organize me please

I would love my inspiration board to look as neat and pretty as this

I love the different twist on a bulletin board.

genius calendar idea

Today I had a beautiful though pop into my head.

But first, the preface....

Here I am. Loving to make lists. Loving to have things organized.

Here Ryley is. Hating lists and is not so worried about order.

During our little family home evening last night both R and I discussed how we could be more organized with school and finances and well, life. R is having a hard time remembering what is due each day in his oh so many classes. Thus I, the lover of lists, asked if maybe we could make a school calendar to help him know what he has to accomplish each day and not just see a million projects due and become overwhelmed and peace out before he can even start.

Today I went a bought a big slice of butcher paper. I decided to make a massive calendar taking up one of our bare walls. { fyi it's yellow wich =s happy } While I was cutting the paper down to size I remember this sweet picture R bought from a thrift store with a metal frame around it. The painting is 6 feet x 6 feet. Huge. Well it's not the best photo and I couldn't paint over it so I decided to tape the butcher paper to the painting to frame our ginourmous calendar.

Then the light bulb.

I thought what if I make a massive magnetic board in which we can put a massive calendar, homework, inspiration, love notes, and whatever we fancy. Such a brilliant idea! I'm actually pretty stoked because everyone would love a massive magnet board... right? Well maybe I shouldn't say that until it's finished. Which will hopefully be sooner than later.

Birthday DIY

I've got R's birthday on my mind lately. I've got 2 weeks to plan something wonderful. [which is hard because last May it snowed on his birthday and it is currently 38 degrees here.] Any ideas? I would LOVE to have them! Here is a happy little card that would be super easy to make.

The first is my favorite. My question is will a man appreciate a card like this?

DIY String Chandeliers

I found these beautiful string chandeliers today and can't wait to make my own. If it ever gets warm enough I think I'll have to make these for an outdoor dinner party. Too see how to make them go here.
I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday.

Party in your Easter eggs

Today I taught a bunch of happy little 8 year olds and guess what the biggest thing I learned. ONLY 4 MORE DAYS TIL EASTER! Can you believe it? Seriously where did April go? It seems like I always have big beautiful plans for holidays, but then somehow the show up and my jaw has dropped to the floor in a oh-my-goodness-I-haven't-done-one-festive-thing-and-now-it's-over-and-I-can't-celibrate-it-with-R-for-ANOTHER-YEAR!!! Augh I hate that feeling. For all you people like me I'm here to let you know you still have time. You can still make a little something for someone and brighten their day. You still have 4 days!

Here are a few of my favorite easter eggs that will most definitely put a smile on your face.

1. Gold Confetti Eggs throws a delightful little twist from the usual candy center found here

2. Decoupage Surprise Eggs look a lot more beautiful and crafted than dyed eggs found here

3. Message in an Egg tutorial found here is my most favorite of all. Everyone would love to unwrap a beautiful box to find an egg with a hidden message.

beautiful gifts

For some reason I've been obsessed with different gift wrapping ideas. Maybe it's because I've wrapped my presents the same all my life and there's something great about a little switch up. Plus half the fun is seeing a beautiful box that's just for you and wondering if what's inside is as great as what you're looking at already.

Great confetti packaging found at Oh Happy Day made by Joke

Rainbow-yarn wrappings found at Oh Happy Day or created by Melanie Falick

Cloth Valentine's done by one of my favorites at Say YES to Hoboken

hand-made book

I made this book for my sis-in-law Ashley for Christmas.

For some reason the moment I drew her name

I knew I wanted to make her something. I literally haven't made a book in over a year and forgot how hard it was.

I made the fabric just like I did my Ugly Sweater party invites.

I love the way the bicycles turned out.

I did a hand stitch on the binding called the coptic stitch.

It's a little tricky at first, but you get the hang of it.

If you want to make a coptic book you can find a video on the stitch on youtube.

I don't know why, but when I gave this little wrapped present to Ashley I was super nervous. I guess after spending so much

time it's more important if they like it.

I threw in some red lipstick just in case.

And yes, one day a tutorial.

Travel Case

This has been my most recent project, a beautiful travel case I picked up at thrift store Deseret Industries. I got it for a whopping $2. It needed a little work. I had to completely gut the inside, cut new card board, re-fabric, and put it back together. Luckily I had some fabric laying around that worked perfect. I covered the inside with a dark, almost pea green and a grey. I then covered the center attachment piece in lace to add a little something. Next I cleaned up the outside with lots of soap + water and added a nice patch for the finishing touch. Now I just need to decide if it's a travel case or my new sewing case. Either way I'm in love.

Lace Cardi

I went to Downeast Outfitters the other day and fell in love with a lace cardigan. The only problem was that it was $34. I decided to make my own instead. All I did was round up some of my old lace ribbon and sew it to the front. I wish I had a picture of me wearing it because it actually looks really cute. Plus, if I ever get sick of it I can just undo my seems super easy. Great $5 fashion.

Globes

This is actually a shout out to my sis-in-law Ashley because I know she loves maps so I think she might like globes too. Just a few fun ideas of what you can you with those old globes you always find. 1st use it as a Halloween treat bowl. (sorry the picture is blurry, I took it from a video)

Next, which is my favorite, use your globe as a lamp. It's super easy. All you do is cut it in half and stick you light fixture in and hang it up. I love the way it looks.

Homemade + Thrift

My end table with everything on it cost me around 25 beautiful dollars. I found the gold birds in the glass case (where all the most valuable items are locked) at DI and fell in love. R found the vintage camera in the case as well and couldn't resist either. With a $5 vase and some grey spray paint on branches I was able to make the rest.

Making a tree is super easy. All you need is

1. good looking branches

2. spray paint of your choice

3. dirt to plant and also rocks or gems to cover dirt on top

3. paper to make origami or go to Ikea to grab some pre-made

So simple. So perfect.

Aren't these birds just perfect?

Thrift Mirror

I wish I had a before/after photo of this mirror to really show you what I did to it. This mirror cost $10 and is a good size mirror that would have probably cost anywhere from $50-$75 new. It was actually connected to a medicine cabinet which my sweet R helped me take off and add a wire to hang it from. It was also this old school chipping gold color that definitely had to go. When I got this gem I was in the middle of painting our desk grey so I though I might as well just slap a little grey over the top of it. It's the right grey color, which gives it a modern feel, and still has some gold popping out to give it a vintage look as well. What do you think?

PS Excuse my crazy self in the pictures. It's a little hard getting a good angle without being in the photo.