Crafts — Page 3

Awesome DIY Wall Art Ideas & Inspiration

Does your home feel welcoming, inviting, does it feel like YOU? If not, one incredibly simple way to jazz things up on a budget is to create some DIY wall art. The sky is the limit here – painted canvases, vinyl quotes, family photos, favorite posters, cool old records, the kids artwork – there are so many of your favorite things that can easily be used to create seriously cool art pieces that will really make your house feel like it represents YOU. Starting in late January, we’re doing a lot of revamping around the house, and one thing that’s been driving me crazy since moving into this new house are all of the bare walls. So, I’ll share some of the cool ideas and creative inspiration I’ve been looking at lately – I can’t wait to recreate some of these myself, and hope they’ll give you some cool ideas too!

Frame those awesome DIY Wall Art Creations

Not everything you create will need a frame – but a lot of them will. And when you need frames I totally suggest poster frame depot. They manufacture all frames by hand using 100% American Made Materials, which is super hard to find these days, and is reason alone to give them my business. But I also love that they are the actual manufacturer of their frames, making them stand behind their quality, and letting them sell them at super affordable prices. There are a ton of options when it comes to size, style, and price. You’ll love ’em, promise.

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Posted by Meagan Paullin on December 19, 2012 Filed Under: Homemaking, Busy Mom Solution | 7 Comments

Create Your Own Handmade Gifts that Rock – Learn How! #CyberMonday

Ok – I love a deal as much as the next gal. And I love me some fun and festive holiday shopping trips too. But even more than all of that – I love creating handmade gifts that rock, are personalized for the recipient, and that save me a ton of cash. I’m a crafty type all year long, but really kick it up a notch around the holidays. But I know a lot of people are intimidated by crafting – they think it’s too hard, that they’re not creative enough… Or maybe you’re confident in one skill, but nervous about trying something new. If so – I have an awesome site for you, that’s also having a crazy-amazing Cyber Monday deal going on. Check it out:

My secretly awesome tip that helps me be a total handmade-crafting-ninja? It’s called Craftsy – and you are going to love it too, I know it. Craftsy is a community of people who love to make things. You can try out some super fun FREE mini-courses to get a taste of something new if you’re unsure about a full class. You get to see what other people have created, and show off your work too. You can ask questions & chat – everyone loves to share tips and techniques, and learn from one another. I just adore it. You sign up totally free as a member, and get access to all of the resources. And if you want to take a new class – Right now, just through Cyber Monday, EVERY.SINGLE.CLASS is only $19.99!! Awesomesauce, right? You’ll find classes in just about everything:

Cake decorating
Crocheting
Food Crafts
Gardening
Holiday
Jewelry
Knitting
Paper Crafts
Quilting
Sewing
Spinning
Weaving

And more! So what are you waiting for? Sign up for a new class or two, and get started creating some awesome handmade gifts this year. And maybe purchase a couple more as gifts – What could be more fun than a free course, along with a basket full of new supplies to get started? I know I would be over the moon with that as a gift!

Creative Gifts for Kids – Site Wide Savings on Gifts!!

Do you have little crafters to shop for this season? If so – don’t miss this deal on a great way to keep them supplied with creative gear at a sweet discount… Kelly Kits is offering 10% off their entire site for 72 hours!! Check out the details…

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Posted by Meagan Paullin on November 21, 2012 Filed Under: Shopping, Deals and Coupon Codes | No Comments

How to DIY a Perfect Piggy Bank Handmade Gift

I love gifts that are personalized. Something that’s totally one-of-a-kind, shows that some thought was put into it, that I can see is made with lots of love. So as a crafty momma, I love to give those kinds of gifts too. Not only do I save money versus buying a boring gift from a big box store, but I can be sure it’s something they’ll love – that they definitely don’t already have! And a perfect gift idea that I’m really into lately is creating your own DIY Ceramic Piggy Bank.

When you think of these fun ceramic piggy banks, you probably think of a baby gift, right? Or even a bank for an older kid – but still, it seems like something geared more towards little ones. And – it does make an absolutely perfect pick for a kids gift. We had one at Abby’s baby shower, for people to leave notes in, with advice for me as a new mom. We used it again at her first birthday, for those guests who wanted to leave her a little birthday spending money – and it was a big hit! These are adorable when personalized with baby’s birth date and name, or with fun designs for a bigger birthday boy or girl. But – there are SO many other fun ways to personalize these with some simple steps!

I am totally going to be doing one of these for the holidays! How fun is this? It’s a ceramic piggy bank covered in chalkboard paint! Include a piece of chalk to delight kids who can doodle over and over – or send it as a fun & totally unique accent piece for the home that any adult is going to love too. I got this idea from a UK site, blackboard piggy money box, but it would be so easy to recreate using a seriously great, {and amazingly high quality!} piggy bank from A Child to Cherish. Like I said, I’ve had some experience purchasing this type of bank, and I can tell you – this is the best you’ll find. Triple glazed, bigger than most that you’ll find, and incredibly sturdy. If you’re going to spend the time to create something amazing, you want to use a bank that’s built to last.

Now, if you’ve ever read my About Me page, you know that I LOVE anything sparkly. So when I saw this uh-MAY-zing rhinestone covered piggy bank, I was totally excited. This one is from Barneys, and retails for $126 bucks, which is crazy-expensive for a piggy bank, even when it is as fabulous as this one. Instead, why not stock up on some metallic spray paint, small rhinestones from the craft store, and a spray sealer to finish it off? Yes, it’d be a little bit time-consuming, but the money saved and the end result will be oh-so-worth-it! These would make such fun gifts for my girlfriends this Christmas!

More inspiration – What about making a “Girls Night Out” piggy bank for yourself, to save up funds for some good times? This one is available for sale somewhere else – but why not just buy the fab one from Child to Cherish, and do the decorating yourself, at HALF the price?? Or make this super cute Honeymoon Fund piggy bank as an engagement gift – or to decorate the gift table at a wedding? All you need is a paint pen, someone with nice handwriting, and a little rhinestone to decorate the rings. Easy peasy! Or make a fun ballerina piggy bank that’s sure to please any girly-girl in your life – young, or old. A quick little homemade tutu, a glued on tiara, and a little bit of pink paint schmeared on to make rosy cheeks – and voila! You’ve got an awesome handmade gift. Love it, right?

As you can see – these are a lot bigger and bolder than the smaller size piggy banks that you traditionally find. That makes them more unique, more fun, and a lot easier to work with too. If you want to get started creating your own DIY Piggy Banks too, here are a few tips:

If you’ll be painting the entire bank, start by using a fine grit sandpaper to rough it up just a tad, then wipe all of the dust away cleanly. This gives the paint a better surface to adhere to. The Child to Cherish Big Ear Piggy Bank comes in classic white, pink, or blue – giving you a lot of ready-made options to work with. But if you have a creative idea in mind that calls for another color, this step will make your acrylic paint cover and hold much better.
When you’re ready to paint a name or design, lightly pencil it on first. That way you can ensure that you have the space needed, and will minimize mistakes. Once you’re happy with the placement, you can go over it lightly with a paintbrush, or paint pen.
Use an adhesive like Gorilla Glue if you want to add extra accessories like rhinestones, sequins, or fabric. You could use a spray adhesive to add a dusting of glitter too.
Once you’ve completed your work of art – be sure to let it dry fully, then spray with a coat of acrylic sealant spray, to make it all more durable. Once that layer is fully dry – it’s ready for gifting!

If you want some fun DIY packaging ideas for your gift, visit my Homemade Gifts Rock board on Pinterest for inspiration. And if you’ve created your own decorated Piggy Bank like this too, please come on over to my Facebook page and share a pic or a link! I love to see the amazing stuff you ladies put together.

You can see get one of these great Ceramic Piggy Banks to personalize by ordering at Amazon.com – Child to Cherish Big Ear Piggy Bank, or shop for them on Child to Cherish online. You’ll also find some amazing pre-decorated personalized piggy banks, if you’re not the crafty type. {Although I definitely suggest giving it a try – it’s so simple to get really great results.} Whil there, check out the other amazing gifts available on their site too. Or – for more fun project and product inspiration, visit them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and even Instagram!

{Disclosure: “This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™, but all my opinions are my own.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on October 29, 2012 Filed Under: Fun Stuff, Shopping | No Comments

How to DIY Kids Fashions – Even if you’re not the crafty type

“You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they’re going.” – P. J. O’Rourke… Kids grow. And they grow quick. Which means that every time I go to get Abby dressed in the morning, I swear to you that she’s outgrow her clothes overnight. So I’ve found a super smart – and super stylish! – solution to this challenge – Buti-Bag makes it simple to DIY your kiddos outgrown clothes into new fashions that they can wear again. It’s an affordable solution that’s simple and so cute. Keep reading to see how it works, and how it can solve more than one type of kids clothing challenge.

How to DIY Kids Fashions – Even if you’re not the crafty type

You might remember the Buti-Bag brand from another smart solution that I shared with you guys a couple of months ago. The Bunvelope is a totally modern diaper and wipes holder, that easily transitions to life after baby as a cosmetics bag for you. One of my fave pieces of baby gear. She’s got other super smart products too – All totally chic, designed by a real mom who understands what we really need in our gear, and all made right here in the US. Today, I’ll show you more about the Belle Bottoms, a totally genius idea. These super cute iron-on designs can be used in so many ways –

When you did your back to school review of the kids clothes, I’m sure that a ton of you mommas learned that while your kiddo’s pants still fit on the waist, they’ve grown a ton since last fall, and most of them are now too short. You hate to throw out pants that are in good shape, right? Adding Belle Bottoms is a great way to add some extra length!
How about the pants that still fit, but are frayed and worn around the bottoms? Yep, this is a great way to cover up that mess.
Maybe you’ve got the opposite problem, like I do – Abby {my 2 year old} is a chunker. She needs a 4 or 5T pair of jeans to fit around her booty {she got that from me, poor girl…} – but then they are WAY too long. So, I can just cut off all of that excess fabric, and finish them again with the Belle Bottoms. Problem solved.
These are also a way to just up the fun factor of any kids wardrobe. If you’ve got girls who are bored with yesterdays styles, let them pick out a couple prints of Belle Bottoms to jazz up what they’ve got. Saves a ton versus buying new clothes!
And… These can fit a ton of different sizes of pants – Including yours. They can be added to most straight leg style denim, and would be really fun on a pair of capris. They’re available in a ton of different prints, and either flat style or ruffled. Love ’em.

So – Ready to see how these work? You can find the full instructions on the Buti-Bag site – Instructions for flat iron-on Belle Bottoms. And I’ll walk you through a quick tutorial on how to add them to any pair of pants, easy peasy.

Enhance Your Pants – DIY Kids Pants Tutorial

When I first got my Belle Bottoms, I admit – I was a little nervous to put them on. You do have to carefully read the instructions, and follow them well, since once you iron these cuties on – they are permanent. But, after reading through the whole instructions twice, to make sure I had it all down – It was super simple to apply ’em. Pinky promise.

Gather your supplies all together in one spot – Belle Bottoms, kids pants to makeover, scissors, a pencil, and an iron. Then, either use a seam ripper to open up the seam on the bottom of each pant leg {great if you need to maximize the length} or just cut off that bulky bottom hem.
Three edges of each piece of fabric have adhesive strips – you pull off the piece on the short end. Then you take the flat Belle Bottom piece of fabric, and fold it around the pant leg where you want it to go. {Mark this with a pencil.} Use the iron to tack down that seam. Once it’s cooled, you’ll have a little circle of fabric, the same size as the bottom opening of the pants.
Flip that circle cuff of fabric inside out, and cut off the excess length that you don’t need. Then remove the adhesive strip that’s around the top – the section that will stick to your pant leg. Flip your Belle Bottom right-side out again.
Now, slide your little round fabric cuff back onto the pant leg, so the unfinished pant edge is inside. Line it up with your pencil mark. Now iron that adhesive section to your pants. Once you’ve done this, you’re halfway!
Now, flip the whole pair of pants inside out, and remove that last piece of adhesive tape.
Fold the Belle Bottom fabric up over the edge of the pant seam – making them the length you prefer. Use your hot iron to tack that seam down too. And, you can go ahead and give the whole pair of pants a quick iron if you’d like, to smooth out any wrinkles you might have caused during the process.
Smile – You’re done! Look at that – old pants get a new life, you save money in your clothing budget, and the kids get compliments on their one of a kind fashion statements. Life is good…

Super simple, right? And the instructions that come with the Belle Bottoms have more thorough instructions and lots of tips too. If I can do this right the first time – then anyone can. Seriously. {And…. FYI: Keep reading. At the bottom of the post there’s a chance to win a HUGE prize package that includes a set of these sweet Belle Bottoms!}

“The trick is growing up without growing old.” – Casey Stengel

I hate to waste anything. Ever. I’m totally live by the phrase “Use it up, Wear it Out, Make it do…or Do without.” I get that from my grandma, for sure. So when I realized that I had some scrap of this adorable polka dot fabric left over, I used ’em to make a cute shabby chic style matching headband. I used one of Abby’s fabric covered headbands as the base. I cut the scrap piece of fabric into little strips. I used the little adhesive strips on them to double ’em over and make little loops on each end, and pulled out a few extra strings to give each bare edge a nice little fray. Then I simply tied them together, and attached with hot glue to the head band. Super cute.

Get connected and learn more

You can learn more about Buti-Bag and the rest of her amazing products built for busy moms with style – Check her out on ButiBag.com. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter, to get updates on new products and promotions. {Like the totally amazing sale you missed if you weren’t following her – she just had where the WHOLE site was 40% off. Rockin’.} So follow her and stay tuned for cool stuff like that in the future too!

Click here to enter to WIN this big prize package – Including a set of Belle Bottoms!

{Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mompact and received a promotional item to thank me for my participation. Only the best products make it onto this site, and my opinions are always as true as can be. All photos and opinions are my own – I think these rock, and know you’ll love ’em too.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on September 4, 2012 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution, Fashion | 5 Comments

5 Steps to a Bathroom Mini-Makeover for Summer Guests #CGC #CleanHands.

Bathroom Mini-Makeover Tips for Summer Entertaining…. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we do a ton of entertaining around here, especially in the summertime. {See some of my fave ideas here – Party Drinks and Party Foods. Very fun stuff.} And with a ton of people here all the time, and a pool that people need to change in and out of swimwear for, my bathroom gets a lot of traffic. It’s clean, but it needed a little spruce up. So I’ll share a few fun ideas you can use too to make your own bathroom a little more guest ready. Easy peasy and very fun – keep reading…

Tips for a Bathroom Mini-Makeover

It doesn’t take a lot to make a bathroom more welcoming to guests – A few nice touches that show that you’re thinking of them can really make an impact. If you do a ton of entertaining too, whether it’s all summer, or year round, making your bathroom more guest-friendly is a great way to be a nice hostess. Here are a few of my tips for making over your bathroom to make it ready for visitors…

Guest Basket: I love this list of items to include in a guest bathroom hospitality basket – things like band-aids, lotion, soap, tums, etc. Leave it on the counter, or in an easily accessible cupboard, so that guests that come to visit can easily find anything that they might need in any type of emergency. Super helpful, super smart.
Clean House: Cleaning a bathroom can be a totally quick project, and really easy to keep up with. Basic maintenance, like using cleaning wipes each time you’re in there, a quick cleaning spray in the shower, or a quick steam mop on the floor – those all lead up to a nice clean room that’s ready for guests. Use this bathroom cleaning checklist to get you started.
Wall Art: A few cool pieces of art on the wall can really jazz up a space, and make it much more fun for guests. If you’re looking for rad ideas, check out my Creative DIY Wall Art Ideas board on Pinterest. Tons of cool stuff to create, on a budget. Which means that you can update for every season.
Clever Gadgets: I absolutely love clever little ideas to make the bathroom more fun, and functional. Things like an awesome fabric holder to store an extra roll of toilet paper behind the main roll, the Aqueduck that helps kids wash hands on their own, a disinfecting toilet brush holder, cool idea products like this make life a little easier on your guests.
Convenience: It’s great to have hand towels for guests to dry their hands on – but at the same time, when you really think about it, it’s kind of weird to reuse the same towels that 5 other people have used right before you! To make sure each of your guests have a fresh place to dry their hands, pick up the super awesome new Kleenex Hand Towels. They are more sturdy than tissues, and super helpful for guests. And, you can customize the package really quickly to make them a bit more fun – keep reading for a bit of inspiration.

Use these few tips to inspire you to spruce up your own bathroom for summer entertaining and all of the guests that come along with it. Whether you jazz up a guest bathroom, your main bathroom, or the Master Bedroom bath like me – a few simple touches that show guests that you care and are thinking of them, make parties a lot more fun, and guests will memorable.

bathroom mini-makeover project

Makeover Your Kleenex Hand Towel Dispenser

This is a simple project – and you’ll throw it away eventually. How many craft projects do you create knowing you’ll toss it in the trash in a few weeks, lol? But – it takes only a couple of minutes, is super inexpensive, and adds a fun little detail that’s a big help to your guests too. Here’s what I did – Step 1: Grab some adhesives. {This is an awesome time of year to stock up on school supplies super cheap, so you have extras crafty stuff all year.} Step 2: Gather a few fun scrapbooking embellishments. I chose sparkly die cuts and pretty rhinestones. Step 3: Glue on your goodies! Now you have a super fun addition to your bathroom that guests will really appreciate.

Join the 14 million people who have already joined the Clean Hands campaign by using Kleenex Hand Towels, and click here for savings and more!

{Disclaimer: I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective. Bathroom sign photo credit.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on August 9, 2012 Filed Under: Fun Stuff | No Comments

Celebrating Life’s Wild Moments!

Glad Black Bag wants to help moms celebrate life’s “Wild Moments” – Because, when you have a life with kids in it, you know that good times can often end up with BIG messes too. Have you ever beaten yourself up over a broken glass or a spill on your dining room chair? Life is full of those oops moments – which is why Glad Black Bag has teamed up with the Picker Sisters – best friends and interior designers Tracy Hutson and Tanya McQueen – to celebrate and cleanup those wild moments, and then find ways to reuse discarded items.

“Don’t blow it – good planets are hard to find.” – Quoted, Time

I can’t believe that I hadn’t heard of this show before! The only time that I watch watch TV usually is when I join the Mister for one of his shows. Some of my favorites that he watches are shows like Storage Wars or American Pickers, so when I heard about this, I went right out and ordered Picker Sisters: Season 1 – I’ve always been such a big lover of the “trash to treasure” idea. I love “junk-crafting” – finding ways to reuse things and make them cool again. {Get inspired by some of my favorite clever ideas on my Junk Crafts board on Pinterest!} Read what the sisters say about it –

“We live by the saying, ‘one person’s trash is another’s treasure.’ In fact, on our television show, we travel across the country to find reclaimed trash to turn it into treasure for our store,” said Picker Sister, Tracy Hutson. “However, you don’t have to travel far beyond your home to find items worth transforming into beautiful pieces.”

I’ll be sharing a post tomorrow filled with a bunch of their best tips, to help you take your own trash and junk pieces and turn them into treasures! I’ll share some of my favorite ideas and tricks too. {If you have any cool ideas to share – leave me some comments here, and maybe I’ll feature YOUR great ideas tomorrow too!}

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” – Native American Proverb

Glad Black Bag is partnering with Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanups across the country – they’ll be collecting trash items, and providing them as materials to mosaic artist Jason Mecier, who will combine them with trash collected from celebrities like Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Raphael Sbarge (Once Upon A Time) and Nathan Kress (iCarly) – and then turning them into one-of-a-kind treasures! Four pieces of art will be auctioned off during the Glad Black Bag art auction on eBay – {you can bid on them here from April 16-26th, 2012!!} – with proceeds benefiting Keep America Beautiful’s Great America Cleanup events. How cool is that??

“The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.” – Ross Perot

No matter what WILD moments life throws your way – you’ll be prepared for any messy clean-ups when you stock up on Glad Black Bags. They’re the bags with that cool diamond print texture – you know, that stretch with your trash, to prevent rips or tears, and keep that trash that you CAN’T turn into treasures secured safely for disposal. Because there’s nothing worse than cleaning up a mess TWICE! {Seriously, the Glad Black Bags are my very fave around this house.}

Connect with the Picker Sisters, Tanya and Tracy on Lifetime.com.
For additional information on GLAD Trash, visit, www.glad.com.
See the other amazing trash to treasure collections on Ebay.com.

{Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Glad Black Bag and received a Glad Black Bag product and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate. I was also asked to “pin” one (1) Glad Black Bag Art Auction photo on Pinterest.}