Sunday Sparks

First off, I would like to say a huge THANK-YOU to everyone who linked up and checked out The Creative Spark this week! And I am sending out an extra thank-you to those of you that took the time to post a link or put up the party button somewhere on your blog.  I really appreciate it and hope that this party will get bigger and better every week!

I must say that I really had a great time checking out everyone's posts {and I did make it around to all of them!}.  Your ideas were all amazing and I found some wonderful new blogs to check out.  If I wasn't able to leave a comment on your post, I'm really sorry.  I have had crazy computer/blogger problems this week and was often not able to leave a message {something about cookies???}  My blog actually disappeared for about an hour last Sunday {it actually said that it had been deleted!} so make sure that you are backing up your work regularly. I was having a small heart attack!

So here are a few of my many favorites this week:

Jaime Lyn over at Crafty, Scrappy, Happy transformed an old shelf into a gorgeous Pottery Barn Knock-off.  She used some of the Annie Sloan chalk paint and I can't wait to get my hands on some {my order is due to arrive on August 2!} While you are over there, make sure you check out her bed makeover as well!

I seriously love these crates from Junkin Junky.  She actually made them herself {from scratch!} and even has the SVG files to share!  This is definitely on my ever expanding To Do list!

Bec from Little Lucy Lu is working hard on her "Mom Cave" and came up with this mirror turned chalkboard to add a little color to her space.  I love the old window frame that it is hanging on too!

I think these adorable pencil holders from Then She Made would make a fabulous back-to-school present.  You could easily add the teacher's name or initial to make a cute, personalized gift!

And Keepin' It Thrifty created this beautiful bag from a free pattern.  I have the sewing machine -now I just need to figure out how to use it!

I hope you enjoyed the features this week and are now inspired to create something of your own!  If you were featured either here or on my facebook page, feel free to grab the featured button from over on the sidebar.  Thanks again to all of you who linked up!  I can't wait to see you again on Tuesday night!

Have a great week!

Scrapbook Saturday No. 7 - Camping Mini Album

Just a quick post today as we are off to a wedding and I am in desperate need of a pedicure first!  I have had this 1/2 completed mini-album {from a course that I took at Clipper Street} around for a while now so my goal for this week was just to finish it up!

The papers are mostly from Basic Grey and most of the embellishments are from 7Gypsies.  The album measures just a little bigger than 6x6.

I order most of my pictures through Scrapbook Pictures.  You can pretty much get any size photo you would like which is great for making mini-albums.  And, of course, you can't have a camping album without some mention of roasting marshmallows!

That's my Dad's boat in the background.

Check out how close they got to that seal.  These guys can get pretty lazy when they are basking in the sun!  The BC coast is just gorgeous in the summertime.

It's nothing too fancy but will hold some great memories for Matthew.  Hopefully you enjoyed the scenic shots of our beautiful coast!

 Have a great weekend!


I linked up with Smile Monsters, Passionately Artistic, Tatertots and Jello, Thirty Handmade Days, Whipperberry, Tidy Mom, Delightful Order, The 36th Avenue, House of Hepworths, Blue Cricket Design, Lil Luna, Tip Junkie, Ask Anna, Craft-O-Maniac, CRAFT, The DIY Showoff, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime.

Apple Frogs

Happy Friday!! I love Fridays - especially right before a long weekend! {It is B.C. Day on Monday} Anyone have any great weekend plans?

The kids and I enjoyed our morning outside in the sunshine. After some hard playing at the playground the kids were ready for a good snack. We have been attempting to eat a little healthier these days so I have been trying to come up with some fun, healthy snacks for the kiddos.

Here's what we made today {from Disney Family Fun}:

Apple and grape frogs!  

Just cut your apple up into quarters and remove the core.  Cut three grapes in half and slice two triangle toess in 4 of the halves.  You can use a little cream cheese to stick the arms to the frog and then add his hands and feet.  For the eyes, take a couple of small marshmallows {or you could do a blob of cream cheese} and add a chocolate chip to the middle.  I stuck my marshmallows on with a little bit of cream cheese too.

The cream cheese was starting to melt a little so the kids ended up taking their frogs in to watch George Shrinks.  Now for some Mommy time in the yard with my new magazine!

Have a fabulous weekend!

I linked up with Simply Klassic Home, Come Together Kids, Sun Scholars, Skip To My Lou, Funky Junk Interiors, Thirty Handmade Days, Just a Girl, Whipperberry, Tidy Mom, Smile Monsters, Delightful Order, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, House of Hepworths, Blue Cricket Design, Lil Luna, Jam Hands, Tip Junkie, Today's Creative Blog, Home Stories of A to Z, Ask Anna, Craft-O-Maniac, CRAFT, The DIY Showoff, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime, Young and Crafty, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello.

The Creative Spark No. 1

Hey guys! Welcome to my first ever Creative Spark link party!!  The party will be open for three days {from Tuesday evening to Friday evening}. I will be featuring some of my favorites on my facebook page and will also be doing a weekly feature on my blog to highlight your projects. Feel free to link up anything that you have created to provide us all with that creative spark! Crafts, DIY, decorating, scrapbook projects, recipes - anything goes!

Want to link up?  

• Link directly to your specific post {not the homepage}. 
• Please add The Creative Spark button your entry or blog or place a text link at the end of your post. I would love for you to help me spread the word.
• Check out some of the other fabulous links.  A few nice comments always inspires us to create more!
• Follow along with facebook to see if you have been featured throughout the week.  I will also be posting The Sunday Spark every week to showcase your work so don't forget to check back! 
• Need help? Just let me know!

{You can find the HTML code over on the sidebar!}

So show me what you've got!!!

DIY Blue Mason Jars

I LOVE those pretty blue, vintage Mason jars but have had no luck finding any around here. So... I was very happy to find out that they are an easy DIY project!

There are basically two different methods that you can use: mod podge and food coloring {like this tutorial from Craftberry Bush} or glass paint {like this post from Bridal Buzz}.  The mod podge works fine if you will not be getting your jar wet {or just want something temporary} but I decided to go the glass paint route.

So here is what you need:

• Mason jars
• glass paint {I used Vitrea 160 Lacquer Blue and the Vitrea 160 dilutant}
• Paint brush, rag or sponge to apply your paint.  I used lint free stain pads to apply the paint and found that it gave the least amount of streaks.

• Mix up your paint and dilutant in a small container.  I used about 4 tsp of dilutant and 1 tsp of paint but you can change this up depending on how dark you want your bottles. {Note: It will look much darker in the container than it does when painted on}.
• Using your pad, dip one of the corners in the paint and, starting at the rim, sweep the pad downwards in one stroke.

• Continue like this around the bottle until you are done and then sweep around the lip and bottom of the bottle.
• Place the bottles upside down on wax paper and allow to dry for 24 hours.

• After you have patiently waited, bake the bottles in the oven at 325F for 40 minutes to set the paint.
• Have fun decorating!

The jars look really pretty in a window with the light reflecting through them. {Notice how I didn't say SUN?  Yes, we are back to rain again in case anyone wants to listen to me complain some more....}

Add some wire or twine to the top of the bottle for a little extra touch.

I bought some Freesia down at Safeway {which I love!} - not sure what the yellow is that I added!

I added some thinner gauge wire to this one.

So what do you think?  Thick or thin wire?

I had lots of fun playing around with where to put my jars.  The rest of them I am saving for a few more bathroom organization projects - stay tuned!!

My first link party will be up tonight {crossing my fingers that this will be a relatively easy thing to do!}  I would LOVE for you to come and link up your fabulous ideas!!!  Hope to see you there!

I linked up with Funky Junk Interiors, Skip To My Lou, Funky Junk Interiors, The 36th Avenue, Beneath My Heart, Blue Cricket Design, Tip Junkie, Today's Creative Blog, Home Stories of A to Z, Thrifty Decor Chick, Ask Anna, Craft-O-Maniac, CRAFT, The DIY Showoff, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime, Young and Crafty, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, 30 Handmade Days, Tidy Mom, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Chic on a Shoestring, Whipperberry, At the Picket Fence, House of Hepworths, Delightful Order, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Christina's Adventures and Lil Luna.

Beach Sign

What a great weekend!  The sun was finally out and we had a whole lot of summer catching up to do!  The kids and I headed to the aquarium on Friday and then had some family time bike riding, playing with the water soakers, and swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's pool over the rest of the weekend.  Ah, summer time!

So this week I am working on the last few projects of my never ending bathroom re-organization.  It seems like I have been doing this FOR.EVER. so I am super excited to get everything finished up.  The main upstairs bathroom is our "beachy" bathroom and I have been planning on making a sign for about 2 months now.

I started with an 11 x14 piece of wood and primed and painted it.  You want to paint it whatever color you would like the letters to be {in my case, white}.  I then printed some vinyl "beach" words on my Silhouette and placed them on the sign using transfer paper.

Once the letters were pressed down I used a sponge brush to paint on some acrylic paint {sea mist blue}.  You will paint right over the letters.  I didn't use a ton of paint as I wanted a little bit of the white to show through.

Before the paint has completely dried, peel off the vinyl letters {use something sharp on the edges to start to lift it up}.  Sand down the edges and a little light sanding over the front and you are good to go!  I guess I should probably add a clear sealant to it at some point but I will have to make a trip to Home Depot for that one.

Now I just need a little piece of driftwood for the shelf.  Hopefully we will head to the beach soon!

Remember that I will be posting my first linky party, The Creative Spark, on Tuesday evening.  I would LOVE it if you came over to show off how fabulous you are!  Pretty please?

I linked up with Tip Junkie, Thrifty Decor Chick, CRAFT, The DIY Showoff, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime, Young and Crafty, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots andJello, 30 Handmade Days, Tidy Mom, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Chic on a Shoestring, Whipperberry, At the Picket Fence, House of Hepworths, Delightful Order, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Christina's Adventures, Lil Luna, Today's Creative Blog, Home Stories of A to Z, Tip Junkie, Skip to My Lou, CRAFT, Craft-O-Maniac, Sew Chatty and Ask Anna.

Scrapbook Saturday No. 6 - Finally Getting to Some Old Photos!

Welcome back to another Scrapbook Saturday! I decided that I better get around to scrapbooking some old photos that I had ordered {about two years ago!}. Anyone else have any old photos laying around and ready to go?

The first two pages are photos from Connor's one year photo shoot {yes, he is now 4!}  The pictures were taken by a friend of mine, Kim, from Maddiegray Photography. The paper is probably just as old and pulled from my stash.  It is by Melissa Francis and the stickers are from Making Memories.  The flowers have also been hanging around for a while and I had taken them out of their original packaging - maybe they're Prima?

Oh, he was such a cute baby!!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Connor.  I know he is not even looking at the camera but there is just something about it that I love.  For some reason, the more I love a picture the harder time I have scrapbooking it.  I guess I want to make sure I do it justice!

I ordered the picture as a 8 x12 and trimmed it down a little.  I kept this layout extremely simple to show off the picture.  The journalling for both of these layouts is written on the back of the page.

As much as it is great to use up old papers, I am always excited to use new ones.  Echo Park is definitely one of my favorite companies these days and I love cute boy's lines!

These pictures are from the P.N.E. {the big summer fair in Vancouver}.  The last few years they have had an Art Cars exhibit where the kids are allowed to paint all over some old cars.  Definitely one of the kids' favorite {and messiest!} activities!   This was Connor's first time and he dug right in!

It feels good to get a few more layouts done for Connor's album.  Unfortunately, the second child doesn't quite get as many pages!
Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend.  I am off to enjoy some SUNSHINE!!!

I linked up with Young and Crafty, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, 30 Handmade Days, Tidy Mom, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Chic on a Shoestring, Whipperberry, House of Hepworth's, Katie's Nesting Spot, Somewhat Simple, Lil Luna, Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie, Skip to my Lou, CRAFT, Craft-O-Maniac, Sew Chatty, Ask Anna and I Heart Naptime.

Pinned It! No. 3

Happy Friday everyone!  It has now been over 24 hours with NO RAIN! The SUN is even due to make an appearance tomorrow so I am super excited for the weekend!

I have VERY slowly been working on organizing our bathrooms over the past couple of months. This next week is committed to actually finishing them all!  I have been collecting and rearranging various accessories over the last little while and am ready to do my last few projects.  So, if you like bathrooms, I will have FOUR to show you over the next week or two {and a few fun things to create too!}

In keeping with my bathroom theme, this week's favorite pins are all about bathroom organization.  Let me just start off by saying that I am a total bath girl.  I love all the scented bath washes and bath bombs {as you will see when I show you my cupboards!} and find a good soak in the bath to be so relaxing!  So I thought I would start off with a couple of pics of my favorite bathtubs.

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Ahhh...I can feel myself relaxing just looking at them!! {not too sure about the window coverings in that first one though!}

Every bathroom needs some great storage space. If you don't have much in the way of built in storage, there are lots of ways to add your own.

Paint a pretty cupboard to hold towels, linens, or toiletries.

Source: sherlonkahkai.tumblr.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Add an extra storage shelf above the door to hold decorative accessories, bulk products, or items that you don't use as often {it helps if you color coordinate your beauty products too - ha! ha!}

Source: marthastewart.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Use a cart and some vintage planters for storing your smaller items.

Source: marthastewart.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Add some galvanized metal sheets to put on the back of your medicine cabinet or inside of a cabinet door.

Source: marthastewart.com

Or use these stacking apothecary jars.

Source: westelm.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I really need to find some ladders as I have seen so many cute ideas for them.  I love this idea for a towel holder.

Source: marthastewart.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I think this ida is fabulous to color code your towels for each family member.

Source: marthastewart.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Have left over towels?  Turn one into a slip cover for an old chair.

Source: marthastewart.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Or make this cute bathroom organizer.

Source: marthastewart.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

See how cute storage can be? {loving that first aid kit!}

Source: bhg.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

So even if you can't have a bathroom that looks like this

Source: google.com via Cassie on Pinterest

You can still have a relaxing, beautiful, organized space!  Happy organizing! If you are a Pinterest addict, you can find me here.

Have a wonderful weekend!