Personalized Coasters from tiles

Here is a really inexpensive, but fun gift to give - so easy - can't wait to make more!

All you need:
tiles (Home Depot or Lowes)
scrapbook paper
photo of choice
mod podge
Brush a layer of mod podge onto the smooth side of the tile - top with scrapbook paper to fit. Let dry. Brush a layer of mod podge on top of the scrapbook paper - place your photo onto the tile and let dry. Brush another layer on top of the photo - let dry - add a couple of coats making sure it is all nice and smooth.

How cute would they be with a set of  4 photo tile coasters tied together with a ribbon - a  nice personal gift anyone would love. Here are 2 that I made. I plan to make some "themed" ones - like a set for summer - with swimming pics of the grands - a set for winter - using Christmas pics -

I am thinking trivets would be a nice idea as well - using the larger size tiles.

Mod Podge A Collage Alpha Letters

I saw this on Pinterest and had to do a set for myself. The hardest part was deciding which photos to use. I only wanted pictures of my husband and I. We don't have a whole lot of those it seems, but I made do. Of course these are my initials and I have them hanging in my sewing/craft room.

I used the largest wooden letters I could find at Hobby Lobby - brushed a thin layer of modpodge on top, placed my photos where I wanted them and modpodged over them a couple of times, allowing them to dry in between coats. I scattered colorful jewels to fill in gaps.

One thing I learned - we definitely need to take more pictures together!

TinkerBell Pillow for Lilypie

I found this nice size scrap of Tinkerbell fleece along with all my other great bargain finds at Hobby Lobby and it was perfect for a pillow for Lily. She will love it. So simple but the simple things in life are what make it so great, right? Pretty nice size, too!

My Lucky Day at Hobby Lobby

$8.00 - that is what I paid for ALL of this - chenille, cotton, fleece, tulle, felt. I just happen to be in Hobby Lobby at the right time - there was a whole basket of unmarked pieces and the sales girl just let me have them for 25 cents to a dollar each. It was certainly a fluke because I check back at least one time a week and there hasn't been a single time that fabric in that basket has been marked that low since then. It was just my lucky day.

My Dolly Bargain - Now What??

Lookie this adorable little doll Christmas ornament. It was originally $8.99 (which is CRAZY - who would pay that??) but as you can see by the tag - it was on clearance for 89 cents BUT I had a 30% off coupon so I only paid like 27 cents - not only that - I bought all they had left - 10 of them! So lets see - I paid  $2.70 total for what would have cost $89.90! THAT IS INSANE!!!!!

Now - bargain aside - what the heck am I going to do with them? lol They are about 6.5 inches long and all cloth. The dress and scarf is sewn on. One thought is taking the clothes off of a few of them and making new clothes and then putting them on a wreath so they will all be different.

I would LOVE some ideas. Please leave a comment if you have any to offer!

Pin Parfait

I just love things to match. I bought the whole bolt of this fabulous fabric and have made all kind of things to decorate my new sewing/craft room. I just covered a styrofoam ball with some of the fabric and hotglued it into a glass ice cream dish - hot glued a big bow on front and there ya go - ready for my straight pins!

Tin + Magnets = Fun for Lily

As I said in previous post, I love tins! I just can't seem to let one go to waste. For Valentines Day my hubby got me this Reeses Peanut Butter tin filled with kingsize peanut butter cups. As soon as I saw it I knew I would put it to good use before the week was over. So here we go:

I had some leftover fabric from a dress I made my youngest granddaughter, Lily. I covered the lid with the fabric using hot glue and then added brown ric rac. A few weeks ago I found these little people and other small pieces for 5 cents each on clearance at Michaels and bought all they had - I had no idea what I was going to do with them but I knew I would think of something. I hot glued small magnets to the back of each one and put them in the tin. Now when I give my granddaughter the dress I will also give her this cute little tin with all the magnets inside. Just a little added bonus to go with her dress. Lily will love it, she is only 5 years old.

A Tin For Everything

I love tins. They just have so many good uses. I can open drawers in my desk both at home and work and find different size tins with paperclips, pens, buttons, just all kinds of things. I can't stand to throw one away, even the little Altoid tins. Seems like such a waste to me! For Christmas a couple of years ago my I bought my husband this little Chaps tin that held small bottles of cologne. It has been in one of the bathroom drawers all this time. Tonight I decided to do something with it. Since I still have fabric left over from decorating my new sewing/craft room - I decided to use some of it and then I could just use the tin for something like thread, buttons or some other sewing notions. I just hot glued a piece of fabric to the top of the lid, added some ric rac and ribbon. I had these pretty flat stones that seemed to match perfectly so piled them on top with hot glue.

Now it is beautiful little tin and fits in perfectly with all my other pretties in my sewing room.

Tulle Wreath

Black & White Tulle Wreath:

I just tied strips of black and white tulle on to the styrofoam wreath and then hot glued the letter G on. The embelishments are just pushed through the tied pieces. Total  cost - approximately $3.00 since I bought the wreath on sale at Hobby Lobby and the embelishments were leftover Christmas items 80% off, also from Hobby Lobby.

Rag Wreath

I LOVE these rag wreaths - so fun to make.This one is really large and I have just used a hodge podge of scrap cotton fabric - no rhyme or reason with the colors. You can pretty much cut your strips to whatever size you want - length and width. I cut mine about 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. The wreath I used is a wire one and I just tie the strips on and double knot them. You can dress them up as much as you want - adding flowers, beads, lace, etc. I chose to leave this one just as is - no frills.

My Sewing/Craft Room - My favorite room

This is an updated "old" post since I wanted to participate in the What's Your Favorite Room Linky Party. 
Since my original post,  I have upgraded my sewing machine so I am adding a photo of it as well.
Thanks to Shasta at In The Old Road for hosting.

Several months ago we decided on a whim to turn our sunroom into a sewing and craft room. I called my husband and told him what I would like to do and before I could get all of the words out of my mouth he was on his way to Lowes to pick up materials to get started. By the end of the weekend the inside was complete. I love it. I bought a new sewing machine last month. I love the colors I decided to decorate with. It has such a homey atmosphere. We painted the 2 rockers, bench, I made pillows, curtains, painted baskets and bought new rugs. We added a small flat screen TV, lots of plants and it is so nice to have plenty of room now for all of my projects.

BEFORE PICS

Gift Idea - Starbucks Frap Bottles and Carton

I made quite a few of these during the Christmas holidays and then one for Valentines. So simple  and fun to make. There are just so many ways to go with this. You can make it feminine or as "boyish" as you need it to be. Dress it up, Cute it up, Doll it up, whatever suits your fancy.

*I have to admit - this is a Pinterest idea - such a cool website. I have oodles of things I still want to try from there! If you haven't stumbled on Pinterest - check it out here

To follow my step by step instructions go here

T-Shirt Dress - EASY SEW

I made this dress for one of my granddaughters in 18 minutes *minus the hem. I had left over t-shirt "tops" from another project and then scraps of fabric I bought from a bargain bin at Hobby Lobby.

To see the video click on the link here

Valentine Plate for My Sweetie

I bought a kit at Michael's to make for Brad for Valentines Day this year. It turned out pretty cute. You can't use it for anything other than display. I used my very favorite picture for the center. I also bought 4 bags of sugarfree candies and piled them on and wrapped it in red saranwrap with his card on top.

This is a really cute idea for kids to do for grandparents, friends, etc. Perfect for Mothers Day or Fathers Day. (Daddy can even pull this one off as a surprise for mommy!) So easy to do. No baking - just seal the photo with the decal that comes with it and paint with the special markers included.

Date of Birth Scripture - Framed Gift

For my Husbands 50th birthday - I found a beautiful card by Birthverse that had his birth month and day on the front along with a scripture and then inside it had a nice saying about how you are God's child and His treasured possession. My husbands birthday is December 12th so the verse was Roman's 12:12. "Be Joyful in Hope, Patient in Affliction, Faithful in Prayer."

I carefully took the card apart and then framed it with gold matting. It turned out beautifully and have it hanging in our bedroom. This would be super easy to do with out using a store bought card. Just find your verse using the date of birth and add a nice poem or you can copy this one. It makes a beautiful gift.

Language of Love

I made this for my husband, Brad, back in 2005 for Valentines Day. I just printed I LOVE YOU in several different languages: Hawaiian, German, Spanish, etc. added a cute graphic with our names and date and then framed it. It hangs in our computer room.

This would also be a nice anniversary or birthday gift for your significant other.


Linking up to: