Kid's gingerbread house decorating party

Kid friendly gingerbread decorating party using graham crackers

Christmas with kids is always fun. There’s so many traditions you can start with them. Like baking cookies, making Christmas stockings, and decorating gingerbread houses to name a few.

We made graham cracker gingerbread houses last night and it was so much fun! And my stress level was at a ZERO! Yes, a zero. If you are a momma of multiples, especially multiples that are stair steps, you know what I’m talking about. Things like this can stress us out. My secret to a no stress gingerbread making party? Let the kids have fun and don’t worry about any of it being pretty or perfect. That’s it!

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Don’t get me wrong the pictures on Pinterest with the perfectly decorated “kid” made gingerbread houses are absolutely adorable. A picture perfect graham cracker house with a tiny little spill of sprinkles on the table and a dab of out of place frosting is oh so cute…but let’s be honest that’s not likely to happen in most homes with little ones. As a mom of 4 I KNOW this lol! And really, where’s the fun if there’s not a GIANT MESS of sprinkles, crumbs of graham crackers, frosting smeared on their faces and broken candy canes to pick up?

So let’s ditch the vision of perfectly put together Christmas gingerbread houses and embrace that beautiful chaos. Those are the moments you are connecting with kids. Those are the moments your kids are learning. Those are the moments that matter.

GRAHAM CRACKER GINGERBREAD HOUSE YOUR KIDS WILL ENJOY MAKING

Most of the supplies I picked up at my local Dollar Tree. Here’s what we used

• graham crackers

• 2 tubs of cream cheese frosting

• green food coloring

• mini candy canes

• gumdrops

• assorted hard candies

• large spree candies

• twizzlers pull and peel

• red and white round peppermints

• green and white peppermints

• mini & regular sized marshmallows

• jellybeans

• traditional pretzels

• large & mini pretzel sticks

• sprinkles

Other supplies that we used:

• 2 Wilton piping bags

• 2 sandwich bags

• paper plates

• glass condiment bowls

• 4 oz mason jars

• cake stands (these are similar to what I used)

• assorted bowls & dishes

• rubber bands (to tie the frosting bags closed so it doesn’t come out)

To free up space we used cake stands to hold the candies that were in these little glass condiment dishes. I love these little dishes. They are super cheap, only $.25 each! This got them up and off of the table so that the girls would have more space to create.

We used another cake stand to hold the sprinkles and the bags of frosting. The frosting I used, generic cream cheese frosting in a can, wasn’t really the best for this but it works. It doesn’t set up/dry super fast but it works. We also stuck the bags of frosting in the fridge about an hour before we started decorating so that the icing would be more firm to work with.

Each daughter got a paper plate to make their gingerbread house on.

They played around with different designs then started “gluing” their pieces together using the bags of icing.

After their houses set up, the frosting had hardened a bit, they decorated their little hearts out!

I always love seeing their creativity take flight. They kept adding and adding candies thinking of new ways they could use all the different colors and shapes.

My third daughter was the only one to make a snowman out of the marshmallows. He was adorable with his little hard candy hat and twizzler scarf.

I love the doorway my first born daughter made using the marshmallows.

And this super creative door crafted by daughter number 2 made into the shape of a heart using mini peppermint sticks. Adorable!

Last but not least is the masterpiece from daughter number 4. Oh the love that was put into this. It may look like a mess to others but she had THE MOST fun making this. After her original house fell she turned the rubble into a work of gingerbread house art!

Sure our houses weren’t perfect by Pinterest standards but it doesn’t even matter. For a couple of hours our family sat around our kitchen table and had the best time singing random songs, cracking jokes, teasing one another, and making memories. AND there wasn’t an argument one! I know, super rare for a family with 4 kiddos. It was a perfect Christmas themed evening.

Check out more kid friendly crafts below.

Christmas stocking party with the kids

KID MADE CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS

Making Christmas stockings with my girls is one of my most favorite Christmas traditions we do. Every year my four daughters and I sit around the table that is basically a big mess of Christmas craft supplies and make stockings. We break out the glitter, felt, ribbons, fabric markers, bells, buttons… all the things. And I let them create whatever their little hearts want.

Granted they don’t look perfect or match lol but we have so much fun and the memories are priceless. Sometimes I’ll give my momma input as to what might look good but mostly I’m there to help, encourage, and tell them their stockings look amazing.

This year I was browsing Instagram and came across Heide’s post from Everyday Cookies- Heide. She shared a gorgeous pic of her handmade Christmas stockings that she had made from a DROP CLOTH! You guys, my mind was blown!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I honestly never thought to use a drop cloth for a Christmas stocking! But it was SO PERFECT. The natural color of the drop cloth was just what I had in mind for making our stockings this year.

The best part is that the drop cloth was cheaper than buying traditional fabric and I have so much left over for LOTS more projects.

Use the same Christmas stocking SVG I used for free —-> CLICK HERE

HOW TO HAVE A CHRISTMAS STOCKING PARTY

Here are some basic supplies you need

• drop cloth

• sewing machine

• white thread

• stocking SVG - free to use in my resource library

• sewing needle

• ribbons

• buttons

• felt

• scissors

• fabric glue

• hot glue gun

• hot glue

• yarn

• assorted mini embellishments

• Cricut cutting machine (I use a Cricut explore)

• Cricut design space

• Cricut cutting mat

• HTV (heat transfer vinyl)

• Cricut mini EasyPress
  
  

1. SEW STOCKINGS

I made a template on my computer then I cut it out on cardstock using my Cricut cutting machine. I didn’t have long enough cardstock so I butted two pieces of 12”x12” cardstock and taped them together. I used this same style when I made this wooden mermaid tale cupcake stand.

I re-sized my stocking template to 10”wide by 18” long in Cricut Design space.

I don’t have a video, or pictures of this but it was pretty simple. You will need to cut out two stockings, one for the front and one for the back. The pin them together and sew around the stocking leaving the top open. Then turn the stocking inside out so that the sewed seam is now on the inside of the stocking. I will get a video of this process up asap.

2. ADD NAMES

I used my Cricut to cut names out of HTV (heat transfer vinyl) prior to the girls decorating their Christmas stockings.

To keep it easy, because I was cutting out 5 names (my four girls plus a friend), I had them agree on a color that all 5 names would be cut from. They chose a gold color.

We used my mini Cricut EasyPress to press the names on the stockings. I let the older girls do this and helped when they needed it. If you don’t have a mini EasyPress I highly recommend getting one if you do a lot of little crafty projects that require HTV. I have used this little handy press more than I actually thought I would. And it’s perfect for my teen & preteen to use because it’s easy to hold and manage.

3. DECORATE

I picked up several packages of mini Christmas embellishments at my local Walmart of snowflakes, candy canes, vintage looking lights, and a few more.

We also pulled out my ribbons, felts, yarns, and buttons. Everything was put on the table in one big beautiful Christmas craft explosion. Sometimes it’s just better to embrace the mess than it is to try and keep all the things organized and tidy. They even brought out a fork to make pom poms (just in case you noticed there was a fork in the picture below lol).

I encourage my girls to try using the tools, like my daughter in the pic below hand sewing on an embellishment, before I step in and help. It’s so important for us parents to let our kiddos do things on their own so they can learn.

4. ADD HANGER

Don’t forget to add a hanger. We did this step last and all of the girls came up with something different. One used yarn, two of the girls used a piece of the drop cloth, and the other two used different kinds of ribbon. We tacked these on using a needle and thread then I reinforced them with the hot glue gun.

Didn’t their Christmas stockings turn out SO cute?!

My girls and I enjoy this so much every single year. Mostly because I let them just go to town and create whatever their little hearts want on their Christmas stockings. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Happy Crafting!

Dollar store Christmas star makeover

The dollar stores are really outdoing themselves lately with their Christmas selections. I have found so many great finds there to either add to my Christmas décor OR give a bit of a makeover then add it to my Christmas decorations.

I found this little wire star at the Dollar General last night and since it was just $1 I snagged it up to take it home and give it a little makeover. Frugal living just runs through my veins. If you like this budget friendly Christmas DIY you will probably love these DIY TWIG STARS that basically costs $0 to make.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I was originally going to wrap the wire star form in twine but that turned out hideous lol! It was bulky and just plain ugly. So I thought instead to remove the middle pieces and then wrap it and it turned out so simple but perfect for my Christmas decorations.

DOLLAR STORE STAR MAKEOVER

Here’s what you’ll need

• wire star form

• twine or jute

• wire cutters

• hot glue gun

• hot glue sticks

• scissors

• lighter

DISCLOSURE: not responsible for any damages caused. Please craft at your own risk :)

1. REMOVE THE MIDDLE WIRE

This was actually harder than I thought it would be. I had to try and cut it with all my might then bend it away in pieces.

2. WRAP THE STAR

Then I cut a long piece of twine and just wrapped and wrapped and wrapped till I got back to the starting point. Around the corners of the wire star I added hot glue to reinforce the frame then wrapped it in twine.

When I got to the very end I secured it in place with hot glue.

3. REMOVE THE FRZZIES

My star had a ton of frizz to it from wrapping and wrapping. So I used my lighter to remove those. I just lightly waved my lighter over the areas that I wanted the frizz gone and was sure to blow as soon as it touched the star so it wouldn’t catch fire.

That’s it! Quick and easy dollar store Christmas makeover craft.

I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below.

Interchangeable Christmas pallet sign

INTERCHANGEABLE WINTER PALLET SIGN

I love decorating for the holidays. Especially Christmas. Now that I have a bigger home to decorate I’m finding it a little challenging to do AND keep it in budget. I have always had the heart of a frugal women so spending an arm and a leg to put up Christmas décor just wasn’t happening.

That’s why in the fall I made this lightweight faux pallet sign. It’s a blank pallet style sign that I can change out with the seasons. It’s a big statement type piece that I prop up on my dining room hutch. I love this so much. Best of all the planks I used to make this sign were left over from this plank wall project.

I really tried hard to spend minimal funds for Christmas decorating. So, for Christmas I had this great idea to make stars from twigs I had in the backyard. And they turned out so cute! I want to make more!!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I made 2 smaller twig stars and 1 medium sized star. You can see how I made my twig stars click here.

I was so glad I snagged up a package of silver bells from the Dollar Tree prior to making this craft because without them I don’t think it would have turned out so cute or looked as festive for Christmas.

Here’s what I used

• 3 twig stars

• pallet sign

• jute

• 2 silver bells (these are similar to what I used)

• pushpins

• scissors

1. PLACE THE DECORATIONS

The first thing I did was place my twig stars and bells on my pallet sign to see where I wanted them.

2. MEASURE

Next I measured out how much jute I would need to hang my decorations from the backside of my sign. I doubled the amount of jute since I was looping it and hanging it from the backside.

3. ADD THE JUTE

The stars were easy to add the jute to. I just fed the jute through the top of each twig star. The bells were a little more difficult. I wanted to see the snowflakes that were on the bottom side of the bells so I had to hang them sideways.

I fed the jute through one side of the bell and then out the other side and tied the two ends of the jute together.

4. HANG

I hung my twig stars and silver bells from the backside of my pallet sign. I just kina eyeballed where I wanted them to be. Placed a pushpin there and pushed it in as far as I could get it.

Then I looped where I had tied the jute ends together around the pushpin and draped it over to the front side of the pallet sign.

I prop my pallet sign up on my dining room hutch, which one day I need to make time to give a makeover and I will most definitely post the before and after for you to see on here:)!!

Happy crafting!

Check out more below

MINI glittery fairy jar Christmas ornament

DIY FAIRY JAR CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

Day 9 of DIY Christmas ornaments

If you enjoyed one of my very first ever craft tutorials that I wrote, HOW TO MAKE GLITTERY LIGHT UP FAIRY JARS, then you will love this Christmas version. It’s such a cute mini version of the large light up fairy jar and I love the winter twist that it has. With the faux glitter snow it makes me think of the winter fairy from Tinker Bell. So adorable!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I was browsing the aisles of the Dollar Tree last year when I came across a mini plastic looking mason jar in Christmas ornament form. And I instantly knew my girls and I had to make a fairy jar for our Christmas tree.

Click here for 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments

MINI FAIRY JAR CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

Here’s what you’ll need

• Dollar Tree mini plastic jar ornament

• white tissue paper

• extra fine translucent glitter

• oracal 631 vinyl

• contact paper

• faux glitter snow

• matte finish mod podge

• paint brushes

• scissors

• assorted winter accents

• battery operated tea light

• hot glue gun

• hot glue sticks

• xacto knife

• Cricut cutting machine (I use a Cricut Explore)

• Cricut Design Space

• green cutting mat

• FREE FAIRY SVG LINK

1. CUT OUT DECAL

The first thing I did was cut my fairy decal out using my Cricut cutting machine. I used my GREEN cutting mat for this and THIS SVG CUT FILE (you can use my shareable Cricut link).

I measured how big my jar was then sized my fairy to fit. I used black Oracal 631 to cut my fairy out of. This is one difference from the larger mason jar version. In that version I used a cardstock cut out fairy but for this one I wanted to use sticky vinyl, make it a little easier.

2. APPLY THE FAIRY DECAL

I applied the fairy decal to the INSIDE of the Christmas ornament. I used contact paper as my transfer tape. The end of a pen worked well to help me position the decal before pressing it down. Once I was happy with the placement I used my fingers to work out any airy bubbles.

Then I slowly rolled the transfer tape, contact paper, off and away from the fairy decal. Since this has some delicate lines it can rip easily so be sure when you do this step to go very slow.

3. APPLY TISSUE PAPER

To get the frosted look I cut a piece of plain white tissue paper so that it was a little bigger than my mason jar Christmas ornament. I wanted it bigger in case I messed up I would have a little extra to work with. You want you tissue paper to be able to fully wrap around your ornament plus cover the top.

Then I used matte finish mod podge to apply the tissue paper to the Christmas ornament. A regular artist paint brush works great for this. I covered the front of my ornament in sections with the mod podge.

The I placed the tissue paper on top of it and carefully smoothed it out with my fingers. I did this all the way around the jar.

Once I got to the top of the jar I cut off so there was just enough to cover it. Then I cut slits in the tissue paper so it would lay down smooth.

I used my paint brush again to apply mod podge to glue the top pieces down. I trimmed off the excess with my scissors.

4. ADD GLITTER

After my tissue paper was pretty much dry I applied a thin layer of the matte finish mod podge to the front of the Christmas ornament and then sprinkled it with extra fine translucent glitter. Then I let that dry.

5. ADD WINTER EMBELLISHMENTS

To make my fairy jar more winter themed I added faux glitter snow to the flowers and moss. I glued the moss down first then glued the florals to the moss.

I even glued the moss to the bottom piece that screws onto the Christmas mason jar. I added the faux snow here and there.

6. ADD A TEA LIGHT

I let my ornament dry then I added a tea light.

I think it turned out SO CUTE!

If you have any questions please ask below in the comments.

Happy Crafting!

Check out more DIY Dollar Tree crafts below

Easy Christmas stars from twigs

CHRISTMAS STARS MADE FROM TWIGS- EASY TUTORIAL

Have you made stars from twigs? This Christmas decoration was super quick, easy, and best of all basically FREE!

If you’ve read any of my content you know how I love a good frugal DIY craft. Especially during the holidays when finances can be a little tighter. Like this easy and incredibly inexpensive Christmas tree I spruced up. I fits in perfectly with my rustic décor.

If you have access to twigs, a glue gun, and some jute/bakers twine you can make this twig star Christmas craft.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

HOW TO MAKE CHRISTMAS STARS FROM TWIGS

Here’s what you need

• skinny twigs

• bakers twine or jute

• glue gun

• hot glue sticks

• scissors

• wire cutters (this is similar to what I used but you can use garden snips)

1. GATHER TWIGS

If you don’t have a yard to gather twigs from, or if you don’t have trees in your yard, take a stroll through the local park and you will most definitely find enough twigs to use.

For these mini stars you’ll want to find twigs that are thin, not thick.

2. CUT

I used wire cutters for this step but garden snips will work too.

I cut 4 pieces of twigs that were the same size and 1 piece that was about 2/3 or so the size of longer twigs. I just eyeballed this, it doesn’t have to be exact.

3. MAKE A STAR

Just like when you were a kid making stars that’s exactly how you are going to make these stars.

Make an upside-down V.

Then make an X with the other two long pieces.

Then put the smallest twig going across the top.

I had to carefully move them around till I was happy with the placement of my twig star.

4. GLUE

I had already preheated my glue gun prior to this step so it would be ready when I was. I added a SMALL DAB of hot glue wherever the twigs touched. You don’t want a ton of glue, just enough to keep it in place for now.

5. WRAP

After my glue was dry I wrapped each star point in a silver and white bakers twine. I added a tiny drop of glue then put the end of my bakers twine on it till it was dry.

Then I wrapped the end till I was happy with how it looked.

Then I cut the bakers twine and added another tiny drop of glue to hold it in place.

That’s it. Nothing crazy complicated. I will warn ya, it can get a little frustrating if your kiddos are yelling at one another in the other room and your twigs keep moving out of place from the slightest touch lol! That totally happened a few times to me when I was making these stars for my frugal Christmas décor.

I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below.

Happy Crafting!

Check out more DIY crafts below

Making leaf art with your kids

MAKING LEAF ART WITH YOUR KIDDOS

Whoa what a school year this has turned out to be for all of our kiddos. I know that virtual learning can be a lot of screen time but it also means that we get to have a lot of creative fun time with our kids too.

While we are learning at home I’m trying to plan fun things to do for the older kids and also things that will keep daughter #4 busy too since we are doing pre-k at home instead of the traditional pre-k we’ve always done. Today we made art. And not just any art, we made people and animals with leaves and other nature items.

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CLICK HERE for more KIDS PROJECTS

And it was SO FUN!

We’ve done something similar before, painting with nature click here to see how fun that turned out. But today we didn’t break out any paints. We just used the colors (and the option for markers for faces) that we found in the things that God gave to our backyard.

The older girls actually enjoyed it way more than my pre-k girl did which completely surprised me. I figured they would think it was “baby-ish” but they fully enjoyed this crafty project.

Making leaf art with your kids

STEP 1

Gather pieces of nature. We took a small basket outside and filled it with all kind of things (I purposefully didn’t take a big basket out there because I knew they would fill it FULL lol! The small one was more than enough materials for them to create with)

• colorful leaves

• twigs

• some pine cone looking things

• blades of grass

• berries

• vines

• and whatever else the kiddos want to grab

STEP 2

Bring it inside and set up a place where the kids can get messy. We used our dining room table and since we weren’t painting I didn’t mess with putting a drop cloth down.

I brought out our metal bin of glues, squeeze glue bottles and glue sticks, washable markers for if they wanted to add faces or anything their imaginations could think of, kid friendly scissors, and copy paper.

STEP 3

I helped my preschooler at first, showing her how we could create a Thanksgiving Day turkey out of the leaves and although she thought that was really cool she just wanted to glue whatever, and most importantly wherever to her piece of paper.

We took a round leaf and glued it down first

Then we took longer more oblong looking leaves and glued them behind the round leaf for the Turkey feathers.

My pre-k girl wanted to use a piece of bark for the head so that’s what we used.

For the gobble we glued a small skinny leaf like thing down and pushed it up so it was under the bark head.

For the legs we just added a second stem from another leaf and glue it in place using a glue stick.

The most important step of all though is to just enjoy this crafty art time with your kids. Let them make a mess. Let them create. Let them make mistakes and not feel like they have to be perfect.

Here are a few finished leaf art pictures my girls made. I LOVE them! They were so creative and really took time to enjoy the whole process of this leaf art project. I can’t wait to do the next just for fun creative activity with them.

If you enjoy this craft with your kiddos be sure to check out this post on painting with nature.

Baby it's cold outside warm up with hot cocoa & coffee DIY sign wood sign + free SVG

Winter coffee bar sign + free SVG

We bought a 120 yr old house over the summer. It’s a much bigger house than we’ve ever lived in AND I have space for an actual coffee bar now!! I’m so excited to decorate it for the winter & Christmas season.

I thought long and hard about how I would decorate my new rustic looking coffee bar and I opted for a winter hot cocoa & coffee theme instead of just decorating it for the Christmas season. That way I can keep my display up longer.

I also made this cute mini wood rolling pin to go on my winter coffee bar and I have a FREE SVG to go with it too.

If you’re just now starting out on your journey into the world of fancy cutting machines (aka a Cricut, Silhouette, or any other brand) be sure to read this post 10 MUST HAVE SUPPLIES & ACCESSORIES TO GET YOU STARTED WITH YOUR CRICUT.

Here’s what I used to make my mini wood winter sign

• 5.5”x5.5” pine board pre stained

• black & white acrylic paint

• matte finish mod podge

• paint brushes & flat paint brushes

• oramask stencil film

• transfer tape

• vinyl squeegee

• sewing pin

• scissors

• drop cloth

• paint tray

• Cricut cutting machine (I use a Cricut Explore)

• green Cricut cutting mat

• Cricut design space

• FREE SVG of baby it’s cold outside

1.CUT & WEED THE STENCIL

The SVG I used for this sign can be found in my FREE resource library click here, or you can purchase the SVG here. I uploaded it into Cricut Design Space and adjusted it to fit perfectly onto my 5.5”x5.5” wood pine base.

I cut my stencil out on ORAMASK 813 STENCIL FILM. I know, my mat is very loved lol! You can definitely tell I get a lot of use out of my craft supplies.

Typically I suggest using an xacto knife to weed stenciled designs but since this design is so small with lots of lettering I am using a sewing pin instead. This isn’t my go to but for small designs it works much better than an xacto knife.

2. PAINT THE BASE

After my stencil was cut and weeded I painted my wood piece. I used matte finish black acrylic paint for this and my rusty but trusty 1” paint brush. This brush is one of my FAVORITE paint brushes! It may look like a hot mess but it paints beautifully!

I wanted this to look a little more rustic without having to take my sander to it. Instead of a painting all the way to the edges of the wood base I left a slight border around it and I made it super uneven to give it an even more farmhouse-y look. Then I let it dry completely.

3. APPLY THE STENCIL

After my base coat was completely dry I applied my stencil. Be sure when you do this step that your paint is TOTALLY dry. If it’s not the stencil film will peel up the base coat and it will be an ugly mess.

I cut my stencil so it would perfectly fit on my wood base that way I wouldn’t have to stress about centering it and making it all even.

I aligned the stencil on the base and used my vinyl squeegee to press out all the air bubbles. PRO TIP: work from the middle out to press out air bubbles.

Then I removed my stencil film. This removes best when you roll it away from your stencil vs trying to peel it up and off of your stencil.

4. SEAL THE STENCIL

Sealing your stencil isn’t 100% necessary but it does help to keep the paint bleed to a minimum. I use MATTE FINISH MOD PODGE for this.

I paint a super thin coat of mod podge onto my exposed areas of my stencil. Making sure I am almost pushing the mod podge into the stencil creases. Then I let it dry completely. Again, use a SUPER THIN COAT of mod podge if you do this step.

5.PAINT THE STENCIL

After my mod podge was dry I painted the exposed areas of my stencil with white acrylic paint.

I let the first coat dry then I painted a second coat.

Be sure when you do this step that you paint SUPER THIN layers. If your paint layers are too thick then your paint will peel up with you peel up your stencil.

6. PEEL UP THE STENCIL

Everyone is different but for me I always peel up my stencil while my paint is still wet. This method has worked for me on the THOUSANDS of signs I have painted so this is the method that I always recommend.

Start from one corner and peel toward the opposite corner.

Then use your sewing pin or an xacto knife to take out all of the little middle pieces. If you accidently get paint on your base paint no worries. When the paint is all dry just take a paint brush and paint over all of the little mistakes.

7. TOUCH UP

When the paint is all dry just take a paint brush and paint over all of the little mistakes.

After my sign was dry I put it up on my coffee bar even though it was almost 11pm lol!! No wonder my pic turned out super blah and yellow with the lighting . That’s ok!

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Check out more DIY sign painting projects

A Christmas gift teens & tweens will LOVE!

DIY SPA KITS FOR TEENS

What does you preteen (tween), or teen want for Christmas? I don’t know about your kiddos but my girls are getting harder and harder to buy for the older they get.

I’m a momma of 4 girls, three of which are all with in 3 years of one another. They are stair steps and I love having them so close in age. One of the benefits is they are all kind of into the same things at the same time. But, this year the older 3 girls had just a few items on their Christmas wish lists, which isn’t a bad thing but it does make for more challenging shopping.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Anyway, I thought long and hard about what to get the girls for Christmas. I just know with 2020 being what it is, that we are going to have a TON of time at home.

So I decided we would gift them things they that would keep them busy over winter. On the list of items bought so far are lots of books, board games, art supplies and….. a SPA KIT! But not just any spa kit, this is like the ULTIMATE SPA KIT for teens!

I looked online and didn’t really find exactly what I was looking for so I thought I’d put together my own. So fitting for a frugal DIY momma.

So, how do you make a DIY SPA KIT you ask?

It might be easier than you think. If you are great at shopping online you can easily put one together too!

I started with this book, Girls' Home Spa Lab: All-Natural Recipes, Healthy Habits, and Feel-Good Activities to Make You Glow

It’s amazing! It has tons of recipes and other good for you activities. And since it’s written and illustrated for teen and tween girls they will extra love it. There’s no old fashioned old lady vibe with this DIY book. It has a fresh and modern look to it that’s super attractive and it makes me want to read all of it and make my own spa products.

Since this was just the book, no ingredients or anything, I read through it and picked out ingredients that were repetitive throughout the book. I didn’t want to buy every single ingredient in the book because that would be expensive and we keep several of the ingredients like olive oil and witch hazel on hand at home. I bought the main ones I kept seeing that we don’t usually have at home.

Here’s what I bought

1. ESSENTIAL OILS

2. ASSORTED DRIED FLOWERS & DRIED LAVENDER

3. COCOA BUTTER

4. BENTONITE CLAY POWDER

5. ARROWROOT POWDER

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Non ingredient items I ordered:

1. MORTAR & PESTLE

2. HANDHELD MIXER

I have a fancy Kitchen Aid stand mixer but I really didn’t want it taken over. I opted for this handheld mixer AND I was sure to get the one that has attached storage for the beaters. That way there’s less chance they will loose them.

3. DOUBLE BOILER

Just like with the mixer I really didn’t want the girls to use my double boiler for bath and body ingredients. I looked on good ole Amazon for double boilers and found this gem! It was exactly what I wanted!

This pot is great because it will fit in any pot we have at home. We have a few different small sauce pans and this double boiler option will work perfectly with all three of them.

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Of course the spa kit wouldn’t be complete without containers to put all their new spa products in. If you search on Amazon there’s a ton of different things to choose from. Here’s what I ordered for my girls. No judgements on the glass containers please ;) if you don’t feel comfortable with yours teens having glass there are other options out there. We typically will always choose glass over plastic, it’s just a personal preference.

4. SMALL PLASTIC CONTAINERS WITH SCREW ON LIDS

5. AMBER GLASS MINI SPRAY BOTTLES

6. 10ml AMBER GLASS ROLL ON CONTAINERS

7. 8OZ CLEAR SPA CONTAINERS

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As I’m writing this it’s early November so I have not packaged any of the gifts yet to put under the Christmas tree.

The girls know that one of their gifts is one big gift to share. So I think I’m going to wrap all the spa ingredients individually then put everything in a big box that will be wrapped too. You know, make it more fun for them to open it.

This gift is going to be amazing for the girls this winter and I can’t wait for them to start experimenting in the kitchen making their own bath and body products.

I’d love to know, is this something your teens/tweens would love? Let me know in the comments.

DIY dowel rod snowman ornament DAY 8

This DIY Christmas ornament is SUPER EASY! Similar to the square snowmen ornaments I made last year. Only this time they are round and they have cute rosy cheeks like these mason jar snowmen I showed how to make on my blog. There are differences of course but all three of these snowmen are so adorable.

If you are a craft-aholic like myself, then you probably hang on to EVERYTHING. The dowels I’m using for this snowman ornament were actually leftover stems from a larger version of these 2x4 wood pumpkins. Really, I probably should have tossed these scraps BUT then I wouldn’t have been inspired to create this Christmas ornament tutorial to share here on my blog.

See more of my 30 DAYS OF DIY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS here

Here’s what you need to make a dowel rod snowman ornament

• 1”x1.5” cut piece of dowel rod - I found mine at my local home improvement store

• acrylic paint (white, black, orange, pink)

• jute

• screw eye

• paint brushes

• paint tray

• scissors

• optional: drop cloth to keep your surface clean

This ornament is so fun, easy and a wonderful Christmas craft to make with the kids. Don’t sweat it if they don’t come out perfect. Lord knows when we craft with our kids it’s never about the perfection, rather it’s about the memories and bond you’re building with your children.

1.PAINT

The first thing I did was paint the dowel rod piece all white, including the top and bottom. I let the first coat dry then I applied a second coat for a little more coverage then I let that coat dry before moving on to step 2.

2. CHEEKS

Because I want the nose to go over the cheek I painted the snowman’s cheeks first. This takes a TINY amount of paint, like a teeny tiny amount. I lightly tapped the tip of my paint brush into the pink paint then into the white paint, but less white paint than pink paint on my brush.

Then I made swirly circles with my brush. I probably should have used a round tipped brush for this but I grabbed a pointy tipped one and just didn’t want to hunt for a new brush so I went with it. It worked but not as good as it could have with a round tipped brush.

I kept added white and pink paint to the cheeks till I was happy with the way they looked.

3. NOSE

After the cheeks were dry I painted on an orange nose. I used the same pointy brush for this. I made a sideways triangle then filled it in with orange paint. I added a tiny bit of black paint to give it a little depth.

4.EYES & MOUTH

Using the same brush I painted on irregular looking circles for the eyes and for the mouth in black. I really tried to make them look like coal.

After the black paint was dry I used the end of my paint brush to make accent dots on the eyes and mouth.

5. SCREW EYE AND JUTE

I screwed the hanger (screw eye) into the top of my snowman ornament to hang it. Then I added a piece of jute to hang it from the Christmas tree.

I hope you enjoyed this crafty Christmas ornament tutorial. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Don’t forget to pin the image below to save for later :)!

Happy Crafting!

Check out more Christmas posts below

Hot cocoa mini wood rolling pin DIY

Do you have a coffee bar? I hope you said yes because coffee bars are SO fun to decorate! I picked up an old vanity from a garage sale a few years back that I have turned into our coffee bar and oh my goodness it is so cute and fits perfectly in the space we have.

This Christmas season I chose to do a HOT COCOA & COFFEE theme for the old coffee bar. I was inspired by this SVG I created, Baby it’s cold outside warm up here…hot cocoa & coffee. And from there I pinned all the cute hot cocoa themed projects I could find on Pinterest.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

This little rolling pin is one of the DIY’s I made for the coffee bar. Seriously, how cute are these wooden rolling pins that seem to be everywhere for every occasion?! I love them!

Here’s what you need to make a wooden HOT COCOA 5 cents rolling pin

• 7” wood rolling pin

• white vinyl (I used matte finish)

• red paint

• paint brush

• transfer tape

• vinyl squeegee

• baker’s twine

• paint tray

• something to cover your workspace, I like to use these washable drop cloths

• scissors

• FREE: HOT COCOA SVG

• Cricut Design Space

• Cricut cutting machine (I use an older model, Cricut Explore)

• Cricut green cutting mat

1. CUT OUT THE HOT COCOA DECAL

I used my older model Cricut Explore for this and let me tell ya that machine has been pumping out projects for me for YEARS! I upgraded to this little guy when my youngest daughter was a baby. Before I had used the super old model that was around when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I’m joking but really, the older model machines were SOOOOO hard to work with compared to the newer machines.

If you are needing a cart to hold your Cricut machine I highly recommend the one in this pic. I know it’s hard to see but it’s a wonderful cart on wheels that will hold 2 machines and has 4 drawers for storage, CLICK HERE.

Grab the SVG file for FREE in my free resource library CLICK HERE. While you’re there take a look at all the other fun things you can make with my free to use files.

I used a scrap piece of Oracal 651 matte finish white vinyl because that’s what I had on hand.

Once it was done cutting I weeded out the background and all the little middles using a sewing pin.

2. PAINT THE ROLLING PIN

I used a red paint I picked up at Walmart but if you prefer to order from Amazon I put a link above for a paint I like to use from there.

I only painted the rolling part of the rolling pin. I left the edges and the handles natural. I applied one thin coat of red paint.

Then I let it dry. I got a little creative when propping this up. I used the paint bottle and a tin of lotion to prop this little guy up and it worked great.

Once the first coat was dry I applied a second coat.

BTW this paint brush may look like a hot mess but I LOVE this style of a thin flat paint brush! I left a link to a similar one you can also get on Amazon that will work just like it.

Let the wood rolling pin dry completely before moving on to the next step. Always remember that vinyl will not stick to wet paint, like at all.

3. APPLY THE VINYL DECAL

I used this clear transfer tape to help apply my decal to my rolling pin. Be careful when applying these decals because they are so small, it’s very easy to move too fast and mess the decal up.

I carefully positioned my decal on the right side of my rolling pin and pressed it down with my hand.

Once my decal was in place I used a vinyl squeegee to help press it down a little more then slowly peeled the transfer tape off of the rolling pin leaving the decal on the rolling pin. I’ve found it’s much easier if you roll the transfer tape off and away from the decal.

4. ADD BAKERS TWINE

I added a cute little accent bow using bakers twine. I just tied it to the side of the rolling pin that was blank, the left side, and tied it in a bow.

This particular bakers twine was giving me a fit so I used my sewing pin to help me get it straightened out and that seemed to work great.

That’s it! Super easy craft to make for your tiered tray decor for winter. This craft took me just under an hour, mainly waiting on paint to dry. I think I might even make a couple more to pair with this one. So cute!

I can’t wait to finish the rest of my hot cocoa & coffee winter themed coffee bar.

I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial. If you have any questions please ask away in the comments below.

Happy crafting!

Check out more DIY crafts using my CRICUT cutting machine

Dollar Tree Christmas Tree rustic decoration

Have you been to the Dollar Tree lately? I don’t get there as often as I’d like but I did get a chance to stop in last night and WOW their Christmas supply gets better and better every year!

They have these cute Charlie Brown looking Christmas trees this year and I just couldn’t leave the store without buying a couple of them.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

This DIY was SUPER easy! It was almost mess free and it was ready to put on the shelf in just a matter of minutes from taking it out of the plastic Dollar Tree bag.

EASY DOLLAR TREE CHRISTMAS TREE DIY

Here’s what I used

• Dollar Tree Christmas tree

• scrap piece of burlap

• old jar from the Dollar Tree

• twine

• glue gun

• gorilla hot glue sticks

• scissors

• fairy lights from the Dollar Tree

I had everything except for the Christmas tree on hand which was awesome because when I bought the tree I had no idea what exactly I was going to do with it. Which is usually how I shop for my projects lol!

1. CUT THE BURLAP TO SIZE

I used a piece of scrap burlap I had from years ago (I don’t throw anything away lol). I placed my old jar on the burlap, pulled the burlap up over the glass so I’d know how big of a piece I’d need.

Then I cut that into a circle. I just eyeballed this. Also, this glass used to hold craft supplies and since I was covering it I didn’t think I needed to give it a bath first.

2. ADD TWINE

I didn’t get super fancy with this at all. I cut off a piece of twine I thought would be long enough to tie around the bottom lip of the glass then then pulled it tight and tied it in a bow.

3. ADD THE TREE

I didn’t want to mess with stuffing anything into the jar to hold the tree up so instead I hot glued it in. This took a bit of trial and error before I finally got it to stick right.

What worked for me was taking a piece of the discarded burlap and hot gluing it to the bottom of the tree.

Then I added more hot glue to the bottom of the burlap and stuck the tree in the glass jar. I held it there till the glue was dry. It didn’t budge after that!

4. LIGHTS

My tree was looking kind of sad so I found some lights I had bought from the Dollar Tree over the summer and strung them on the tree. They are battery operated so I just stuck the battery pack into the glass jar to hide it.

That’s it! It turned out SOOOOO CUTE! And so crazy easy! It’s nice to do a craft sometimes where the results are kinda instant and you don’t have to wash out any paint brushes or clean up hardly anything.

I can’t wait to get more of my Christmas decorations made for my new house! Let me know if you have any questions about this DIY in the comments below.

Happy Crafting!

Check out more Christmas DIY tutorials below

BOHO style floating shelf makeover

My four daughters and I were shopping around Big Lots a couple months back and found these floating cube shelves on clearance. Even though the colors were all wrong for the older girl’s BOHO themed room we snagged the shelves up anyway.

I knew it would just take a few coats of white paint and vinyl to doctor these guys up.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

If you’re new to the fancy cutting machine world be sure to check out my post on the 10 must have supplies & accessories to get you started on your Cricut (or any other cutting machine) journey.

Here’s what I used to makeover these floating cube shelves

• white paint (I used leftover wall paint from this project)

• paint brush

• dark blue matte finish vinyl

• transfer tape

• vinyl squeegee

• xacto knife or sewing pin

• Cricut cutting machine

• green cutting mat

• Cricut Design Space

• Cricut Access

• find the link to my exact project on DS (design space) here
  

Here’s what the shelves looked like when I brought them home from the store. You can see on the packaging they had been black, red, and light blue. These colors don’t really scream boho lol!

1. PAINT

The first thing I did was paint over the old shelf colors. These colors were just too dark for my girl’s boho themed bedroom. It took several coats of paint to fully cover these shelves AND honestly one of the shelves could have used another coat of paint yet but I was tired of painting lol.

Be sure you let the paint dry completely between coats.

2. DESIGN

I chose to use some images in Cricut Design Space. I searched ‘BOHO’ in the image section and it popped up with several boho themed images to use. My girls liked the feathers and arrows the best so they chose a few different variations and I resized and welded them together.

For the pattern I searched ‘GEOMETRIC PATTERN’. A ton of options pulled up and the girls liked this diamond, dashed line, X one the best.

Before I went on to the next step I measured out my shelves and sized my decals down so they would fit the different ones I was going to place them on.

3. CUT OUT THE DESIGN

I’m going to be completely honest, I used a new to me vinyl for this project. I bought a brand called STARCRAFT and I’m not totally sure on it yet. It’s just a little different than what I’m used to but who knows I may love it after using it for a few different projects. I also used it for the vinyl decals on these cheerleader gift bags.

I used a dark blue matte color for these boho shelf decals.

4. WEED THE DECALS

I weeded out my decals with an xacto knife. I will usually always use either an xacto knife or a sewing pin for this. Since these are decals and not stencils for painted signs, you want to be sure you remove all of the background, not the image itself.

5. APPLY THE DECALS

After my decals were weeded I applied clear transfer tape to them and used my vinyl squeegee to push out any air bubbles.

I found it was MUCH EASIER to cut down my transfer tape so it was the same size as my decal. Trying to put on the decals with excess transfer tape was a nightmare.

I took my time during this step to be sure my design was exactly where I wanted it by hovering over the shelf with my vinyl decal. Once I was happy with the placement I pressed it down with my fingers then used my vinyl squeegee to push out any air bubbles.

6. REMOVE THE TRANSFER TAPE

I also took my time during this step too. If you go too fast you can easily rip your vinyl. I started at one corner and slowly rolled my transfer tape off of my design. I think this is the easiest way to remove transfer tape from any vinyl or stencil design.

That’s it. They are ready to hang in my girl’s boho themed bedroom. I was so excited with how these turned out even though it took me WAY too long to get them finished. But that’s how us creative people are lol! We start a project and have to put it down for a few days (or a month lol!) until we can come back to it.

I really love this one with the arrows. They are all so different and so beautiful!

I think the girls did a great job picking out 3 different boho looking feathers. I love the patterns they have.

This one wasn’t my absolute favorite but I think it looks great to help break up the feathers and the arrows. I convinced them to put the geometric shapes on the middle sized shelf so that it would help break up the images even more and they agreed :)!

I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial and it inspires you to give something a makeover you may have seen at the store or that you have around the house. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

HAPPY CRAFTING!

Check out more DIY Cricut projects

Last minute end of the season cheerleader gift bags

If you are needing to put together a last minute gift for a squad of cheerleaders, or SUPER last minute in my case, you have come to the right place! I needed to do the same thing last week for my daughter’s cheer team and I only had a few hours to make it happen.

I knew I didn’t want to spend a ton of money, because I’m frugal like that, but I also didn’t want whatever I put together to seem cheap.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

So off to Walmart I went. My youngest daughter and I trolled up and down the aisles of our TINY Walmart, which carries about 1/4 of the variety that a super center does, but we found some goodies that were perfect for cheerleader gift bags.

We went for a pamper yourself theme that the girls loved! And I only spend $60, not counting what I already had at home.

Here’s what I filled the bags with. Each girl got one of the following

• small tin of Nivea lotion (find it on Amazon here)

• clear nail polish

• nail file (purchased in a pk of 12)

• bath bomb

• coiled hair tie

• popcorn bag

• hot cocoa

• 2 mini chocolate bars

Other items I bought to make the gift bags

• roll of yellow ribbon

• roll of blue ribbon

• yellow tissue paper

• blue tissue paper

I already had these materials on hand

• brown paper bags

• vinyl (I used two different brands)

• Cricut cutting machine

• Cricut green mat

• Cricut Design Space

• Cricut Access

• transfer tape

• vinyl squeegee

• clear bags

To keep the bags simple, and because I didn’t know everyone’s name on the cheer squad, I cut out vinyl decals that said ‘ HUSKERS CHEER’ with a megaphone. I used Cricut Design Space and used my Cricut Access for this. Click here to find the link to my project in design space.

I made my decals 5” wide so they would fit perfectly on the gift bags.

I had two different brands of vinyl that I used (Oracal & Starcraft) but any colored vinyl, that’s not HTV, will work. What I had on had were matte and gloss but I would have preferred it all to have been matte.

I used my Cricut Explore and green cutting mat to cut my decals out. You can see how well loved both my machine and mat is lol! If you’re looking for a cart for your cutting machine I HIGHLY recommend the one in this pic. I absolutely LOVE it!

This decal was a little more work than I really wanted to do BUT it was sooooo cute! Each bag had 4 different vinyl pieces to put on the bags. But since they were all the same I was able to get them on the bags pretty quickly.

I used clear transfer tape and a vinyl squeegee to help get them on the bags easier.

I didn’t want to just throw everything inside the brown bags. I thought separating the items out like this made the pampered bags look a lot nicer and fancier. I put the nail polish and file in one bag. The edible treats in another bag. And the lotion, hair tie, and bath bomb in another bag. My cheerleader loved this.

Once I started getting the decals on my older girls and I made an assembly line to fill the bags. We were really pressed for time by this point lol. It worked pretty great. And they learned how to curl package ribbon.

These were so quick to make and had a lot of school spirit to show on the outside with the tissue paper and curled ribbons. The girls loved them!

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy project.

Happy crafting!

Check out more projects made with my Cricut

DIY easy wood tag ornament with cute wooden beads DAY 7

Super easy wood tag Christmas ornament DIY

Christmas will be here before we know it! Last year I started a 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments challenge for myself and I got so crazy busy with orders from my shop that I couldn’t squeeze very many in. I completely underestimated how busy I would be last year.

This year I have toned my shop down a lot. I am in a place where I am no longer making finished home décor items {thank goodness because while I LOVE creating it does take more time to make finished pieces than it does to create files and craft kits} and I am solely focusing on SVG’s, DIY craft kits, and writing craft tutorials for you to enjoy.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind

I’m just going to pick up where I left off last year with my 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments.

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DAY 7 of my 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments I made a simple stamped wood tag with wood bead accents to hang it from.

These little wooden beads are SUPER POPULAR right now. And for good reason because they are so versatile. I have used them for photo accents, bead garland, Christmas ornaments, keychains, the list goes on.

Today I used them on this ornament and it was super easy to make. It took just minutes to make AND there was virtually NO MESS to clean up after.

Here’s what you’ll need to make a stamped wood tag Christmas ornament

• mini stamp set

• black ink pad (this one is similar to the one I used)

• wood tags

• bakers twine

• wood beads

• masking tape
  
  

1.STAMP

The first thing I did was think of a saying. I wanted this one to say “O come let us adore Him”. It’s short and sweet and the reason for the season. Mine is FAR from perfect but that’s what makes handmade so special anyway.

I had a paper towel on hand so I could stamp off the excess. I lightly tapped the stamp onto the black stamp pad. You do not want a heavy hand for this. Then again lightly pressed it onto my wooden tag. Very lightly. If you press too hard you’ll get markings from the edges of the stamp. You may want to practice this a few times on your paper towel before trying it on the wooden tag.

Then I let that dry.

2. ADD BAKERS TWINE

Next I added my bakers twine. I used one that was white and had a bit of silver in it. I just eyeballed a length I wanted. Folded it in half and fed the looped end through the hole in my wood tag. Then I pulled the loose ends through the loop to secure it onto the tag.

3. ADD BEADS

The beads I used were fairly small and it was difficult to feed the twine through the small holes. I added a piece of masking tape to the open ends of the twine to make it easier.

I fed three small beads onto the twine then tied a knot at the top of the beads so they stayed in place.

4. KNOT THE TWINE

I removed the tape and tied the two ends of the bakers twine together so I could hang it on the Christmas Tree.

That’s it. No painting, no glue gun, no fuss really. Super simple Christmas ornament you can even make with the kiddos.

I hope you enjoyed this Christmas ornament tutorial. Check out more of my Christmas and winter themed DIY crafts

Building a tall craft desk on a budget

AMAZON CRAFT DESK HACK ON A BUDGET

If you’re in the market to DIY your own tall craft desk you’ve likely seen all the GORGEOUS Ikea tall craft tables that are on Pinterest. Oh boy are they so pretty and clean looking! I have found myself almost drooling over them the last few months.

The thing is my current craft space is just temporary. We moved into a beautiful old home a few months back so until we get my she shed up outside I have taken over a way too beautiful to craft in sitting room. Everything I put up in there is just a for now thing, not permanent.

I just needed a space to create all of my craft tutorials to share with you all here on my blog.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Of course this frugal momma didn’t want to spend too much money on a craft table that may or may not fit into the she shed once it’s done.

That’s a pic of daughter #2 making the first project after the rolling craft desk was complete. She approved! This is a real view of what my craft space will look like and what you don’t see in my crafty DIY tutorials. The lights, microphone, and all the cords.

Here’s how I made a SUPER BUDGET friendly tall craft table

What I used to make my roll away craft table

• 3/4” plywood - this was scrap plywood leftover from a job my husband did

• 2” heavy duty castor wheels ( I bought 2 packages, totally 8 castor wheels)

• 9-cube white organizers

• leftover white paint

• leftover sealant

Tools I used

• Ryobi impact

• Ryobi miter saw

• Ryobi brad nailer

• Ryobi orbit sander

• orbit sandpaper 120 grit

• clamps

• paint brush for paint

• paint brush for sealant ( I used a SUPER CHEAP one for this since I don’t keep them after I use them on sealants)

• measuring tape

• brad nails

• screws

1.ASSMEBLE THE 9 CUBE ORGANIZERS

My tips for this step. When I purchased mine they were around $40 per organizer. I don’t have pictures of this step. I was so excited to get them built I completely spaced taking pics.

• read the instructions completely prior to assembling, but if you’re anything like me you probably won’t lol!

• use an impact (it looks like a drill but it’s a little different, it has screwdriver bits that fit into it instead of drill bits) to get the screw in properly, a screwdriver really sucks for this

• enjoy a glass of wine while you build these, again trust me you will need one lol!!

This next step is only necessary if you want to have a moveable craft desk. This is something that was a must for me as I’m always needing space to work on bigger projects.

2. ATTACH THE CASTOR WHEELS

Again, I didn’t take pictures because I was SO darn excited to get them done. You want to attach 4 castor wheels onto each 9 cube organizer, two on each end of the organizers. When I purchased mine they were about $14 per set of 4 castor wheels. And they are GREAT QUALITY. I was very impressed.

I HIGHLY suggest attaching a piece of wood to the inside of the cubby on the bottom shelf of each end so that your castor screws will have something to grab. I didn’t do this for the first cubby and I really wish I would have. The screws poked through the bottom cubbies and it’s kind of ugly now. I didn’t make the same mistake on the second one though.

I recommend shooting a brad nail through the wood just to keep it from moving when you start screwing the castor wheels on. This worked great for me when I attached the second set of castors.

3.CUT YOUR PLYWOOD

Measure out how big of a work space you want. Keep in mind that if it’s too wide you’ll need something to brace it on the underneath side of your craft table.

I used some leftover 3/4” plywood my husband brought home off of a jobsite. I cut 3 pieces to 47.5” in length and it seemed to work out perfectly. Almost like it was meant to go on my rolling craft table. I used my miter saw to cut these to length.

If you want to know what power tools I recommend for crafters check out this post.

4.SAND

I used my Ryobi orbit sander and just lightly went over the plywood. Just enough to give it a smooth surface.

5. ATTACH THE PLYWOOD

I know there are a lot of different ways to do this step but this is what I did and it worked great for me.

I was sure to lock the castor wheel before starting this step. Then I measured to find the middle of one of my 9 cube organizers.

Using my brad nailer I attached the ends of my skinniest board to the edge. This is basically just to tack down the plywood so it doesn’t go anywhere till you can get the screws in.

Then I lined up the other 9 cube organizer and did the same thing. Once those were down I attached the wider pieces, one on each side of the skinniest piece.

I used a drill to make small pilot holes, those are holes that help you get your screw into the wood easier. I just used whatever screws I had on had that were long enough to go through the plywood and into the 9 cube organizer. Ignore how not straight the screw and drill are. It was incredibly difficult to take this pic myself so I said ‘good enough pic for me’ lol!

5.PAINT

I used a leftover white paint we used in the house to paint the top of my rolling craft desk. I applied two coats, letting them dry in between coats.

6.SEAL

It’s a good idea to apply a sealant to the top of your workspace. I just used whatever I had on hand mainly because this isn’t a long term desk for my craft space. If I were to buy a sealant I don’t think I would use this specific one because it did yellow the white a little bit but it does work for sealing the paint and keeping the surface of the craft table wipeable and cleanup-able.

All and all I spent around $110 to make this. I’m not factoring in the materials I already had on hand. I know technically money was spent on those somewhere down the line but it’s hard telling when, where, and how much was spent so I just left out.

It’s far from perfect but it certainly works for my crafty space.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and if you have any questions please leave them in the comments below

Happy Crafting!

Simple Halloween décor using a witch hat

Easy Witch Hat Halloween Decoration

There are some really super cute Halloween decorations out there. I love simple AND frugal! I’m not one to spend a lot on décor so I really loved this easy and cheap project!

If you want even more fun HALLOWEEN DECOR IDEAS be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom for more DIY’s for the fall season.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Here’s what you’ll need

• witch hat

• something to measure with

• vase - I got mine from the Dollar Tree

• glue gun

• glue stick

• Cricut (I used my trusty old Explore cutting machine)

• Cricut Design Space

• green cutting mat

• black cardstock

• grab the Cricut file here to make it even easier

The first thing I did was measure the opening of the witch hat.

Using Cricut Design Space I made a 9” circle and cut it out on black cardstock using my Cricut Explore.

Next I used my glue gun and added hot glue to the top of the vase.

Then I quickly placed my cardstock circle cut out on top. Be sure to do this step quickly because hot glue can dry fairly fast.

Then I placed it on my hutch and added my witch hat.

I love it! It was so super easy and adds so much height to my Halloween display.

I hope you enjoyed this super simple Halloween craft. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Happy Crafting!

Check out more of my fun Halloween & fall crafts below

Interchangeable pallet style wall sign

Interchangeable wood signs are all the rage right now. And honestly who doesn’t want to have less seasonal décor to store?

Don’t get me wrong they are SO CUTE but I’ve seen them everywhere, including a similar version when I was growing up. I just wanted something different. If you haven’t see these adorable signs here’s a screenshot I took from Pinterest when I searched interchangeable seasonal signs. Super cute, just not what I was wanting in my new home.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I thought ‘why not just put up a blank white sign?’ Not really genius but I sure felt that way lol!

Here’s what you’ll need to make a light weight blank faux pallet sign to change out through the seasons

• 1/4” plywood

• 1x2 pieces (number of pieces will depend on the size of your blank sign)

• wood glue

• miter saw (I bought this 12” slider and LOVE IT!!)

• tape measure

• nail gun (I love my Ryobi brad nailer)

• brad nails

• sander ( I love my handheld sander from Ryobi)

• sand paper

• white paint

DIY FAUX PALLET STYLE SIGN USING PLYWOOD

I had some faux planks already cut to the width I wanted. They were leftover from this budget friendly bedroom faux plank wall DIY that we did.

My planks were precut to 5” wide. Then I used my miter saw to cut them to approx 20” strips.

I wanted my sign to be fairly large because I was propping it up on a buffet in my dining room (btw I need to take some paint to it because I’m not loving the outdated brown). I have old house with pretty high ceilings so I also needed the sign to be tall enough to fill the blank space on the wall.

I ended up using 5 planks to make my sign. They aren’t perfectly even on the sides and I’m totally ok with that since I’m not a perfectionist by any stretch of the imagination.

After I got my faux strips cut the length I wanted I gave them a quick sanding with my orbit sander and 120 grit sandpaper. This was just to knock down any little splinters and make the sign somewhat smooth.

I laid them out on my table and placed the sides I liked the best faced down.

Then I took my 1x2 pieces, I cut three of these, and used them for the backing. My planks went horizontally so my brace pieces, the 1x2’s were made to go vertically (the height of the sign).

I placed one in the middle and one on each side.

I used wood glue to attach them to the back and my Ryobi brad nailer to really attach them so they wouldn’t be going anywhere.

I’m going to be totally transparent here…my first plan was to use a white wash stain. I’d never used it before and had this beautiful picture in my head of how it would turn out. Yeah, I don’t think plywood was my best choice for this stain. It just left it kinda blah looking so I wiped it all off.

Paint to the rescue! I took some leftover wall paint, that I’ve been using for everything including this framed Halloween porch sign … btw there’s a free SVG for that sign … , and painted a couple of coats on the plank sign. Painting it worked MUCH better!

That’s it. I didn’t do anything else to it. I’m so glad I used plywood planks for this project. A regular pallet pine sign like this one, would have been far too heavy to prop up. I’m a momma of 4, enough said lol!

I was so excited to decorate it for my first holiday in my new home!

Check out the flying bats post I made for this blank wood sign.

Check out more DIY power tool projects

Flying bat sign, easy DIY sign for Halloween

DIY - Super simple Halloween sign

This year I decorated for Halloween instead of my typical fall only décor. My girls are loving it! One piece they have especially loved, and I must say I do too, is my flying bat sign I made. It was so crazy simple to make too!

The best part of this wooden Halloween sign is that once Halloween is over I can simply take the bats off and replace them with something else.

If you love this DIY be sure to check out this framed Halloween sign I made for my front porch…p.s. it has a FREE SVG to use ;)!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

MAKE YOUR OWN FLYING BAT SIGN

Here’s what you’ll need

• 12x12 black cardstock

• double sided tape

• Cricut cutting machine

• green Cricut mat

• Cricut Design Space

• this Cricut bat file

• white blank sign - click here for a DIY pallet sign tutorial

If you’re new to the Cricut crafting world be sure to check out my post on 10 must have supplies and accessories when starting out using a Cricut cutting machine.

1. CUT OUT CARDSTOCK BATS

I used my older model Cricut Explore to cut out my cardstock bats. If you have Cricut Access you can use the Cricut image, click here for the link.

2. REMOVE THE BAT CUT OUTS FROM YOUR GREEN CUTTING MAT

It’s easier to flip the cardstock facedown on your table then slowly roll the mat away from the material you’ve just cut.

3. ARRANGE THE BATS

Before you put tape on the back of them decide where you want them to go. This took me entirely too long lol!

4. MAKE THE BATS FLY

Give the bats some movement by gently curving their wings upward. I used a pencil to curl the wings up so they didn’t have creases.

5. TAPE THE BATS DOWN

I used double sided tape to temporarily tape them to my wooden pallet style sign.

This is seriously my favorite piece in the house for Halloween! It’s crazy simple but it gives the spooky décor a little something extra ya know?! I love it!

I hope you loved this simple decoration to add to your own home for the Halloween season. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Happy Crafting!

Check out more of my Halloween & fall craft tutorials

Life is short lick the spoon wood sign + FREE SVG

Life is short lick the spoon wood sign + FREE SVG

Use this free life is short lick the spoon FREE SVG to make your own decal or painted wood sign.

DIY HUMOROUS KITCHEN SIGN

I’m sure you’ve seen all those gorgeous gallery walls on Pinterest. You know the ones that have all the perfectly placed together farmhouse pieces. If you still aren’t sure what I’m talking about here are some awesome kitchen gallery walls on Pinterest.

Anyway, my friend is making one in her home…in her beautiful home that really probably was a true farmhouse in its day… and she asked me to make her a final piece to finish it up.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

She sent me a pic of a sign that said “life is short don’t lick the spoon” and asked if I could make one like it. Of course I said yes!

I used the photo she sent me as inspiration and created my own SVG for the painted wood sign. You can get the same SVG I used here in my free resource library.

DIY - LIFE IS SHORT LICK THE SPOON aqua stained wood kitchen sign

Here’s what you need

• wood base, I used a 1x10 pine board I got from my local hardware/lumber store

• stain - I used this aqua color from Rust-Oleum

• chalk paint - I used the color Sheepskin

• lint free rags

• dabber

• oramask stencil film

• transfer tape

• vinyl squeegee

• Cricut cutting machine (I used an Explore)

• green cutting mat

• design space

• life is short lick the spoon SVG -or- get it FREE in my resource library

• miter saw

• sander

• 120 grit sand paper

1.CUT THE WOOD & STAIN

I used a 1x10 and used my Ryobi miter saw to cut it square. If you aren’t familiar with lumber it actually doesn’t measure 1”x10” it’s more like .75”x9.25”. So, I cut my piece to measure 9.25”x9.25”. Then gave it a light sanding using 120 grit sand paper.

My friend asked for AQUA STAIN which is a gorgeous color! I had it on hand so I stained it up then let it dry. After it was completely dry I took my Ryobi sander and sanded around the edges and corners then lightly over the front. This gives it a more rustic farmhouse look.

2.CUT OUT & WEED THE STENCIL

While your wood base is drying cut your stencil out. I used my older model Cricut Explore and it still works like a champ! If you don’t have a fancy cutting machine I highly recommend getting one, even if you can’t afford the Maker (there’s no shame in that I still don’t even have the Maker lol!). Be sure to read 10 must have supplies and accessories to get started using a Cricut. 

I use Oramask stencil film for most all of my stenciled projects. If you plan to make LOTS of painted wood signs check out this post I wrote on where I buy my stencil film in bulk to save a ton of money.

3. APPLY THE STENCIL

Apply your clear transfer tape onto the front of your stencil. Remove the paper backing from your stencil. Place your stencil sticky side down onto your wood base.

Rub your stencil with your vinyl squeegee and slowly roll your transfer tape off of your stencil. FUN FACT: you CAN reuse your transfer tape over and over again.

Go over the stencil with your finger or your vinyl squeegee to make sure there aren’t any air bubbles. If there are smooth them out.

Click here to see how I made this gorgeous baby stat sign using plywood

4. PAINT THE STENCIL

I used chalk paint to paint my stencil. If you want to use the same color it’s called SHEEPSKIN.

A dabber like this one is great for stenciling. For the best results and virtually no paint bleed lightly dip your dabber into your chalk paint then dab off the excess, you want very little paint left on the round sponge dabber. Using a pouncing motion paint the exposed areas of the stencil.

Let dry, then repeat till you are satisfied with the coverage. Typically 2 coats is the perfect amount needed.

5. PEEL UP THE STENCIL

I will usually always peel my stencil up while the stencil paint is still wet. While this is my preferred method this may not work for everyone, and that’s totally ok.

Start by peeling up one corner of the stencil and peel it off toward the opposite corner.

Use a sewing pin or xacto knife to peel up all the middle areas.

Let your painted areas dry then you are ready to display in your home.

I hope you enjoyed this sign painting tutorial. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Check out more DIY SIGN PAINTING TUTORIALS