about 1/2 a tablespoon at a time, roll dough between your palms into round balls. Place on baking sheet and freeze until very firm, about 1 hour.

For the coating, melt butter and chocolate together in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth.

Using a toothpick, spear peanut butter balls one at a time and dip into chocolate. Tap lightly against the side of the pan to remove excess chocolate. Place back on parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining balls and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

Somewhere to rest my head.

Last night I picked my mother up from work. While I was outside waiting I noticed that there was a pallet laying on the ground next to the trash can. So I got my happy little butt out of the car and put it in the back seat. This morning I got the pallet out and decided it was going to be a headboard.

I have a house full of useful things so everything was just laying around which meant this craft was free! Which in my opinion is the best kind of craft!

It was so fun and easy. I got to stain wood for the first time ever!
I started by taking off the wood on one of the sides and covering half of one side.



Then I stained it with some wood stain we've had laying around our house for years and never even opened.



After that all dried I took an old picture frame and I used the back of it as the lower half of my headboard and covered it with some old fabric I had in my room.




Then I needed something for the top because I'm going to use the top as bookshelf. So I had these old pieces of wood that came out of the bottom of an old dresser. They had just been in the back of my closet so I got them out. (They aren't going to be up there forever just until I can cut down the old shelf I have in the back yard.



I cleaned them off and stained them.



I attached the shelf bottoms to the top of my headboard to give me a small shelf for my books.





This is the back. I wanted this headboard to be awesome in a lot of ways, I added some lights to the back.



So now it lights up too!

Silver lining

Don't hate me! I had a birthday part a couple of weeks ago and I bought all these random things that I now have no need for. Among my finds, I found these three great silver serving trays at goodwill for five bucks. I had no idea what I wanted to do with them when I started, other than I was going to hang them on my wall.



I started by spray painting the two larger ones white. (at the time I was going to leave just one of them silver but I later changed my mind)

After they dried I realized I didn't like the plain white look. So I got out my pain and started mixing colors. I came up with this awesome teal color but I didn't have enough of it to do all three trays. So I used a bright yellow and red for the other two.

While they all dried I started stringing glass beads onto some wire. When I was done I tired the wire around the trays to act as hangers so I could put them up on the wall. I did two of them in beads and one wrapped in lace to add a little more color.

Mirror overhaul!

I've had this old mirror for awhile now and I never knew what to do with it. I got it at a yard sale when I was around fourteen maybe for like a dollar or something like that. Anyway, it use to be this pink frame with roses on it and I wasn't into that. So I spray painted it plan black and it stayed that way for many years. Well today I was reorganizing my closet and turning it into a place where I can get ready do my makeup and my nails (things like that) I put the plan black mirror in there and it just didn't look right. So I took it upon myself it get creative and come up with a better look for it. This is what I came up with.



It only took about fifteen minutes to make (not counting waiting for the paint to dry). First I just painted the frame white, not worrying about the spray paint running or anything because I knew it would be covered somehow. Going into it I thought I was just going to glue some crystal beads to it, but I have all of this lace lying around and I wanted to do something with it. So I wrapped the frame in lace and when I ran out (which I knew was going to happen before I started so I was ready for it) I took some of the left over pom poms I had from the chandelier I made the other day and I tied them on. I used wire to keep everything in place and to make a handle. I took some of the lace and wove it in and out of the wire to give it a cleaner look and a much prettier one, if, I do say so myself! After all of that (which wasn't really anything at all) I was done and I had a new mirror!

Fun with Pom Poms!

I had all these pom poms left over from my birthday party. I was just going to hang them up in my room but this morning I was feeling crafty. So I took an old soda can, a basic light kit, some old hangers, wire, and some spray paint along with my pom poms and I made a new chandelier for over my bed.




The steps were pretty easy. I kinda had no idea what I was going to do when I started. I knew the things I had laying around and I knew I was enough to come up with something. So I just kinda started by cutting an old soda can open on both ends. I later spray painted it white after making sure to fold over the sharp edges. Then I got a some hangers and some wire I had and just started making some loops. I cut the pom poms and hung them on the loops. Then I simply cut some holes in the side of the can and ran the wire in it making sure that it was securely wrapped around the loops and everything was holing together.. Once all that was done I took some lace and wrapped it around the hangers to cover them all up and to give it a cleaner look. Then I just hung it up over my bed! And I think it looks wonderful!