Homecoming Mum Idea!

It's August and at least in South Texas that means football season is almost upon us, and homecoming is right around the corner!

Are you already planning mums for your daughter, her friends, or your son's girlfriend?!? 

I loved the lions that we found last year, but I was super-excited to discover Alisha Todd on Etsy (her shop link - Alisha Todd) who makes the cutest polymer clay figures.  

I requested a custom order for these little cheerleaders and received them in about a week and a half - a great turn-around time!

And since weight is always a factor - the larger girls weigh 1 oz and the smaller girl weighs .8 oz. They are about 3" and 2 1/4" tall.

I still need to gather a few more ideas - and find some cow bells! - but I am really looking forward to making mums this year now that I have a bit more experience!

 

You can see more of her figures (and some adorable bows!) in this shop, too.

These are my mum tutorials from last year:

1. beginning 

2.almost done

3. finished!

Organized Craft Armoire

So many projects this summer and one I finally completed!  I really don't like plastic boxes - but I finally decided that I just could not get organized without them - 

I NEED to see what's inside! 

I really did not get rid of as much stuff as I thought I would - 2 paper bags full, but most everything I really do use when I can find it!

Organized Armoire - hopefully organized forever!

Shop Ribbons

I found tons of stuff that I had forgotten all about and tons of repeat ribbons.

 Did I mention that I like ribbons?!?

Presents and Gift Bags Ribbons

Tulle for Shop and Special Gifts

I found several more spools of each style after I took these pictures and they don't include my Christmas ribbon box, homecoming mum ribbon box, and random just-because-I-liked-it ribbon box.  

I have already had occasion to destroy all of my organization, but so far the worst thing that has happened is I left a few boxes out overnight.  I am so happy that everything has a place now!!

Cartwheels in the Summer Rain

Cascarones Cookies

My version of the "pinata cookie"

My friend over at TheCottageMarket linked to the cutest pinata cookies at SheKnows and I really wanted to give them a try.

I just used my own sugar cookie recipe and since I waited until the night before family day at school I had to make do with an egg-shaped cookie cutter instead of a burro-shaped one.  (I do have a Dala horse cutter that would have looked really cute but it is solid and I would not have been able to flip it over.)

We are just finishing up Fiesta here in San Antonio and we go through a lot of cascarones in April, but since cascarones are fun any time of year I thought the egg-shape would be perfect!

So, they turned out a bit more round than I planned and my colors didn't turn out quite like I wanted - I haven't used food coloring in ages and used a bit too much, but they were still a hit - I mean they have m&m's inside - what more could you want!!

My changes from the original recipe were that I used a different dough (a lot of people seemed really unhappy with the recipe listed plus I prefer butter to oil), a different cutter shape, and I rolled the dough in a cylinder shape in some parchment paper before freezing.

Yes, they did take a long time to make, but not really any longer than any other cut-out and decorated cookie I have ever made.  And the leftover cookie didn't go to waste.  My children have almost finished every bite!

 

Re-Decorating With Architectural Salvage

I wish I had before pictures, but, of course, I don't! So you will just have to imagine a cluttered piano top and a lonely metal piece floating on the wall.

The day before my grandmother's house was torn down my mom and I manged to salvage a few things - pink! shutters, some windows and moldings, and a few other odds and ends. With the help of a friend I finally got around to using some of those features to make my place just a bit more homey! 

 

The weathered shutters add a fabulous pop of pink and fill the space on a rather tall (for my house) wall. We centered the little kitchen window under the metal scroll and added one of my favorite ceiling tin hearts so there would be a bit of "me," too! The oil lamp and candy dish are from my other grandmother and the picture that needs matting and re-framing is of her parents.

This super cool lamp is an early bday gift from my husband.  I found it at Tuesday Morning and was so excited - Don't you love it when you don't know what you are looking for but find it anyway!! I don't know if you can tell that it is covered with tons of little weathered mirrors. And it has fabulous light so my little one can read her piano music!

These little tables are underneath each shutter and will hopefully soon be undergoing a transformation to cottage white (and maybe a bit of mosaic on the horizontal surfaces).

Teenage Bedroom Redo

Don't you just love the difference paint makes!?!

From pink walls and girly-girl cutesy . . .

. . . to something a bit simpler, bolder, and "teen-ager-y"
Slightly off-white walls and squares in her school colors.

Oops! I still have to do something about those super pink baskets!

Well, we didn't make all the kid stuff go away!

Condensed version of all the steps!

I think this is the most important!
I cut and taped poster board squares to the wall in a way that I thought looked balanced and not too busy. The squares were too small the first time (top photo) and looked "too cute-sy" so even though I didn't want to - I cut more and bigger squares and re-did it (bottom photo)!

For the next step I called my husband in to help!
I penciled around the corners of the squares so I knew where I wanted them to be and then my sweetie used a level and drew the squares all perfect (and square!) for me - I hate measuring!

I managed to tape around the lines pretty evenly - I learned to tape slightly on the outside of the pencil marks.

After having the paint bleed and look awful I read online about taping, then paint the original wall color over the tape, letting it dry, and then painting the new color. This worked amazingly well! I only had a few places that I touched up with a tiny artist brush.

I did all of the red first - it took 4-5 coats!

Then the black. The taping was a bit trickier - I had to cut the tape and make sure it was perfectly straight where it met the red. And I had to paint over the tape in 2 different colors (original wall and red) to make sure there was no black bleeding onto the red or the white. The black paint was only 1 1/2 coats and went on super fast.

Done!
Now I just need to find the time for new curtains and bedding . . .

And the best part - I did this in 3 days while she was away at cheer camp (I used an oscillating fan to help it dry faster) - she was totally surprised AND loved it!

New in my Shop

My first Christmas together ornaments were quite popular last year, so I've decided to add a customized version!

I'm adding more colors ready-made, but also listing an option for design your own!

And since they are now available in whatever colors you would like - wedding colors, school and team colors, or favorite colors, they are perfect for many different occasions.

I love the coastal/beach theme colors of this one!