Super Easy Monogram Plaque

Hey! So I've been "working" on this project for about a year now. Okay, so I haven't actually been working on it. I started it about a year or so ago and forgot about it... Until now! :)

I forget where I got the idea for this, but it's really the easiest customized thing ever! Check it out:

Monogram Plaque

Again, EASY!!!

I had this frame just sitting around my house, begging to be used. I think it started as a Goodwill special. Who knows. Anyway. So I had the frame and I think I had a space to fill before I even had the idea, so when it came time to choose colors, it was basically already decided. Don't you just LERRRVE that pink and gold print??

I'm getting ahead of myself... I need to tell you what you need to make this wonderful piece of art!

Are you ready??

Are you??? :)

Okay, so you need:

- a frame - any size you want! Any style you want! YAY!

- paper - ANY design you want! Has to fill the frame. (I have a secret about mine!)

- a wooden letter that fits inside the frame.

- paint for the letter - again, ANY color/kind!

- hot glue gun

I used, like I said, a frame I had $0; wooden letter from Michael's $1.18; I ended up using two paints, one was Satin Nickel spray paint (Walmart) I had leftover from another project (the planter I'm going to stick my Christmas tree in this year!), and three coats of Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface Glitter paint in Antique Silver (Michael's) $3.50? I said I have a secret about my paper. Here's the secret: I didn't use paper! I was looking all over for, like, a scrapbook paper to use. I found a few things that were okay, but they weren't great and considering I had to buy an entire book of paper to get the one paper, I wasn't getting it unless I loved it. So one day, I'm in Target getting whatever it was, when I pass by this gift bag and think, "THAT's what I want the paper to look like!" So I go over to Target's little crafty area to see if they have some paper similar while I'm thinking of it. FINALLY I realized that I could just use the darn bag! Once it's cut to size and in the frame, who's gonna know except me?! Well, now everyone, but you get my point! So, I didn't use paper, I used a gift bag!

At last, my "plaque" is complete, and in my splendid opinion, it is magnificent!

See it in my bathroom:

And another angle of the bathroom:

:)

Truffle Bouquets

These are SUPER easy and make great teacher gifts!! The girls in my daughter's Girl Scout troop made these for their parents with mini candy bars and chocolate hearts, that's how easy they are!

For my daughter's teachers, I upgraded to Ferrero Rocher and Lindt truffles. :)

Supplies:

• Individually-wrapped candy
• "Bendy" straws
• "Wet" Floral foam
• A container of some kind
• Tissue paper
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• Glue stick (Like a kids glue stick)
• Possibly a knife to cut the foam, depending on the foam and container

Start by cutting the short end of the straws in half and bending them, and then cut your tissue paper into squares or rectangles, not too big, but big enough that when you put it behind the candy, the candy looks like the center of a flower and the paper looks like petals. I think mine were around 3x4, but none were measured and they weren't really the same size. For the ones the girls did, they used a single piece of tissue, but the ones I made for the teachers, I used two pieces of complimentary tissue glued together:

My tissue paper

Straws cut and bent

This part should be done by an adult if you're working with smaller children. Lay out 4-6 pieces of candy. Put a small glob of hot glue on each, and then stick the short end of a straw on each candy in the glue:

Next, you want to put the tissue on each candy. If you're using a single piece of tissue paper, the straw should poke through easily. If you've glued two pieces together like I did, it's not so easy. I used a knife to cut a small hole/slit in the paper where I was going to stick the straw to keep the paper from tearing:

Notice the hole isn't in the center. The long part of the straw isn't in the center of the candy, but I want the candy in the center of the paper, so adjust according to your own straws/candy.

Next, to make the paper curl around the candy and to stay in place, use the glue stick to make a circle on the tissue where the candy will go. For the Ferrero Rocher, I made the glue circle just a bit bigger than the little cupcake wrapper the candy is glued into so it would go up the sides some:

Now before the glue dries, slide a straw into the slit (or poke a hole) in the tissue paper and press the paper against the candy, trying to cover the straw:

Front

Back

Now you need to get your container ready. I used pretty Valentine gift boxes. The teacher ones I got from Walmart for around $2; the ones for the troop, I got at the dollar store! For the foam, get the "wet" foam, the squishy foam. It works better with the straws. My dollar store has some of this, and I got three big blocks for $4 at Walmart. Cut your foam to fit the container. If you have to piece some together like I did, glue the pieces together. With these boxes, I just glued the foam down in there. If you're using a vase or a cup of some kind, be sure the foam fits tightly or it will dump easily:

Now start arranging!

I think I used about 17 candies per bouquet for my 6"x6" boxes. Stick the straws in however you like! Fill in with some larger squares of tissue, and you're done!

Christmas Tree Shirts CHEAP!

Okay, so a friend posted this shirt to Pinterest a couple of weeks ago:

She also posted her own pics to Facebook. Super cute! I knew I wanted to make one, but I didn't even look at the instructions - I mean, how hard could it be? Plus, I didn't have the supplies yet to make it, anyway. I forgot about the shirt for a while, but then I was in Target and it popped back into my head! Why, you ask? Because Target has an INCREDIBLE dollar section! I found spools of 6 different - coordinating - ribbons! I bought two blue and white spools and two traditional Christmas colored spools. :) Yay!

I normally get my craft shirts at Walmart because the suckers are only $3/3.50! :) But I had been looking there already for birthday shirts (with cute little cupcakes!) and I knew wally world was out of the sizes I needed in the colors I wanted. :( Target's plain long-sleeve T's were $5, so I snagged a couple of those while I was there.

Let me point out that I am a habitual procrastinator. I'm going to say it's because I work best under pressure... So, the first shirt I took my time on, I don't even know how long it took. The second shirt, I whipped up in about 10 minutes in the morning before my daughter had to be to school. Yes, I procrastinate that much.

Supplies:

 $1 ribbon!!!

I placed a piece of tape down on my cutting mat, stuck at the top with the sticky side facing up:

I cut strips of my ribbon. Make sure the bottom piece is as wide as you want the bottom of your tree and that the pieces above don't decrease in size too much from one to the next. With the top pieces, I knew that the very top would only be as wide as my tape, so I was comfortable with them being that much smaller.

I placed my ruler from the widest point to on the bottom to the edge of the tape at the top and cut a straight line using my rotary cutter (love that thing!) You could always mark the line with a pen and cut with scissors if you don't have a rotary cutter yet. Seriously, get one.

Do the other side. :)

Pull the ribbons off of the tape and use a lighter (or a blow torch like I have) to burn the ends of the ribbons.

Lay out the ribbons on the shirt. I chose to make a crooked tree instead of a straight one.

I sew, but I don't have pins. I don't think I'd use them if I did have them. Idk why. So I used little pieces of tape to hold down the ribbons. The sewing machine sews right through the tape and perforates it so it comes up nicely on each side.

I also put tape on the ends of the ribbons where I would finish off each stitch. I think this is what made the second shirt go faster than the first. The first time, my (60 yr old) machine kept jamming at the ends and the ribbon would curl up. The tape kept it in place with no jams!

I simply straight-stitched each ribbon down the middle in pink thread to match the shirt. I'm glad it matched the shirt, it was already in the machine ready to go! Also, instead of pulling the shirt out from under the foot and cutting the thread in between each ribbon, I just pulled enough slack in the thread to get to the beginning of the next ribbon and trimmed everything at once.

I finished off with a blue shiny star button I had left over from 4th of July barrettes I made months ago!

So let's break down price:

Shirt: $5 but you could find them for $3

Ribbon: $1

Tape: I would have to have had for presents anyway, so we'll call that FREE!

Button: I think they were only $1 for a pack of I don't even know how many? I'm going to call mine FREE because I had them, though!

My cost: $6 (and I actually had one pink shirt I thought about using for a halloween project, so $6 for one shirt, $1 for the other!)

Maximum cost, if you didn't have any of the supplies I did: $6-8, depending on where you get your shirt!

Cost assuming you have tape lying around somewhere and got a cheap shirt: $5

I can't wait to start posting!!!!!

With the holidays (read: Christmas) coming up very quickly, I've been shopping and crafting a LOT lately! Unfortunately, the kids Christmas gifts aren't very parsimonious this year... FORTUNATELY, my crafts definitely are! I will be posting $2 & $3 topiaries; a fully decorated chandelier that cost me a whopping $4 total ($12 if you count the actual chandelier); my stair garland that crosses over my imaginary $10 boundary, but only by $3, and it's totally worth it; a tablescape, where I show you how great it is to take one great thing (that's still super cheap), mix in some more super cheap items, and end up with a fabulous look - that doesn't look like you were shopping at a dollar store! I also have some bling ornaments that I will throw in - $3 for 24 ornaments. I would post it all right now, but it's 1:30 am... I will leave you with one tip. A lot of my holiday decor (and all of my better holiday decor) has been acquired over a few years. If you're just starting out, go really really cheap right now, you'd be surprised what's still on the shelves and 75% off after Christmas!