Bring A Smile With Homemade Gifts

 My favorite thing to do is give a homemade gift. Be it a holiday, birthday or just because. The best thing about it is seeing the happiness and surprise of the recipient!

After seeing several very unique ideas for displaying your jewelry on Pinterest, I made this jewelry display for my sister's birthday. I used an old frame, wood, chicken wire and paint that I had lying around the house. I found the drawer pulls at our local hobby lobby store, half off of course! I never pay full price for anything there!

The earrings hang perfectly from the chicken wire and come on and off easily!

She had just enough jewelry to fill it nicely, with room to spare.

I am really happy with the results and even more happy to see how much my sister loved it! It looks great hanging in her bathroom!



I am always searching for new ideas for crafting, decorating and gifting.
My mother-in-law has so many grandchildren I decided she needed somewhere to display pictures of the kiddo's. I made her a super cute sign for Christmas, one that she can easily change pictures in and out of.

I kept it on the smaller scale, so not to overwhelm her wall space. I bought the wood plaque, clothes pins and ribbon on sale at a my favorite craft store. I had the paints of course, and I used a stencil I had for the words. The photos needed to be fairly small, so I printed wallet sized photos from Wal-Mart.

She loved it!

My Madison's Doll House

It feels like forever since I posted anything here, so what better way to catch up than with Madison's Christmas present. This year.....rather last, my husband and I decided to make our Barbie loving daughter her very own doll house. Keeping straight to the point, I wanted all of Barbie mess out of my living room floor! It was a success!! She loved it and we (my husband and I) had alot of fun building it together!!

Half way there!

                                                  

She was super excited and loved it!!

                                   



Daddy got a huge hug!!!!!!



                                             

           We also made cool beds, table and chairs for the kitchen and a couch.
I was super excited about the flooring in the bathroom and kitchen area, we found cute black and white checkered duct tape. Cool look and super easy!!

The doll house was fun to build, not so much fun to prime and paint though. Took forever. We were really happy with the total outcome and hope that Madison enjoys it for years to come!!

My Father-In-Law

This month, because it would have been his 56th birthday and also a perfect time to give thanks, I would like to pay tribute to Theo Hamer. He was not only an amazing husband, he was an amazing father, grandpa, brother, uncle and great friend, but most importantly he was my father-in-law. He accepted me and took me in as one of his own from the very first day I met him. He always introduced me to people as his daughter-in-law. He was a person you couldn't help but love. Dad had a quirky sense of humor and a infectious smile that I will never forget. He was one of the hardest workers I have ever known and would do anything for you. He left his best qualities behind in his amazing children and for that I am thankful! Love and miss you Dad!

Christmas 2011, Madison and Grandpa.

Dad and his four goofy sons. They are exactly like him in so many ways!!

Dad and Mom Thanksgiving 2011.





My Pretty Tree

Today to celebrate Fall and all it's glory, I wanted to share my pretty tree with ya'll. It's gorgeous if I do say so myself!! It has already lost half it's leaves in just 2 days. My entire yard is covered, and my daughter can not wait to rake them up and jump in. I hope you enjoy as much as I do. Happy Fall!!!!!!





The ground is covered!



I think yellow is a wonderful color!!



Some of the first leaves changing this year.



Big Sister Chloe

On Monday my little sister had a new baby boy!!! Hurray!! I already love him so so very much. Because my niece Chloe was becoming a BIG SISTER I wanted to make her something to remind her just how special she is to all of us. I gathered some pictures from when she was born and put together alittle book just for her. She loved it and took it to share with her friends at preschool the very next day.

Homemade Laundry Soap

I broke down the other day and decided to try one of the many homemade laundry soaps on Pinterest. Total cost was $12.00. I think it will last for months. I like it alright, although it doesn't smell quite as nice as my old stuff.

This is what we used.
6 cups Borax, 4 cups Super Washing Soda, 4 cups Baking Soda and 4 cups Fels-Naptha soap. You just grate the soap and mix everything together. I use 1-2 Tbls for each load.

Madison thought the soap looked like cheese.

I didn't have a big container, so I used some small Mason Jars I had on hand. The soap filled 7 of them. If you'd like to save a few bucks every month here's the link http://www.greatoakcircle.com/homemade-laundry-detergent

DIY Barbie Furniture

My daughter currently is in love with playing "dollies" So this year for Christmas my husband and I are making her a cool Barbie sized doll house. I of course will be the interior designer!! I have already made several pieces of furniture. Duct Tape is my new favorite thing!!!

Made the couch out of cardboard and duct tape. The cushion is an old burp cloth stuffed with cotton balls. Instead of sewing I used hot glue along the edges. Pillows will be made next.

Madison loved it! It actually seats up to 5 Barbie sized dolls.

The dining table is also just cardboard, duct tape, toilet paper tube and alittle scrapbook paper. Madison picked the colors and helped glue the mosaic.

The bed still needs a bed skirt and a blanket. The posts are pencils rolled with duct tape of course. My inspiration for the bed posts came My Froggy Stuff  http://youtu.be/OrpJbtjd7D8 on YouTube. This lady has tons of fabulous ideas and methods for making doll furniture.

I will post more as I get them completed.