Candy Necklace

I found this really cute idea for a small gift, party favors, teacher's gift etc...

Basically you just take clear cellophane, place small pieces of fun size candy and tie up the sections with ribbon. How fun, quick and easy!

A&J

Wall Collages

I had a large wall that needed some sprucing up. So I gathered a collection of frames, all sizes and and styles. Then just printed out a bunch of snapshots. You can do all black and white or mix some color photos in and you can mix pictures, crosses, or any other wall decor for your collage. The large frame in the middle I found at Kirklands and it holds 18 5x7 pics, so it's pretty large. Most of the smaller ones are Hobby Lobby finds.

Here's the tricky part for me. I am an accountant by heart so random placement of pictures is a bit of a challenge for me. I laid them all out on the floor and re-arranged until I got them just right. Then hung them up on the wall.

Here are a few examples we have done. Remember, you want it to be random. Have fun!

Here's another version of the same concept except in an entry way. Yes, we shop at the same places and our homes look VERY similar. Our husbands and kids get confused on whose house they are in sometimes. :)

Yet another wall collage idea. I have a very small powder bathroom and wanted to do something to make it stand out. I started with several crosses and it just didn't work for me. I kept adding more and more thinking that bigger was better. Then it finally dawned on me to go for a ceiling to floor collage. Now it looks like 3-D wallpaper and is now over the top dramatic, especially with the red paint background.

A&J

Glazing your trim

Many of the newer houses these days have some of their woodwork glazed. Below are some pics of some wainscoting in the dining room. Originally it started out just white (well, off-white or color of the rest of the trim). I simply added the glaze into the detail of the trim and molding for a totally different look.

You can buy the glaze in a few different colors at a local paint store (they don't carry them at Lowe's or Home Depot) and it's much like a stain when you look at it. I used a chocolate glaze here. You'll need to paint it on pretty thick into the creases. Take a thin cloth towel or rag and using your finger wipe out as little or as much of the glaze to get the look you are going for. It may take a few times to get the technique down. If you are doing a large area, you will need several disposable rags to work with. The trick is to make sure that each time you wipe off your excess glaze you have a clean spot on the rag to work with. And work in small areas at a time.

You can add glaze to just about anything to highlight detail or just give a bit of a rustic look. I've added them to picture frames, wood furniture, wood bead board, shelving etc.

A&J

Christmas Card 2006

This card was one of the biggest hits. I met a caricature person at Sea World in San Antonio who I worked with on this card. I sent him a family picture of us and gave him the basic details of what I wanted. Once he was finished, he simply emailed it to me and I had them printed and put on card stock cards.

Ps. This is a great way to enhance a few areas. tee hee. I enhanced my tatas and put a dorky Christmas sweater on my husband. :) It only makes those that know you get a good laugh.

A&J

Fireplace Before/After

For all you weekend warriors out there, here's a way to completely change the look of your fireplace. The original fireplace was fine, but a little on the boring side. We (we, as in my husband and I) decided to order some of the rock veneer from the local hardware store and attempt our own renovation. I'll tell ya it was very messy and hard work, but the end result was exactly what we envisioned. The mantel was made by my husband as well and is a large block of wood that we distressed and stained. I just love how it turned out!.

A&J

Monkey Party

My daughter really likes monkeys, but it was a challenge to make a girly monkey theme. So I found these monkey invites at a local invitation store, but the background was all wrong, they were red. So I cut out the trees and stuck them on my own background cardstock creation. The monkey and string came with the original invite and I attached the appropriate coordinating bow to the tail.

The monkey cake....

The party favors were stuffed monkeys with pink bows tied around the neck. I also dressed the party girl in a pink top with matching animal print leggings.

A great place to have the perfect monkey party is your local bounce place so they can jump around and be the monkeys we already know they are.

A&J

Christmas Card 2008

Christmas cards are yet another passion of ours and we enjoy collaborating on what to do every year. Here's a cute example of one using digital scrapbooking to create a custom card. We found several free sites that you can download to create your own cards. See sites we like for more details. The pictures we took in black and white then in Photo shop colored the candy cane, wreath, and string of lights to highlight the word JOY.

A&J

Lady Bug Party

For all you ladybug fans, here's a few cute ideas for a ladybug birthday party. If you have a Katie, this is a must for at least one of her parties...This happened to be my Katie Bug's 1st.

The invite I found at Scraplesspress.com.

I personalized her shirt with an iron on transfer. I simply bought printable iron on transfer that can be found at any hobby store or even at Walmart in the sewing/craft section and printed her name on the transfer.

A family friend makes these "to die for" angel food cakes and this is the only shape she makes, so I turned it into a ladybug by adding my own touches. The black dots, eyes and mouth are fondant that I made and put on. Very easy intro to fondant because you simple roll it out and cut out circles. The antennas are piping that I bent and curled for the antennas. And of course topped with a cute coordinating bow. The party girl should have her own antenna as well, made with the same piping on a plain headband.

No ladybug party is complete without actual live ladybugs. Depending on the season, you can buy ladybugs at your local nurseries. Early spring. However, since this party was in August I had to find them online and have them shipped in. Beware, they come in big quantities. 1,200 and more. I found these cute bug containers at Dollar Tree. Added this cute saying, and gave these out as the party favor for the kiddos to "help their own gardens grow."

A&J