Tutu Rocking Chair - Kate's 1st Birthday

It has slowly become a tradition that if I am invited to a 1 year old's birthday party, I will make them a chair for their gift. When I received Kate's 1st birthday invite, I knew I needed to start my hunt for a cute chair. I usually find these chairs at Good Will over in the kids section or close to the furniture section. You have to keep an open eye because these chairs go fast! I found this one for $5! It was a perfectly good white rocking chair, needed no repairs just a good colorful paint job and of course a tutu.

Casey sanded down the chair for me and then helped me paint it lime green. Kate's bedroom is purple and pink with a hint of lime green...the reason we decided to do lime green all the way was because we have a can of lime green paint we need to get rid of, haha! While Casey sanded and painted, I created a cute tutu to hot glue around the chair. I made the tutu in 4 pieces and then just hot glued each piece to each side of the chair. After the paint was dried, I added the tutu and we started to antique the chair out.... It needed something, so I added Kate's initials in purple.

I have to say, it turned out to be a really cute chair... and Miss Kate loved it!

Easter Flowers

Last weekend I went to a birthday party and the center pieces of the tables were cute vases filled with colorful candy with flowers popping out... I loved them so much that I decided to make my own!

I did not want to break the bank (and I suck at keeping things alive, heck I am doing good keeping my 3 year old alive I don't need to add anything else to the mix haha jk) so I went to the local Dollar Tree (I love that place) and bought 3 bouquets of colorful flowers. I also bought a glass vase (which I found out later, I had one at home) and then I bought 3 boxes of mini tropical gobstoppers. I was going to buy jelly beans but the gobstoppers had more in a package. I ended up spending $7 on this project and I think it was money well spent.

Directions - pour candy into vase, shove flowers down into candy... you are done!

Tip - if you want to use less candy, you can fill the middle of the vase with another vase, tissue paper, canned foods (if the jar is big enough), or really anything to take up the space.

Here is my creation!!

Mirror turned Chalkboard

When Casey and I went to our cake tasting, a HUGE chalkboard hung on my cake lady's wall caught my eye! I told Casey on the way home "I am going to make us a chalkboard like that!"... the poor guy had no clue what I was talking about BUT he did know that I meant business.

That was a Saturday...

Monday on my way home, I stopped at Goodwill and found me a HUGE mirror and took it home. Casey was not surprised one bit when I told him I needed him to bring it in from the car! Gosh, I just love that man! The downside was that we had to wait 5 whole days before we could start working on it due to our hectic lives... I wanted it finished that night! HAHA

We decided to spray paint the frame of the mirror a turquoise color (mostly because I had a full can of spray paint and we didn't want to spend money on another color). After the frame was dry, we decided to antique it out a bit... after all it needed to fit the rest of the decor in the house. A friend gave us some chalkboard paint to use on the mirror but before she brought it over, Casey had bought me some chalkboard spray paint (he knows me oh so well). I was kind of nervous on how the spray paint would work, but it worked like a charm. We applied the paint according to the directions and waited for it to dry.

I ended up stealing some chalk from my son's chalk bucket (shh don't tell him) and smooth a layer of chalk dust to the chalk board... it was complete!!!

The only down side to all of this, the mirror didnt have hooks on the back for hanging so now we have to go and buy a picture hanger set that is for a very heavy picture (probably weighing 20) pounds... It WILL be hung this week because we have guest coming over for Easter this weekend. Here are the before and after photos, I am in love with it!!!

Now its time for me to find some cute loving quotes to write my family each week!!!

Have a KRAFTY day!

Love Krafty Karen

Old Desk Turned Cake Table

I have been wanting to find an old desk that I can turn into a cake table for our wedding... last weekend, Casey's aunt found us one!!! She spotted it outside on the curb (her neighbors are moving) and quickly claimed it. I was so excited when we went over there to pick it up... it is exactly what I have been wanting.

We brought it home and I was so anxious that I started work on it that night! I had a small amount of sealer left from my last couple projects so I went to town covering every last inch of the desk. I then drove up to a local store and bought some cheap spray paint. I didn't buy the expensive stuff because, 1. I know this stuff does not run and 2. because I knew I was going to antique the desk out so if it did mess up, I could just antique that one spot.

After I antiqued it, I sprayed it down with a gloss spray and it was done! Casey and I stood back and just smiled... it is perfect! We have a little less than a year to the wedding so until then, we will be using it in the entry way of our house.

This project cost me a total of $2 (+tax)!!!

Shabby Chic Plate Setting

I have a 3rd eye that my fiance does NOT have and sometimes when I get a vision, he has to just put his seat belt on and (try to) enjoy the ride. Sometimes it turns out ugly and horrible and he is left wondering what is wrong with me (this happens very rarely)... but then most of the time it turns out better then what I could every imagine!!! This is the case for what I came up with for our table settings for the wedding...

Our theme is a very "Shabby Chic meets Country"... LOVE IT! I wanted the table settings to really help pull this theme together. Before looking at the photo please keep in mind that the centerpieces aren't 110% done. They will be raised on some kind of wood bases to create some height and then each mason jar will have water and a floating candle. There will be a white table cloth with burlap and lace as well.

The plates I bought from Good Will on half price day. I spent a total of $6 on each table... the plates will either go home with my guest or be left at the reception for us to re-donate to the YWCA to help single Mom's set up their new homes.

***Please note this isn't a final table setting (hence the mismatch forks and spoons)... this is just something I set up for my Fiance to see so he could fall in love with my idea!***

Soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Cards

I found some REALLY cute cards on Etsy but I am cheap and decided I could make them myself! With a little help from publisher, I did just that!

For the thank you cards, I created a blank template in publisher that is half a letter sized piece of paper and at the bottom I drew out a text box. I typed in what I wanted the card to say and made it all pretty! When I was done, I printed the cards out on card stock paper. When you print it, you will get 2 cards on one page... just cut the letter sized page in half and then fold the cards in half and BAM! You have a thank you card! - You can even turn a text box upside down at the top of the template and write something that will be on the back side of the card!

For the envelopes, I just bought a box from my local store and then cut craft paper to fit inside the flap of the envelopes. I used my spray adhesive to glue them down and waited for them to dry, then I folded at the crease... I have to say, they look so great!

Why spend money on something you can make yourself... plus this gives it way more meaning!

Stay Krafty (and thrifty)!

Love, Krafty Karen

Wedding party Gifts

My bridesmaids and Casey's groomsmen are 6 special people and when we decided we would ask them to be in our wedding, we wanted to do it in a very special way. I looked through Pinterest and found a BUNCH of cute ideas for the girls but very few for the guys...

The Bridesmaids:
I bought each girl their favorite bottle of wine (2 buck chucks from Trader Joes) and ordered labels from Etsy that said "I would be so honored if you would be my Bridesmaid" (My sister's said Maid of Honor).

I also made them each a cute little box from some felt in our wedding colors and stuck a ring pop inside with a piece of paper saying "Now its my turn to POP the question"

They were a hit!

The Groomsmen:
Like I said, I had a hard time finding an idea so I came up with my own. I wrapped the guys favorite 6 pack and then tore it open at the top and took a beer out and duct taped a card over the hole saying... "Will you take ONE for the team and be my groomsman" (for Scott it said Best Man). The guys loved getting the beer but gave me a hard time about how you NEVER take a beer out of a 6 pack if you are giving it as a gift... All the girls thought it was cute!

These gifts were just fun little gifts to ask them to be a part of our big day next year. I cant wait to actually pick out their real gifts we will give them at the rehearsal dinner... any ideas?

Want to check out our wedding website? Be my guest... http://lassiterflowers.ourwedding.com/

Stay Krafty!
Love Krafty Karen

Flower Girl Gifts

This past weekend my sister (aka my Maid-of-Honor), Val and her husband (aka one of Casey's groomsmen), James threw us an engagement dinner. The dinner was a chance for me and Casey to ask our friends and family to be a part of our bridal party! Later I will blog on how I asked my Bridesmaids and how Casey asked his Groomsmen... this blog today is all about our Flower Girls.

Our Flower Girls are my nieces, Madalynn and Audrynn. They were promised the job LONG time ago and even if I didn't get married til they were 18 and 16, they would have still been the Flower Girls... just the way life goes! They are 10 and 8, they will be 11 and 9 when the wedding happen... not to old and not to young! I wanted a FUN way of asking them to be in our wedding and I remembered that they have been talking about twizlers for a few days now so I figured I would make them some sort of candy basket... It turned out way better then I even imagined and the girls (and their mom, Val) loved it.

1st I stopped at the Dollar Section at Target and bought 2 cute metal buckets,1 bag of fun sized twizlers and 4 boxes of candy. I had to stop at Dollar Tree for the styrofoam squares, they are in the flower section. I had the wooden sticks at home (that I spray painted) and I got busy with my glue gun.

Here is how I made them...
Step 1: I hot glued one of the styrofoam squares into the metal bucket
Step 2: I spray painted the wooden sticks (which I bought at Hobby Lobby a while back)
Step 3: I glue tissue paper on top of the styrofoam square to cover the green up, it was ugly and then I stuck some twizlers down on the side to fill the empty space.
Step 4: I made a cute little card out of some extra craft paper that reads "It would be so SWEET of you if you would be our Flower Girl" - I hot glued this to the metal bucket.
Step 5: I glued the wooden spray painted sticks to the back of each box of candy
Step 6: I carefully stuck the sticks down in the styrofoam that was glued into the bucket
Step 7: Stand back and be amazed at your creation!!

I spent $6 on each candy bucket for the girls and they were a big hit!!!

Faux Canvas Photos

I haven't blogged in a while because I have been one busy little girl... My sweet loving wonderful boyfriend proposed to me last month and well, I said YES!!! On top of that, we just moved into a house together. Talk about all the fun projects I have on my plate right now with both of those events.

With the wedding, I am trying to do everything myself... the planning, the invites, the decor and more. With the house, I have been trying to update a few pieces I already have and then add a few more things to hang on the walls since we have SO much more wall space now. This is where lovely Pinterest comes in handy... I am going to TRY and keep up with blogging what I create while I finish setting up our new house and while I plan our wedding.

Today I want to show you something I did for over our mantel. This past Christmas, Casey, Caleb and myself went to the Stockyards and had our pictures made. We had one done of our boots and since I received the picture back from the photographer, I have been wanting to hang it over the mantel. When we moved into the new house, I knew I had to get that picture hung ASAP or it would never get done. Casey took me to Home Depot and bought me a huge piece of foam board... that was fun carrying it to the car because it was an EXTRA windy day! We then made a pit stop at Hobby Lobby (my home away from home) and I picked up some more spray adhesive. The picture was already at home, I printed out an engineer print from Staples awhile back.

Here is how you make this mock/faux canvas:

What you will need:
Foam Board - in the installation aisle where the sheet rock is at Home Depot
Spray Adhesive
Engineer Print from Staples
Straight Edge
Ruler
Pencil

How to make it:
Step 1. Cut the picture out with your straight edge

Step 2. Turn the photo upside down and measure 1/2 inch from the edge and mark it on each side and then connect the marks to make a box around the edge. So basically leaving a 1/2 border on each side.

Step 3. Cut out of piece of the foam board so that it fits the square you just made on the backside of the picture. You want the border to hang off the foam board because that is how you will cover the sides of the board.

Step 4. Lay the photo how you want it positioned on the foam board and pick up one corner and spray the adhesive and smooth out the photo. If you start with a corner instead of spraying the whole board, it makes it easier to keep the picture straight.

Step 5. After you have the picture glued down, start working on gluing down the edges

Step 6. I used a coke tab and hot glued it to the back so that I could hang the photo... worked like a charm!

Here are 2 photos I have done so far!!

I loved how the boots turned out that I wanted to make one for my son's room. I showed him a couple of photos from his Firefighter birthday party last fall and let him pick one to hang in his room. His room is decorated as a fire station and has a couple of the photos framed so there were only a handful to chose from. He has a corner of his walk in closet dedicated to his Dad's side of the family... pictures, books about Dad's, small trinkets, etc. But he said he wanted a BIG photo of his Momma and Daddy on his wall... so I made him one! Love how it turned out... I ordered a "Presentation Photo" from Staples because I wanted a colored photo instead of black and white.