Mouse Valentine's

Well hello there!  Long time no see?  I have been super busy with all sorts of busy things called life.  Since my last post I was able to cross a couple things off of my non existent bucket list and it.was.awesome.   But I am not here for that today, I am here to share this years Valentine's that Kiera and I made for her class.  I think these were the easiest valentine's I have made thus far but that is probably due to the fact that Kiera was actually a big help with it this year.  Twas a lovely Saturday night crafting together.  Apparently I really needed to do some crafting and it wasn't until we started that I felt all warm and fuzzy inside. 

 

So after some looking around on Pinterest Kiera decided that she wanted mouse valentine's.  We came across this picture for inspiration and then Kiera and I discussed what she wanted to change about it and what colors she wanted to use. 

 

Creative Me Inspired You

 

 

We already had everything on hand at home but the card stock and felt hearts.  What you will need...

 

Pipe cleaners (cut in half)

Googly eyes

Felt Hearts

12 x 12 Cardstock

Sharpie

Hot glue 

Fruit snacks (or candy if you must)

 

 

First I folded the 12x12 sheets of cardstock in to fourths and then cut them out.

Then I folded each fourth in half and drew a half heart shape with pencil and cut it out.  Make sure you cut out the side that does not have the seam on it.  I used that first half heart shape to trace on all of the rest of the papers so that afterwards I could just go to town cutting out the shapes. 

 

Once you have all of your mouse bodies cut out you can used the edges to make the mouse ears.  Now if you have a circular paper punch thingys that would be awesome and fast to use, however I don't have one so they were all cut by hand.  You will also want to do this with a light pink card stock for the center of the ears. 

 As I was finishing up cutting out the mouse bodies Kiera was drawing noses and whiskers on the mice that I had already cut out and also gluing the ears together.  Man it was awesome having her help. 

 

 As she was finishing up the ears and faces I was gluing the tails, googly eyes and ears on the ones that were ready. 

I glued from the nose half way up the body so I could create a pocket to put the fruit snack in.  I just can't bring myself to send candy for valentine's because there is already so much of it.  I am not anti candy (hello sugar lover) I am just trying to lessen the amount.  

 

Then you glue around the the rest of it, slap on a heart and voila!  We had a few pop back open behind the ears but I just put a dab of glue there and sealed it back up.  We actually still need to glue the little "Hope you have a "MICE" Valentine's Day!" tag behind the heart and then they will be done done.  On the back I wrote "To" and "From" and Kiera filled in "You" and her name. 

 We also have to make a shoe box for her to receive the valentine's from her classmates only I have no idea what she want to make.  It will be interesting for sure. 

And here are the Valentine's I have made in the past...

 

Ninjas

 

Cats

 

Owls

 

Macrame plant holder

Quite a while back I came across this tutorial on how to make a simple macramé plant hanger so I decided to take a stab at it. I found some rope at Hobby Lobby in their fabric clearance bin and also found the little pot on clearance there.  You know who else has an awesome clearance section?  Lowe's plant section.  The little plant I got was $1.00!!!  It was droopy when I brought it home and perked right up after I watered it.  But the plant hanger was super easy to make  and I can see why people have little colonies of macramé plant hangers in their house. And excuse the horrible phone pics.  I was not going to bring my big camera into work... 

 

 

I hadn't measured the pot my plant came in before and of course it didn't fit into the blue pot so I had to transplant it into the green one that I got for $1.50 at Wal-Mart. I picked green since it kind of blends in with the plant.  It's a self watering pot so it can just pull it up to add water to the bottom of the tray.   

I used some scrap fabric to bind the top near the hanging ring and around the bottom to support the pot. 

 

 

My little plant is doing great there by the window.  I did the painting in the center and the one to the right.  I really don't like the one on the right and I am trying to think of something different to paint. 

Happy Camper hoop art

I don't know if this classifies as "art" but I didn't really know what else to call it.  After I made the little bunting hoop "art" for Kiera's room, I found adorable this picture online.  Luckily I had another hoop hanging around so I made my own little version. 

It is just made with fabric and hot glue and I used a sharpie to write "happy camper".  Oh and the blue lace was actually white that I painted with acrylic paint and a sponge brush.  Can you say ghetto?  A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do when her sewing machine is in the shop.  But I don't care, it's freaking cute and is already hanging in the perfect spot in our camper!  

Scarf Rack

I have a new found love for scarves. OK it started about a year ago but whatever. I can't believe I haven't bought more but dang they can be expensive for a piece o fabric! Maybe I should make my own ya think?   So for the past year I have been hanging them on this lovely piece.

Yes they are draped over a pants hanger that is hanging from a nail. I had been looking for a certain type of peg thing like my father-in-law has to hang his yard tools on but couldn't find one. Then when Jimmy and I were taking inventory in the camper before our Robbers Cave trip he found a spare peg thingy!

It was plain wood but I stained it with Dark Walnut and sealed it with Mod Podge. That was a total ghetto move to use Mod Podge but it I didn't really care, it works. After a gentle reminder the other day Jimmy hung it up for me.

I have to double up some scarves and once I get more some will be tripled but that is OK.  I totally love it and it was free! Woo woo!

Cat feeding station

My brain is complete mush right now and could not think of an opening sentence for what I am about to share.  As you can probably tell from the title I am going to share our "Cat feeding station".    Poor Lilly was missing out on some of her meals because she is a grazer and Berkley would go and steal her food when she wasn't around  (we only feed them once in the evening).  So Berkley has been gaining weight, and Lilly losing.  She is at a healthy weight and she definitely isn't starved, but our boy is getting quite stocky.

We decided that we needed to elevate her food somehow and hide the bags of food that have been hanging out on the kitchen floor for years.

                

So Kiera and I went to PetSmart and Southern Agriculture on Saturday to look for an elevated cat feeder while Jimmy was getting his haircut.  We had no such luck.  I decided to then go to a favorite little antique store in Collinsville to see what they had.  They always have a TON of furniture outside and some of it is dirt cheap.  It is the same place I got my nightstands.  I was in luck that day because I came across this awesomely hideous bookshelf.

For $2.50! I didn't even hesitate buying it. 

 

As you can see it was in pretty rough shape on the corners but it is really sturdy, and there wasn't anything a little paint wouldn't hide.  Except for some water damage on top but still, I had plans!  Apparently Kiera did too.  She had fun on our little quest and excitedly gave me all sorts of "ideas" on what we could do.  She is drawing up her own plans here.

First off I sanded the edges and roughed up the laminate part and then gave it a good wipe down.  I gave it a nice little coat of primer too.  I have had the same primer can for almost 4 years now.  It is close to empty but I still have a ways to go with it!  I actually had to buy paint cause I don't have any "white" on hand, so I bought a quart of Olympic Semi Gloss Kitchen and Bath in Olympic's Garlic clove (not shown yet), which is the exact same thing I used on my baseboards when I painted them last year.  This way I will have it on hand for touch ups in the years to come.

 

I also had a spare piece of wood from the base of my nightstands that we added to to top front of this to add a little finishing touch.  Just nailed that sucker in from the outsides and painted over it.  You will eventually see it.

We also stopped by Hobby Lobby to grab this lovely duck cloth to cover the front.  I don't know what it says but I like it a lot!  Of course I used my 40% coupon and spent a whopping $5.84 for 1 yard.  I only need a 1/2 yard but better safe than sorry!  I will used it for something else anyway.

And here is the finished product!  I already had a tension rod on hand and sewed up my little curtain for the front and pushed the rod all the way to the top inside.  Yeah it is by our front door but it doesn't really fit where Lilly's food was before.  Actually it does but Jimmy feels too cramped with it back there.  We have had to show Lilly a couple times to jump in the chair then jump to the table, but we can tell that she really likes it.

I just threw some black lace up there and put her mat on it for the time being, but I plan on replacing her mat with a solid black one.  I might even paint a little Fleur de lis on it or something.  Berkley is not a fan of it at all.  

   

And now the food is all hidden too!  The kitchen looks so much more tidy with it off of the floor. 

 

It was super easy and quick to do.  I am thrilled it only cost me less than 10 bucks to make!

Cat bag valentines

Sometime last week I asked Kiera what kind of valentine's she wanted for her classmates. I told her either she could pick out a box of them at the store or I could make her some like I did last year.  Funny thing about my owl valentines I made last year, they recently popped up on Pinterest somewhere and in the course of 3 weeks have had 30,000 visits to this little blog, and 2 new followers!  Oh and I gained 950 followers on my "Things to make" board.  Crazy.  Anyway she of course wants me to make them.  I don't mind either since I only have to make 20 and I get to do a craft.  Unlike a coworker of mine that has 4 kids and said she will never do that since that means she'd have to make 80+.  Add that to the list of a bonus for having only 1 child!   

After she thought about it she decided she wanted cat valentines.  And that the box she is supposed to take to school to put valentines in needed to look like a cat also.  So first we both drew up a sketch of what we wanted to do.

Not just a cat box but an angel cat box.  She approved of my drawing so off to Hobby Lobby it was to get supplies.  We needed some little boxes or lunch type sacks, scrapbook paper and card stock.  After we left the store I realized I totally forgot to look for some little black bead thing for eyes and something for whiskers.  Too bad cause I wasn't going back!

She wanted all white cats but they only had one package so I convinced her that we could do some tan cats too, you know for the boys.

Let the crafting begin! 

First I worked on the ears by cutting out a little triangle tempmlate in the size I liked and traced a bunch (40) of them on the white and tan cardstock and got to cutting them with scissors.  I am sure it would be a billion times faster if you have a punch or some sort of one of those Cricut things but since I don't I get do things the old fashioned way.  Then I did the same with some pink for the inside of the ears.  I also cut tiny triangles out for their nose, I didn't even measure for those. 

While they were drying I used a shot glass to trace cheeks onto each of the bags and then cut those out.

Next I sketched the tails on the remainder of my cardstock and used an Exacto knife to cut them out.

Now it came time to assemble these kitties!  I folded the bags over with enough space to fit a package of fruit snacks inside (they get pleny of suckers and candy so I try to give something halfway healthy) and glued on the little noses and used a sharpie for the eyes, whiskers and feet.  I hot glued the ears and tails on the back of the sacks.  The little hearts are made out of glittery felt which I cut out with scissors and glued on also.  The faces weren't staying down at all once folded so I used a tiny dab of hot glue on the insides to keep them closed.  She signed her name on the back so everyone will know who it came from.

Kiera loves them and they only cost me $6.24! 

 Oh and here is her Angel Cat Box.  I made everything but the wings and drawing the face.  She loves it too.

 

Master bath redo - in process

OK so I got a whole lot of nothing accomplished in adding some more decorations to the master bath this weekend. I have been on the search for an old window pane or even just a new window pane mirror and have found nothing. Actually I have only they are too big or too expensive. There are a couple other things I am looking for only haven't found them yet. I still need junk for the shelf thing and something to hang on the wall in the toilet room. 

The pictures on either side of the tub were gold with pictures of tubs before so I spray painted them oil rubbed bronze and but some shimmery golden zebra print scrapbook paper in them.  The curtain is just one giant 21 foot long piece of fabric (Hobby Lobby 40% off = $12) tied around the end of the curtain rod.  I also have a few lanterns to hang from the bottom of my shelf to try and mimic my inspiration photo but not sure if I want to do that now. 

Here is the toilet area.  Yay for plaid fabric (Hobby Lobby 40% off= $12)!!!  I was actually thinking ahead of time and only Heat n Bond 3 sides of the curtains and left one undone so I could test how it would hang.  With the Heat n Bond at the bottom it hung really straight (since the fabric is fairly thin) so I sewed the bottom seam.  

This topiary picture used to be in the tub area with a gold frame so I spray painted it oil rubbed bronze and then sponged brushed over it with metallic bronze acrylic paint so it wouldn't look so black.  This is the spot I want and old window pane to hang.

I bought this little basket at Hobby Lobby (50% off = $3, notice a trend here?) to hold my hand towel since I had nothing before.  I want to incorporate more woven and natural things to the room I'm just not sure how.

Here is the shower, the door to our bedroom on the right and Jimmy's closet on the left.  The little cubby holds towels and washcloths on the top and the trash can is on the bottom.  I thought hanging something above the shower, but not sure if I want to.  I could make a sign that says something like "Shower".  Hahahaha!  You know the little metal signs that say "Le Bain", I would just be super obvious.  Yep, that is the shower. 

And that red rug needs to go.  Once again sorry for the craptastic pictures.  Taken with my iPhone and the little wide angle lens that goes with it is what made those round pictures.  I promise when I get it finished I will share beautiful detailed pictures from my DSLR. 

Next step in this room, waaay down the line of course, is to gel stain the cabinets an nice dark color.  Not looking forward to doing that.  But if it works out well and isn't too terrible, we will consider doing it in the rest of the house.

Q Tip Tree

I have been trying to think of creative things for Kiera to do on our weekends and she mainly wants to paint. I thought I saved the image of this painting craft but I didn't. You trace a circle onto a piece of paper (or card stock like we used) and use Q Tips to dot the colors inside.  I painted on the branches and trunk.

 

I have to remind myself to just let her create things the way she wants them regardless of how I want it to turn out.  No the tree isn't completely filled in like the picture I saw and she added some bunches of falling leaves but it is her creation not mine.  Plus she really enjoyed painting with the Q Tips.

Of course after she was finished painting she took all of my brushes and lined them up in the grout on the floor.  Easily entertained I tell you.