Redo Old Decorations

I've been wanting to give this old talking head a "face-lift" for a little while.  I was inspired by the decorated skulls of Dia De Los Muertos.

I looked through my Cricut cartridges and found some interesting looking leaves in my Wall Decore and More cartridge.  I made my design by flipping and mirroring the images.  The "beware" text came from a trial Halloween cartridge available in Cricut Craftroom.

From start to finish, this project took about and hour and since I had all the supplies, it was free!

August Stitch Fix

One of my favorite new things to do before a trip is to schedule my Stitch Fix!  I love having awesome new outfits to wear while I'm exploring someplace new.  It's especially helpful if I'm going somewhere that has a different climate than Michigan. 

 

My husband and I planned a trip for Washington DC in the beginning of August and I knew it would be very hot and humid with a lot of walking and public transportation.  Also, I knew we'd be visiting museums, monuments, government buildings, and fancy restaurants.  So, I needed clothes that would keep me cool and also be cute and classy for our planned activities.

 

My Stitch Fix stylist came through!  My fix included two dresses, a cross body bag, an adorable polka dot skirt and green blouse.

 

 

Here I am with three of my pieces at the Navy Memorial in Washington DC.  I can't wait for my next fix.  You can schedule yours here.

Outfit Upcycle - Old Tunic to New Skirt

I've been hanging on to this old tunic because I have REALLY wanted to wear it, but, not as a tunic... I bought it shortly after I graduated from undergrad in early 2007.  It is too short to be a dress and too long to be a shirt.  I used to wear it with leggings or skinny jeans.  Now, I feel like the puffy cap sleeves are outdated and too young for me and the neckline is too low cut.  Also, the high waist directly under the bust makes it feel a little maternity to me.

Chuey had to get into this pic, he rarely missed a photo op.  I used my seam ripper to separate the top from the bottom, just above the ribbon waistband and pinned the lining and outer fabric together.  The side has a zipper that went from the the skirt to the top.  Instead of cutting the zipper, I left it alone on the skirt and used my seam ripper to separate it from the top and then tucked the extra between the skirt and lining sewed it into place with my sewing machine.

It was such a quick fix, I was disappointed I didn't do it sooner!  I wore it with my WHBM shirt tucked in and my coral jewelry that I picked up in Mexico and Colombia.  

I'm loving my new skirt!  

Room Makeover

Our basement guest room needed a little bit of an upgrade.  The paint color looks kind of grey in this picture but in the light it was sort of a purple or periwinkle color.  Not good.

For the room makeover, I ordered two canvas prints of my grandparents from Easy Canvas Prints and picked out a new paint color.  It was my first time ordering from Easy Canvas and I was pleased with the quality of the product.  I had tried to upload my photos to a few other canvas printing websites and I didn't like the way the websites were cropping my photo to wrap it around the canvas frame.  On Easy Canvas Prints, the section that wrapped around the frame was a mirror image of my photo, so there was no cropping of the photo on the front surface.  

I choose a custom size 18''x18'' standard wrap.  When I ordered the canvases, I had this spot in mind for them but in the original photos both my grandparents were looking toward the left.  I just didn't think I would like it if I hung the photos next to one another and they weren't facing each other.  So, I did a little Picasa magic and flipped one photo horizontally by selecting it and holding "Ctrl"-"Shift"-"H" you can also flip vertical by holding "Ctrl"-"Shift"-"V"

The paint is Glidden Bluegrass White in eggshell. While I was painting, I thought I wasn't going to like the color because it just looked white.  I was hoping for a soft mint color.  The color showed up after it was dry and I was so pleased with it.

Wedding Place Cards

Wedding planning is wrapping up and I thought I'd share my new trick.  My caterer needed an indicator on my guest's place cards to know which meal they had chosen.  I played around with a few different things and found this FREE downloadable font.

The font is called Farm and Wild Animals.  I also downloaded a calligraphy font to address my envelopes!

Going Green!

For my birthday I got this cute hanging planter with my own herbs.  I am so excited to use this fresh basil, mint and oregano.  YUM!

Beautiful Places: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

San Miguel is a beautiful colonial city in central Mexico.  

It's one of my favorite places.  I've heard it called the 

Beverly Hill of Mexico!

Views while driving into the city.

This little boy was playing with his toy snake while his parents ate in this restaurant.

mushroom and cheese soup 

Catedral de San Miguel de Allende

Welcome Home Soldier

My honey came home!  It was one of the most anticipated days of my adult life and I am still so incredibly happy that he is home safe.

I made him this sign for at the airport.  I had to wait to fill in the number of days until I knew his homecoming date.

This project was made with Cricut 50 States, Craftroom Basics and Stand and Salute Cartridges on poster board with Dollar Tree contact paper and camo duck tape sheets.

A Message to My Soldier

My fiance is currently deployed in Afghanistan and I sent him a special sign using a State of Michigan map and my Cricut.  He loved it!

Chuey's Bath

He hates me!  

Craft Party!

Last week one of my friends invited me over for group craft night.  We headed to Michaels with our coupons, bought everything with glitter, opened a couple bottles of wine and got to work!

One of the girls had already gotten to work on table centerpieces earlier that day.  They turned out great, this picture doesn't do it justice.

We all bought materials for making a cool holiday wreath.  For me, I got a foam ring, gold ribbon, glitter garland, and 3 red glitter floral pieces.  I tacked the embellishments to the foam wth floral pins.  It was incredibly easy and quick and I loved the way it turned out!

Here is my friend's wreath made with yarn.

My wreath looks so festive on my front door with my Dollar Tree wreath hanger!

Happy Holidays!

The Holy Spirit Popping In

After I shared my photos from Medjugorje with my group of pilgrims, one of them sent me an email saying she spotted the Holy Spirit.  How awesome!

When I took this picture of the statue outside St. James Church, I was mostly paying attention to the lighting and exposure.  Unfortunately, I over looked the birds and especially the bird in the upper right corner.  I couldn't tell you if they were flying around or just appeared in the picture.

I am not sure about this picture because I don't like to doubt God's presence in my life and I also don't like to reach for signs that he is near.  I know he's present and near.  Anyway, I do really like this picture.  

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Michigan.  So, to promote the Michigan Pink Ribbon License Plate, I got to work on my Cricut!

I cut the state of Michigan out of the 50 States Cartridge, on pink paper of course!  Then I pinned a pink ribbon to it for the Senators to wear in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Oh yeah, the Senator from the UP will get a UP cutout ;)  I'm counting on the cuteness of these to inspire some movement on this legislation!

Blessed are those who have not seen but still have believed.

I went to Medjugorje!  I was finally able to go and it was more amazing than I could have imagined.  If you haven't heard of Medjugorje, this website has a good history of the place.  I am so grateful for the experience and I truly feel as though I was called there.

{view from my balcony}

The entire time it seemed like people were experiencing miracles within their faith.  I heard the visionaries Vicka and Marija speak about their experiences and the messages from the Blessed Mother.  It was so inspiring and uplifting.

While I was there, I bought 11 religious medals to be blessed.  I intended to keep one and give away the other 10.  Each day in church, the priest blessed the religious items brought to mass.  Additionally, my group packed our rosaries, medals and other items each in our own plastic bag and then all together into a suitcase. The suitcase was then brought to the visionary Vicka's home to be present during her apparition.  During the apparition, the Blessed Mother blessed the people and religious items present.

My group got our bags back the next night after dinner.  I took mine up to my room and unpacked it, mostly to make sure everything was accounted for.  Incredibly, one of my medals was now gold!  When I bought them and when I packed them into the bag, they were all a silver color.  I was amazed and humbled that the Blessed Mother gave me a sign of her presence.

I took the medals into the next room, I held them up to the light, I took them out of their package.  I had to be sure I wasn't seeing things.  I couldn't sleep, I had to keep checking to make sure she didn't change it back as quickly as she turned it gold!  I had to take a picture of it to be sure I had proof that it was once gold if it did suddenly change.

Here they are.  The gold medal on the far left was once exactly the same as the rectangular medal two to the right of it.  I did a little searching online about other people who have had similar experiences and I was saddened to see many people express skepticism and disbelief.  None of these medals had been worn and they were all together inside a plastic bag.  I believe that this was a sign from Mary that she is with me and hears me and it has been 2 weeks and she hasn't changed it back yet! Phew! 

Here she comes, Miss America 2011

I was so excited that I got to visit with Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011, yesterday.  She was in Michigan to discuss Constitution Week and I happen to be quite a fan of the constitution myself.  

It was also great to see a former pageant friend.  Kendra Nichols, Mrs. Michigan American Beauty, competed with me at Miss Michigan USA.

Side note - I spilled chili from my coney dog all over myself immediately after this photo was taken.  

New Vinyl Project Preview

I just did this quote on a Michigan map that I had.  It was super easy.  More to come...

Beautiful Places: Medjugorje

Medjugorje is a town located in Western Bosnia.  Since 1981, the Virgin Mary has been appearing to a group of six people on a daily basis.

This location has been a pilgrimage location for people around the world who are hoping to enhance their faith and become closer to God.  Around 1997, my parents were fortunate enough to get to visit this place. While they were there, they took many photos documenting their trip.

Here is a photo of my parents.

In 1997, pretty much the only photography option was 35mm film and you couldn't view your photos until after you dropped them off at the 1 hour photo developer.  When my mom went to pick up her vacation photos, the developer asked if she could have a copy of one.  My mom, confused, asked if she knew someone in her family or knew someone in one of the photos.  The girl said no, but noticed something in one of the photos and wanted to give a copy to her mother.

Here is the photo she wanted.

This is a photo of my grandmother, a friend and my dad.  

The girl who developed the photos didn't know my family, didn't know the location where these photos were taken, and didn't know the story and history of Medjugorje, but she believed that she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary in this photo.  Do you see her?

Had the developer not pointed this out, we may have over looked this apparition.  Other than within my family, this photo has never been shared publicly,  I have circled where we believe we see the face of the mother of Jesus watching over us.

Of course, people may be skeptical and doubt, but I believe that is the nature of faith.  It is uncertain and the importance and the power comes from the belief.  

Personalized Floor Rug

I recently used my Cricut to make a personalized floor rug for my fiance in Afghanistan.  He sent me some pictures of his room and I saw that he had a bath towel duct taped to the floor...  I guess it worked. 

My original plan was to cut out a phase from contact paper and dab the rug with bleach to make my design.  When I got my contact paper onto the rug, I didn't think that it created a tight enough seal and I was worried that the bleach would bleed and I'd just end up with a fuzzy bleached blob. 

So, I used a sponge paint brush to dab white paint over my stencil.  It took a couple of coats.  He just got it in the mail and LOVED it!

Monogram Binder

I recently updated an old three ring binder for my pro bono materials.  I used my Cricut Winter Wonderland font and dollar store contact paper.

I hope my pro bono work is as impressive as my new binder!

Inlaid Wood Cricut Cards

I just made some new cards using the Boho Graphics Cartridge.  I am really excited about the way they turned out and am already thinking up some new ideas. 

I got these rolls of drawer liner at the dollar store and thought I could use them to create a really cool inlaid wood look.

I used the owl image from the free trial of the Boho Graphics and a rectangle from the Cricut Craft Room Basics that was just slightly smaller than my card.  I cut it out on both the darker and the lighter wood grain liner.

I set my needle at 3 and my pressure and speed low and slow.  Even though these images were fairly intricate, I had no problem at all getting a nice, easy clean cut.

The best part was no GLUE!  Since the material is meant to stick to the bottom of drawers and shelves, I could just stick it right to my card, no gluing involved.  This project was incredibly easy and, in my opinion, makes a big impact. 



I used the same technique with some different images and different patterned liners.