Category: Creative Genius

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Crafts up my Sleeve

Happy New Year!

You know how it goes: You make long lists of resolutions and then beat yourself up a couple of months later for not accomplishing them.

I’m not making any lists this year, I know I will feel the self directed pressure and quit anyway, so instead I am going to do fun things!

So I have a list of some crafts I want to make over the next few months. These are just small projects I’ve seen on the craft blogs I read {stalk} that have got me to thinking!  I am determined to do my holiday crafts/ideas as the year goes on so I don’t feel so darn overwhelmed when the holiday comes up, because you know, Christmas comes at the same time every year!

I’ve gathered a bunch of ideas for Christmas that I am tucking away and making over in my mind. I picked up some fake snow at Michael’s and Target this week, so I can collect some apothecary jars and do up a cute little winter scene. Like ThriftyDecor Chick did!

Just you wait, I’m going to make some super cute stuff for next Christmas!! Yay!!

I’ve been obsessed with glitter houses and I received a Michaels gift card for Christmas. I can’t wait to go there {alone} and check out what paper mache houses they have! I would say I need to get a life, but I know some of you have the same feelings about crafts that I do! It makes me giddy! It’s a sickness really. I’m ok with that. There is even a Valentine’s Glitter house! It’s TDF!! {To Die For}. I love it!

And as far as my blog, I think I’ve  found a wordpress template that I can actually live with. My resident Geek helped me take this one and actually make it work. It’s definitely pink and girly, but not sickening sweet, so I’ll actually keep it for a while.

We’ll see. I’m fickle and like to change things up every couple of months. I’ll never have one of those houses where the decor and furnishings stay the same for 20 years. I can barely hang on for 20 days. LOL!

I think I’ve also promised every new year that I am going to update more often. We’ll see how that goes too. But for now, I have a list of projects I want to do and if I do them right, I’ll document them and share!

Love and glitter,

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Love me… Want me… Pick me!

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I’ve done some house cleaning.

No…not that kind of house cleaning. I didn’t do any of that today. I was a lazy girl, sitting on the couch with a numb hiney. I only spent the better part of ALL DAY looking, searching, cussing, and fussing on my blog.  NINE HOURS. That’s not too long is it?

Jon has been an angel about helping get it just the way I wanted it to look. He is sweet like that. Did I mention patient?? Whoooboy that man is patient.

Anyway…this is what I have come up with.  (see above)  I modified it from another template and tweaked it here and spanked it there to suit my ever-changing moods (which include bouts of anger and frustration at inanimate objects and people under the age of 7 who dare to ask for lunch) . Seems like it’ll do for a while…until my tastes needs change again. Might not happen until WordPress comes up with some more  artsy 3 column templates I can live with that doesn’t look like crap.

For those of you who followed my link from Facebook…WELCOME! and THANK YOU!! and you really do like to click every link you see, huh?  Let me know what you think…cuz I’m needy like that and you’re nice.

Go on…you know you want to!

DO IT ALREADY!

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This is right up my alley!!

I was running around the internet this morning when I happened upon a Goodwill party over at Thrifty Decor Chick. I have never done a carnival before, so I am not sure I am doing this right, but I’ll give it the ‘ol college try!

Those of you who know me well, know I love to shop. I am an equal opportunity shopper. I love big box store, little shops, flea markets, second hand shops, and antique stores! Today I want to share with you what I think is the best bargain I have ever found at a second hand store and the story behind it.

I was feeling inspired by all the dollar store decor ideas I was reading on the web. Sometimes when you get inspired, you just have to get up and go do something about it that very minute. Such was the case about a month ago when after reading about Dollar Store birds, I made a “wish” list of things I wanted to find either at the Dollar Store or thrift stores and headed out in search of cheap treasure! I didn’t have any luck at our local Dollar Tree where I like to do a “little” shopping here and there ( you know I am totally lying right?) so I headed over to a local Thrift Shop that happened to be the very same place I found two crystal lamps for $2.48 each that have graced my nightstands for about 7 years.

While I was walking around looking for any kind of single bird to spray paint and add to my home decor, I spied a lovely blue wing back chair. I walked back and forth trying to get a good look at it. My only obstacle was not the price or condition, but a woman sitting in it talking on her cell phone! I didn’t want to be rude and ask her to “move it lady, I want to look at that chair!”, so I tried to act casual. You know, glancing back and forth, lingering around it to get a feel for the best time to approach said bargain. Instead I probably looked like I was stalking her. Creepy image I know.

During one pass by, I noticed the price tag on the chair. It said, “1818”.  I wasn’t sure what that meant, but after using logic and questioning one of the workers there, she confirmed my suspicion that indeed the chair was $18.18!  I felt a flood of adrenalin.  I’m sure I’m not the only shopper who gets that heart thumping feeling when she comes upon a truly awesome deal? I got brave and asked the lady if she was buying the chair. She said she wasn’t and got up so I could look at it. I didn’t need to pour over it to know that it was in excellent condition with no stains or rips. It was a solid chair with no issues. So what did I do?

I bought it of course!! I immediately said, “I’LL TAKE IT”  and started pushing it down the aisle toward the register. I knew it was time to high tail it out of there before someone figures out what a find I had!

I paid for it and carried it out to the parking lot. I opened the car door and wham! I couldn’t get it in my car. I suspected I might have a teensy problem with getting it to fit. I was determined though to shove that sucker in there if it was the last thing I did!

No success except for a little bead of sweat on my brow.

A mini-van pulled up behind my car. A lady rolled her window down and offered to help me. She offered to take my chair home for me! A stranger. Someone who I had never seen before in my life. An angel!  I was taken aback.  I didn’t know what to think. She explained that she was on her way home and saw me struggling to get the chair in my car. She said, “I just wanted to do something nice for you and I hope someday when I am trying to shove a chair in my car, a stranger will offer to help me out too!”
She  hoped I would accept her offer. I hesitated at first and offered to call my husband with our mini-van to come and rescue me. She promised she wasn’t a weirdo who steals chairs from women in thrift store parking lots and gave me her name and cell phone number. I kind of had no choice but to call Jon and wait for him after he picked the boys up from school, so I accepted her help.  I did tell her that if she tried to make off with my chair, she wouldn’t get very far with it because I have the cushion. Teehee.

She made it to my house minutes after I did and carried to to the curb for me. I was super appreciative for the kindness of strangers and their willingness to enable my thifting habit. It was a great shopping day! Yay for the kindness of strangers!

So…after all that, do you still want to see the chair??!! If I were you, I would be thinking by this point in the long winded story, it should be gold encrusted and studded with jewels. Nope, just a blue 18 dollar wing back.

But it’s mine!

wingback-chair

And that’s my Goodwill Party contribution! I have more…you know I do! But I will have to take pictures. Until then, Happy “Goodwill” hunting! *snort*

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Welcome to the House of Horrors….

Happy Halloween ghosts and goblins!

I’m not normally the Halloweenie type that really gets into the decorations and such, but this year I found some really cute stuff at my favorite place, the Dollar Tree. Cute plates and serving bowls. Skeletons and Frankensteins, so fun! One wouldn’t think those things fall into the cute category, but these do! They have candy corn that ring the rim of the plate and are black and white. I mean, come on, you can’t go wrong for a buck! I plan on picking up some more plates for next year, one can never have too many ghoulish plates and cups!

So I was looking through a magazine last week and I was inspired to make the kids a Halloween dinner and then carve our pumpkin afterward. Like I said, I don’t normally go all out for them except I gather and purchase their costumes every year. This year I decided it would be fun for us all to have a haunted Halloween feast!

Here is what I picked up at the dollar store:

  • a purple table cloth
  • 6 spooky plates
  • 2 spooky serving bowls
  • clear plastic short stemmed glasses
  • black plastic utensils

I asked the boys what they would like to eat for dinner; either Boo Burgers and Frankentots or Spooky Spaghetti and Monster Meatballs. Spooky monster won them over. Spaghetti is one of their favorite meals.
I would love to show you how the bloody finger breadsticks turned out, or the oozy alfredo sauce looked, or even the spooky spaghetti and pumpkin juice turned out, but my blog is telling me that those files are too big. Not sure how to make them smaller, but trust me, they were awesome!

Ok, well……I figured it out.
How fun is that??? I drew faces on the cups and made “Pumpkin Juice” out of orange juice, orange pineapple, and sprite. I added a few drops of red and yellow food color to darken it up and the kids loved it! I tinted the alfredo with black food color paste and even though it tasted as good as it always does, the color threw everyone off and dare I say even gave Jon a bit of a stomach ache! LOL!! I love it! The meatballs were a hit as well. Dan loved calling them monster meatball brains and at the end of the night, all but three were gone! The breadsticks with almond sliver nails and bloody marks…tasty!! Brenna joked around and said, “Yummm, I always knew chewing on my nails tasted good!”

All in all, it was a fun night and I enjoyed making a spooky, not so scary dinner for my family. I think next year will be even more frightening…we might actually carve a pumpkin!! Muuuuaahahahahaha!!

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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…

My Sister (visit her here) did this really cool mosaic. I thought I would create my own Here Am I meme just like she did. She makes it look so easy! Let me tell you how long I have been working on this stinkin’ meme! Oh, no long at all…only 7 hours!! It’s really hard to find all the things on the list that start with the first letter in your name. To make it visually even, I added my own name graphic. I’m sort of anal that way. Ha! Another A word. You get that one for free!

So, here it is. This is what you are supposed to do. Take the list below and come up with examples of things that start with the first letter in your name. You can do like we did and make a mosaic here or just write out the list, either way; it’s fun!! Come on….you can do it!!

1) Angie-Here Am I!
2) Famous Singer/Band -Aerosmith
3) Four-Letter Word -Army
4) Street Name -West Angela St.
5) Gift/Present -Anklet
6) Color -amathyst
7) Pro Sports Team -Anaheim Angels
8 ) Movie Title -Aquamarine
9) Boy’s Name -Alton
10) Girls Name -Audrey
11) Vehicle -Aston Martin
12) Flower -Amaryllis
13) Drink -Alabama Slammer
14) Magazine -Allure
15) U.S. City -Adak
16) Item found in a souvenir shop -Alligator Totebag
17) Celebrity -Angelina Jolie
18) Reason You’re Late for Work -All Nighter (I pulled an all nighter and I over slept!)
19) Fruit -Apple
20) Cartoon Character -Alvin
21) Anything else about you that starts with your letter -Absolutely Fabulous!
22) Body of Water -Atlantic Ocean
23) Occupation -Archaeologist
24) Something you Shout -Amen!
25) Something you recycle -Aluminum Foil

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It’s always Martha, Martha, Martha!

Ok, confession time. I’m a little obsessive. When it comes to creativity, I’m uber-obsessed. For example, lets pretend you were going to a game night that required a gift, you might just go pick up a gift card or a picture frame, something simple and easy right?

Not me! I scour store after store for something quirky like say super cute striped Halloween hand towels with black ball fringe and happy spiders paired a coordinating black and orange polka dot towel. Then I would take said towels and continue to look for a creative way to give them, like maybe  in a clear glass pumpkin shaped jar with lid and 3 small bags of candy. That really wouldn’t be cute enough on it’s own because hello!, I am creative. (Sometimes it’s a curse really.) So off to the house with  my new purchases to create a masterpiece!! After much trial and error, I decide to incorporate the three components together. I took the black and orange polka dot towel and lined the inside of the pumpkin jar,  then I mixed Hershey miniatures, caramel apple, and candy corn kisses together and poured them inside. I folded the spider towel to fit over the candy but under the lid, so just a peek of the spiders shows through the jar.
A normal person would stop there, but not me! I would rifle through all my scrapbook stuff (p.s. most creative people are kind of unorganized) looking for that cute Halloween paper I bought before my favorite scrapbook store went out of business. While I was at, why not use glitter glue and some ribbon?! Um, yeah. I ended up with a cute little tag with cream and large black polka dots with a black ribbon trim on the bottom and black and copper glitter stickles saying something like, “No trick Just treats”. It ended up on the top of the lid with an orange ribbon. Whew!! And then I made dinner. Ok, well I heated up dinner, but I fed my family and that is what is most important, right?

So how did this gift go over with the gals at KENO?

Continue reading “It’s always Martha, Martha, Martha!”