Safety Necklace

I mentioned in yesterday's post that we recently took a trip to Disneyland.  I also mentioned that between the ten adults, there were eight children ages 20 months to 6 years old.  That is a lot of children for that age gap and heaven forbid one of them wander off.

One thing my sister and I decided to do was make tags for our children.  We found this idea and then tweaked it to fit my OCD.  Using ArtsCow, we made dog tags for the kids to wear around their necks.  The great part was that you got to totally customize them.  And they are made with a nice, thick plastic cover on each side.

For the front we found a couple different Disney images to use.

And for the back we added their names and our cell phone numbers.

Thankfully they did not need to be used in the way they were intended.  Although there was one moment in Toon Town where I couldn't find Landon.  We had left Minnie's house and I walked over to Shawn with Savanah unaware that Landon decided to head on into Mickey's house.  Long story short, I found him a few minutes later walking around Mickey's house content as can be.  Not cool!

California, Here We Coooommmme

I used to love the TV show The OC.  I started watching is right after I had Landon.  One of my best friends lent me her DVDs so I had something to do while I was home with him.  Shortly after, I purchased the seasons for myself.  The song that plays at the start of the show reminds me of home.  

I am a Californian through and through (except for the lack of blond hair...)

 The first week in November we flew out to California to meet my side of the family at Disneyland.  Ten adults and eight kids, it was awesome!  To make it even more awesome, we all wore matching shirts.  I guess technically they were more coordinating than matching, but you know.

I found the idea here.  I absolutely love that the site has hundreds of images to choose from.  It took us about five months to truly narrow it down to one image per person.  No joke!

My only advice?  Buy the TransferMagic transfer paper and make sure you read what type you are buying.  My sister and I were unaware that we had purchased the light colored paper and tried it on a black shirt.  No dice.  They do sell dark colored paper and it works great, too.  Just be aware of which you are buying. 

You can use this transfer paper for so many projects.  It was fast and they turned out great.  I even added wording to the bottom of our mickey heads.

Enjoy!

Lucky Penny

I recently saw this picture on Michelle's blog.  Although my HL didn't have any jump rings or key chain rings in the right cooper color.  I decided to just use what I had instead.  Still love it.  My mom stamped the word for me since I do not have a set.  A little tip: color in the words with a black sharpie and then wipe it off.  It will give your letters more depth.

I have a second penny that I think I might make a necklace out of.

My Own Tags

Oh Pinterst... how I love thee!  I didn't really get it at first and I still cannot really spend a lot of time on there, but it is so nice to quickly glance at a picture without clicking on anything.

I came across this pin the other day and about died.  Such a simple concept.  I had looked into buying tags before but they were still a little too expensive.  This is nice because I already had the transfer paper from another project.

I started by designing a little something in Word.  I found a nice, quick tutorial on how to flip the image.

After printing the images on transfer paper, I cut them out and ironed them onto my ribbon.  Quick tip: place a piece of cotton fabric over the tags before ironing to project your image and your ribbon.

Add your new tags to your favorite sewing projects and admire the cuteness!

Ties

I made my sister-in-law these ties for her two boys.  I finally found a tutorial that I liked.  I was so sick of seeing the ones that wrapped around the neck with elastic.  Enter my best friend Pinterest!!

This tutorial was awesome!  Seriously easy and quick.  My sis made like six yesterday.  Also, the best part: CHEAP!

Statement Art

Landon has this long wall in his room that has absolutely nothing on it.  All the other walls are decorator, but I could not for the life of me find something for this wall.  It is massive.  I probably should have taken a picture... eh...

I spent months trying to find something.  MONTHS!!!  Hobby Lobby has this print.  I love it but the dimensions were just not big enough.  Everything I found in the right size was WAY out of my budget.  Even out of my " Shawn would kill me" budget.  I knew I wanted some sort of vintage map to go with his Route 66 theme, but nothing.

Enter my epiphany (Insert angels singing: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!)

I started at this website, typed in "route 66", and the heavens opened again.  This poster was exactly what I was looking for and only about 12 bucks.  And it was HUGE!  Like 2 ft x 7 ft huge.  I knew right away that there was no way I could afford to frame that bad boy.  My next option: canvases.  I found my canvases at HL and used my 40% off.  In the end I only paid about $10 for all three.

I painted the edges of my canvases a dark grey to match the print.  Then using a cutting mat and rotary cutter (I know!) I trimmed down the poster to fit on the canvases.  This was a little nerve racking at first.  I was deathly afraid that I would cut the wrong measurement and ruin the poster.  With all three pieces cut I used spray adhesive to adhere them to the canvases.  At this point I hung them on Landon's wall but they just did not look finished.  Way too much black and white.  I finally took the time today to bust out the Cricut and cut some vinyl.  I added just a few things here and there.  I did not want to take away from the overall print.

In a nut shell, I love it!  There are still a couple small things I will add to the wall, but this piece turned out perfect.  Such a nice, big art piece for only about $25.  Can't beat that!

Halloween Mantle

If you know me well, then you know that I LOVE HALLOWEEN.  Ironic since I am scared of absolutely everything!  I was so excited for Halloween this year that I started decorating about half way through September.  I wanted the spooky goodness to last.

When I saw this page in the Pottery Barn catalog last year, I knew I wanted to make something very similar.  I found the glass vases from Dollar Tree and glued them to painted wood pieces from Home Depot.  I have NO idea what they are called.  The skulls were also found at DT last year.

Also stolen from this page was the apothocary jar look.  I spray painted the rocks and was planning on writing on them with chalk.  Well, I changed my mind.  Instead I added a DT skeleton and an awesome spider from Quilted Bear.  Oh, how I miss Utah in the fall.  Tear!

Now for a little ghetto...

I love the look of the dead tree branch.  Pottery Barn did this last year and I knew I wanted to mimic the idea.  I have been on the lookout for branch for awhile now.  Shawn made fun of me because I was constantly scoping out the trees.  The moment finally came last Saturday.  I headed out to pick up a pie and happened upon the perfect tree.  It was right in front of the restaurant where I was picking up the pie.  I parked my car right next to the tree, went in and picked up the pie, and then casually "checked out" the tree.  I hastely ripped the branch off, threw it into the car, and drove away like a bat out of hell.  When I got home, Shawn just looked at me and shooked his head.  I wanted that branch and knew it would be mine!!  A little black spray paint and it was perfect.

Love skulls!

I used the same concept here with the skulls and the Spanish moss.  I like the idea of using simple orange branches because they can easily transition into my Thanksgiving decor.

The birdcage is a little hard to see.  I covered the bottom with a layer of Spanish moss and added some extra skeletons trying to "escape the evil bird".  My crow is another DT item.  I also threw in a battery operated tea light.  It flickers and adds a little extra "spook"!

I have other Halloween items around the house, but this mantle is my "showstopper"!  Love it!!