Happy Birthday Sammie Boo!

Canvas Pictures

We all know that even though I have amazing ideas, sometimes Pintrest has equally amazing ones. We all also know that I am over the top organized and before I started my new job I decided it was a perfect time to finish up some projects I had started but not finished. Recently my brother had amazing family pictures by Ruby Peoples Photography and he was pricing photo canvases....they are crazy expensive! But, who knew there was a way to make your own! I stumbled upon a "how to" on Pinterest one night and decided to try a sample one before I ventured on to the big project for my brother.  It's really easy to do...You just purchase canvas from your local store (walmart, kmart, craft supply) and then cover it with Mod Podge or the homemade version (which I also discovered on Pinterest) made of glue and water.  Put a decent layer on the canvas and then print a photo (color or black and white) off your home printer. You can use regular printer paper or photo paper, but be careful with the regular paper because the colors can run if you get it too wet. Lay the photo on the prepared canvas and then coat it with another layer of the Mod Podge. Let it dry! To get the "aged look just take some ink and a q-tip and apply it to the edges. You can either leave the sides of the canvas white, cover them with paper the same way you did with the picture, or print your picture a little larger than the canvas and wrap it around the sides. Hang it up with a nail or some ribbon and Tah-Dah! You now have a $50 canvas print for about $6.



Here are the orginal links to the projects :)
http://pinterest.com/pin/232970377/

http://pinterest.com/pin/257225080/

My New (well kind of) Favorite Thing.

The reason I say well kind of is because I've had this new favorite thing for awhile...I just had not realized how much I loved it yet.  :) So long story short...I got a Cricut Expression Anniversary Edition Machine for graduation ( I LOVE You Daddy!!!). I played with it here and there but over the last month I have realized how much I love this stinking machine. So here are some pictures of my creations so far...oh and believe me, there will be more to come!

I've Been Crafting, But Not Posting...

So...the last few months have been crazy! I graduated from College with my Medical Assisting Degree, have been job searching (finally found one!), sent the boys of to Kindergarten, and even had time for surgery for me and Zack!  But, I have been crafting...just not blogging about it. So I'm going to attempt to play catch up this week and post all kinds of wonderful things! Since Halloween is approaching I figured I would post the wonderful homemade specimen jars created for last year's Shocktoberfest at the College.

Everything in these jars either came from my kitchen cabinets or from the local Dollar Tree. I had empty glass containers  (salsa jar, fruit jar, pickle jar, etc.) in my kitchen and decided to paint the lids black with regular acrylic paint. Then, I started filling the jars. The jar on the back left has a gummy brain in it, the back middle jar has mini skeleton heads, the back right jar is filled with  boiled spaghetti noddles. On the front row from left to right we have a mini skeleton, one of those growing octopuses (when you put it in water it grows to almost 8x it's original size) cut into pieces, gummy bugs, and hot glue. I filled each jar with a "coordinating food colored water" and put the lid on. Oh and if you are wondering about the hot glue...just fill the jar with water and push your hot glue from the gun straight into the jar.  

After the jars were filled it was time to make creepy labels for them. And of course they all had to be about diseases or crazy medicine! We named the hot glue "coagulated blood", the spaghetti noodles were "tape worms" (if you shake the jar once and awhile they look like they are swimming), and so on. After giving each one a name we put some patient information on the label...not necessary but def. gives it some more character. When the labels were all done I took a q-tip and a black stamp pad and "aged" the edges. A little bit of double sided tape and ta-dah!

 Another wonderful feature of our Shocktoberfest table was our cauldron. We filled it individually wrapped candy (body parts of course!) mixed with boiled spaghetti noddles lightly tossed in vegetable oil. Cover the top with a black trash bag, use string to tie the bag on, cut a slit in the top big enough for a hand to go in, and the invite people to stick their hand in and find a piece of candy! We learned a lot about reaction times with this one, and the faces were nothing but memorable. :)

Happy Halloween!!!

Pre-School Graduation

Today was a happy day and a sad day. The boys graduated from pre-school! Their teacher, Mrs. Katie, has done so much wonderful stuff with them throughout the last year. I could go on and on about the wonderful "crafty things" that they have brought home. But, more importantly, she has been patient with them, taught them, molded them, and loved them. I really wanted to do something special for her that the boys could help make. So my quest began...I found all sorts of teacher gift ideas online but none of them really described the relationship that Katie has had with the boys. So, in true Jessica style..I merged a few ideas and came up with something unique.
I came up with a vase covered with pencils..because nothing feels more "school like" then #2 pencils. We filled the vase with dirt and a flower and attached a card that said "Thanks for Helping Me Grow". Because that is exactly what Katie has done..she has helped them grow! We then colored gift bags and made special tags for the bags and attached them with big daisies. The boys will still get to see Mrs. Katie over the summer until they start "big kid school" and if it up to me they will still sneak visits in after that :)  (ohhh and we made one for their Assistant Teacher Ms. Yuliya too!)

Paper Towel Roll Art

While on Google Images I typed in DIY Wall Art and a picture came up of some paper towel art. I decided to make my own version of it and here is what I came up with.  To make this you save up all of your paper towel and toilet paper rolls and them paint them the color of your choice ( mine are white). Then when dry, press them flat. (This gives the flower petal shape) Cut them into strips, you can make them as thick or as thin as you like. Then decide where you are going to put your art and how you are going to lay it out. I have seen some where people put them in picture frames or even just right onto the wall. I spray painted (textured brown) 4 pieces of rectangle canvas and laid mine out to look like it was going up the wall. Once you have it all set up then hot glue each piece of roll onto the canvas. To make it look seamless I let some of the petals hang off one canvas so they would overlap the other.  Ta-Da!  (Don't forget to Google paper towel roll art for more layout ideas)

I loved Anatomy Class So Much I Decided to Keep the Textbook...On My Wall

I made 2 of these "flowers"..one for each side of the tv. All you do is
1. Cut a circle out of cardboard (I used one of our dinner plates for a template).
2. Tear pages out of a book and tear them in half lengthwise.
3. Roll the pages like your making a cone or birthday hat.
4. Hot glue the page to the cardboard starting on the outside and working your way in to the middle. You have to move each layer in a little bit to get the flower full.
5. I spray painted mine with a metallic spray paint and then lightly went over it with black.
6. Mount it! I used long nails and just hammered one through the middle of each flower into the wall.

The Reason I Craft:

I learned most of my crafting skills from my Mema. She taught me how to decorate cakes, how to sew, and amazed me by being able to cut anything you want out of a piece of construction paper. My OCD trait when it comes to crafts comes from my Dad and older Brother. My uncle sculpts and makes the most amazing trees ever! Then on my moms side...well my mom "crafts" but she is more of the turning junk into treasure kind of person.

Crafting makes me smile. It takes away stress, it calms me, it makes my house feel like a home, and it makes me feel like I have accomplished something. Not to mention it saves tons of money!!! I love all kinds of crafts...sewing, knitting, scrapbooking, cake decorating, and even making random things to stick around the house. But..what I love the most about crafting is being able to give someone a craft and see them smile or teaching someone how to make something they never thought they could.

Nothing makes my heart melt more then when the boys make me a craft. I would rather have a homemade card or craft over a store bought present any day. In just the 5 years the boys have blessed my life I have managed to fill 2 storage containers with their crafts and have no plan on cleaning them out anytime soon.

Although we all know I love medicine...my real dream job would be to own a cupcake bakery (Cups & Cakes) and make cakes and cupcakes to give to kids and families who wouldn't be able to have a cake to celebrate a special day. Then 2 nights a week have a crafting party where grown-ups and kids could come and express their creative side. If you can't tell I've put a ton of thought into this...I just haven't put a ton of money in savings to start it.

So, long story short....I love to craft because it makes me smile.