Spring Ideas House 2013

Here are some of my favorite ideas from the house.

Dining Room

Lots of yellows and grays on the main floor of the house. Love!

All yellow flowers were arranged in nice glass vases with rocks in the bottom.  Such a great natural element to incorporate.  Also, they wrote the menu on the mirror.  What a perfect way to display the menu for a special brunch using something that you probably have hanging on your wall already.

Kitchen

There were some very cute jars and buckets decorating the kitchen shelves.  How cute are the sayings on the tins – “This and That” and “Bits and Bobs.”  You could easily paint those words on any jar or box.  And I am truly loving this herb planter hanging in front of the window.  This would be a perfect solution for an apartment dweller with a less than stellar view or wanting just a bit of privacy.  You can block the view without blocking the light.

Stairwell

This stairwell would have to be one of the most inexpensive and most simple DIY projects.  All you would need: giant paper flowers, painted lattice, and mirrors glued onto spray painted serving platters.

Home Office

This home office had just a soothing feeling.  It is a bit more shabby-chic than my taste, but there are definitely some elements worth showing.  Birds were another element found throughout the house.  Check out the giant bird shelf hanging behind the desk.  The calendar would be such an easy DIY – just mount a piece of plexi-glass to the wall with trim.  There were squares of paper on the wall behind the glass to mark the days of the month.

Girl’s Room

I loved all of the paper flowers hanging on the wall to make a head board.  And you could do this in any color you want.  This desk are would be perfect for a tween – painted owl lamps and three framed cork boards for all of her doo-dads.

Things to Make

I snapped a picture of this coffee table because of the white tiles laying under the glass.  This got me thinking that you could change out the tiles with the seasons.  That would be too easy.

And finally – the project that I AM going to make this summer.  These lamps were in the master bedroom, but I want to make them for my back patio.  Basically, they took a wooden pillar, nailed some wood trim to the bottom for a base, ran an electrical cord through the middle and put a small light bulb inside the vase at the top.  To make an easier outdoor version, I plan on using a heavy-duty vase with a citronella candle inside.

Despite the miserable cold and rainy weather, I really had a wonderful time.  I even managed to buy something at the Bachman’s store, but you will have to wait for another post to see how I decide to display it in my house!

The post spring ideas house 2013 appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.

When will this winter end?  The warm weather clothes for the babies are piling up, ready to be worn.  My new neon running shoes are waiting patiently by the door.  Monty’s leash is seriously underused.  J is tired of playing softball indoors.  The list goes on and on.

Not to mention, the chorus from “Long, Hot Summer” has been running through my head for days.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I spent much of last summer resting indoors, waiting for the twins to arrive.  I am ready to end winter, bypass spring, and begin my summer!  With that on my mind, I started playing around with a printable today.

Long Hot Summer Printable

I made this available in both 8×10 and 5×7 size for you all.  Enjoy!

… and here’s the 5×7:

The post long hot summer printable appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.

Here we go again… another post about a nursery decorating project.  I have really had to restrain myself with the nursery.  There are so many cute art projects out there… if I did them all, every square inch of the room would be covered!  I knew that I wanted to do a picture frame collage somewhere in the nursery.  One of the main reasons: I had a pile of frames sitting around that I “borrowed” from my mom.  I love hand-me-down home decor!  There’s nothing like breathing new life into something that has served someone else well, but now needs a new home.  And that’s how it went with these frames.  I wish I took “before” photos, but instead you will have to use your imagination.  My mom gave me about a dozen mix-match frames in a variety of metallic colors.  Instantly, the spray paint gods began calling out to me.  With one coat of primer and one coat of flat white spray paint, I had brand-spanking-new frames just waiting to be filled.

Silhouette Nursery Art

Step One – Gather Your Supplies

• assorted frames
• computer or tracing paper
• pencil, pen, and thin permanent marker
• colored scrapbook paper
• wrapping paper or paper grocery bag – anything will do
• scissors
• double-sided tape or glue
• masking tape or painters tape
• hammer and nails

Step Two – Pick Your Silhouettes

If you have one of those handy-dandy silhouette cutter gadgets, you can skip this step completely.  But for those of us that have to go old school on this project, keep reading.  Our nursery theme is “forest friends,” but you could use any animal/plant/thing you wish.  The key to finding silhouettes lies in the ability to successfully perform a Google image search.  You will want to search for silhouettes of whatever animal you want to make.  For those of you that are lost, pull up Google now.  Type “acorn silhouette” and hit enter.  Your first search result will read “images for acorn silhouette.”  Click this link.  You should then see something like this:

Just scroll through and pick the image that you like the best.

NOTE: remember that you have to trace and cut out these images.  Don’t pick anything too intricate… like a hedgehog!

Once you have picked an image that you like, you need to make it the right size.  When you click on an image in your Google image search results, you will have a couple of options.  One is to visit the website where the image came from.  The other is to view the original image.  By clicking “view original image,” you can pull up the image alone on the screen to print.

Step Three – Make Your Templates

You have two options here: the reckless way (my way) and the responsible way.  The reckless way involves zooming in and out on the computer screen until the image is the right size, placing a piece of tracing paper over the computer screen, very gently tracing over the image with a dull pencil, removing the paper, and tracing over your pencil marks with a permanent marker to make a template.  The more responsible method involves printing the image and using a photo copier to shrink/enlarge the image to the right size. The choice is yours.  But if you pick my way and end up with an acorn scratched into your monitor, just remember that I warned you!

Repeat steps two and three until you have all of your templates.

Step Four – Transfer Your Templates onto Colored Paper

This is the step where you channel your inner third-grader.  I remember learning how to transfer images and outlines in elementary school.  The process is simple.  First you turn your template over and scribble pencil all over the lines that you want to transfer.  Like this:

Then, flip over the paper and trace over your image with a pen.  Marker will not work.  The pencil on the back of the paper will transfer from your template onto your colored paper (or in my case, onto the back of scrapbook paper).

Step Five – Cut out Shapes and Mount in Frames

Cut out all of your shapes and mount them on card stock or other colored paper.  I used double sided tape to prevent air bubbles, but you could use scrapbooking glue if you would like.  Place each piece of cardstock into a frame and secure the back.

Step Six – Trace your Frames

Take each frame and trace it onto scrap paper (like a grocery bag or wrapping paper).  Label each piece of paper so you know which frame it goes with.

Step Seven – Arrange Frames

I laid out all of my frames on the floor in the nursery so I could arrange and rearrange until I had the perfect layout.

Flip over the frames and placed the paper cut out over each corresponding frame.  Using a marker, make a dot for the placement of the nail on each piece of paper.

Step Eight – Hang the Paper and then the Frames

Using masking or painters tape, tape the paper cutouts to the wall.

Hammer a small nail into the wall, right through the dot on the paper.

Gently remove the paper from the wall, leaving behind the nails.  Hang your framed silhouettes.

Step Nine – Step Back and Admire Your Work!

That’s it!  In nine (somewhat) simple steps you can make your own silhouette nursery art… or art for any room for that matter.

Linking to: Today’s Creative Blog, Mercy Ink, Not Just a Housewife, Sugar Bee Crafts.

The post silhouette nursery art appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.

I went to a baby shower a while back and had the most amazing almond cake with raspberry filling.  This cake was so good that it has been in the back of my mind ever since.  So, when Aunt Cathy asked me to bring dessert to Easter dinner, I immediately knew what flavor combo I would be using.  But let’s be honest.  I don’t exactly have time to make an extravagant cake.  So, I went an easier-to-eat, easier-to-make, semi-homemade almond raspberry cupcakes recipe.  After all, box cake mixes nowadays are pretty darn good.  By taking a shortcut with a box mix, I was able to make a seemingly fancy cupcake with a fraction of the effort.

So, just how easy are these almond raspberry cupcakes?  Well, keep reading and you’ll see that my recipe calls for a mere 8 ingredients (9, I suppose, if you count water as an ingredient).  8 ingredients… for a cupcake, filling, and frosting!

Almond Raspberry Cupcakes

makes 24 filled cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake mix
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 egg whites
• 2 tsp. almond extract – the real stuff people – divided
• 10-ounce jar seedless raspberry preserves
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp. milk or whipping cream

Supplies:

• mixing bowls
• measuring cups and spoons
• electric mixer
• spoon or spatula
• cupcake tin
• cupcake liners
• piping bags and tips

Directions:

Almond Cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, egg whites, and 1 tsp. almond extract.  Pour batter into lined cupcake tins.
• Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely.

Raspberry Filling:

• Warm the raspberry preserves in the microwave for 30 seconds – just enough to make the preserves easier to spoon out of the jar, but not enough that they are melted or runny.  Spoon raspberry preserves into a piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped tip.
• Gently poke the piping tip 1/4 to 1/2 inch into the center of a cupcake, and squeeze a small amount of the raspberry filling into each.  When you see the top of the cupcake rise slightly, you will know that you have added the right amount of filling.

Almond Buttercream Frosting:

• In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter, milk, and 1 tsp. almond extract until smooth.  Gradually add the powdered sugar until well combined into a piping consistency.
• Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with the tip of your choice or simply frost each cupcake with a knife or small spatula.
• Serve and enjoy!

Did you like this recipe?  Check out my “homemade” chocolate strawberry cupcakes made with two box mixes!

Linking to: Mercy Ink, Today’s Creative Blog.

The post almond raspberry cupcakes appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.

My childhood summers were spent in North Dakota with extended family, and my sister and I spent weeks with Grandma and Grandpa Schill.  Nights were spent in our “fort” under the stairs, and our days were filled running around the garden, playing in the sandbox, or helping Grandma in the house with cooking or quilting.  Grandpa was a welder, and sometimes my sister would go with him to the shop.  I was too afraid of the equipment, so this meant I got Grandma all to myself.  These were the best days.  Days of strawberry pie, filled with fresh strawberries from the garden, hand-made quilts, daily Mass, coloring books, and anything that the garden hose could wash off my little hands and feet.

When Grandma Schill passed away, my mom kept some of her old recipe cards.  I get a chuckle out of her shorthand.  One recipe calls for “butter size of egg” – evidence of a different generation’s less precise method of cooking.

I asked my mom for three recipe cards to frame and display in my kitchen.  I chose to frame three recipe cards because I had three unused black frames sitting in the crawl-space.  I matted the recipe cards on brown scrapbook-quality cardstock.  I didn’t want to do anything that may damage these precious keepsakes.  So between the frames and the cardstock, this project added up to… wait… my math must be off… this project was totally FREE!  Free craft projects are the best craft projects

So many people comment and ask about these framed recipe cards.  It makes me smile, as I get to tell them proudly that these recipe cards belonged to my Grandma.

So now I have a little memory from Grandma Schill hanging prominently in my kitchen.  They are a daily reminder of all the wonderful summer days we spent together.

 Linking to: Mercy Ink, Live Laugh Rowe.

The post framed recipe cards appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.

J and I didn’t find out about our double blessing until my 18-week ultrasound.  This means that I spent 18 weeks thinking I just had a really bad case of morning sickness accompanied by a daily migraine.  While I wouldn’t really recommend spending weeks on end glued to the couch, living off of soup and vicodin, and working through entire TV series on Netflix at an alarming rate, I did accomplish one thing: I discovered a new world… the world of Pinterest, where all baby items are handmade, and dinner every night comes from a crock pot.  During this time, I developed grand plans for applique onesies, handmade burp cloths, and hand painted nursery wall art.  Few of these projects panned out when I discovered that my first trimester exhaustion wasn’t going to go away for the remainder of my pregnancy.  But I did manage to complete one project… diy ikea crib bedding.

I made crib sheets using these easy instructions from fern & freckle.  I made two sets, both in a cute owl fabric from Joann.

 If you have an Ikea crib (hey, gotta be economical when buying two of everything!) you should cut your fabric to be 64″ x 39 1/2″ with 6″ squares cut out of each corner.  Even with my limited sewing skills, these sheets were quite simple to make.  Plus, by selecting your own fabric, you get sheets that are much cuter than anything you can get in stores!

Next, on to the crib skirts.  I wish I had a tutorial for you on this one, but I don’t.  Sorry!  These skirts were pretty much hodge-podged together.  I will try to explain what I did.

I cut a rectangle of fabric that matched the dimensions of the bed of the crib, and allowed a 1/2″ seam allowance.  Then I cut three rectangular panels.  Two were long (16 1/2″ x 65 1/4″) for both sides and one was short (16 1/2″ x 28 1/2″) for the foot of the crib.  I didn’t make a fourth panel, since the head of the crib is against the wall.  I sewed the two long panels onto the rectangle first, and allowed for a 3″ pleat.  Then I sewed on the short panel and hemmed the whole thing.

It’s not a professional job, but I don’t think the babies will notice

My sister also made quilts for the babies in coordinating fabric.  She even appliqued their initials onto the back.  Now, there is a woman whose children will only see hand sewn items for their first years of life.. Love ya sis!

The post diy ikea crib bedding appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.

I’m walking away from Pinterest.  Don’t worry. This is not a permanent change.  Just temporary.  For the month of February, I am staying off Pinterest.  Ironically, I have chosen the shortest month of the year.  Trust me, this was not intentional.  My use of Pinterest has been weighing heavily on my mind over the last few weeks.  Here’s how it all started…

I heard about a German study that found that one in three Facebook users felt worse after visiting, especially if they browsed, the site.  The researchers believed this was because people felt envious or dissatisfied with their lives after looking at other people’s posts and pictures of joyous life events – winter vacation photos, how many birthday wishes someone received, or even how many “likes” someone’s photo received.  This got me to thinking about how I feel after I browse Pinterest.

Oddly enough, my Pinterest use has increased since the twins were born.  J got me a new iPhone, which has the Pinterest app.  Before the phone, I couldn’t justify spending much time sitting in front of my computer, browsing the internet.  But now, my phone (and Pinterest) are with me everywhere I go.

I started using the time when I would pump breastmilk as Pinterest time.  ”What else am I going to do?”  Then I started using it when I did nighttime feedings for the babies.  ”They’re asleep.  How would they notice?”  In the car.  ”J is focusing on driving, so I’ll browse Pinterest.”  Never mind that this is quality alone time where I could me unwinding and clearing my mind or J and I could be talking, baby-free.  Do I really need any more stimulation in my life?

I often justify my Pinterest browsing  in one of three ways.  One: I am gaining valuable knowledge and ideas for things to do with the babies.  Two: I am finding projects to do when my sister (who isn’t even pregnant) brings me my first niece or nephew.  Three (my most common justification): I am getting inspiration for my blog.

The only problem with all of these?  I have enough inspiration from Pinterest to last me several years worth of projects.  Plus I found myself growing increasingly unhappy.  I found so many birth announcements that were way cuter than mine, great nursery ideas that I loved much more than the theme I had chosen, projects that I didn’t have time to tackle,   pictures of dream houses made me feel inadequate in our townhome rental…

Enough.

I have been blessed in so many ways.  I have a man who loves me, two beautiful and healthy children, a family who loves and supports me, and more material possessions than many, many people.

So this month I am stepping back and re-focusing.  I will enjoy the time that I spend feeding the babies or alone in the car with Justin, and focus on these relationships.  I will focus my energy in being creative and content in the space that I have right now.  And most importantly, I will make a conscious effort to be grateful for the innumerable blessings that have been bestowed upon me.

Will you join me?  You don’t have to quit cold turkey.  But I would encourage you to at least reflect on how Pinterest makes you feel and why you use it.  I would also love to hear your feedback.  How do you use Pinterest?

Linking to: MercyINK.

The post buh-bye pinterest appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.

I printed a picture of J, myself, and the babies, and I used the text “Happiness is only real when shared.”

How neat does this look framed?

The post you are your words appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.

This is a project I started this summer, finally finished this fall, and took until winter to finally photograph and blog.  That’s a new record low for me, but what can you do?  Plus, we’re moving next week (found out our landlord is going through foreclosure… awesome) so this is really my last chance to share this with you.  I do have a half gallon of leftover paint, so I may try to do the same paint technique in our next place.

It all started with our large walk through master bath that was way too drab.

I decided to attempt wall stripes.  Actually, my mom and I decided to attempt wall stripes.  I truly believe you should never paint alone.  Plus, on this project with so much “paint here, but not there” going on, it’s nice to be able to strategize out loud without sounding like you’re talking to a roll of painter’s tape.

For this project, you will need:

• paint in contrast color of your choice
• roller, brush, paint pan, stir sticks… the usual
• Frog Tape – nothing else will do, trust me
• measuring tape
• level
• pencil

Ok, here we go…

I knew that I wanted to do seven large stripes – three in the current wall color, and four in my new paint color.  Side note: If you wanted to save yourself quite a bit of extra trim work, you could switch this around and only paint three stripes.  After dividing the height of my wall by seven, I came up with 13 inches and change.  Instead of measuring out exactly 2.432 inches (or something to that effect), I did six 13-inch stripes and one stripe a bit over 13 inches.  Here’s how:

I had my mom hold the end of the measuring tape where the wall and ceiling meet.  I measured down the wall in 13-inch increments, making a small tick mark with a pencil along the way.  After measuring out six 13-inch segments, that left one slightly larger segment at the bottom.  This means that the bottom wall stripe will be a bit thicker.  Trust me when I say this – no one will notice, and you will save yourself a headache.

Next, on to taping.  I absolutely insist that you use Frog Tape.  I have compared this green tape to the regular old blue tape, and there is a HUGE difference.  The lines come out so much more crisp.  Using the level and the tick marks I had made on the walls, I began taping.  With the first tick mark, I placed the tape just above the tick mark.  With the second tick mark, I placed the tape just below the tick mark… and so on and so forth.  This ensured that the pencil marks got covered up with paint. Should look something like this:

After I added the stripes, I used small pieces of tape to mark off the portions of wall that do not get painted.  Seriously, do this.  My mom and I kept getting distracted and would have to verbalize, “ok, now I paint here, but not here.”  And we only messed up once!  Good thing we had a wet rag handy to wipe the wall off quickly.

As you paint along the tape edges, be very careful and use plenty of paint.  As the paint dries, it tends to separate from the tape a bit.  This can leave you with an uneven edge.  I used a roller to avoid brush marks, and rolled horizontally along the tape edge.  After about 15 minutes, I went back with the roller and made sure the wall along the tape edge was painted really well.  When the paint was still a bit tacky, but not totally dry, I slowly peeled away the tape.  Voila!  Perfect, crisp lines!

Wondering where all of the clutter is?  After all, J and I both use a fair amount of product.  Check my “dollar store bathroom organizing” post (click here) to see how I organized all my cupboards with dollar store products.

Linking to: Today’s Creative Blog, MercyInk, Cutesy Crafts.

The post easy wall stripes and master bath redo appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.

Well, this post was supposed to begin with “Merry day after Christmas,” but thanks to a wicked flu bug… Merry three days after Christmas to you all!  I am finally feeling a bit more human – thanks to mom and dad for hanging out with the twins and vitamin C and hot showers.

‘Twas a week before Christmas and I was in a panic.  I had no idea what to get J’s dozen or so cousins – all in their twenties.  If there is one thing I learned from his family gatherings, it is this: J’s cousins know how to have a good time.  Luckily I had seen a blurb in last month’s Rachel Ray magazine about making flavored vodka.

I was first introduced to infused vodka while on a bus tour of Europe.  We ended up in a vodka bar in Berlin (or was it Amsterdam… clearly I drank more than I thought).  The shelves were lined with clear bottles, all with a little something extra added – jalapeno, skittles, gummy bears… So it really wasn’t much of a stretch for my imagination when I saw the Rachel Ray recipe for candy cane vodka.  I tweaked it a bit, since I decided to use half-pint mason jars instead of a large liter bottle.  This recipe makes a great Christmas gift for neighbors or friends, or works well if you just want to use up those left-over candy canes once Christmas has passed.

Supplies:

• candy canes – 36 for this recipe
• vodka – I used about 2.5 liters
• jars – I bought 12 half-pint mason jars
• food processor
• ribbons and other doo-dads for decorating your jars

Run your jars through the dishwasher and dry thoroughly.

Crush three candy canes in a food processor until you have a powder with only a few small bits.  I broke each candy cane into three pieces to get it to fit into my small food processor.  When I removed the lid, a white cloud of pepperminty goodness rose into the air.  J came home and commented from an entirely different level of the house how it smelled like candy canes.  Yum!

Dump the crushed candy canes into the jar.  Fill with vodka.  Cover.  Shake.  That’s it.  I gave each jar an initial shake and then another couple shakes over the next half hour – until the candy cane bits had completely dissolved.

Then came the decorating.  I found red glitter candy cane gift tag decorations at Target.  By some stroke of fate I had red glitter cardstock to match.  I cut circles of cardstock to cover the lids of the jar.  Ribbons went around the jars, and the glitter candy canes got hot glued on.  Small circles of cardstock served as labels attached to the candy canes.

I took these cute little jars over to J’s parents’ house for Christmas.  Many either did shots or just drank the stuff over ice.  Either way, everyone agreed that my creation was pretty good and definitely didn’t taste like vodka.  Success!  I think next time I may add this to hot chocolate or eggnog.

The post candy cane vodka appeared first on The Crazy Craft Lady.