"We've got a lot of half finished projects in this house..."

...said my Tall Man. Believe it or not this is the first time he has EVER said anything about my many half finished projects. Blessed, I know. =o) I figured if he was saying something he must be right. So I decided to make a list of my not quite finished projects...

1. Paint the laundry room
2. Laundry room cabinets
3. Birthday board
4. Father's Day gifts x4
5. Birthday wreath
6. 4th of July sign
7. Flag on front porch crate
8. Sleeping baby sign for friends new bundle of joy
9. ..... Ya know I think that's it.
10. Oh wait, I guess we could count the Arbor Vita's we purchased for our front yard that aren't planted yet.

Okay so eight, maybe nine half finished projects. That's not too bad is it? I suppose I better get off my laptop and get those projects finished. You'll be seeing posts about them soon!

Blessings.

Top 5 Tuesday: Outdoor Party Ideas

Summer will officially be here in just a couple of weeks which means it's time for block parties and back yard bbq's! I was cruising Martha's site again and found some great outdoor party ideas. Here are my top five:

Message in a Bottle

I think this whole table setting is darling.

Drink Parasols

Every drink looks better with an umbrella.

Fire and Water Centerpiece

Fire and water are a great combo.

Photo Centerpiece

These would be great for anniversaries, weddings, all sorts of parties.

Outdoor Movie Night
This is my favorite of the bunch.

And one honorable mention...

Frozen Vodka

Blessings.

Laundry Today or Naked Tomorrow

Details are key to a room and when you're working with a small space I think they're even more important. As I prepare to redo my little laundry room I am doing a lot of searching for details that will make our small space just right. I'm sure you've noticed vinyl is a HUGE trend right now. Stencils are pretty popular too. I thought I'd share some cute vinyl and stencils I've come across in my search.

Right on the Walls
A few vinyls I found on random sites.

So true.This one makes me laugh.

Wonderfully Wordy has great vinyl!

I'm not sure what I'll use for our laundry room but these are all great ideas!

Happy Birthday K!

With three daughters it seems we have a birthday party to attend every other weekend. Which means lots of skate parties with cake and ice cream for my littles. And a lot of creative thinking for me.

The most recent birthday party was for the girls across the street. The two of them and the three of my girls have quickly become bff's, besties, whatever the "cool" lingo is right now. The oldest girl turned 8 and has a pink, black and white room with zebra print accents so I used that as my inspiration. I got everything I needed at Michael's (Surprised? Didn't think so.)

What I used:

paper mache Letter K: a few bucks

Zebra scrapbook paper: 12x12 two sheets, one for each, $0.59 a piece

Mod Podge (already had)

Black craft paint (already had)

Pink Ribbon: $1.50

Buttons (already had)

Hot glue gun & glue (already had)

Total: under $3

Making this frame and "K" went pretty quickly. Directions for both are basically the same. I put the scrapbook paper wrong side up and traced the K and frame and cut the shapes out. I used black craft paint on the edges, this is optional but I wanted everything to look finished and professional.

Once the paint was dry I used Mod Podge to apply the scrapbook paper. I always smooth out my air bubbles with a Pampered Chef pan scraper thingy. They work wonderfully. After a few minutes the Mod Podge is dry I use a sanding sponge to get smooth out where my paper hangs over. Then cover with another coat of Mod Podge.

While I'm waiting for that to dry I made my ribbon flowers. I don't have a photo tutorial for the ribbon flowers but will have to put one together soon. I'll try and explain the best I can. I cut my ribbon about six inches long, laying it flat on my table I brought the ends together in the middle, you want the ends to overlap just a little. Next I gathered the ribbon in the center making it look like a bow tie and stitched it together.

Before I applied the flower I wrapped a piece of ribbon around the frame and K where I wanted the flowers to be. I just used a little double sided tape to hold the ribbon in place and hot glued the back to secure. I attached my "bow ties" one at a time with hot glue to make the flowers and with a little more hot glue I added the black buttons. On the frame I used my Cricut to cut out friends forever and applied it with Mod Podge.

There ya go! A personalized, relatively inexpensive birthday gift. The birthday girl and her mom went bananas when they saw these. I'd say they turned out pretty well.

Blessings.

Top 5 Tuesday: Summer Activities for Kids

I'm trying something new today. Top 5 Tuesday. I cruise through quite a few sites when I start searching for new craft ideas. I thought it would be fun to share my top five pics with you. From time to time I'll be posting my favorite finds on Tuesdays. I hope you enjoy this and can find some creative ideas that you can make your own.

In two short weeks my girls will be home full time, summer vacay! Which means I better come up with some activities for them to do other than making Mommy crazy. For my first Top 5 Tuesday I'll be sharing my favorite summer activities from Martha Stewart.

Tic-Tac-Towel

You can count on me making at least one of these this summer.

Shark and Beach Cupcakes

Yum!

Book Worm Game

A great way to encourage summer reading!

Kids Travel Kit

All our summer travel will be in the car. This idea is a keeper!

Tree Swing

I've always wanted one of these. So this one's not just for the kids. =o)

Blessings.