11.18.2013

Nursery Art | for the home | for someone else's home:)


Still working away at my sister's nursery (she is due in Jan.). She had a space above the rad that needed something so I came up with a quick water color that I gave to her as a gift at one of her showers. I vaguely remember having a wooden puzzle like this as a child...

It goes great with the fabric we used for the crib bedding.






11.12.2013

CubScouts Bobcat Badge | for the scouts

Cub Scouts Bobcat Badge (Tiger Scouts)
Using an idea/tutorial from here I made the den boys a Bobcat Badge study guide lapbook. It was really easy with all the supplies from around the house.

Using a regular file folder, open it and fold down the middle, then fold over each side aligning the tab in the middle.

I found the templates for the pockets here (I used the large size)
For the tab cards I just copied the pages from the cubscout tiger book and printed it on card stock (below I posted a copy)




here are the tabs...



Enjoy!


We also made these fun fortune tellers that can be found here at scout helps.











10.25.2013

My Sister's Nursery Bedding | for the home

When my sister found out she was expecting I was already thinking about the nursery...I know it's just how my mind works...she chose a color scheme of gray, white, and orange. The bedding she was looking at buying was over $400 so as her gift I made it for her.  The fabric and supplies was about $75, saving a TON!


     










The sewing itself was pretty simple...all straight lines but I'm most proud of the quilt. I saw a tutorial online and it turned out SO cute! I'm going to use it as my go to baby gift. I'll write another post just on this and link to the source for the tutorial.



I hope to photograph the entire nursery when it's all pulled together.

10.23.2013

a little more crazy....poogle | for the kids

Just when the general craziness had settled down a bit; school schedules, potty training, etc. We had to add some more crazy around here....
Meet Peaches. She is a 16 week old poogle (toy poodle mini beagle mix). She's a pretty good puppy seems to be pretty smart too:)









10.02.2013

Cub Scouts Tiger Cubs Requirement 1D | for the kids

Cub Scout in the house!
My seven year old BEGGED us to let him do cub scouts. I have no previous knowledge of "scouts" in anyway, nor does my hubby but when their new Den desperately needed a leader....I signed the hubs up!
However I told him I'd do most of the planning and anything craft related.
One of their first activities was to make a family scrap book. I pre-made the books and they spent their den meeting adding decorations, stickers, pictures, and hand drawn details.  It was a really simple project...
Here it goes:
use recycled cereal boxes for you front and back covers
collect anything paper recycled for pages (paper bags, newspaper,etc.)
I threw in some white scrap paper also
cut down all the materials to the same size rectangle or square (ours are about 8"x6")
use masking tape to bind the pages all together (we used about 6-8 pages per book)
embellish and cover bindings with washi tape
Add a name plate to the front...and done!


Tiger Cubs Requirement 1D




9.29.2013

$25 DIY FIRE PIT | for the home



We've been working on the great outdoors. More to come on that... it involves tearing down a sunroom and MAJOR yard work!

Anyway we created an "extention" of our patio for a fire pit area.  We were lacking one thing...the fire pit.  Since this was a low budget project and only in phase one it called for a DIY.

Here's how...
Get a roll of hardware mesh like this one here.
Unroll it and snip it in half horizonally. Now you have two 12" pieces of 10ft mesh.
Make an outer ring about 36" in diameter and an inner ring about 8" smaller.
Lace the ends together with the long length of wire that the roll was wrapped up with in the store.

Pour in some gravel to level your base
(I used bagged gravel from Lowe's $3 per bag - about 4-5 bags total)


Level! This is important...You can not redo this later!
Slowly fill and fill the space between the mesh rings. I added a few large rocks I found around the yard...looking back I wish I had not and would have just left it all white gravel.
 You'll also need a few inches of gravel in the center where the wood will go.



Sit back and enjoy!
Soon I will share the backyard progress...phase one
Hopefully phase two will look more like this ;)
source



Linking Here





9.26.2013

Pizza Party! | food


Most people have BBQs...lately we have Pizza Parties!
It seems to be our new go to party plan when hosting friends or family.
I don't even pull out all my serving ware...we just use butcher paper!



I don't believe this needs much explanation but I will give you the recipe!

Crust:
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 and 1/4 Teaspoons yeast
1 cup water (warm)
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon salt

Add yeast and water in stand mixer with the dough hook
let stand for 5 min
add the rest of the ingredients and mix on medium for 8-10 min
divide into 10-12 balls - let rise about 30min (optional)
heat flat skillet on stovetop (oil optional)
roll out each ball to a 8" circle and lightly brown each side

If I'm not hosting a party I freeze these and have a pre-done crust ready at anytime!

Topping ideas:
Tomato moz. pesto basil
sautéed peppers onions and sausage (red sauce or pesto) with goat cheese <--my fav!
classic pepperoni
BBQ chicken
the possibilities are endless!

Bake for 8-10min at 450





9.10.2013

Plane Project detail and questions

A few people have been asking for missing parts of the plane project templates...
http://thecre8tiveoutlet.blogspot.com/2011/02/15-this-missing-link.html  <---this will help

if it's not listed on the downloads it's because that particular "box" was blank/negative space.
Thanks!


7.18.2013

The Plane Project Continues.....



Back when I began this blog in February 2011, I posted a project I recently did and provided a tutorial. I got a huge response and activity over it. However it has been a blessing and a curse. I've gotten to "meet" so many people through it and many have shared pictures of their completed projects! But many have failed at the project. I've received urgent messages and emails from panicked people who (for what ever reason) the project just didn't work for them. It could be any reason from a certain paper type to a certain printer/ink type I'm just not sure.
A while back I tested my own tutorial and came up with the same results.  I had a few reader requests for custom projects and I sold a few.
Today I'm posting another template for the project, this time the entire piece will be 5ft not 8ft as the original.  You will need to cut (or have the store) your plywood into 15"x15" squares this time. The Image is different too.

(This time I added a charcoal pencil to the mix and really liked the contrast it created)

So...If you want to give it another try, or like the smaller size click here to download the PDF files for the template. You will still need to follow the original tutorial.
Good Luck!

6.10.2013

5

Above our mantel has been a bare spot for about 6 months now. Although this room was the first room to be "somewhat" finished,  I left the mantel bare. I still don't know what I want to do up there, but I knew I didn't want to spend any money on something that wasn't a "final" fix. So one afternoon K and I got to work. I had remembered seeing this image (below) and loving the "5" above the TV. Since there are 5 of us I thought why not. I had a 24" square piece of plywood so I painted and then K "distressed". FYI don't let a 6 year old get crazy with sandpaper...we almost didn't have a 5 left:)

It's not a forever fix but it works for now:)