Tutorial: Picture Coasters.

Today was another day for making Christmas gifts! I found this idea online, and thought wow this is super easy and I could totally do it in an afternoon.

Supplies

• Glue Gun
• Individual Tiles (I bought mine at Lowes for .34 cents a piece!)
• Mod Podge
• Paint Brushes
• Felt Pads (Also bought at Lowes)
• Polyurethane Spray (Purchased at Walmart for about $5)
• Glue Stick
• Pictures of choice, or scrapbook paper

Steps:

• First cut your pictures or scrapbook paper to fit the tiles. I cut mine about 4x4

• Then glue your pictures to your tile, and Mod Podge over them. I used two thick coats. It helps to seal the picture so that water won't damage them.

• Next, take your tiles outside and spray a thin coat of Polyurethane. Let dry, and spray another thin coat. Make sure you're spraying about 12 inches away from the tiles otherwise it will be too thick and take several hours to dry; I made that mistake. haha

•  Once the tiles are finished drying, hot glue a felt pad on each corner to prevent them from scratching your tables or any surface. The pads are sticky, but I used hot glue for additional reinforcement. 

• Now you have personalized coasters! They really are a perfect gift for anyone. 

PS- I keep forgetting to take pictures of the baby wipe covers when I make them! I promise I'll have the post up soon!

Tutorial: Felt Flowers

Today was a busy day! I made lots of gifts for Christmas, and so I was making lots of felt flowers! Then I thought, this would be a great tutorial for my blog! Lucky you. ;)

Materials Needed:

• Glue Gun
• Sheet of felt
• Scissors
• Pencil and Paper

Steps:

• First you start out by drawing a simple flower on a piece of paper. You'll use this for the stencil for your petals

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• Next cut out a small circle, and about 6 or 7 flowers.
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• Start by putting a small dab of hot glue in the middle of the flower, and folding in half.

• Put a small dab of hot glue and fold again, so it's in fourths. 

• Snip the pointed bottom off, so that it looks flat.

•  Then glue on the edge of your circle, continue to do so until you fill the circle.
  
• Now you have a pretty, and easy felt flower!

 

Isn't it too cute?! And way too easy! I used this flower on my baby wipe case covers I made. That tutorial can be found here!

DIY Teeth Whitening for only $1.16!

I've really been wanting to try out all the DIY teeth whitening recipes I've been finding online. Today seemed like the perfect day, and I had nothing better to do! It really worked for me, it isn't extremely dramatic but you can definitely tell that it whitened my teeth.

Supplies

• Hydrogen Peroxide (At walmart for 52 cents!)
• Baking Soda (At walmart for 64 cents! I bought Arm and Hammer, but generic is even cheaper!)

Yep, that's all you need to make the solution! 

Steps

• In a small bowl, mix one part hydrogen peroxide and two parts baking soda.
• Swish some hydrogen peroxide in your mouth before hand for a mouth wash.
• Brush on the mixture like you would when you brush your teeth, then leave it sit for 5 minutes.
• Rinse mouth, and then brush your teeth like you normally would with toothpaste! I used the Crest 3D white, it's supposed to help whiten quite a bit too.

Taaadaaa. All done! It was so easy right?! 

While rinsing my mouth with the hydrogen peroxide, I thought "this tastes so familiar!" Then it hit me, it tastes EXACTLY like the Crest White Strips. Who would've thought? All your paying for is a gel form of hydrogen peroxide. So crazy. 

I'm going to continue doing the treatment 3 times a week until I get the results I want, then do it about once or twice a month afterwards. A lot of the recipes recommend only doing it a few times a month because it can be harsh on your teeth and break down the enamel. 

Good luck. I hope it works for you!

Busy Lady!

I've been so so busy lately, and I haven't really had any time to do anything crafty. The sewing machine that is available for me to use, is also mysteriously broken, so that kind of puts a damper on things. Soon, though I do want to give my hand at making some ear warmers. Delia Creates has a super cute tutorial on making them, and they look super easy! I especially like this bow one she's made!


On another note, I kicked my butt today in the gym. An hour on the elliptical, 30 mins on the treadmill, and then all my toning exercises. I'm definitely not used to being at the gym for 2 hours. That's just nuts! But, I want a sexy body for when I see my husband again. Weight Watchers is really helping me out too, before I even started throwing exercise into the mix I lost 5 pounds my first week, and continued to lose 2-3 pounds a week after that. That's just with watching what I eat! I've lost 15 pounds in the past 2 months! And if you know me, I'm a couch potato. So anyone can do it! It's such an awesome program, and it really works. I'd suggest paying for the first month to get all the free paperwork, and books on how to do it.. Then just continue it on your own at home.

The rest of my day is calling! A nice long hot shower, and a trip to the dog park with my fur babies!
//emily

Getting our orders soon?!

I can't even begin to explain how anxious I am to get our orders. (Orders are paperwork giving us a new duty station.) I'm so sick of not knowing where we are going to be living, and not knowing is the worst feeling ever. I'm the kind of person who likes to plan for EVERYTHING. I just feel better knowing exactly what is going to happen, and to have back up plans for everything. My hubby said that we should be getting orders within the next few weeks, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
According to his instructors it's very possible that he will get shore duty! Which is amazing, cause that means he won't be going out to sea at all! The top 3 places we put for new duty stations are; Everett Washington, Denver Colorado, and Japan. Hopefully we get Washington or Denver. Either way, I'll be a happy camper. We both just really want to get away from the East Coast for awhile. I'm so ready to experience something new, and start this new chapter in our life.

Tutorial: Sisal Rope Bowl.

I was snooping around DIY blogs the other day, and found this;

Kate from Centsational Girl made an amazing rope bowl! So, of course I decided I could do it too!


Supplies:

• 50 ft of 1/4" thick sisal rope; I bought mine at lowes for $6
• Clear, or Metal bowl; I bought mine at dollar tree!
• Glue Gun, I suggest using low heat if you're going to glue to plastic
• About 12 glue sticks

Steps:
I started at the top of my bowl, and in the beginning hot glued my rope about every 3 inches. Later, I found it to be easier just to glue along all the rope using small amounts of glue. (Valerie's in the background, addicted to pinterest.)

Once you've finished the outside of the bowl, start the inside! I suggest starting at the bottom!

And, done! Now you have a super cute rope bowl! (I haven't gotten around to putting anything in it yet, so it's not that pretty.)

My very first post!

My very first post, and I don't even know what to say..

Well, I guess I can just jump right into it! Yesterday I spent a majority of my day working on pictures for my gallery wall. It was super easy to do, and I'm VERY happy with how it turned out.

Here's my inspiration for my wall;

And here's my wall! (don't judge me for my hanging skills.. I know it looks horrible.) And the picture is horrible quality, but they look awesome. I promise!

It was super easy.

Supplies you will need:

• An old book, I chose an old dictionary (Goodwill find!)
• Thin tip, and fine tip sharpies
• Pencil with an eraser
• Frames

Total Cost: $4!

1.  I went online and found images that I really liked and even used pictures from my inspiration. http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/index.htm is a really awesome site for clip art to use!
2. Using my pencil I sketched the image onto my book pages. I definitely recommend using your pencil first, that way and you can fix any errors! Unless of course you're an amazing artist, which I am not..
3. Trace over pencil lines with sharpie! I just judged by the picture if I needed to use the thin tip, or fine tip of my sharpie for each line.
4. Erase any pencil marks that may be showing, and trust me there were lots!
5. Frame, and finished!

Such an easy project right? I thought so..  You can even use the clip art online, and run the book pages through your printer for a "cleaner" look. I wanted mine to look hand-made, but if you're not much of an artist using the printer may be better for you!

More projects to come, soon!