Attention Utah Peeps!

A big hello to all you Utahans out there, especially those of you near Orem. 

Why you ask?

Weelllll, I was browsing for my very special grey sectional at the Downeast Outlet in Orem-

you know the one off of Sate St?

Instead of finding my couch- I came across a lovely POTTERY BARN SLIP COVERED SECTIONAL for ONLY 1700 BUCKS! Marked down from 3300!

It is so comfy, covered in a tan velvety fabric. 

Someone needs to get over there and score that deal!

I'm guessing that slipcover was a grade B fabric (maybe the brushed canvas in walnut?)

cuz it was sweet!

➷ 1$ Diaper Cake ➹

This was not the post I planned for today- I had spent hours on a project set to "debut" today but still need to take pics (it's been very rainy). My efforts were foiled when our baby HUGE FAT CAT threw up IN OUR BED last night. UGGH! No pics of the bedroom now-
THEN this morning I FAINTED! Like, what? Who does that? Now I am achey and feel sore and have to send out a less exciting back up post.

Anyhow, awhile back I mentioned that I was going to do a diaper cake. I'm working on the shower with a friend so we came together to decide on this idea for two reasons. One: she had the extra diapers of a style that wasn't working for her daughter. Two: I wanted to create balance for the table and was worried about not having enough height. 

I've shared my inspiration picture- and there are a ton to chose from. I mean the Internet is filled with ideas! I knew I wanted one more decorated and less "diapery" as I figured it would look more cohesive. We  used newborn diapers and did sort of two and a half tiers held together by a baby powder bottle. Each diaper is rolled and secured by clear (hair) rubber bands. We had planned to use wide ribbon but then had an idea to use card stock- which we still had plenty of. This way it would cover the diapers, provide a a nice smooth surface and we could return the ribbon.

We got the grass from Hobby Lobby at a 50% sale so it cost us a buck.
Diapers were some that my partner didn't like and wasn't gonna use- so they were upcycled.
Stickers and card stock were already purchased for the the pennant,
gift bag, and cupcake toppers.

Grand Total: 1 Buckaroo!

Thanks for reading!
- Becca - 

May be linked up at these awesome parties:
Tools are for Women Too, Chic on a Shoestring,  Tip Junkie,  At the Picket Fence, Shabby Nest, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Simply Designing,  Funky Junk Interiors,  Nifty Thrifty Things, I Heart Nap Time, Creating Really Awesome Free Things, Petite Hermine, Craft Envy, Stories of A 2 Z,  Hope Studios, New Nostalgia, Sugarbee Crafts, Ask Anna Moseley, DIY By Design, Passionately Artistic, Women Who Do It All, House of Hepworths, L Bratina, Beyond the Picket Fence, Shabby Chic Cottage,  Fire Flies and Jelly Beans, Its a Hodge Podge Life, Just a Girl Blog, Simply Sweet Home ,  Inspiring Creations Blog, On the Verge 6, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Whipperberry, Remodelaholic, All Thingz Related, Saturday Mornings,  Poppies at Play, The Girl Creative, Type A Decorating, At Home With K, Elements Interiors, Some what Simple and  Stuff and Nonsense.

"Like a Post-It Note for Wallpaper"

You all know I've been thinking about wallpaper alternatives for my bedroom. I've pretty much decided to do wall decals on a focal wall or two. 

But while doing some blog hopping today I came across this image from Isabella and Max. 

Don't you just love the interest and dimension the wallpaper adds? I'm pretty sure we've all seen grass cloth before. It was super popular in the 70's and has swing around to popular again in the last few years. 

I thought to my self, self- is there removable wall paper. I want/need/crave this texture in my home...can I have it?

The answer is- I'm not sure.

 

There IS repositional, removable, temporary wall paper!

Browsing around the Internet it seems there's quite a few options out there and most seem pretty pricey. The cheapest I could find came from Sherwin Williams and they have a ton of options. Most places are selling paper for upwards of 75 dollars a roll. At Sherwin Williams it's more like $20-30!

Unfortunately, I haven't found glass cloth. But there are option for every style preference and some that look textural. Check it out!

- Becca -

Tray Chic

I have this tray from Target- I believe it's 5 years old and was purchased on clearance at Target for maybe 9 bucks? I used to have it on an upholstered ottoman in case we needed somewhere to put drinks and such. Now I have it on a leather ottoman and together they act as a permanent side table.

Well, you really can't even see the tray, it blends completely into the ottoman.

So, I want to fix it up- make it stand out. I thought about painting it, but I'm not really a distressed wood kinda gal. I like the way it looks, but in my home I just like things to be a little cleaner looking. So I started online browsing for inspiration.

Here are some possibilities.

I'm thinking about a treatment on the bottom of the tray and keeping the sides the original brown.


My two favorites for this project are the map and the book pages Although I do love the orange chevron pattern one.

P.S. It's actually  a baking sheet and can be found on Martha Stewart Crafts. I'm thinking another project for another time!

  Back to this tray, I've already started browsing maps online and it looks like finding the right size may be a chore but the price is right as most are under 10 bucks on ebay!
I've also been searching Graphics Fairy for printable maps- they have quite a few options.

 - Becca -

Craving Chocolate?

These projects and two of my three go to favorites. Whenever we are throwing a party or need a little treat to send to a friend I resort to chocolate confections. I have over 20 trays to make and decorate your own pieces of chocolate, suckers, or pretzels. You can find these at any craft store and even Walmart has them seasonally. I try to buy them right after the holiday and have found amazing deals.

For the baby shower I'm throwing I wanted to do something a little more simple as I'm hoping for an elegant look. I'm doing dipped marshmallows on sticks and dipped pretzels. I'm gong to use white chocolate and simple white sprinkles for decoration. 

When you're doing these projects you can use any chocolate but most need some modifications. So for convenience I tend to use melting chips if I have them. You can melt them in the microwave or in a double boiler on the stove top.

I've done both- I usually do the stove for a large quantity so the chocolate can stay warm. But if I only need small quantities at a time the microwave is much easier.

I decorated the end of the marshmallow sticks with some baby wrapping paper over card stock. I wanted a pop of color as I knew the platter was going to be white, as well as the food and sticks. 

 Buy pretzel rods and  large marshmallows, each costs about a buck.

Just put your marshmallows on the candy sticks- which can be purchased at any craft store I usually buy a couple when they're on sale. You'll dip them in the chocolate and I use a little scoop/spatula to cover them as high as you'd like.

It depends how you're going to display the marshmallows, but in this case I knew I was going to have them on a platter. So I shook off the extra chocolate and dried them marshmallow side down. I've also had them in a bowl with flower foam in it to display like a marshmallow bouquet.

Same idea with the pretzels, dip them in chocolate, spoon it up as high as you'd want it and them shake off the extra over the sauce pan and lay them flat to dry.

I had planned to be finished at this point but thought they looked too plain. Usually I use sprinkles or colored chocolate and didn't realize it would look so plain. 


 So I put a little blue food coloring in the white chocolate and drizzled it over everything!

 This was the final result. I was a lot happier with the blue accent on top.

This was a super easy and fun project. They taste so yummy and there's so many fun ways to display them and I always get tons of compliments. (not to mention it costs me less than 4 bucks- yahoo!)

- Becca -

Linked up at Simply Designing,  I Heart Nap Time, Craft Envy, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Stuff and Nonsense, Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello,  Eements Interiors, Funky Junk Interiors, Nifty Thrifty Things, Fire Flies and Jelly Beans, Some What Simple, Beyond the Picket Fence and finally Fingerprints on the Fridge.

Flower Tutorial

 Here's the "how to" on the tissue paper flowers.  I tried a lot of different variations and for me this was the winner.

Start with a Square piece of tissue paper. I used 3x3 inches.

Fold it diagonally in half.

Then fold it in half two more times.

Easy right?

Now cut where I've put the red dotted lines. Make sure the side with all the loose ends is the side you are cutting.

If you are only using one color of tissue paper and want to incorporate a pop of another color this is the point that you want to outline the same edges you've just cut with a marker color of your choice.

At this point I layer two cut outs and make sure none of the edges are overlapping. Then pinch the flat bottom and  and roll.it around one of the branches. I just used white twist ties to secure it when I had it arranged to look the way I wanted.

Okay, now for these little buds I started with a 2x2 in piece of crepe paper (tissue for the tutorial). 

You want to fold it in half.

Then fold it in half again. 

Then I cut the lose edge side of the square into scalloped edges. (I didn't draw on them, that's just so you can figure out these crappy directions!)

After you cut out the scallop/petal shape you should have something like this.

You want to form into a cone shape around the end of the twig. I used a dab glue for this one.

I hope you like it as much as I did. Especially for Zero Bucks!

Sneak peak of the shower!

Thanks all you peeps for having these awesome parties- and maybe, just maybe someone will read this blog!!


Linked up all over the place at At Home with K, Tip Junkie,  Reason to Skip the Housework,  Decor to Adore, Simply Designing, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, French Country Cottage, Stuff and Nonsense, Simply Sweet Home, Inspiring Creations , Creation Corner, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Creating Really Awesome Free Things,  Petite Hermine and Fingerprints on the Fridge!

Spring Centerpiece

Looking down on my handy work.

I've been looking for a spring centerpiece and I've been looking for a baby shower table centerpiece. I think I've found just the thing. It's an easy peasy project that cost me NOTHING! 

Don't you just love that?

All I did was go outside and cut some of the beautiful branches beginning to bud. I actually had to determine whether or not this was a good idea and finally decided that one of the reasons trees are here are to provide beauty for us to enjoy. Soooo, I cut some branches and arranged them in one of my favorite vases. 

Then I made some crepe paper buds. I looked online for ideas but all I could find was tissue paper flowers- like carnation sized. I just want little buds.

I drew flower shape onto the tissue paper in various sizes and then cut them out.

I pinched them in the middle, then twisted the center where I was pinching the tissue paper.

I used a little dab of glue to hold them in place.

Then I wanted some large flowers that looked like cherry blossoms or something of that scale.

I played around with tissue paper cutting and folding and layering until I got the look just right.

I used a pink marker to outline the edges of one of the layer for just a little pop of pink.

For the larger "flowers" I used some white twisty ties and wrapped each one around the end of a branch.

I actually removed the blue when the shower was over and replaced them with smaller versions of the white ones.

Sorry about the yellow tint- took photos at night.

I'll post more tomorrow on the "how-to" for the faux flowers.


Linked up at Funky Junk Interiors, Tatertots and Jello, Simply Designing,  Nifty Thrifty Things,  Craft Envy, I Heart Nap Time, Tip Junkie and Reasons to Skip the Housework.

Special Touches

I've been working on some special little details for the baby shower I'm throwing, more about that here and  here. I've mentioned that I'm a HUGE believer in planning before undertaking a project. I hate to waste time and (especially) resources on changing your mind or and "whoopsies" that happen. Not a great pet peeve for us DIY undertakers but great planning has helped tremendously.

In my prior posts you can see the some of my inspirations.

I've worked with simple tools to put together my own cupcake flags and prize bags.

These bags were ridiculously easy to put together and they cost me ZERO extra dollars!

They are white paper bags, which I already owned, silver wrapping ribbon, card stock I'd already purchased for the shower and the inspiration stickers I've mentioned.  The turquoise square is 3"x3", the light blue is 2"x2" and the white is 1 1/2" x 1 1/2".

Easy, cute, and extra budget friendly!

This is an example of the cupcake toppers I've made. They were even easier than the gift bags. I used some thicker and longer than usual square toothpicks I already owned and and made smaller versions of the decal I put on the gift bag. The turquoise is 2"x2"in and light blue is 1 1/2"x1 1/2". The sticks are just taped on the back, so easy it's ridiculous!

Linked up at Chic on a Shoestring , Simply Designing, Stuff and Nonsense,  Tip Junkie,  Tatertots and Jello and Reason to Skip the Housework!