Under $5.00 porch tea light

I swung by Target the other day and found these (didn't take a before pix) cute lantern tea lights for $1.00 in their dollar section at the front of the store.

Hum.... now what to do...



I have it!

Grab a can of Rust-Oleum Frosted Glass spray paint(around $4.00 at Home Depot) and a cute vinyl decal (could be from your Cricut, just a suggestion)



or a couple cute vinyl stickers...



and spray a light coating... it goes on clear but dries frosted so wait a couple seconds and see if you need more (it dries quickly)



and viola, cute porch tea lights!




(Forgot to remove my son's cap gun from my porch display BEFORE I took the pix!)


I'm linked up with...

Glitter Glamor, Birdy Style

Bright sunshiny "Hello!"

I've seen lots of people use the Dollar Tree birds, (of course I can't find a pix of the one I used!!!) and I didn't want to completely copy their ideas, so I came up with my own version of the Dollar Tree bird.

I grabbed Glitter, my new best friend, it makes everything seem to pop, and I guess after a LONG Iowa winter, I like to see things bright and sparkly!

AND the rest my supplies (sorry, no pix of the process, I was sticky and glittery)



see the rocks...

And with a little spray adhesive, glitter, rocks from the yard, spanish moss, and two married pieces of junk, I have "Spring!"





I'm linked up with Becky at Beyond The Picket Fence!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Lucky the Leprechaun visited my kids in the middle of the night.



I hope they had a good day! And you too!

Friday Craftin' Day!!!

I love my Fridays! I don't have to work, I've decided the housework can wait until Saturday when the family is home to help. This past Friday spring hit in Iowa, but I haven't quite thawed out yet. I have, however, been thinking about spring and Easter, summer campfires and backyard parties with friends...

So I came up with a few goodies to get the mood...







Hope you find your Spring Fever!!!

I've been bit!!!

Oh dear, it looks like I've got the rash, the fever, and the itches...

Blog jumping all day isn't good for you, you know.

There are so many ideas, so many smart women, so many creative people...

Now I've been bit by the jewerly bug.



I've seen these glass tile necklaces all round, and felt like I needed to try my hand at it.





They are so addicting! I made the Wonder Woman one for my SIL for her birthday, the couple is Mike and I on my mom's porch... and I loved the washer necklace idea. Unfortunately I can't give any one person props because you can find both these ideas everywhere in blogland!

Hobby Lobby has become my new best friend, they have 50% off sales ALL THE TIME on jewelry!!! It's going to be another sickness.

I need some bug spray, some lock down, and some of this....



or it's going to be ugly!

So, I'm off to my second home, ya know, they have charms half off this week!

What a sight!

Looking forward to a nice weekend, my husband left his student teaching placement in his styling 1986 Oldsmobile Delta 98... as he turns the corner he could barely turn... power steering went out. SO, car to the fix it shop, I called my mom to see if we could borrow a car for the week.

As we were heading out to her house, we came across a couple bald eagles. I ran home to get my camera, hoping they would still be in the field. Yepers! So, here are some pix I took... I thought they were beautiful and wanted to share!

Oh Happy Day

*sigh*

Yesterday was Monday. I hate Mondays... I hate Mondays even more when the high is only 8 degrees. After a long, and I stress, lllllooooonnnnnnnggggg day at work, I headed home to a grumpy family. (Seasonal affective disorder is in full swing at my house topped with Iowa Test of Basic Skills)

SO, I start making supper, think to myself "Self, I wonder if anyone got the mail yet, maybe there is a new magazine to make you smile". So I pulled on my boots, trampled out to the mailbox, snow up to my kneecaps, and found the mailbox empty.

*sigh* (again)

Pulled my boots off, shook the snow off my jeans and asked the fam if anyone got the mail (fingers crossed). "Yep, Reyna got it, it's on the back of the couch!" Awesome, I might be in luck yet.

Humm... a box...



interesting... oh wait, look at the tag...



it's from someone who knows me by my junkin name. Hum... *heart racing* did someone make my Monday even better than Hearst Publishing could?!?!?



Yes, yes, YES someone did. Robelyn dear sweet Robelyn has made my day! A couple months ago I tore my old box springs apart and sent her a box of junk with the material off the box springs. And look what she did with it!




Isn't it absolutely, positively, most definitely the most gorgeous think you have ever seen! (My husband didn't show my enthusiasm so I had to call my mom!) She even used some of the junk pieces I sent her. The springs on the side are what held the big springs to the box spring frame.

I could never put into words how special this purse is. Not only because a friend made it with her own two hands, but it holds pieces of things that were mine. It's so personalized in so many different ways. I am truly thankful to Robelyn for her thoughtfulness and kindness. We are a special breed of people, we truly are.


So,



Thank you! Thank you!
THANK YOU! Robelyn...

I have officially been...

I got my craft on!

Well... work is slow... or I procrastinate, either way I have been spending a serious amount of time checking out other blogs out here in cyberspace (who says it was during work hours?!?). There are so many talented, resourceful men and women out there! I love jumping from blog to blog finding all these great ideas that I wish I had more time to do!

So... Friday's are my days off. I stopped by Hobby Lobby to get some supplies after work on Thursday (like I don't have enough stuff at home) and decided I would take a 'Mom' day and just play with some of the ideas I saw, and came up with myself.

Here's a look at my dining room table, I have a craft room in the basement, but I'm not going to show you a pix of that, there is a reason why I'm working from the dining room table.



After trying some StazOn on glass that didn't Stay On, I moved onto necklaces for my daughter and her friends (didn't get pix of them). But I did decide to make myself a new keychain. And a couple more...



I should have scheduled more 'Mom' time, oh wait, I did, I cleaned the whole house, painted the hallway and stairwell, and did 5 loads of laundry... maybe I should have scheduled more "ME" time instead! Hope you all find 'me' time sometime this week!

"Junkle" Bells All Year Round

My friend Jill over at Jill Ruth & Co is having a Junkle Bells All Year Round. Each month bloggers are invited to make a 'junk' ornament to share!

Today is my day off, and after running errands, painting the stairwell, I've decided to whip something up for her, and all of you! This only took me a couple minutes... but my goal for this year is to make a 'game' junk tree. Driving home I thought of these.


All you need is this...


Using a 1/16 drill bit, predrill holes into the blocks, checks, or dominoes and just put screw eyes in and add a bit of ribbon, ta-da! You're 1 month closer to Christmas!

Please check back at Jill's website monthly for more links with great ideas!

Peace

Well- winter in Iowa has been in full force. I believe this is the first day in a good week we've seen sunshine. I've been so busy and so full of winter blues I decided I needed to take time for myself.... Like I use too...

I've been wanting to go behind my Grandparents house to take pictures ever since I got my new camera. The flood took their home, then Grandpa started going downhill... and time flew by. In high school I would spend many days after school 'de-stressing' on the railroad bridge... or walking through the woods... or walking on the sandbars... so I felt it was appropriate to take one of our beautiful frost covered days walking the trail I use to take over 15 years ago.

The house sits on the Conservation Board's land, and they have decided to tear down the house that my 93 year old grandfather spent most of his life in now that he has passed away, before they do, I wanted some pictures... wiping a tear, I stepped into peacefully quiet house, and re-lived my memories of him, and the house.

So, I am here today, to share some peaceful pictures of my memories, of winter in Iowa, of a shack of a house that will be gone, of an much needed day I spend a couple weeks ago...

For the love of Dog...

O.k...looking though my Christmas pictures, I seem to think my in-law's dog is an important part of the family... each year I take a picture of her. Not my dog, just theirs... This slobbery, huge furry thing is a big part of our family. She knows it too as she was truly hoping to be invited in Christmas... The weather wasn't to nice for her this year...



After heading OUTSIDE to take pictures of her, I thought I'd get warm INSIDE and take some more...



"Do I get to come in?" *scratches at door*



"Hey you, will you let me in... please oh please oh please!"

If she wasn't so wet and dirty, we would have let her come inside for her annual "sit in the chair". Not an inside dog (OBVIOUSLY!) She is only allowed to come in and sit in her chair at Christmas... I say her chair, because she will run the grandkids over on occasion and sprint past them to jump into this chair. And no one can stop the 160 pound dog!



Ah- for the love of the Dog. You can see why we all love her, can't you?!?