caitlin: 3 > hobby lobby:0

summer projects:
sometimes i see ideas on pinterest and wanna do them. i go to hobby lobby and see a similiar thing but sometimes hobby lobby can be pricey, so i decide to make it myself.

i made tons of the big bow ones for my 3 year old niece and the rosettes for my newborn niece. I didnt get pictures of them all but they were so cute. I told Megs not to loose them so i can use them someday but easier said than done when you have little kids.

I also did this:

                  BEFORE:                                                               

After:

I got this for $5.99 at Ross! Usually i find these for a lot more. A lot of people dont know, but they have some cool house decor. Along with TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby and Marshalls. Sometimes i like the before better...but the white goes with my room better. I spray painted it and took the hanging hooks off of the top. The nice thing is i can change the color or sand it and make it look different whenever i want. The color i eventually want it to be is mustard yellow.

Jewelry Holder.

Before:

After:

I AM SO EXCITED about this project. I have wanted to do this for a long long time. The piece of wood i got for a $1 at the thrift store. It was so perfect because the back of it had holes already in it [it was for another hanging] and then we didnt have to measure out the distance between the door knobs so a lot of time was saved. I then painted it white and sanded the edges. Dad loved helping me, he got so into it, he used his tools and made the holes and saudered the back of the knobs off. Last minute touches included getting hooks and sanded and painting the knobs a bit. Best part? I got all the knobs for 50% off so i spent about $12 for all of them from hobby lobby. The family says i should sell them, not because no one else can make them but its time consuming.

And now the whole room put together [minus the desk-which isnt very excited at the moment]...

[sign: Target, Jewelry Hanger: yours truly]

p.s- see the white on the black knob? that was dads creative side coming out. haha so cute :)

and the far left one i sanded for a vintage look.

[weird tall grey thing on the far right i HAD to have-Hobby Lobby, birdcage-Ross, Mason Jars-Hobby Lobby, thrift stores]

[Shelves-Target, Mustard frames-Hobby Lobby]

The frames were a necessity from the second i saw them and the last ones there! Oh and I do plan on putting pictures in them. These would be really easy to make but i love these ones...

Frame- where do you think..

Boring? yes. I got this for 50% off at Hobby Lobby and i plan on getting more for this wall when i go back in different shapes and sizes for a whole wall. I dont plan on painting them because when i have my own house i wont have a boring white wall....

For example: these are ideas i LOVE [found on pinterest!]

My closet...

Ignore the bed...

Well this is the stuff i have decorated so far. I love my room so much. The next thing i wanna work on is a burlap banner to go over my bed. Ahh i cant wait til i have my own house :)

xoxo Cait xoxo

Lets get creative

So this week i had tons of fun crafts planned, however life got in the way. You know how that goes right...but i have managed to do a few things with very little time and the rest are some of the fun things i have planned for this weekend. Its fun to take time out for yourself to be a little creative. These are some of my favorite ideas:

Yummy pumpkin body scrub

I love bath products, i just hate buying them. Bath and Body Works is one of my favorite places. I'll just walk in and smell everything, spray some things, try some lotions then wander out because i dont really have money to spend there. Well i guess i could but theres better things to spend $$$ on. Most of these ingredients you'll probably have in your kitchen which is very convenient. Many places around here sell those mini mason jars and the scrub in these jars will make perfect gifts! To make it my own i would use some fall colored ribbon to seal it and attach a leaf as a tag! This weekend ill be making my own so i'll show you what mine looks like! I'm super excited.

http://myprojectsandfinds.blogspot.com/2011/09/pumpkin-spice-sugar-scrub.html

Chocolate covered pretzels

Every Christmas I can guarantee you that the Leary ladies will make chocolate covered pretzels. They are my absoute favorite, however i never even thought to make them for Halloween/Fall! I'm making these tomorrow for the girls i visit teach, but with our own recipe. Typically for our choc. covered pretzels, we buy the long, thick pretzel sticks and break them in half, although you can keep them whole if youd like. Then we dip the end in melted chocolate! For the halloween ones use white chocolate and food coloring but for Christmas we just used milk chocolate. Then you roll them in holiday sprinkles (pertaining to the right holiday of course) and my mom always uses heath bars too. The heath bars give it a little something extra. They are so good. Then wrap them up all cute like above and youre done!

Infinity scarf

Hello, i am addicted to scarves. If you have seen my closet you would know this. I went through a period where i had to buy any and every scarf i saw. Luckily i got them for great deals, so it was okay. (see how i rationalize this like its okay?!) This will be a craft I cant do though because i dont have a sewing machine! I think I'm gonna ask my mom to make me one for Christmas! My mother and grandmother are both AMAZING seamstresses- my mom made all of our trek dresses and lots of cute dresses growing up while my grandmother sewed fabulous quilts for all her grandchildren. I really hope this runs in the family because as of now the extent of my sewing abilities has been a pair of pajama bottoms...I'm gonna take a sewing class next semester though i think! And if i get good at it I wanna get a sewing machine! Then i could sew clothes, curtains..oh the possibilities...However if you're lazy or dont have a sewing machine like me then Forever 21 has really really cheap scarves online that are so cute! Just FYI

http://quiverfullofblessings.com/2011/09/13/infinity-scarf-tutorial/

Hair Hype

^my own creation! and my future creations below

http://vixenmade.blogspot.com/2011/09/halloween-headband-tutorial.html

http://www.flamingotoes.com/2011/08/sweet-skinny-ruffled-headband/

http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/01/pleated-headband-tutorial.html

I love headbands, clips, bows, ribbon and flowers for hair accessories. When i found out I was
having a niece i made tons of headbands! And put together flowers and butterflys on headbands for cass. Well she's outgrown them or lost them so its time for some new ones, which is good because i need some more practice for when i have little girls! I will make 100's of them...the one above is just two different types of ribbons folded in to make little loops and then i hot glue gunned a button in the center. So easy yet so cute. I love glue guns! They are the msot useful things ever. My mom just bought me a lime green one and i love it. Here are some headbands I cant wait to make for cass or just learn to do the cool flowers so i can make different head pieces! The second one is such a Utah headband, and i love it. There are so many different types of headbands you could put together, the ideas are endless. I am alwaysss looking for cute new ideas, so if you have any feel free to share!

Cute Card

I'm working on making a copy of this card for some of my missionaries! Of course mine is gonna be way girlier but i love this idea. Its adorable.

Pumpkin Donuts

Oh. my. goodness. Pumpkin and donuts together? It must be amazing

http://annies-eats.net/2011/09/26/pumpkin-doughnuts/

xoxo Cait xoxo

All about Fall

Heres some fun things for you to enjoy during Fall:

http://www.twotwenty-one.com

These are my absolute favorite cookies! I have been talking about baking these all week long & yesterday I come home to some that my sweet roomie made. I've never tried these with a frosting in the middle and i'm itching to make them, I may have to go out first thing tomorrow and get the ingredients!

http://oneartmama.blogspot.com                                                http://retrohipmama.wordpress.com

I am so unbelievably in love with both of these. I can not wait until I have my own house to decorate because its gonna be absolutely adorable. I would add a blue or orange monogrammed letter to the second one though for a little something more. I'm thinking of doing this for my mom and sister because they would love it! So easy and fun. You can do it in any color for whatever season although I adore this color schemes here so i prob wouldnt change a thing.

 http://jessicainsd.blogspot.com

Perfection, I think the picture says it all. This is a fall must make. Its a lot like Monkey bread if you've ever had that. I think this is a treat that everyone will love.

http://www.nestofposies-blog.com\

i LOVE this & i love her blog! For a poor college student, this is so cheap and easy to do. The only thing you would think would be expensive would be the frame but you can get some from thrift stores and spray them any color you'd like.

http://prairiecottagerose.blogspot.com

Oh the pumpkin spice latte... its back in season at Starbucks and dont worry, I already called and they make it without coffee too! phew. I am trying anything and everything involving pumpkin because I love it. I havent tried the homemade version (recipe above) but I put it here in case you'd like to!

http://www.andreasteed.com/

This is my absolute FAVORITEST craft that I have found for Halloween. I am so in love with it. When I first looked at it I was like well I just want hers I dont even want to compete with that...but after looking at it for a bit I got really excited about making one. I'm in search for one of these wooden things right now so i can create my own. You dont even have to follow this one, this is one of those things where you just get fun Halloween stickers, paper, etc and go to town! Enjoy

http://www.bettycrocker.com/

I love cheesecake! Well it seems as though i'm loving a lot of things I know but i really love this. In all honesty I havent ever made cheesecake before, just the basic brownie, cookies and of course cupcakes so this will be exciting. Pumpkin cheesecake, yum :) However if you're feeling a little lazy and dont wanna do any of the work but you want the taste then Olive Garden has the most amazing seasonal pumpkin cheesecake I have ever tasted. Last Fall mom & dad mailed me an olive garden gift card just so I could get some. so sweet

http://tatertotsandjello.com/

Heres directions to do a banner, but there are a lot of different ways you could do them. If I had a fireplace they would be so perfect there for every season but i dont yet. I love the patterns and colors here. Pillow are pretty easy to do. So this is just kind of an inspiration picture. I really enjoy this banner and pillows but I have a slighly differnent idea about doing the above so I'll see if I get around to it with midterms and all.

http://www.howto-simplify.com/

Obviously Fall is all about the sweet treats for me because thats all i love to make....

I hope these inspired you just as much as they inspired me,

I have a lot of fun ideas that I'm gonna try before I post but I'll try to have them up asap

so come back soon

xoxo Cait xoxo