GrocerySmarts Class

Hello friends!  I want to take this chance to let you all know about a little get together I'm having soon.  Have you ever heard of GrocerySmarts?  This is one of the best things I've found in a long time.  It helps me save a ton of money at the grocery store.  A lot of my friends have asked me how I do it, and it's more than just using coupons.  Anyway, Tori, from She Shops Smart will be coming to my home this Tuesday, May 4th, at 7pm, to teach us all how to save as much $$$ as possible

If you live in Utah, and would like to come over to my house, say hi, and learn how to save lots of money, please get in touch with me!  I'd love to have you!  

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Pirate Nightlight

Before we start this tutorial, we just want to say thanks to all of you who participated in our first Saturday Spotlight linky party! And if you couldn't make it last week, join us this next Saturday!

Anyways, back to crafting...

So, this is another craft made from practically nothing (which I love). I was drinking a two liter of Pepsi and I got the idea to use the side of the bottle as a night light!

 What you will need:

-Cheap-o night light (one that you can take off the front...mine was Santa) $1

-2 liter soda bottle

-Fabric scraps 

-hot glue gun

-permanent marker

1. Cut out a trapezoid type shape from the plastic bottle to use as the shade.

 2. Print off a picture to trace onto your shade. I chose a non-threatening, non-creepy, very innocent-looking skull and crossbones. 

3. Using some spray adhesive, take your shade outside and spray the front and let set for one minute. Then, place your fabric onto the shade.

4. I also used some strips of fabric to twist and hot glue around the edges to give the shade a more finished look. 

4. I cut out a little connector piece to hook onto the actual light and glued it to the shade. 

There ya have it! 

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Fabulous Friends Wednesday - Laura from Along for the Ride

Hello friends, and welcome to another FABULOUS FRIENDS WEDNESDAY!   I'm thrilled to welcome Laura, from Along for the Ride.  Not only are her crafts just awesome, her blog is so inspiring and always brings a smile to my face.  Make sure to stop by her blog and say hi!


Hello Craft Envy Readers! I'm Laura from along for the ride.

Thank you so much to Nicholette and Vanessa for inviting me to guest post today!

So a little about me... I have been married to an incredible, handsome, handy man named Kyle for almost a year and we have a cute black kitty named Jupiter who, as I write this, is chasing a little felt mouse all around the apartment. I am a residence hall coordinator at a large state university and I love (almost) every minute of it. My main repsponsibilities are to supverise the RAs, talk to students when they make silly decisions (and you thought that was a good idea how??) and generally manage a hall of about 400 students. Learn more here. Also, we live in the hall- not in a dorm room, but in a really cute apartment that we've tried to make a home. I know this might sound crazy, but this is exactly what I wanted to do!

When I'm not mediating roommate conflicts or fixing leaky ceilings, I love spending every spare minute crafting! From jewelry to mod podge, stamping to sewing, I love it all!

One of my recent favorites has been making toliet paper roll napkin rings. It's a super-cheap, super-cute way to spruce up your table. I hope you love making them as much as I do!

So here's how to make toilet paper roll napkin rings (diet coke is optional).

Did you know that a roll of toilet paper is exactly 4 inches? I first tried to cut the roll using kitchen shears...this did not work very well. I then tried our new, fancy, expensive knives and it worked like a charm (don't tell my husband. I thought I was being resourceful...he would think otherwise.)

I cut four 1-inch rings.

I used plain old white ribbon from the dollar store to cover the rings. I put a dollop of hot glue on the inside and started wrapping.

At first, I glued the ribbon down periodically. I don't suggest this. It worked much better when I just wrapped them in one big swoop.

Now I had four white rings...but I wasn't impressed. I took some thick black ribbon and wrapped it around the outside of the rings.

Perfect!

I host a blog party every Saturday called "Saturday is Crafty Day." I'd love it you linked up!

I hope you stop by soon and check out my other projects at along for the ride!

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Pearls and Ribbon Bracelet

Here is a super easy project to class up some fat pearls to make a bracelet! 

What you will need:

-one strand of fat pearls  ($2.99)

-pattered ribbon ($1.00)

-needle and thread

 1. First step is to start with a needle and thread about 6 or more inches from the end of your ribbon. You will want the extra ribbon to fasten the bracelet on with a bow. 

2. Start threading the needle through the very center of the ribbon. You will then put your first pearl on once the needle is pulled through the patterned side of the ribbon. 

3. Continue to thread the pearls on either side of the ribbon. Be sure to keep the needle in the center of the ribbon with each stitch. 

4. Your bracelet should start to look like this...

5. Tie a bow at the end and you have a very fashionable bracelet!

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TP Gift Box

So, Mother's Day is coming up soon, and I've started working on some little gifts for the special women in my life, but I didn't quite know how to wrap them, they're tiny gifts... That's when I saw my trusty bag of toilet paper rolls, waiting to be turned into something fabulous, and came up with this:

That's right friends!  These cute boxes are made out of TP rolls!  Let's get to it.

What you'll need:

- TP roll

-glue

-scissors

-pencil

-some kind of paper to cover your box (I used some old tissue paper from a gift, and a napkin!)

-embellishments

Flatten your TP roll, and trace on both edges a curved line, like you see above.

Cut out on the line you just traced.  Your roll will look like this.

Baad picture, sorry.  But you get the idea, fold the edges you have just cut out, to the inside of the roll.  

You will do that to all of them.  It will look like this.  Isn't that a cute shape?

Now go ahead and open your roll out again, cover it with glue and lay it on the paper you want to use.  I like to crinkle up the paper to give it some texture, I think it looks cool!  After that, go ahead and trim your paper to the shape of your little gift box.

Don't forget to embellish away!  I tied a cute little bow in one, and I used a paper flower on the other, but you could add whatever you like!  And they're perfect size for the little beaded watches I'm making... Shhhh.... don't tell the mothers! :)

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Saturday Spolight #1

Welcome to our first Saturday Spotlight linky party! We are SO excited to see what creative crafts you post!


 Here are the rules:


1) First, create a blog entry about something you made yourself.  Post our Saturday Spotlight button under your post or somewhere on your blog so that others can find all of your awesome links at Saturday Spotlight. Our linky party button is on the right side of our blog. Just copy the html code to the bottom of your blog post. If you would like to keep it somewhere else on your blog where others can see it, that's also ok.

2) Next, add your blog post name down below and then add the link of the blog entry about your project  (not your homepage) . To get your link,  click on the title of your blog post that you would like to enter and then copy the address that appears in the address bar  up top, and paste it down below. It should look about like this:    http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/2009/07/your_project.html.

3) Have fun checking out all the awesome projects!

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Our First Linky Party

Many of you are probably familiar with our Saturday Spotlight that we have been doing. Well, we have decided to change things up a bit and transform Saturday Spotlight into a linky party! There just aren't enough saturday linky parties out there! After all, the weekend is for partying!

We will post the rules the day before the party. Our Saturday Spotlight button is already on our side bar to the right, don't forget to grab it!


So be sure to join us this Saturday (or maybe even late friday night for you night owls)! I hope you're stoked because we sure are!





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Fabulous Friends Wednesday - Jax from Aly & Ash

Welcome Friends to another FABULOUS FRIENDS WEDNESDAY!!!!   We are thrilled to welcome Jax from Aly & Ash.  I know you'll fall in love with all her amazing projects!
Thanks, Jax, for sharing your talents with us!

Hello Craft Envy readers, thank you for having me! I am so excited to be posting on Craft Envy today and have a fun kids project tutorial for you! But first a little about me! 

My name is Jax and I run the blog {Aly&Ash}. I am a SAHM of the most adorable little guy named Asher who is all boy and has lovingly acquired nicknames such as; Basher, Beefcake and Chunk-a-lunka! (Check {Aly&Ash} tomorrow for a super cute pic of Ash sporting his new "Beefcake" tee!) And lastly between Asher, the hubs and the blog somehow I find time to be a photographer part time and have my own little business {DoChara Photography}. I'm not sure what I'd do if I had time to sit still...probably think of a new project! So with that..on to today's tutorial!

Easy Kids Project

Tic Tac Toe Game

Step One:

Have your kiddos pick out two pieces of scrapbook paper. You don't need much so it's a great time to use up scraps from other projects! Next have them trace around the deco rock onto the scrapbook paper and cut out just inside the trace lines.

Step Two:

Using a foam brush have the kiddos apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the flat side of the deco rock and attach cut out paper image side up. Allow to dry.

Step Three:

Next have them apply another thin coat of Mod Podge to the back side of the scrapbook paper and allow to dry completely.

 

Step Four:

The Board: I picked this up for a buck at The Dollar Tree. It has two long squares but hey, it was a dollar! You could also have the kids paint their board! *If you are really crafty you could cut some wood and separate the long squares but hey... I like the quick craft method: just fake it!

Step Five:

Play!

Thanks so much for having me over here at Craft Envy! Make sure to come check out some of my other projects at {Aly&Ash} Here is a peek at some of my favorites!

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Stone Wreath

Here's a fun project for a nice spring looking wreath! The only wreath I have is a christmas one, so I've been dying to make this! Plus!...I only spent $4.70  for this wreath!

What you will need:

-foam wreath circle ($1--go to the dollar store)

-2 bags of flat stones or marbles (again, dollar store) 

-2 colors of ribbon

-some spring-like flowers or berries

-acrylic paint or spray paint 

-hot glue gun  

1. First step is to paint your wreath ring the same color as the stones you are using. I chose white stones so I painted my wreath white. I used acrylic paint, but maybe spray paint would work better???

2. Start hot gluing your stones on as close together as possible. This part takes awhile but be patient!

3. Eventually your wreath will look like this....I chose not to cover my whole wreath in stones because I wanted room for some colorful embellishments.

4. Hot glue your flowers or berries to the foam part of the wreath.

5. Wrap the still exposed foam part with one color of ribbon until the foam is covered up. Then take a skinnier ribbon of a different color and do a criss-cross pattern starting from the bottom and going up.

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