Cheap, Easy & Fun Ideas

I love finding fun, cheap and creative projects to do!  I found this one on etsy and on pinterest.  It's called a Burlap Tie Wreath.  I was hoping to get a new wreath for Christmas decorations this year and thrilled with the natural look of this one.  I was even more excited when I realized it would be cheap to make!!

To make:  

Cut burlap into 1inch strips that are either 6 or 8 inches long.  

The top one is 6 and bottom is 8, not much of a difference.

Tie each strip on 12" wire wreath.  

You can see the wire wreath below.  I found it at JoAnns for $2.49.  I used just under 1.5yards of burlap that was $3.99 a yard.

So project total was $8.50 plus tax, and that's without sale or a coupon! (which I had both of!)

I wanted to use some color, so I bought a 6inch wreath and some cotton fabric and here is the result:

Have fun!!

Holiday Boutique

Today was the Mom's Group Holiday Boutique!! I didn't make as much as I would have liked, but it sure was fun!! Can't wait for next years, thinking I'll get an earlier start.

We had 10 tables selling all sorts of different things. Here's a view of some of them! Mom's Group had a bake sale table and a raffle sale. All the vendors donated 1 thing from their table and we sold tickets for $1. We made $40 on that and lots of happy winners!

Here's my little sales man! He worked hard at making the play dough with me and can't wait to go buy a Jesse doll now. That's what he wanted, so I told him he needed to earn money if he wanted to buy it. He walked around at the sale saying, "would you like to buy my play dough?" I think if he had stayed the whole time we would have sold it all.

Here we are, all set up and ready to sell. All the cute stuff in the middle was made by my friend Kristine. Check out her site: http://www.sweetandsnazzy.blogspot.com/

And these are the cup cakes I made to sell. They are wash clothes rolled up and put into cupcake wrappers with a little button on top. They were pretty cute, but not hugely popular. People liked them, just not sure what to do with them, I guess...

These are my sister's burp clothes. Super cute!! She sold quite a few. Look her up on facebook and buy some!! The little babies love them because they are so colorful and so much fun to look at!

First big "baby is coming" project!!

Well, as usual, my brain is running with all the projects that "need" to be done before baby gets here. I think my poor husband just might go crazy. He keeps asking where I think all the time and money is going to come from. One day at a time, babe! That's why I have prioritized the list according to need vrs want and expense. So, keep posted for more exciting things to come!!

We did get one project crossed off the list and it was a big one and a cheap one. Just a couple pieces of wood, a few bins and our creativity!!

The soon-to-be baby room is currently serving as a playroom, a storage room for extra bedding, baby stuff, sewing stuff, all things crafty and those things you can't get rid of but don't know what to do with. By July it has to be simply a baby room. We started by moving out all things crafty. My wonderful husband re-shelved our vacuum closet. I have two smallish shelves, one huge one and plenty of room at the bottom for vacuums and brooms. I used the purchased bins, unloaded all things crafty out of the dresser, leaving it almost empty and ready for baby stuff, and found all the other miscellaneous crafty supplies from all other hiding places through out the house! They are all neatly stored away in the vacuum closet. Label, sorted and stored!!

Well, after turning the vacuum/cleaning closet into a vacuum/craft closet, all the cleaning supplies had to be moved into the laundry room. So, under went project-spruce up the laundry room! Jared re-shelved the cabinets and now I can store all cleaning supplies and overflow pantry stuff! We also re-used leftover paint from the kitchen and then purchased some bright pinky-orange paint for the wall (there wasn't enough yellow). So, now the laundry room is nice and cheery and should leave me wanting to do lots of laundry for my family! : ) (It could happen)

So, that's one project down... too many left to do!! Will continue working on cleaning out that playroom!

--pictures to come as soon as my computer will let me load them!!--

A Fall Giveaway

It's fall, it may not feel like it outside here in California, but it is! To celebrate the coming of the cooler weather, I'm doing a giveaway! I totally stole this idea from a friend and had seen it on other blogs and liked the idea so much, I'm doing one too!! Keep an eye out for what you just might get!! I know you'll love it as much as I do!