junk drawer overhaul

Thought I would share with you how my desk junk drawer looks like... 

Exhibit A: a melting pot of everything I don't want on the top of the desk, there was a fork? the door stopper thingy, pens, markers, glue sticks, paper scraps, and a bunch of random craft supplies.

Yeah I know its pretty bad. I was sick of digging through to find what I needed. Plus I got one of those nifty plastic drawer organizers from Target. (on sale 17.99) to put all my craft supplies in, so I was able to empty out a bunch of drawers. Brad will finally be able to put stuff in here! Here's what I did. Ill share where I put everything else in another post.

First, I emptied the drawers out, and cleaned them out. I just used a dry sponge to "sweep" everything into the corner.. have you ever tried getting those little pieces out? the dust, and crumbs...(not sure where those came from) the paper scraps? its impossible.

Unless you use tape! I just wrapped some masking tape around my fingers sticky side out. and pressed into the corner.

Worked like a charm!

Then I used picture frames to hold things in place, sort of like little barriers! I made some little paper boxes via Pinecone Camp.
I like that things wont just be floating around to the back of the drawer now.
Hope this is interesting...
xo
Jenn

DIY flat makeover

the weather in North Carolina is getting cold. my toes don't want to wear sandals anymore and all my shoes are.... old. We are on a budget.. just like everyone else. so funds for new shoes are not at the top of the list. I should have thought about that before getting two new coats.. Oh well the crafter in me fueled by coffee decided that I could easily transform a pair of my old beat up flats and keep wearing them... no washing them didnt cross my mind. and I love the way they turned out!

 

 

 

 



 

you are going to need an old pair of shoes, a sharpie, and something to stuff the shoes with so they are easier to draw on.

 

 

I used tissue paper, because it was sitting next to me. But you cold use paper towel or newspaper.

my shoes were fabric flats from the little girls section at target.

I picked this mum shaped flower because its very easy to draw, it looks nice repeated and overlapped. and the shoes already had a floral print to them making an interesting background. so just pick a starting point, and start your pattern. and keeeeeep drawing it. again and again. until you have covered your entire shoe.

then repeat on the other shoe.

then feel awesome for just saving your husband $20 dollars.

I would love to see if any of you do this!



xoxo jenn

tiny gifts

It seems like Spring and baby showers go hand in hand
I have so many friends who have been blessed this year to become pregnant
and are now throwing their showers and I couldn't be happier for all of them!
that being said
My crafty crafty side has been able to go wild and I have been creating baby gifts for them all!
My brother and his wife are having a baby boy
My best friend through high school is having a little baby boy
and a new but dear friend Laura and her husband are having a baby girl
I've taken this time to get to know my sewing machine and have been able to create some
amazing things, baby bibs, a little military style hat, blankets, stuffed toys
Ive learned a few new techniques for other things too
flowers for little head bands
iron- ons for little onsies
and cute boxes to put the gifts in!
after all I think one of the best things about presents is the wrapping.
I spend a little extra time wrapping gifts because I think that the presentation of the gifts is almost as special as the gift itself

I am going to share the gift to one of the little bundles of Joy for my friend Laura and her husband Yoshi (ps how cool is his name?)
they are some of our dear friends that I have met since coming to live here in North Carolina
they have since moved back to California, and I wish I could go to the shower but Its just not going to be able to happen
SOOO im sending her this special little package even though I cant be there in person
I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it!
here is the happy couple

and they are expecting Layla Mae in the next few months
she is just the cutest pregnant lady too, she is TINY and alll baby
I made Layla a little head band and a onsie
im also working on a little pink and yellow giraffe for her too..but as of this minute she has no legs...so im not going to share that :)

I made a pink flower head band  

this cute box using a tutorial found here

I cut some green tissue paper into "grass" strips and stuffed the little box

then "planted" the flower inside

I cute out a simple four petal flower from some pink paper, punched a hole in the center, and then threaded a larger clear bead onto some white cotton yarn, put both ends through the flower and then tied up the package. Bend the petals a little to create a nice look

the onsie I made using heat and bond new sew iron on stuff, I cut out the little shapes and ironed them onto a newborn sized onsie

the design is simple to the one she used in the tutorial, but I thought it was so cute, and PERFECT for a little girl!

all my box saving left me with the perfect sized box to fit the onsie

I couldn't just send it like that so I pulled out another piece of paper matching the one I used to make the origami box. and hot glued it to the top part of the box, wrapping it like a gift and gluing where I thought needed it.

haha please excuse the cherry coke in the back ground.. crafting makes me thirsty!

 now, there are two matching boxes, that are adorable and "springy" and "girly"

just a little something that I can send all the way to California since I cant be there to celebrate with them!





start saving your TP rolls

Im sorry I have been neglecting you guys latley..
but just so we know..
I haven't stopped creating things though
And I haven't stopped thinking about how horrible I feel
for NOT posting anything
but i've been going through a bit of a slump..
I do think that IM starting to come out of it though!
so thats all rainbows and butterflies!

and NOW what you have ALL been holding your breath for! ...you have been right?  JK
I have been saving up toilet paper rolls, and paper towel rolls for like months
and everyone's like Jenn what do you need these for? what are you going to do with them?
I even had help from one of our good friends cutting and collecting the rolls one day :)
SOOO
I had this vision in my head
and empty space on my walls
and lots and lots of spray paint
which by the way my hunnee wasnt happy that I was lugging it around for the past ...six months?
I knew it would come in handy!

so anywho...heres what you will need to make some FABULOUS CHEAP THRIFTY affordable art

lots of TP rolls, or paper towel rolls, or wrapping paper rolls.. ( I didnt have these.. but they would work all the same)
scissors
spary paint
Hot glue gun and extra sticks
and some sort of old box or newspaper that you can spray on.



so cut all your rolls into "slices" like its a sushi roll and you are "slicing" it
these dont have to be exact I had verying sizes but 1/4" is about where you want to stay...
really between 1/4" and 3/4"



so then you have a million of these little "slices"
your going to line them up on your newspaper or box its easiest if you lay them standing up other wise they tend to blow around when you start spraying them

so then you are ready to start spraying them...you really need to get in there and get dirty
spray the crap outa those suckers and then flip em over and spray em some more..
I probably did about 3-4 coats on each batch ( I didnt have room to do them all at once)

ok so now you are going to start arranging them.

and squishing them...im so technical huh?

we decided...meaning I asked the hunnee which shape he liked best.. it was between doing flowers and squares..and he chose squares

so I pinched them into squares and rectangels..



I also made a few where I cut them and glued two together to make a bigger square

and once you have a general idea on how you want it to lay out you start to glue them together

you dont need a ton of glue for this ..just a little dot

then just start pushing them together

they wont be exactly like what you laid out...just go as you please!
so when you get to where you like the size and shape, and its welll glued together your ready to hang it up
I used tiny little nails and put two a little ways apart on the wall and then just hung it up!
its in our bathroom right now and i think thats where its going to stay but who knows.







also made some pillow covers for our couch. I think they turned out pretty cute. I used this tutorial for the back. and then added the ruffles to the front...Im obsessed with ruffles latley

I made one... and then B decided that I needed to make more
so I made this one a pair.

im going to make some for the other couch tomorrow.

one more thing.. I hope you will Follow the blog, and leave comments!
I would love to hear what you think!