Laundry Closet Re-Vamp

As I've mentioned we are renting this home. It is an older home with no upgrades, we were only going to be here a short time so we have made due. Our landlord gave us the okay to paint if we wanted and so just updating the paint made a huge difference. One area that I totally despise is our basement (wood paneling). We mainly use it for storage, but our laundry is located down there. This closet is such a downer. So dark and yucky feeling. I always stand and fold laundry right out of the dryer so I wanted to improve things.  Last Spring I decided to make it a little cuter. Here is the before:   

              (Beware: All of these pics are taken with flash, I have no natural light down here.)

Notice the paint swatches. I decided that adding a light color to the top over the shelf would look nice. So I got 3 choices. With the lighting, or lack thereof, I decided to go with the pale yellow.

I also decided that the shelf was lacking, but I didn't want to waste money on a shelf, so I just used a piece of molding and used liquid nails to adhere it to the front of the shelf. It was a great inexpensive way to make it look a little nicer. I just used masking tape to hold it in place while it dried.

I put all the paint cans that were up there in the storage shed and started looking for storage options. I found this basket in my closet upstairs and thought it would be perfect for my detergents and sprays.

Found this perfect size box at hobby lobby for my fabric sheets. With my 40% coupon it was only a couple bucks. (I looked for an antique box but never found anything that was the right size for this)

I found an old window at the antique store. It has such a beautiful patina. (I didn't wash the glass though for the pic so don't look to close!)

A $5 washboard and some flowers in a metal pitcher. I was hoping for an antique zinc pitcher but couldn't find one locally. So I got this $5 pitcher at Old Time Pottery.

All together. I think it turned out great for such a dark closet in the basement! I still want to find a new ironing board cover and make a cute holder for it, but since I have waited this long and we are moving in 5 months I will wait and see what my next laundry area is like!  It makes me happy and was a cheap fix for a rental.

Although it was only a few changes, I think it made a big difference.

linking to:
http://space46.blogspot.com/

I'm a finalist

My paper quilling heart project got selected as a finalist. Pretty exciting that someone thought I did something cool. If you wanna vote for me (you know you do ;) click on the link.

Cupcake Recipe with creme filling

This Cupcake Recipe is one of my most favorites! It is so delicious and seems quite gourmet even though it is quite easy.

Gourmet...uh maybe not, but these cheater cupcakes will taste like them! These are my sisters specialty (of course she makes them from scratch), and everyone is always raving. If you want something fun and a little different than plain old cupcakes you gotta make these. {fyi....I love cream cheese.} I meant to do a tutorial, but I made these late at night and my desire for sugar caused me to hurry and not worry about grabbing the camera! They're super easy though.

Cream Cheese Cupcakes

First off...make your homemade chocolate cupcake batter (or use a box mix devil's food like I did!)
Then prepare Cream Cheese Filling: I used 1 (8 oz) bar of cream cheese softened (make sure its soft or it will go chunky!) and roughly 1-1 1/2 C. powdered sugar. I just added p. sugar until I liked the taste. (I'm a great cook I know) Mix well until its nice and creamy.
Cupcakes:
Fill muffin tins with cupcake batter until 2/3 full. Then drop a teaspoon of cream cheese filling into center of filled baking cup. (don't worry, the batter usually bakes up over the filling)
Bake as directed. Then let them cool on wire rack.
Frosting: Frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting. Here is mine.
Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
• 2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Mix butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla and mix. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. Slowly add in powdered sugar until you get desired consistency. 

Enjoy these, they don't last long!

linking to:

Awards

I recieved this award this week from Meg at In the Loop. Thanks again Meg!

Upon reciept of this award, here are the duties:
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave me this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 bloggers. (I am doing a few less...)
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

1. I hate melted cheese, I order pizza without cheese, I make lasagne without cheese. I don't even like non-melted cheese in things. No cheese in salads, on sandwiches, nothing! I will eat string cheese though.
2. I got lost at Disneyland when I was like 8. Pretty scary few hours since I didn't go to park workers, cause I was afraid someone would steal me??
3. I am a money spender, and yet I mostly can't bring myself to spend money on fun things (like a sillouette!grr). Instead I put it in savings, what little there is and dream of actually getting guts enough to spend.
4. I am moving in 5 months and I am not sure where. My husband is finally going to be done with school! Hooray...now if we could just land the job he wants!
5. My favorite thing to do is hang out at home in my pj's. I would much rather just chill with some treats and a good show with my family then be out on the town.
6. I struggle with my weight, it feels like a losing battle!
7. I grew up on a cattle ranch and still dream of moving on some land of my own in the middle of nowhere with the biggest craft room ever!

Enough about me!
Onto some more deserving people. This was a little tricky. I know of so many fun blogs, but a lot of them have already recieved this award, I tried to find people that haven't. I realized that there are so many more fun blogs out there than I know of and I really want to follow more of them. Because of lack of time, I usually only have time to go through and read the new posts on the blogs I subscribe to in google reader and following and some in the linky parties I participate in. So if you have an awesome blog...leave me a comment and I will come check it out and follow you too!

And the award goes to:
1. Jaimee at Craft Interrupted
2. Tammy at the Sweet Spot
3. Echoes of Laughter
4. Eye Spy DIY
5. Scissors and Spatula's
6. The Autocrat

Aw Shucks...

Meg wrote a sweet little post about me today. It is so fun to know that people like some of what you do and enjoy the crafts you share! I love looking for inspiration and sharing common interests, its made crafting so enjoyable to share and get feedback! I am really so flattered Meg, thank you! Click on her button above to check out her blog.

She also gave me this...my first award!

I will be back later tonight or tomorrow first thing to pass on the award to other bloggers! Right now I have a photo session that needs editing and nighttime is the only time I get any work done (not that I procrastinate...). Tell me I'm not the only one?

Crochet Hats

What do you do during a snow day? Why crochet of course! I have had a couple baby photoshoots lately and wanted to add to my prop hat stash. I have found some off etsy (I am addicted to prop hats) but I didn't have time to order any and with the snow days I decided to put my hands to good use. I went in my yarn stash and found some cute colors and then got my favorite pattern and went to work. I LOVE this pattern, I think it works great and is so cute. I used this pattern last year and made all my 11 neices and nephews age (11-9 months) hats. The pattern is easy to follow and easy to modify to make the hats vary in sizes. I used it to make all these hats, I just left off the earflaps on 2 of them and added in more rows as needed. You'll find the pattern here.  

Also, do you make hats? I would love to see some of your creations or a link to your store if you sell them!

February Calendar Printable

I just put together my February Calendar if anyone is interested. I can't believe that January is almost over!

   Download here

Red Heart Paper Quilling

I am loving how this Paper Quilling Heart project turned out. Let's just say there have been way too many snow days lately. This week has just been crazy and I feel like I haven't even got anything done! The other day we were stuck in the house while it was dark and rainy, so I decided to try paper quilling. I wanted to make a heart. I took some pics along the way of my first quilling project, I didn't really know what I was doing but I still had fun and liked how it turned out. Pardon the lighting, I had no natural light so I strapped on the external flash and went to town.

First I used cardstock in a deep red color I liked. Cardstock is a little tricky because of its stiffness but it is the only red I had on hand (besides kids construction paper) I cut them into 1 inch wide strips roughly because I wanted some good dimension for my final project.

I started at one end slowly rolling the paper tightly until it was all rolled.

They ended up looking like this. When I let go of them they loosen and each take on their own little personality.

I decided to use a little hot glue and dabbed a little on the end to keep the rolled paper bound.
I set up all my rolled circles together and put them in a heart shape. I kept rearranging them until I got them how I liked them. Notice the very bottom one is different, I squeezed the very bottom of the circle to elongate it. After I had them how I liked them I started using a little hot glue to glue them to each other. One thing to note: Using a craft glue of e6000 would probably be less obvious, I wasn't as careful as I should of been so if you look close you can see evidence of the hot glue. 

I thought these could be so cute on a valentine card, hanging up, as a garland, or even just sitting out. I really loved how the look turned out. Okay, moving on. :)

I went to the basement to find something to put my heart on. I am working on crafting with what I have and re-purposing items already in my stash. I found this little wood plaque that I had previously painted black to use for a different project that never happened.  I just got some flat white paint and painted over the black. I should have used primer, but I didn't, so after like 3 coats we were good to go.

I did a light sanding on the edges just to add some personality, and you can see that some of the black started showing through which looked good.Then I just lightly put a few dabs of hot glue on the back side of the heart and stuck it on. Didn't get a picture of that step but I'm sure you get the picture!

Final product. Note to self: be more careful with the hot glue next time! If I had my sillouette (I'm still dreaming of one...think of all the cool stuff I could make!) I would have possibly added a little vinyl to spice it up a bit.

I'm so Lovin' this...it doesn't hurt that it was free since I had everything I needed to make it work.

Want updates and spoilers on projects and ideas?  Come like me on facebook , twitter, and Google + to keep up on whats up next!

Blog Schedule Printable

Want a fun way to keep track of all those ideas you're hoping to post, or parties you want to catch this week? Maybe this little printable blog schedule will be just the ticket. I am not an everyday blog poster, not sure if I will ever be, but I made this last week to add to my organizer. I coordinated it to match my cleaning schedules.  Enjoy!

I think you can right click and save the jpeg, or go here for the pdf download.

Valentine Hearts

Today I am sharing these cute Valentine Hearts. I love creating simple art, and these  Valentine Hearts were perfect for some Valentine Art!

I found these cute little hearts at hobby lobby last week and had to buy them. Aren't they cute? Little did I know that all the valentine crafts are on sale 50% this week. Wish I would have waited...oh well. Full price for a box of them was $3.99. Not too bad. Here's a teaser and little tutorial...

First off, I found a frame I wanted to use. Remember this frame from November? 

I love it, I want to leave the vinyl on it for now...I know its only vinyl but I really like it and actually have it in my bedroom even though Thanksgiving has long since passed...I like the message:) (I know I am lame!). Anyways, I love the frame and knew I wanted to use it again. Got my supplies: hearts, white cardstock, and handy dandy glue gun.

I cut the cardstock to fit the frame opening. Then I organized the hearts in a trial run layout and made sure they would fit.

Cue glue gun...

Done in like 5 minutes and I love it! Don't you just love these Valentine Hearts?

I think it turned out pretty darn cute. :)

2011 Youth Theme

Want some fun 2011 theme printables? I made these and thought I would share. I was going for a bright, fun, fresh take on the theme. I am probably going to make some less 'wild' ones, but thought I would share these. They are 8x10 ratio jpeg files.(you might be able to just right click and save them...but if not, I am including the download links.)

For black with border go here

 For black go here

 for white go here

For white with borders go here

I made these bookmarks last year(2010 ha ha).

For the pdf printable of the bookmarks go here

*We also made custom notebooks journals and I made these little circle subway tags that we modge podged on the front.

 To download a pdf with 4 per page go here.


I hope that you enjoy these. As always, I would love to see what you do with them!

P.S. I make my printables in photoshop and don't have spellcheck so hopefully I got the spelling right! I am always as little paranoid about that. Also, let me know if the links don't work and I can email you the files.