A couple new pegboards..

I've been working on pegboards again. This morning I finished up the Fresh Pear.  I painted a piece of mdf green and free handed a picture of a pear.  After the paint had dried I sanded it down and added some vinyl lettering across the top. For the trees pegboard I taped off trunks and branches and used a circle stamp for the tree tops. I also sanded down the trees.  Click HERE for pricing.  

Cheap and Easy

Ha ha...um....I guess I should have titled this post something else. That really sounds pretty crass, but in crafty terms it's the best way to describe the project o' the day.  I'm making napkin rings.  Don't ask me why...I don't really entertain very frequently and in all my years of every having parties I have never once used cloth napkins.  In fact I had to cut up an old table cloth just to make it look like I even have cloth napkins.  Even still, I was pretty excited about this idea because It's so cheap and easy!  I saw something similar in a Better Homes magazine yesterday and I wanted to put my own little spin on them.  I took an empty paper towel thingy and cut it on the conveniently marked lines left on the cardboard. 

 I painted them brown and added some embellishments. 

 Easy right??? Cheap right??? They may even motivate me to want to throw a little party sometime....I don't know...maybe?!?....I'd have to try and round up a matching set of dishes. Actually it may be cute to go to DI and get all different kinds of plates and have a unique mismatched table setting. That could be really fun.  Alright...I'm starting to babble.... anyhoo give them a try! They are really fun and easy enough for young kids to do with you for a birthday party setting.  

The knack of nick-nacks/ Creative Cats

Welcome to Creative Cats today! I just have to say that my computer is as slow as mud today and I'm not much faster...so hopefully you'll get to see this post sometime today. I did a little research about decorating shelves and I found an awesome article on HGTV.  They gave 14 tips on how to decorate shelves or really anything that you could put stuff on top of.  I wanted to keep them, so I'm making a post about them.  Here is the link if you want to see all of their pictured examples: 14 Decorating Tips

• Your interests and hobbies should come thru in what you choose to display on your shelves.
  
• Group items by theme, color, shape, texture or material on shelves to unify your display.                                                                                    Picture by Real Simple
• Collections. Whatever you collect deserves pride of place in your home.                                                            Picture by Not on the High Street
• Choose bigger, bolder accessories that will stand out on your shelves.
• Aim for balance, not symmetry. Asymmetrical arrangements of 3,5 or 7 add a subtle element of surprise.
• Have combinations of short, medium and tall objects.                                                                                      Picture by Superstock.com
• Make your shelves shine with glass, crystal and silver objects.
• Place large, tall items at the back of the shelf and work your way to the front creating layers and depth.
• If your decorating style leans towards an uncluttered look, your decorative shelves should reflect that.  
• Group books by color, size, or subject and instantly create sense of order.                                                                                                                                             Picture by HGTV
• Shelves are a great place to display art and photos and they make it a snap to rotate new pieces into your home gallery.                                                                     Picture by HGTV
• Place objects on the top of bookshelves or cabinets to highlight tall ceilings or simply provide space to display big dramatic pieces.                                                              Picture by Freshome.com
• Illuminate your shelves to spotlight your arrangements and give added importance.

So, yeah, my contribution to Creative Cats isn't really something creative I have done- but something will do after seeing all of these cute pictures!  Now it's time for something way more exciting because it is something from YOU!! It's Creative Cats Tuesday, our creative show and tell. 

 Please feel free to link up anything that you have done that takes a bit of creativity on your part.  After you have linked, grab yourself a creative cats button from my side bar.  Make sure you link a specific post and not your blog URL. Link back to Poppies at Play so other people can play along.  I am going to be gone all day long, so I will take a look at all of your amazing projects later on tonight.  We will not be having CC next week because I'll be at girls camp, so this is it for a couple of weeks! Have fun and happy creating!!

Hutch/Wardrobe/Cabinet/What-cha-ma-call-it?!

I haven't really figured out for sure what I want this thing to be yet.... but hey.... the good news is that it's just about done... all except for making the top. We took it completely apart to paint it.  Joe was such a sweetheart to help me put this sucker back together even after he spent hours on the drywall downstairs. I know it was probably the last thing he was thinking about doing, but he was kind enough to help me out. It took a little more time than I was thinking it would... doesn't that always happen?!? We replaced the back with bead board, traded the little small knob with a more substantial gate handle, I covered the shelves with burlap and painted and stained the rest of it!  It's nice to have this one mostly done. It's been one of those projects that is more annoying than fun for some reason. I do like how it's turning out, so that makes it all worth it! We picked this up while we were out hitting garage sales a couple weeks ago. The family was trying to move and they were selling a TON of stuff. That's where I picked up the desk that I redid last week as well. I saw the door of the cabinet in the back of a huge pile of stuff. I almost didn't even ask about it because it was so buried, but after hearing that they'd sell it to me for $5 I changed my tune and we tied it to the top of the van and hauled it out of there! I have it in my front room for now until we finish the basement and move things around. I'll have to think about what place would work best. Any suggestions?!? Have a wonderful weekend and we'll hang next week!!

Creative Cats Tuesday!

Welcome to Creative Cats everyone!! For my project today I'm doing a bit of sewing(don't laugh)...Here in Eagle Mountain we have an enormous clothing exchange that our church provides for the community.  They collect gently used clothing all year long and about a month before school starts they let people come in with garbage bags and get as much as they would like.  This thing is HUGE. You would not believe the amount of clothing that they collect in a years time.  It fills an entire LDS Stake Center. Every room including the gym is packed with clothing.  Everything that's left over is donated to the boys and girls club.  It's pretty cool...OK, sorry I got side tracked, anyhoo I found this cute pink skirt at the exchange. It was too big, but I thought, "hey, I bet I could take that in."  Once I got home and started thinking more clearly I remembered that it was ME I'm talking about and I'm sure I couldn't take something in and make it look good. Time to implement plan"b".  I cut the top of the skirt off and stuck it in the sewing machine(I said don't laugh). 

 I stuffed it with an old pillow and sewed another seam just above the ruffle.

  I'm using it for a throw pillow in my front room.  Close inspection of this project is strictly prohibited.  Sewing is not my forte.  I am however excited to see what your forte is! Please feel free to link up today and share a bit of your creativity with us. Any and all forms of creativity are welcome and appreciated! Leave me a comment so I know that you've linked and grab yourself a CC button.  If you find yourself impressed with all of the talented people who link up(like I always am) make sure and leave them some comment love! I know they'll appreciate it! Happy Tuesday!!

• Kara~ Gives a great tutorial on how to recover a lampshade!
• Lindsay~ Refashions a top into an adorable dress for her kiddo. 
• Neva~ Teaches us how to make a laptop table! 
• Becky~ Shares a fashionable dining chair reupholstery. 
• Shanna~ You are going to love these burgers and fries made out of cake and cookies....really check it out....it's such a fun idea!!

Hair Pins

I chopped my hair off for the summer time. I love having it short, except for the fact that you can't do the whole pony tail thing when you are in a hurry. I've decided that bobby pins are the short haired girls pony tail.  I use them constantly. I thought I would make some cute hair pins for me and as a gift for my SIL birthday.  If you want something to do that's super easy and relatively inexpensive-this is project is for you. Here are the materials you'll need. I got all my supplies at Walmart. Back in the fabric department they have really large buttons with cute designs. They are $2 for a set of 3. I found some hair pins that have a flat surface on the top $2.50 for a set of 6.   You'll need to use epoxy to glue those suckers on. Anything else is just going to pop off. Use a toothpick to wipe the glue onto the pin. You don't want to get too much and glue the pin together.  While the glue dried I stuck the clip back on the edge of the paper so that if some of the glue seeped out I could just rip the paper backing off. You'll have to look at your epoxy bottle to see how long you'll need to let them dry. Mine took 24 hrs, but the seem to be holding tight so far!  Tomorrow is Creative Cats so drop by again tomorrow and bring something for show and tell!  I can't wait to see your projects!!

Why buy gift bags?

It's fun to add an element of yourself into gifts. Even if you are giving something practical like diapers(at first I typed that words as "diamonds" instead of "diapers" lol-not quite as practical). I found this wooden bucket at DI a few weeks ago.  I'm heading to another baby shower tomorrow so I wanted to make it into a gift bucket that I put a few things in for her baby girl.  We have tons of people who are having babies out here in Eagle Mountain. I think it's really fun going to baby showers, but it can get a little expensive if you have to buy gifts. This way you can add some baby shampoo and lotions or something that doesn't cost too much and you can still have a gift that feels personal and cute.  I painted the bucket pink and then added some dot stickers.

You could just as easily use a circle stencil or the eraser from a pencil to make dots.  It looks cute with just dots or you can also add some stripes by taping down the sides of the bucket and painting them white.

  After the white had dried I hit it with an electric sander to age it and to make it look less like a bucket of popcorn.  I'm excited to go to the store this afternoon and find a few things pack it with.  The bucket only cost me $1 so it really doesn't cost anymore than buying a gift bag.  

In other news...I did finish the door to my cabinet.  I'll show you what it looks like when the whole thing is finished.  Have a great day!  

Gracias and Day 2 of Cabinet makeover

I have been trying to figure out a way to say THANK YOU to you lovely ladies who have nominated me for awards without having to write a bunch of things about myself. I've decided to just spread some linky love and give you an idea of what these creative ladies can do so you can check out their talent.

 First I would like to thank Nicole @ Bugaboos Creations.  She nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award.  She has a really fun site. Here's an example of what she's been working on. 

 You also have to see her dresser makeover. Check it out HERE.

I would also like to thank Kimberly @ The Cupcake Cuppy for the Kreative Blogger Award. 

 She and her daughter did a wonderful job giving this old chair a new life.

You can also check out her tutorial on how to make your own alphabet blocks HERE.  

Thank you to Jamie @ The Junk Box for passing along the Kreative Blogger award. Jamie has all sorts of goodies on her site from decorating to ideas to crafts for young women. I love this.

 You can also find fun file folder church games HERE.  

Thank you ladies!!! I don't know what you are thinking nominating me, but I sure do appreciate it! I hope I got all of your info right. Let me know if I need to make adjustments or changes! You rock!

So I have to throw in day 2 of my cabinet makeover. I worked on the shelves. 

I figured that there's going to be a boat load of painting for this project, so I saved myself some painting time by covering the shelves that come out with burlap. I used spray adhesive to position the burlap and then used my favorite tool, the pneumatic staple gun...oh yeah baby!!

Fun stuff.  After I stapled the crap out of them I added weed paper to the bottom to prevent all the not so delicious fraying that burlap brings to the table. 

 Hopefully I'll have this done by the end of the week. That might be a little ambitious with all that has to be done this week, but I'll give it a shot.  Have a wonderful sunny day!