i {heart} you

Today is day 3 of my decorating for

Valentines Day

for under $10. If you have a Dollar Tree near by, you should go get some of these cute little heart picks. There are so many things you could use them for.

* Also, as of this post I am only 5 people away from having my first 100 followers...Yay!

This is what I decided to do with mine. First I pulled out the picks. When you pull them out you can see a bit of the white Styrofoam.

So, I just took a red Sharpie and colored the white spots.

I love the pink glitter hearts!

I needed to put my thrift store cheese dome to use again! These little hearts were just perfect to display in it!

How cute and easy is this! The pink and red show up so well against the black. And, it only cost $2. Can't beat that for a L*O*V*E Day decoration.

More tomorrow!!!

pAiNt SwAtCh ArT

This is day 2 of my decorating for

Valentines Day

for under $10

This project was so easy and took me about 10 minutes from start to finish. It only cost me $1. Here are the supplies I used. Some mat paper(had on hand) a paint swatch in shades of pink(FREE) a white frame($1) and some brads(had on hand, but could be found at a scrapbook or office store).

First, I picked out a turquoise color to make my heart. I love this color! It matches a little sign on the same shelf I chose to display this paint swatch artwork. It's also a good color to represent the three LOVES of my life...my husband and two boys!

I used these FISKARS scissors to cut out the heart. How appropriate is the name on the scissors!? HEARTBEATI was just going to glue it on, but it needed a little something extra!

I found these little brads on the bottom of my craft box. I used these when making my Sister Darcy's wedding invites a few years back. They worked perfect.

Attached it to the paint swatch. I chose to remove the glass from the frame as well. I wanted the heart to be able to pop out from the paint swatch a bit.

I think it turned out pretty cute for just $1. I might just have to do this for some other holidays as well.
More to come tomorrow.

XOXO

{Valentines decor for under $10}

For the next few days, I'll be showing you how I've decided to decorate for

Valentines Day!

In the past, I never really decorated for the day of L*O*V*E, however I just can't help myself when I see so many cute things on other blogs. So, I decided to try and use $10 or less. Above is a picture of things I bought at the Dollar Tree, a few paint swatches from Home Depot and a stack of paper I've had forever.

Here is the first project...

I chose two pieces of paper from my Mat Stack. I've had this for a really long time, but I'm sure you can use any kind of paper or size of frame you want. I wanted to use some of the same colors as the Conversation Hearts. I just love these little candies. I can eat a few, but that's about it. I like them more for decorating.
I forgot to add a picture here of the supplies I was using, but above you can see a package of little foam stickers. These are so easy to use. Just peel the backing off and stick.

Red Letters on a light blue paper. I put these in some frames I already had in the living room. Just put it over the existing picture and they can be removed after the holiday.

In the other I did orange paper with a pink heart. So simple, it took me about 2 minutes to complete. Better yet, it only cost $1. It looks really cute on our end table!

More L*O*V*E day projects to come.

Created a Button...FINALLY!

Crafty Kind Of Day

My friend Alisha suggested that her and I do a craft day! I was totally up for it. She came over with some fun stuff that I've never tried before. I love it & I might just be hooked on it! This was so simple and you could even do it was some older kids(maybe 6 & up). She brought over some fun scrapbook paper, what looks like pressed-flat bottle caps, *Diamond Glaze, and some magnets. I had some bottle caps that I'd been saving, but I must admit, the flat ones worked way better.
First, pick a spot on your paper that you like and cut it out. You can either use a craft punch or we just had a scrapbook embellishment that fit perfect that we could trace around. The possibilities are endless. Whatever style you like or you could even use pictures of your favorite little kids. Something I'm going to have to try!
She picked out this funky star/flower spot on the page.

Cut it out.
Placed it on the flattened bottle cap and applied a small amount of the *Diamond Glaze. It helps to have a toothpick to hold down the paper while applying the glaze and also useful for any air bubbles you want to get rid of.

Here it is drying.

And here are a few others finished. Aren't they cute? So, so easy. They make a perfect little gift for a teacher, bridal shower, birthday, or housewarming. So FUN!

We also played around with some clothes pins. Simply glue the paper onto the clothes pin with a glue stick and paint the *Diamond Glaze over it. Apply some magnetic strip on the back and you have a fun magnet to hold anything you want to put on your fridge.

A special thanks to my friend Alisha for coming over and giving me some great ideas. I had a great time having a crafting buddy for the day!

*On another note, I will be taking a break from doing any blog posts for a few weeks. I am hoping to get a blog makeover, come up with some new & fun ideas and give some extra time to my two little boys. See you in a few.

~Tanya

Before and After

I had these two pictures hanging in my kitchen for the longest time, and decided they needed a change. I loved them about 6 years ago when we bought them from Target, but my style has changed a bit since then. We needed some new pictures to hang in our bedroom, so I thought I'd use what I already had and give them a makeover. FREE!

All I needed was a bit of paint, a little inspiration(thanks to a Better Homes and Garden Magazine) and a little creativity.
*yes, that is blue painter's tape around the pictures.

And here they are after. It took me about 3 hours of painting, drawing out the design and painting again. Pretty simple and quick makeover. I love how they turned out.

WINTER WHITES After Christmas, I have this need to do a total overhaul of the house by cleaning and organizing. I'm always sad to pack away the cheery Christmas decor, so this year I decided to decorate for winter. What better color for winter than WHITE! It looks clean, stylish, and timeless. Here are a few White things I've decorated with for the winter.

We were at the Habitat for Humanity store in Lewiston, ID(they have some great stuff) and found these milk glass shades. I first thought they were vases, but when I picked them up they were open on the bottom. They must have fit on some kind of lighting fixture at one time. I love the texture and how white they are. They also work as a candle holder. A small tea light fits perfect on the inside and looks very pretty.

Living in an apartment, we have very limited space for displaying pictures and decorative items. We found these two, white mantel shelves at Home Depot. They cost about $34 dollars for both. These were a bit of a splurge, but I've been wanting some for about 3 years now. I love them. I added some pictures of my boys of course, along with the letter of their first name. These were in an earlier blog post.

http://johnsonfamily23.blogspot.com/2010/08/love-letters-i-had-these-letters.html

I know it's not white, but I had to keep a star in the living room. I love stars. This one looks great against the white walls and new shelf.

Here is some artwork I did last Sunday. It was a free redo of some pictures we had hanging in our kitchen. They're now in our bedroom. I just love this kind of graphic art. So clean and simple. This will be on a post a bit later this week.
I added these white frames to a side table in our living room. I just love these little guys. The frames and the boys in them. I have a dash of pink behind them...some beautiful roses my husband brought me a few days ago. He's a keeper!

Again, my little Dollar Store snowbird from an earlier post. He's just so cute in my re purposed cheese dome.

http://johnsonfamily23.blogspot.com/2010/12/snowbird-dollar-store-makeover-i-found.html

Faux snowballs to remind me of how cold it is still.

http://johnsonfamily23.blogspot.com/2010/12/faux-snowballs-ive-been-wanting-to-make.html

And last, but not least the coffee filter wreath that I've just been dying to make. It looks so pretty and fluffy hanging on our door. All this white in my home is so cheery and bright. For the dark, short days of winter, everyone needs a little cheering up. Try adding some bright whites to your home!

Winter Wreath

{made from coffee filters}

I've seen so many of these wreaths made from coffee filters online and I just had to give it a try. I rarely get to hang such feminine looking decor in the house(I live with all boys, 4 of them) and this really tapped into my girlie side. I just love how it turned out. Even my husband and brother had to go up and pat it....both saying,"It's so fluffy." Pretty funny to see grown men patting a wreath. Anyways, here is what you'll need:

Coffee Filters

(I didn't count, but probably used about 150)

Hot Glue Gun and Sticks...LOTS!!

Dollar Store Wreath Form

All you do is fold the coffee filter in half, in half again, and a 3rd time. It should look like a triangle. Then, fold the tip upwards. I did it so about and inch was folded up.(sorry for the lack of pictures...i was super focused) Put some hot glue on the wreath and stick the filter on. You can do this in any way you want as long as you make it really full. I worked in rows, but I'm sure any method will work just fine.
Here it is at about a quater finished.

I was almost finished and ran out of filters

(i was using some that we had on hand)

My husband went to the store and got another huge thing of filters. I have a ton if I ever want to make another wreath.
Finally finished and hanging on the front door. It's perfect for Winter. I just loved this project!