Peacock Tutu (no sew)

This is a quick fun no sew project. Should only take about an hour. If you've never done a tie, no sew, tutu just google it and you can watch a quick tutorial. I only did a half skirt so the front is open and the tutu looks more like a tail. Go to the craft store and find some peacock feathers and hot glue those babies on.

 Find a cute top and hide the elastic band underneath. BAM peacock

Night Stand Decoupage

I bought this table at Target for like $20. Its just a pressed wood with metal legs. I decided to cover it with fabric to give it a unique look. 

What you need: fabric, decoupage, sandpaper. 

Step 1: lay out the fabric wrong side up (the back side) lay the table, top side down, and trace around the circle. Leave about 2in extra when cutting out the circle so you have enough fabric to fold under.

Step 2: cover the table top with a layer of decoupage and lay down the fabric.

Step 3: flatten it out and make sure to press out all the air bubbles. Then apply a layer of deco on top of the fabric. 

Step 4: after letting it dry about 15min sand down any bumps. Wipe off sand dust. Keep it smooth. Then apply another layer of deco.

Step 5: repeat sanding and another layer of deco until it looks how you want. I did 3 coats.

 Sand one last time and you are done!!!

Yummy Carnation Instant Breakfast Smoothie

I love smoothies....would eat them as regular meals if most foods didnt taste so gross blended up. My go to smoothie for breakfast or when I need to have a satisfied belly and energy boost is my carnation instant breakfast smoothie. It has a chocolaty milkshake taste but makes me feel healthy at the same time haha.

Start with Carnation Instant Breakfast mix

I use one packet with 8oz of milk into a blender with ice. Then add fruit, yogurt, and greens. I usually like strawberries, banana, blueberries, and spinach or kale. plain greek yogurt. The chocolate is going to overpower most of the other flavors (which i like) so add as many greens as possible. For a creamy texture at least one banana is a must and greek yogurt.


The greener the better! Its an easy way to sneak veggies into kids. Once I used it as desert for a 3 year old and filled the blender with pureed carrots, squash, spinach, and a BIG handful of strawberries to sweeten it up. He never knew the difference ;-)

Revamping Pressed Wood Bookshelf

Over the weekend I tried my hand at some DIY projects. First I picked up an old tv stand/cabinet at a garage sale. It was likely purchased at walmart and made of pressed wood. I took it home and started stripping the laminate off to prep the surface for primer. I soon learned that although its probably a good idea to remove that shiny layer off real wood surfaces, its not such a great idea for laminate. The pressed wood is under an extremely thin layer of laminate so once you remove the shine your left with crumbling pressed wood. After really examining the cabinet I decided it wasnt worth the work (too much wear and tear). But I had already gone out and bought this awesome green paint, so I walked around my room looking for something to paint. I was on a mission. I decided on my black 6 cubby target bookshelf!

Before 

Because two of my shelves were damaged during the last move I decided to remove them.

Then I primed the piece with Kilz spray primer (2 cans). I was lazy and did not sand in between coats, but I highly recommend you do. I regretted it during painting time. 

TIP: if you plan to do this with a new shelf you just purchased, paint before you assemble!! 

Primed 

Again make sure to sand after the last coat. Get it real smooth otherwise your piece will end up with a textured look similar to a spackled wall. If you have a sander it will save you tons of time. If I had one I wouldnt have been so lazy. 

Even though I primed I still bought paint and primer in one silk gloss paint; better safe than sorry. 

TIP: use painters tape for the fronts of the dividers to avoid clumping. Then use a thin brush. I learned the hard way and had to sand off clumps and repaint (newbie).

Finished

Love this green. I will most likely add a design to the side panel later. 

National Scrapbooking Day

     May 3rd was national scrapbooking day and there was an event held on instragram by Big Picture Classes. Their goal was to get 10,000 scrapbook pages posted over the weekend. I contributed 5 pages but plan to add more since they decided to extend the event for the rest of the week! Im keeping my fingers crossed that I will win a prize!!!
   Scrapbooking is something I always had an interest in but never quite knew what I was doing. Once I discovered Hobby Lobby (hold on while day dream of their many aisles of stickers....okay) I was finally able to gather the supplies I needed (and really didnt need but wanted) and began scrapbooking. I still consider myself a beginner but I plan to sign up for some classes through Bigpictureclasses.com to help inspire some new techniques. Scrapbooking, and pinterest, really opened my eyes to crafting and using my creativity. I never considered myself artistic in any sense of the word but now that I've stopped being scared and started creating I am a much happier person. Paint and Party sessions are great too. They have shown me just how simple painting can really be and helped me to add painting to my list of hobbies. I truly believe everyone needs a creative outlet whether it be cooking, painting, photography, or pasting photos and stickers on paper.  GET OUT AND CREATE!

    I honestly cant wait to take more trips, have more experiences, and meet new people all in the name of creativity. =)