Tough boys can craft too!

A very important milestone was just reached at our house!  I caught my husband following one of my tutorials!  He He.  I couldn't believe it, so I just had to document.

Here is the tutorial he followed (using coffee and vinegar as a wood stain.)  This is proof as to how easy this tutorial can be!  (He's too busy of a guy to waste time on a super complex crafting idea...)

   

Not to completely knock down his manly-ness, he wasn't really crafting exactly.  He was re-doing a piece of furniture for our son's nursery.  And I have to admit, it looks pretty good!  Here is what the final bookshelf looks like (notice the dark stained legs...):    

Pretty good, huh?  My favorite part is the netting that he used at the bottom of the shelf to hold all the toys.  I never would have thought of that!  Genius!  And oh so cute! 

Have you completed any tutorials from Puddle Designs?  Send me your photos, and I'll feature you in an upcoming blog post!

Yarn Wrapped Letter

Today is a repeat tutorial day!  I love when I am able to re-use an old project idea and make something fun and new with it.

Here is the link to the original tutorial, where I made a 1.5 foot tall twine wrapped letter.  I followed the exact same steps, only changing the size of the letter and the material I used to wrap it in.  Still so easy, and so inexpensive!  The best of both worlds, if you ask me.      

Each letter has been made completely out of scrap cardboard that I had lying around the house.  So the only cost that went into making this letter was for the yarn and felt piece for the flower (totaling about $4!).  I'm in love.  Plus, I found these adorable canvases from Goodwill (yay cheap!) that just add to the overall cuteness.

  

  If you're curious about how I made the simple felt flower, here is a link to the tutorial that I found on Pinterest.

Have you completed this project (or something similar)?  Let me know how it went!

  

My New Year's Resolution

In an effort to save some money, and also get rid of some of the crafting stuff that has been laying around my house gathering dust, I made a New Year's Resolution for myself.  Instead of buying birthday and greeting cards, I am going to hand make every. single. one.  Only using supplies that I have on hand.  

Yeah, for you pro card makers out there this would be easy as pie!  But with another little one coming in March, this may seem a little ambitious for me, but I gotta do it!  Wish me luck!  

So far, so good (too bad it's only February...)  I'll be posting photos of each card at the end of each month, so you can follow my attempt to keep my resolution.  That way you can keep me accountable :).  Ha!

Well... Here we go.  Remember, I'm not a card making "pro".  You gotta start somewhere though, right?

My sister and I kind of have an inside joke about monkey birthday cards, so I HAD to make her one.  The problem was, was that I didn't have any cute die-cuts or monkey stickers.  Cutting paper out by hand was the only other option.

I have a niece who I know someday will be a famous gymnast (don't we all have crazy aspirations like that for little kids :).  With a mom who almost went to the Olympics for gymnastics, you never know.
With this one you get to see how truly horrific my handwriting is...

Now, this one I love!  My other sister is a quilting genius, and I wanted to do something special for her.  Yeah, it may not be perfect, but it was my first time sewing on paper.  That's right, I used my regular sewing machine on this baby!  Kind of a cool technique.  I'll probably post a tutorial on how to do this soon!

January down, only 11 more months to go!

February
March
April
May
June
July (believe it or not, I didn't have any cards to make this month!)
August
September
October
November


Have you ever made a crafting resolution?  Or is that totally strange?  Let me know what you think!