Little Golden Book Journals

I'm always looking for craft fair ideas I can use for spring or summer shows.  My newest Little  Golden Book Journals are perfect!  It's a quick little project that gets a ton of oohs and aahs. 

I cut the spine off the book, and cut the covers and pages so they would all be the same size. 

I started with the first page of the book and mixed a few blank pages in between every book page so the entire story in incorporated into the journal.

I used my Cinch binding machine to punch holes and attached the wires.  The entire books ended up being close to 100 pages.

I was able to find 9 books in good condition at a local thrift store and made all of them in just a few days.

Such a fun and easy project that my girls just love.  I know there will be many more books floating around our house.

Linking to:
Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Dwellings
DIY Showoff, The Dedicated House, Coastal Charm
Elizabeth & Co., Sugar Bee Crafts,

Batman and Robin Hats

It's always a little scary for me when someone orders something I've never made before.  I always have a little fear that it just won't look right and it won't be what they expect.

But, I'm so happy with they way these two hats turned out.

I used felt to cut out the logos and sewed them right onto the hat.

They are now on the way to Germany for Christmas.  I hope those two boys are happy with their new hats.

Linking to:

Elizabeth & Co., Savvy Southern Style, Someday Crafts

A Bowl Full of Lemons, 

Poinsettia Yarn Wreath

I'm finishing up projects for the next craft show coming up this weekend.  I will be participating in the Plumgrove Boutique in Sacramento.  This is the 35th year and we are so excited!

Here is one of the new items I'm selling this weekend.

I love the way it turned out!  It keeps reminding me that Christmas is just around the corner!

If you are in the Sacramento area this Friday and Saturday make sure you stop by and start your holiday shopping.  We have a huge variety of items and lots of door prizes!

Linking to:
Savvy Southern Style, Someday Crafts, We Are That Family
A Bowl Full of Lemons, Coastal Charm, Sugar Bee Crafts
Imparting Grace, A Delightsome Life

Cork Ornaments

Are you ready for Christmas?  I'm always ready.  I just love the way everything looks and feels with all the Christmas decorations out and displayed.

I have been making cork ornaments for several years now, but for some reason, I've never shared them.  It's one of my favorite gifts to give around the holidays when you need something small.

I have candy canes, trees and wreaths.

The trees are definitely my favorite.

I will be selling my ornaments at the Lodi Street Faire on October 5.

Linking to:
Imparting Grace, A Delightsome Life, Artsy-Fartsy Mama
What's Cooking Love?, Katherine's Corner, Living Well Spending Less
A Handful of Everything,

Halloween Book Wreath

Another project done for the Lodi Street Faire.  It's getting close now, just two weeks away!

I love my fall book wreath, so I decided to change it up a bit and add a little something for Halloween.

The edges are inked just slightly with black ink and the spiders are glued on top with hot glue.

My girls love it because the spiders are creepy, but not too creepy because they are "girly glitter spiders."

Linking to:
The Shabby Nest, Imparting Grace, The Pin Junkie
Diary of a Real Housewife, 

Mason Jar Succulents

Three weeks to go before the Lodi Street Faire and I'm finally starting to cross things off my list.  This weekend I got all my mason jars painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, sanded and the succulents planted.  I love the way the turned out!

Here's to hoping I don't kill them before October 5!

Linking to:
Between Naps on the Porch,  DIY Showoff, Keeping It Simple
The Girl Creative, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Coastal Charm
Elizabeth & Co., Sugar Bee Crafts, 

Craft Booth

The Lodi Street Fair is one month away.  I swear, my to do list is getting longer instead of shorter like I had hoped.  

But, I did get a big item checked off the list this weekend.  I was able to do a practice set up.  I was able to see what I wanted to make more of, what I have plenty of, etc.  There are still a few things I need to get, like an extra table cloth and finished "walls" for the tent instead of a sheet, but I was surprised at how much I already had done.

I know a lot of people set up their tent on the day of the event without a test run, but that definitely would not have worked for me.  Even though it took an entire afternoon, it was definitely worth it.

I'm happy with the way everything turned out.  I especially love all the baby hats hanging on the side wall.  

What do you think?  Would you stop by and do some shopping?

Hats

With the Street Fair coming up in just over two months, I'm trying to finish making all my hats and get it out of the way.  My goal is to bring 100 hats with me and I'm almost there.

Here are a few just to give you an idea of what I'll have.

Beaded Flower Hats (in red, white, gray and brown)

Football hats (in brown and pink)

Owl Hats (in purple, pink, blue and green)

Linking to:

Elizabeth & Co., A Bowl Full of Lemons, Coastal Charm

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Sugar Bee Crafts

Lodi Street Fair

It's official.  I've just signed up for the Lodi Street Fair on October 5.  It's one of the largest in our area and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.

I am frantically working on stuff to fill my booth so stay tuned for lots of product updates!

So far I have pumpkins, trees, wreaths and lots of baby hats.

Painted Oars

I've always loved wooden oars.  So when I saw all the cute painted oars on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to paint a couple to put over our TV.  I found both of these oars at antique stores.  One was $10 and the other was about $15.  I didn't care if they were exactly the same.  I just looked for two that were similar.

I painted two coats of white with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, then taped off different areas with painter's tape.  I used acrylic paint from Michael's for the stripes and number.  Then distressed everything once they were dry.

They were still a little boring to me, so I used some thin jute twine I found in the garage.  I held it in pace with tape until I had it where I wanted it.  Once it was in place, I used a little hot glue on the ends to hold it down.  I added triangle hooks on each end so I could hang it on the wall.

Love the way they turned out!  And it only took me an afternoon to finish the whole thing.  

Linking to:

Elizabeth & Co., A Bowl Full of Lemons, Coastal Charm

The Blackberry Vine, Sugar Bee Crafts, Between Naps on the Porch

DIY Showoff

Teacup Succulents

Over the past couple years, I've grown to love succulents.  They add just the right amount of green to my house or yard, they are easy to grow and they are inexpensive.  But the best part is that you can break off a piece from an existing plant, and create a whole new plant.

I'm always on the lookout for any little thing to put succulents in.  On a recent trip to Home Goods, I found these teacups in the clearance section for $1.00 each.  I was so excited.  I immediately came home and started breaking off little pieces from my succulents outside.

I used a diamond drill bit and carefully drilled a drainage hole on the bottom of the cup.  I put small pebbles on the bottom, them filled the rest of the cup with cactus dirt and stuck in my succulent pieces.

I had all three cups done is just a few minutes.  I think these will make excellent hostess or teacher gifts at the end of the school year.

Linking to:

Elizabeth & Co., My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, A Bowl Full of Lemons
Coastal Charm, The Blackberry Vine

Tea Light Candle Holder

My favorite Christmas project so far this year has been my wood tea light holders.  I love the way they turned out, but I also love that they were completely free!  Everything I needed, I already had in my garage.

I used leftover 4x4 blocks from when we built our new fence a couple years ago.  I drilled the holes using a 1 1/2 inch drill bit (like this) for the tea lights, then stained the block of wood with a dark ebony stain.

When the stain was dry, I painted two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White.

I printed the words onto a piece of paper, then traced over them with a ballpoint pen.  I pressed just hard enough to see an outline of the letters in my wood.  Then I used a tiny paintbrush and filled it in.

I don't have a very steady hand, so I was really disappointed with my paint job.  However, a little distressing takes care of all the painting outside the lines.  It also took care of all the paint marks when I dropped my brush!

I let everything dry, then started sanding away with my sanding block.  I love how soft this paint is after you distress it.  So soft and smooth.  My girls kept "petting" the wood because they loved the way it felt.

I think this will make perfect hostess gifts this season.

Linking to:
Elizabeth & Co., A Bowl Full of Lemons, Coastal Charm
Blackberry Vine

DIY Growth Charts with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

I have always loved growth charts.  So when I saw all the distressed growth charts on Pinterest, I knew I would eventually make one. 

They are so easy and inexpensive to make.  It took me a couple days to complete because of drying time, but the actual work is quick.

 

I used a 1x6 from Home Depot, sanded all the edges and corners and then stained it.  I let it dry overnight and then lightly sanded it again so it was nice and smooth.

 

I marked every six inches and then taped my squares so I could apply paint.  I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint because it dries quickly and distress easily. 

 

After the painted squares were dry, I used a plastic stencil from Michaels to paint the numbers.  I did get a lot of bleeding from the paint under the stencil, but once everything was distressed, it was not noticeable. 

 

 

 

I did two coats of white paint and only one coat of the blue paint before distressing.  I definitely like it better with two coats of paint.  The blue looked too washed out, not really distressed.

 

I love the way these turned out.  I can't wait until I can actually starting marking both my girls' heights!

 



 

 

Linking to:

DIY Showoff, Elizabeth & Co., A Bowl Full of Lemons

Coastal Charm, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Blackberry Vine, Sugar Bee Crafts, Hope Studios

 

 

 



Wooden Christmas Signs

The Plumgrove Boutique was this past weekend and it was so much fun.  I can't believe how many people came to shop.  There was an endless stream of customers.

So, I'm really happy that I made the extra effort last week to finish up these little wooden Christmas signs.  They were so easy to make and I had a lot of fun painting them. 

 

I used an old 1x6 I found in my garage.  I stained it with Minwax in Ebony (my favorite because it is such a dark color), painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White, and then used regular acrylic craft paint to paint on the words.

 



After the paint dried I used my sanding block to distress it, added a couple eye hooks and twine and it was good to go.

The only thing left to do is decide which one is my favorite!

Linking to:
Between Naps on the Porch, DIY Showoff, Keeping it Simple
Making the World Cuter, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Wine Cork Pumpkins

I love fall decorating.  Specifically pumpkins.  I pick up pumpkins every time I go to Trade Joes.  Which means right now they are all over my house.

So I'm not sure what took me so long to make these cute little pumpkins, but I love they way they turned out!

I was able to make four pumpkins last night.  They are so fast and easy.  I'm sure by Thanksgiving, I'll have several more around the house.

Linking to:
DIY Showoff, C.R.A.F.T., I Should be Mopping the Floor,
Keeping It Simple, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Elizabeth and Co., Coastal Charm, A Bowl Full of Lemons

Painted Mason Jars

I love jars.  Even my husband knows that we never throw away clear glass jars.  They get added to a shelf in my office for future flower arrangements.  But who really needs 30 clear glass jars?

Last week I got out my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and painted two coats of pure white over my mason jars.  A little distressing on all the raised edges and some random spots and I have cool vintage-y vases.

I filled them with Trader Joe's flowers and set them all over the house.

Some on our mantel, a couple in the bedroom and one on our kitchen table.  Flowers make every room so cheery.

The jars did not get a coat of wax since they will inevitably get water all over them.  I wasn't sure how the paint would hold up without wax, but they are holding up great.  I even had a hard time distressing some parts of the jars.  After a few days, that paint is set.  

Linking to:

Finding Fabulous, The Girl Creative, The Shabby Nest