Cupcake Liner Holder

I am so excited about this project for a few reasons. One, the price is right. Two, it is so creative, clever and adorable. Three, it is about cupcakes, and who doesn't love cupcakes??
I got part of this idea from www.dollarstorecrafts.com. You should check out this site for great, frugal project ideas. I had a problem with my finished product because I had purchased a piece wrong so I had to improvise which turned out to be a blessing, and led to the painted part. This is the cutest thing!
All you do is go to the Dollar Tree store, or your local "everything is a dollar" type store. You buy a glass candlestick, a tall vase, and the little three pack of glass prep bowls. If your store does not sell these then shop around for a bowl that will fit on the type without falling off. You are at $3.00 now. Then I went to my local Hobby Lobby shop. They have a great assortment of drawer knobs. I was fortunate to find a red one that looks like a cherry. You could buy a different one and paint it red, or you could come up with your own cute idea, like maybe your knob is a cute decoration on top of the cupcake. Probably the only real tricky part to this project is that if you pick a knob with the screw in it, it will need to be sawed off to glue it to the top. I am fortunate in that my husband has a machine at work that will do this, but he said a saw will do. The knobs were half price the day I went so I am at $4.50 total!!!! I already had some paint and glue.
Now you just glue the vase to the top of the candlestick. Then you glue the knob onto the top of your glass bowl. Let all of this dry. I used E6000. Then you take your glass bowl and fit it onto the vase to see if it will fit well. If it seems to want to slip off easily then just see where the inside of bowl rests on the vase and run a line of glue in that spot all the way around the bowl on the inside. Let this dry. Then it should not slip off because it will catch on the glue. I was showing this dilemma to my husband after I realized I had bought the wrong vase. The one from the other site had a rim around the top, so look for that kind first. My Dollar Tree did not sell that kind. Anyway,  he was the one who came up with the idea to paint the outside so the glue on the inside wouldn't show.
 After all of this is dry, you paint a cupcake! I am not a painter by any means, so I was worried about this part. It ended up being really easy. I used down strokes to paint the liner (yellow part). That kind of gave it the lines that are on the real liners. Then I painted the icing (pink part) with little swipes. I kept repeatedly going around it making small backward "C" swipes. The white part which could be another color of icing or whip cream, I made by making small "U" strokes all around it. Then the knob represented the cherry on top, but like I said another knob, say a flower, would look like a decoration on the cupcake. You artists out there may have a different way to paint the cupcake, so feel free to use your own creativity. When the cupcake part dried I sprayed it with a Krylon gloss finish to give it a little shine.
Honestly this is a really easy and adorable project. Have I said "adorable" a few times already? Ha Ha!
If you make one of these, which I suspect you will, please post a picture so I can see all the different ways the cupcakes on top are painted. I will most likely be selling these on Etsy. It would also make a great candy holder!  Now, last but definitely not least, put your liners in your holder!

Cupcake Liner Holder

Cabinet How To

I wanted to follow up with the instructions on how to apply the faux finish to the cabinet I finished. If you look at the post called "Cabinet Update 2", you can see the products that were used. First I applied a strong oil based primer, then Valspar paint called "Eclipse". It was the color called for to do the "Taste of Italy" faux finish. After the paint had dried I applied Valspar Brushed Pearl to it. You can see the picture of it in my other post. I purchased it at Lowe's who also had the pamphlet on how to apply this type of finish.
I had to also purchase a wash brush along with a trowel. To apply you take a few foot section, take the wash brush and make X's. When this becomes tacky you take the trowel and make circular motions over that area. Then you repeat this on another section until it is all finished. I was very upset when it dried because it did not look like it does on the pamphlet. I decided to apply a second coat using the same technique. This made all of the difference. I was very happy then with the finished look. It definitely reminds me of some of the buildings in Italy.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions feel free to ask! Here is the better photo I promised!

My Son

This should definitely be in the label "personal note." I'm pinning a picture of my son who passed away so that I can pin it to Pinterest. It's a week away from the anniversary of his death and I miss him terribly.

The Finished Cabinet!

I am SO excited to show you the before and after photos of the cabinet. I will have better quality photos soon, but I just couldn't wait! I worked very hard on this. It was my first big project and I am very proud. It was an old, dull piece of furniture, and I feel like I have given it some character.

Tomorrow I will give detailed instructions on how to give it the "Taste of Italy" finish. We are decorating our dining room in Tuscan decor, so this will match perfectly! Check back in tomorrow to see how to get this look.

Just Learning!

Before Pictures

The fact that I am showing the before pictures should show you how important it is to me to build this blog! Ha ha! We are slowly getting boxes emptied and things put away, but as you can see in these pictures we are far from finished. These are the before pictures of my office. You can kinda see the desk I already finished and posted about. I am very pleased with it, but I have so many more ideas and decorating to do!

 The next pictures are of my bedroom. Once again, there is still a lot to do. I am excited though, to have so many opportunities for posts on my blog. I look forward to sharing my creative ideas, but most importantly I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Wall Hangings

With the move I just really wanted to change our master bedroom along with the other rooms. We do not need to do very much, so I picked the wall behind our bed to fix up different. We also need curtains, and we need to get the rest of the stuff in boxes from the move outta there! I wanted something soft looking.
 Our room is mostly a lavender color, but I put this one green frame that I loved in the room. I needed something else green to go with it, so I decided to paint some canvases. I painted them lavender, and then I painted the words on it in green. The green didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, but it will do. I bought stencils at Hobby Lobby and wrote the word "Love" along with our wedding date of May 26th 1995. I then attached a darker purple ribbon to the back with staples. I am simply going to hang them on nails, but I am waiting on something else for the wall before I show them hanging up.

In my next post I am planning on showing some before pictures of my bedroom. Come on back to check them out!

Handles and Knobs Oh My!

I am so excited! I am always on the hunt for a good bargain. I go to the store, look at what I want and then search it out elsewhere at a cheaper price before I buy. I needed new handles for the cabinet I am working on. It has silver ones that are very dated. I wanted a copper/bronze instead, since I am going for a Tuscan feel. I love the local hardware stores, but I have to say it is crazy what they want for just one handle. It was going to cost me almost $5.00 a piece. I needed six of these things. I decided to look on Ebay. I am so glad to have discovered how cheap you can purchase handles and knobs on Ebay. I was able to get all six for only $15.00 including shipping. Half price is great to me. I maybe could have found handles even cheaper, but the bronze/copper ones tend to be more expensive. Here they are, and I can't wait to show them to you on the finished cabinet!

Cabinet Update Part 2

Well I got the cabinet primed and painted. I will say that it took a long time. As you can see in the pictures from Part 1, the cabinet has several shelves, and they are not removable. It was really time consuming doing the ceilings of them and getting in all the corners. There are also a couple of drawers. It was well worth the time. It is a large cabinet with a great amount of storage. It was my grandma's and it was free. What more can I ask for?? After the painting I purchased my supplies for the faux finish. The finished look is called "A Taste of Italy".  Here is what was needed to do the brushed pearl finish:
Valspar Brushed Pearl
Wash Brush 4 in.
Trowel (plastic)
I purchased all of these items at Lowe's. They also had a pamphlet with instructions. I am so excited to show the finished look! I am waiting on one thing and then I can show you the cabinet. I ordered the handles so I am waiting for them to arrive in the mail. Once they are on, it will be ready to go so stick around!

Desk Redo

I have a really cute project today! We want our new office to be mainly black and white decor with some other colors thrown in. The reason for this is that my husband has a black CD rack and I have a white cabinet I keep photo's in that will be kept in the office. Unfortunately, do to lack of funds we have a lot of laminate furniture in our home. We are slowly replacing it. Our desk is awful looking in my opinion. It is just boring brown and made of laminate. I decided to cover it with wrapping paper. I was going to decoupage all of the areas, but after trial and error, meaning after I ripped off a couple of sheets, I decided to just stretch the wrapping paper over the areas and then decoupage where I sealed it underneath. I am so pleased with the results.
I purchased my paper at Hobby Lobby. I recommend getting it there if you have one in your area because the gift wrap is thick and strong. I would just advice that wherever you get it make sure it is not the really thin rolls. Depending on the size of what you are covering you made need the rolls instead of the flat sheets.  The office is a work in progress, so I will keep you posted along the way. Here are the before and after photos!

Purse Organizer

Since moving last week I am trying to find a home for everything. I didn't want my purses thrown around everywhere so I decided to use this purse rack. It simply hooks over the door. It is great. My bags do not get smashed and each one is easy to find. I believe mine was purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond. Amazon and The Container Store also sell them at a reasonable price. Let's get organizing those closets!

Cabinet Update Part 1

Well, I guess I did not think it through to start on this cabinet the week before our big move to the new house. Let me just say I got the cabinet almost painted completely, but then had to stop to move, so now it is sitting on plastic almost in the center of our dining room! It is driving me crazy at this point. I so want to finish it, but unfortunately being able to walk into my kitchen right now has to be the priority. There are boxes covering every inch of this house and it is a big house!

The photo's here do not really show the brightness of the color yellow that I chose. The one showing the inside of the drawer shows the color the best. I am hoping when it is finished I can time it the right time a day to get a good shot. I will next purchase the brushed pearl and tools I need to give it the Tuscan finish. Thanks for being patient and stay tuned. When the unpacking is over I hope to have projects completed closer together.