Exploding Album

I made this exploding album for March. I'm giving it as a gift in April. I will post pictures of the inside after the gift-giving is done. Stay tuned...

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Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

So this month I decided to tackle our kitchen cabinets.  We have 70's style cabinets in our house and while someday we'd love to replace them with custom wood cabinets, we just didn't want to spend the money at this point.  So I went to Lowe's and purchased over 200 feet of molding, primer, paint, nail gun nails, and new hardware.  Scott gave me a quick lesson on using the chop saw and you can see the "final" results below.  Unfortunately, it took me about 4 coats of paint before I found a color scheme I liked (don't worry, I had to redo the entire thing only once, while the middle 2 attempts were only on 1 door).  And I still have lots of work to do on them, so not sure if I can officially count this one for March :).  Still have to apply a Polycrylic coat over everything, rehang the doors that were/are on there crooked, plus paint the interiors, and attach a few more knobs in some problem areas.

And then someday there'll be Part 2 - the countertop....

Original cupboards - left

New look - left

Original cupboards - right

New look - right

Dining Room Wall Art

At the end of February, my in-laws came down and helped paint my dining room yellow.  For March, I've been working on new stuff to go with the new look.  Here's what I came up with....

I put up an art gallery between our living room and dining room.  The boards are just plain 2x4's cut to 3 feet long.  The edges are routed so that they aren't sharp.  The boards are painted with magnetic paint and topped off with black spray paint.  I bought OXO colored magnets to add a little fun for the boys.  (Perhaps I should have made some of Allison's magnets from January!)  I also used my Silhouette to cut out the wall vinyl in Georgia font to go above.  FYI - I had this up for awhile in a different location, but realized that the wind would take everything off the wall.  If you are planning on doing this with magnetic paint, just make sure your placement isn't in a wind tunnel when your house is all opened up!  I got this idea from Gail's Masterpiece area and from Pinterest.

On the other wall, I placed this sign I got last fall, but wasn't sure where to put it.  I was afraid to place other pictures around it because it might get a little too busy.  Instead, I bought two canvases that are 16 x 20.  I painted them white, and the one on the left I painted the red strip.  I used my Silhouette to cut out all of the dates and family rules.  I put them on the canvas and then painted over everything in black.  Once it was dry, I removed all of the vinyl numbers and words.  I then sprayed everything with a clear acrylic spray paint.  The dates on the left are our birthdays and anniversary.  The words on the right is a subway art of some of our family rules.  I found these ideas on a Silhouette group on Facebook.

Wedding Gift

It's wedding season!  Allison made this with a few girlfriends to give as a wedding gift in April.  She bought a document frame and used a Cricut to cut out the words and shapes from scrapbook paper.  Next she used a glue roller to stick everything down.  The quote is "A house is made of walls and beams, a home is made of love and dreams."

Gift for the Bride and Groom

This month Kelly made a bridal shower gift for a friend using scrapbook paper, letter stickers and a frame.  She was inspired from a print she saw on Etsy.  

Chalkboard Picture Frame

This month Valerie made a chalkboard picture frame.  It started out as a regular picture frame.  Three coats of chalkboard paint covered the glass, leaving time for drying between coats.  Then she used craft paint to make the frame green and add the swirly do-dads.  Then she can write on it whatever the word of the day is:)

Calendar 2012-2013

 January

 December

March

This month Jessica made a calendar for her in-laws that spans part of 2012 into 2013.  Here are a few of her favorite months from that calendar.

Date Night Invite

I had so much fun making this I had to share. For March Date Night we were heading to Fong's Pizza and out to see comedian Jim Gaffigan. I used my Silhouette to make the box, the "F is for Funny" and the pizza with all the toppings. It even came with its own cutter!

Glitter Shoes!!!

My sister gave me an awesome pair of silver heels a few years ago and I have worn them so much they are starting to fall apart but I don't have the heart to throw them away so I thought what better than to revamp and GLITTER them!!! Thanks to pinterest I stumbled upon this tutorial and decided to give it a whirl. I mixed loose glitter and satin mod podge together to make a paste and brushed it on with a foam brush. I did about four coats to fully cover the shoes and let it dry in between for about thirty minutes. My end product was a little lumpy if you look real close but when I have them on I don't think it is very noticeable - you just see GLITTER! (My husband said they look like snow :) The glitter seems to stay on pretty good but they recommend that you spray a coat of sealer over top to make sure it won't rain glitter when you walk. I am curious to see how they hold up with wear but for right now I am pretty excited about my new flashy shoes! (Pictures are before, first coat, and after results)

Craft Bag

Pocket inside for small supplies.

After a weekend of knitting and crocheting Vicki decided she needed a little bag to throw her supplies in.  She used extra fabric she had around the house and made up a quick little bag with a pocket inside.

Kitchen Necessities

This month Vicki and Gail had a knit-a-long where Cathy and Emily taught them the basics of knitting and crocheting.  They crocheted kitchen scrubbies and hot pads.  Then knitted dish cloths (bonus points if you can read what the red one says:)).  Not too bad for a weekend of work with 2 first timers.  Thanks Cathy and Emily!!