Dare To Do It Yourself

Despite what the media is telling us about the economy doing better, the recession is still effecting everyone, me included. So when a co-worker and I decided to "Elf" people at work, I needed to weigh my options and come up with an affordable and do-able solution.

My solution is participating in the Newly Woodwards "Dare to Do It Yourself" Challenge

I have seen many versions of these "Christmas Countdown" blocks all over Etsy, and I had some wood blocks left over from a previous craft. I knew I could make them myself, and that these would be the perfect gift for co-worker with little kids.

These took about 1-2 hours to make (maybe longer cause I was engrossed in bad, bad, bad reality TV while crafting - Real Housewives on AnyCity is a total time suck for me).

What you will need:

4 square wood blocks (I used 2x2 inch blocks)

4 sheets of Christmas themed scrapbook paper

Vinyl lettering or stickers

Mod Podge

Ribbon

Acrylic Paint

Square craft punch

Corner rounder

Directions:

1. Sand your blocks down and then paint with your favorite coordinating Christmas color. (I used white)

2. While your paint is drying, Punch/cut out 14 squares in your various Christmas scrapbook paper and then use a corner rounder on each.


3. Mod Podge 6 squares each on 2 of the blocks and 1 square each on the remaining 2 blocks.

4. Add the following vinyl letters numbers or stickers to the following blocks:

Block 1: #'s 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 (6 will also act as a 9 when counting down)

Block 2: #'s 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Block 3: Days til

Block 4: Santa!

5. Mod Podge the whole thing and let dry

6. Stack blocks and tie with a pretty ribbon.

And here is my final project:

Happy crafting!

Open A New Window

Long story short...

We re-fied our mortgage, were able to skip a payment and used the extra money towards new vinyl windows for our house. See told you I would make it was short.

But I think my husband thought I was crazy when I asked him to save me one of the old wood windows after he took it out. I tried to explain my vision and the ideas I have seen around the blogosphere, but I just don't think he understood. So, here is a perfect picture from Room by Room.

I absolutely LOVE this idea and I have 11 windows at home that look just like this (minus the pretty paint and nice vinyl lettering). Here's to hoping I can snag one of those windows before they hit the trash!

Wish List II

This week's wish list item isn't so much a thing I want, but a think I want to do.

I love Etsy. Love, love LOVE it!

I want to start my own Etsy shop, but feel like a Jack-of-all, Master-of-none type of crafter. My husband says I have A.D.D. when it comes to crafting. I am always trying something new, and then switching to something else. So picking one thing that I'm good at to sell in an Etsy shop is hard for me. I have plenty of ideas, but then I think about it too much and decide maybe that's not the best idea.

Oh well. Maybe one day I'll have a shop of my own. But until then I'll just have to settle for helping my mom at craft fairs!

60 Days Until Christmas

If there are 2 Months...

60 Days...

1,440 Hours...

86,400 Minutes...

left until Christmas. So why is every single store at the mall already decorated for Christmas? Have we forgot about Halloween and Thanksgiving?

I couldn't find one bag of Halloween candy in Wal-Mart this weekend. A week before Halloween, I should be able to find something, right? This is getting out of hand people!

Candy Corn Cake

My right thumb is green. Literally. In the world of food coloring, green and pink make orange. Huh? It worked, so who am I to question the food coloring gods?

So anyway, here's why I broke out the food coloring before Easter...

I saw a candy corn cheesecake online today and thought I could do a little twist on the rainbow cupcakes that are all over the place. Like here, here and here. But instead of cupcakes I went the easier route and make my candy corn cake in a bundt pan, smothered it in white icing, some festive Halloween sprinkles and voila!



Admittedly, this didn't totally turn out the way I wanted this to, but it was still festive and fun.

Wish List I

I have a craft wish list that is about a mile long, but at the top of that wish list is the mother of craft tools. The Cricut.

I want one so bad. I hunt them down at stores like I'm Lindsay Lohan looking for her next fix. I oggle them online and at Michael's, AC Moore and Hobby Lobby. I dream about the things I could make and try to justify the the cost, which is essentially a car payment for a new Honda Civic or three months of my household electric bill.

I need a part time job to pay for my part time hobby.

Real or Fake?

Looks pretty real doesn't it?

But, it's as fake as Joan River's face.

I snagged this Styrofoam beauty at Michael's for a few bucks, found a free stencil online and carved this out in about an hour and a half. It was surprisingly easy to carve too. I might have to get another one to add to my Halloween decor collection.

Orange Nightmare Cookies

I'm a sucker for making stuff I can giveaway. What can I say, I'm a giver. But why wait until Christmas? Here's a fun, little project that makes a great little gift.

What you need:

1/2 cup powdered orange flavored drink mix, such as Tang
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups vanilla baking chips
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 quart sized Ball Jar
scrap fabric
ribbon
black and orange cardstock

Combine the flour with the baking soda and baking powder. Layer the ingredients in a clean glass wide mouth quart sized jar, starting with the Tang, then sugar, vanilla chips and ending with the flour mixture. Press each layer firmly in place before adding the next ingredient. Attach a recipe card with the following instructions to the jar.

Orange Nightmare Cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Empty contents into a large mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg slightly beaten and teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix until completely blended.
3. Roll heaping tablespoonfuls into balls. Place 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F for 12 to 14 minutes or until tops are very lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes on the sheet then remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Makes 2-1/2 dozen

Here's the finished product I made and gave to the girls I work with.

Only Part Time

In a dream world, I would get paid handsomely to stay home and do arts and crafts all day long.

A girl can dream, right?