quick + easy party DIY: the reusable sharpie pennant banner

I used to think I was into quick and easy projects back when I had four kids {all of five months ago :P}. Then baby #5 came along and the words "quick and easy" took on a whole new meaning. :) Tiny hands are now grabbing everything I have within reach, and my hands-free time when I'm home is usually less than 15 minutes, or when daddy is free. {I'm totally typing this one-handed now!}

I helped a small bit with a baby shower for a friend last week, and my part in decorating for it was making a banner. I knew I wanted something personal and reusable for after the baby grows into toddlerhood, so I decided to use tiny clothespins on ribbon so they could change decor as he gets bigger. I found all the supplies I needed at Hobby Lobby {unfortunately not on sale, just with a mobile coupon}. 

I found cardboard chipboard letters and these pre-cut pennant shapes near the scrapbooking section {I may or may not have squealed when I found them}. Next time I might plan ahead a little and cut out my own shapes out of an old drop cloth, but then it wouldn't be as quick and easy, would it?... :P

Step 1:: Center and trace your chipboard letters in pencil {be sure to check beforehand where you need to position them all if you need wide letters like "M" and "W"}: 

Step 2:: Fill in your traced letter with sharpie color of your choice.

I wanted mine to look a bit grayed/vintage:

I freehanded two elephant ones to add to each end for the theme {don't look too closely ;)}:

Step 3:: Clothespin them to your extra long ribbon. {I think this clothespin attachment would also be great for a generic "happy birthday" or "welcome baby" banner so that you could easily switch the ribbon out for each party's theme!}

And like that, you're done! You have a personal, reusable banner that you could make with what you have on hand, or even for just a few dollars at the store.

The whole project took me about an hour, but that's probably because I worked on it a little bit at a time. I'm slow, but hey, that's just how we roll these days. ;)

Are you a party banner person?
When I was a kid we had that metallic happy birthday on rivets, and I put it out for every birthday I could. I think I've always loved them.  :)

Favorite childhood birthday memory?
Birthdays were always so fun at our house growing up. My mom always did a good job of making us feel special for our birthday. My favorites were the hayride/harvest party sleepover for my 13th birthday, a huge skating party when I was little, and getting flowers delivered to school when I was in elementary. And that time my dad dressed up like a clown for my 5th birthday was priceless.  :)

How do you like to celebrate birthdays at your house?
One tradition is that we let the children pick anything they want for dinner and dessert on their birthday.  We always have fun with that one! :)

fun DIY shower gift: diaper motorcycle

My creative sister-in-law Mandy {she has the same name as me, and she's a redhead too!!} made this for baby Zane, and I had to share it with you! :D I've never made or even seen one of these before, but I thought it was the cutest thing ever! :D She made it with my mother-in-law, and I thought they did an amazing job!! :)

I tried to take lots of pictures before we disassembled it so I can remember how to recreate it. :)

The diapers made the wheels, and the rolled up receiving blankets held the body together, and rubber bands held the diapers and blankets together. The rubber bands were covered by pinned on ribbon to make it look pretty.

Bibs made the wheel flaps, and a pair of socks were the handle bars. :D Isn't that just adorable?

cute wide ribbon hides the rubber band underneath

To make one, you need:

a package of diapers {the larger the size, the less you'd need, I'd assume}
1 stuffed animal
2 receiving blankets {rolled up and secured with rubber bands}
1 pair of socks
2 bibs
1 sippy cup
rubber bands
small straight pins
two spools of ribbon- one wide and one tiny

I loved it, and it was so cute that we kept it together until we figured out that Zane needed those size 1 diapers a week after he was born. :P We used them all, right before we upgraded to size 2's his second week. :) At this rate he'll be in size 6's before he's 2 months old! ;)

Have you ever seen a motorcycle made out of diapers? :D 

What other gifts have you seen made from diapers?
I've never searched pinterest for that one before!

our favorite states 8x10 art {easy decor on a budget}

A few months ago, I was on the hunt for meaningful decorations that didn't cost a fortune. I loved my instagram poster and my Scripture prints, and I had fun making my $12 gilded GW art, but I wanted something a little different that was colorful and fit in an 8x10 frame.

I painted a cheap Walmart wooden frame in the same shade as my coral globe, and then whipped up a little text print of the United States using my Pixelmator for Mac app. {not affiliated/sponsored at all- I paid $20 for it a year ago, and it's been one of my favorite design apps outside of Adobe products}. :D

You might notice it's missing a few states- that's because it's only a list of all the states the hubs and I have been to together in the last 11 years. :D Texas is in big letters, of course, because that's where we met, fell in love, and have lived all of our married life. And everything is bigger in Texas, right? ;)

I was so thrilled with how it turned out, until I noticed I forgot to list two states we'd visited: California, and HAWAII.

Really though, how could I forget Hawaii??? That's our favorite place on earth! I have no idea what I was thinking.

Oh, well. It still makes for cute, cheap art, right? And when we get a couple more states I'll redo it and add them. ;) And I think navy, coral, and teal might be my most favorite color combo ever. It's so much fun to make affordable art in our room's colors!

How many states have you visited? 
I think we're at 21 together, but Rob has been to more than I have since he lived on the west coast for several years.

What's your favorite design app?

When you think of Texas what comes to mind?
Dr. Pepper, Blue Bell ice cream, bluebonnets, the country, hot weather, and the color royal blue....

$11 DIY gilded art :: thrifty Goodwill re-do

Last week I showed you this little bit of gorgeousness:

This lovely metallic paper is the main attraction of one my newest projects that I’m entirely in love with:

It took me less than 30 minutes to make, and after I finished, the entire painting was only $11! I’m still excited about it!

Here’s what I started with:

• a large $7.99 Goodwill painting
• one sheet of handmade wrapping paper from World Market for $2.99
• $1 metallic acrylic paint {I used very little}
• spray adhesive
• paint brush

I loved the bright gold of the original frame, but it had seen better days:

So I touched it up with my strangely perfectly matching acrylic paint:

I asked the hubs to take a pic of my hand brushing on the paint, but I like this one better than just my hand- Ava’s laughing and I’m seriously concentrating {I guess?}. I’m always shocked when I see a candid pic of myself. My face naturally looks um… very serious. I have to remember that. ;)

I was going to cut out the paper and glue it on, because the staples were crazy strong on the back. Rob came to the rescue and popped those babies out in no time flat. He’s my knight in shining armor! I was so glad for his help. He’s so much better at these things!

Once the very faded canvas was out, I sprayed the smooth back of it with the adhesive and glued the paper over it. I folded the corners over like wrapping paper and glued them with the spray:

The hubs helped me put it in the frame and re-staple it {love that man!}, and here’s the finished product again:

My favorite part about this project? Seeing that fun art in colors I love doesn’t have to cost $40 or more. :D I think that’s the biggest reason I have had nothing on my walls for so long- I didn’t want to pay big bucks for traditional art that wasn’t really special to me. That, and I was waiting to remodel everything before I decorated.

We’ve been in our house for almost three years, and as of last month, we finally have the walls painted in every room downstairs. Now it’s time to decorate with some pretty, personal, and inexpensive DIY art!

Apparently, I’m not the only one who doesn’t like spending tons of money on wall décor. I was so inspired by seeing Ashley’s fabulous DIY art that she and her husband do all on their own. She does beautiful projects for pennies! I think you will love her!! {someday I even hope to buy her ebook, Handmade Walls! But her site is inspiring on it’s own too!}  She made me think outside the box for ways to decorate my bare walls. :D

Her living room makes me smile:

A couple of weeks ago I ordered an Instagram poster a little like the one over her sofa for my living room wall. I LOVE it and I can’t wait to show you guys! It’s so special to me because it visually documents our life for the last year. And it’s on the wall instead of in an album. Eek! Personal, inexpensive, and beautiful wall décor. Such a great idea! :D

How do you make your wall décor personal and unique? And what’s the best way you’ve found to save money on art?

easy $2 vintage monogram canvas

I love monograms- I just can't get enough of them! I think they are timeless and make your decor just a little more personal. :D

So when we had a shower for my friend Abbie, I knew I wanted to make something vintagey and monogrammed for her girls' room that could also be part of her shower table:

Now I have zero painting ability. It's most definitely a skill, and all of you that have it are blessed, my friends. I bet you can probably dance too. Lucky ducks. :D

Thankfully this project is fairly simple to do, so even if you aren't the perfect painter, it's okay- your imperfections might just add to the vintage look. Or at least I'm hoping that's what mine did! :)

Either way, it only takes about $2 and 45 minutes to make a unique metallic monogram canvas. :D

Here's what you'll need:

supplies:

two shimmery craft paints {$1-$2 each at Wal-Mart in the craft section}

one 8x10 canvas panel {about $3.50 for 3 at Wal-Mart}

painting tools: small paint brush and paper plate

printed monogram from your computer

pencil

Here's what you do:

1. Paint your canvas with your base color. 

You'll want to paint across the canvas horizontally to get a uniform brush-stroked look. 

2. Prep your initials.

I used my document program {like Word} to make my initial. I like the Adobe Garamond font and most traditional fonts, but you can use any font you like- just enlarge your letter to take up most of your 8.5x11 sheet. And make sure it's centered. :D 

I used Emily's trick of coloring the back of the letters on the blank side with pencil to trace over:

Don't do the front side. It won't work. {It was late. ha!}

3. Overlay your sheet on your canvas and trace the letter right side up.

Here's what you'll have left underneath:

4. Paint your letters with your second color.

Mine weren't perfect by any means, but I was hoping they looked sort of vintage. :D

If you have a tiny brush and a steady hand, you can cover all of the pencil marks after you fill in the inside of the initial. Add a frame or a stand if you want, and you're done!

Here's what they looked like finished on the buffet:

And they made the perfect backdrop for the food. {Who am I kidding... I don't think anyone noticed them, actually. There was food! :)}

And there you have it: a super easy personalized monogram for only a couple of bucks!

 I need to make one for our house now! Are you in love with monograms too? :D

thrifty thursday transformation: $4 placemat pillow

One of my "do" goals this month was to make cute pillows for the girls' room. I made one, but now I want to keep it downstairs for the living room! :D

When I saw the fabric at the store, I fell in love:

But what really sold me is that I knew I could whip up this adorable pillow with all these fancy seams for just $4 and 5 minutes of my time {okay, more like 30, but optimism won out at the store}. The reason? It was already mostly done for for me! 

You may recognize this Target placemat:

Double-lined, and just $3.99, all I needed was an old pillow for filling. I happened to have one in the junk pile:

I seam-ripped an opening big enough to stuff. {this is where you have to be careful to not rip through the fabric, or the whole process gets a lot harder. ahem.}

And I ripped open my slip-covered junk pillow:

Stuffed the new one, and repinned:

I hand-sewed it loosely, then machine stitched it. This is where having green thread would have come in handy, but, hey, I had white. And I tore the fabric with my seam-ripper in two places, so I had to close those too. So, my pillow bottom isn't too beautiful:

But it works! It's one of those things where my mind really wanted perfection, and I had to tell it no. It's a $4 pillow, and it's not worth another hour of my life to rip it out, redo it all, and achieve a perfectly hidden seam. Like the Nester says, it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful! :)

And you can't see the bottom anyway. :D

It's the world's cheapest and easiest pillow to make- even when you mess it up like me. :D