St. Patty's Day Centerpiece Tutorial (Kid-Friendly!)

This is one of the cheapest and easiest projects I've ever done.  I am a leader for my daughter's Frontier Girls troop--We have six girls ages 4-6.  I did this project with all the girls on Monday afternoon and it went fabulously.  I was a little worried about Mod Podging with six wee ones, but they did a fantastic job, which emphasized to me how simple this project really is.

Want to know the best part?  Each centerpiece costs under $2!  All of the supplies (except for the Mod Podge) were purchased at our local Dollar Tree.

SUPPLIES

-Small square candle holder

-Scented tea candle

-Green decorative glass

-St. Patrick's Day Napkins

-Mod Podge  (Not pictured)

-Foam brushes (Not pictured, but available at the Dollar Store)

-Scissors (Not pictured)

Unfold a napkin.  Use your scissors to cut out two of the green squares with clovers inside.

Mod Podge a clover square to two opposite sides of the candle holder.

Fill the candle holder with the green class about 2/3 full.  Place the tea candle into the center of the candle holder.  (You can kind of twist it down into the green glass a little bit.)

Enjoy!

I'm currently working on a Home/Life Organization Binder.  It's nearing completion, so I hope to have photos up soon.

Also coming soon... A Spring Wreath! 

Clovers

I love St. Patrick's Day.  Maybe it's the Irish in me or maybe it's just another excuse to celebrate and decorate... Whatever the reason, I'm excited for the 17th!  Last year, I snagged a couple of wood clovers from Goodwill.  Each one cost me under a dollar.  I finally got around to Mod Podging them last week.

Later this week, I'll have a tutorial for a kid-friendly St. Patrick's Day centerpiece, made completely from Dollar Store supplies and costing less than $2!

Glow-in-the-Dark BOO

I must admit that I was skeptical about Martha Stewart's glow-in-the-dark glitter at first.  After using it, though, I am a proud supporter!  The bottle was so easy to use, with the easy-pour lid, and the glitter was just right for the coverage I needed.  I painted BOO onto a plastic pumpkin with Mod Podge, then poured the glitter on top.  

VOILA!

Articles of Faith Book

A while ago, I came across a huge poster with the 13 Articles of Faith (from the LDS Church) in a closet.  I didn't really have anywhere to hang it, but decided that it would make a fantastic book.  My five year old daughter has already memorized the first three Articles, but would really like to know the rest.  The only problem is that she can't read fluently yet, and thus needs photos to help.  I had a book from Bare Books in my supplies that was perfect for the project.  The book was so easy to make!  I simply cut up the poster, put an Article of Faith on the left page, and cut up pictures to match each Article for the right page.  My daughter is ecstatic about the book.  I'm excited to have a wonderful addition to our Sacrament Meeting bag for Sundays!

FRONT COVER

 INSIDE FRONT COVER

 PAGE EXAMPLES

 INSIDE BACK COVER

 BACK COVER

***Don't forget to enter the wingflash designs giveaway by Sunday!***

Fall Blessings Barn Star

I've been eyeing barn stars for months now, but haven't wanted to spend the money to buy one.  Yesterday, though, while walking through Michaels, I found a paper mache barn star that was much cheaper than the plastic/metal ones I've seen previously.  I simply mod podged each star face with a different paper representing many of my favorite things about fall.  My 5 year old summed it up perfectly when she said, "I love it, Mommy.  I could just stare at it for hours."

I'm linking up to:

Easiest Fall Monogram Wreath Tutorial

Fall is absolutely, without a doubt, my favorite season.  On September 1st, I pulled out all of my fall decorations and spent the morning transforming my home.  (That was also the day my son started school, and I had to keep busy to keep from crying the entire day!)  Today the weather has cooled enough to make it feel like fall--What perfect timing, as I made a new fall wreath for our front door last night!  

SUPPLIES
Styrofoam wreath form (mine was 10")
Fall Ribbon--Enough to wrap the entire wreath and cover the door hanger
1 Strand/Garland of fall leaves (On sale now at JoAnn's!)
Floral Pins (Sewing pins would work fine, too.)
Door/Wreath Hanger

Wrap the fall-themed ribbon around the entire wreath, covering it completely.  I used floral pins to secure the ribbon, as I like to be able to change my wreaths around, but you could use a glue gun, instead.

Create a loop at the top of your wreath with one end of your leaf garland.  Secure it with a pin.

Continuing from where you started the garland with the loop, wrap the garland in and out of the wreath, until you've used the entire length.  (Sorry if this isn't too clear; just wrap it around, the same way you did the ribbon.)  Secure the end with another pin.  

You can see the pin that I used to secure the end of the ribbon in the first step.  Don't worry about those pins because you can arrange the leaves to cover anything that shows.

Wrap your door hanger in ribbon, too, if you like.  I used double sided tape to secure the ribbon.

This is what I first hung on my door.  I really liked it, but felt like it needed something else.  So I scrounged around my craft room and found a letter "D" that I had mod podged a few months ago, but never did anything with.  Luckily it fit perfectly inside my wreath, and matched!

Here's the final product!  I love the monogram in the middle; I feel like it really makes the wreath.  How easy was that?!

HAPPY FALL!

I'm linking up to:

Disobedience Dimes

I know that it must appear that my children are little heathens, based upon all of the chore charts and discipline crafts I come up with.  It's not true (all the time), they just need a little help along the way.  My newest creation is Disobedience Dimes.  Each time that they are disobedient, rude, whiny, etc., they have to pay a dime to the Disobedience Dimes jar.  Don't worry--I have to pay into it, too, if I'm rude.  They are earning money by doing their chores, but know that if they want to keep all of that money, they need to be on good behavior.  I'm not a horribly mean mom; I do give warnings and freebies sometimes.  So far, the results have been promising!

This was my first try at rosettes.  So simple!  This rosette covers the words on the back of the jar.

I couldn't find the metal cover for the jar, so I just used paper coated in Mod Podge, then cut a slit into it.

Patriotic Serving Tray

I know that the 4th is almost done, but if I post it by midnight, I think it counts, right?  I have been eyeing big and fancy serving trays everywhere I go.  We have a screened porch right off our kitchen and dining room, so I dream of having something lovely on which to carry food to the porch for our picnic dinners.  I'm stingy, though, and am not willing to pay $10 an arm and a leg.  Lucky for me, while wondering the aisles of Target (you know you do it too) the other day, I found a $20 extra-large serving tray that was clearanced down to $4.98!  It was a bit scratched up and one of the handles was loose, but it was nothing a little Gorilla Glue couldn't fix!  Perfect!  I headed to our local Dollar Tree to check out their Patriotic Decor, and fell in love with two gift bags.  I cut them to pieces, patchworked them onto the tray, then Mod Podged the heck out of them.  What do you think?

Before

After

We used the tray tonight for a big BBQ that we hosted and it was just right!  Hurray!

Summer Door Decor

As June arrived, I realized that my Happy Spring front door decor wasn't all that appropriate anymore.  Let me show you what I came up with!

Supplies:
Watering Can
Red Spray Paint
Patriotic Window Cling
Flowers (Fake or Real)
Glossy Mod Podge
Paintbrush

This is how my watering can started out.  (I got it at JoAnn's for $5, in case you want one too!)

I began by spray painting the entire watering can red.  I used a fairly light coat, as the base was reddish to begin with.  I did spray the inside, but only the top section that's easily visible.

Go grab your window clings!

(I'm using the house.)

Hang the watering can on the door to determine the best location for the window cling.  Hold it in place after you remove the watering can from the door (so you know where to put the Mod Podge).

Paint a thin layer of Mod Podge directly onto the watering can, trying to match the shape of the cling as best you can.

Carefully lay the window cling over the Mod Podge.  Now the cling is going to be slippery!  To remove the air bubbles, hold the window cling in place with one hand, while you press out the bubbles with the other hand.  You really want to get rid of those bubbles, as they will be visible under the cling if you don't.  (You can see a lot of air bubbles in the photo below, but I promise I got them all out!)

LET THE MOD PODGE COMPLETELY DRY.  The cling will slide around if you move onto the next step before the Mod Podge is dry.  (Don't ask me how I know that...)

Once the Mod Podge is totally dry, paint another layer of Mod Podge over the top of the window cling.

Let that Mod Podge dry completely as well.

Fill the watering can with flowers and hang it on your door!  Now you've got a lovely summer door decoration--Easy as pie, right?

HAPPY SUMMER!

I'm linking up to: