Thursday, May 31, 2012

My Lovely Desk

I am so excited to finally have a craft room and my very own desk! When looking for a desk I knew that I needed something sturdy and big enough to accommodate my needs and my crafting tools.I picked up my desk off of craigslist for $60.00 but knew that it needed a little updating.
So I picked my colors and got to work. I decided to take the desk apart to make sure that I didn't miss anything. Once it was disassembled I went paint crazy!
The bottom of my desk is a light coral color that I fell in love with. For the top of my desk I went with a light bright blue.
I also covered the top of my desk with lace print contact paper. It looks amazing and if I get ink on it from stamping it wipes right up! it's a little hard to get a picture of but it's lovely in real life!
I am so in love with my new desk! I think this transformation is quite possibly my most favorite one yet!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Tea Cup Pincushion

Mother's day is quickly approaching, and there are gifts to be made, flowers to be sent and cards to be crafted in the Carman house. Today I am going to share another handmade gift, perfect for a sewing Momma. This is a super cute gift that is very budget and time friendly, from start to finish it took me a little over five minutes to finish this adorable gift. To make this gift you need a teacup and saucer, I got mine for $1.00 from my local thrift store. You will also need fabric, steel wool, some batting, a rubber band, and a hot glue gun.
I began by cutting my fabric into a decent sized square and hot gluing the steel wool onto the fabric. I used steel wool because it will actually sharpen your pins and needles!
Then I added the batting and hot glued it to my steel wool. I only added it to get it to sit in the teacup the way I wanted.
Next, I gathered the fabric tightly and rubber banded it. It is important to make sure you are satisfied with how the fabric lays, and the way the pincushion fits into the teacup.
Now, all that's left is some simple hot gluing! You want to coat the inside of the teacup with hot glue, and then insert the pincushion. I then hot glued my teacup to the saucer, this can be done or skipped.
There you go! A simple sweet handmade gift that any mother or grandmother would love and cherish!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Note Holder!

I am also a firm believer that God gave us hands for a reason, and I love making things, and giving handmade.
  
  Today I am going to teach you how to make a post-it note holder. This is a great inexpensive gift that you can give to teachers,co-workers, and friends, pretty much just about anybody. It is also perfect for any of the special ladies in your life, Mother's Day is this Sunday! I wanted to share this easy gift because it fits any budget, is super simple, and does not require any major crafting tools. 


Supplies
  • Scrapbook Paper
  • Post-it Notepad
  • Any Clear Frame {I used a 4x6}
  • Scissors
  • Adhesive
  • Embellishments

   I began by cutting my scrapbook paper to fit my frame. I simply measured the paper and then cut it with scissors.



  Next, I checked to make sure it fit properly and then began embellishing. I used my scallop punches, stamps and little bit of bling. Go ahead and use whatever you want!


  Then you insert the embellished paper into the frame, and adhere the Post-it notes to the outside of the frame. I used glue-dots for this so that it popped.

    I hope that this has shown you just how easy giving handmade can be.  I would love to see what your take one Post-it holders!






Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Craft Room

 Our new apartment has two bedrooms! And they are two nice sized rooms, both of them are big enough for a King size bed.  We decided to take the second bedroom as our bedroom, and use the Master Bedroom as a shared craft and office room. Now going from a corner to a room has been a huge jump. We are still figuring out how we want to set up the room, but one thing we knew for sure was that we we're going to need a desk for Joel and at least a craft table for me. Well, it just so happens that my Mom's work was moving some offices around and changing out furniture. So my Mother, knowing that we were searching for a desk, made arrangements for us to get one of the wooden L-Shaped desks that they were getting rid of. All we had to do was pick it up! While picking up our free desk, we also scored 3 office chairs!
  At first Joel didn't want the desk, so he was just going to use a table like he had at our old apartment. However, that quickly changed once we got the desk set up in our room. We decided to let him have it, and I would use a table or search for a desk online. After a few days of searching, I was beginning to give up hope, all of the desks that I was finding were several hundreds of dollars USED. The most expensive furniture purchase that we have ever made was our bedroom furniture. There was no way that I could justify spending that much money on a desk. Just when I was about to give up hope, I found this!

Yes, I got a tanker. For $70 bucks it was mine. Sure it doesn't look amazing but it's mine and beautiful things will be made on it. Now, those of you who know me, know that there is no way that I'm leaving my desk looking like this. I picked out the colors for my craft room and should have a total transformation for you soon!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

May Flowers

I can't believe that it is already May! This year is flying by and I am so excited that it is finally May! So much has happened since I blogged last. My brother is now one of the few, the proud; he’s a United States Marine!
We moved! To a new apartment, we are still settling in and unpacking, but we love it! I can’t wait until it’s all done! Our new apartment has two bedrooms, and we are using the second room as an office and craft room. I am hoping to have this room unpacked and somewhat organized by the end of next week. I am no longer a stay at home wife. I was offered a wonderful job, and started working full time this week. I am still trying to get used to being back in the working world, I think that once everything settles between moving, school, and going out of town life won’t seem so crazy! I am also thinking about opening an etsy shop, but we’ll see how life goes. I hope that your May is off to a wonderful start! I can’t wait to get back into the swing of blogging and project sharing! I have a few projects that I am planning and I cannot wait for Summer!