Hi There

I finally made a new door mat! I told you guys that after making the new wreath for the front door, making new no-sew pillows, and getting new outdoor furniture, it was about time to have a happy, summery front door mat to finish out the cuteness!

Our old one was functional, but that's about it...Here it is:

It's not like it's ugly...it's just not what I wanted :) So I bought a door mat at Ikea for $4.99 and made plans to spray paint something cute on it in a cute color (very detailed, I know). After looking around Pinterest and google for about a week I decided I just wanted words on it in the bottom left corner so it looked modern and relaxed. I decided on "hi there" because Blake and I say that to each other from time to time while joking (it's from Doug in Up!). Once I decided on what I wanted I went to Microsoft Publisher to help me make it real (I would have used Photoshop, but I know Publisher better therefore it was faster).

I measured the door mat and put the dimensions in publisher so I could get the words the size that I wanted. Once I determined how large I wanted them, I copied and pasted into Word and printed them out! Here's what they looked like:

Then I took my X-acto knife and cut out the letters so that there was a stencil left behind and I taped it onto the door mat like this:

 Then I spray painted that with Krylon's indoor/outdoor spray paint in Blue Ocean Breeze. I also added paper around the edge of those pages once I realized spray paint was getting everywhere (unfortunately it was a bit too late for me to not have a little outline...darn) Anyways, here's how it turned out!

What do y'all think? Should I paint a pattern on the mat to cover up the extra spray paint outlines I made? I've also considered adding a border around the letters using craft paint to make them a bit sharper (definitely should have used painters tape..darn) Have y'all seen this idea on Pinterest and have tried it out? How did yours turn out?

A Pinterest Paper Portal of Phosphorescence

I may or may not have just looked up synonyms of the word lantern to try to find one that started with a P...What can I say? I love alliteration! :) I told you guys yesterday that I would give you the deets on this little cutie!

It's no secret that these are all over the blogosphere not to mention Pinterest but I wanted a little something to go in our entry way that would bring some color in and I needed to do it on like a zero dollar amount budget. So this was the perfect project! And I didn't want to put something cheap, cute, and decor related up in my house without sharing it with the world!!! (okay, so it's a small world whatevs! I'm gonna dream big! Because it's Thursday and that's a good day to dream!) ;)

I just got a paper lantern from the Dollar Tree (for only a buck!) and I got red tissue paper from Wal-Mart (also for a buck!).

Here's the original paper lantern (this was pre-new flash and is terribly blurry! Sorry!)

Then I just cut the tissue paper into circles/teardrop shapes (because I can't cut a circle to save my life) and then taped them around the little rings of the paper lantern!

I haven't hung it up yet. Partly because I'm not sure how to do that, and partly because I'm not sold on the red...it just looks a little...blah. It matches our living room and stuff, I'm just not sure it's right for the first thing that I see every time I walk in our house....Idk! But when I decide I'll of course let you guys know!!

What do y'all think? A little blah? Or do you think it's just right? Maybe if I change the color of the paper I'll like it better....any ideas?


**Btw, I had some setting on my blog checked that only allowed comments from other blogger users! Sorry about that!! So, if you want to comment do try! And if it doesn't work....text me/facebook me/email me! (Don't call, because I am notorious for not answering the phone...it's a phobia. Not really, I'm just a pansy. lol Love you guys!)**

The Method To My Chocolatey Madness

I did it! I made those super cute graduation caps from Wednesday's post! It took a little longer than I expected (an hour and 15 minutes), but I think if I did them today I could do them in about 45 minutes now that I have a method down. As a recap, my youth group had a party celebrating the graduating seniors this past Wednesday and I wanted to make something cute, and I found these on Pinterest:

Here's how mine turned out:

I used the method from Bakerella but instead of Godiva chocolate squares (which are a bit too expensive for my taste) I used Hershey's snack size bars and barbecue skewers from the Dollar Tree instead of lollipop sticks! Okay, I'll start from the beginning!

First I stuck my mini-reese's in the refrigerator to try to not have gross sides. But it didn't work...I think it's because they kind of melted on the way home in my car because it is sooo hot these days! See what I'm talking about?

Oh well! Didn't bother me! But I emptied the bag of mini-reese's that I got at Wal-Mart for $2.50, wrapperless on some wax paper, like so:

Then I got my skewers out. They were quite a bit too long, so I "cut" them by making a mark with a pen, making an indention with scissors, and breaking the stick. I got pictures to illustrate! So exciting, right?

Okay, this is the actual length of the skewers...perfect for shishkabobs, but waaay too long for what I'm doing!

So, I made a mark with a pen (all at one time...I layed the skewers out in a line so that I didn't have to mark each one individually and take foooorever), then I made that indentation with some scissors (they couldn't cut all the way through the stick...pansies).

 Then I broke them with my bare hands (I'm such a beast, I know) and put the non-usable side in a pile to go in the trash (I couldn't use them because my reese's were falling apart when I tried to put in the non-pointy side of the skewer...but Bakerella's version uses lollipop sticks that aren't pointy so I must've been doing something wrong)

And put the super awesome pointy ones in the pile to be used (btw, disregard my disgusting cutting board...kool-aid is such a jerk sometimes! But not to worry, it's all clean now!)

Then I stuck the pointy side of the skewer into the flat side of the reese's mini. Then I moved onto the top part of the hat!

I cut broke at the middle seam the snack size hershey's bar so that there were two sections to one hat, like this:

Then I flipped them over and used some yellow cake icing that I got from WalMart in the ready-to-squeeze bag. Well actually, I started out trying to use it without a tip (because I'm a cheapo and didn't want to buy icing tips for one project!). I tried making a straight line with a toothpick, my fingers, everything and nothing worked! Then I got a bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner and that worked like a charm!!

See all the cute little graduation hat toppers! Way to go Mr. Plastic Baggy! :) Also, see that chocolate almond bark in the background of that picture above? That was my glue!

I put one square in a little bowl along with some milk and microwaved it for 30 seconds; stirred, 15 seconds; stirred and scooped some extra into another tiny bowl I had on hand.  Then I used the end of that spoon I used to scoop the extra, to scoop the melted almond bark onto the small side of the reese's mini and stuck the little hats on top of the reese's!

Then I stuck all of them into some packing styrofoam Blake had in the office and let them cool! Which is that picture that you saw above!

And once they cooled, I put them in those red soho cups to be transported.

Then I thought about the hour long drive we were about to make in the 90 degree weather and thought...these aren't going to make it. So I got a big pot and put some lunch freezer blocks in the bottom and put the soho cups in as well. And they made it all the way there in the backseat of my car! Well, actually there were two that didn't make it, but church members were happy to take those off my hands anyway :)

And the party was a success! Everyone liked these little thingies, and told me they tasted good (I don't really like chocolate other than reese's cups, so I didn't try one).

Here's some pics from the par-tay!

Mmmm....Pizza!

Yay! Congrats Grads!! :)

Super cute right?? And I didn't even know the red soho cup would match the decor! Yippee!

Action shot! ;)

Stacy and I manning  womanning the nachos and drinks in the kitchen! (Isn't she stinkin gorgeous?!? LOVE HER!) :)

 And I also made these little guys as presents for the graduates (they're page corner bookmarks!) (tutorial available here!)

Blake made the little beaks made of money on the car ride to the church, aren't they super cute?! Love love them! :)

So that's the story! It was super fun making all that stuff (although I had a bit of a time constraint which made it more stressful that it should've been, but that's my fault) :)

How were your May festivities? Have any graduation parties of note? Or was it all quiet on the western front (or whatever front you're in...like I'm in the southeastern front...okay I'll stop now ;) )? Hope y'all's week has been fantastic and your weekend will be even better! :)

I Have Made A List!

My mind has been going ninety to nothing here lately with all the DIY ideas that I have rummaging around in my head thanks to the fantastic blogs that I follow and Pinterest! I have made a list and checked it twice have put the things in order of what I want to tackle. I love lists, don't you? There is no greater feeling than crossing something you have done off of your list! Anyways, I'm going to share with you some of the things I have been looking at doing and maybe you can tackle some of them and tell me how they go! :)

One of the things that's on my short term list is this little guy! We have WalMart sacks coming out of our ears and falling out of our pantry which makes it look super gross. So I'm on a mission to make this! The only thing is...we don't drink coffee, so I'm either going to buy a coffee can and give all the coffee to my mom or ask around to see if anyone has an extra coffee can laying around!

 {Found here}

This is one of those "Why didn't I think of that" things! It's so simple and would save us sooo much time! This is definitely on my list! But again, I have to find these things, because the bread that we buy has the twisty wire kind and not these kind....looks like I'll be hitting up my mom again ;)

 {Found here}

I haven't quite figured out how to do these...but they are pretty much totally awesome so I'm going to figure it out! I may get some white cardstock and cut into it with my exacto knife and mount it to a canvas frame? Idk but I'll figure it out eventually (probably with the help of google).

 {Found here}

This I just want mainly because it is so cute! I loved the Mother's Day gifts we gave our moms and I would like to have something where we could write cute stuff to each other too! Or regular stuff like "don't forget to take out the trash" or something along those lines :) But it's cute scrapbook paper and a frame! Doesn't get much more simple than that! :)

 {Found here}

And we definitely need a dry erase calendar! We could buy some from Wal-Mart or Target, but this just looks so much more fancy! We'll see what we actually do when we start comparing prices (how much will it be to print it and buy the frame as opposed to just buying a calendar from somewhere).

 {Found here}

I reallllly want to have some awesome jewelry organization going on in my life! When I moved out of my mom's house, I left my jewelry armoire behind and wow do I miss that thing! Luckily, my mom is willing to bring it halfway! So once I get that back and hopefully get a dresser soon, I'll be able to make cute stuff like this to house all of my jewelry! Right now all my jewelry is either in a plastic bin, a makeup bag, or a walmart sack....so I wear like three different pieces of jewelry...it's so sad!

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In my head I'm picturing something along these lines on top of the dresser, but a bit more modern and organized :)

{Found here}

I also really want to frame the mirror in our master bathroom! I think it makes the whole bathroom look more expensive and fancy and I'm pretty sure home buyers like framed mirrors! So I'll probably get some crown molding and glue and talk the hubby into doing this with me!

 {Found here}

This headboard rocks my socks! It's pallet wood stuck together and then the brilliant people who made this painted that love on there. It's so pretty! I want it!!!

 {Found here}

I have also inherited a love of maps from the folks over at Young House Love and I just love these little heart maps!! We could frame our wedding location or our house address or where we honeymooned! The possibilities are endless and suuuper cute! :)

 {Found here}

More hearts, and I'm pretty sure there's no way that Blake would let me do this because it's so girly, but it could be done so cheaply! Just take an old book from the thrift store or a book that means something to you, cut it up into hearts and tape it to the wall and color one red! Oh it would be sooo cute!

{Found here}

This is just perfect for our office! I love all the cheesy sayings we could put up (like the "you are my type" pictured below). And we basically live on our computers so this would be very fitting to our lifestyles!

 {Found here}

Leave it to Martha to do something so simple that is so awesome! She put velcro on a kitchen towel that hangs from the stove so that it wouldn't fall off! I am definitely doing this when I get a new kitchen towel (right now we just have a filler one, but I want one that is really bright and cheery like our button monograms!)

 {Found here}

This is awesome and would be so great for us! It's laundry baskets that you can fold your clean clothes and separate them by room and then take each laundry basket to whatever room instead of having to haul stuff a little at a time! It does require some actual building though, but it isn't that crazy, so I think I could do it! I also think I could find something that would fit this size at a yard sale or something, but laundry baskets are pretty wide so...Idk! I'm up for a challenge (especially if it means spending time with the hubby pants!)

 {Found here}

This is awesome! It's a piece of sheet metal attached to the back of a cabinet and canisters with magnets glued to them, so you can always find what you need quickly! I don't have anywhere that I could do this, but if I did I would definitely do it! It's just so handy!

 {Found here}

These I love for outside above the patio table. They would cast a really romantic glow I think :)

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This is what I want for the nook that I can't figure out what to do with. I really want a bench with a shelf underneath so we could sit down and take our shoes off or whatever and it would look custom and awesome. Blake doesn't think it's a good idea because if new home buyers don't like it, it's kinda permanent, so I probably won't do this, but I like it!

 {Found here}

Now this puppy I am in love with! The thing I wasn't in love with? The price! If I'm going to DIY something it needs to be worth the money I'm saving! This version calls for these certain orbs that are $18 for the small ones and over $20 for the large ones! That's just not cool in my book. But it looks awesome!

{Found here}

This one on the other hand, calls for orbs that are $1.95 for the small ones and $3.95 for the large ones! Now that's more like it! I'll definitely be trying this out soon....well actually I may have to wait because I'm not sure prospective home buyers would like this....and I would want to take it with me not leave it with the house! So I'll just have to decide what to do :) But I know this is in my future sometime! (btw, the cheaper orbs are from here)

 {Found here}

This is another DIY lighting project I want to try! We have a small light above our sink in the kitchen and it is just the regular light fixture that comes with a new house, but I really like these made of twine and a ball and glue...I'm considering doing this in this house, but I'm also considering waiting due to the reasons above...this wouldn't be as big of a financial investment and probably not a time investment either so I may do it anyway!

{Found here}

These I just love! Sherry over at young house love recently put up a tutorial about how to attach prints to canvas, so I could definitely do this! These photos are so quaint and sweet...usually I'm all about contrast and abstract and cityscapes, but this appeals to me for some reason and I may just put it somewhere in our house!

{Found here}

I'm wanting some roman shades in our laundry room! I was going to do some fake ones like the ones from centsational girl, but then these don't seem to hard, so I may give these a try!

{Found here}

This is more lighting ideas...they look kinda girly so I don't know if Blake will go for them, but I think they look awesome!

{Found here}

These I want somewhere near our entry way (maybe instead of the bench, I'll put up a shelf and put these on top!). They are so springy! And super cheap! They're just thumbtacks pushed into Styrofoam balls and spray painted! So so cute!

{Found here}

I'm picturing some toilet paper art around the chevron paintings in the dining room! Not something this big, but I like the idea that I could make something this epic with toilet paper rolls!

{Found here}

I've also considered something like this around those chevron prints...love the tone on tone words!

{Found here}

If I had spare boards laying around, I would do this tomorrow! I loooove this!

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I thought this was so cute for a wedding gift!

{Found here}

I think this would be so cute in the laundry room! I would paint the clothespins a different color, but it's so easy and fitting for a laundry room, I couldn't resist!!

{Found here}

I'm not really sure how exactly I would do this but I'm thinking something with christmas lights....just have to figure out how to get power to them without a gross cord showing!

{Found here}

I like this for a table runner for our dining room table! Well...something similar...this requires sewing and since I can't sew, I'll have to make this my own but I like it!

{Found here}

 I think I'm going to do this in our bathroom drawers! I recently organized them, but now there's stuff sliding all over the place in the drawers when we go to close them or open them, so it's making everything look unorganized again. I'll probably hit up a thrift store, find some bowls like this and put some felt down to keep everything still!

{Found here}

I'm realizing how much lighting I have in this post....whoa. But they're so cute and simple!! This is book pages cut to be round on the end glued to a paper lantern! How simple is that??

{Found here}

And finally, I'm thinking something along these lines for above the TV in our living room! I love the saying, but it also ties into a cinematic feel which I've come to find that we both like!

{Found here}

So there you have it! A million pictures full of fantastic ideas! Do you see now why my mind is running around like a chicken with its head cut off?? But not to worry because I made a list! Hope you all have a great weekend!!! :)