DIY: Burlap Box

Alright all you moms out there.  I know you'll love this project because I certainly do!

I saw this pin on Pinterest and finally got around to doing it.

All you need is:
~ a really messy spot
~ a diaper box
~ some light colored paint
~ hot glue
~ around 1 yard of burlap
~ ribbon
~ embellishments (optional - it looks cute with just the ribbon)
~ a smart and sassy Brit (this is not necessary but I had one spending the night at my house the day I did this project and I really liked it.  She also gave me a manicure that's lasting longer than when I paint my own nails.  She deserves her very own blog post...I'll start working on that.)

Choose your messy area.  Mine was our hall closet.  We had gloves, hats, scarves, leashes, and board games thrown into a heaping pile on a not-so-level shelf.  It got to the point when something would fall, I would cram the fallen item on the floor behind our vacuum.  Outta sight, outta mind.

Start by painting your box so that any bright, multi-colored patterns don't show through the burlap.  I used white acrylic paint and it actually dried super quick.

Unfortunately my camera died in the middle of the wrapping process but it's easy peazy.  There's not really a wrong or right way to do this.  Just treat it like a present and wrap it up, using hot glue wherever and whenever you want.

I glued the first edge in the middle of one of the long sides, planning for that to be the back.  Then when I folded the other side over, I folded the edge down so it left a nice crease and no raw edges were exposed.

This is where my camera died.  You really just do whatever works.  And of course extra burlap on the top is good.  Glue it down inside the box so that you don't see the cardboard when it's holding your clutter.

I did cut the flaps off the bottom of the box so it sits a little flatter.

After you're finished with your burlap, take your ribbon and glue it down.  I started at the back of the box, at the seam.  I put a line of glue, pressed down one edge of the ribbon, wrapped the ribbon tightly around the whole box, and glued it down once it met up with the seam again.  To finish up, I added 3 felt flowers with pearl brads.

That's it!

I was able to finished this project during one naptime.  You ask any mom and she'll tell you that's a feat.

Nutella Frosting

This frosting contains 1 cup of Nutella.

Need I say more?

You should already be running to your kitchen to make this...because every sane woman has a stash of Nutella.  Right?  Well, I don't always have it...but I should.

Ingredients:
~ 1 cup confectioners' sugar
~ 1 cup Nutella
~ 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
~ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
~ 1/4 teaspoon salt
~ 1/3 cup heavy cream

Mix confectioners' sugar, Nutella, butter, vanilla, and salt on medium speed until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.  Add the cream and mix until the mixture is light and smooth.

I used this frosting on top of mini yellow cupcakes (I bought Betty Crocker brand) and they were the yummiest cupcakes ever.

I know I shouldn't toot my own horn but...

TOOT TOOT BABY! 

No-Sew Ruffle Tree Skirt

I am in love with this tree skirt!  I've been seeing them around Pinterest and finally sat down to make one.  From what I've read on other blogs, if you just sit down and work until it's finished, it takes somewhere around 4-5 hours.  I did not time myself because I knew I'd be working on it while our daughter was awake.  I started on it Friday evening around 5:00 and it was finished at lunchtime on Saturday.  {Karlie and I took lots of book reading/ball throwing/chocolate milk making/booty dancing breaks...all of which I highly recommend during this project}

WARNING:  While this was an incredibly easy project, it was tedious.  EX.TREME.LY. tedious.  Some may experience thoughts like:
"This is taking FORever."
"I'm running out of material..."
"I don't think I have enough glue sticks."
"My back is KILLING me!"
"No, literally.  I think I'm dying from back pain..."
"If those dogs shed one more hair on my ruffles..."
"Ugh....."
"Do you think two rows of ruffles is enough?"
All of these thoughts are normal.  Don't give up!  Some All of those thoughts may have come out of my mouth at some point.  Just take lots of breaks and try to have fun!  It will be beautiful!

Here's what I used:
~ 1 canvas dropcloth from Lowe's or Home Depot (you could also use a tree skirt you already have)
~ 3 yards white material (I'm pretty sure it was muslin)
~ 3 yards tan material (I'm not sure what it is exactly but it was sitting on the same shelf as the burlap at Joann's)
~ rotary cutter (MUCH easier/faster than using scissors)
~ glue gun and lots of glue sticks
~ something very entertaining

1.  Fold your drop cloth in half, and then in half again so it is quartered.
2.  Fold your square in half to form a triangle.
3.  My husband likes to be exact so we used a tape measure and Sharpie as a compass to draw the arc where we would cut.
4.  Cut that line and another smaller arc down at the point.

You should end up with a circle...**

**I was really hoping to be able to tell you which side of the triangle to cut but somehow we failed miserably and ended up with this....

So I had to whip out my sewing machine to sew the two half-circles together. (I could have also used hot glue)  

Begin cutting your strips of material.  The length doesn't really matter but the longer the better (then you won't have to keep reaching for strips) but they need to be 3 inches wide.

Now set up for the long haul.  This is what my work area looked like:

Using a little bit of glue at a time (it dries pretty quickly) use your strips to make ruffles.  My advice would be to make little ruffles.  I started out making the ruffles very tall but it uses more material and takes a little bit longer.

So if you make the ruffles shorter, it goes a little quicker and doesn't use as much material.  Anna phrased it: "Less ruffle, less fabric being used."  Something like that.  She's very wise.

Keep going and going and going, alternating fabric between rows.  Saturday morning I moved to the kitchen table because hunching over on the floor was taking a toll on my back.

A couple hours later, this is what I had....

I L-O-V-E it!  So much.  Or as Karlie says "doe mush."

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

* Courtesy of veryculinary.com

Ingredients:
~ 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
~ 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
~ 1 cup sugar
~ 2 large eggs
~ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
~ 3 1/2 cups flour
~ 1 teaspoon salt
~ 1 teaspoon baking soda
~ 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
~ 1 package of Oreos (I used Publix brand but didn't love them...no offense Publix, or Kalie)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until well combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a medium bowl mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together.  Slowly add this to the wet ingredients.  Then add the chocolate chips.

Take one ball of cookie dough... 

Put an oreo on top and smoosh it down...

Put another ball of cookie dough on top...

Then seal the edges.

Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 13 minutes or until edges start to turn golden brown.  Let them cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

I got the recipe and plate idea from Pinterest...who's surprised?

Enjoy!

Bolognese Sauce

*Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman via Pinterest.

Ingredients:
~ 1/2 cup olive oil
~ 1 1/2 cup grated carrots
~ 1 large red onion, diced
~ 2 pounds ground beef
~ 2 tablespoons dried oregano
~ 2 tablespoons dried basil
~ 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
~ 5 cloves garlic, minced
~ 1 cup red cooking wine
~ 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
~ 2 cans (28 oz.) whole tomatoes (I use 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes)
~ 1 cup milk
~ salt and pepper, to taste
~ fresh parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet over medium heat. Add grated carrots and onions and cook for a few minutes. 

Make a well in the center of the mixture.

Then add in the ground beef. Cook for a few minutes until brown, gradually stirring it into the carrot mixture.  Throw in oregano and basil.  When the meat is browned and combined with other ingredients, make another well. Add tomato paste and let it heat. 

Add garlic and stir to combine.  Make a well in the center of the mixture and add red wine. Stir together. 

Add Worcestershire and stir. Add canned tomatoes. Finally, pour in milk, stir, and let simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours—however long you need.

Serve with pasta and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

No Bake Energy Bites

*Courtesy of Mrs. Sharon, who found it on Pinterest.

This is the recipe that I used from Mrs. Sharon.  The link to the actual recipe gives other ideas for mix-ins.

Ingredients:
~ 1 cup oatmeal
~ 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
~ 1/2 cup almond butter
~ 1/3 cup honey
~ 1 teaspoon vanilla
~ 1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
~ 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1.  Mix oats and flaxseed together.
2.  Mix almond butter, honey, and vanilla together and pour on top of oats mixture.
3.  Add chocolate chips and walnuts.  Mix all ingredients until well blended.
4.  Roll into balls and store them in your refrigerator to keep them firm.

These are so good and good for you!  Even Karlie can't get enough!

Another Pinterest-ing Project

Would you like to guess where I got the idea for this next project?  If you guessed Pinterest, you guessed right!  This pin to be exact.

We did this project awhile ago and I just have not gotten around to sharing it.  So when I heard that Katie over at Bower Power and Sherry over at Young House Love were doing another round of their Pinterest Challenge, I knew I wanted to participate this time.

All you need for this project is:
~ a canvas (Fortunately we had recently grown to dislike the enormous 4'x4' canvas that was hanging in our living room so we decided to give it a little facelift.)
~ letters (We used two different kinds: the smaller letters are chipboard letters.  We found ours in the scrapbook section at Joann's.  The larger letters were from Hobby Lobby, 50% off!)
~ white spray paint
~ acrylic paint, any color.  The bolder the better. (This was how we put our own little spin on the project.)


If you're using a canvas you already have, make sure you wipe it clean of dust.

Pick your phrase!  For ours, we chose a phrase from our wedding verse, Song of Solomon 8:7.  

 Then using your letters, decide where you want it and then spell it out.  The chipboard letters have sticky squares on the back of them so they were easy to stick down.  For the larger letters we used a hot glue gun.

(I've included a picture of the chipboard letters. I had the hardest 

time finding them because I didn't know what they looked like!)

Then start spraying your white spray paint.  

Because our canvas was so large it took several coats (it could actually probably use another coat.)  

Just keep spraying until you're satisfied that it's evenly coated.

Now here's where that acrylic paint comes into play.

Using the paint and a brush, paint the side edges of the canvas.  

This part was the most tedious and took the longest, and we had 3 people working on it.

Boy, oh boy, do I love that pop of color!

Now I have to admit, when we got home and hung it back up, I didn't love it.  It was hard to go from seeing something dark on the wall to seeing something so stark white.  But it has grown on me.  We're slowly repainting our house (changing the color scheme) so I think the new color will look great behind it!

P.S. - If you want to see a couple other things I have done (inspired by Pinterest) peek over at the right side of the page and click on "Pinterest" under the words screaming "LOOKING FOR SOMETHING???"  

I highly recommend the homemade Febreze!

DIY: Play Make-Up

I found this idea on the lovely and addicting world of Pinterest.

This project is super easy and will definitely make your little girl feel pretty special.

All you need is:
~ nail polish (I bought the cheap stuff from Wal-Mart)
~ empty make-up containers

  Clean out your make-up containers with warm water and soap and dry them completely.

  Slowly fill the containers with nail polish.  

As the nail polish dries, it shrinks down quite a bit so I filled it all the way to the top of the silver lining.

To ensure the polish dries level, make sure the containers are lying completely flat on a hard surface

And that's it!  You're done!  I  let Karlie's make-up dry for 3 days before I showed it to her.  This will give it time for the fumes to go away and will ensure the polish is completely dried.