Frugal Fun - Drip Paintings

Funnest. Project. Ever!!! 

So, I know that's not a word - but...that is the best way to describe these awesome drip paintings.  Funnest!!
For the first June project I made these fun little pots that I found at http://inlieuofpreschool.blogspot.com/2012/05/something-borrowed-rainbow-pour.html.  My mom had just given me 2 small terra cota pots that she was no longer using and I have more than plenty of paint in my stash.  So this craft cost ZILCH!! 

Should you need to buy any supplies, you can find the smaller pots for appx $0.99 and if you're lucky to have a store like The Flower Factory in your area, you can pick up the small bottles of acrylic craft paint for appx $0.89 each.  Still a super frugal craft!

My first mistake lesson learned was to not put items on newspaper that are going to become sticky!!  After dripping the paint on the pot, there was a huge messy puddle of paint on the newspaper - making my pot to stick to it.

 



 Let the fun begin!!  Using the paint I already had, I started pouring the paint on the top of the terra cota pot.  I definitely used WAY too much paint!!  There are several layers of color that no longer shows! 
With the multitude of layers of paint, these pots took an entire day to dry completely!  My many layers also resulted in some paint cracking - which gave the pots some character.

Our finished products!!  Last weekend, Madailein had picked out a bonsai tree she wanted for her bedroom and thought the first pot was just right.  She also thought the second pot was perfect for hair bows, lol!!  This frugal craft is one I will be trying again with various paint colors each time.  I imagine this would be awesome with different shades of the same color.  Hmmm...I think I just thought of my next weekend project! 

Have you tried this awesomly fun and easy craft?  Do you have any frugal craft ideas you would like to share?  I would love to see your ideas!!

Happy Crafting! 

June Weddings - Our 10 Year Anniversary!

I cannot  believe this year marks our 10 year wedding anniversary!  The past ten years have brought us many, many memories, some pain and heartache, the purchase of 2 houses and the birth of 2 absolutely wonderful  and precious little girls.  Everything that we have been through has caused us to grow into who we are today and I would not change anything!

While cruising the internet for June wedding information, I came across some fun trivia on http://www.csmonitor.com/ about the 7 measures of matrimony.  Thought it would be fun to compare my wedding facts with the some of the statistics!

Bride and Groom
Average age of bride in the United States: 26.5

• I had just turned 23 when we got married!

Average age of groom in the United States:28.5

• My hubby had just turned 27.

Average engagement length: 14 months

• Our engagement was a total of 16 months.  My hubby-to-be proposed on Valentine's Day 2001 and we were married June 29, 2002.

Today most couples live together before getting married.

• I am proud to say that we were not part of this statistic!  I lived at home with my parents until the day I was married.

16% of brides plan their wedding before getting engaged.

• I know I fell into this 16%, lol! 

Location
Churches and synagogues remain the most popular sites for weddings.

• Our wedding ceremony was held in the church we both attended at the time.  My husband and I both grew up in traditional families and there was no question our ceremony would be in a church!

Beaches, country clubs, hotels, resorts, mansions, public gardens, and private homes are other popular locations

• Our reception was held at a local beautiful hotel.  We had a lot of out of town guests and this turned out to be quite convenient.

Honeymoons
40% of couples travel within the United States

• Not us!

60% of couples travel to a foreign country

• That would be us!  We honeymooned at the Riu Palace in the Riveria Maya.  Absolutely breath-taking and I would love to go back one day.

Honeymoons usually last 7 to 9 days.

• Our honeymoon was only 5 days.  Jeff and I proudly paid for this trip ourselves and were on a tight budget.

 To look at the full article on the 7 Measures of Matrimony - please visit http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2012/0605/June-weddings-7-measures-of-matrimony/Bride-and-groom

My mom and I getting ready for the big day!

My dad and me!

Our church ceremony with our lovely family and friends. 

At the reception, ready to celebrate the night away!! 

Happy 10th Anniversary Jeff!  ♥♥

Splish Spash Bash!

For the past few years I have been making birthday invitations for Madailein rather than buying them.  Now, these are not the best homemade invitations ever - but much more personal than store bought!!  This year we have decided to have a mermaid themed party and I am so excited to decorate the house to look under water. 

Making homemade invitations doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. For our mermaid theme I started with scrapbook paper in colors that reminded me of the ocean and beach.  Using scrapbook scissors with a wave pattern, I cut a glittered paper to use as accent.  I didn't really have a plan, I let the creativity evolve with the card.

I found some sequins and ribbon in coordinating colors and started to have fun!!  Madailein really wanted to have Ariel on the invitation, so I drew a mermaid and colored her hair red.  To a 4 year old as long as the hair is red, the mermaid is Ariel, lol!

Using some scrapbook embelishments from my stash to add onto the invitations for some extra pizazz!!  In the end, each invitation will be a little different but made with love.  :)

Voila - frugal and fun Splish Splash Bash invitations!!
Do you have any frugal ideas for birthday invitations?  I would love to hear / see your creations!

Happy Crafting.  :)

Butterfly Wisdom

Butterflies can’t see their wings.  They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, yet everyone else can.  People are like that as well, they fail to see their own beauty.

I came aross this quote yesterday while searching the internet for inspirational messages.  Immediately it reminded me of the day we brought our first born home from the hospital - almost 5 years ago.  Madailein was in the Special Care Unit for 6 days following her birth since she was born so small (4 weeks early and 4lb 5oz!)  We had been praying and wishing for a baby for so long and were overcome with love when we had our little Madailein.

In our garden we had planted a Rose of Sharon bush, as a symbol for our angel, next to a butterfly bush.  Both had been planted for a few years but never got any blooms.  On the day we brought Madailein home from the hospital, both these plants had flowers blooming and butterflies all around.  What a glorious feeling that was!!  I'm not the type of person to search for messages around me - but I could not doubt that this was a message! Cherish the wonderfully perfect baby we just brought home and any others that may follow suit.  They don't realize how special and beautiful they are.

 

  This picture was taken on July 23,2007 - right after we took Madailein out of the car to welcome her home.  :)

June Crafting Goals & A Colonial Vacation

Last week we took a family vacation to Colonial Williamsburg - what fun we had!!  Our 4 year old is very interested in history and had a blast watching the demonstrations and touring the old houses and jail.  Of everything there to look at and do, all Madailein wanted was a straw bonnet and to take a horse ride!

I was hoping to see some crafty demonstrations, but no such luck on the day we were there!  We did get to see how they make wooden barrels - which looked super difficult!

With May being such a crazy month with recitals, garage sales and vacations I did not get much crafting done!  I was very pleased though with the scrapbook paper trees I made for Mother's Day.  :)

This month should be a bit more calm and I'm going to go into this month with optimism to get tons of crafting done!! 

June Crafting Goal #1 - the silk flower collage painting I've been wanting to do the past few months.

June Crafting Goal #2 - paint another tree in Madailein's room to finish out her super cute Owl Bedroom.

June Crafting Goal #3 - paint Madailein's coat tree to match her bedroom (it still looks babyish from her nursery!)

June Crafting Goal #4 - drip-painting terra cotta pots.
   I came across this really cute project at http://inlieuofpreschool.blogspot.com/2012/05/something-borrowed-rainbow-pour.html and fell in love!!  Cannot wait to try this one!

 Have you tried any new projects lately?  What are your goals for June?

Happy Crafting!

And More Scrapbook Trees!

I am having so much fun creating these scrapbook trees!  I decided to make a few more for our mom's for Mother's Day (we celebrated with them a week later). 

Following the same steps used with the first tree, the second and third went much quicker!  Each one is so unique compared to the others - and I definitely like more paper leaves as opposed to less.

For the second tree I selected a variation of blue scrapbook paper with a beach theme - turned out pretty cute!

For the next one I selected a variation of burgendy, green and neutral tones - turned out pretty as well!!  My mother-in-law's kitchen is done in grapes and wine; so this will fit nicely with her color scheme.  :)

I love how each arrangement looks totally different from the last.  This project will probably show up on my "to do list" several times throughout the summer.  I'm thinking these will be super cute with autumn and Christmas paper and perfect for our craft show!

Have you tried making one of these fun scrapbook paper trees?  I would love to see your designs!!

Happy Crafting!

Scrapbook Paper Tree

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!  We spent a lovely day at the zoo and then I got some crafting done in the afternoon while the little one's slept!

The first craft I accomplished this month is the scrapbook paper tree I found on Pinterest; thanks to http://www.everydaymomideas.com/.  What a fun project this turned out to be!!  I'm happy I went out of order of my crafting goals and started with the one project that was going to be extra for the month!!

Materials Needed:
Scrapbook Paper
Scissors
Floral Wire
Side Cuts / Wire Cutters
Elmers Glue
Branches from good ole Mother Nature!
Vase

Overall Time:  Approximately 3 hours from start to finish

I followed the tutorial on Everyday Mom Ideas and began by creating a template out of cardboard - making two different sizes. Using the leaf template, I traced the leaf onto various sheets of scrapbook paper and cut them out.

Once I had a good number of leaves, I glued them together with a piece of flora wire sandwiched in between.  This created a "vein" down the center of the leaf.

Let the fun part begin!!  I found it was easier to wire the branches together so they sat properly in the vase.  Overall there are around 50 scrapbook leaves on the branches and I love how it looks!

I'm already working on the second one and I will probably use more leaves to see which variation I prefer.  This project will be great for seasonal decorating - especially in the fall, I can see it already with gorgeous autumn colors.  :)

 

Happy Crafting!