Nail Polish Fun

As you all know, I love repurposing things.  Recently I ran across a really cool idea of how to change the look of something using nail polish.  So I found some cool nail polish and got to work.  Here are a few projects that I have tried with it.

I found this coat on the clearance rack at Kmart.  I only paid $20 and it was originally $110.  Not bad if I do say so myself.  Anyway, I didn't really like the gold buttons.  But they were sure easy to change.  Here is the before.

 And here is the after.  I just slid a post it note under each button and painted them with the nail polish.  Super easy and it turned out fantastic.  Can't wait to wear this little number now!

 I have also used nail polish to doll up some earrings.  I painted the maroon part on this pair of earrings black with nail polish.  This picture isn't that great but it's a before (left) and after (right).  I like them much better after.

 I also painted a zipper on one of my jackets.  It was brown before.  I didn't really like it.  This picture is during the painting procress.

 Here it is after. I have worn it many times and the paint has stayed just fine even while zipping and unzipping my jacket.

These shoes had a pewter toe on it.  I didn't like the color so I painted it with some silver nail polish.  Now I like them much better.  (sorry for the lame picture in front of the microwave.)

I have used nail polish on a few other things but these are the main ones.  I have a purse with some brass buckles on it that I want to tackle next.  Should be fun!  You should try it.  It's kind of fun bringing new life to something that just isn't quite up to par.

Advent Fun

My husbands family grew up doing advent calendars. They must have a million of them. They are pretty fun. Since being married I am always on the hunt for new advent ideas that I like. This year I ended up making 2.

The first one I saw on Studio 5 on KSL. It's little envelopes made out of paper bags. The original idea was small paper bags but I couldn't find any so I just used the regular size. I attached them to a lighted garland and strung them up my stairs. I just love how it looks.
I filled the bags with a song, scripture, and an activity for each day that we can do together when daddy comes home. I got all the info from this blog.

Our next advent is just small tins attached to a cookie sheet. Inside is a fun activity that the kids and I can do during the day along with some fun family activities.

Amy has enjoyed both of these advents so far. I like having a spiritual one and a fun one. I think next year I might add one that has small service projects or random acts of kindness that we can do around town. I think that would be a good way to keep our perspective during the holidays in the right place. Anyway, those are my new advents this year.

Christmas Pillows

We have been doing a little decorating around our house and I am very excited about my new pillows. They are so fun.

For the one with 3 snowflakes I just crocheted some easy snowflakes and stitched them down. I used this tutorial but there are lots out there.

For this one I just cut snowflake shapes out of felt and stitched them on. Even easier. And I love how they turned out.

Anyway, that was my little holiday pillow fun.  I just love this time of year.  Now I need to finish the rest of my Christmas projects so we can finish decorating our house.  Fun!

Latch Board

For one of Derek's Christmas gifts I made him this cool latch board. I just bought random latches from Walmart and lowes and screwed them to a board I got at the craft store for a few dollars. Easy peasy. Now I am just crossing my fingers that he will like it. :)

Fall Decor

I have seen wreaths made out of pool noodles and I wanted to give it a try.  So I made this creation inspired by this idea.  I loved the black tulle but I just wanted to use what I had on hand.  I think it turned out pretty well.

I also made these fun pumpkins for my mother-in-law for her birthday.  Amy had a blast helping me paint them.  They went together really quick and turned out fun.

Here is another little craft I made for my mother-in-law as well.  This cute little turkey.  Amy liked playing with it.  She's silly.

And those are a few fall crafts.  Now I want to make some Christmas ones. :)

Halloween Costumes

This year for Halloween we all dressed up as characters from Peter Pan.  It was all inspired by this cute costume idea for Derek.  I thought it was cute and showed Amy and she loved it.  Then she wanted to be Tinkerbell and it just went from there.  Here we are all dressed up at the ward trunk-or-treat.  I made my costume and the kids.  I sewed the ruffle on a shirt I found for Devin and we bought or borrowed the rest (Thanks Val!)  Lots of people didn't recognize Devin until they saw him with the kids.  I guess the dark curly hair was a big change for him. :)

Amy looked so cute in her Tinkerbell outfit.  I made her a little leotard with sleeves that she wears under the tutu and then we tied a sash around her waist.  I velcroed the wings on the back so they didn't bug her sleeves and finished it all off with some killer Tinkerbell slippers.  I think they are my favorite part.

She had fun wearing it for the trunk-or-treat, Halloween, and even a little party at her preschool class.

 Gotta love those shoes.

Derek was Peter Pan.  I made every little part of his costume.  It came together so quick and I think he looks so handsome.  Too bad he didn't like keeping his hat on.

 Or his shoes for that matter.  But you get the idea.

 Ahh, don't they look so sweet together.

 Best buds.

Sorry for the picture overload but I think they just look so cute.  Thanks again to Nativa for taking all these great pictures for us.  It was hard picking my favorites!

And there you have it - our 2012 Halloween costumes.  Now what should we be next year?

Pretty in Purple

I don't know about you, but I just love making fun new dresses for my little girl.  Although she isn't so little anymore.  Ahh!  Anyway, it had been awhile since I made her one (Easter) so I decided I should whip her up something fun for the fall/winter.  Here is what I came up with.  The best part is - she loves it!!  It helps that it's purple. :)

The back is my favorite part.  Ooh I just love all those ruffles and that bustle.  Killer!

Here is the headband I made to match.  I was inspired by this idea.

It looked so cute in her hair. 

 And that is Amy's new dress.  She wore it this Sunday and everyone thought she looked so cute.  The best part was that she was happy with it.  It's fun making my little girl smile.  I love you Amy.

Christmas Stockings

Every year for Christmas I have tried to figure out our Christmas stockings and nothing has seemed quite right. I made some out of felt when we were first married and have kind of out grown them. Last year I was leaning towards using fun holiday fabric. But as I was browsing the web these super cute sweater stockings caught my eye. And since I love repurposing things I knew this was right up my alley.

My next problem was how to get my hands on some sweaters without breaking the bank. And I am proud to say that I paid $4 for one sweater and the rest were free (a local church was having a free clothing get away and I hit the sweater mother load). I got 14 stockings out of them. Awesome! Definitely my kind of project. Here is how mine turned out.

The one on the far right is Amy's.  She found that sweater and loved the sparkly bows.  She said it looked like her. :)  I lined my stockings with canvas just so that the sweater wouldn't stretch out when they are filled up with goodies.  Here are the ones I was able to make out of some free sweaters.  I sent them to my sister to use for her stockings this year.  She gets to line them though.  He he.

This was one of our stockings.  The sweater was kind of plain but I liked the color.  So I dolled it up a little bit.  I added a cuff and crocheted a white edging along it.  I also used this tutorial to crochet the snowflake.  Then I hand stitched it on with some thread.  Didn't take too long and now it looks better.

Here are some other extra stockings.  I figure as we have more children I can pick from these and have them already done.  Why not when they were free right? 

And those are my Christmas Stockings.  I am happy with how they turned out and can't wait to use them this year.  I am excited to get working on some other Christmas decorations too.  Is it bad that I am in a Christmas mood already?  I hope not.  It's fun. :)

Jewelry projects

I got busy yesterday and made some new jewelry. Since most of the projects were for Christmas I can't post them yet. ;) But I can post the one I made for me.

I saw the idea online and thought it was cool. I am happy with how it turned out. It will be fun to wear. Thanks again mom for passing along the beads. I love them.

Table Decor

I am always on the lookout for something to put on my kitchen table. I don't want too much fuss but I want it nice. I also don't like storing things so I wanted something versatile that I could change with the seasons if wanted.

I saw an idea on Pinterest of some candles on a plate. It was cute and simple. However the plates were like $15 a piece. So I decided to make my own out of plywood that I already had. I cut a base, then cut some skinny strips and glued them on top. I painted it and then sanded the edges. The candles I found at the dollar store.

All in all I am happy with the end result. I can change the filler out for the seasons (like jingle bells for Christmas and things like that). Right now I could also put little pumpkins instead of the candles. Anyway, it's versatile, simple, and it was cheap. Those are the best projects.