2.25.2012

New Daily Deals Site Wants YOU!

Well, guess what I have? Another sick child. So, that probably means another week without crafting. Sigh. And I have quite a few things I can't wait to get working on. But.....while I am basking in the smells and scents of upset stomachs (insert sarcasm), I wanted to give you a scoop!



There is a NEW daily deals site called Sweet Lia Bella and they are looking for VENDORS!  Here's a little bit about the company from their owner, Laurie:

I am a stay at home mom of six beautiful children.  I have always looked for ways that I can buy affordable gifts for family, friends and myself while still getting something spectacular.  My favorite kind of gift to give is something that has been hand crafted or custom designed. So I decided how great would it be to create a site that combined hand crafted items at a sweet price.

Sweetliabella.com is a company that everyone can afford to buy something extra special for anyone!  Sweet Lia Bella will be featuring hand crafted items from sellers from all over the states at a discounted price.  Each deal will run for a short period of time.

Sign up to find out what the Sweet Deal of the Day will be.  These are going to be amazing deals you will not want to miss.  By "liking" our Facebook page you will be directed to the page to sign up for our daily deals so that you don't miss any of the great deals.

Vendors if you have an item that you would like to feature I am looking for you.  Contact me at sweetliabella@wowway.com for more information on being a feature deal on my site.  Right now I am busy getting vendors ready to start featuring on our sweet deals so sign up at sweetliabella.com and you will be one of the first to find out our first deal! Pin It

2.23.2012

Jazz up Boring Furniture with Molding

A fresh coat of paint doesn't always get the job done on boring old furniture.   Especially if it doesn't have curves.  What about adding crown molding to dress it up a little?
Just check out those curves!


I found this piece on Craigslist a while ago.  Truthfully, I probably shouldn't have bought it- I thought it was solid wood, because we were checking it out at a storage unit that was poorly lit.  It wasn't until we were loading it into the truck that the guy divulged that it was laminate.  Boo!  Next time I'm unloading it off the truck.  You live and learn, right?  I still love the look of the cross sections on the doors- that's what caught my eye.


It turned out just fine after adding crown and a few coats of paint.  You'd never know it's laminate.

This was truly a learning experience for me- not every part of this project was a cake walk.  Nitty gritty details to come.

First thing's first~ I removed all the hardware.


I found molding on sale, but it was way too big for the top of the cabinet.  We don't have a table saw, but we do have a scroll saw- gotta work with what ya got.  My poor husband sliced that molding for a good half hour, and I'm sure the blade is pretty dull now.  Here's a little tip- find the right size.

We cut each piece of molding to meet at a 45 degree angle on the corners.


1. We stripped off the laminate where we were going to attach the molding.  This was easy since the laminate was already coming off.
2. We generously applied wood glue.
3.  We placed the molding flush against the table so that it was perfectly even with the top.


4. We used clamps to hold the molding in place over night to let the wood dry.
5. We sanded down the top of the cabinet.


I've heard the Cover-Stain Primer from Zinsser is the best product to use on laminate.  You don't even have to sand.  Sounds amazing, right?  Ok, here it comes (the nitty gritty)- I have a love-hate relationship with this primer.  Here's why: the fumes are awful.  I had the garage mostly open when I was painting and I had a headache and nausea all evening  (no I'm not pregnant- good thing!) Turns out this primer doesn't meet VOC standards and on top of that it contains lead - great!  It works wonders on laminate, but be sure to read the label and take appropriate safety precautions.


6.  I used a roller brush to apply the Zinsser primer.  Set aside my reservations about the chemicals in the primer, it really is great to use on laminate.
7. I used 220 grit sand paper to smooth the surface.
8.  I applied Pale Daffodil from Behr using a roller brush and used a regular brush to get the cracks and corners.


Beautiful!

Was it worth it?  Oh most definitely- I love that I was able to work together with my husband on this project.  And despite the headache (literally), I enjoyed the process of transforming this beauty.
Check out the link page to see where I'm sharing this post.

If you enjoyed this post, come check out more at Que Linda.


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Spring Forward Tutorial

Who wants to play a game? We will call it "I have NEVER"! I will tell you things I have done and if you have done it or had it happen to you then you buy yourself a new craft project to make yourself feel better!

I had ALL of these great St Patrick's Day craft ideas ready to go. I went to the store and bought my supplies and got started. This was the result of the first one:



Has this ever happened to you? Your can of spray paint goes INSANE and sprays everywhere BUT the right direction...even on the garage floor, Oh Just Kidding Hubby! I wasn't spray painting in the garage because it was WAY too cold to go outside : D So has that happened to you? Your project is destroyed by a haywire can of paint, if so buy yourself something!

So that plan was scrapped....even after I tried it again and it did the same thing! Oh what? You have tried things more then once and it had the same outcome..isn't that like the definition of insanity??

OK enough complaining, lets get on to the tutorial! Thanks again Diana for letting me do the holiday/seasonal craft this month. If you aren't sure who I am, I am Kalyn from And I Thought I Loved You Then. I am here each month showing you a fun holiday or seasonal craft!

Oh wait..another I Have Never! Have you seen all of these amazing wood crafts out there and think I can totally do that? Then you realize you don't have a jigsaw and you cut the tip of your finger off with hedge clippers and think it isn't a good idea to buy a saw? What, I am the only one on that one?? FINE!

Well, when I realized a Jigsaw is not a good idea for ME I looked for someone to sell the unfinished, pre-cut wood. I stumbled across Wendy. She sells the wood kits, super cheap, and you can decorate them all you want! She has them for all holidays and seasons. Perfect for me!

When the kit arrives it is packaged super cute. It has the wood, some accessories, and directions in it. I bought a few kits but I decided to show you the Spring kit as it is snowing like mad here and I am protesting!



Start out with your wood, sand the edges just a bit to get the fuzzies off.



Now it is time to decide, do you want to paint your letters or paper them? I am SICK of paper around my house so I went with paint!

Prime all of the wood that is provided. I use spray paint as it is the easiest....OK I know earlier I said a can exploded on me but I am INSANE so I tried again!



Once it is all primed figure out your paint. Wendy gives a few suggestions on what colors to paint some pieces but you can be as creative as you want. I just went to the local hardware store and picked out some paints.

I'm a pretty messy spray painter


As they dry lets start on the bird. Take your bird and its wing and paper it with cute paper. Just trace it out and Mod Podge it on.




Wendy provides a few templates, one of those is for the beak of the bird. Cut out the template and cut out a beak on the orange paper she provides as well. Mod Podge it on.

Once it is all dry hot glue your wing onto your bird.




OK flower time. Once again she provides the templates and the paper. Here is a tip. If you don't feel like cutting out the template, just lay it on the paper and trace over the flower outline with a pen. You will get the outline and only have to cut those flowers once. My flowers aren't beautiful, they kind of look the flowers in my garden, you can tell they are flowers but not as pretty as my neighbors AWARD winning roses..blah blah blah...



Once you have both pieces of the flower cut out Wendy says to ink the edges. I like the look of inked edges but I only had Gold Ink...eh why not?
 

Now Mod Podge the two pieces together then glue the button, also provided, onto the middle of the flower. How Cute??



To make the stem of the flower take the wire, provided, and twist it together like at twisty tie, leaving a loop at the top. Glue the loop to the back of the flower petals and tada, a flower!



Take the wire and thread it through the hole in the beak. I twisted it around back and glued it so my little girls fingers don't happen to steal the flower and hide it in her SUPER hidden hiding spot that mom can't find and knows half off our stuff is there.



Once everything is dry, take the sticks and put them in the bottom of the bird for legs, and in the base to hold it up as the "I" in Spring. Put a dot of hot glue in each hole to hold them in place. You can add embellishments to the letters if you want, I did not because I tend to go overboard and end up not liking the end result.

You are done! Now that everything is dry, display it!



Thank you again everyone for following along to my tutorial. I hope you enjoyed it! I will see you again next month...hopefully without any more disasters!!

Kalyn Pin It

2.19.2012

Just Something I Whipped Up

 

It’s a miracle. There is silence in my house. My husband and girls are at church practicing for our Easter Production, Kole is napping and I am finally, FINALLY getting the chance to sit down and blog. For the last 2 weeks I’ve been dealing with sick kids. Stomach viruses and ear infections and I think I am finally seeing some light at the end of this tunnel. I was also helping co-chair an event at my girls’ school and that is finally done. I can breathe. And now I can blog. :)

I’ve recently teamed up with Mindy Mae’s Market and I’m going to be showing you some cool projects that you can make from the supplies they offer on their daily deals site. More on that this week!

Last week was so much fun sharing our first kiss stories. I loved reading all of the comments and smiling and nodding to the ones that I could relate to. :) Speaking of “love”, anyone doing the Love Language Challenge? I’ve read the book and it’s so great so I think the challenge will be fun. I hope to get started on that soon.

So, let’s get this party started a bit early, shall we?

  • Add a link to what you’ve been working on this week.
  • No Pinterest Round-ups please. I want to see what YOU have done.
  • Grab a button and post it somewhere on your blog so that other can join the fun.
The Girl Creative

OHHH, one more quick thing: the linky list this week is going to be sorted from newest to oldest. I thought I’d change it up a bit!

……………HAVE A GREAT WEEK……………

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2.12.2012

Just Something I Whipped Up


Welcome to another week of Just Something I Whipped Up! I know this is a crafty link-up party but with Valentine’s Day just a few days away and with LOVE in the air I thought it would be fun to share stories of…………..
FIRST KISSES!!!
Okay, I’ll go first! :) I was 19 (old, I know. Don’t be hatin’ lol) and I was babysitting my little cousins (who were sleeping) with my boyfriend and I knew he wanted to kiss me but was stalling so I finally said “Why don’t you just kiss me already!” He was a bit surprised that I just came right out and said that but I got my point across! That was February 11, 1995. 

:::::::What’s your first kiss story?? Share it in the comments:::::::

Okay friends, inspire me! Add a link to what you’ve been working on!

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2.11.2012

Valentine’s Day Cupcake Toppers {Printable}

I created these adorable Valentine cupcake toppers and wanted to share with you. I used them for a Valentine's party for Sunday School and I will be using them for the Valentine's party at my daughter's Kindergarten class.


 
All you need is a 2" scallop/circle punch, lolly pop sticks and some tape and you will be good to go!  

Please click on the image to download the PDF.


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Please be sure to direct people to this post to download if you would like to share them.

Enjoy!!!
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