Concussion

So the past day have been pretty eventful for me. Not with crafts, scrapbooking, or decorating unfortunately, but with an ER visit. My youngest son fell of a bar stool yesterday, knocked himself out and suffered a concussion. So once again, this is a very unproductive week for my blog, but the most important thing is that my baby is okay!

OOPS!

Okay my winners of the Sunshine Award. I almost let you off easy. There are some rules to the award. Here they are...

1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
2. Pass the award on to 12 other bloggers.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Link back to the person from whom you received this award.

Slacker, I mean Sunshine Award

First of all thanks so much to Allison at Oopsey Daisy for awarding me with the Sunshine Award. Although I think right now I deserve the Slacker award! Luckily I haven't been slacking in all aspects of my life, just the blogging one! We have had some absolutely gorgeous weather and I feel it is practically a sin to stay inside when it is so nice outside because I know that soon enough it is going to be too hot and humid to do anything outside unless you are swimming. So we have been going to the park practically everyday, riding bikes, flying kites, blowing bubbles and drawing with sidewalk chalk. I even have the beginnings of a tan line from my flip flops! Then this past weekend I attended a Creating Keepsakes convention with my mother-in-law. It was awesome! I have tons of layouts that I will post as well as lots of cool techniques that I learned! But that also means that part of my week was spent getting my house "mother-in-law" ready! :) Which took longer than usual since I have neglected my house in favor of playing outside.

That was probably more info that you wanted, but there you go, a reason for my slacking!

So, on to the Sunshine Award!

I now get to spread the sunshine to 12 other awesome bloggers!

So here they are in no particular order...

1. Better Life Bags: She makes awesome bags and even better, it's for a good cause!

2. Honey Bear Lane: She has one of the cutest quilts I have ever seen and way cute appliqués.

3. Lechateaudesfleurs: She has an absolutely stunning house and does the cutest things with her kids.

4. Babblings from Brooke: She has so many great recipes! My mouth always waters when I read her blog!

5. Remodelaholic: Cassity is getting this award for several reasons. First, she is a friend from high school. Second, she was kind enough to link our adoption profile on her awesome blog. And third, her blog is awesome and she has the greatest ideas that I wish I were talented enough to make!

6. Red Head Craft More Fun: I honestly love everything she does! Way cute stuff!

7. The Thrifty BA: She has lots of cool thrifty ideas and is so good at commenting...something I need to be better at!

8. Brown Paper Packages: Keirste and Angela have cute ideas, my favorites is their wooden step stool with foot prints...go check it out!

9. Organize and Decorate Everything: Combining two of my favorite things, organizing and decorating! Doesn't get better than that!

10. Drab to Fab: These ladies are the ones responsible for my new hobby of frequenting thrift stores to find something to make fab!

11 Twiddle Thumbs: These ladies have the CUTEST wood projects! I need to get me more power tools so I can make stuff too!

12. Studio Calico: I don't know if this is cheating or not, since Studio Calico is a company run blog, but I took one of their classes at CKC and LOVED it! So, they are now one of my favorite blogs. Great inspiration for scrapbookers!

So, thanks again Alison for the Sunshine award! Hope everyone has a great sunshine-y day! I'm enjoying one right now!

Sorry for my absence...

I've been enjoying 80 degree weather and Spring Break!

But I'll see you next week!

P.S. I am attending a Creating Keepsakes Convention and vendor fair next week with my mother-in-law! I can't wait! I'll show you all the cool stuff I learn in my classes!

Easter Dinner

Well, there's not much crafting going on in my house this week. So I thought I would branch out in my posts and post some recipes. Here are two of my favorite things to make for Easter dinner aside from the traditional ham and "funeral potatoes".

First, my Grandma's YUMMY rolls. They are sooo good and sooo easy. They are kind of a cross between a roll and a biscuit, leaning more toward the roll side though. Every time I make them, I am amazed at how well they turn out. They make me feel like an amazing baker (which I am not!)

Anyway, I don't have any pictures of them, since I haven't made Easter dinner yet and I am not in the habit of taking pictures of my food! But, really TRY THEM! You won't be sorry!!

Jiffy Rolls

2 cups warm water

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp. yeast

Combine and let rest 15 minutes.

2 tsp. salt--add to 2 beaten eggs

4 1/2 cup white flour

1 cup wheat flour

Combine and let rest 20 minutes.

Roll out on floured surface to about 3/4 inch thick. Cut using a round cookie cutter (I've also used the top of a cup.) Place on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise 10 minutes.

Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

My other favorite is an orange Jell-o salad. It is also so yummy and just tastes very "spring-y."

Orange Jell-o Salad

(I usually double the recipe)

1 small package orange Jell-o

1 small package vanilla pudding (NOT instant)

1 small package tapioca pudding (NOT instant)

1 can mandarin oranges

Cool Whip

Pour the Jell-o and puddings into a saucepan with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and let boil for 1 1/2 minutes. Pour into a bowl and let set overnight. Fold in mandarin oranges WITH juice and 1/2 of 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip.

Easy and yummy! What are some of your Easter dinner favorites?

We have a winner!

So here is the winner!

True Random Number Generator
Result:10Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Comment number 10 was

Larsons said...

I just became a follower! I'm so glad i found your blog!!! such a cute sign...

MARCH 23, 2010 9:38 AM

Email me at becauseicancrafts@gmail.com so I will know where to send it!

Congrats and thanks for following!

Easy Nests

LAST DAY to enter my giveaway! You can to it here!

Well, I haven't been home all day, my house is a mess, and I still have errands to run. But it is a GORGEOUS day today and all my kids want to do is play outside. So I am going to forget my mess and my errands for now and let them play while I blog!

Since we are enjoying some nice Spring weather today, here is a cute way to decorate for spring. It doesn't get anymore Spring than a bird's nest!

An easy way to make a nest is to stuff a bunch of Spanish moss in a candlestick holder. I got these from Goodwill for 2 bucks!

Then I took a plastic egg, tore up some scrapbook paper into little pieces and Mod Podged it on! Sorry no pics of the process, but it is pretty simple. I really need to get better at taking pictures, but I just get so excited to get done and see the final result!

And I think the final result is pretty cute!

New Friend Friday

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE!

Make some new friends at The Girl Creative.

Laced up candles

Don't forget to enter my giveaway! You can enter HERE!

Candles with paper wrapped around them are nothing new, but I think this is a fun way to dress them up.

All you do is cut your paper to the size you need for your candle, cutting it smaller than the circumference of the candle. Then you punch the holes. I overlapped the ends, making sure the paper was lined up, so the holes would be lined up too. I used my Crop-A-Dile to do this part. I also set in some eyelets to reinforce the paper, also using my Crop-A-Dile. Then you just lace your ribbon in like you do a shoe!

Very cute and easy! I got the candles at the dollar store, and used scraps of paper and leftover ribbon from other projects. So it's cheap too!

98, 99, 100! That means a giveaway!

Well, like many new bloggers, I have been watching my followers grow and have been planning on doing a giveaway as soon as I got to 100. Well, this weekend I hit that magic number! 101 actually! And to thank you all for following my little blog, here is a giveaway for you!

Here is what you could win...

This delightfully cute welcome sign, because I am, as the sign says DELIGHTED you are here!

There are 2 ways to enter:

1. Become a follower of Because I Can and leave a comment, or leave a comment that you already follow.

2. Blog about this giveaway and link back here. Leave another comment that you did.

The giveaway will close on Friday at midnight and I will announce the winner on Saturday.

Here is one more look cuz I think it is just so cute!

Good Luck and thanks again for following me!

This week wrap up

Where has this week gone? All of a sudden it was Friday! I feel like I didn't get anything done. Ever have weeks like that?

I guess did get a few things done. First I found this lovely spice rack at Goodwill for 2 bucks.

I spray painted it Heirloom White since that BRIGHT yellow wasn't working for me, and it is now the perfect place for all my brads and eyelets.

Ahhh, much better. But it looks like I am running low on brads!

I also finally got around to making some of those earring and necklace holders from old frames that I have seen all over the place.

For this one all you do is cut wire to fit your fame and use your staple gun to attach it to the back. I have also seen them done with mesh or chicken wire.

Whoever thought up this is BUH-RILLIANT! It is so nice to be able to see all my earring and not forget about a pair because they are at the bottom of the jewelry box.

I also made a necklace holder from a frame.

For this one all I did was cover a piece of cardboard with fabric using hot glue. Then I took some straight pins that had a pearl head, stuck them through the cardboard, bent them to the length I wanted and used tape to hold the pin in place. Very easy. I have seen these made using cork board instead of cardboard, but I didn't have cork board, was impatient and cheap and wanted to do it right then! But the cardboard works great! I love how many necklaces you can hang up in a small space.

I also finally made some crayon rolls that are also ALL over the place. My kids were more excited about them than I thought they would be and I am excited not to have crayons all over the place at church.

So, I guess even though I feel like I didn't do anything, I got more accomplished than I thought I did!

That makes me feel better!

Last minute St. Patty's Wreath

This past weekend we went to a St. Patrick's parade here in St. Louis. St. Patrick's is a big deal here. We has a really fun time at the parade. My kids' favorite thing was to get all the "stuff" that gets handed out. Candy, stickers, hats, and beads.

Some of the beads came with these big shamrocks on them.

I thought they would be perfect to finish up a wreath I had made.

I had extra dollar store shamrock garland leftover from my topiary, so I just wrapped it around a wreath I had picked up awhile ago at Goodwill. Then I tied the ribbon on. But it didn't look finished until I added the shamrocks from the parade. I took the shamrock off the beads and glued the chipboard letters on, then glued in onto the wreath.

Just in time for St. Pat's! I am doing some fun things tomorrow with my kids, lots of green food, a leprechaun visitor, and some crafts. Should be fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Spring Frame

I saw this super cute St. Patrick's Day frame here at Inspiring Creations. It is SOO cute! I wanted to make on too, but I don' have a Shamrock punch and didn't want to go buy one. (I actually used to have one, but gave it away!) But that's okay. I made a spring one instead. I had the same 1 dollar frame from Michaels, covered it with paper using Mod Podge, and made my own spring blossom tree. Add some chipboard letters and a ribbon and it's done! I still think the St. Patty's one is cuter, but oh well! My little blossom tree is cute too!

Linked to:

Fruit Bowl and Bird Houses

I found a really great blog the other day that I blame for my new hobby of scouting thrift stores for something really ugly that I can turn into something cute. It is called Drab to Fab. If you haven't checked them out already, do. And if you aren't already a thrift store goer, they will make one out of you!

I got the idea for this fruit bowl from them. I found a wooden candlestick and a wood bowl at Goodwill, I think on Drab to Fab they used a wooden salt shaker, but this worked too.

Then I spray painted them Colonial Red from Rustoleum, 2-3 light coats, and then add one layer of clear sealant. Then I used Gorilla Glue to hook them together. And here is my cute fruit bowl. 2 bucks plus spray paint.

I saw this bird house idea on another blog. Check her out at Red Heads Craft More Fun. HERE is the link to her birdhouse. I love birds and bird houses and needed more in my house. And I LOVE this idea. Here is what you need.

Birdhouse- $1 from Michael's

Candlestick-$2.99-3.99 at Michael's

Square plaque-$0.50 at Hobby Lobby

I actually made 2 they turned out so cute! I spray painted one in Colonial Red and the other in Heirloom White, both from Rustoleum. Again, it took 2-3 lights coats. Then I just used E6000 to hook all the pieces together. And here they are! SO CUTE!

I am planning on sanding and staining them both, but I couldn't find my stain when I was doing them, so that hasn't been done yet. But they are still so stinkin' cute!

I love all the fun ideas I find in blog land...now just to find time to do them all!

Linked to:

Spring Fever...plus a Mod Podged bookcase

So, I've caught Spring Fever, have you? I am sitting right now on my porch swing, enjoying some beautiful weather and sunshine and watching my kids ride their bikes. And that's after spending the day at the zoo with my four-year-old and some friends. It feel soooo nice outside! Bring on the sunshine!

Since I have spring fever, you would think I would be posting about a spring craft I have done, but no. I haven't gotten to any of those since I have been enjoying our beautiful weather. This bookshelf is something I did several weeks ago and was debating about posting it since it didn't turn out quite like I had hoped. But then I thought, why should that stop me! Just because it didn't turnout perfectly doesn't mean that I should feel bad about showing it to others! I still spent time on it, and it does look better than it did before! So, here it is, my Mod Podged bookshelf.

Here is the before...it really was gross looking.

It is just one of those cheap laminate bookshelves that I've had since my college days. Several years ago, I tried to paint it. This was before I discovered the whole blogging world and all the great tutorials out there showing you how do do things like this. So I didn't sand. Or prime. Or do any of the things I know I should have done now. So it had all these places where the painted had been rubbed off.

Like this. Yuck. But instead of painting it again, I decided to cover it with scrapbook paper. I got a bunch of cute pink and brown paisley paper when it was on sale at Hobby Lobby. I was very technical about how I measured the paper.

See. That's how I measured the pretty much all of it. I covered the shelves, the sides and the top of the bookshelf, first putting a thin layer of Mod Podge down, lining up the paper and smoothing it with a credit card, then putting another thin layer of Mod Podge on the top. Pretty simple, but time consuming. I didn't do as good as a job in the smoothing as I thought I had so there are a few bubbles. And there is one shelf in it that is pretty much just jimmy rigged in, so I had a hard time covering that area as you will see in the picture. But here is the finished project.

I didn't do the edges or the back because I got lazy, I mean I liked it better that way. But that part of the paint job was holding up pretty good and I like the contrast it gives.

Here is a closer look.
As you can see it is not perfect. But still an improvement I think! And once you get it loaded up with all my stuff, you hardly notice the imperfections.

And isn't that how we should look at everything, as a whole, and not dwell on the imperfections, but instead realize that they add character?

Happy Spring everyone! I think I am going to fire up the grill tonight for dinner, because I can! :)

And thanks to Michelle at Someday Crafts for featuring my St. Patty's Topiary! Check out all the other cute St. Patty's stuff that she has found.

Craft group

Every month or so I do a little craft group with some ladies from my church. Here is what we are doing this month.

This is obviously for Easter. I thought it would be nice to have an Easter decoration that represented the real reason for Easter. For this I cut a 1x8 cut down to a square. I used my crafting best friend, my Silhouette, to cut the lettering from vinyl.

The next craft was a suggestion from one of the ladies in the group. She wanted some blocks that her kids could play with that would have some religious pictures on them to help teach at the same time. So here is what we are doing for that. Nothing fancy, but my kids have really enjoyed playing with them.

I got the pictures here. I downloaded them, inserted them into Word and sized them to 3x2.25. I cut a 2x4 into 2.5 inch blocks, printed the pictures on card stock and adhered with Mod Podge. There are 10 double sided blocks. I put several layers on them so they would withstand the beating kids put on toys. I love this idea though! You could really do anything on them, letters, numbers, shapes, family pictures. Great idea to personalize your kids toys.

I still haven't gotten to my lamp project. Hopefully later this week though!

Picture Frame from a board

So, this week started out not being to busy, but ended up being insane. Most days I wasn't home all day, my kids didn't get to bed on time all week, and I didn't get to any of my projects. But I don't want to neglect this blog anymore that I already have this week! So, I am going to post about something I created for a craft day with my church a few months ago.

They are easy, cute, and make great gifts! Here is one example...

Since I made these awhile ago, I don't have any pictures of the process, but it is pretty simple.

This supplies that you will need are:
ribbon

a drill

clear craft plastic

clear photo corners

paint

Rub-on words or vinyl lettering

a 1x8 board cut down to 10", or an 8x10 wood plaque that you can get at most craft stores.

Here is the craft plastic you will need. I got mine at Michael's. I used it for about 60 frames and still have some left.

Here is a frame I made using a wood plaque from Michael's.

So here is what you do. If you don't get a plaque you need to go to Home Depot and have them cut a 1x8 into 10 inch boards. (You can get 7 frames out of a 6 foot board for the same price as a pre--cut one at Michael's.) Then drill your holes. Mine are about an inch in from the side and 1.5 inches from the top and bottom. I used the biggest drill bit in my husbands bit set...I think it was 3/8th's. You can either make the frame vertical or horizontal, depending on your picture. Now sand everything down and paint it your desired color. When it is dry sand edges for a distressed look if desired. Cut the clear craft plastic to the size of picture you plan on using. I have done some with 5x7s and some with 4x6. Layer your photo under the plastic and put a clear photo corner on each corner and place it on your board wherever you think it looks best! Be sure to leave space for your lettering though! Now for the lettering. I have made some with vinyl lettering, but the ones we did on a craft day were all using rub-ons used for scrapbooking. The green frame just above is using rub-ons. Both work great. Just follow the directions on the package for application. And finally put your ribbon on and tie your bow. Make sure there is no wet paint in the hole you are threading the ribbon through, or you will end up with a paint streaked ribbon! If you don't want to use ribbon it would also look cute with twine or a strip of fabric.

Since they are so easy to make, I think they are a bit addicting. I have 6 of these in my house right now. They look cute propped up on shelves or sitting in easels. If you want to want them on the wall you could just attach some picture hanging hardware on the back.

Here are some more with my cute kids...

I have some projects I hope to get finished next week involving some lamps. Hopefully I can get to them! Happy crafting everyone!

Dream necklace

Well, my actual dream necklace might have a few more sparkly things on it, but I really did dream about this necklace. The past few nights I have been staying up waaaaaaaaaaaay to late watching the Olympics and getting some projects done that have been one my list for a very long time. One of the projects that I have been working on are those washer necklaces that are all over blogland and have been for awhile. They are addicting to make. I feel the same way I did when I made those glass tile pendants that are everywhere too, I need one for each shirt I own! So I've been making a BUNCH of them.

Then other night my dear son woke up at 2 am needing to got potty and a drink of water. I must have been dreaming about making these things, because the first thing I thought was "You should wrap one in a hemp chord." Brilliant, I know!

Now someone out there may have already thought of this idea. In fact, I am sure someone has! There are so many crafty people out there! I have't seen it anywhere though, so I'm going to feel super creative about literally dreaming up this idea!

I seriously love it! I didn't get a good picture of it though, so pardon the bad lighting.

Here is it on me. And don't you love the sticker on my shirt? My son, the same one that got me up at 2 am, gave it to me and said that it means we will be friends forever! Awwww, sweet. I forgive you for waking me up at 2 am!

To make it all I did was cut a big length of hemp, tied it around the washer, then wrapped and scrunched and wrapped and scrunched over and over. By scrunch I just mean I kept pushing the hemp together. To finish it off, I just slipped the end under some of the wrapped part. Then lace another piece of hemp around it, add a bead, and your done. Well, almost done. You need some crimp beads with a loop, 2 jump rings, and a lobster clasp for the ends. I don't have any pictures of the process, but I want to make more in different colors. So I will get some pictures and hopefully get a tutorial up. I'm sure a bunch of you already know how to make the washer necklaces since I feel like I am the last person to make them! You finish these up the same way.

I know Hobby Lobby has some red hemp and I hope I can find some more colors, like a cool teal or pink or something. How cute would that be!

More Topiaries-St. Patrick's and Easter style

My Valentine Heart topiary is one of my very favorite things that I have ever made. So, I decided to give the idea a twist for St. Patrick's Day and Easter. And again, I LOVE how they turned out.

Here is the Easter version...

Here are the supplies I used...

And once again, the Dollar Tree came through with the picks, the hanging eggs, and another lovely pot, this one yellow. The Styrofoam balls come in 2 packs...so that means I need to make at least one more topiary since I have one left!

I did this one about the same way I did the Valentine one that I showed you here.

You pretty much just take the picks and string off the eggs and glue them on like this...

Then you just fill in the spaces with floral moss, no glue required.

I love how it looks like an Easter Egg nest!

Here are some tips for the egg one.

I was going to paint the pot to cover the egg. But now I think I am going to just be lazy and turn the flowers to the back. But you could paint it or over it with paper if that would bug you. :)
The eggs come off better if you twist them off instead of pull them off.

The holes are a little harder to hide since the eggs don't lay as close to the ball as the hearts did. If you point the hole down they hide better. Plus use lots of moss.

Since just using the sticks off the picks for the trunk worked so well on the heart one, I did the same here. I actually used the egg picks on the St. Patty's one too.

I needed three packages of eggs, unlike the picture that just shows two. I had already started taking them apart when I remembered to take a picture. I get to excited to get stuff done that I forget the picture part a lot!

Here is the St. Patrick's Day version...

I again hit up the dollar store for some shamrock garland. I used another 4 inch Styrofoam ball from Hobby Lobby.

To start I just stuck the end of the garland into the ball like this...

then just started wrapping it around the ball. Every wrap or so I used some straight pins to hold it all into place, like this...

I used two garlands to warp it to cover all the Styrofoam and to make it nice and puffy looking. Then I took this lovely light green pot from the Dollar Tree...

and covered it with shamrock scrapbook paper to hide that not very St. Patty's like flower.

And this is what I ended up with!

LOVE IT!!

By the end of the year, I am thinking I will have a topiary for every season! They just turn out so cute!

I linked this post to:

Sumo's Sweet Stuff