Custom Gold Artwork

 

I moved in to my new house this summer and was in desperate need of some cute decor.  If you've got a lot of patience and about a days worth of time, you can make this eye catching, gold wall art.  It's a beautiful accent piece to any room (I chose my dining room) and so so easy!

What you need:
1.  Large foam poster board (doesn't have to be super thick)

2.  Lots of cardstock

3.  Gold spray paint (2 cans)

4.  Newspaper (for the cardstock to lay on for painting outside)
5.  A cup (with about 3-4 inch diameter) to trace the circles
6.  Scissors
7.  Roll of tape

How you make it:

1.  Trace the circular cup you've selected on to the cardstock.  Each piece of cardstock can hold about 6 circles on it.
2.  Cut out the circles and place them on the newspaper outside
3.  Spray paint each circle and let dry
4.  Start taping the dried circles on to the foam poster board.  For the very first row, place the circles so that they hang over the edges of the board so no white is showing.  For the 2nd row, place each circle staggered from the row above (like fish scales) and overlapping the above layer a little bit.  Make sure no white is showing underneath.  Place the circles in by making a doughnut role of tape and sticking it to the back of the gold circle.
5.  Repeat steps 1-4 until the whole board is covered (this is the exhausting part, but the final product is so worth it!)
6.  When the board is finally covered, cut the overhanging edges of circles off from each side of the board so you have an even line all the way around.


You're done!  What a beautiful and inexpensive piece of art!

Homemade Fall Wreath

Making wreaths for holidays are so easy and super cute.  I change mine with every season!  This is the one I made for this fall and you can do it too.  Just follow these easy steps!

All the supplies you need can be found at any crafting store (I go to Hobby Lobby)

Things you need:

1.  Medium sized twig wreath (~ $4)

2.  Fake flowers in fall colors/fake feathers (if you want!)  (~$8-12)

3.  Hot glue gun and glue gun sticks

4.  Ribbon (I used a light gold)

5.  3M Command hook (for hanging the wreath on to your door)

6.  Burlap or ribbon for the bow (~$5 or less)

How to make it:

1.  Pull of the fake flowers off their stems and place on the wreath how you'd like them arranged

2.  Make sure your glue gun is warm!

3.  Glue each flower on the wreath as desired

4.  Cut the hanging ribbon at a length of about 3 to 4 feet.  Fold ribbon in half and tie around the top of the wreath with even lengths making a large loop for hanging.

5.  Tie a bow and glue it to the top of the wreath.  To make a perfect, easy bow like the one above, cut a long strip of burlap (about 3-4 inches wide and 5 feet long).  Hold one end in your hand and make a loop about 4 inches long to one side, then to the other side and keep switching loops to each side until you have 3 loops on each side.  Wrap the remaining fabric from the end of the last loops around the middle of the loops where your hand should be.  Loop it around about 2 times, cut excess and glue the end of the fabric at the back of your center wrap.  Fluff out the side loops and you're good to go!

Enjoy!

Here's a picture of my spring wreath!  You can paint wooden numbers and glue them on for your address.  Such a cute touch!

Modge Podge that Agenda

So my OSU ladies....Have you gotten your Mortar Board yet?  If you don't know what that is, it's an agenda that the amazing people at Mortar Board put together that already has all of the important dates and happenings at OSU typed in!  Awesome? Awesome.

But now we have a conundrum....every mortar board looks the same.  Crap.  Wait what's that you say?  I can decorate it all on my own?  Heck yes you can.  And here are some ways you can make your mortar board unique.

What do you need:
1.  A MORTAR BOARD (or any store bought agenda)
2.  Any crafting supplies you can get your hands on (scrap book paper, fake flowers, jewels, stickers, ribbon, you name it)
3.  Modge Podge
4.  Paint brushes
5.  An imagination

Here are some inspiring photos to spark your imagination:

This is what you need to do/incorporate into your agenda:

1.  Layer, layer, layer

2.  More is better

3.  Pick a color theme and then choose details in those colors

Here are some techniques:

1.  Do a rip collage.  What is that?  You rip chunks of paper, layer them, and it makes a cute collage

2.  Be bold with buttons, beads, braided ribbon or string

3.  Print out your favorite quote and stick it on there

4.  Don't forget your name!  Either print it, write it, draw it, or do magazine clippings of letters

Here are mine and my roomies!  Love them!

Yay!  Now go forth and hodge podge.  Happy first day of school my fellow Oklahoma Staters!

Peanut Butter Banana Brownie Pizza

OK so you're in a rush to make a delicious dessert for a party or maybe you just really love clogging your arteries with yummy chocolate goodness.  Whether entertainer is your name or stuffing your face is your game, I've got a desert for you: DESSERT PIZZA.

This exquisite treat only takes about 30 minutes!

Here's what you need:

1.  Brownie Mix (I use Betty Crocker)

2.  Eggs

3.  Vegetable Oil

4.  Water

5.  Cream Cheese (1 box)

6.  Peanut Butter (about 2 or 3 big scoops)

7.  Sugar (2 table spoons)

8.  Large Bananas (3)

9.  Meltable chocolate (I use the Bakers strawberry dipping kind in a tub)

10.  Pizza Pan

Here's how you make this yummy in my tummy dessert:

1.  First set your oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Next mix your brownie mix with the eggs, oil and water as directed by the box and poor the mix over the pizza pan so it's nice and even.  Pit this guy in the oven for about 20 minutes!

3.  Now mix the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl until smooth and creamy.  It may be difficult if your cream cheese isn't soft yet so you can put it in the microwave for 20 or 30 seconds to soften. (I usually make my boyfriend do this mixing part because he's strong and muscly haha)

4.  Now chop up the bananas into about 1/2 cm slices.

5.  Once your brownie is cooked and cooled (for about 10 minutes), paste the peanut butter and cream cheese paste on like it's a sauce of a pizza, leaving about an inch of the brownie peeking out on the sides.

6.  Then, place the bananas on the pizza like they're pepperoni's, working from the outside in.

7.  Finally, melt the chocolate in the microwave until it's smooth and runny and then take a spoon and drizzle it over the pizza in whatever fashion you'd like!  YUM!

How to Reupholster a Chair

Do you have a couple of tacky dining room chairs that look like they came from the 70's?  Or are you a college kid who gets all the hand-me-downs and you just want something cute for your dorm?  Or maybe you just want to redecorate and that chair in the corner doesn't match?  Well why not reupholster it!!  It's actually REALLY easy and doesn't take long at all.  You just need to make sure you have all the right tools!


What you need:
1.  A chair
2.  Choice of fabric (about a yard or so)
3.  Staple gun and staples
4.  Screw driver (either flat or 4 pronged depending on which type of nails are in your chair)
5.  Scissors
6.  Toothpicks (if needed)*

Here's how you do it:
1.  Unscrew the piece to be upholstered from the chair frame and lay it on your fabric with the fabric facing the way you want it on the chair.
2.  Cut the fabric so that about 4 inches stick out from the sides around the chair bottom like this:

3.  Fold the top edge over and staple to the chair bottom.  Pull the opposite side over, pull tight and staple. I like to staple about 3 staples on each side.  Keep doing this until the sides are stapled tight.

4.  Now leaves the corners: pull the fabric back, tuck the sides in and fold over and place a staple on each side of the fold.  If this is too complicated or hard to follow, just try and fold the corners over in any way you can, secure them with staples and make sure no fabric sticks out!

5.  Now that your seat is all covered, let's reattach it!  You'll just need to hold it back on where you found it and twist the screws back in.  

*6.  If your holes are stripped like mine were because my chair had been reupholstered 4 times, then you'll have to use my toothpick trick.  Break a toothpick into 3 parts (1 toothpick per hole) and stick the 3 parts down into the screw hole.  This should give enough wood for your screw to hold on to!

You're done!! How easy was that.  Now time for a before and after photo:

BEFORE

AFTER

American Flag Cake

I know it's a little late for the 4th of July ( I made this on the 4th), but this may be a great idea for you to make next year, for labor day, memorial day or any other occasion in where you feel extra American!  This cake is SUPER easy and pretty inexpensive to make (especially if you're buying strawberries in the summer = cheap).  This cake is also super light so it's a perfect dessert if you've got a belly full of heavy BBQ. Also, it requires NO baking! Excellent!  Let's get started.

Here's what you'll need:

1.  Package of frozen pound cake (found in the freezer section)

2.  Tub of cool whip

3.  2 tubs of strawberries

4.  Tub of blueberries

5.  Glass or tin pan to put it all in

Here's how you do it:

1.  Once you bring the goods home from the grocery store, put the frozen pound cake in the fridge to let it thaw.  Make sure it thaws for a little while before you use it.

2.  Slice the pound cake into about 1cm thick slices to lay down on the bottom of the pan.

3.  Cover the pound cake with one whole tub of sliced strawberries and some blueberries.  I like to slice the strawberries into smaller pieces so you can eat them better.

4.  Dump the cool whip over the top of all of this and spread it out so the whole cake is covered.

5.  Slice the remaining strawberries in half.  Lay them round side up in lines and these will make the stripes.  Use the remaining blueberries to make the "stars" at the top left corner of the flag. 

***I really like making my own cool whip  (it just tastes soooo dang good) so I'm going to give you that recipe here if you'd like to use it for this cake or for anything else that requires cool whip.

Ingredients:

1.  Heavy whipping cream 1 cup

2.  Powdered sugar about 1/2 cup

3.  Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon

The how:

1.  make sure the cream is cold.  Place in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric egg beater on high until it starts to become fluffy.

2.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla and whip some more until it starts to look like it will become lumpy.

You're done!  It's so easy and mmmmmm that homemade whipped cream tastes delicious ugh!!!

Funky Photo Board

Tired of boring picture frames?  Need a display to easily show off all your latest concert tickets, graduation pictures or business cards?  Think that picture boards are too expensive, or not in the right fabric or frame for you?  Well you can change all of that to your liking!  Let's do this!

Supplies:

1.  Picture frame

2.  Fabric (I used two: lace and satin)

3.  Hot glue and glue gun

4.  Buttons

5.  Ribbon

6.  Paint (optional)

7.  Batting 

8.  Thread and sturdy needle

How you do this beauty:

1.  Take off the frame backing and discard the glass.

2.  Paint the frame with white paint slightly streaky so it comes out with an antique finish (if desired) and let dry.

3.  Cut out a piece of batting to fit the size of the frame back.

4.  Cut your fabric so that about an inch can wrap around to the back of the frame backing all the way around.

5.  Pull the fabric over the frame backing with the batting underneath and secure with hot glue all the way around, pulling tightly throughout.

6.  Cut strips of ribbon in lengths to make a criss cross pattern over the secured fabric.  Glue these strips only on the ends of the ribbon that are behind the back of the frame backing.

7.  Where the ribbons cross, pull a thread through the whole thing and sew a button tightly, pinching in the batting, fabric and ribbon.

You're all done, now add whatever items: pictures, ticket stubs, movie stubs, memos, recipes etc., to your new creation.  I swear it's easier than it looks!