Artsy is NOT Fartsy v11

Bursting!

So I mentioned that I had a few projects on the go.
Well, it's one thing having them on the go, but finishing them is an entirely different thing.
That's where this craft fair i am participating in gets scary!  Eeek!
I should really stop talking to you guys and get to work : )

Anyways, I actually accomplished something for a change, and finished a project!
Inspired (as usual) by Pinterest where i found this super fun twig wreath, I set myself to work.

All i did was cut out a circle of cardboard, wrapped it in twine and glue gunned some sticks i found in our yard.
It was so ridiculously easy, and for one who is used to 'easy' projects taking weeks to finish,
this totally blew my mind.  I did it during nap time.  I know right?  Un-bee-leev-able : )

Originally it was destined for my front door, which hasn't been itself since i took down the Christmas decorations.
But when it was done it was way too wide, and definately too fragile for our scathing winter winds.
And besides, i had just the spot that has been crying out for some lovin':

I guess I'll just have to make another (stronger) one for my lonely front door : )

Happy March!!!

Artsy is NOT Fartsy v10

This past Christmas was a Christmas of home-made gifts, 

both to save money and because i think anything homemade is better than what you'll find in a store. 

 And um, 'cause i like to make stuff...

Using a few things i already had in my craft hoard supply, 

I made this neat shadowbox for my brother and his girlfriend out west:

Since they don't have things like oceans and sea glass and whales and lighthouses on the prairies,

i thought i would send a little east coast their way...

I simply painted a plain old shadow box that i got at the dollar store white, 

added a pretty blue paper background, and glued on some sea glass / sea porcelain -

 although i did have to paint that one piece red.

I think i might just have to make one for myself : )

Artsy is NOT Fartsy v.9

Hey, I'm just a slow starter.

And just because i am a little behind doesn't put me out of the game,

and just because Christmas is practically here doesn't mean that gifts from me won't happen,

they'll just cost me more to mail ; )

So to offset all those extra charges the post office is going to nail me with,

( and because i have a glue gun and i like to use it, )

I have been trying to cheap out  make do with things i already have or things i can make to decorate with.

My friend Lindsay put it perfectly - "Re-purposing Crap We Already Have"

(And you should definitely go check out her blog, she's done some pretty cool stuff : ) 

Anyways, here's some of the crap i've been up to around here....

I think it turned out kind of cute, and the total cost - $0,
since i just so happen to own scissors, a printer, and have a huge rather large stash of craft supplies : )
And that my dear friends makes me happy....


I got the idea here, and the templates for the birds here & here

Artsy is NOT Fartsy v.8

The downfall of having a party is all of those germs that show up uninvited,

and today i have a very sick little boy on my hands : (

Since he's not feeling up to his usual charming self, I give you another episode of craftiness...

aka 'more crap i made from t.p. rolls'

In case you haven't noticed, i'm cheap. Totally, disgustingly, cheap.

I LOVE making things that cost next to nothing.

and if i happen to look like a third grader in the process,

SO BE IT.

{inspiration HERE}

Now i'm off to wipe a tiny nose and administer another dose, my poor poor baby! 

Home Sweet Home

Artsy is NOT fartsy v.6

AKA - crap i've made.

Sigh. Somedays i almost feel like re-naming this feature.

Maybe not this time though, i actually kinda like this one, and am thinking of similar things i can do.

But just wait to see what i have in store for you next time....

{ Someone should seriously take away my scissors, i might hurt someone : }

Beach Glass + a Cheap Frame + White Paper

 =

AHA!  Artsy is NOT fartsy indeed!

Happy Wednesday : )

Artsy is NOT fartsy v5

So it's been a while since i've done one of these,

and i am thoroughly amazed with how little i get done in the course of a day.

Who knew that having a year off would be so much work?

Fortunately he is totally my kind of work,

and i don't mind at all.

So, though i tend to get very little done, i do seem to have about eight different projects on the go.

Getting to them is the hard part, so they are all kind of haphazardly lying around my desk

in various stages of completion.  I call it my creative work flow.

I'm guessing Dr. Nails calls it something else...

I think they call this much ado about nothing, on with it already!
A new mobile for above the Little's changing table.

For all of you wondering what its made out of, ( please don't send me back to the third grade )
it's made out of toilet paper rolls cut into strips. Yup. Toilet Paper Rolls.
Whatevs, Jake thinks it's cool.

It's spawned a whole new facial expression, as blowing on it makes it twirl:

monkey see, monkey do....

Artsy is NOT Fartsy v4

I don't sew. It's generally not very good for my blood pressure.
I haven't sewn much since home-ec class in junior high, mainly due to the temper tantrums and crying fits.

So why the hell i decided to make an ipad cover is completely beyond me.

Dr. Nails was saying how we needed a cover before we went away, to protect the precious toy,

and it was almost a conditioned response: I can totally MAKE that.

'Cause you see, i suffer from a condition called makeitis, 

it's where you feel strangely compelled to make stuff instead of buying the perfectly 

super cute one you saw on etsy for only $24.95.
Because really, I can TOTALLY make that, for way cheaper...

And dammit, I TOTALLY DID.
And it cost me like $2.00 or something ridiculous like that, just for the felt.
Okay okay, so it's not really perfect, and it took me a really long time to make it.
( have i mentioned that i don't sew? )
But it does the job, isn't too girly for the good Dr, and i didn't even cry once : )

in your face etsy

Guest Post - Deanna from Delirious Rhapsody!

While I'm on vacation I asked one of my favorite bloggers to do a guest post for me,

and was so happy Deanna obliged! 

Head over to her blog and show her some love,

she's always entertaining and her boys are the funniest little dudes....

Hi! I'm Deanna from Delirious Rhapsody. I'm a 26 year old stay at home mom of two little boys, Gage Hendrix, who will be four in July, and Owsley Duncan, who is six months. I'm an avid crafter and baker, who loves reading, music, camping, my husband, and sleeping. I collect gnomes and have over 120, and they all have names. I started my blog as a way to keep up with my mother in law who lives in Arizona. (We live in Alabama.) I enjoyed blogging so much that it's come a big hobby of mine. I find humor in my daily life, and that's generally what I write about. I definitely don't sugarcoat anything, and I'm extremely sarcastic. I'd love it if you would come by and say hello sometime!

When Gillian approached me about doing a guest post while she was away on vacation, I was flattered. Then I was stumped. I know I post a lot of my daily happenings on MY blog. But you don't know me and might not care how my day was. And then I remembered Gillian's feature, "Artsy is NOT Fartsy. I adore this feature! I love how Gillian makes cute and functional things for her house, without spending a fortune. So I thought I would repost an entry from a feature I occasionally do on my blog, called "Common Cents." It's basically along the same line as Gillian's feature, so I think it will fit right in!

Here goes.....

We became a family of four and bought a new house within a span of two weeks. (Yep, we moved with a newborn. Fun stuff!) Needless to say, we don't have a lot of extra money to spend right

 now. So I've become a pro at cutting corners.

I've decided to start a new feature, called 'Common Cents.'

It's focus will be trying to cut out spending extra cash on things that aren't essentials.

Today....baby leggings!

I LOVE baby leggings. They make diaper changes so incredibly easy, not to mention the fact that they are super cute on both little boys and girls. But they can get expensive, especially when you want different pairs to mix and match with all of baby's many outfits.

So why not make some yourself?

For this project, you'll need three things: scissors, tall socks, and a baby.

Cut the sock off at the heel.

And....SHAZAM! Instant leggings for your little.

I bought these socks on clearance for 99 cents. That definitely beats 10 bucks a pop!

And you're also left with little bootie socks for yourself, if you want! But it's up to you.

If you would rather waste money, who am I to stop you? :)



Thanks so much Deanna, Owsley looks super cute in them! 

(and i am so going to the dollar store! despite what Dr. Nails says, jake so NEEDS a pair of these)

See y'all tomarrow....

Artsy is NOT Fartsy v.3

Tales from the Baby's Room.....

Seeing as a lot of our baby stuff was borrowed and has recently been returned for the new baby 

(have I mentioned how excited I am for them?!) we had to make a few changes around here, 

although I use the term 'we' loosely... 

These changes included a new car seat which is awesome

because I was sooo sick of lugging that infant one around, talk about heavy!
19 lb. baby + 25 lb. car seat = mega arm muscles.
Sheesh, a man must have designed those things!  But I digress....

We also returned the changing table that was in the babe's room,
and being the type that always used it, I was left in need of a replacement.
Some women might panic, some might go out and buy one.
I, on the other hand, have Dr. Nails.
He rocks my world.

This is what we came up with:

I wish I could claim this idea as my own,
but I totally saw it somewhere, I'm not going to lie to you...
'We' (again used very loosely)  painted the mouse-hole with chalk board paint,
which I have been dying to use on something, finally!

And when we don't need the change table anymore the front trim comes off

and voila! a built in shelf in the closet.

Frickin' genius if I do say so.

And a big thank you to everyone who keeps voting for us on the top baby blogs,

we've moved up sooooo far because of you!

x's and o's!

Artsy is NOT Fartsy V.2

I could very easily have titled this post  'I love Dollarama'

because it might be my favorite place on earth.

Some people like walmart, others hang out at the mall,

But me - total dollarama girl.

Pretty much every time I'm in there you will hear me exclaiming (loudly)

"How the HELL do they make this stuff for a dollar?!"

Trust me, you will hear me.

Anyways, there are great things to buy, and great things to do with the things you buy:

Stickers + Canvas + Paint =

Being on the changing table is not such a bad place to be

when your Safari Friends are there too....

But seriously, how do they DO it?!?!

I guess I'm just glad that they do.

Holy crap, I'm a total nerd aren't I? 

vote for your favorite nerd!

Artsy is NOT Fartsy v1

This instalment of art on our walls comes to us courtesy of Dr. Nails himself.

Well, he was the one who performed the actual construction,
whilst I stuck to my old position of on-site supervisor.
What can I say, it's a good job...

I like to think the idea came from somewhere within the vast genius that is my head,
 but I'm pretty sure it was undoubtably via some design show or another on HGTV

( of which, by the way, I am thoroughly addicted to.)

So thanks go out to whichever good looking designer graced my living room that day

and planted the seed for this in my head.

It was really quite simple:

I kindly begged asked the lovely and talented Dr. Nails to build frames out of scrap wood he had,

and bam!  Just moments later he arose from Manland bearing three!

Once again his talent takes my breath away.

A few rounds of the staple gun on the fabric I had cut out to size

and voila!  Cheap and cheerful it is!

 I give you full permission to steal this idea too : )