easter place setting
| | |

Easter Place Setting Idea … using simple craft supplies (she: Maria)

ByMaria

Hi Everybody! This is Maria from Shopgirl, and I’m excited to be here again to share a fun Easterplace setting idea with you! Can you believe that Easter is just around the corner?! With as long as winter has lasted this year, it’s hard to believe that spring is finally here! I love this time of year; I love that after months of cold, dark and dreary weather (especially this year!) the world all of a sudden becomes beautifully colorful as trees turn green and flowers begin to bloom! You may already be planning your Easter menu and decor (and if not, you still have time!) and I have a fun place setting idea to share with you today! All you need are a couple of craft supplies and you have these cute little Easter egg place settings for your holiday table! Here’s what you’ll need and how you can make these…

Personalized Initial Letter Art on www.orsoshesays.com. A fun project to do with (or without!) the kids. #initialart #letterart #lettering #homedecor #DIY #crafts
| |

Personalized Initial Letter Art (she: Darleen)

ByDarleen

I love anything with a personalized touch, and you can see that in many of the jewelry pieces I design. We recently moved, and I have slowly been decorating my youngest daughter’s bedroom–making the transition from crib to bed. I have wanted to add a little something to personalize her room. Usually for wall decor in my other children’s bedrooms, I have displayed a piece of their artwork in their room. So, since my youngest daughter is at that toddler’s age and she loves to make “messy” artwork, I thought it would be a fun project to create an abstract piece together using a large canvas initial letter.
This is just your basic painting project–paint brush, acrylic paint and canvas painting board. But the one who is making the personalized initial letter art is your child.

Free, Customizable Spring Printable (she: Anne)
| | |

Free, Customizable Spring Printable (she: Anne)

ByAnne

It is hard to believe, especially with the snow still falling, blowing, drifting, and staying in WNY, that Spring is actually here. But it is and regardless of what is out my window, I am seeing bright and cheery days ahead. I just can’t wait to get out and start my spring planting, to see the roses start to bud, and to be able to get out of the house without layers on. Inspired by the coming Spring weather (it IS coming, right?), I decided to switch out some of my usual wall art up with something a little more fitting given my anticipation.
I made these fun prints using the Janda Flower Doodles Font. For a little bit of experimentation, I printed one on kraft card stock, one on plain white card stock, and one on vellum. Then I colored each with a different medium. I admit, sometimes I am not quite sure what I want until I try some things out.

easiest way to display photos
|

The Easiest Way to Display Photos Anywhere (she: Amy)

ByAmy Lee

Hello again! It’s Amy from The Connection We Share. Thanks for letting me join you for another month on OSSS.

Like many of you, I have thousands of photos sitting on my phone and my computer.

I’m a firm believer we need to surround ourselves with photos of the people we love.

In our home, we have large collections of photos of our family together and I also make photo books with pictures of the kids. (You could see my Blurb photo books examples here). It warms my heart to see happy pictures of my kids and helps me remember what is most important =)

Being a busy mother, it takes a lot of time and energy to put together a collection of photos to display in my home. From deciding which photos to print and in what size, to framing and hanging, the whole process takes me a good week! Yes, this can be a daunting endeavor even just thinking about it and I do this for a living as a professional photographer!

Best Custom (and cute!)Planner for Women! www.oneshetwoshe.com
| |

My Favorite CUTE Planners for Organization

ByMariel

I love discovering new and great online shops and I just recently heard about Erin Condren. Have you heard of it? It’s where you get ‘personalized, stylized, and organized.’ I checked it out and… um, pretty much want one of everything. Note cards, address labels, announcements, wrapping paper, note pads, ect. But, they are mostly known for their awesome, customizable planners for organization. I just ordered one a couple weeks ago and have been so proud of it. It’s so CUTE and totally appeals to my girly-girl side, with customized stickers, colorful pens, organization pockets, and inspirational quotes.

dresser mirror
| |

Dresser Mirror Tutorial ~ So Simple! (she: Jeanie)

Byjeanie

I recently painted a chest of drawers that is in my bedroom. You can read about that Ikea Hack on my blog. Anyway, I was thrilled with how it turned out but it was missing something: a mirror above it. Through a series of craft fails and happy accidents, I ended making the mirror using a cheap plastic tray that I keep in my craft closet as a template for large circles. The round mirror I bought months ago in hopes of jumping on the starburst mirror bandwagon, but I couldn’t come up with an original idea! I’ve had the glass beads forever.

The mirror was incredibly easy to make. I just put it all together with E6000 glue and Glu6 Original and let it cure overnight before propping it up in the stand.

personalized bucket
| |

DIY Spray Painted Flower Pail (she: Carmella)

ByCarmella

Before I share my very first craft with you {gulp} I wanted to let you know a little about me. I am a southern girl, born and raised in Alabama. I spent some time traveling this great country of ours but finally settled again just outside of Nashville. I met the man I would later call my husband just two weeks after I moved here and the rest, as they say, is history. Fast forward many years later and I am now a momma to three beautiful kiddos that keep me very, very busy. Two and a half years ago… somewhere between the diaper changes and play-dates… I began to feel like I was starting to lose myself a little. What I needed was a creative outlet… and from that thought, the Creative Carmella Blog was born. Also known as my “happy place”, the Creative Carmella blog is my little corner of this blogging world where I share stories about our life, DIY crafts, and all things creative. Finding my creativity again also opened the door to jewelry design too, you can see the designs that I have for sale now HERE in my online shop.

Now, on with the craft!

Today I am sharing with you how to pretty up a tired metal bucket.. with my favorite paint, spray paint!

D.I.Y. Rake Necklace Hanger by The Thinking Closet
| |

Easy DIY Rake Necklace Hanger (she: Lauren)

ByLauren

I’m on the living room couch, half-sitting on some slippers. To my right is a bowl of grapes, a random hanger, a pair of shorts, and half of a throw. The other half is on the ground. In front of me, the coffee table is covered in mail (which has been there for days), a kitchen timer, a hair clip, a bottle cap, and oh yeah – – a bag of mozzarella cheese that really should be in the fridge. And that’s just the surrounding area. And I don’t even have kids yet.

Have I painted a vivid enough picture? Does it sound like your home, too? Oh, good.

As messy as I am, I’m a person who craves having organizational systems…

10 Favorite Household Tips (she: Rebecca)

10 Favorite Household Tips (she: Rebecca)

ByRebecca

Once upon a time, there was no Pinterest, or Facebook, or Internet and the only good household tips I knew were passed down from my mom or good friends. But not anymore! Now I’ve got a Pinterest board packed with cool household tips and tricks! I’ve tried many of them, and thought I’d share a few of my favorites … most are from Pinterest, but a few came to me the old fashioned way!

1. Clean Pee Stained Mattresses – This post has literally changed my life! I have three young children who manage to pee, poo and/or spew on their mattresses on the rare occasions they aren’t covered by their mattress covers. Right after the first major pee incident, I literally ran to the computer to see how we could salvage the mattress. The whole family sat around the mattress (after I applied the “magic” potion) and watched the yellow stain disappear. It is that good!

2. Get Grease Stains Out – This tip comes from one of our awesome ‘Or she she says …’ contributors, Veronica. She’s got nine kids, so she knows a thing or two about laundry. She promised me that if I rubbed Dawn (only use this brand) dish soap on the grease spot(s) and then sprayed it with my favorite stain remover that the stain would be gone, even if the item had been previously washed and dried. I have tried this trick on super old, set-in stains and it has yet to disappoint!

Ruler Frame Chalkboard Sign Tutorial by The Thinking Closet
| | |

Vintage Ruler Frame Chalkboard Sign Tutorial (she: Lauren)

ByLauren

So, when Mariel told me that the blog hop theme for this month was chalkboard and asked if I wanted to tackle it, I jumped at the chance! I mean, chalkboard and I go together like Jackson Pollock and splatter paint, like Martha Stewart and apple pie, like Marilyn Monroe and subway grates. I’m sort of a chalkboard fanatic. And I had just the idea of what to create!

Here’s the tutorial, so you can play along at home! And I’m going to be sure to tell you what not to do…because this project definitely almost became a craft fail! *Click ‘Full Article’ to read more, discover 9 other fabulous chalkboard craft ideas, and enter this week’s ‘Your Great Idea’ link party!

Faux Sea Glass Vase Tutorial (she: Allison)
| |

Faux Sea Glass Vase Tutorial (she: Allison)

ByAllison

I’d never heard of sea glass until I was an adult (perhaps that is due to living in landlocked Oklahoma?) We went to beaches very rarely when I was a kid, and even now I’ve never found sea glass when scanning the beaches in the Gulf of Mexico. But I did buy some at a craft store once and it was so much prettier in real life than it was in the pictures I’d seen online. Once I’d actually handled the stuff I kind of became obsessed. It’s so pretty and such an amazing little thing that the sea kicks out.

I decided that I wanted to make a faux sea glass vase to hold daisies and other pretty things. At the craft store I spied these gigantic mason jars. I’m talking bigger than my hand and as tall as a can of potato chips – to say I was a weensy bit obsessed by the large-ness of my new mason jar is a bit of an understatement! I decided to try and make the mason jar my faux sea glass vase.

Finish Carpentry Ideas ~ Courtesy of My Husband!
|

Finish Carpentry Ideas ~ Courtesy of My Husband!

ByMariel

It’s been a while since I bragged about my husband, so I figured it’s time. Plus, maybe you need some finish carpentry ideas? Maybe, maybe?? So, every year in Utah, there are home shows called The Parade of Homes where general contractors will showcase homes they build, with their best work. Dan just recently did the finish carpentry inside five of the Parade of Homes houses, so of course I had to go check them all out. I brought my camera along and thought it would be fun to share with you some of my favorite things that he built with his crew.

I won’t go through and blab about each one, so enjoy!