Soft sided dog house/bed

For the first, back to the grind project, I wanted to make something simple, useful and cute. (granted my husband is not a fan of the fabric colors or patterns)

Materials:

Dog house pattern by Butterick

Foam padding

3 different Fabrics (1 or 2 is acceptable)

iron-on applique

velcro

This project came about when I went with my friend to the fabric store so she could pick up some fabric for a backdrop. I had been itching to break out my sewing machine, but couldn't figure out what I wanted to start with. So I did what most people do and found something in the pattern books they have and grabbed the pattern. It took me about 45 minutes to pick out the fabrics I wanted to use and had to ask multiple times how to read, and even what a few of the items I needed were. In the end I came out of the store with most of what I needed and a TON on excitement. 

I went straight home and cut out all my patterns for the dog house. I wanted to take it slow so i wouldn't get overwhelmed and actually read through the instructions as well as how much to cut and how to baste everything together. Which for the record is NOT what I usually do. 

The next day I wanted to do most of my fabric cutting with lots of natural light, why, I have no idea. So the following day thats exactly what I did. Come to find out I didn't grab enough fabric, probably due to the fact I cut all over the fabric and not in an orderly way. But never the less, I went back to the store and picked up more fabric and some velcro. ( I altered some of the sewn pattern to be closed with fabric so the bed would be collapsible.) 

Once everything was basted I broke out the old sewing machine, borrowed a plastic table from my parents, and invested in a rotary cutter and yard stick. 

Honestly, I think the hardest part of this house was figuring out how to get all the sides to stick together. What I mean by that is once the front and back sides of the house were sewn together with the main section, I was confused on how to get everything together. (the roof comes off, it just stays on top with the velcro.) I suppose I should have gone back to my instructions, but at this point it was home bound and I wanted to get it done. I was so excited to see it completed. 

The first try was hand sewing it, but wasn't a fan of how it looked, so I thought, hey why not just add velcro so it could be portable. (Incase I later try to make a larger version.) So thats exactly what I did. I didn't use a strip for the whole side though, Instead I cut 3 small pieces and evenly spaced it down each side. I think it looks much better than before. 

From there I was done. I just placed the pad I make for the inside and used an iron-on monkey applique to add some character. 

And there you have it, 

I made a soft-sided dog bed/house. 

    

Skeeter (on the left) and Panda (middle and right) modeling the dog house after completion

Colored Mugs

With the approaching wedding, I thought it would be fun to do a really simple DIY project with one of my bestest best friends.

What is great is that it is completely personalized and can't be done wrong!

Supplies:
-Mugs, Plates or bowls
-Sharpies

Draw on your item with the sharpies and then bake in your oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

Here are our mugs

Cracked Hearts

I like the crackle polish, but I'm not a huge fan of the entire nail crackled. So I wanted to play around with a few designs. One design I tried this week was the heart. It is super simple to paint on and cute.

I used a base coat and two crackle polishes for the hearts. What I really enjoy about this design paired with the crackles is the fun. It gives it a rustic look. Almost like it has been there and now starting to fade. Awesome for spring!

Mix and match colors as well as designs and share!!

Step one: Apply base coat

Step two: Apply Design.

HaVE FUN!!!!

Color Combo Cards

Since I picked up a ton of great new nail colors for spring along with some discounted crackle polishes, I wanted to figure out what the crackles would look like over the new colors. Last time I painted each finger a different color with a crackle over it, but wasn't so fond of the multi-colored nails! haha

So this is what I came up with.

A while ago I picked up a few storage boxes that had some large index cards that I had no idea what to do with. Finally found a use for them!

1. Make 1 card for every base color you want to try

2. Paint slots of base coat for as many top coats as you want to pair the base with. In my case I wanted to try my 5 crackles. 

3. Next to the base coat I labeled the top coats I was gunna paint over the base.

4. Finished painting the top coats of crackle on my base coat samples. 

Hootin' Cupcakes

I saw these on... yes, Pinterest. (you just can't beat it)

Please excuse the quality of the photo. I took it through the cover of the carrier.

Easy Fabric Headband

A fun fabric headband for any occassion.

LED nail polish review

I know I said I would post a review last week, but a lot has been going on. So here it is.

Week 1: Only one of my nails actually chipped and started to peel. (keep in mind my nails take a beating with the physical labor that I do. So it isn't an ideal situation.) So I just repainted that nail and went about my business.

Week 2: 2 of my nails, not the one I just painted last week, started to peel. So I repainted those. But just 3 days later more of my nails started to peel.

Overall: The LED nail polish does what it says. It lasts about 2 weeks and instead of chipping it peels. Wish is nice when I only have to re-do one or two nails, its fast and easy. The nail color itself stays "wet" looking, which I personally like.

I will continue to use this type of light and polish. The only draw back is that each color is about $10.

Side note: I painted my nails about a week and a half ago, and they are doing great. No sign of peeling or dulling. So I am EXTREMELY happy with the results!

3d Canvas painting

My friend has been feeling really down lately, and I haven't had much motivation/time to do any fun DIY projects.

LED nail set

Lately I have been into painting and designing my nails. But working at the animal shelter reaked havoc on my polish. Sometimes the polish wouldn't even last a whole day. So when I saw the LED activiated nail polish I was really interested in how it worked, how long it REALLY lasted, and how easy/affordable it was.

I did some research online about the difference between LED and UV light polish. From what I got it wasn't much except the cost of bulbs. Each requires a base and top coat and special lighting.

For me, my local Walmart made the desiscion for me about which I would try. They had a kit specifically for the LED polish.

Save the Dates on the Way

I wanted something different for our save the dates. The wedding it outside and its minimal. No flowers other than the wildflowers that grow there.

Our wedding is more about fun and being together than formalities. No tuxes, just black wranglers and camo cumberbuns. (I believe thats what those are called, the vests)

I saw the cutest picture on pinterest for an amazing save the date.

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But since I didnt have anyone around to photograph us, I improvised and created this.

I tried taking the picture with my phone, but the pixels werent large enough so when i would put it on the postcard it was blurry. So I went back to the drawing board and used my regular camera. But I still wanted the toy camera effect, so I looked around on line for a program that would alter the photo for me. The program is Toy Camera Analog.

After I got the picture all squared away I used vistaprint.com to order my save the date postcards. They should be coming in a few weeks.

(I got the idea for postcards from a website my fiance, davy, found for me giving away coupons for companies and DIY tips for weddings. thefrugalgirls.com. Its an awesome website, not just for weddings but for everyday items and ideas as well. I recommend it!)

My next step is to make my own invitations. This is gunna be a piece of cake....

Fabric Bracelets Gone Wild

I wanted to do a post, showing you how to create the bracelets I have been making. 

The first step is to choose the fabrics that you want to use. You can layer the fabrics, like in a few of the ones I made using the same steps except one minor adjustment. So go crazy and mix and patch patterns and fabrics.

In the order of how they were made.
1st on the bottom and moving up.

Beautifying the phone

My friend was dead set on "blinging" out her phone. So while we were at the fabric store, she picked up jewels and stickers to put on a phone case. I found a few things that were really cool, so i grabbed some stickers and placed them on the case i currently have. Here was the result.

I love the way it turned out!

Cupcake Nails

A super easy and cute nail design to keep you smiling.

Moustache Nail DIY

I am a huge fan of the french tip look for nails, but wanted something different. The design was so easy and very cute.

Wipe away notepad

Another pinterest favorite. Its simple, easy, quick and fun.

Canvas Photographs

Hey guys. I thought this would make awesome gifts for any type of occasion. Hope you enjoy this project as much as I did.

Lighted wreath for the Holidays

Since I got my tree yesterday I really wanted to make a live wreath for the holidays, so I grabbed the excess branches from the in-laws tree and the rest of our tree to tie together for a wreath. Thats about as far as I got, before I got a call from my mom. She really wanted to make a new wreath and get a few new decoration for her tree, so we headed to Michael's and started going crazy!

This is my first DIY project, YAY!

I saw this look on Pinterest, and was really blown away by how pretty AND easy it was to do. Ill show you how to do it step by step. (please excuse my cuticles, I'm not great at doing my nails.)