Live for each moment

Some play-around pics of the pups

2010-05-04T09:11:00.001-07:00

So I was playing around with my camera last night! Love it! I was taking pictures of my the three cute little pups that live at my house.

KapriTobey

He is a very photogenic dog. Levi She has a sweet little profile Oh, look at those eyes!Me and my sweet Kapri! She just lays with me like a little baby and has let me hold her like one from day one.

Best friends for Life

Now that I have a camera, I will get busy and show you my line of earrings for sale. I am starting up my own little “company” called Dandelion Designs. I make earrings and am even considering going on Etsy. When I have time of course!

My new Camera!!!

2010-04-30T08:52:00.001-07:00

So my deepest and most sincere apologies. I have been long absent from my blog. I have been long absent from crafting in general. Life sneaks up on you and the next thing you know you blink and it is April 30th. I have been so busy with work and getting ready for the Cosmetology program this fall. My church calling has become front and center in my life as well. I love serving in the Young Women's. We are getting ready for our road show coming up on May 12th. I will have to post a video on here when it is over. It is going to be so much fun.

I bought a new camera today and I am SOO excited! Let me tell you! I love photography and it really makes me happy. I took photography for 6 years during my formative years in school. I love it! I as of recently have had little point and shoot cameras but am now ready to “grow up” to a more mature and serious camera. I have been freshening up on my camera education, especially the digital side. I graduated High School almost 6 years ago and Digital was around but not booming like it is these days. I love Digital Photography! LOVE IT! It has completely change the art of Photography!

I bought the Nikon D5000! I am so excited to play around with it and get to know it.

I love this camera! One of my favorite features is that you can switch out the lenses and do a telephoto lens or a macro lens, or a wide-angle lens. This will ensure Great, crisp, clear photos!

My two main events for this camera is the Trek for the youth on June 16th-19th. And my friend Leland is getting married in August and I am going to be the photographer for him. I am looking around and researching great wedding shots. Hopefully they will turn out beautifully!

So more awesomeness to come!!! Especially now that I have a camera that will take pictures, and good ones at that!

Thanks so much for being patient with me!

Holly

Oh, How I missed you so...

2010-03-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

I have been MIA and it feels like I haven't posted a project in forever! I went up to Utah to visit family and then my Mom came from Idaho for a week to visit me and help me ring in my 24th Birthday. I loved having her here! I now know where I get my creativity and desire for all things crafty. While she was here, she made little homemade bath fizzies and boxes to put them in. she is too cute!

I have been busy crafting still, I don't think I will ever stop... So I have a lot of Good Posts coming your way!

I am back!

More to come!

Thank you so much to all who follow and read my blog on a regular basis. I appreciate it so much! You have no idea how grateful I am for YOU!

You are the Best!

Yes, Yes... Mod Podge does Rock!

2010-02-12T09:55:00.000-08:00

I won a giveaway! Yes! My first win EVER! I just had to give a public shout out and thank you to Amy with Mod Podge Rocks!

I got this sweet booty in the mail yesterday!

This is a Neatnix bucket! These are so cool!

I love all the little compartments and the inside has even more compartments and pockets!

I love the bright color and I am so excited to put it to use!

Oh and all the lovely Mod Podge... I didn't even know they had outdoor Mod Podge. I cannot wait to show you what I use all these goodies on! More to come!

MOD PODGE ROCKS!

Inspired by another Blogger!

2010-02-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

Sandra with Stone Creek Market made this adorable wood sign.

I absolutely love this sign... so simple and so adorable!

I love the colors and the ribbon is too cute!

This became inspiration for my next Valentine's Day project...

I made this sign... I love it! I think they are both just so cute!!!

This flower was inspired by the flower I used on my throw pillows!!!

Love the polka Dots! I made the flower, the same way as I made them for my pillows.

Go Here for the Tutorial!

Thank you Sandra for the inspiration!!!

Throw Pillow REWind!!

2010-02-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

Remember this post...

I was talking about these cute little red pillow covers that I got at Target for $4.00 a piece. I said I was going to add something to them and now they are finished!!!

I LOVE HOW THEY TURNED OUT!

Here is the Before...

* After *

I love when your former "After" becomes the Before!! haha

I love Love LOVE how they turned out! I couldn't be happier with them!

Did you know that you could paint on acrylic flowers???

I used white acrylic paint and the end of the paintbrush.

How I made the flowers...

I took a bushel of flowers that I got at Hobby Lobby at 50% off!

I took apart the flowers

Restacked them on top of each other in the order I Love!

Even added my painted flower!

And a button of course!!!

I used a needle and thread and sewed the layers together first.

This is the back of the flower... I know it is not professional looking AT ALL! But no one sees the back anyway, so I always have a mess on the backside of the flowers.

I then took these sweet little pearls and sewed them in a swirly whimsical pattern by hand. I think this is by far my favorite part of the pillow!

The completed pillow up close and personal!!!

OOohh!! La La!

I still have these three pillows that need some recovering! I told you I am really trying to PHASE out that PURPLE!! I had a ton of it! I love what I am working on for these!! You will too!!!

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Funky Junk's

Yummy Valentine's Day cookie Bouquet

2010-02-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

At one of my former jobs, one of my co-workers always brought in these DELICIOUS Cookies...

They are so yummy! I love them. I have not made them until now! I get some of my best inspiration at night as I am laying my head on the pillow to go to sleep! So, as I was falling asleep this little bitty was born...

My Take on a Cookie Bouquet...

Ingredients:

* Ritz Crackers (I know crazy, but they are so yummy as this cookie, I promise)

* Creamy Peanut Butter

*White Chocolate

*Sprinkles (Optional) I added sprinkles to them to give the cute factor, but they do not need them.

They actually taste better without sprinkles on them.

*Bamboo Sticks

Lay out your Ritz Crackers on wax paper and spread the peanut butter on each cracker. I put the bamboo skewer in the center and added a little extra peanut butter to the center to compensate for the stick.

Mmmm.... Peanut buttery goodness!

*Put your ritz crackers with the peanut butter in the fridge*

This is a very important step. Let them chill for about 20 minutes.

This keeps the peanut butter firm while dipping in the white chocolate

so you don't have a peanut buttery mess!

*While you are waiting you can work on the tin holder!!*

Melt your white chocolate on a medium heat. Once the chocolate has melted, remove it from burner. I use a saucepan with water and a stainless steel bowl that I set on top. This works great! You don't need a special pan to melt the chocolate in.

I just spoon the chocolate onto the cookie. The bamboo skewers are super handy for this step.

Now you can sprinkle the sprinkles onto your cookie... I really wanted to use Ritz in the shape of hearts for Valentine's Day, but they do not have them. All I could find was football shaped Ritz. Darnit! So the sprinkles give it that same cutesy Valentine's Day Flair.

I tried using a stencil for the hearts and that just didn't work with the melted chocolate so I just used my fingers and put the sprinkles on in a -V- and it worked! *Sigh*

Oh aren't they just cute??? Don't worry about the big blob of a cookie to the right, while it is still soft just trace around the shape of the cookie with a toothpick and it will not be a ginormous blob when it hardens!

These Cookies really are so yummy! You should try them! You will love them. They are SO Easy!

After you make them, E-mail me at holly-aitken@gmail.com and let me know how they turned out!

Now that the cookies are ready, let's make the container they are going into...

I started with a craft ball... Hard foam

I cut it in thirds with a saw. This way it will fit into the container and I can do this bouquet 3 times!!

Insert your foam in the top of the container.

I made mine flush with the top rim of the vase.

I took squares of tissue paper and folded them around the end of a paint brush.

I put dabs of craft glue in sporatic places and using the same paintbrush end, I put the tissue paper on the glue. I pushed them into the foam with the brush as well to make them really secure.

Add Ribbon (of course) and Voila... you have a cute little Valentine bucket!!!

You are now ready to insert your cookies and go!!!

So Pretty and so EASY!!!

Your kids will love it!

I will be posting in the summer, my idea for a Summer Fruit Bouquet...

Stay tuned!!!

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The DIY Showoff

My sweet little canisters...

2010-02-08T09:52:00.000-08:00

Saturday I was on a roll... We went shopping. I found some of the SWEETEST Deals Ever. I was so excited. I found these little Bitties at Hobby Lobby.

The big one was only $5.46 and the two small ones were $3.40 a piece. It was just TOO good to pass up! $12.26 for three really pretty porcelain canisters. The big one has a chip on it, but with a little Elmers Glue, you can't even tell. Plus, I will put it to the back anyway. No Sweat!

I took that and turned it into this....

Three beautiful canisters to hold Doggie Treats, Flour and sugar... Oh joy!

With a little Ribbon and

Vinyl

and maybe some buttons...

Beauty!!!!!

I added this little puppy foot... I love the buttons. I think it is just a little something extra! I love it!

TIP: I only have the regular stick vinyl. So in order for the vinyl to stay on for years to come and last through washes, I just put a little dab of super glue on the backside of each of the letters.

This works.... the vinyl is not going anywhere.

I love it! Only $12.26 for these beauties...

Good Luck and Happy hunting!!!

Mod Podged Coasters

2010-02-03T12:27:00.000-08:00

I went shopping on Saturday... a habit that I have been doing more and more lately... Not good! But oh man, I am finding the best deals.

Like these "Christmas coasters..." I got them on sale for 20 Cents... Yes that is right $0.20. Hahaha I love it!

They are tile and they had red and white stripes stickers on them. I removed that and painted them black.

I love the little holder for them. so simple, but so cute!

I Mod Podged patterned paper on each coaster and then put more of

The Vinyl birds on each coaster.

I then took Sand paper and sanded around the edges of each coaster to give it a more distressed look. I love that old school boho chic look.

I added my Dollar Store stickers to each coaster

On this coaster, I added the extra "leaflet thing-a-mabob" and sanded the edges of it as well to make it pop off the coaster. It gives it more dimension

Mod Podge... You have to Love this STUFF!

Here they are, all stacked and ready to use... I used Mod Podge on the surface to make them more water resistant and user friendly.

These will look great in my Black and White with Red Living room. Now I just need a coffee table to put them on... Anyone got an old one they need to get rid of, just let me know. I would love to refurbish it and use it! Thank you much!

The Perfect Bow!

2010-02-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

The other day I was needing a cute bow... What is a girl to do???

Ronda showed me this nifty trick that has probably been around for YEARS and just didn't even know about it!

The two finger bow...

But what about those of us who don't have an extra pair of hands around to assist us in our bow making???

What is a girl to do?

Well I got an idea and went to work...

I took a board, two dowels and a drill and got busy!

I took a ruler and a pencil and marked on the wood board inch intervals where I would be drilling the holes.

I drilled the holes... notice they are not perfectly straight... hahahaha that is so funny. That is definately something I made!! haha

You can leave it like this and it is totally functional this way.

Just insert your dowels at the different sizes of the bow you want and craft away.

* However *

I cannot just have a wood colored board laying around all my beautifully decorated craft supplies... so I put some pizazz on my "Perfect Bow" Maker. I painted it black... Added ribbon...

I added White Vinyl letters so that anyone else would know what it is for.

okay... now how in the world do you use the darn thing??? I will show you!!! No worries!

How to make

"The Perfect Bow"

*Wrap your ribbon around the two dowels and cross in the front.*

*Hold onto the bottom ribbon and pull the top ribbon underneath and through the middle of the two dowels.*

* Bring ribbon to the front *

*Tie the two strands of the ribbon together*

*Ta Da!! you have just made the perfect bow!!!*

I will soon show you my favorite use for little ribbon bows!

Super Easy and Chic $3.00 earrings

2010-01-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

I saw these beads at Hobby Lobby yesterday and instantly thought

EARRINGS!

They were on sale too... Even Better! 50%

Making them $1.00 a piece!

Look at the pretty detail!

What you will need:

* The two beads

* Two Earring hooks

* Two matching beads

* Fashion cord wire

* Two crimper beads

Thread your wire through the big bead and then both ends of the wire through your little bead and crimper.

Thread your earring hook on and thread through both wires around and then back down through your crimper bead and your little bead. This will hide both wires.

Now you are ready to put it tight and crimp the bead. cut off the excess wire and Voila... Earrings that cost less than $3.00. I think they are super cute.

I am wearing them today with my matching red boots! Too fun!

Go check out Hobby Lobby! They have a WHOLE array of beads that are similar to this. I am usually a diamond stud in the ear kind of girl,

but when inspired, I will go all out!

I was featured on The DIY Showoff...

2010-01-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

How fun.... Roeshel is like the greatest! She is so very sweet and has encouraged me to keep going with this blog! Love her! She is the Creator of the Blog The DIY Showoff. Her blog is dedicated to her DIY projects and showcasing the projects that other people do. I love it. If you have never been to her blog, go there now and look around. Plan on spending a lot of time there because there is SO much to see.
She was so kind to feature the Valentines Day projects that I have completed. To go look at the feature on her website go Here.

Kiss Kiss... You just can't resist!

2010-01-22T11:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this has become one of my favorite crafties of this year! I love it! I think it turned out sooooo cute! I cannot even believe that I made it.

I started with the KISS letters that I got from Hobby Lobby. They come in two packs for .99 cents a piece. I spray painted them red. I distressed the edges and added my embellishments.

Ribbon. The circles and rectangle words are just puffy stickers I got on a sheet from the Dollar Store a long time ago. Tooo cute!

I took the wire and wrapped it around a sharpie. Drilled holes in the base and just stuck a straight end into the base of the wood...

I love this so much... With the extra set of KISS letters I am going to make another one to sit on the one of the shelfs I have by my FAMILY frames!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am adding this to the...

Party

LOVE BIRDS...

2010-01-22T11:09:00.000-08:00

So, I was working on my mailbox when I got the idea to do kissing

"Love Birds" on wood blocks!

The birds are vinyl cutouts.

Heart is just paper

I love knotted ribbon on crafts. I love the look. It is so whimsical and cute to me.

Not like a bow which can be so young looking at times. Love Ribbons!

Sticker from the Dollar Store

My Mailbox inspired my LOVE BIRDS theme for this Valentine's Day.

The blocks are two separate blocks, but I just think it looks so much better together.

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More Valentine's Day love coming your way....

2010-01-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

I love LOVE... What can I say!

So, yesterday... lots of snow led to EVERYTHING in New Mexico being shut down and closed. Everyone stays home and holes up in their houses to avoid the snowy roads.

I went home a couple hours early from work, so that gave me some time to finish up some of my Valentine's Day decorations I had in progress.

They are so super cute! I love how they turned out. I even impressed myself a little...

I started with this chipboard mailbox I got at Hobby Lobby! Ronda and I both got one so that we could sit on our tables.
What a cute little box to invite people to give you "Love notes"

I started by spray painting the flag and the inside of the box with Red Spray Paint. Continuing with my black white and red theme for the day of Love, I chose this paper that had the amazing detail on it. The other papers in the pack had the same detail on them, but with white birds. I loved the silhouettes on the paper, but didn't like the placement of the birds after putting it on the box. So, instead I used the paper that didn't have the birds and used Vinyl birds I fell in love with and cut out a long time ago.

I put the birds on and took a good look and realized that it didn't look Valentine's Dayish at all! Then it hit me...

LOVE BIRDS!

I added hearts...

Ribbon....... and more hearts...

This has to be my favorite side and part of the whole mailbox.

I took more of the patterned paper and cut along the outside of the "flourishing pattern" and put it on the box. So now it has a 3-dimensional pop out. Oh I love it!

Alright now it is here and ready to recieve Love notes...

* * * Hint Hint * * *

The Black white and red "LOVE" I got from Hobby Lobby.

My mailbox inspired my next project!!!

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"kisses, Darling... I'm sending you kisses" -Edna Mode

2010-01-20T10:46:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is coming!

I am getting my Craftiness on. . .

Picked up supplies at Hobby Lobby...

Put on some Celine Dion to get into the proper spirit for the Day of LOVE...

X O X O

On our mini shopping spree on Saturday, we went to Hobby Lobby and I picked up these letters that spell out "X O X O" I love them. Hugs and Kisses!

I spray painted them first, the sides as well. two black and two red. I covered two of them in scrapbook paper. and then I just dumped a bunch of small red beads onto this "O." To seal it I sprayed with a clear gloss spray paint to help the beadies stay on!

Here I am painting the dots on the X. It was a fun night. We set up two tables and had them lower so we could sit and work.

I love how they turned out!

"Kisses. . . Darling, I'm sending you kisses." -Edna Mode (The Incredibles)

PS... Thank you for all the sweet comments and

coming to check out my blog!

I love and appreciate your Comments so much! It keeps me going!

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How to save printed pictures...

2010-01-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Last night I was going through this HUGE box of pictures. I have accumulated all of these from Junior High and High School. I am an AVID picture taker. I always have been, always will be. I love photography. I was looking through these so that I could find some pictures of some of the crafts I have done in the past that I am going to share with you.

Anyways, I was going through them when I came across a whole group of pictures that were stuck together.

Have you ever had a bunch of printed pictures that, over time got stuck together?

Peeling them apart is not a good idea, because they get all warped and tear. It will also ruin the emulsion on the pictures, so do not do this. I couldn't bear to just throw them away. Now you don't have to.

DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY!

1* Soak them in a Bowl of Water

Do not worry, this will not ruin the picture. Photos are developed in "Baths" of water, so your pictures will be fine and intact.

After they have finished soaking, peel apart the pictures. I do this process under the water, it helps them detach a lot better.

2* Place them on a towel to dry

Do not let them touch each other as they dry, otherwise they will just get stuck together again.

This is the stack of pictures I still have to soak and peel apart.

I am sure I am not the only one who has been through this. How devastating it can be. Think if it were your wedding pictures, or a new baby, or the only pictures you had from childhood. That would be so sad to lose or tear those pictures.

I reccommend scanning all pictures after you get them apart. Make DIGITAL COPIES so that you can enjoy them for years to come! I always make picture cd's so that I have backup.

So, for any of you going through this right now, GOOD LUCK!

I love this store!!!

2010-01-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

I was driving the other day and passed by this shed looking building with big metal stars on the outside. It caught my eye! The sign said open so I took a B-line to the driveway.

To my complete and utter joy, it turned out to be a home decor store. MY NEW FAVE!!!

Real Deals Home Decor

Go to there website! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE This Store!

They are priced so well that I usually buy something everytime I go in. Which is a big deal considering it is me! I am so ~~cheap~~ umm... I mean frugal! They have everything from candles and clocks to armoires and bathroom vanitys.

Just Trust me and go to this website to find the store nearest you.

Phasing out Purple.... The beginning!

2010-01-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

I love the color purple. It has been my favorite color since I was four. I love purple, and it just so happens to be my birthstone as well. I am not one of those crazy people though, who wear all purple outfits and have EVERYTHING purple... Like a purple car, or purple hair. I love purple, but in moderation. When I was younger, though I loved it and I let my room show it! I had purple walls in my room, that we ragrolled with white. It was great for my tween and teen years. I had purple pillows and bedding, and pictures, and then all the little purple accents.
I am a woman now and am doing what I can to phase out the purple and bring in Reds and yellows and MY FAVORITE NOW... Black and White!
I started in my bedroom. I gave my purple bedding to Tori, another purple loving teen. I then transferred all my purple sadly into the living room. Well, now I am working to phase it out and change it... on my budget! First and foremost, I found these little bitties at Target for $4.00 each. Cannot beat that for a pillow cover! So I started with my throw pillows. I love the idea of a cover because I have covers that I made for fall and Christmas, so I can switch it out for each holiday. Cute pillows for each season without having to find a place to Store all the pillows!

* * * * BEFORE * * * *

* * * * AFTER * * * *

I am not done transforming my pillows either, I want to add a cute Black detail to the red pillows. Be it Black buttons or a cute fabricy something. I will show you when I am done. The Couches came with the apartment I live in right now. I cannot wait to have my own house. Then I can buy nice couches and furniture! That will be so much fun! I have so many more pictures to show you, I just have to scan them into the computer.

So, on Saturday I went shopping with Ronda. We went to Real Deals, Hobby Lobby and Wal-mart. I got some great Deals. I think My Favorite was this wreath! Originally $15.00. Guess how much I got it for?

At 75% off I got it for a whole $3 and 45 cents! Hahaha it made me so giddy! I kept saying over and over, I cannot believe I got that wreath for so little! Hahaha I love after season sales!

I've caught the BUG!!!

2010-01-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

I have caught the bug that is going around lately. That is cleaning, organizing and decluttering! I spent this weekend finally getting ALL of the Christmas down and out of the front room. . . finally!
I wanted to get all of my Holiday decor organized and put away in a neat and orderly fashion.

Lucky for me, Target was having a FABULOUS sale on their storage bins. So I went and bought a few at five dollars a piece.

AS far as the bins go....

GO CLEAR!

Then you can see into the bin and have a general idea what is in each bin. That way next year you don't have to rifle through all of them looking for that one thing you need.

I went into word and made some Big labels for each of the Bins.

I used clear mailing tape. Place the label on the tape and then onto the bin. Much easier this way.

Cover the whole paper label with tape. This will help it withstand water and will not tear.

Affix the label in the middle of the bin. It looks so nice! I put one on each side of the bin and if I had enough labels, I put one on the lid as well.

Here are just a few of my Storage bins. The christmas Tree bin I inherited this year.

It is packed full with more boxes and the tree, of course.

One More Tip.... Organize and pack your boxes according to Rooms. That way you can pull the boxes out by room and pack and unpack without all the runaround!

This makes Holiday Decorating SOOOO much Easier! I promise! Saves so much time. Plus you have a place to store the everyday things that you take down for the holidays until you want to put them up again.

I am participating and joining....

Thrify Decor Chick's So Fresh So clean party....

I love Parties

Memories... That which is created as present becomes past

2010-01-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

How to make a covered journal...

From This...

To THIS...

Supplies:

* (1) 12 x 12 sheet of scrapbook paper

* (1) 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of scrapbook paper

* (3) pieces of varied ribbon

* (1) 4 x 6 piece of scrap paper

* Vinyl letters for title (you can use stickers or precut paper letters or stamps.)

* Embellishments

Start by aligning your paper how you want it on the book. I usually use glue stick and and start from the front seam so that you get nice bubble free paper. Wrap it around on the inside cover and glue... as shown

Make sure you crease as you cover the binding. As you wrap the paper around, make sure that the book is closed so that your paper will be tight and fit when the book is closed.

Fold along the binding as well so that the paper will move well when the book is opened.

Now you can cut off the excess that is hanging over. I just use a straight razor blade. That works the best. You can try folding it over, the only problem is that it will crease in funny places and won't look as nice.

Now you are ready to add your embellishments.

I love Knotted Ribbon. I think it is so cute

Here is a clear sticker on coordinating paper. I love the saying

Memories: That which is created as present becomes past

The Title...

I am making this into an idea book for Live for Each Moment.

I just oval cut a piece of paper and then affixed my custom Vinyl lettering.

That cute flower with the brad I got in a pack at the Dollar Store. Crazy, huh?

Too Cute

Put your side binding title on... It looks so pro!

Now all that is left is Laminating! I use Duck Clear Laminate If you need help with or have questions about this step, please feel free to e-mail me. It is pretty difficult to get it looking nice, but I think I have a system down.

hollyaitken@gmail.com

Now for a little last minute Motivation

I wanted to share an experience I had that made me grateful for keeping a journal.

Ronda, the lady I live with, is a widow. Her husband passed away over fourteen years ago. For those of you who have gone through this experience, you know the pain and Lonliness that ensues when you have lost the LOVE of your LIFE. She doesn't have much of his belongings anymore except for his glasses and a watch and a couple coins he had in his pocket at the time of his passing.

We were cleaning out an old dresser of hers when we came across an old journal of his. What a Treasure.

We all sat around (Ronda and a couple of her sisters and nephew were there) and we read the journal aloud. This was a journal he had kept for about two or three months. It was about a year before Vince and Ronda were married. It was so wonderful and amazing to read his thoughts. It was Wonderful to get to know him on a very personal, very deep level. I had never met Vince, but I feel like I got to know who he was more because of reading his journal. He wrote of his Desires in life to be married and to have a family. It was so much fun to get a front row seat to that time in his life. I think the most interesting thing is that Ronda at one point said "Wow, I didn't know he felt that way."

So, my question is... What are you leaving behind for those you love?

What is your Legacy?

How will you be remembered?

Be Mine...

2010-01-15T07:21:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day is fast approaching... I love the month of February! My birthday is in February and it is the Month of LOVE! I am definately a lover, not a fighter! ha ha

Here is a cute and oh so easy decoration to add to your valentines spread!

Start with wood block... Ronda wanted to make one too, so I started with two

Spray paint your block the color of choice. I am starting to integrate and slowly change my purple decor to a more grown up red, so I chose to incorporate a lot of red for the Valentine's Day Holiday!

Cut your Vinyl "BE" and "Mine" using your vinyl cutter or Cricut Machine.

Place on your wood block, add ribbon and buttons and voila a cute, different Wood Block to add to the Most Lovely Holiday Decor.

The BE is in White Vinyl and the Mine is White Vinyl that I spray painted with a soft pink color.

It looks so cute!

BE Mine!

Are you Reading this?

2010-01-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

So a quick, Are you reading this? Can you see it?
I decided a couple weeks ago to change my domain name... BAD IDEA! I think it blocked people and caused a bunch of problems! So. . . I have changed the domain name back to the original and am hoping that will solve the problem.
If you could do me a HUGE FAVOR and leave me a comment letting me know that my blog is functioning properly that would be great!

Thank you so much!

PS... I just want to share with you that I did get the Solo part for Stake Conference on the 24th of this month. Woo hoo! I am so excited to share the Talents I have with others.

How will you be remembered?

2010-01-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share with you all something that is very near and dear to my heart... That is Journaling. I have been keeping a journal since I turned eight years old. I cannot find most of them, (which is a scary thought) but the journals I do have are my prized possession.

What else are we here on Earth for, but to Gain Experience? My Journals are a record of my Experiences. My Deep, personal, intimate thoughts, feelings and experiences.

I love Journaling and here are just a few reasons why...

* They help me REMEMBER

* I Find that writing in a journal is SOO Therapeutic. I write out any frustrations and trials I am going through so that I can take a step back and read my own words and work things out.

* Writing in a journal can be a very spiritual experience. I receive revelation for myself as I write things down. A Revelation unrecorded is a Revelation Lost.

* I want my Children and Grandchildren to know who I was, what I stand for, and the things I believe in.

There are so many different reasons for keeping a journal. Start small. If you have never been a journal keeper, there is no time like the present. Take it one day at a time.

I would give a general overview of who you are, where you live, major facts about yourself, things you like/dislike. I usually do an introduction on the first page, just so those reading know right off who the Author of the journal is.

Before I left on my mission, I made a pact with myself that I would write in my Journal EVERYDAY! I wanted to forever remember the experiences I had. The things I learned not only about myself, but about other people are priceless. A mission was the best thing I could have ever done for MY life. I am such a better person now because of it. Here are the four journals from my Mission. This is the sum of a year and a half of my life... All down on paper.

Some general things that I look for when picking a journal...

* I like Big pages so that I can fit a whole day on one page. I like to insert keepsakes in my journals. Like programs, or talks or cards that made my day, or little momentos. (those things that you hate to throw away, but have no idea where to put them. I like this because then it is right there on the day that you are actually writing the experience down and telling the story. It is like a book with Pictures!! hahaha

* I like to use different colored pens. I love Color and nothing screams boring to me like a whole book of black ink, it is great when reading a novel, but my life is definately not a novel.

* You can use any bound book that you want, as long as it has blank lined paper on the inside. I was buying pre-made journals as you can see up above, but then I ran out of new options so I just bought this book and recovered it myself.

I put "My Journey" on the side binding. I liked the idea of personalizing the title and making it mean something to me. I want to Enjoy the walk, not just the destination. Personalize the title of your journal too.

I used Clear Duck Laminate which works perfectly for this project. This roll will last you forever too, I highly recommend it.

I put my journey on the side binding with stickers. It is fun to put a different title on yours to make it your own. I try to live for Each and Every Moment, to enjoy not only the destination, but the journey to get there as well. Enjoying the Journey!

One final tip that I use:

I keep a set of sticky notes in the back of my journal so that if I do not have time to write in my journal I can jot a note down of the day and what I want to include so that I can go back to it later and write about it.

Here is an example:

This is an example of one that I included while on the mission. See how messy, yet colorful my journal pages can be! Haha I love it!

I hope that this will inspire you to get writing in your own journal. I am goingt to give a tutorial tomorrow on how I cover them, little tips and tricks that I use. Also I have another story that will hopefully inspire you to get writing. I know it inspired me!

A new Year, a New Beginning!

2010-01-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

I have been gone a while... but NOW is the time to make changes and goals.
I had a lovely Christmas at home in Salt Lake with Family. I had a good New Years and now I am ready to tackle another year. I am so grateful for the New Year. A time to reflect on the year previous and set goals that will make the coming year a wonderful memory.

I have set some goals for myself that will help me grow and become a better, more talented woman. I hope that I can improve and share what I have to offer to the world.

I take inspiration in my goal setting from this quote...
"Use what talents you possess. The world would be silent if no birds sang except those who sang best."

I refrain from calling my Goals "Resolutions" because I believe that resolutions are always broken, whereas a goal is set and planned and executed. I know I am funny!!

My goals for this year...

* Focus more and dedicate more of my attention to my blog. This year was a startup and I am still learning every day how to improve the design and look of my blog. I am still learning the basics of the blogging world. I am working toward getting a mini laptop that will be my "blogging computer." I think it will help!

* Improve my singing voice. Put myself out there and gain confidence in the talent that I already have. I tried out for a solo for a Stake Conference we are having. Elder Scott will be in attendance and that is nerve wracking... Not to mention, singing in front of EVERYONE I know. Eek!

* CRAFT BLOG CRAFT BLOG CRAFT BLOG!

These are my two main focuses... At least for the first couple months of this year!

Please Bear with me! I can promise that you will like what I have coming! It will just take some time and money to get where I want to be!!

Here is to a Great Year! 2010
Holly

He is, after all... The Reason for the Season

2009-12-17T07:12:00.000-08:00

"The Spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul. To catch the real meaning of the spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable and it becomes the spirit of CHRIST." -President Thomas S. Monson

I really wanted to focus on the Savior this Christmas. Who he is, what he did for ALL of us. I wanted to make something that would help me do just that. I wanted to make something with meaning. Something that every time I looked at it, it would fill my heart and soul with the true spirit of CHRISTmas.
I thought for a long time about what I would actually put on the frames! I finally came up with "For unto us a Savior is Born." I wanted SAVIOR to be the main frame. He is our Savior, our king, and I love him.
I chose white and Ivory, because he is our healer and cleanses us from sin. When I think of Christ I know that he is pure and holy.

I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that he lives! I know that he was born in Bethlehem to a Virgin. I know that he is the Son of God. How Grateful I am for him and his Atoning Sacrifice on my behalf. Oh how we have so much to be Grateful for this time of year, and all year long.

As Promised... My completed Tree!

2009-12-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

Well here is my completed tree! I think it turned out beautiful! I cannot believe that I made almost EVERY ornament on it! Wow!

The Buttons stand out the most! I love love love the Buttons!!! I think they are my favorite! If you didn't know already, I made them! Find out how, HEre!
I made these Chipboard ornaments last year. Just chipboard and scrapbook paper. I glued and distressed the edges. punch a hole in top for ornament holder and there you go! Too Cute!

I used more raffia around the tree as the "wrapping." It looks great with the distressed look of each of the ornaments.

Made the button snowflake ornament as well... copied the idea from Anthropologie!

Blurry but fabulous!

Tomato Cage Christmas Tree

2009-12-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

I did this project and thought that it was totally cool and unique and right as I am about to post about it, I see on my dashboard two other posts about tomato cage trees! OH man! I guess it isn't too hard to see the tomato cage and think Christmas tree. Great Minds think alike!! Well Anyway, here is my (what I thought was original) version of the tomato cage christmas tree.

I started by pulling the top of the tomato cage together and gluing it together.

I then spray painted the cage white so that it would not be so dark against the white of the fabric.
I strung icicle lights around the cage (on the inside)holding it to the cage with twist ties and hot glue. I then just draped the semi sheer white fabric around it. I like the folds in the fabric. I used twist ties in places to make it stay. I don't want the fabric to be permanent, just so that I can take the fabric off and store for use next year!

This picture just does not do it just whatsoever! It is really pretty in person. They light up and add to the warm mood and feel of the room.

For the topper, I used snowflake ornaments that are clear and glittery that I already had.

Adorable Stocking & Candleholder from... you'll never guess!

2009-12-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

So I was shopping around the local Dollar Tree the other day. I have seen all over Blogland all the cute ornaments that everyone has been posting from the Dollar Store. Sadly I did not find those ornaments that I was looking for, but I did find a very curious and rare find. I found THE perfect Ivory knit sweater. It was actually an Express sweater but there it was in the clothes bin at the Dollar Store calling my name.
I picked it up and I will show you what I made with it!!! I am so pleased!
I made this beauty just by drawing on the sweater (with a blue sharpie... way pro, I know) the stocking shape that I wanted. With the cuff. Thankfully a Lovely lady saved me and surged it for me... She saw me sitting there trying to "hand sew" this knit material and she took pity on me. She sewed it in about 1 minute! So sweet!

I just took the remains of a red Gerbera Daisy that my dogs tried to eat and attached it with a button onto the front cuff. I used jute as my hanger and voila. a cute stocking to match these....
Sweater Candle Hurricanes

I seriously just cut off the end of the sleeve and put it on the glass hurricane. I didn't even glue or sew or anything. They just fit right on.

I love them lit. They look so good! Especially with the Ivory frames I have above my fireplace. It looks so good!!! They look so much better in person. I promise!

Can you believe that I made these beauties for a $1.00?
I love being fabulously Frugal!
Here they are on my Mantle!
I love my mantle and was really pleased with how it turned out!!!

WARNING: This project contains Glitter!

2009-12-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

AND LOTS OF it!!
I saw a drawing of the North Pole somewhere. I don't remember exactly where, but it was the inspiration I needed to create this purtty little craft project.

I started with this foam ball. Styrofoam works great for this as well!

It is the foam used for flower arrangements so I had to spray paint it to keep it from shedding everywhere and to hold the glitter.

I put my red glitter in a pie tin. This works great as it will catch any loose or extra glitter that falls! I used this big plastic glitter. I love it

I used diluted Elmer's Glue and just painted it right onto the ball

then smash the ball into the glitter. I did one half at a time so the glitter wouldn't get everywhere.

After the glitter had dried I sprayed it with this gloss just to really seal it to the ball. This helped ALOT! Glitter wasn't flying after this step.

Next I took the "pole" and spray painted it white. This is the inner tube for Vinyl. You can check at your kids school and see if they have the middle tube for their butcher paper. Or check at a craft store, see if they have any lying around. Or you can use a skinny pole or wood pole. Be Creative!

I loved this tube because it had two "lines" that I could follow as a guide to make my red glittery stripe.

I just painted on with my diluted Elmer's and put the glitter on. Let dry and spray with gloss again. Very easy!
DO NOT OVERSPRAY the glitter on the pole. IF you do the red on the glitter will run. It happened. I always tend to overdo it on the spray!! ahhaha but It is an easy fix if it does happen. just wipe away as much as you can while it is wet and then paint over with white.

I then added the strand of red blingity beads... just for a little extra somethin somethin!

Next I grabbed an old flower pot from the garage. You need something to set your pole it and have it stay standing up!
Spray Painted it REd! I Love Spray Paint!!
the Bottom inside of this pot was perfect. It sat perfectly in the center!

Hot glue it as best you can, but do not worry. We will add more to stabilize this bad boy in there!

Now you will take these little pine pieces and glue them around the inside edge of the pot. filling that space as much as possible!

Next take some pinecones... "MMmmm... Pineconessssss..." haha I had to go all the way to Utah to get some good pinecones! I gave them a frosted look with some Ivory Gloss spray paint! (Don't you just love my spray painting board?)

Glue on top of the pine... oh so puuuurrty!

Oh the completed pole, but wait there is more...

Now, just in case you cannot tell by looking at it, that it is supposed to be THE North Pole. I made a cutesy sign to go with it!
First paint your board...

Then do some speckling. I dilute white acrylic paint. I just add a little water to my brush and then pick up some white paint. Hold your brush like this in your hand.
A toothbrush works great for this as well. and slowly let go of the bristles to let the paint splatter onto the board.
Aim down toward the board in order for it to splatter in the right direction. onto the board and not onto your clothes.

Splattering gives you this look... It is very country to me! Love it!

After it has dried you are ready to put your letters on. I used my favorite... Vinyl of course. But you can use stencils or hand paint the letters just as easily. I used the leftover snowflakes from this project
ahhh... How cute a North pole sign.

Welcome to the North Pole!

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and...

Live for Each Moment Loves Buttons...

2009-12-02T09:54:00.003-08:00

Remember My To Do List... Well I saw this purtty little Button Garland from
Ballard Designs For a set of 3, it is $30.00 for 9' of garland!

I loved this... I LOVE BUTTONS!!! I am SO CHEAP though. I really could not justify spending $30.00 for a garland. Even though now that I have completed the projects, this really isn't so bad. But I figured that I could make the same for nothing. I chose red, green and white for my tree. I have a huge stockpile of buttons and already had the string so I went to work.

String it then tie the back to make it stay... REally Easy but time consuming!

It looks really cute on the tree. I will show you my Finished tree Very Soon!

It would be really cute as the top string for a "Merry Christmas Garland"

The Mistletoe Winners....

2009-12-01T07:46:00.000-08:00

Oh my Goodness, it is that time again... where we pack up and close the end of another fun and oh so exciting giveaway!!!
First before I announce the Very Very Very Lucky Winners, let me tell you what We have all learned from this Giveaway! There is not enough romancing going on underneath that sweet little mistletoe. So, in order for us to change this, I am including in each of the Winner's little treat bags... THeir very own mistletoe to use and enjoy this year.

I want to hear some fun stories!!! My cheeks are blushing already!
What a fun tradition to start.

Well Ladies, are you ready for the big reveal? There is one lucky lady out there who won the "Meet me under the Mistletoe" Vinyl sign in the colors shown.

The Winner of this one is...
Beautifully Inspired...
Her comment read...
"When my husband and I were just dating we were at a Christmas party and the hostess was walking around with the mistletoe in hand hanging it over the couples. We were sitting on the couch and the hostess came up to us and dangled the mistletoe over our heads... We went to kiss and all of a sudden her dog jump on our laps and licked me on the cheek.. Guess the dog thought the rules applied to him too!
Hows that for a story? Well truth be told I made it up.. I don't have any funny stories :(
Great giveaway though!
Nicole"
How is that for a story? Hahaha it made me smile.

Now don't get discouraged, I told you there would be more than one winner!
The winner of the same sign but in a different color combination is...
Christin
"I honestly have never been kissed under the mistletoe either. We've never had any at our house, but I guess if I had this decoration I might have to track some down:) Thanks! "

AND...Barbara Jean
"This is great! Love the phrase you chose. Please enter my name. =0))
as far as being kissed under the mistletoe, I do not think I have ever been!
So, I think being 61 years old, and married almost 41 years, I'd better remedy that. =0))
Thanks for the idea and the giveaway. =0)
blessings
barbara jean"

AND...
Roeshel from The DIY Showoff
"I have to enter too even though I've never been kissed under the mistletoe! I think I need a big neon sign. ;)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Roeshel"

Oh my goodness... THat was oh so much FUn! So, if your name is on here, send me an e-mail with your address and I will get that pretty package sent off your way!

Keep your eyes peeled because I will be having more giveaways in the very near future!

Ballard Design inspired ornaments

2009-11-30T08:09:00.000-08:00

Remember this post... My To DO List
One down... Many more to do...
I saw these Ballard Design ornaments

So Pretty and so easy... I love them!
I copied them and made them my own for my tree! I went with a country flair and even made a Holly Leaf in the same design. Lurrves it!
These are Mine!

I just drew out the pattern by looking at the shape in the picture.

I cut them out with an exacto knife and then I put the pages of an old yellowed book on the cutouts.

Distressed it with brown ink... Add some buttons and raffia

And hang on the tree. These look super cute with my other ornaments I have adorning the tree. I will have to show you what it looks like soon.

Many more copying to be done... I will for sure show you all!

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and...
and

Giveaway Continued...

2009-11-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

* * * GIVEAWAY * * * GIVEAWAY * * * GIVEAWAY * * *
If you haven't entered yet, Go HERE!Okay so I hung up the cutout last night so that you can see what it will look like and how to do it yourself when your pretty little package comes in the mail.

You will recieve it looking like this. It will have the transfer paper on it already.

1. First, you will want to smooth the vinyl lettering onto the transfer paper. I use a Pampered Chef Handy Scraper to smooth out the vinyl and it really helps it adhere to the trasfer paper. If you don't have that, you can use a credit card or a ruler. Be creative!

2. Second, you can start peeling the paper backing off. I would do the "Meet" first.

* * * Make sure that as you are pulling the paper to keep the peeled paper down against the surface. Go Slowly and if a part of the vinyl is still sticking to the paper, fold it back against the transfer paper and press over it again.

3. Now that it is peeled, Cut it into two different pieces. This will make putting it up ALOT easier.

4. Now, the fun part... Find a home for your vinyl. You can just hang it up on the wall, or you can put it on a painted board. That is the beauty of Vinyl, It is really versatile and great for home decorating. It peels right off walls without taking paint with it. Plus it Looks Great!

5. Voila, you have a pretty darn cute saying on your wall now! When I was putting up the vinyl I put it up and then lightly ran my hand over it just to lightly adhere it to my textured wall. THis is great to do at first so that it will stay up and you can take a step back and decide how it looks. It peels right up while the transfer paper is still on.

6. Again run over your Vinyl with the Handy Scraper and adhere it really well. Peel back the transfer paper just like you peeled the paper off, flat against the surface of the wall. Go slowly. Patience is important.
VOILA You are done... It really is that easy!

I am so excited for this giveaway!!! I cannot even tell you. There will be at least four winners this go around. So I am serious, Go Hereto enter!!
I loved Nicole's story! Made me laugh. Looking forward to more!

Meet me under the Mistletoe... Giveaway!

2009-11-24T10:10:00.000-08:00

Oh how we all love the age old tradition of kissing under the Mistletoe. I always splurge and buy the real deal every year. It smells so good, like Raisins! However, I like the anticipation of getting caught underneath it more...

I was talking with my Sister Marci last night and she asked me about the Vinyl sign that we put up last year that said "Meet me under the Mistletoe." She can't find hers so I told her I would cut her one today.
I cut her letters.... AND..... Drumroll Please
I cut extra... So I am going to have another GIveaway!!! Woo HOo!

YOu know how this game is played...
1) Follow My Blog
2) Leave a Comment
*AND* just for fun
3)Tell us a story about a time you got a "memorable" kiss under the mistletoe! I want to hear some funny ones too. I know I have been embarrassed a time or two under the mistletoe, myself!
Here is what the Vinyl looks like that you will get in the Mail!

This Giveaway will close on the Tuesday December 1st! I am so excited! There is going to be more than one winner this go around!
So ENTER, ENTER, ENTER!!! Oh this is so exciting!
I will put it up on the wall tonight and show you how and what you are supposed to do with it once you win! That will come tomorrow! So much fun!

I cannot believe it myself...

2009-11-24T07:40:00.000-08:00

How many of us love the pine garlands and boughs to adorn our windows, doors and mantles? I (and here is the cheap-o side of me) cannot justify spending $12 for those garlands, that are usually pretty skimpy anyways. While putting up my tree this year, I know, I know Thanksgiving isn't even here yet... I got an epiphany!!!
A VERY inexpensive way to get the look without having to fork over the dough!
I went to the local Salvation Army where they had a ton of old discarded faux Christmas Trees that were in pretty bad condition. I must have looked pretty scroungy that day, because when I asked the lady about the trees, she doubtingly asked "do you have a dollar?" Haha. Anyway I will show you what I got...
I got all of this.....

... For $1.00 Yes you read that right... One Dollar! I was so giddy and wanted to run to the car with my loot before she changed her mind! Oh Happy Day!
These are the fake trees with a long metal rod, with the pine pieces attached by twiney string wrapped around and around to keep them together.

To get them apart, you don't even need wire cutters. Just take one of the individual pine pieces and pull... REALLY Hard!!! My arm is still sore. Haha but I saved lots of money, which of course makes it even better. Once you pull one, the rest come out of their little nestled branch pretty easily! IF you have a husband, you can put him to work here! And you'll get a bunch of these ready to be played and crafted with.

A Work in Progress. Here is a wreath that I am working on... I used some pieces and thought the brown branches looked really good against the green. * *sigh* *

Here it is adorning my mantle. Don't you just love those Ho Ho Ho letters? Too Cute! My mom got those for me at Swiss Days in Utah.

This is not the last you have seen of these little piney friends. I will show you the other things I come up with for these pines! Oh and if you have ideas or make somthing, Please share it with me! I would love to see what you all come up with!

Button, Button who's got the button?

2009-11-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love Buttons! I had a dream the other night where I was looking at this comforter that someone had made for a little boy. on the top there was flap with these huge buttons. I woke and got the wheels turning for these adorable little ornaments. I love them. I have been so excited to post this and show you all. I Love them! they are really easy too. You will love it!

Start with a Mason Jar lid, you can get them in these boxes for about $2.00. They come 9 to a box. Which works out to less than a quarter a piece. Love it! You will also need a hammer, a small screwdriver and nail.

put the lid on your pounding board, label down and pound a hole in the rim of the lid. This is for an ornament hanger. You can omit this step if you don't plan on doing them as ornaments. Hot glue on the back works great as well.

Now take the nail out and flip over to the other side and positon your screwdriver where you want the holes and use the hammer to poke the two or four button holes into the center.

Push the screwdriver through the holes to get a nice circular button hole

Spray paint in your color of choice. I hand painted some with acrylic as well, but found that spray paint was easiest. Spray paint looked a lot better as well, it gave it a more finished smooth look.

Now you can thread it through with your "thread" of choice. I loved the look of the natural raffia. I encorporate a lot of raffia into my Christmas Decorations. You can use any color raffia as well. I used red raffia and it was pretty cute too.

just thread the raffia through and then tie in the back. I also secured the end of the knots with hot glue to make sure that they stay.

Add an ornament hook and Voila, you have a beautiful ornament!

or cute addition to a holiday sign

or a cute accent to a candle, just tie around with raffia.

What about for a wreath?

The possibilities are endless. You can also put them as a finishing touch on Gifts!
I love this! This is one of my favorite projects thus far!
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How Pumpkin Pie is Made...

2009-11-23T07:31:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought this would be fitting for us to remember as we sit down to take our first big bite of our favorite Pumpkin Pie!
So, if you have ever wondered how Pumpkin Pie is REALLY made, here you go.

Ok, is that not the funniest thing ever? Oh man! I love the facial expression on this little pumpkin! So funny!
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of Family, Friends, laughter and sweet, sweet memories.
I wanted to make a list of all of the things that I am especially grateful for this year...
First of all my Family. I love my family and am so grateful for everything that they have done for me. Their support has been amazing. I am truly blessed.
I am grateful for my NEw Mexico Family. I am seven hours from home and I am so grateful for all the people I get to call friends here. I am so blessed to know such wonderful people.
I am so grateful for Ronda and for all that she has done for me Eternallly. I am blessed to know her, and am so grateful that she willingly opened her home to me. My life will never be the same. THank you
I am grateful for my sweet little Kapri. She is crazy hyper, but super cute.
I am grateful for a wonderful job, that allows me to learn and explore my creativity every day.
I am just grateful to be alive. I have so many things to be grateful for. I am grateful for the Gospel in my life and how much happiness and peace it has filled my life with. I am grateful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His infinite and Selfless sacrifice on my behalf. Thank goodness for the Atonement.
I am grateful for Crafting and blogging and all of you who read and visit my blog. It is so much fun and such a great outlet and way to express myself. I am grateful for all of the other creative minds out there as well who share their ideas with us.
I am Grateful for Today!
The list can go all day.
What are you Grateful for?Post a comment and let us know what it is you are Grateful for this year...

My "Thanksgiving Resolution" for this next year... Keep a Daily Gratitude Journal. I have to write at least one thing, Everyday that I am grateful for. I have done this before and my whole attitude and outlook completely changed! It will help me remember to be grateful Everyday of the year and not just on Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving all!!

And the Winner is...

2009-11-23T07:11:00.000-08:00

Roeshel with The DIY Showoff... Thanks for entering. I guess that makes it easy to decide a winner when only one person enters! ahhaha But I am glad that Roeshel won! She deserves some goodies after all of her sweet comments, support, and encouragement!! More Giveaways to come... So keep on coming back!!

Cute Trees, all in the spirit of Christmas

2009-11-20T09:21:00.000-08:00

I literally pulled these from the garbage bin at work. Amidst all the glass and cardboard rubble here at work, were these perfectly cut triangles just begging to be transformed into something beautiful. I cut some of them down to the smaller size with the chop saw, I love using that thing.

I then painted on, get this, a paper towel onto the boards that were going to be white so that you wouldn't see the black writing underneath and to give it a different texture. I love the end result. All you do is take a paper towel and modpodge it onto the wood. The paper towel expands a bit, but the end result is really cool. This is a step you do not have to do, but it was fun to experiment with.
Then just paint them the color of choice

Spray paint is definately the easiest route.
I then just printed off two sheets in red and white with the words that I wanted on the signs.

I put the transfer paper on the letters and cut them down to size so that I could place them on the boards and not have two of the same words exactly side by side.

Peel and stick. I also learned the hard way that the paper toweled boards didn't allow the vinyl to adhere as easily. Add some little snow flakes to just finish it off. I love this font. IT is really just perfect for this project.

Finish by doing a clear coat of spray paint gloss just to make sure that everything is sealed in. This will allow a little more wear and tear throughout the years

Perfect for the mantle.
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AND
HeRE

And...

Let it Snow, Let it snow, Let it snow...

2009-11-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

I have been busy, working away. My problem is that I cannot just do one project at a time. I start one and then get another idea and then another and another... and I start them all. So I have a million projects started and going at the same time and when I finally finish one, it is about time that I finish all of them up. So bear with me. I have a lot coming your way! Woo hoo!
This is just the beginning to many Wonderful projects to celebrate the season!

First I started by finding 5 frames I had lying around the house... I removed the glass and the backing of the frame. I sanded and painted the frames with Azure Blue Acrylic Paint.

I let that dry and then I took white acrylic paint and did some touchy here, touchy there dabbing on the parts of the frame I wanted to highlight.

On this frame, the trick is to use a small amount of white on the brush and lay it flat against the ridges of the wood and run it along the line. That way you get only the raised edges with paint. I love that there are some goofs on it too. Adds a nice touch I think... haha

I then printed out my Vinyl based on the sizes of the frames I had lying around. You can always go to the dollar store for cheap, but perfect frames as well if you do not have any lying around. I printed the vinyl out backwards so that when I applied it to the glass the vinyl would be on the inside of the frame.

This can be a tricky part of the process, but with transfer paper, it makes putting the letters in the right place Easy.
After The wood is painted and dry, and the vinyl is on the glass, reunite the two pieces and close all back staples on the frames. This gives it a little extra stability.

Now you take out the glue gun and just go along the edge of the glass and wood. Make sure that you do not go past the lip of the wood, otherwise you will be able to see the glue from the front side. If that accidentally happens, just wait until the glue dries, take a Razor blade or exacto knife and cut it off. Re-glue.

Now... The Best part... Hang it up and take a step back to admire and savor all of your hard work!

NOW The best part of all... I am Giving Away a set of the Vinyl letters so that some lucky someone out there can make their own!

Here's how it goes, oh man it is so easy... You'll love it!!

1) Follow My Blog!

2) Leave a comment, and a way for me to contact you so that I can get the goods to you!!
So easy...
And make sure to watch, because I am printing two sheets of vinyl with every project this season and will be having many a more giveaways. I am also researching selling some of the vinyl cutouts I make, and have made in the past. I need to know if there is any interest out there in some of the cutouts I have made. If so I will start to offer Vinyl Kits. Let me know! Oh this is so much fun!
Please send any questions or feedback to hollyaitken@gmail.com.
You are all the best!!!
Oh and by the way... Sorry, I am new to the whole giveaway thing a ding...
The giveaway will be closed on Monday the 23rd. So hurry fast!! I will announce the winner on Monday Afternoon!
I featured this craft on...

Why We love to do what we do...

2009-11-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

I love this whole talk by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf... So inspirational and moving.
Create

Find the whole talk HERE!

My To- Do List

2009-11-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

Okay so we all know that I am cheap. This is a wonderful gift, but a wonderful curse at times too. My problem is that I cannot justify spending money on something that I could easily make and replicate. So I am going to share with you some of the very things that "I want, I want, I want! I must Have!" But I cannot justify spending that kind of dough for.
For example, This Button Garland from
Ballard Desingns For a set of 3, it is $30.00 for 9' of garland!

Or these really pretty and uber easy musical bird ornaments also from BD.
These go for 19.00 for 6. Yikes! Am I the only one who thinks that is crazy?

Or this beautiful Fleur de lis stocking holder that retails for $25.00

These Stockings are Adorable too... Oh I just love them and they would be SOOO Easy to make! They Go for $35.00 a piece!

I might even have to make one of these adorable little ones for my Sweet Kapri...

All of the Above Pictures and Creative inspiration is from Ballard Designs Go there and look around and love it!
Love this ornament from Pottery Barn So pretty, and would be really easy to copy for cheap! $8.00 a piece

I love this pillow cover as well, but I don't know how I could spend $49.00 on one. I want at least 3 pillow covers because I have a lot of throw pillows to cover.

My next stop was to the Sundance Catalog Company to check out all their Christmas Goodies!
I found these beautiful Mercury Orb Ornaments, that are $36.00 for 6. I know just how to replicate these! And go look at the Mercury Glass hurricanes. That is one thing I love about them, is the fact that you can see through it. It is really beautiful and will be so easy to duplicate. I will show you, do not worry! AND it will not cost you $18-28 a piece I promise you that!
I am definately going to have to copy some of those "mercury" items. Last year I got the Mercury Star ornaments from Sundance, they were on sale and gave those out as gifts so this year I want to incorporate more of that beautiful shimmer into my decorating.
I am very excited for the Holidays. I have a fireplace and space of my very own to decorate and have fun with! I am so excited! I have a lot of work to do!

I'm Baack!

2009-11-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

I have to tell you, having the flu is not FUn! At all! I got sick last Saturday and after a VERY Long week I am finally now feeling well enough to return to the normal day to day grind! I was really sick and just had to rely on the old immune system to fight off the Virus! I am glad I am feeling better, but I still have a horrible cough and I woke up with a very sore throat this morning.
I watched way more TV than I have ever wanted to. I realized that I am terribly addicted to Cake Decorating shows. Who knew? I guess it took a week of me being sick on the couch to realize!
I did have a fun Halloween and got to get out of the house for a little bit, which was good cause I was going stir crazy!
I went and helped the Hamptons get ready for their Halloween Trunk or Treat! Good Times!
I have a couple projects that I barely touched this week. I couldn't even concentrate on anything. But I have some things I am working on and will post on them soon.
Now that Halloween is over (sad day) I am starting my Thanksgiving and Christmas Preparations!
So Excited For Christmas and New Years!
So I am here to stay for a while
By the Way, I have to go back now and look at all the blogs I follow and see how their Halloween Festivities Went. I missed the blogs! I haven't been online forever! Plus I have to watch the episodes of The Office I missed!

I finally got around to it...

2009-10-21T08:02:00.001-07:00

Halloween has completely taken over everything else this month. I finally got around to finishing that teaser I gave... This turned out to be a silly little project, but I love the end result.
When I got the Xterra the caps on the cigarette lighters were missing. This is a fact that I really could care less about. I don't smoke, nor do I ever intend in picking up the habit. So I didn't care if the lighter was there or not. Ronda, my dear, sweet, roommate is very particular about those things and stated that I should go buy some just so it will look complete and finished. I was just like AH, I don't want to spend money on something so unnecessary. So, what did she do? She went and got me some!! HOw funny, huh?

I put them in and here was this lit cigarette staring me in the face. I did't like that either. So, I decided to change it.... the options starting rolling around in my head... Mod Podge, Paper, a sticker, a button and then I found this...

You can never have too much * Bling * in your life
I took this Scotch Glue, put a dollop in the center, let dry and then installed!

IT is really silly, but I love the end result. It makes me smile.

So, this is really a silly little post, but I really like these little blingin' caps! Too much fun! All in the name of making the car mine without being too tacky!
It is a really subtle touch, which I like most of all.

"DId you get the MEmo?"

2009-10-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

Funny Story... Ronda came to me this morning and said... "I got the memo!" and showed me these...

Now everyone is saving their "Unwanted treasures" and giving them to me. Someone was going to throw these beauties away and she knew that I would appreciate them. I have so many ideas already swimming around in my mind. I know what I want to do with them!
It really is true that one man's trash is another crafty gals treasure.
The memo is that you mustn't throw ANYTHING away without first consulting me. Haha The guys at the shop know that before throwing glass or wood scraps away, they must ask me to see if I have a use for it. I even salvaged an awesome cube box that would have been dumpster dust had I not saved it! So... DId yoU get the MEMO??? Do not throw it away! I can use it for something! And if I cannot use it, it will go to the recycle bin, of course!

Murder, Mystery and Intrigue!

2009-10-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

I was so excited all day Friday. I could hardly stand it! I left work at 1:00 to finalize everything downstairs, finish cooking, and get myself all gussied up for the Par Tay! It really was so much fun! I was relieved to finally have it here. The guests finally arrived and I was so Ecstatic to see them in their costumes. It put a huge smile on my face. I love these people! Let me introduce to you...
Shaun and Bracy AKA "Donny and Flo Brooks"

Nicole AKA "Eiaguelle R. Aminmund"

Courtni and Alex AKA "Miranda T. Shetes and Roger B. Astird"

Jason AKA "Dr. Malcolm K. T. Praktiss"

Derric AKA "Prosper Alvin Bates, Esquire" He forgot his costume...

Johnathan and Kylene AKA The hosts of our game for the evening!

Last but not least.. Me AKA "Dame Allison Bigh"

Courtni during dinner. It was really fun to have a dinner party. My first and definately not the last!

Playing the game... Deep concentration! I really liked how the game was played out. It was not what I was expecting at all.

We really had a great time. We laughed a lot and It was so much Fun! It was definately worth all the work I put into it.
I must admit that I was completely lost as to whom I thought the murderer was. All hope I ever had of becoming a Detective/ PI just went right out the window. hhaaha
Life is great! It is wonderful when we can just stop for a moment and entertain the little kid in all of us.

The Decorations...

2009-10-19T09:37:00.001-07:00

Well, The big event came and went! I hurried to snap a few photos of the decorations before the guests arrived. I am not sure where I was in all of the preparations at the point I took these pictures, but I hope you love the look/mood I hoped to create! I think one of my favorite things about the room is this....

No not me, Look closer... The Fence! Gives a creepy outdoor, cemetary vibe. The best part. Totally Free. My neighbors had this on the side of their house. They had it up and functioning at one point, but took it apart and down. So while it was sitting there I snagged it up and used it as my Halloween decor. It really brought it all together. LOVE IT! Too Bad I have to give it back and cannot use it year after year. *Sniffle Sniffle* That is me all decked out as "Dame Allison Bigh" for the party! I look like a vixen... ahhaahaha
Anyway...
Here is a look at the "treat" table... so much fun!
I didn't get a picture of the cauldron bubbling with the root beer/dry ice... and for good reason. I didn't realize that the second you add the dry ice it is going to bubble and practically explode all over the place... Of course right before the guests are about to arrive. hahaha oh man! But I got it cleaned up just fine! Do you remember this frugal find I posted about this summer? I was going to make my own "cupcake stand" for the caramel apples to sit on and then I saw the little tree thing and made my own Caramel Apple tree. It is silver and black and went perfectly with the rest of the decor. My skull cupcakes did not turn out as cutesy as I was hoping, but They tasted yummy!
The FAMILY Portrait Wall... I added a silhouette of me and my puppy Kapri.

The Table...

Mercury Star Ornaments hung from the ceiling with care!

Each person had a personalized Tombstone at their seat. I made these out of foam and spraypaint. Totally free. I got the foam scraps from work. (We use the foam to ship glass.) I just carved, painted, and affixed each name in vinyl. You can see Alex's better in the picture Below. I let each of them take their tombstones home.

The plates I got from... you guessed it, the Dollar Store. I made the placemats out of paper and spray glitter. IT really helped the plates pop off the table. Got the idea from Eddie Ross.

The fireplace... oh sweetness. It looks so warm and inviting! I love how it all turned out.

The rest are just little things that I added here and there to give it a ooky, spooky touch! ENjOY!

Every witch must have her broom and black cat! Love the framed silhouette to sit beside it.

I made the spell book from a Family Medical book. It was chock full of creepy body part pictures. I am going to jazz it up more before Halloween. I will post on that later.

THe Big Event is Tonight!

2009-10-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

Oh mY goodness! So my Halloween Party is tonight!~ It is here, I can hardly believe it! I am so excited! It is going to be so much fun! I cannot wait! I was up til 1 AM last night doing some finishing touches on the room and getting everything presentable. I work until 3 today and then I am going to hit the pavement running!!! I have to get EVERYTHING done before my guests arrive at 6. I need dry ice and some fake lashes and then I am good.
So I procrastinated my costume and finally pulled something off at 6 AM this morning. Talk about cutting it close! I am going red!
I decided to do a glam look with makeup and hair. I am so excited. I got some inspiration and makeup tips from "The Classic Pin up Girl Makeup How to" A tutorial featured on You Tube.

So, I hope I can pull this look off and look like The "Dame Allison Bigh" herself!! Hahaha, That is the name of my character that I will play in this game "How to host a Murder" tonight. The Watersdown Affair! I didn't have to buy this thankfully! My friend owned it, so she is hosting the game portion and just letting us play. So Excited!
This is my Character Description:
Dame Allison Bigh
"A renowned author of English Mystery Novels, Dame Bigh has enjoyed great popularity and success since her best seller, "The Knife Slices Coldly," was published two years ago. Since that time, her writing has been generously praised for its lifelike characterization of the criminal mind. The Dame is a guest at Watersdown to gather material and set the mood for her new book, which is a sequel to "The Knife..." Sir Roger is a great admirer of her work. Dame Bigh is known as "Ali" to close friends."
Costume Suggestion: A long, Flowing Dress, not too low-cut, dignified but not spinsterish.
Oh man, I am so excited! I will post a ton of pics of the decor and the big Event! I will also include all my friends/guests and their costumes! Soo So much fun!

What would Fall be without a Caramel Apple?

2009-10-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

You know me... I like things to be easy, fast and inexpensive! The less I have to measure the better!
I made caramel apples yesterday for the party tomorrow and thought I would show you how I do things. Be prepared to be amazed. No measuring or sifting or counting involved!
Ingredients:
* Apples (I made 12)
* Store bought individually wrapped caramels (I used the Kraft caramels in the yellow bag)
* craft sticks or popsicle sticks (The Kraft caramels come with 5 in each bag)
* two cans sweetened condensed milk
That is it, Seriously! You don't need anything else, I promise.

* * * * Step 1 * * * *
Remove all the wrappers from the caramels... this can be kind of tedious, but if you have little ones they will love this step.

* * * * Step 2 * * * *
Put the caramels and the sweetened condensed milk into a sauce pan and put it on low heat. Stir constantly. This is quite tedious and takes a bit of time, but it is SO worth it! IF your heat is too high, it will scorch the bottom and you will have chunks in the caramel. Believe me I know. I have tried to cheat time before!

* * * * Step 3 * * * *
Now you can take the time to peel the stickers off your apples and wash them. Dry them thoroughly so the water does not get into the caramel. insert your sticks at least half way through the apple.

* * * * Step 4 * * * *
Haha, Keep stirring... Oh look at that pretty caramel color! My mouth is salivating

* * * * Step 5 * * * *
Check to see that the caramel is done and ready to coat the apple. I do this by dropping a dab of caramel into some cold water. If it is chewy and the consistency that I want, it is done. No Candy thermometer needed!
this is the best I could do as far as a picture of this step is concerned! I was working by myself and had to juggle hot caramel and a camera.
* * * * Step 6 * * * *
The best part... DIp your apple!
I use a spoon to help coat it. Pushing the caramel up the sides.

* * * * Step 7 * * * *
Place on wax paper and let cool. I love this caramel. IT is really chewy and smellicious! It perfumes the whole house!

So there you have it, your basic Caramel Apple!
I had left over caramel, so I just cut up an apple and ate it with it. You could make more covered apples though.
Everyone have a wonderful Fall Season! I hope that you enjoy your time with family and friends!
IF you do make this recipe, please comment and share with me how things turned out. I love and appreciate all comments! They warm my heart!

Here's your Sign...

2009-10-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

So have I mentioned lately that I LOVE Vinyl? Well I do. A Lot. I love to sit down on the computer, type in a cutesy wootsy phrase and see it come to life on a craft or in a decoration! IT is so fast and so clean. I love that it looks professional and complete.
I have gone Vinyl crazy while learning Flexisign at work. Sooo much fun! Here are some of the signs I have made... and other places I have used Vinyl...
I love this sign, It is hanging over the food table/Buffet for my party. I added the googly eyes from the dollar store. I think it gives it personality

When I envision my basement for the party, I want it to look and feel like you are walking into a witch's home and seeing some of the things she would have around. So here is a sign I made on the flexisign program. I took an iceskate and cut and stretched and rearranged to make it look like a witch's shoe. Although NOW I wish I would have made a curvy point, but this will do. It was all originally painted on white vinyl, but I needed color so I hand painted it after it was adhered to the sign. I glued on some spiders and buttons and Voila... A very cute witch's foot!

This was a two second sign. spray paint board and put on Vinyl... Yeah!

Thank you Roeshel for the phrase... I thought it was adorable so I made a small one and stuck it on with this owl. Boy was that fun to peel... Love the ribbon!

Here is my big witch's cauldron that will hold the root beer and dry ice!

And then her little baby cauldron to match. I even put this same skull and crossbones on the plastic container holding the eating utensils

This was another easy spray, dry, peel, and stick. I used this black mesh that I have had for years to make the hanging part and cuten it up. I love cutesy!

I am even putting vinyl on pumpkins... I want to make a more sophisticated looking pumpkin. My next project!!! This was a quickie I put together this morning... HEY Frank A!

Here is my Branch tree that I have seen all over blog land. I added ting tings to mine to fill it and give it some whimsy! I like how it turned out. Sorry for the blurry pic.

All of the wood for the signs I got from work... they were the scrap pieces that were just lying around. My Boss decided it would be a good idea to let me use this...

Crazy I know, Me and a Hack saw... What was he thinking? hahaha I am very careful though. For sure, I do not want to lose any fingers and have to suffer through being called nubs the rest of my life. One day I was in the back of the shop chopping some long pieces down, and both Roger and Aaron about had a heart attack. They came running worried that one of Wyatt's kids had gotten a hold of the saw. No, it was just me. I cannot help though every time I use it to just laugh with glee like a little girl. It is really fun to use, I must admit. There is definately a certain sense of satisfaction in saying "Yeah, I know how to use a hack saw..." No big deal. I am pretty versatile though. That is how mY Mama raised me. We didn't always have a man around so we would have to just fix it ourselves. I know how to use a hammer and power tools. I am glad I am so independant. That is one of my favorite things about myself. If there is a problem, I can usually come up with a solution. I can figure it out!
(Sidenote: if you look at the picture of the hack saw, there is a tube on it about to be chomped! THat is another big project I am working on. I will show it to you when I am done... Don't you love the suspense???) Mwah ha ha

A New Ride and teaser!

2009-10-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

I got a new car on Monday October 12th. I love it! It is a 2002 Nissan Xterra Supercharged SUV. I love it!

This is what I was driving!

This is What I am rolling around town in now!!! 4X4, Moon Roof, CD Player, Working AC and Heater. Perfect body condition. Clean Title. A wonderful Car!

Take a close look at this console... I already have an idea of a small little somethin, somethin that I would like to do to change the look! I will post about it soon!

Do you have any ideas? What do you think I am going to change?
Oh and did you notice? Yes that is a 6 DISC CD CHANGER!!!! Woo hoo! I am so blessed and so spoiled! It even has the steering wheel stereo control! Holla!

Time to BE AFRAID!!! Mwah hah ha!

2009-10-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

Every good witch might be "Wicked" but she must still know what time it is... I made this clock the other day and thought I would share. I just took an old clock I had from years ago. It quit working and I just didn't have the heart to throw it away. So I took it apart...
Mod Podged some Orange Tissue Paper onto the clock front. I love that you could see the Roman Numerals through the T.P.

I modpodged paper printed in these bat, owl and skull designs on, and then just went to town with puffy paint. The "BE AFRAID" Stickers were from the Target Dollar Bins.

I love it.

I used these Skulls on my party invitations as well. I am also making cupcakes to match this skull for the party... So Excited. Two Days!

I will be posting pics of the final party presentation! YOu will love it! I cannot wait to share with you what I have done!

I Love Vinyl!!!

2009-10-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

I love Vinyl... One of the latest projects (I have many) are these books! I got the idea from my friend Amber Hardle, who saw it on Studio Five I couldn't find the craft on the site where they actually did the books, but it is on there! Studio Five is a local program in Utah where they talk about everything from scrapbooking, to makeup, to health issues, and current events. I really enjoyed the show when I lived in Utah.
Anywho... I digressed. I will show you what I made, it was so easy and anyone can duplicate these. Even if you do not have a vinyl cutter, use word and print it out in the format you want and paint it on. It takes more time but is definately worth it. The end result is just too cute!

First I got three old books that were dusty and probably hadn't been read, well ever... haha and I just spraypainted them black, and silver. Again that same can of Rustoleum. I sprayed them standing up in a teepee style so as to get all the binding and not have to wait for one side to dry, before painting the other.
After they thoroughly dried I just peeled and stuck the vinyl on.

You can come up with any crazy, ridiculous, spooky titles that you want. I am going to make some for christmas time as well. I will be making a big one that will be the Naughty/ Nice List... Watch for that one.

This is a really fast sign I made. Just printed it off on the vinyl cutter, painted a board black and stuck the vinyl on... 1...2...3... EASY! It says "RADIATION" Sorry bad picture!

The reason I made the Author of "Secret Recipes" Velma Vandam is that I love the movie The New Misadventures of Icabod Crane I have watched this movie almost every Halloween since I was born. It is a tradition for me and I just love it! Velma Vandam is the Witch who turns herself into the Headless Horseman so she can rob the townspeople of their gold. It is totally cheesy, but I LOVE it! Hence, why she is the author of my book and the resident witch in my basement!
I featured this project on

Wow, I have a new follower!

2009-10-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, Thank you Patti for the add! It is very boosting that someone I don't even know would want to see what I have to say! So Thank you for Following the Blog! I hope that I can deliver and that you will get inspiration! Blogging just makes me feel so good!

I featured one of my projects on The DIY Showoff

2009-10-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

I featured one of my fall projects on The DIY Showoff. Go on over there to see all the beautiful projects that these women have done! Such wonderful Eye Candy!
I love the Fall!

Really Fast and easy Fall Decor

2009-10-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

Fall is in the Air... I love the sights and sounds and COLORS!

This is what Ronda has on the counter in the Kitchen upstairs... so purrty!
So I put this together really fast this morning. It is really easy and really inexpensive. You can make some using the items I am sure most of you already have lying around.
This is what I already had sitting on the countertop in my bathroom.

I removed the candles... Took my bag of these... Again Thank you Dollar Tree.

Put the leaves in the Glass and fill with water. Yes it really is that Easy!!!

And Then I just added some red berry and fake gourds! Love it!

These look really great when the light hits them just right. You can see through the glass and the leaves just look beautiful.
I love this. Super Fast and super Easy!

I featured this post on

AND...

Halloween Block letters... Black and Glitter... Love it

2009-10-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

So, I told you about the chandelier search and making them into candelabras. The helpful man also gave me a box of 2 X 4's that I teased you with. Now for the Reveal!!! So much FUn!
I love that they were cut, raw, and pretty beat up. It just adds to the whole Creepy feel and look of things.
* * * BEFORE * * *

I took The wood, cleaned it up and painted half with the Black Valspar Semi Gloss Paint I used for my table project! I will show you that in a couple days. I then sprayed the other blocks with the Rustoleum Metallic Silver Spray Paint I got for this project.
Let them dry.
I thankfully work at a Glass shop and have the Elatable JOY of having a Professional Vinyl Cutter right there at work. So during slow lulls in the work day, I get to play around and make my own custom Vinyl Lettering. You will see plenty of it around here... Don't worry! I printed out the letters on the machine! All in White.
If you look closely though, the letters on the silver blocks are black... So to remedy printing off white letters and it not "popping" off the Silver backdrop, I just peeled all the excess off from around the letters and painted them with Acrylic paint. I let it dry thoroughly and then peeled off the letters and put on the block. The acrylic paint I had was very matte so I put the spray glitter on for three purposes. #1 Glitter is just Beautiful and adds so much! Love THe Sparkles! #2 It made the acrylic paint glossy looking #3 It served to really seal the Acrylic paint onto the vinyl lettering ensuring that it will stay on for years to come!
* * * AFTER * * *

Please excuse the glare... The shininess is beautiful but is hard to photograph, especially in a dark basement! THat silver IS Really shiny! Loves Loves IT!

The Glittery skull sitting on top the O is a Dollar store find... Looks cute there!

* * * Bonus * * *
I also gave this teaser a while back... fall leaves spray painted black... loverly!

I took the black leaves, Made the BOO letters out of Vinyl and put onto the leaves.
Dollar store frames... gotta love them, Combined with this really cool corrugated paper as the backdrop and voila... a wonderful masterpiece. I really like how these turned out. really simple but oh so CHIc!

You have to click on the picture to really see and appreciate what these look like! I really like this project a lot! The best part is that it was all VERY inexpensive. The Frames cost all of $3.00.
Happy Halloween! More to come so check back!

Wow, what a great boost, Thank you Roeshel

2009-10-08T09:21:00.001-07:00

Wow, it is amazing how nice people really are in the blogging world. Roeshel came over to my blog and posted some very sweet comments. Roeshel is the author of The DIY Showoff. I love her blog and follow it faithfully. She always has such amazing tutorials and Before and Afters and it is just an amazing blog. I am new and not very confidant in my crafting abiility just yet. SO she has given me motivation to share my ideas, because I have many. So I am going to get on it and actually start blogging my projects. I have so much fun creating and working on these projects and I love to share them with friends and family and now I just think of it as expanding my crafting family!
I felt so insignifigant before, and now I am excited to share my new ideas!
Thank you Roeshel!

Halloween, Oh how I love thee....

2009-10-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

I am getting so excited! I have 11 days to put together everything I need for my Spooky Halloween Dinner and Murder Mystery Game! I completed the invitations finally and now I just need to assign the parts and give them out to people so they have time to put their costumes together! I am hosting a dinner for ten and then we will play a Murder Mystery Game! I am So excited! I grew up on the movie CLUE so this will be so much fun to actually get to be in my own twisted tale of Murder, Intrigue and Horror!!! Mwahh ha ha!
I have decked out my pad with all things spooky and now I cannot wait to play! I am going with glamorous witch theme. Like you are walking into the home of a Witch who loves pretty shiny things! My colors are Silver and Black! Love it!
THe Menu is still up in the air, but I will figure it out. I just hope to make something that all of my guests will enjoy! I am doing Root Beer in the Witches Cauldron with Dry ice... and I have a baby cauldron to match that has the same Jolly Roger Decal. OH How I love Halloween! I will post pics of the decorations and the table soon! Prepare to be AMAZED!

Halloween is coming, grab your candelabra...

2009-09-28T12:04:00.001-07:00

So I have been absent from the blogging world, but I have been busy crafting and preparing for Halloween. I love LOVE LOVE Halloween and have been busy getting things ready for my Murder Mystery Dinner... I decided to do a Gothic Glam theme this year with Blacks and Silver. My first project was the Lighting... It has to be perfect. Eerie and set the mood for a creep-tackular but fun event!

I found these old hanging chandeliers at our local thrift store, Everything A-Z. Believe me they really do have everything. I asked for a chandelier and he went searching in the rafters and all over just to give me options. Very Nice! I love living in a little City with a small town feel! Love Farmington, Anyhow... they could have come with the glass bulbs as well but I was not interested in those. I was looking for something that I could turn into candelabras for cheap.

These originally hang and I took one look at them and knew they would be beautiful standing "upside down" as my spooky candelabras.

The detail is really beautiful. Very scrolly and swirly which I like. They are actually pretty heavy and I believe real brass. Very creep on their own, however they would not have matched my Silver Halloween dinner, so I had to change them.

I started by taking them completely apart. unscrewing and removing piece after piece. I removed all the wiring by snipping with wire cutters and pliers. All that remained were the brass pieces.

I cleaned the pieces really well with warm water and dish soap making sure to dry thoroughly and quickly. I hated to have to get rid of the dust and cobwebs as that is the desired look. you gotta love Halloween!!!

I then painted each piece with Silver Rustoleum Bright Coat Metallic Finish Spray Paint. This spray paint is really nice, it will pool up if you apply too much to begin with so do several coats. It also went a funny gray color if it was bumped while still wet, but you can spray over that and you can't even tell. This spray paint came in very handy for my other silver projects that I will share with you in the very near future.
I LOVE SPRAY PAINT!

The beautiful design of the top, I would love to just frame this piece and hang it, it would be beautiful art on the wall...

* * * * * BEFORE AND AFTER * * * * *

I then just hotglued the candles in the bowl of each arm. I used a lot of Hot glue to ensure that they would stay and also melted wax and just poured it into the bowl as well to make sure that they would not go anywhere! I dripped hot glue from the wick down the sides of the candles to make it look older and melty... A Very Cool effect that gave my excessive use of hot glue an excuse to be there.

The guy I got the chandeliers from even threw in a box of wood 2X4 scraps that he just gave me for free... Oh the possibilities...

Check back here soon to see what I did with these... super cute and super cheap!!

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Summer Vacay... So much FUn!

2009-08-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

I had my Summer Vacation and it was Fabulous! Thursday I took off work at one o'clock, picked up Nicole and we were off! We Drove the eight hours to Hot Vegas... Oh my goodness! I couldn't believe how hot it is in Vegas! 106 Degrees at 11:00 at night! Who could live there? That is way too hot for me! Nicole and I had a fun drive! We jammed out, and laughed a ton. My favorite part of the drive over was the fact that we have to jimmy rig the ipod so that it would stay up without falling over... so funny!
We woke up Friday Morning and got on the road to Cali... I couldn't believe that it was only a four hour drive from Las Vegas to Anaheim. I would be there all the time. We went to Newport Beach... Oh my goodness!!! Beautiful!

Me, Nicole and Kristi... This is before going into the ocean and getting beach hair!

I love the Ocean! We had so much fun! The Water was really pretty and clean. It was surprisingly not very busy on the beach. There were people but still room to lay the blankets and camp chairs without feeling like we were on top of each other. I about drown. I am a little H20 Challenged. I cannot go under water without plugging my nose! So needless to say I had a couple instances, OK maybe a lot, where the Salt Water got up my nose and it burned so bad! So I was coughing and hacking and choking. Not pretty! ahhaha
We spent five hours on the blissful beach. We got Burnt. All three of us. So after checking into the hotel went right into the pool to cool off. I love swimming and didn't realize how much I missed it.
The theme song for the car ride was Apple Bottom Jeans by T-Pain. We jammed out and all sang it out loud on the way back!
Friday night, so funny, Nicole is a sleep talker and Kristi woke up at one point and heard her say "Yes Mother" and then at one point I heard her say "What? what? What?" and then she sat up and yelled "WHAT?" She looked around, laid back down and was out. So funny! I wonder who she was talking to.

On Saturday we woke up and went to Disneyland... Met up with Leland and rode the tram over to the park. Oh my goodness! I was so giddy! I hadn't been to Disneyland since I was eight years old.

The very first ride we rode was Space Mountain. I love that ride. The lines were pretty long. 45 min. felt like a lifetime waiting in line, plus it was hot and the sun was out in full force. Some of the other rides we went on were Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Buzz Light year, the Jungle Safari, It's a Small World, The Teacups, The Haunted Mansion, and a couple other ones I cannot think of right at the moment. We had so much Fun! I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. It had a big part to do with who I was with though. I love Kristi Kate so much! She is my best friend and I don't know what I would do without her. Nicole... Coley, she is so much fun, I just love her and am grateful that I am getting this time to get to know her better. Leland I had met only one time prior to this, but I can tell that if he lived here in New Mexico, we would be good friends. I was thinking about how random it is that this little group of four came together and had so much fun for a weekend in Anaheim California. Two girls from Farmington New Mexico, one Sixteen and one twenty three year old originally from Utah. Then Kristi is from Las Vegas and Leland lives in California. How funny!

This very special young man came up to Leland and gave him a hug and told him that they were friends because He liked Leland's "Cap". I knew that an instant friendship and bond had been forged! hahaha This guy was very sweet and Leland and he chatted it up for a good fifteen minutes while we waited in line for Pirates of the Caribbean. Love it!

After thirteen hours at Disneyland, we were finally able to tear ourselves from the park and drive back to Las Vegas. We left California at 1:30 and arrived in Vegas at 5:30 Sunday morning. I don't know how Kristi did it. I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open to keep Kristi company.
The trip was a blast but didn't last nearly as long as I would have wanted! We woke at 1:30 Sunday morning, hit the road at 2:30 and got home at 10:15! I got pulled over in Kirtland for speeding in the safety corridor right after the speed limit reduced by ten miles. oh man! But thankfully the officer had some mercy and just gave me a verbal warning. Fe www!

So now I have a horrible sunburn on my face, back and legs. I am peeling and my lips are puffy because of the sunburn. It was so worth it though. I had so much fun and definitely needed a vacation!

EAT, ATE AND... Voila, Bon Appetit!

2009-07-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

I posted this picture a couple weeks ago, and have finally gotten around to finishing (for now) the EAT letters. I picked these pretties up at a yard sale in salt Lake for $5. They were the ugly Black with a red crackle design.

I spray painted them black and had them staggered on top of my Fridge plain for a while. And when I could stand it no longer I had to give them a "woman's touch."

On the wall in my Kitchen

I mod podged these paper letters I had gotten from Target ages ago right onto the painted surface of the wood letter. I then tied the ribbon around the bottom. I did not fasten or glue the ribbon. I did this because who knows down the road, when I get bored or move what color scheme my kitchen will be. This way I can simply remove the ribbon and coordinate it with the most current color swatch.

If you have any design suggestions, tips or questions please feel free to comment or email me at hollyaitken@gmail.com

California or BUst!

2009-07-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday Night I got home after a fun filled night at the Hamptons, and Ronda was on the phone with a very special girly Q... Kristi Kate. One of my very best friends. We got to talking and decided we wanted to go to California... We are young and single and it is summertime. Why Not? The Beach turned into Disney land so now I am going to go and see Mickey Mouse.
I am so excited! I am driving to Vegas on Thursday. We drive to Cali on Friday, stay at the Beach, bask in the ocean, and head for a fun filled day of Mickey and Minnie and the gang all day Saturday! Soo Much Fun! I am very excited!

Remove Miley Cyrus and insert Self...

I will for sure post pictures of our trip. I am very excited! I was in third grade the last time I went to Disneyland.

Happy Belated fourth of July

2009-07-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a late start this year on my fourth of July decorations, however I did finally get my "Americana Spread" finished last night. Here she is... I like it!
My two teasers from yesterday are done and here is the BIG Reveal...

I definately need to make a big tall firecracker or something with height on the left but for now this is what I have got.

This was $3.00. I am really pleased with how this turned out. I mod podged scrapbook paper over the label on the bottom and added the little decal. I painted with acrylic the red border and sprayed with a clear gloss in order to help the "scratch factor. added the final touch... Ribbon and voila! AMeriCAnA at it's best!

THis is what I did with the old window I found behind an antique store. I got the idea from Stacie (Creative Crate) I am new to the whole blogging world and just figured out how to post a link. Yoo Hoo! I want to give credit where credit is due. Love it! Thank you Stacie! You can find her tutorial Here.

I didn't want it to look Perfect because of the antiquity of the wood and if you notice there are 64 stars... But who's counting anyway? hahaha

I made this sign with mod podge paper, acrylic paint and cut out letters. It did not turn out exactly as I pictured but it will do for the whole ambiance of the Fourth of July. IT is RED, WHITE, & BLUE and it GLITTERS so it works.

So you can see why I am starting early on my Halloween preparations, other wise when I should be posting about Thanksgiving or Christmas, I will still be back at Halloween.

It doesn't hurt to be prepared... For Halloween, Right?

2009-07-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

I know I know, it is July and I already know what I want to be for Halloween. The truth is I knew back in December that I wanted to be a certain special lady for Halloween. I love Halloween. Not the blood and guts and gore, just the fun of dressing up, going to Haunted houses, and fun parties with dry ice, homemade Root Beer and Pumpkin Carving. Any excuse to have a party and you know that I love it!
So, why when we hadn't even broached Christmas was I already planning for my Halloween Costume the following year... One Word. Scrooged! A beloved and off the wall Christmas Movie I love that was my muse and inspiration. Just Look at her, who wouldn't want to be her?

This is The GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT...

I know how funny it will be to be a Christmas Icon for Halloween, but it can be done right? People do it all the time.

This character is hilarious. I am even contemplating taking a toaster around with me as she hits Bill Murray's character in the head with it in the movie. I am so excited! Now I just have to find a sweet pink prom style dress that is very poofy. I will of course add my own "special" touch, but oh my are the ideas flowing. I love Halloween. I am planning on having a fun Halloween Party this year, so in order for it to be a blast I need to start planning now.

Harry Potter 6 Midnight Showing...

2009-07-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

I started a semi tradition a long time ago when Harry Potter first came out. I worked at the Five Star Cinemas during High School and we got to go to all Midnight premiere showings for free. YOu know, so that we could tell people an educated opinion on the movies showing at the theater. Work, or no work the next day, I always make the Harry Potter premieres. I love it. We went to the Allen 8 theaters here in Farmington. IT was PACKED! We got there an hour early and still had to sit on the fourth row. They sold out all eight movie theaters for the midnight showing. I am sure that it was that way Nationwide so I don't feel so bad about being a crazy HP Fan.
This is me waiting for the show to start. We had an hour to sit and wait around so we thought we would kill the time by capturing the moment.

Here is Coley... Nicole. I just love her. She is so fun! Her and I were the lucky ones who got to go and save the seats.

The movie was really good. A little slow to start. Nicole looked at her phone so I asked her for the time and she said "It is 1:15 and the show is just barely starting." They did a very good job. Especially with the tragedy of Dumbledore's death. For those of us who have read all seven books, they did a really good job of eluding to things that were explained in #7. Love it! When does seven come Out?

One project down, three more started...

2009-07-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

I blogged a couple weeks ago about this Framed Family wall hanging I wanted to do and I have finally completed it!!! It took a really long time and I had to take a lot of Breaks (if you know what I mean) but it is well worth the effort. I love the end result.
So this is the picture I was going off of. All it takes for me normally is a picture and I figure out my own way to get it done...

Voila!!! These are my finished frames... Sorry for the Glare.

I first found some varying size frames.. THanks Dollar Store. Painted them all Black. I printed the letters that I wanted in the sizes I wanted off the computer. I traced them on the glass with a sharpie. I painted on the inside the letters. I then Glued them into the frame, added a little Ribbon. I can never have too much Ribbon and hung.

I am not leaving them all alone on the wall. I have two little shelves that I want to hang with or around the frames and I also want to put black and white pictures of my family up in black frames around the Framed Letters... So excited!

Here are two teasers of my two upcoming projects... I found this old window in the back of an antique shop sitting up against the back wall. It was full of spiders and dirt and is perfect for my next project.

I have always loved the big metal stars that people hang or display on mantles and walls. I love them. However they are so dang expensive and I just cannot justify spending $30-$40 for something to hang on my wall. I found this little goody at an antique/craft store here in Farmington. It is a chip and salsa bowl and I found it for $3.00. I have already started painting and mod podging and gluing and it is going to be really cute. Very Excited! Will post final product when done.

From Drab to Fab REDO!!!

2009-07-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

Well I posted my necklace holder that took all but 10 minutes to make. I wasn't happy with the end product as there was brown. I am not the biggest fan of brown wood. I got the go ahead to paint it, so I did. I think it looks much much better.
I love ribbon and spray paint. A Crafty Girls best friend!
I am much happier with this end result... Scroll down to see the before and now the big Finish! Love it!

Hooray for Vinyl... I am lucky enough to work in at a glass shop where we use vinyl letting to do sandblast etching, so I seized the moment and asked Wyatt how to take the image I painted and turn it into vinyl. I painted the yellow. we scanned it. after a lot of computer manipulation to get the lines straight and the cuts right... this is the end result. One of my favorite quotes. I made this in brown and white. And in Black and Red... so purrty!

Having oh so much fun!

2009-07-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

Moving into the basement apartment of my new Casa has flipped the creative swith in my head and I have jumped head first into crafting and Making my House a "Home!" I love it! I am having so much fun! Here are some of the little cute projects I have been working on!
First, all this crafting and repurposing/reusing had me looking for some good yard sale finds... I found these at a yard sale in Salt Lake when I was up for the weekend to see my family. $7.50 later and I have some great raw material to work with and make beautiful!

The Letters are Pottery Barn and spell out EAT ATE or TEA... Too cute

Did I mention I love spray paint??

This is obviously not the finished product, but when it is complete you know that there will be pictures.

This little jewel here, was a $10.00 plain white lamp that I got at Wal-Mart. It was boring. So I spray painted the base, added a touch of ribbon and voila, a sweet little lamp for the bedside.

Lit Up...

I made this cute wreath with an inexpensive vine I got at walmart and then hot glued the sunflowers on. I found the WeLcome wood sign at the dollar store and tried it white, yellow and black. White Popped... so it stayed

Meet Brandon... Soo soo so Cute!

2009-07-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

On June 20th,5 minutes after Midnight My sweet little nephew Brandon was born. He is so cute. My little sister Jan carried him for the full nine months and gave birth via C-section to a healthy little boy after 20 hours of labor. Bless her heart! He is so sweet and a very handsome little boy. I am so proud of my Pongy Lou! She did such a good job and is such a good little Mommy. I love her so much and I am so grateful for all my neices and nephews. I love them. They bring me joy... Here he is.

He has my little sister's butt chin. YOu can compare in this picture. I have the butt chin too. He is too precious. A very precious little baby boy.

Baby Chicks

2009-07-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

I am now the proud new owner/babysitter of six little baby chicks. How did this happen and where in the world would I get an idea like that?
His name is Jason... haha He loves animals and would take them all home if he could.

Jason and I went on a quest Friday for some personalized photography for the walls of my apartment and while on this quest, Jason got the idea to go and look at chickens. So, a long story short, I ended up with six little, fluffy, cute, baby chicks that live in a fish aquarium on my fireplace mantle. "They are really cute." Those are the words I spoke that sealed my fate. I said those four little words and Jason couldn't resist, he had to buy them. So I am "babysitting" them until they are old enough to go with the rest of Jason's older Chickens. He is so funny. Who would've thought that I would ever own a chicken? Jason says it is Food Storage, but we all know that he could never eat one of his pets.

From Drab to Fab...

2009-06-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

I had a major dilemna while unpacking and trying to organize my Apartment... My necklaces were in a big bundle in a drawer. They were all tangled and not functional at all. I didn't wear half of them because it took a half hour each morning to free one from the snares of the other necklaces. I had this idea to take and hang them. Display them as art! I got this Bulletin Board... Plain and Boring.

I took and put ribbon on it, just scraps I had lying around and pinned them down with clear push pins. Totally functional as well because they became the "hooks" that the necklaces would hang from.

WHa La!! From Drab to FAB in only 10 minutes!

I love it. I have been wearing a different necklace everyday and I think it looks pretty too.

Meet Ronda...

2009-06-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

This is Ronda... She is one of the sweetest people I know. I just love this woman to pieces! She lovingly and willingly opened her home and heart up to me and took me in. I just love her. We have so much Fun! She is the mother of four and has many adopted daughters. I just love her. More to come!

Mother's Day (Thanks Puna for the kukuie nut lei's

Women's Conference

This is a Saturday that we slaved away all day making homemade bread and delicious licorice candy. Ronda really did a lot I just had to make fun and snap one when we were waiting for the bread to bake.

Did I mention that Ronda is an Emergency preparedness specialist? She is going to help me get Prepared and get my food storage together. I am way excited and have already learned so much! So much Fun!