Celebrating Easter with Tissues

Say whaaaat!?  I know you're wondering how tissues have anything to do with Easter.

Well, last night our skupinka (small group) put together some tissue paper flowers and small bags of candy to give out to neighbors in our apartment building.

The bags came together quite nicely (yum chocolate!) and included a Bible verse as well as an invitation to come join us anytime.  The flowers also turned out splendidly!  Our friend Maruska had the creative idea for the flowers and everyone else chipped in and brought various items for the bags.  Team work = good stuff (even if it did take us until well into the evening to complete it all ;)

I, of course, had fun photographing the flowers this morning.

Below...the final product to be given out.

And one last (funny) shot of part of our group working hard...

Haha.  That picture makes me laugh.

And that, my friends, is what tissues have to do with Easter.  Hopefully these mini gifts will be well-received!

Painting Progress

I was able to get a little more work done on my painting before we went to Germany.  It's still a long way from being finished, but I thought I'd update anyway :)

Once the main colors are down, I will then go back and detail and doodle (with black paint pen).  Maybe it's hard to tell from the pictures, but it's quite the large canvas.  Once it's finished I think it will reside right above the bright red couch in our living room.  Can you tell I love color!?

Gotta love the creative process.  Speaking of the creative process, check out how this lady used canvas in her latest project.  LOVE it.

Shine On...

I posted this photo below earlier today as the photo-of-the-day...

Those are my favorite, worn out TOMS.  I adore(d) them.  They definitely got their money's worth of wear.  And needless to say, they were due in for an upgrade...I just couldn't bear the thought of parting with them.

So I set to work.  First, I stitched up the holes in the toes.  Then it was time for a good bath and scrub (hand-washed in soap and warm water...the more natural the better...but I used what I had on hand). Then they were set out to dry completely.  I taped off the soles with gift-wrapping tape.  Ideally you should use painter's tape, or something that peels off easily, but again, I used what I had on hand.

Then I decided on glitter.  I had seen several tutorials around the webs at large for glitter shoes...this one being the best.  (Martha Stewart also has a good tutorial).

I mixed my glitter with my mod podge and set to work.  It took about 4 good coats for me to be satisfied with the coverage.  I let the shoes dry about 20 minutes in between coats.  Once they were dry, I put a final coat of indoor/outdoor varnish on them to create a seal of sorts.

I'm quite pleased with how they turned out!

And now it's time for warmer weather so I can put these "new" shoes to use (this snow just isn't TOMS-wearing weather, ya know?!)

I didn't find any links out there for other glitter TOMS renovations (probably because they actually sale a pair of glitters ones already), but here is a little round-up of some other TOMS renovations I found were well-done...

Flower Fabric TOMS
A store with custom designs
I think these are very creative
And if you're going for the really worn look...these will do

Ah, fun stuff...maybe now I need to make a matching pair for Elise :)

Flower Power

The whole theme of a new year is out with the old, in with the new, correct?

So with that in mind, I took down our stockings hanging above the couch and went to work filling the space above with something new.  I've actually been wanting something on this big, white wall for some time now, but since we rent (and I've already probably put enough holes in the wall) I haven't come up with any "permanent" solution to date.

However, while perusing the clearance rack at Billa (our local potraviny, er, grocery store), I happened upon some red and pink felted flowers.  I scooped those lil guys up for a mere 2 euros...hooray happy Charity :)

I came home, strung them up, taped them to the wall (not the world's greatest solution), stepped back and admired them, AND did it all in a fabulous 15 minutes!

It isn't going to stay there forever, and yes, I know, it's only January, but what's happier than a wall of flowers on a cold winter's day?  I'm a fan.

I present to you our flower power wall--

(for the record, our couch never really looks like this.  there is usually some sort of blanket, toy, paci hanging out on the couch...you get the picture, right?)

I think it'll have to do for a short-term quick fix...but I sure do love those felt flowers.

I guess while I'm trying to figure out what I want to fill the big white space I'll just have to check out pinterest for inspiration, huh? :)

P.S.- if you have any creative ideas on filling a large blank wall (without creating many holes), send 'em my way.  Thanks!

Easy Breezy Heart Pictures

I've been meaning to post this for a while now, so here it is finally.

I wanted some fun and colorful art for Elise's room back when I was decorating.  So I decided to make some.

Here's the final product:

I simply took a brown paper bag and cut it to the size of my frame.  Taking white paper I used sharpies and colored pencils to fill an entire sheet with bright, random designs.  Then I cut out hearts of all shapes and sizes.

Before cutting the hearts...

Once all the hearts were cut out, I simply glued the hearts onto my brown paper and drew a heart outline around some of them (for a lil something extra, ya know.)

Into the frame it went.  And, of course, you can never have too much color so I saw these pinterest flowers (a tutorial) and got to rolling some paper.  Took some glue and put those bad boy flowers on the frames.

And voila! Happy art for the baby's room :)

Colorful Kitchen Quick-Fix

In the midst of all this "nesting" that has kicked in, a kitchen cabinet re-organization was in order.  So Jas and I set off organizing the cabinets one afternoon.

And all that brought about the messiness better known as bags of baking products leaking and causing tiny bits of flour, sugar, salt, etc. all over the place.  I knew we needed some containers to hold those important items and avoid as much mess as possible.

Cue mod podge, scissors, cleaned olive jars (yes, they're a staple in our house), scrapbook paper, and black sharpie.  It took all of 15 minutes total.  And voila! New, bright containers...

They're not perfect, but hey, they're perfectly cheap and colorful :)

Nursery Sneak Peak

Little by little over here we have been getting things done for the baby's nursery.  It's pretty exciting!

But, I guess I should be honest, we really have done very little.  I have the picture of how it will look in my mind, but we just bought a dresser today and that's all we have going for the room furniture wise. We will get more soon...like in the next few months we'll be making Ikea trips, for sure.

I have however been working on a few craft projects for baby girl's room.

Want a sneak peak?

Since we can't paint the walls, lots of color will be incorporated.  We hope it'll be a place she will love!  Full room post to come towards the end of the summer :)

Lil Polas

It's true, I'm a sucker for a good craft/anything artsy.  I love a good craft blog.  So when I stumbled upon these lil cuties here, I couldn't resist making some myself!

Granted, hers look WAY better than mine, but I was working with what I had here people, ok? ;)  (In other words, I haven't found the local craft store yet hehe!)

May I introduce you to our new little polaroid (or pola) magnets?

It really was quite simple.  I just followed her tutorial.  I used the polaroid template she provided and then added my own personalized pics.  I then resized them down to a much smaller magnet-like size.

I brought them all into a big document and printed them out.  If I had had photo paper, I would have used that, but I didn't, so I just went with regular paper.  They would look better on photo paper.

Then I glued them on to some thick cardboard (I reused an old Ikea box) and taped over them with clear tape to give them that polaroid glossy effect.  Then I cut them out!

The hardest part was finding magnets around here.  BUT I did finally find them (thank you, Tesco)!  I glued those on the back and voila!  Adorable mini polaroid mags.

I think I'm in love :)

Ordinary to Extraordinary

I have this favorite pair of shoes.

They're comfy, easy, and go with everything and because of that I have WORN them OUT.

Especially since coming to Slovakia!

And so they've started to show their miles in a major way.  And the other day I was having a craft craving (aka, I really wanted to do something artsy).

So I went and found my Sharpies, grabbed the shoes, and little by little over time, have been working on bringing the drab to fab.

The drab, worn, and dirty BEFORE...

And the colorfully glorious AFTER...

They may be a little over the top, possibly even kid-ish, but hey, I am a huge color creativity fan...so there ya go :)

And yes, they're still dirty (all I did was cover it up!), BUT the favorite shoes are back in action...yes!!

Christmas Craft: Mosaic Jell-O

I guess this isn't really a craft by definition.  It's more of a recipe.  And a yummy one.  But it looks so much like a mosaic that I'll consider it part of craft week :)

I won't take credit for this by any means, I found it here.  Genius!

MOSAIC JELL-O

You will need:
2 packages of unflavored gelatin
4 (or 5) 3 oz. packages of different flavored/colored Jell-o
1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Here's what ya do:

1)  Prepare all your Jell-o according to the package, only use ONE cup of boiling water, instead of two.

2)  Allow your Jell-o to "chill out" in the fridge for AT LEAST 4 hours.

3)  Pour half a cup of cold water on top of the 2 packs of gelatin in a small bowl.  Allow it to sit for 4 to 5 minutes.  In the meantime, boil 1 cup of water.  When water has boiled, add to the sitting gelatin.  Then pour in your sweetened condensed milk.  Stir until it is all dissolved and more fluid like.  Let cool until room temperature.

4)  Precisely cut your Jell-o into cubes.  Combine all cubes in a glass dish.

5)  Once milk/gelatin mixture has become room temperature, pour over your Jell-o cubes.  Some will float to the top, and that's ok!  Just make sure they're not completely sticking out of the top.

6)  Let sit in the fridge overnight.

7)  Cut into squares.  Or use cookie cutters to cut out neat shapes!

Looks just like a mosaic, huh?  But a delicious, edible one.  Yum!

Christmas Craft: Stained Glass Ornaments

I realized that this week will likely be the last full week I may have available to try out some new crafts for a while, so I've kind of coined it as "Christmas craft week."

I decided to give a craft from Better Homes and Garden a whirl.

STAINED GLASS ORNAMENTS

These were mostly easy, colorful, and you can eat them (if you want)...yeah!!

You'll need:  jolly ranchers, sturdy metal cookie cutters, baking pans, PAM cooking spray, twine/string/ribbon, decorative bling (if desired)

Here's what ya do:

First, unwrap all your jolly ranchers!  And if you're like me, you may want to indulge in one while you work :)  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and spray your cutters lightly with cooking spray.

Second, place your jolly ranchers one level deep in your cookie cutters on a lined baking pan.  (**take note, I used some plastic cookie cutters...don't know what I was thinking, actually, I wasn't even thinking...however, these two above held up, two others had a different outcome, though...oops**)

Third, bake for 10 minutes (or until melted).  Don't worry if it leaks out of the cookie cutter, it breaks off easily.

Take out and let cool for 4 to 5 minutes.  Then take something pointed (chop stick, skewer, etc.) and add a hole at the top for stringing.

Let cool completely for 30 to 40 minutes.

Hold up to the light and admire.  See, it looks like stained glass...love it!

Fourth, crack the excess off the cookie cutter then carefully cajole your ornament shape out (this can be a little precarious).

Fifth, add your string or ribbon.  I then used left over bling bling from a previous project just to add a little extra somethin' somethin'.

Finally, hang by a window and let the gorgeous light shine through, or hang it on your tree for a festive touch.

P.S.-- if you decide you want to eat these you might want to leave off the bling!

P.P.S.-- don't be ridiculous like me and use plastic cookie cutters in a scorchin' hot oven...duh!!!

Red Makes Things Better...

I'm a huge Goodwill fan.  And I have a grandmother named Joy.

I know you're wondering what these two things have in common.  Let me show you...

Yep, these two candlestick holders jumped off the Goodwill rack at me for a whoppin' 99 cents each!  And they had my grandmother's name, Joy, not to mention they're Christmas-y.  Just perfect for a grandma gift.

But the ugly brass...oh, the brass.  So I set to work spray painting those bad boys and I am pleased with the result.

Red always makes things better :)

The Complete Set

It's December 1st!  That means Christmas is right around the corner...wild!

And among the many other things we've had on our to-do lists lately, I have finally completed the set of journals I have been working on.  Each one is for a Christmas gift.  (3 of the 4 recipients read this here blog, but they'll hopefully still be surprised when they open it!?)

Now it's time for the big reveal...

Blue, olive green, green, and pink.  Just gotta get them wrapped and ready for Christmas...

Any crafty gift ideas (or links) you have up your sleeves?  I'd love to know!