Wreaths with Mom!

After doing our Pinterest Craft Day (go to Tiffany's Blog and view MANY posts to see all of our projects on "Pinterest Craft Day") mom and I have still had the "crafting itch".

The week of spring break, everyone at work took a day or two off,

so I invited mom over for a day to craft and hang out.

This post on Pinterest had sparked my interest so we selected it to be our project for the day.

Mom brought a role of brown paper she just happened to have.

We bought styrofoam wreaths from Michael's Craft warehouse (with our 40% off coupons of course), I have a circle cutter in my scrapbooking supplies and we were ready to go!

First we figured out what size our circles should be for the size of wreath we purchased.

I think we cut about 5" circles.

See all of the scissors in the above picture with different scalloped finshes? Well we quickly figured out that cutting the edges scalloped was going to TAKE FOREVER (mom was able to cut 5 circles at a time with the circle cutter and I would have had to cut each circle one-by-one with the scallop finish).

As a a result, we decided to try burning the edges!

I was able to burn anywhere from 5-10 circles at a time.

Mom cut, while I burned!

Safety first, I burned on an old cookie tray!

Then we decided we better see what they look like before we got too many done!

Looks good! Keep going!

We used the ends of sponge brushes to wrap the circles around, place the hot glue, and stick to the wreath.

Careful.... if your hot glue gun is too hot, you have to hold it a lot longer than you do if your glue gun is at a medium temperature.

It is a very repetitive and time consuming process, but the end product is worth it!

Since, I have also added butterflies! They look great and they can easily be removed as I simply used Tacky Glue and figured if I want to use this wreath in the winter or another time of year, I can remove the butterflies and either leave the wreath plain or add something else!

I finished mom's wreath for her (we had everything cut, I just had to glue) and brought it to her this weekend when we enjoyed a nice Easter weekend with mom, dad and other family members.

We both LOVE our new wreaths!

Patio Table Transformation

Jordan and I have been talking about "re-doing" a patio table for a while now, well this weekend we did it! We removed the legs and I spray painted them black. Jordan got a piece of plywood from work and he cut it to size and did the sanding.

In the mean time, I bought to 2 stencils and was excited about the "finish work."

We brought it inside once all the sanding was done so I could stencil in comfort. Once the stenciling was done, I painted the edges black and then took it outside and finished it with shellac. I am really excited about our new patio table that is bright, fun and springy! It will also be very functional when we pull the BBQ out of the garage this spring!

Canvas board with stickers

My last project for the day was painting a canvas and using stickers to write things!

I am happy with how it turned out!

This was another Pinterest inspired project!

Wine bottles turned into chalk board vases

Another Pinterest inspired project.... wine bottles painted with chalk board paint!

For the black bottles we used chalk board spray paint, and for the red bottles we made our own chalk board paint! It worked! I think the chalk needs to be used a little though for it to work better. Brand new chalk is a little hard to use. But I am happy with the turn out!

New Necklace...Pinterest inspired

Check out the necklace I made!

I was inspired by Pinterest

Here is my version! I can't wait to wear it.

I had so much fun, a girlfriend and I made them.

First Pinterest Inspired Project

Pinterest really taken a lot of my time,

however I am excited to say I have completed

ONE project inspired by Pinterest.

I LOVE my spring & summer flowers! When it comes to my flowers my husband says I love them more than I love him (not true, but this gives you an idea of my obsession with my flowers). On Pinterest, I think my GARDEN board is my largest board...

so completing a GARDEN project first is a given.

I went thrift store shopping a few weekends ago and

I had a list on my phone of what I was looking for.

It included but was not limited to:

Magazine Rack

Spice Rack

Cup/plate combo's

Old rake head

Old chair

Planter items

Desk/dresser for garden shelf.

You can see the following projects that inspired my list by viewing the following Pinterest items:

http://pinterest.com/pin/216313588321837698/

http://pinterest.com/pin/216313588321892099/

http://pinterest.com/pin/216313588321891995/

http://pinterest.com/pin/216313588321837625/

http://pinterest.com/pin/216313588321891980/

You get the idea, there was a project behind every item on my list.

So, what did I find while thrift shopping?

The following items: magazine rack, bowls, garbage, flower pots and a footstool.

My plan, turn everything into a planter!

I first started by priming all of the "planters" with 1-2-3 primer.

I wasn't sure if this was going to work because all of the items were different with different finishes. It seems to have worked, the true test will be this summer!

Then I went to the craft store and bought indoor/outdoor acrylic paint (best advice I could find on the interent) along with a spray on acrylic indoor/outdoor varnish.

Let the creativity begin!

My final product:

I turned the footstool into a little table where I will set some of my flower pots!

Finally, I also found an old wood ladder at one of the thrift stores.

I am planning on doing something like this with my bright summer flower pots!

Who knows, between now and summer, I might add to my pot collection!

http://pinterest.com/pin/216313588321931831/

Pinterest, you might be a time suck, however you have given me LOTS of inspiration!

More projects are in my future!

LA Trip to see Dan, Jan 2012

Mom, Dad and I had been talking about going to see Dan inLA for some time now (since he has been there for two and half years).

Southwest had a great sale on tickets this fall so we went for it!

Our trip was full of fun and Dan did a great job lining out all kinds of activities for us!

The first night in LA we had dinner at the restaurant where Dan currently works, picture above.

We enjoyed great food, met lots of his friends/co-workers and were treated very well. We could tell they value Dan (and should) and that Dan has a second family at work.

We enjoyed the comfort of Dan's apartment and it reminded us of basketball weekends back in the day when everyone (who ever came any given weekend) would stay with Dan in Eugene or myself in Corvallis, it always makes for lots of laughter when the only time you're alone is in the restroom!

Dan's place was decorated very nice (we didn't expect anything less) had a nice pool and hot tub we also enjoyed.

Our first full day we spent 13 hours, yes, 13 HOURS at Disneyland! It was AMAZING!

Thanks mom and dad, for taking us to Disneyland as children and as adults... okay, just older children :)

We enjoyed the whole park! Here, we are outside the Tiki Room.

Dan and I, being the childish adults we are, got our faces painted!

We enjoyed, well most of us enjoyed, the roller coaster!

The World of Color Light show was amazing!

After a VERY eventful day at Disneyland we crashed and burned!

The following night we enjoyed another night of dinner, drinks and great company at the restaurant Dan worked at when he first moved to LA.

Here, we again, met great people who love Dan, and should! He has a great group of friends!

A day at the beach was a MUST! I mean, it was 70 degrees in January!

Yup, pretty sure a day at the beach was a given!

Dan also signed us up for The Price is Right! After standing in line all day and be being moved as a group (like a slow day of moving cattle, we were the cattle) from one place to another, literally moving 30 yards at a time, we finally made it into the studio for The Price is Right! Our standing in line began around 10am and we left the studio around 6pm

We are so excited for Feb 16, 2012 as this is the day our episode airs! One of us was called down: "______ come on down!" You'll have to tune in on Feb 16th to watch, set your DVR, record it, or watch it on Hulu the day after!

During our time in LA Dan also took us to the design stores were he shops, which were amazing! We got a good taste for his design work. As we walked into each shop the store owners and/or managers knew who he was and was very welcoming to his "brining in the family." We walked through furniture stores that had items ranging from $2,000-$50,000+. It was awesome! Fabric stores, wall paper stores, etc., it was a real experience for us and gave us a great glance at Dan's daily life!

I think what we all enjoyed the most was spending time together, laughing and having the memory of the entire trip!

We are also very happy that Dan is a great LA driver... our first drive (from the airport to his apartment) was a little shocking, but we knew we were in good hands! Good job Dan!

Thanks family for a GREAT trip that will never be forgotten!

Dan, you are amazing (which we knew) but you have done something I could never do (move to LA and be someone)! You are amazing and I can't wait to see what your future holds! You are going somewhere, and we have always known that, but after seeing you in your element and seeing the way the designers greet you as you walk in the room and how your co-workers at the bar/restaurant talk about you and treat you, I can't wait to see what comes next.... it's gonna be something big!

Here is to having a great family!