Ingredients: 1 8 oz pkg softened cream cheese, 1 small container of sour cream, 1/2 c salsa (or to taste), 1 packet of taco seasoning, lettuce, cheese, tomato, olives
Total Cost: $12.50
Total Cost: $10.50
Time Needed: 20 minutes
Take an old wire hanger, and cut a piece off the straight edge. Bend the ends over on themselves - one should look like a small loop and one should make a fishhook. Nail a small nail on the backside of your cupboard and stick the small loop edge over the nail. Then, hang your bananas on the fishhook edge. Voila!
Linked up at Little Brick Ranch and Tatertots and Jello
I got these three tins for a dollar and I got a whole pack of round styrofoam balls. I only used 2 of them, so I have a ton to use for another project later. I cut the balls in half and glued them on the top of the tin lids.
For two of the lids, I took ribbon and did a loose stitch along the edge. I then pulled the thread tight, which made the ribbon bunch up. I started at the top of the ball, and glued the ribbon in a circle around the styrofoam until the whole ball was covered.
For the other one, I followed the same basic pattern in the foursquare flower, except that I scrunched the petals and glued them from the center down on the styrofoam ball. On top of each of the "cupcakes" I glued on a few buttons as decorations.
I then took a strip of paper, used some scrapbooking scissors to make the edges all foofy, and folded the paper like an accordin to give it the look of a cupcake wrapper. I wrapped this around the bottom of the tin, and there you go! I can't wait to use these for gifts for my cute friends.
Super easy, super fun, and super cheap. I got the pots and the sticks at the dollar store (though if you had pretty nature around you, you could for sure get your sticks there) and I used paper I already had to make the flowers. Just cut a big circle in spiral and spin it in on itself (see the tutorial I linked to above). Voila!
Directions: Wrap the leaf vines around the straw hoop and strategically glue into place. Glue the eggs down wherever you want them to go. Then attach the birds and stick the calla lilies into any empty spots or wherever they seem to fit best. Thread the ribbon through the top part of the straw hoop and hang from your door frame. Easy, fast, and oh so cute!
Final cost of this project: $9. I got everything except the eggs at the Dollar Tree and the eggs were on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I love my life!
Well, I decided it was time for action after heading to the Dollar Tree. I have come to love and cherish the Dollar Tree. Seriously, there are some real steals and deals in there. One of the things they had was these fabulous folding organizer bins. The white cabinet is full of them. All of them came with dividers, but I left those out of 2 so I could put bigger stuff in there. So now rather than being the cabinet from hell, it's the cabinet where all of my stuff is neatly organized.
I then looked at the top of said white cabinet. Boring. It needed a facelift. So I used things I already had and dressed it up a bit. The hub's great aunt passed away last year, and she was a hoarder. On one trip to visit, my in laws brought some fabulous old books, which I used as a base for my lamp. I had a Willow Tree statue of a reading girl, so on she went. Then one of the teacup candles I made previously joined the mix. Then (and this is my favorite part), I added the suitcase. My friend Monica bought an old clarinet at a thrift store and is cleaning it in order to turn it into a lamp. I know, it's gonna be amazing. More on that later, I'm sure. Well, she didn't want the case. After cleaning the clarinet, it was too gross for her. Well, you bet your buttons I dibbesed that guy. And look how cute he is! Add a little greenery behind it so that there's not an awkward empty space, and there you go! Vintage tablescape for free!
Then I moved on to the table. I used to teach junior high (at 26, saying something like that makes me sound a bit pretentious and like I'm trying to be more like 50 - tee hee!) and when we moved away, I took the long, skinny card table I put in my classroom with me to use as my craft table. Well, as you can see, it's visible now. I put everything away, cleaned it up, only left the essentials on the top, and wiped the whole thing down. Glamorous? No. Functional and actually usable now? Heck yes. You'll notice that I bought some hanging organizers and duct taped them to the sides. The duct tape is under the table so you can't see it, but then I can hang stuff from the side of the table that I need but that won't go anywhere else. Again, thank you Dollar Tree.
Well, at this point, the wall was bare. Not to fear, Dollar Tree to the rescue again! Did you know they sell vinyl at the Dollar Tree!?! It's in the home office section, and it is a bit limited, but come on. For a dollar? Yeah, that's happening. So I bought two kits, one with a cute phrase and one with butterflies. And there you go, a cute and super cheap wall decoration.
What you're not seeing in the room is that in the corner where I was standing to take the pictures used to be a quilting frame and 5 huge boxes full of food storage. Not very visually appealing. Well, they've all found homes in the closet now. Thanks to the hubs for the help on that one - my flimsy arms were not about to take on the challenge of hoisting 75 lb boxes of freeze dried food storage to a height taller than myself. And there you go! The room is clean and organized and a major project has been completed with an entire room overhaul. And the total cost? Well... $10. Yeah. And for that $10, I bought 2 vinyl sets and 8 organizational stuff-holders (that's the official name of those things, by the way). And this, of course, warranted that I share. Now if only I could find the motivation to do this with the rest of my house... :)
Time Needed: 5-10 minutes
Directions: Find a picture you want to transfer and, if needed, photoshop that sucker. I lightened the one I found a little bit because of the t-shirt it was going on. Then print that baby on the transfer paper (follow the directions on the package). Lay out the shirt, and iron according to transfer paper directions. And wear with pride.
Directions: Cut your canvas to the desired size. Run on over to your sewing machine and flip the fabric inside out. Sew a hem on the bottom big enough to thread the elastic through. Cut your elastic to somewhere between 1/2 to 2/3 the size of the width of the fabric. Then use the safety pin to thread it through. Sew the ends into place so they don't go anywhere. Stitch the top and sides together and flip right side out. Then, because it'd be boring without it, add a ribbon to hang it on your fridge (or wherever) and add some cute little felt flowers. Attach with the glue gun or the sewing machine, whichever suits your fancy. Stuff with those grocery bags, and you are set to go. Make two and give one to your best friend and you can be matchie. Aww, cute!
So... 10 points to the person who can tell me what these shirts are saying. Tee hee!
These ones are for the hubs, and he LOVES them. I wonder why...
Directions: Heat up a pot of 8 c. water (don't bring it to a boil!- also anywhere from 4-16 cups works, just make sure you know how much you use!). Dump in your grated fels naptha soap and wait for it to dissolve, stirring occasionally, if desired. Dump into a 5 gallon bucket and add borax and washing soda. Make sure both are dissolved and add your water. If you go with 5 gallons just fill up your whole bucket, don't worry about measuring. If you do less than 5 gallons, there are 16 cups in a gallon. Stir a bit to make sure it's mixed. then, using a funnel and something to scoop with (I use a 4 cup liquid measuring cup) put your detergent into your containers.NOW: to explain the difference in amount of water used. Helen, a friend of mine, has 7 boys ages 2-16, I believe. She uses the 5 gallon recipe and puts in roughly 5/8 cup detergent to each load. I imagine with boys (though hers seem pretty clean) the clothes are sometimes nice and dirty, and she has no complaints about her soap not working. Hilary uses the 2 1/2 gallon recipe and uses 1/2 cup unless the load is really dirty, when she uses 1 cup. So they've been using about the same amount of soap with very different concentrations. Last night when I made my soap I decided to meet in the middle and used 3 1/2 gallons (56 cups total) of water and plan on using 1/2 cup unless super dirty. I'll let you guys know if I think I need to use a little more.
This recipe costs about $1.50- $2.00 to make, depending where you get your ingredients!
Directions: Clip off any excess length from your clumps of foliage. Stick the foliage into the woven twigs so they start to weave in to the design as well. Then, take the wire and wrap it around one twig near the base of your design. Then, wrap the wire up the design in a spiral, leaving about an inch between each coil. Be sure the wire is hidden in the foliage so it can't be seen. Once it's all wrapped, tie off the wire as before, and clip off. Add any extra wire where things need to be more sturdy.
Trace the outline of the tiles on the paper with the pencil. Cut out the squares. Use the glue stick to completely coat the top of the tile, paying close attention to the edges of the tile. Place the paper on the tile, and allow the glue to dry. (I weighed down the tiles by stacking them on each other and resting the Mod Podge bottle on them till they dried - just extra drying in place security). Once dry, coat the tiles and the edges with Mod Podge. I used 6 layers, and you have to wait 10-20 minutes between each coat of Mod Podge. The Mod Podge keeps them waterproof and glossy. Once dried, stick the adhesive felt circles on the bottoms of the tiles, and there you go!
