Aggie moms + boutique = OMG!!

The reason I haven't posted anything lately is that I have spent the majority of the past three months painting, printing, buying more ink, assembling and packing.  What for you ask?  A&M Parents Weekend Aggie Moms Boutique 2015!   That title is about as long as the weekend was.  But I will say it was sooo much fun.  I met some wonderful moms and learned exactly what goes on at boutique.  Basically you take lots of money because you will want to buy one of everything.  And there is lots of stuff to buy.  Our Aggie moms group decided to make crosses and frames like these below.  I have been making these custome frames for years and figured since my son was now at A&M, and I was now an Aggie Mom, that it might be fun to join this wonderful group of women known as the Ellis County Aggie Moms.  I already can't wait for next year.  I also have a couple of ideas for a few more items using the word art paper I designed.  Not sold in stores.  You like any of these items?  You can only get them at the boutique.  :).

There is no place like home for the holidays!

After making several fabric banners for my daughters wedding a week ago I decided to redo my mantle and make it more vintage and crafty looking.  I bought this window pane in Canton (the best flea market in the world!!) and had a really cute Fall look the past few months.  My old wreath and lighted garland which I laid along my mantle in previous years just looked too formal.  So I changed it all up.  Made the fabric scrap banner using twine and 18" lying strips of fabric.  I used 9 different fabric designs/material but you don't have to use that many.  I also made the NOEL banner.  I am fortunate that I can freehand (or in this instance freecut letters without using a pattern or stencil.  A little wonder under type no sew bond and.....here is the end result.  I made many things for the wedding last week.  I'll post pictures of those soon!

Stacked Dog Bone Cake

Yep.  Even grand puppies need a cake for their 1st Birthday!!  Here is one I made for my daughter's German Shepherd puppy named Penny.  Used the idea of a stacked diaper cake but used dog bones instead.  I used a cardboard round box for the bottom layer, a Gatorade container for the middle, and a plastic cup for the top.  Covered each layer with pink fabric.  Then hot glued the bones around each layer.  Finished it off by tying ribbon around each layer and found a squeaky toy for the topper. Had to draw a "1" on top.  Turned out really cute!  And Penny loved sinking her teeth into it.  Had to supervisor properly so she only ate what she was supposed to.  Actually only gave her one treat from each layer. Didn't want her to get sick.  Then dismantled it and placed the treats in baggies for later use. 

Boring ol' cabinet knob redo!

Well...finally found me an older buffet and hated the old drawer pulls and knobs that were on it.  So...after looking at Hobby Lobby and not wanting to spend the $4-$6 per knob for new ones that didn't really match the color I needed, I decided to make new ones myself.  Well...sort of.  I went to Home Depot and purchased antique brass knobs for $1.28 each.  Then painted them to match.  Turned out pretty good I think.  And for about 1/3 of what I would have spent.  Very easy process too....

First I stuck toothpicks into some Styrofoam I had then unwrapped all the knobs and placed them on the toothpicks. 

Then I used two different colors of Anita's acrylic paint (Ocean Blue and Forest Green) to get just the right color.  After painting a light coat over each one I let them dry.  While drying I removed the old drawer pulls and the knobs from the doors. I left the back plates that were behind the door knobs (mainly because they were nailed on).  And they didn't look bad being left on there.

After they were completely dry I applied a light coat of spray gloss to them.  The ones on the right are glossy and the ones on the left are not.  It is personal preference on whether or not you want to gloss them.

I could not find drawer pulls that were the exact width of the holes that were already there so that is why I went with two knobs rather than one drawer pull.  It adds a little bit of color to tie in with the rest of the room.  I'll post more dining room pictures when I get done with my curtains.  :)

What to do with myself....

Well the past 6 months and the next 6 months has had and will have a lot of changes in our household.  Our daughter, who is a teacher, bought her first home this past summer.  Yippee for her!  We are so proud of all that she has accomplished since graduating from college.  On the other hand, our son, will be leaving for college this next summer.  Gig 'em Aggies!!!  So everyone has been asking, "What will you do now that high school soccer is over and you never have to do all that stuff again?"   Yes I will miss it immensely and I am sure you will still find me at a game or two.  I love soccer in case you hadn't noticed.  But...on the other hand all the time spent on high school soccer stuff will be replaced by the ability to spend lots of time in my craft room.  I still have a few things to organize in there but when I finish (hopefully by the end of February), I will post tons of pictures.  Just to give you a hint, it is our upstairs room that is about 650 sq feet.  And yes....it is my NEW CRAFT ROOM!!  That is what happens when kids move out and go to college.  haha I have included a picture of my paint wall.  Yes that is 16 feet of paint.  And actually it wasn't enough space.  The red box on the top of the bookshelf is full of duplicate paint bottles. 

So...that brings me to my new idea and the answer to what will I do with myself.  Well aside from attending as many A&M games as possible with my new little Aggie I am going to host weekly, bi-weekly or monthly (I still can't decide) craft nights at my house.  My best friends, Kelly and Wendy, think my upstairs is the neighborhood Hobby Lobby anyways.  I will set a date, choose a craft (yes it will be an easy one) and purchase the supplies for everyone (assuming I don't already have them).  Of course my hobby room isn't as big as a Hobby Lobby so I would have to limit the crafting night to about 10-15 people.  Sorry but Kelly and Wendy hold standing reservations.  All the crafters would have to bring is themselves, a drink of choice and a snack to share....and of course a small fee ($5-$10) to cover the cost of the supplies I am buying each crafter. Just think how many Christmas presents we could whip out if we did one each week or one every other week?

So...put your artistic hats on (or in Kelly's case borrow one) and join us or follow my blog as we craft away.  I will post pictures with how to instructions for everything we make in case you want to join us in spirit and make your own craft at home.  But if you do be sure and send me a picture so I can give you a shout out! 

High school soccer season ends in about 2 1/2 months so I hope to start our craft nights then. So...make plans to follow us along our journey of Nutthin' but Crafts...and more!

Same look just a new name...

I am starting to branch out a little with different craft ideas so I changed up the name a little.  Incorporated my last name in the title but pretty much everything else is the same.   Hope this doesn't confuse anyone. 

4th of July and Food!!!

We have been busy crafting but just hadn't had time to get things uploaded yet.  But did want to share a few things we made up the past few days.  First was our menu board (using a frame set from Home Goods, some scrapbook paper and stickers).  Use a dry erase or wet erase to jot down your dinners for the week.

Next was our frisbeer game!  Frisbeer is a combination of frisbee, horseshoes and catch all in one. (and beer of choice if you choose to add the alcohol part).  You have two teams of two people each.  The poles are set about 30 feet apart.  Each team stands near their pole (generally one person on each side and both people must stand behind the pole). Each person must have in their hand a drink.  Which makes you play one handed basically.  The object is to toss the frisbee at the other teams pole, hitting it, which will make the empty beer bottle on top fall off.  The other team must catch the bottle and frisbee before they hit the ground.  The throwing team gets 2 points if they drop the bottle and 1 point if they drop the frisbee.  Most people will concentrate on the bottle because it is worth more points.  But you also must catch the frisbee if it does not hit the pole.  If it is catchable and you drop it then the other team gets a point.  Most of the time you are playing catch.  hahah..those poles are hard to hit. And it is hard to catch the falling bottles one handed.  Brent and Emily are very good at it.  First team to 21 wins.  Emily says you can also add in that you have to take a drink if you miss the frisbee or bottle.  Hence a drinking game but since we had non drinkers and U-21's we played with whatever drink you wanted to use.  Eric had a bottle of milk in his hand and some friends used water bottles.  It is a lot of fun!  The poles are easy to make.  You just need two 10' sections of PVC, some T's and end caps. Oh and we used colored duct tape to jazz our poles up. If you prefer not to use the beer bottle on top you could probably use a coke bottle or something similiar.  It is a really fun backyard game.  Modify it to your liking!

Hope everyone has a safe and awesome 4th of July.  Be sure to say a prayer for those fighting for us overseas and at home.  It is because of them that we are able to spend time with family and friends on days like today.