I made the sparky tree cones and they are adorable. I started with this as my inspiration, but my diy side once again said, No do not buy those over priced things, you can make them. And, make them I did. 

No, I am not celebrating the Queen of England's birthday cause I have now idea when it is, Today I am celebrating mine(The Queen of my Castle). I turn 46 years old today. If I knew getting old was this fun, I would have done this a long time ago. So, this weekend I am off to a winery with my girlfriends, I will blog about it later and to have dinner in the kitchen, yes in the kitchen of my fav Italian restaurant. Oh I also have to work today and pick up kids and cook dinner and do all that other normal Mom stuff, But I will do it with a little extra sparkle and pep in my step.

   

                                                                            Happy Birthday to me!!!

       

I think I am a crafty person, I mean when I walk in a craft store I feel right at home and confident that I can handle most any craft. But that was until I got my 8 year old the Rainbow Loom kit. You know that they are all the rage right now. I think they may last as long as beanie babies or silly bands but while they are hot, we are jumping on the wagon and making some.

I bought the kit a Michaels and you can't use your coupon for these so out the door it's going to run you around $16. The kit comes with the loom, a mixture of rainbow color little rubber bands and a hook thingy, oh and instructions(if you can call them that).



I tried several times over several days to make a simple bracelet without success. Finally, I turn to trusty You Tube and found 2 girls who explain it in perfect English and within 1 minute I had a cute one on my arm.

I thought if I am having trouble maybe others are too so follow the link and make a bunch for friends, family. This video is clear, slow and very helpful. Link at bottom of page. Here are the ones I turned out in just a few short minutes, actually 3 mins because my daughter timed me, I don't know why.





http://www.youtube.com/v/l-1ya2mLqOM?autohide=1&version=3&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=gZ5vWqVsvfGeW0RJqF1kdQ&autoplay=1&autohide=1&feature=share
           
                                                      Hope you enjoy designing all the colors of the rainbow.
                                                               
                                                                          Dana

I have seen the inspiration for this jewelry holder all over blog land, and I loved it. So I decided to make my own. Sorry I didn't a picture of a piece of wood that can really be cut into any shape you would like. I wanted my just kinda square, it fit the space I needed it for. 

Here is my random Monday post. It is a pallet sign I threw together for our back porch. In the summer I put flowers in the little buckets and in the Winter I drape lights over the pallet for some extra light.

Let me just say, "Hello" my name is Dana and I am addicted to Hobby Lobby, whew I feel better now.  I was in the Hobby Lobby the other day for so long I am sure they thought I was casing the place. I was not, but I was looking for inspiration. And here it is,  the price tag made it look very ugly though. So, before I sold a kidney to buy it, I did the rational thing. I made my version.

source hobbylobby.com

My daughter has a birthday coming up very soon, I do not want to reveal her invites for this year but, here is how they looked last year. Her party was going to held at The Great Wolf Lodge, she had 3 friends join her for the night of swimming, pizza, games and all around girl fun.

I had reserved a room that has a room within the room, just for the girls. It had 4 beds and a TV where they just hung out and enjoyed themselves. We checked in on Friday night after school and the girls got bathing suits right on and hit the pool and slides. After some swimming we came back to the room for Pizza, cake and ice cream. Then the girls went to the Arcade where more fun was had.

The next morning I made a breakfast bar for them in the room with cereal, pop tarts and fruits but, once again they wanted to swim. I think a great time was had by all, I know I had fun even though it was a lot of planning, it was fun planning.

Now lets get to the good stuff, I googled Spa Mask Template and came up with my design. I also looked over Pinterest for ideas. Heres what I came up with.


I printed the info on paper and then cut out the mask shape and glued together. I attached some shiny things around the edge to give it that girly look some more. Each mask has  ribbons that attached to them that say BFF. Then each mask got the girls initial on it. They were a big hit for setting the tone for the party.
                                       Here is what the fronts and backs looked like.
                      What will this year party be?? You never can tell but it is always fun to plan.
                                                               Party on Ya'll!!
                               
                                                                           Dana

I wanted to share with you, my Fall decor and the drink cart it is based on. Recently, I was down in my Dads building, you know where he keeps everything that Dads need, lawn mowers, tools, saws, old things that I have no idea what they are. But on this day, I was looking for a piece of wood, he told me to look in the back of the building and he had a piece.

As I lifted the wood though I saw this baby, a rolling cart. It was dirty and had like 10 pieces of wood on it. When I saw the cart, I forgot about the wood I need, my only thought was to get the cart out of the shed. Here it is now in our kitchen. I decided not to paint it, I learned it was my Grandmas and I loved the character of the scratches and dings.

These letters are all over blogland, so I knew I had to give an "M" a try. Yes, Anthro has these in stores but, the price is so high I couldn't eat for the next week if I bought one. As a true DIY'er I ran home and started my own knock off.

Go to Hobby Lobby or Michaels and get you one of those cardboard letters. I think they are like $3, then put Mod Podge all over it, then cover the letter in foil, after it dries cover your tops f the foil in more Mod Podge. It is easy and quick and really no one will ever know, that you didn't sell the farm to buy one of these cute letters.

For sometime now, I have had this dated, gold frame laying around my craft room.  I decided it was time to do something with it. I know you have seen those scatter frames at Hobby Lobby and places like that, they are beyond my budget in every way. I think this one came from a yard sale ages ago, when gold frames where in style in my house.

I know that you have seen these all over Pinterest and craft fairs, but I knew I could make my own, so here goes. It was pretty simple to make.

You know banners are all the rage right now. My daughters birthday is coming in January so, I thought I would make banners for her party. It is going to be on a horse farm and the mood very casual. These would be perfect. Note: Once I make something and I love it, I become obsessed, I mean like staying up all night, looking at pictures of them and dreaming of ways I can have more of my new lovelies in my life. I mean everything looks cute when you put a banner on it. This is just the type person I am, I'm just saying.

So for my very first try of banners I bought a kit that already had them laid out on the fabric. Since this time, I have found my own pattern online and used it to make hundreds,just Google DIY Pennant.