Shut the front door (literally)!!!! It's December?!

While I understand that I do not have a huge following, I do apologize for such a long gap in between blogs. Between a horrid stomach bug, my little Anna Banana's new found decision to not go to the bathroom, and the holidays so quickly sneaking up on me, blogging was the last thing on my mind.  I am going to try and have a weekly post, but we will see how that goes. :)  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed the time with your families, and are looking forward to the upcoming Christmas holiday (my absolute favorite)!  With having a little one in January we have had several hospital bills over the past year aside from all the headache from the insurance company (that is a whole other story) ,we don't have a lot to spend on our dear loved ones.  So I am truly grateful for PINTEREST!  (yes, it must be in all caps.)  I have been able, due to a couple craft nights, to make a few of my pins.  I must say I am very pleased and was surprised at how cost effective they were to make.

The first craft I made was photo coasters.

That would be my little sweeties!  You would not believe how easy these were to make!  You know when people say, "If I can do it, anybody can do it" well that statement was made for yours truly.  Seriously!  I have ZERO patience, I am by no means crafty at all, and well usually never finish anything.  Sad I know.  Don't feel sorry for me. I have come to terms with who I am and I accept it.  Besides if there weren't people like me what would Type A people have to get stressed out about? :)  Moving on.

The set of coasters pictured above were actually made with heavy duty resin from Home Depot.  I was able to make the coasters with another friend the second time around and hers look phenomenal!  I won't show them for her privacy. (You're welcome Hilary!)  All you need to make the tile coasters is a glue stick, popsicle sticks, some 4x6 photos, plain white tiles from Home Depot or Lowe's (I believe they are around $.16 a piece and are 4x4 size), and crafting resin.  That may not be the specific name, but I am going to post a picture of what we used.

I apologize the picture is sideways.  I found it in the crafting section of Hobby Lobby, and I had a coupon (Holla!) so got it for about half off.  I believe we used maybe a 1/4 to a 1/3 of the bottle and made 10 coasters.  You would be able to make a few sets for yourself or gifts (Christmas is just round the corner) for around $10.  Um, HECK YEAH!!!  You would also have plenty of the gloss left over to do several more or even use it on other projects.  There are lots of things it could be used for.  Another tidbit of advice would be how we actually set them up to do the project.  We laid out aluminum foil and then turned Styrofoam bowls upside down and laid the tiles on top of them. All you do to secure your pictures on the tiles is glue them with the glue stick.  Mix the gloss according to the directions and pour of the tile and smooth out with a popsicle stick.  Easy Peasy, right?  Oh, and in case you get a few bubbles, which you most likely will, blowing throw a straw onto the bubble will remove it.  I also think the coasters would be super cute doing some of the tiles with scrapbook paper as well.  You could even use a slightly bigger picture and  bigger tile and use one of the tiny plate stands.  The possibilities are endless.

My other project was a photo canvas.  I seriously am so happy I found this idea, b/c I have so many blank walls, but an even blanker budget.  Sorry, that was my lame attempt at humor.  I am going super simplify how to make one, but please if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask.

First off I would like to thank my friend Britney from OK for taking such beautiful pictures of my daughters.  She is so talented and if you get the chance for her to take photos for you, you will not be disappointed.   

So onto the canvases.  These are my very first attempts and I was just getting the hang of how to do them, but  all in all I am pleased.  These are 8x10 canvases and photos.  A pack of  2 canvases cost me $3.99.  Yep, that's right!  After you have the size canvas and photo you want all you need is a small tube of acrylic paint (usually around a $1), some Mod Podge, and sponge brushes. First you will paint the outer edges of the canvas with the color of your choice (I did apply 2-3 coats) and let that dry well.  After that, apply a later of mod podge to the entire front of the canvas and then place your picture on the canvas. I cut my picture down before I started the process but if you had an exacto knife you could probably cut off the excess after you put the picture on the canvas. (I hope that makes sense.)  Smooth out the picture and make sure it is good and secure to the canvas.  Wait a few minutes and then apply the Mod Podge over the picture.  It is going to look extremely milky and it will scare you at first.  I use matte finish Mod Podge and you can apply as much or as little as you want to get the affect you want. After the photo is completely try you can then take a small amount of paint and sponge where the photo and canvas meet to help blend it in.  I also sponged more paint in the corners to give it an cool affect.  Also instead of painting the outer edges of the canvas you could apply scrapbook paper.  Just an idea.

Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this and I am truly sorry about the length of this blog.  I just wanted to share with you a couple of gift ideas that won't cost you an arm a leg, but look great too.  I mean what grandparent or parents doesn't love pictures?!

Carisa