Saint Patrick's Day Free Printables

Today is a very rainy day here and we are stuck inside. What great day to cozy up and create some springy printables and share them with you. Hopefully Mother Nature will take a cue from my recent Spring posts and deliver some nice warm weather.

I love creating printables and am currently working on opening my Etsy shop. I'm very excited to be able to share that soon with all of you. Here are some St. Patrick's Day party circles for you! They can be used for cupcake toppers, favor bags, stickers, thank you notes etc.  Be creative with them and have fun!

Right click to save.

*Rainbow graphic from Lilly Bimble*

And these two are from the archives.

 Click here to download 

Click here to download

These files are for personal use only.  


You can find more of my FREE printables here:

Valentine Printable
All You Need Is Love Printables
Superbowl Party Printable
Fall Subway Art Printable
Football Printable



ENJOY!!

Spring Burlap Wreath Tutorial

I'm not much of a decorator for St. Paddy's Day or Easter.  I prefer to decorate with a general Spring theme so the decor can be up for a few months.  I've really gotten into wreaths in the past year so here is my take on a wreath for Spring

Last month, I participated in a campaign for Consumer Crafts .  I got a bunch of crafty goodness in the mail and have finally put some of those supplies to use, mainly the styrofoam wreath form.

For this craft you will need:

Wreath form

Burlap

Ribbon

Straight pins

Embellishments

Glue gun

Let's get started!

First, cut your burlap into strips.  I didn't measure mine..I just cut.  This is how wide mine were.  I had 4 strips this length and width.

Next, pin one of the strips of burlap to the back of your wreath and wrap it around the wreath.  When you get to the end of the burlap, secure it with a pin and start another strip. Continue this all the way around the wreath.

Secure your ribbon to the back of the wreath with a straight pin and wrap around the wreath in a cris-cross pattern. It does not have to be perfect.  Make a loop at the top for hanging and secure with a pin.

Embellish your wreath any way you want.  I chose to use green flowers, buttons and green and yellow acrylic letters to spell out the word "Spring".  I adhered all of them with hot glue. Get creative and use what you have in your stash! Here is my finished product.

I'm hoping that by hanging this on my front door, it will bring warmer weather our way.  I'm about done with winter!

Do you decorate with seasonal wreaths?  Leave a link below. I'd love to check them out.

Blogging Tips: Customize your Favicon

The blog was a bit sparse last week thanks to a nasty cold that decided to descend upon my house and park itself here for about five days.  Now that I am feeling back to normal, the blog will get back to normal.  

I have made many changes to my blog since I started it.  I'm always tweaking it and changing things around.  I have spent many hours on Google to figure it all out. Most of these changes are fairly simple and some require a small amount of knowledge of html.  In order to share the knowledge that I have gained (and hopefully help some of you out), I have decided to start a series on blogging tips. Every Monday, I will focus on a different tip. Last week I did a post on how to change your settings so you are not a "no-replycomment" blogger. Today, I will be teaching you how to customize your favicon.

What is a favicon and why is it useful? See that little square box that is next to your blog name?

That is your favicon. If it is not customized, it shows up as the generic blogger symbol.  By customizing it, you are adding to the branding of your blog. You can customize it in a few easy steps.

Go to your blog's layout page.

In the upper left, there is the Favicon gadget.  Click on "edit"

Select "Choose File".  You will probably want to choose your blog button file.

Click "save" and you are done!

Yes..it is that easy!

I hope you'll join me every Monday for more tips in my series!

Space Saving Art Station

If you are like me, the home you live in is not enormous.  I am always on the lookout for ways to maximize the function of a small space. I created this art station for my budding little artist by utilizing the unused space on one side of her closet.

Last year, I made her a Pallet Art Table.  That was useful for a while but because it is made out of pallets, the surface is a bit bumpy and uneven making it difficult when coloring.  So I went searching for something better and went "shopping" in our garage.  Anyone else do this?  You just never know what you will find in our garage and that day I found a gem.  My old craft table!

I picked up some pink buckets and a wire basket from the dollar bins at Tar-jay to hold her supplies. These buckets make her supplies very accessible and she doesn't have to dig through a big box which is what she was doing before.

I also like to limit the amount of crayons, markers etc. She has a few in each bucket and when those run out, I've got an extra stash to refill the buckets.

I hung our Melted Crayon Artwork that we made last year and used my Silhouette to cut out "Artist at Work" from vinyl.  

The Monogrammed Stool that I made earlier this week fits perfectly under the table. All I need now is to install a light over her workspace.  

Now she has her very own space to create her masterpieces (away from her little brother)!  I love the way her coloring books fit perfectly in the bottom dividers.

 And here is the best part: close the closet doors and mess is hidden!

Now if I could only find a way to keep the rest of her room clean and organized!  

YIKES!

DIY Monogrammed Stool {with Vinyl}

I'm a bit obsessed with monograms. I would monogram everything in my house if I could. So I'm very excited to share this project with you.

I picked up this beauty at a flea market for 12 bucks and got right to work. I probably didn't need to sand it since it was so roughed up but I sanded it anyway just to be safe.

After a good sanding, I gave it about four coats of  Valspar Paint and Primer in One in semigloss white.  This is the stool after one coat.

A few furniture painting tips:

Don't put your coats on too thick.  A few thin coats will look much better than one thick gloppy coat.  And it will dry a lot faster.

If painting something like a stool or chair, paint the outside first and let dry.  Then flip it over and paint the underside 

Here it is after 4 coats.  

Would you believe that as I was painting this it was about 50 or 60 degrees outside but by the time I was finished, it was soooo cold that I had to bring it inside?  Hence the indoor picture.  And then later that afternoon it actually snowed!  I live in NC so this is a big deal. 

I used my Silhouette to cut out the monogram and my daughter's name.  The font that I used for the monogram was Janda Stylish Script.  I used Times New Roman for her name. I've been collecting a bunch of free fonts lately.  Anyone else obsessed with fonts? You can check out my collection on Pinterest, here.  You aren't following me on Pinterest? You should. You can find all of my boards here.

The final product.  

A very easy and cheap project that took one afternoon. That's my kind of project!

Where in my house did this stool end up?  That's another post that you'll have to come back for!

Are you a "No-Reply" Commenter ? How To Fix It!

Here's the scenario:

You are trying to build your blogging community.  You are commenting on other's blogs but you never receive responses.  You begin to wonder why.  WHY don't other bloggers respond to your comments?  Sometimes it may be because the blog's author is extremely busy.   But more often than not, the other blogger WANTS to respond but can't because they cannot contact you.  

Why?  Because you are a "No-Reply" Commenter.

Are you confused about what that means?   I'll try to simplify it for you:

Every comment I receive on my blog goes directly to my email.    This way, I can respond to comments as I get them, even when I am on the go.  I type my reply and hit "send" and my response gets sent to the commenter's inbox.  However, before I respond, I check to see what email address my response will be sent to.  And all too often this is what I see:

"no-reply-comment@blogger.com"

Uh oh.  If I hit "send", my email goes nowhere and the commenter probably thinks that I don't care about their comment because they never receive a response. This is not the case.  I read (and try to respond) to every comment. I LOVE when you comment on my blog and I want to be able to respond to you.

So here is what you can do to make sure I can respond to your comments via email:

Go to your blogger dashboard.  Click on the dropdown menu in the upper right corner and choose "Blogger Profile".

Click the "edit profile" button.

Check the box next to "show my email address".

That's it! Easy, right?

So please check your settings.  It only takes a few minutes and then I will be able to respond to your sweet comments.

Hand Stamped Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!

Are you a last minute gift giver?  I've got an easy Hand Stamped Valentine for you to make today and have ready by the time your sweetheart gets home from work.

You will need cardstock, stamps and red (or pink) ink.

The stamps that I used came in a set and have this nice block so I can line them all up, ink them and stamp.  How easy is that?

They also have this cute storage tin so nothing gets lost.

Add another stamp, some chocolate and a special note to your sweetie on the inside and you are DONE!

Leave this hand stamped valentine on the kitchen table with a favorite bottle of wine, a homemade dinner or dessert and you are good to go!

Can you tell I like chocolate?

XOXO!

How to Create Beautiful Chalkboard Art {Tutorial}

Have you ever wondered how to create amazing chalkboard art?  Me too. For a long time I thought that this type of project was way beyond my skill set.  Guess what? It's not. There are lots of tutorials out there for the digital version of chalkboard art but I'm going to give you tips so you can create beautiful art on a real chalkboard.

Since this is the first one that I did, I kept it fairly simple.  I would advise starting small and simple and working your way up to more elaborate designs.

Here are some useful tips when creating chalkboard art.

USE WET CHALK

I was never aware that this made a difference but it does. Take a look at the picture below.  The top word was written with dry chalk.  The bottom word was written with wet chalk.  Which looks better?

Using wet chalk allows the chalk to glide along the chalkboard surface and it creates a cleaner (and thicker) line. However, do not get it sopping wet or you will just end up with a pool of water on your chalkboard.  Dip the chalk in a bowl of water and then pat it  on a paper towel before writing. Your writing will appear faint at first. After a few seconds, it will darken.

PICK A SIMPLE FONT

When you are beginning, pick a few simple fonts to use.  Once you get comfortable with the process you can gradually work your way up to more complicated fonts and designs.

PRINT OUT YOUR DESIGN

By printing out your design to scale, you can lay it out on your chalkboard to ensure that you have enough space.  For my project, I did not print it out but only because the design was simple and I knew it would fit. However, I did type it up in a Word Document for reference.  If you are doing several words or phrases you will want to print it out.

CHALKBOARD ART IS NOT PERFECT  

When writing your text and designs, keep "thickening" your lines until you get them the way you want. If you make a mistake, A q-tip dipped in water is a great tool to use to get that edge or shape that you want.   

I'm excited to begin creating new chalkboard art for every new season and holiday.

Have you created any chalkboard art lately?  Leave a link in the comments.  I would love to take a look at yours.

Keep Calm and Party On: Social Media Linky Party

Welcome to our Social Media Linky Party!

I am so excited to be hosting this weekly party and I have four amazing ladies co-hosting along with me!  Last week’s party was a huge success and we met so many new friends on Google+.  Today we will be sharing our Facebook pages. I have met several new people on Facebook and love interacting with everyone there, so this is one of my favorite parties!!

First, let me share the details of this party.  

This link up party is for all bloggers who would like to work on networking with other blogs as well as growing their Social Media following. 

Each week we will change which form of Social Media that we focus on.  They include Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Google+. 

What if you don’t have one of these accounts but would like to participate?

Easy, just link up your Blog instead. We want to connect with you even if you don’t use all forms of Social Media that we do! 

How do you participate?

First, follow your Host and all Co-hosts (there are 5 of us). 

The Taylor House

Nap Time is the New Happy Hour

My Crazy Beautiful Life

Here Comes the Sun

Who Has Time for the Gym

This week our focus is on Facebook!

Stop and visit as many new friends as you would like, and be sure to leave a comment!  If this is your first time to participate in our party be sure to leave a comment below and I will be sure to stop by your site! 

17 Valentine Projects

With all the amazing projects out there, I think I'm starting to like Valentine's Day more than Christmas :)   There are so many that I want to make and I'm running out of time so I've put together a few of my favorites for you.

2 Kool for School from Mom 4 Real

Love Potion from Craft Interrupted

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies from Bird on a Cake

Marshmallow Heart Pops from Mess for Less

Winged Heart Sachets from Positively Splendid

I Would SOBE Your Valentine from My Sister's Suitcase

Valentine's Day Love Embroidery from My Girlish Whims

Cupid's Arrows Gumdrops from Mom on Timeout

Valentine Photo Frame from One Artsy Mama

Heartstrings from Girl in the Garage

Love Potion Valentine from That's What Che Said

Chocolate Dipped Valentines Pretzels with DIY treat bags 

from Love Pomegranate House

DIY Valentine's Day Treat Bag Toppers from Makoodle

Valentine Wreath from 

The Real Thing with the Coake Family

19 Free Valentine's Day Fonts from That's What Che Said

I Love You Cupcakes from Lady Behind the Curtain

Valentine Stained Glass Cookie Pops from Desperate Craftwives

So many creative projects and so little time!