Independence Day Plates using Vinyl {and a Silhouette America Promo Code!}

First I want to wish a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to TWO of my younger sisters!  They were born on the same day, 3 years apart, and consider each other their best b-day present ever!  Happy Birthday, Amanda and Jennifer! I love you!

I recently contacted Silhouette America about becoming an affiliate with them.  I have had my Silhouette SD craft cutter for several years now and absolutely love it! I have made so many different things with it, from home décor to party decorations to kids’ school projects.  It is incredibly handy to have on hand. 

Silhouette made me a product affiliate.  This month they sent me a roll of their Strawberry colored premium vinyl to play around with and use to promote their products on my blog.  I have been racking my brain for awhile as to what I wanted to do with red vinyl.  Well, today I realized that the promo code they gave me for my readers to get 25% off their premium vinyl as well as a substantial discount on their craft cutters starts tomorrow!! 

So, this afternoon I realized I had to put the red vinyl to good use in a fast project!  Here is what I came up with!

I have this hutch from Ballard Designs that I absolutely love.  It’s a great place to keep bowls and platters and pitchers.  I try to change it up a little with the seasons and holidays.  I bought those blue plates at

CHALKBOARD CALENDAR

I am so excited to show you my new wall calendar!  Remember a long time ago I did a post called “Command Central”?  I had put up this cute magnet board in my kitchen to help keep us organized.  It worked well for a couple years, but then it just started looking junky all the time.  This is on a wall that is a straight shot in from the front door.  I was tired of having this junked up board be the first thing people saw when they came to my door.  I also have soooo many things going on now that I needed more space on my calendar to write things.

My inspiration for this came from one of my bestest friends in the whole world.  She starting making GIANT magnetic wall calendars a few years ago.  She has a huge one in her house and I just LOVE it.  Here it is:

Isn’t it so cute and bright and fresh looking?  It doesn’t hurt that she has the MOST perfect handwriting in the entire world!  You can see hers is quite a bit bigger than mine.  Each of her squares is about the size of a piece of paper! The numbers are magnetic.  I just love how graphic hers is!

Shelli sells these calendars and can make any size you want.  If you would like to buy one from her, please email her at shellibryan @ yahoo.com.  I am not sure if she ships but if you live close to or in Las Vegas you could come get it!  I think she may also be selling kits with everything you need to make your own!

So, I had considered making one just like Shelli’s, but then I decided it would be fairly costly to get the dry erase vinyl.  I also wasn’t up for a big project like that.  I would have had to take my magnet board off the wall and remove the fabric to get the vinyl on.  And getting the vinyl to lay flat and have all those lines straight is NOT easy!  I leave that to the professionals, like Shelli!

Instead, I decided to just use my Silhouette to cut squares of chalkboard contact paper.  I first did an experiment to make sure it would stick to the fabric.  It did!  I used the magnets that I had on my board before for the numbers.  I replaced the papers I had inside them with this turquoise paper and then added vinyl numbers to the fronts.  These are watch maker tins, in case you were wondering.

I applied vinyl days of the week to the wall above it in order to maximize the space I had for my squares. 

I just LOVE it.  I think it looks so cute and it is super helpful to have all the family’s activities right there where we can all see them and know what is going on.  I wrote on it with regular chalk I got at Wal-Mart or somewhere, but I recently purchased some chalk from Amazon that is AMAZING!  It write soooo much nicer.  You can buy it HERE in case you have a chalkboard that needs awesome chalk. 

You can see on the 22nd and 28th I used the new chalk.

Another reason these huge calendars are so great is that you can put up invitations for parties and events on the day they are going to happen.  That way you have all the info you need right there.  It is just a great way to get your family organized. 

I encourage you to contact Shelli and get one for yourself!

If you love this, please “Pin” it!

Flickr Tags: calendar,wall calendar,chalkboard,dry erase,blog,organization,vinyl

My Mom’s Dresser

I have been wanting to do some blog posts but it just hasn’t been happening lately.  I feel like I am treading water these days and am constantly behind and trying to catch up.  My health isn’t great and I’ve been dragging lately energy-wise.  It stinks, but that is life for me, I guess.

Anyway, it is Saturday morning and I am in bed with my laptop and a headache.  So I thought maybe I could get a quick post up about my mom’s Christmas present.

You may remember THIS post where I asked for advice on what to do with this piece of antique furniture someone had put out for the trash.

Well, a few people threw some ideas out but I still didn’t really have a clue how to fix this thing.  I finally decided what I needed to do.  I wanted to leave some of that beautiful wood grain showing on the front but that door was sooooo thrashed and the top was bad too.  So, here is what I came up with:

The blue color does not read well in the photos but it was a really pretty greyish blue.  I created vinyl sticker stencils with my Silhouette for the door and the top.  I put them on and then painted over them and then removed them.  My parent’s last name starts with “E”, thus the monogram.

It took a lot of work to fix this thing.  I used regular wood filler to fill the corners on the top and all the places on the door.  On the door, the place where the hinges were attached were so worn down hinges couldn’t work there.  I tried filling those up with wood filler but when I went to sand it it all crumbled out.  SO I had to chip that out and then used an epoxy wood filler to fill those in.  After that I had to use a file to get them down to the right height for the hinges to fit in correctly.  Same with the little door pull hole. 

I sanded down the drawer fronts and top and then stained them.  After that I used a spray shellac to seal them and the inside of the dresser and drawers.  Remember, this had a very bad smell to it.  You can still smell it if you put your nose inside the drawers but the smell does not permeate the house, which is good.

I went for a chippy paint finish, done by chipping off paint with a putty knife.  Very easy was to distress.  I finished the piece with an antiquing glaze and a clear wax. 

Honestly, it think it looks AMAZING!  I wanted to keep it for me.  But my parents really like it, I think.  It looks great in their house. 

Here are some more pictures for you.

Had to cut a new shelf for this cubby. 

Lined the drawers with scrapbook paper.

What do you think?  I am amazed that something destined for the dump could look this good!

If you want to “pin” this I won’t be upset at all!

TIN STAR RE-DO {Craft}

Are you sick of my recipe posts yet?  I am!  It was time for me to get a craft done.  Here is a super easy, super fast re-do of an orange tin star I had laying around.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I simply spray painted the star white and added blue vinyl stars and red vinyl stripes.  I cut the stars with my Silhouette, but you could just use some cute stickers if you don’t have one.  I hand cut the stripes from a piece of red vinyl, but you could also just use some red tape which would be easier. 

Here is that hutch I was telling you about that my neighbor gave me.  Isn’t it cute?  I don’t have a lot of 4th of July decorations, but I am trying to get some things together to make it look cuter.  But this is how it is for now:

I want to paint this thing white and give it an old chippy finish.  Hopefully soon!!

BLUEBERRY BANANA BREAD with STREUSEL TOPPING {Recipe}

I’ve been seeing all these cute Pie in a Jar and Cupcake in a Jar ideas and thought it would be fun to make one of my favorite recipes in a jar.   My banana bread recipe is to die for.  It is super moist and sweet and really is more like a dense cake than a bread.  It won my husband’s heart when we were dating!  At least he likes to say that to get me to make it.  It is my favorite way to use up the oodles of bananas that go brown before we get around to eating them.

BTW, here is a tip for you.  Putting bananas in the fridge will turn the skins brown, but it will keep the actual banana from ripening as quickly as it does on the counter.

I decided to make banana bread in a jar, and while I as making them I decided to add some fresh blueberries and a streusel topping.  Let me tell you, these are dangerous!  I think I could have eaten half of them or more!

Here they are fresh out of the oven.  Aren’t they adorable?  Mason jars are made to be heated to high temps, so they are perfect for cooking in.  I had to search high and low for these 1 cup wide mouth jars and finally found them at Ace Hardware for $10 for 12 of them.

To package them I used my Silhouette to cut a scalloped circle with black vinyl.  I then wrote the name of them on the label with some chalk.  I have found that black vinyl works well for chalkboard.  If I had a chalk pencil (like you use for sewing) it would have made the writing much easier!

Here is my recipe.  Let me know how you like it!

Recipe: Banana Bread

Yield: 2 Loaves (or 12 8 oz. jars)

Ingredients:

• 2 ¾ c. flour
• 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. butter, softened
• 1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
• ½ c. white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 c. ripe mashed bananas (about 7-8 medium)
• 2 tsps. pure vanilla extract
• 1 c. chopped walnuts (optional) {I did not use these with the blueberries}
• 1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries {will need to cook longer if using frozen}

Streusel topping:

• 1/2 c. rolled oats (quick or regular)

• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar

• 1/4 c. flour

• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/4 c. cold butter cut into cubes

• 1/2 c. chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions: In a medium bowl combine first three ingredients with a wire whisk. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs and beat for a couple minutes till it looks fluffy. Add bananas and vanilla and mix well. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Add the flour mixture and walnuts, then blend on low until just combined. Don’t over mix. Pour into bread pans or jars sprayed with cooking spray.

Make the streusel topping:  Mix the first 4 ingredients together. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or even your fingers. Add the chopped nuts.

Top the banana bread with a layer of streusel topping.  If making bread in jars, you will have some topping left over.

Bake on center rack of a 325° oven for 60-70 minutes for loaves, or at 325° for 40-50 minutes.  Jars should be placed on a baking sheet to keep them from tipping.  A toothpick inserted in center should come out clean (unless it hits a chunk of banana).  Bread should pull away from sides slightly and it should be a medium golden brown. Cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Turn bread pans on their sides to allow them to cool completely.  Leave in jars until completely cooled before securing lids.

COUNTDOWN BLOCKS {Craft}

Remember these?

I picked them up at Goodwill for like $1 or $2.  I turned them into these countdown blocks.

I just painted the edges white with some acrylic craft paint.  Then, I used my Silhouette to cut squares of paper to fit on the sides.  I have two blocks with different holidays/events on them.  I used themed paper to go with the holidays.  On the other blocks I used black and white papers.  I saw this idea over on How Does She a long time ago.  I thought it was so cute.  But I wanted it to be for more than just one holiday. 

I used vinyl for the numbers and words.  On one block I have the numbers 0,1,2,3,4,5 and on the other 0,1,2,6,7,8.  You use the 6 as a 9 also.  On the Days ‘til (which is just realized I have the apostrophe in the wrong place!) I also did Weeks ‘Til and Hours ‘Til.  I did all the big holidays, plus summer, birthday, fun, vacation.  The kids are enjoying using them and I think they turned out pretty cute.

To adhere the paper, apply a thin layer of modpodge to the block and add your paper.  use a credit card edge to burnish it down well.  Repeat with all the sides, allowing the ModPodge to dry.  Once it is dry you can then apply a thin layer to the outside of the paper.  This keeps it from bubbling.  Once all the mod podge is dry, you can use a clear spray paint to coat the outsides.  You must do that with modpodge or it will stick to things even once it is dry.  You can then apply your vinyl.  Alternately, you could cut letters and numbers from paper with punches or die cutters or free hand.  You could also use stickers.  If you do paper, attach them with a glue stick or a little ModPodge before you coat the face of the paper with ModPodge. 

For those in Vegas I saw blocks like these at Marshall’s for like $4 and it was a longer word for maybe 6 or 7 or 8 blocks.  They had a few of them.

LITTLE MAN BABY SHOWER {Party}

Decorative items for this shower can be purchased HERE.

Well, the shower went off without a hitch.  I will admit it was a TON of work for me….much more than I anticipated.  I was exhausted by the time the party started!  But I think all the guests had a nice time and enjoyed themselves and hopefully my sister was happy and felt loved. 

So, I am just going to post a ton of pictures from the shower.  I had some trouble taking some of the pictures due to the time of day and lighting in the room.  Hopefully you will still be able to see all the little details.  In the coming days I will post recipes for the food.  Enjoy!

How to make this printable HERE

I wanted to do something a little different with the cupcake toppers than I have seen before.  So instead of just scalloped circles I did scalloped squares and pinked circles, each in 3 different colors.  I love how they turned out! HERE is my tutorial on making cupcake topper graphics.

Cupcakes made by my sister Melinda.  We use an icing coupler to pipe the frosting because we could never find a big enough tip.  The coupler is the little white thing that makes it so you can switch out the tips on your pastry bag.  You have to find one without a little notch in it though.

CUPCAKES!! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Garland inspired by THIS party.

The onesies were made with heat transfer vinyl I cut on my Silhouette.

GARLAND VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

These hanging garlands spun around slowly all night.  Here you are seeing the back side of several of the circles.  I connected the shapes using clear fishing line and clear tape.

This was a fall colored wreath that I had spray painted white.  I added the ribbon and fabric rosettes to match my color scheme.  The twinkle lights gave a nice effect during the shower.

FOOD TABLE VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Vinyl mustaches on plastic cups.

Stamped paper plates…how to HERE.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa (Made by my sister Molly)

Homemade Chips (made by my sister Molly)

Italian BOWTIE Pasta Salad (Made by my sister Laura)

Cucumber Water (SUPER refreshing!)

Oreo Truffles

Pretzel “Cigars”

Bowtie Sugar Cookies (made with a homemade cookie cutter)

Triple Dipped Strawberries (made by my sister Maggi)

Baby Caleb all dressed up + the favors.

Chocolate mustache molds can be found at Bake It Pretty

Four of my cuties in disguise!

To purchase some of the decorative items from this shower, please look here