Made for Monday: Happy Valentine's Day!

I saw this idea out there in blog-land somewhere and thought I'd share it with you.  I used picnik.com to edit these photos.  Enjoy, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Me and Matthew

My little brother, Kenneth, and me

Me and my sisters, Kristen and Kasie

My adorable and wonderful 'rents, Allison and Ken

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Made for Monday: 5 Craft Project Features

So I'd like to apologize for posting so "late" tonight - I usually post in the morning but had too busy of a weekend to get things in order!

Anyhow, today's blog post is dedicated to featuring 5 (of the million) craft projects I've seen and would love love love to try (as well as my thoughts on them)!  So here we go!

Vintage Slide Lampshade 

from HGTV Canada

I saw this lampshade done on "She's So Crafty" several months ago and instantly fell in love with it.  I finally bought all of the materials and hope to get started on it very soon.  And I'm pretty stoked because all of the slides are pictures of places in Europe!  Isn't that fun?

Burlap "Mr. & Mrs." Pillows 

from Momma Hen

Even though I'm not married (or engaged, for that matter), I am head over heels for these pillows.  And I have a couple of friends who are getting married in the near future who just might be getting a set because I'm dying to make them!

Plastic Bottle Chandelier

from The Feminist Housewife

I think what I love most about this project - other than the fabulous colors - is that it was made with an ordinary, every day supply.  Since I'm cheap (and not full-time...yet) I love projects that are easy on the pocketbook.  And this one is so beautiful!  I even love the texture that the plastic bottle gives the flowers (you can see it in in some of the teal flowers). 

Lovebird Bookhouse

from CREATE STUDIO

CREATE STUDIO is one of my absolute favorite blogs because of her cute, creative, and practical ideas.  And this one is absolutely precious!  I'm in love with the whole bird motif, and I love books - so this project is right up my alley!  And I adore how she hung these right over a chair in a little nook in her house - what a perfect reading spot.

Quilled Monogram Letter

from Craftastical

I'm starting to get more into paper crafts, namely because of this project.  I think it's a really cool art piece that is so versatile and unique.  And it can be used in so many different places: a wall in a child's room, on a mantel, in a kitchen, on a door - the possibilities are endless!

I hope these projects inspire you like they inspire me!  I absolutely love them and can't wait to actually make them and then feature them for you!  

Made for Monday: Fabric Flower Tutorial

Several months ago I saw this tutorial at Maize Hutton and thought that I'd have to try it one day.  Well, my friends, today is that day!

I've done mine a little differently, so I'm posting an adapted version here for you.  I hope you like it!

"Fabric Flower"

What you'll need:

• A strip of fabric that can be folded in half lengthwise
• Matching button
• Needle
• Thread
• Optional: hair clips, glue gun

What you'll do:

I followed the original pattern pretty closely with this exception...Instead of leaving the sides frayed, I folded my fabric in half lengthwise.  I wanted a cleaner look.

I also wanted my flower to be a hair accessory instead of a pin.  So I took a piece of matching ribbon and hot glued one edge to make a loop and then hot glued that piece to the center of the back of the flower.

I took the pink bows off the hair clips I found and simply inserted it into the loop of ribbon!  Easy peasy!  

And I also wanted to be able to interchange it with my headband...so viola!  Take out the clip, insert the headband, and you've got yourself a versatile hair accessory!

Since I had two clips left over, I decided to make two smaller versions for my 4-year-old BFF!  I just used half the length and half the width of the original strip of fabric.

I'm so delighted with how they turned out.  And my BFF and I both wore our flower accessories to church this morning because that's how we roll!  

Marshmallow Shooters

As Valentine's day has been drawing nearer, I've been racking my brain to figure out what to give my sweet man.  And then the thought occurred to me, "What better Valentine's gift for a man than a marshmallow shooter?!"

Girlfriend of the Year, please!

Anyway, I'm not super great at keeping secrets from my one and only, especially when it's something I'm so excited about.  So I told him - I know I'm a sucker.  But he loved the idea!  And what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't make TWO so that we can have a marshmallow battle?!  So now we have two.  :)

I got the general idea for it here and am posting a tutorial with pictures for you.  Here we go.

"Marshmallow Shooter"

What you'll need:

• 25 in piece of PVC pipe cut into 7 pieces  
• One 7 in piece
• Six 3 in pieces
• 2 PVC elbows
• 2 PVC "T"s
• 2 PVC end caps
• Mini marshmallows\

What you'll do:

First thing's first: get your handy-man to cut your PVC to the lengths listed above.  The piece of PVC I bought was 60 in total, which was enough for 2 marshmallow shooters with 10 in left over.  If you're going to use a hand saw like my man, make sure to clean off the edges as much as possible so that the marshmallows don't get caught on any debris.

Make sure to have a one-eyed cat supervise the process.  Just in case.  ;)

Next thing is to assemble your pieces like so.  It's really not rocket science - it's actually incredibly simple once all the pieces are cut to size.

Then put it together and have your man pose for some pics!

Simple, huh?!  It took us less than half an hour to make two of them, and all of the supplies cost us less than $5 at Lowes!

We're probably going to decorate them somehow, too.  Matthew found some digital camo duct tape at Wally-world the other day, which is what I'm betting he's going to want on his.  Any suggestions for mine?  I was kind of thinking zebra duct tape.  We'll see!  I'll post pics of the final products when we get them completely finished!

Happy hunting!