Simply DIY 2

So, my youngest sister has made a personal goal to run either a half or (eventually) a full marathon in each of the 50 states.  While she has run quite a few half marathons in our home state of Pennsyltucky, her only other states are Tennessee and soon-to-be Ohio.  She needs to get on that goal ! From doing each half marathon (and always kicking butt) she receives a participation medal.  Along with the medal, she has her bib as well.  What to do with these memorabilia from each race?  You could scrapbook the bibs with some photos, and throw the medals in a keepsake box, but why not display them?  I've noticed on my sister's Pinterest page (Oh, thank you Pinterest) that she has pinned a few bib/medal holders like this one : I decided to give it the ol' DIY try and make my sister one of these for her birthday.  This was a trial and error project, with lots of trial and lots of errors.  Bare with me while I try to explain. T...

With our baby quickly approaching, as well as Valentine's Day, I found this bottle cap holder  an appropriate gift for my hubs.  After all, he just purchased a beer making kit which I'm sure he will be putting to good use.  While I could have purchased it, I figured I'd DIY it.  Except for the slit at the top, it was fairly simple to make. I purchased a shadow box, white letters, and sticker paper at Hobby Lobby.  Make sure to buy two packets of letters.  I forgot to count out  how many letters I would need and didn't have enough 'E's', so I had to make a quick (and yes it was actually quick) trip back to Hobby Lobby. First, I used a pencil to draw a box/slit on the top of the shadow box.  Make sure that it is big enough for the bottle caps to fall in to. Then came the hard part - cutting the slit.  I'm sure if I had the right tools, like a certain dremel or drill bit, this would have been a lot easier.  However, I don't.  ...

Each year around the beginning of December, a few teacher friends and I get together and make homemade jam and apple butter.  Then we can the jam and apple butter and give them out as gifts.  Due to scheduling issues this year, we couldn't do it together.  Luckily I had my sidekicks to help this year - Kerry to help can and Stout waiting patiently for any apple butter goodness to fall on the floor. I made the apple butter in the crock pot, using applesauce and other ingredients, and let it cook slowly for about nine hours.  Yum!  Then I canned it with the help of my trusty assistant, Kerry.  After the jars cooled off, they were ready to be dressed up for gifts.   Typically I cut out circles of cute holiday fabric with pinking shears to decorate the tops of the jars...but  then I found this  idea  on Pinterest and loved it !   I thought this was a genius idea and it saves a lot of time.  I didn't have to trace out ...

If you haven't noticed, I like making crafts.  Not only do I enjoy making things for myself, I get really excited when someone asks if I can make them something.  Even better…when I make someone for someone and they like it!  Last year for Christmas, my sister, Emily, asked for a memo board and this year, she wanted another one!  I've made many memo boards, but surprisingly not one since I started this blog.  There are plenty of other tutorials on how to make a memo board, but I thought I'd still share mine. Everyone's is a little different.  Of course, you can find memo boards in the store, but they are usually over $15 or $20.  Not only can you do them on the cheap, you can make it just the way you want it! Tools: Scissors Staple Gun and staples Needle Pliers/wire cutter (to pull out staples if needed and to cut floral wire) Ruler Materials: 16 X 20 inch canvas (usually purchased at Michael's with coupon) Quilt batting cut 16 X 20 ...

Pinterest is at it again.  While browsing Pinterest during my daily hourly look through, I found this pretty fall wreath : Since it is on Etsy, I started to look for an online tutorial on how to make a tulle wreath.  I've never seen one before, so I wasn't sure where to start.  Google makes searching for things so easy and I quickly found this  tutorial.  It was very helpful. I got most of my materials at a store called WOW Outlets in Pennsylvania while visiting my family (yes, another trip to PA).  The foam ring is 11" .  I originally started with a 12" ring, but felt it was too big.  I had almost the whole wreath covered with tulle, didn't like it, and took it apart for the smaller ring. I got some of the tulle at the same store, some at the $1.00 section in JoAnn's, and had some cut from a bolt at JoAnn's.  I also purchased some gold ribbon as well. The flower, leaves, and scarecrow are all from fall decorations I had ...

One of my favorite blogs, YHL , posted a Pinterest Challenge the other day.  This little challenge gave me the push that I needed to start a project I've been 'pining' to do for a while. I love earrings but I'm not a big jewelry wearer.  I usually wear my cross/medal necklace and my engagement/wedding rings.  When I want to switch things up, I change my earrings to match my outfits.  Currently, my earrings were placed in this...   ...a Pitt mug from college.  Yes, I know...not the most elegant of things to hold your earrings in, but hey, it worked ! I've been wanting to update my earring holder for a while, ya know, make it a little more grown-up, but I haven't found the right solution until I crossed the framed radiator grate from iHeartOrganizing . I fell in love !  I did a little research and found out that Home Depot had the radiator grates.  I went there and asked for a little help in locating them (I know my way around Home De...