Freestanding Trellis - Lowe's Creative Ideas

Hey everyone! Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!


Just me with another thing to add to your honey do list for outside!


I like many of the projects at Lowe's Creative Ideas and this one is no different. It is unusual and seems fairly easy to make. I just love climbing flowers like morning glories or clematis - don't you? This trellis would be perfect for either or both!


Check it out here!

Freestanding Trellis - Lowe's Creative Ideas

Have a wonderful day! See ya soon.

DIY Wooden Floor Mat — Lowe’s Creative Ideas

Good afternoon!  Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Our weather here in North Carolina has been downright summer like - with temperatures in the 90's already.  Thankfully we had a cold front come through this weekend and now it's feeling more like spring.  But today's project is good for any season!

I love the look of this doormat.  The colors would just make your porch come alive!  The project information at Lowe's states that the project is about $30 to complete, but I think you might spend a little more if you didn't have the paint already. Also, as one of the people who commented - I would put squares at the ends to cover the bare rods and give it a more finished look. 

Want the scoop? Follow my link!

Wooden Floor Mat — Lowe’s Creative Ideas

I think that even a solid color would look good - what do you think?

Have a super day - see ya soon!

Easy Clothespin Snowflakes

Good morning! 

Spring break is over....it's time to get back to the grind.  School will be done in about 51 days and this school year is just flying by so quickly. I guess before we know it it will be Christmas time again - LOL!!!!!

So I figured for my post today I would show you a Christmas project, which quite frankly I wish I had come across sooner. We decorated our Christmas tree this past year with only white lights and snowflakes.  We made most of the snowflakes and these would have fit right in with the decor. The instructions are very simple and I'm definitely going to make a bunch.  Although I love the natural wood appearance, I will probably paint some of them and even add a touch of sparkle!

You know it's never too late to start your holiday craft projects - so why not some Christmas in April or May or June - well you get the picture!! Want to know how to make them? Follow my link:

Clothespin Snowflakes

A great big thank you to bystephanielynn.com for the tutorial!! She has some amazing project tutorials - if you have time be sure to check them out.

Have a wonderful Wednesday - see ya soon!

DIY Votive Candle Holder

Happy New Year's Eve to one and all! Party plans abound I'm sure.  Just please be safe and don't drink and drive.    

This is a very special day for me because it is my 18th Wedding Anniversary!!  That's right - we got married on New Year's Eve at 9:00pm 18 years ago.  It seems like yesterday and I love my husband as much today as I did then - even more if that's possible! To my hubby - I Love You, Steve, and Happy Anniversary!

Today my post is a wood project.  I love the colors that were used and the decorations aren't really my style but they look awesome so I may have to give them a try.  You can always make any project your own just by using your creativity and this project is no exception.  Different colors, different decorations - whatever your heart desires.

I think these are quite lovely and would be very nice gifts as well. Thanks to Tatertots and Jello for the how to!  Go here to see more: DIY Candle Holder 

Have a safe and happy new year celebration! See ya soon!

DIY - 2 Variations of Giant Jenga

Good morning!

I really love this idea (can't you tell?).  My husband and I are planning on making this for our little guy.  But we have been debating using 2x4 or 2x3 studs.  I think that the 2x3 size will be better and not as heavy - although he thinks that the set will be larger using the 2x4 size (he's right, of course).   Apparently, it just comes down to personal preference!

As usual, once I decide to do something, I need to be sure to have the right instructions. (You know - kinda like measure twice - cut once....LOL) So with that being said, I found 2 more set of instructions - they both use 2x3 studs.

The links are below - one is plain wood and the other (which, in my opinion, looks awesome) is a multi-colored set and uses a Wii game concept.  We don't have the game but, I think I may have to see what I can find out about it.  It would definitely be fun to have a variation for the game!!

So, if I've peeked your interest and you are dying to make a set for yourself then follow the links below and get to cuttin' and sandin'!!! 

Jenga Maximum:

Colored Mega Jenga Backyard/Jenga Based on Boom Blox

FYI - I've priced these sets on several sites and they range in price anywhere from $69.99 and up.  So if working with wood isn't your thing and you'd really like to have a set, then it could be a bit pricey to add this game to your collection!

Have a great Thursday.  See ya soon!

DIY Giant Jenga Tower

Good Monday morning!  I hope that everyone had a very nice weekend.

This time of the year is my favorite.  Not only is the color pallet one of my favorites, but the weather is just glorious!  We had some brutally hot weather this summer as did a lot of you.  Now that the temperatures have become more moderate, it is very nice to spend time outdoors.

With a 9 year old boy, I am always on the look out for interesting and different things to do.  I came across this outdoor game and just fell in love.  I think we would have a blast playing this version!

I did some research and found that I could buy one of these sets (in fact, amazon.com has one with several links to outside sites that have them as well) but I think they are a little pricey.  I know that making a set would be much more cost effective.  So, I went about finding the instructions and sure enough instructables.com has them - step-by-step even! Go here to get them:

Giant Jenga Tower:

I am 5'2" and my son is about 10 inches shorter than me, so I'm thinking we might need a step ladder to play this game... but, it sure would be fun to see how high we could get it before it falls!!! 

Have a fantastic Monday - see ya soon!!!

DIY Wooden Doormat

Good morning and hello weekend!!  It's been a busy week of homework - spelling words, vocabulary, math, science and reading!  I swear I don't remember having this much homework when I was in the 4th grade.  I understand that homework is for practicing what you learn but....it just seems that there's always an awful lot of it!

Anyway, on to today's post!  I just love DIY projects and this one is no exception.  The monogram is unique but even without it I think this doormat would be very nice.  The steps to make this are very simple and I'm sure it wouldn't take any time at all to get your very own doormat.  

Interested?  Go here to get the scoop:

DIY Doormat | The Accent Piece:

Thanks to the Accent Piece for this project. The only change I might make is to add a few strips of non slip tread (prevention of it getting slippery when it rains and gets wet). But other than that I just love this project.  

These would make an interesting gift especially for those people on your list who have everything and are hard to buy for! 

Have a great Saturday - see ya soon!

Birthday, Bees and Frogs, Oh My!

Good morning!

Cristian turned 9 on Monday! It's hard to believe. It feels like yesterday that we brought him home.  We had a great time at the Carolina Mudcats game on Sunday evening. Cristian got a game ball and had it signed by Muddy, their team mascot. They lost 8 to 7, but it was an exciting game. The whole thing came down to the last pitch!  Afterwards, they shot off fireworks. Very nice! His friend spent the night and then Monday we cooked on the grill (cheeseburgers - his favorite!) and had cake and ice cream. He asked for a lemon cake so I did a 3 layer with homemade butter cream frosting!  It leaned a little but hey, that's what makes it homemade, right?  Here's a pic - see the lean?  Oh well, it tasted good and he liked it!

As I've mentioned before, my friend is a 1st grade teacher. This year she decided that she wanted to give her students a beginning of the year gift. The theme in her room is bees. Her fellow grade level teacher has a theme of frogs and liked the idea of a little something for the kids, as well. So we came up with and made cute little bees and frogs!  Check them out!

All 50!

Close up of Bee and Frog

Queen Bee Pen Holder for her Desk 

Queen and Her Little Worker Bees

They look so happy, don't they!

It took some doing, but we got them all done in a relatively short period of time. Our better halves did all the cutting and sanding. Her girls did most of the painting and we did the planning and decorating. It really was a family affair. We were quite pleased with how they turned out. From bare wood to bees and frogs in a blink of an eye. So cute, if I do say so myself!

Have a great over the hump day!  See ya soon!

DIY Hanging Daybed

Good Afternoon!

I really really want one of these!  Enough said......

Summer Dreams... of a Hanging Daybed

OMG - another thing for my hubby's honey-do list.  LOL!

Have a great day!  See ya soon.

My Table Leg Uncle Sam

Hello!  Hope you are having a fantastic day!

I wanted to get this project done before the 4th of July but time somehow got away from me.  It's finally done and I think I'll still display him for the rest of the month!  I'm sure there are alot of things that can be made from a table leg!  I'm going to have to make a point of looking to see.  

Here he is - drum roll please.....

Hurray!!   I'll let you know if I find any more table leg crafts!

See ya soon.

2x4 Wood Bees

Good afternoon!

I have been enjoying my hubby being home this week.  He's been diligently working on our new laundry room!  It is coming along quite nicely I have to say. The floor should be done today and then we have to have the plumber and electrician come to help get the washer and dryer hook ups done.  It's going to be great to have this completed!!!  I've taken pictures as he's done each step so I'll post everything once it's done.

Today I want to show you a cute 2x4 craft.  I originally made these for Cristian's kindergarten class, since they are the Belmont Bees.  His teacher gave them to the kids at the end of the year as part of their graduation.  There are boy and girl bees - can you tell which is which?

They are very easy to make.  One 12 foot long 2x4 makes 24 bees.  Each bee is 6 inches high.  Once you get the 2x4 cut, be sure to sand the edges and corners until they are smooth.  Then paint it yellow.  I used self stick felt strips for the bottom (but you could probably use chenille stems as well).  I printed the faces and after laminating them glued them to the front.  The chenille stem antennae is inserted in a drilled hole in the top with a black pony bead to give it a more finished look.  The girls got a bow and the boys didn't!  The wings are simply round pieces of black tulle gathered in the center and held in place with a piece of a chenille stem. They are hot glued to the back.  All done!

Hope this has inspired you to make your own little hive of bees - LOL!  

Have a super Sunday - see ya soon.

Make a Crib Bench

Good morning and happy Monday to all!!!

Unbelievably, our son is almost 9 years old and we still have his crib stored in the garage.  For some reason I just can't bear the thought of getting rid of it! I suppose it's because I'm emotionally attached - more sentimental that anything else. 

But now I've got the perfect solution!  I'm so in love with this idea that I can't decide which project to do next - this or the privacy screens!  Take a look see at this: Make a Bench out of an old Crib at tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com

Isn't that a wonderful idea?  If my porch were covered it would definitely go there but I'm thinking it may find a home inside somewhere.  Where? - I'm not sure yet but I'll find a spot!!!

If you've got your child's crib stored away - why not give it a new life!!  I'd love know if you do!

Have a fabulous day!  Cya!

Photo Blocks and Stamped Lucky Penny for EOG

Happy Saturday!!

As promised, I am posting about the project for the 1st graders in my friend Michele's classroom.  She was looking for something to give them as an end of year gift along with the Shutterfly Memory book that she traditionally does.  (If you've never done a memory book at shutterfly you really ought to - hers always comes out so darling!!)

Anyway, I digress.  Here is a picture of the sides of the photo blocks (I just noticed that I forgot to include the group pic side - oops):

I think they came out very nice and hope the kids and their parents like them.  They were not hard to make at all - it just took some planning and time.  I've seen photo block tutorials all over blogland and was tickled to be able to make some for Michele. 

I wanted to do them with Mod Podge but since they needed to be ready for next Tuesday that made it difficult to do since it requires several coats and drying time in between!  And with 18 blocks to make it would have been a long process!!!  So I had to come up with an alternative plan.  I decided instead of using Mod Podge I would laminate the pictures for each side and affix them with glue.  And you can see the end result above!  If you want to try your own here is what I used.

Supplies:

(1) 4x4 pressure treated post, 6 feet in length and cut into even sized blocks

hand sander and 80 grit sandpaper

white acrylic paint (we did 3 coats)

foam brushes

pictures or graphics printed on plain paper (ours are 6 sided but next time, only 5 with cork on the bottom would be better)

laminator and laminating sheets (i used my Purple Cow laminator and 3 mil sheets)

scissors

cotton swabs

Elmers AND Krazy Glue

Making Them:

My Darling Husband cut the post into 3.5" square blocks for us and Michele and I sanded and painted them.  We came up with the designs and pictures we wanted to use (I used PSE 9.0) and then printed them on plain paper.  That worked well since they ended up getting laminated and were thin and easy to adhere smoothly onto the block.  (FYI - the dimension of the graphics were 3.25 x 3.25) Cut them out. To affix them I put a dab of good old Elmer's school glue on the center of the side I was working on and spread it with a cotton swab. Then the Krazy Glue went directly on the laminated pics edges to insure they stuck well.  I suppose there are other glue products I could have used, but I had Elmer's and Krazy glue on hand!  As I said before, next time I would only do 5 sides and put cork on the bottoms of the blocks. 

And there you have it!  Photo Blocks 101 - LOL!!!!  Here's a close up of one of the sides (we're the Belmont Bees - can you tell??):

(Sorry about the flash glare!)

And I took a picture of Cristian's EOG Lucky Penny since I forgot to do that before I sent the set to school for his class.  I used all different colors behind the poem and Cristian got a green one!  Take a look:

My husband and I came up with the poem.  The kids were a nervous wreck about the End of Grade tests they were going to take.  We hoped this would be a confidence builder along with the cards of encouragement that each parent sent for their child on the days of the test.  I shined up 54 pennies and stamped the word lucky on them.  Then put the whole thing in a little bag that I found in the craft section at Walmart.  Cute, huh?

Well, I've rambled on long enough today....  Have a wonderful Saturday!  See ya soon. 

Our NEW DIY Mailbox

It's Over the Hump Day!!

Well, we finally did it!  A few posts ago I showed you some of the outdoor projects that are on our to do list.  A new mailbox was one of them!  We did the whole thing in one day and we are very happy with how it turned out.

Of course, we still need to plant the clematis that will vine up and I'd like to get a magnetic mailbox cover for it, but overall I think it looks terrific!!!  The plans came from Lowe's Home Improvement and I believe the link is a few posts down.  It was not a hard DIY project and we were surprised that we were able to get it done in one day.  It took both of us working on it but well worth it! The only suggestion I have is - paint the wood first!!  So if you are in need of a new mailbox as badly as we were - what are you waiting for???

Have an awesome Wednesday!  Chat with you soon!

Outdoor Projects

Hey!  It's TGIF - Hurray!

Spring is in full bloom here in North Carolina and that means outside projects!  My darling husband just shakes his head because his honey-do list keeps getting bigger and bigger.  LOL!!  Here are a few of the things that we'd like to get accomplished outside.

A New Mailbox



Privacy Screens for the Sitting Area in the Front of Our House



Both project were featured at the Lowes Creative Ideas website.  I subscribed to the project magazine (it's free, by the way) and the privacy screens were in the March Issue.  When I went online to get the specs I found the mailbox. 

There's one more that I like - a 4 seasons planter. Each season the flowers change but the Dwarf Spruce remains a constant.  I really like the idea of this planter - I only wish I could decide on a place to put it!  Any ideas?



4 Season Planter



Wish me luck because I'm seriously thinking of doing some interior painting as well and maybe even redoing my kitchen cabinets - a little too ambitious?  We'll see!

Enjoy - hope this inspired you to line up a few outdoor projects of your own!  See ya soon. 

By the way I have a post coming up with a very cute way to decorate eggs for Easter - you won't want to miss it!!!