diy paint swatch wall art

Category: DIY | November 12th, 2012



i am loving this new project the mister and i did awhile back (of course i am just now getting to post about it). it might have taken us awhile to agree on colors and the arrangement but it was worth the wait. all you need are some thumbtacks (or a few hundred), lots of paint swatches, and a very patient person to mark where every square will be pinned on the wall so you have straight lines….thank you love!!) we have had this entryway wall empty for quite some time now so i am glad we have something we love…and the best part…it cost us about $3 (for the thumbtacks). score! i wonder if all the lowe’s/home depot employees hate us “pinterest” people who come in and use the swatches for projects. oops. and thank you! this was our inspiration for the wall. we managed to take a “few” informal pics of the process. enjoy!

diy wall yarn art

Category: DIY | October 8th, 2012


so remember the pinterest challenge i posted about awhile back? well i surprisingly have been doing it! ;) however most of them have been recipes. i mean, a girl has got to eat right? however this is one “challenge” i thought i would post about. i have had this pinned for quite some time and it’s always been in the back of my mind to do. so i was excited when the mister had a few hours to help me otherwise this would have been a week long project for me (not that it would really take one person that long to do it, but with a busy toddler and being super pregnant it might). i went ahead and did a little tutorial for y’all…however there are several ways to do this. (this was the best way for us…to fulfill the mister’s OCDness) ;)





materials: ruler, hammer, nails (mine are 2″), tape, scissors, paper, and yarn
*you can totally free hand the letters but we went ahead and printed them out and taped pieces of paper together to make the desired size. (ended up being 18 inches tall)
1. once you have your template, tape it to the wall.
2. we used this nifty laser level thing that the mister has to make sure the word was lined up. this thing has come in handy quite a bit!
*take a break and play with your very patient toddler. :)
3. hammer in nails in each corner….and be sure to double check every corner.
4. go through and measure each nail to have a desired/matching length showing. (we left about an inch out).
5. tear off the paper.
6. on each letter pick a nail and start with a knot and then wrap around to your heart’s desire! i went around 3 times (following the outline of the letter)
*take another play break and enjoy!
7. finish off each letter with another knot on the same nail where you started. then trim off the excess yarn! and done!
you can even out the layers or just keep it random…depending on your style. i chose a neutral color to start off with since i knew this was going to be taking up a huge portion of our wall (it’s about 12 feet wide). the room is still a work in progress so there’s not too much color in there just yet….i can see myself changing out the yarn color sometime. that’s the neat thing about this project. the yarn isn’t permanent so feel free to change it out whenever. and it’s super easy/fast/cheap! everyone wins. :)

diy painted canvas tote

Category: DIY | September 28th, 2012


everyone needs to try out the good ole freezer paper on canvas tote thing at least once in their lives. :) i had a random bag laying around and thought i’d make miss P a little simple bag to call her own. if your toddler is like mine then they will love carrying around this random big bag and filling it with rocks and baby dolls. but really this is such an easy DIY and a great way to personalize something small. AND makes great gift ideas~Christmas is coming up!

materials: you can find freezer paper at just about any grocery store. i think i got mine a long time ago at walmart. i used an exacto knife but you can easily cut out your design with scissors too.
1. i used photoshop for my template but there are so many other options to use like a word document or even be awesome and freehand it with pencil and paper.
2. if transferring onto freezer paper then it’s easier if you tape your template to the paper. make sure it’s on the non shiny side!
3. figure out where you want your design and iron it on….shiny side down! go slow so you don’t have wrinkles like i got. oops.
4. now the fun part. go ahead and put cardboard or something behind where you’re painting so it does not bleed through on the other side. and be sure not to put too much paint since it might bleed under the paper like mine on a few places. oops again. but imperfections are pretty too. :) let it dry completely. i ended up just waiting over night but it was dry by the time i went to bed.
5. carefully peel off the freezer paper and ENJOY! easy as pie. :)


depending on how much you already have on hand this is a pretty inexpensive project and you can do it in one sitting (or in my case during the little one’s nap) not including the” waiting for paint to dry” time. you can do this project on all sorts of fabrics. even all those old t shirts you don’t wear anymore can be revamped with a little tlc and freezer paper. :) have fun!

pinterest challenge

Category: DIY, everyday | September 7th, 2012


hey all you pinners out there: do y’all actually do the recipes, crafts, activities, DIYs that you pin?? i am guilty of not doing this lately. there are just so many awesome ideas, i’m a bit overwhelmed. ha. but after having my sis stay with us last weekend she inspired me. :) so i too want to join the challenge of doing at least 1 thing that i have pinned per week….whether it’s a recipe, craft, or activity, etc. :) i’m excited for this small but big challenge and encourage all of y’all to join too! maybe i’ll even get around to posting about it too! :)

**the photo above just might need to be my first project. i have been craving bubble tea for pretty much too long, so here it goes! thanks a cup of mai for posting this and catching my eye. :) you can follow my pins here!

DIY ~ paper accordion flowers

Category: DIY | February 6th, 2012


a few of you have asked how i did my fav wall decor for miss P’s birthday. at the time when i was making the actual flowers, i managed to snap a few shots with my phone, so i will just post that. i know i can do it all over again and take better photos with my real camera, but let’s be real here guys. ;)





materials: paper, glue, and however you want to hang them. i used Christmas ornament hooks

*i used 12″x12″ scrapbook paper that i already had on hand (you can use a different size paper…the bigger the paper, the bigger the flower) ;)
1. fold the paper accordion style. back and forth, back and forth. i used 3 sheets of paper for each flower, so i folded all 3 of them together at once. all about short cuts.
2. trim the edges (you can do this several ways to create variety)
3. fold each paper down the middle.
4. glue the fold together for each paper
5. glue all three sides together to form the flower
6. determine how you will hang them and done!! (i used Christmas ornament hooks since i hung them on my blinds, but you can use tape, tacks, string, etc.)


when you have a lot to do, i suggest doing an assembly line. goes a lot faster. :) yay happy paper accordion flower making!