Valentine Garlands!!

Here are the two Valentine garlands I made with my daughter Gabrielle:

They are super easy to make and lots of fun :)

Garland #1:

Supplies:
Heart-shaped paper doilies
Round paper doilies
Little hearts
String
Glue

Step 1:
Glue the circle doily unto the heart-shaped doily.

 
Step 2:
Glue a little heart on the center of the circle doily.

Step 3:
Thread string through each heart and voilà:

Garland #2:

Supplies:
Round paper doilies
Scrapbook paper
String
Glue
Scissors

Step 1:
Cut a heart out of the the scrapbook paper.

Step 2:
Cut out a smaller heart.  Glue the big heart onto the doily and then glue the smaller heart onto the big heart.

Step 4:
Thread string through each doily and voilà:

Easy enough, no?
 

P.S. I'm linking at these Parties.



UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just saw that last weeks project... Jewelry Box-Stand was featured on One Tough Mother!!! SWEET!!

February = BIG MONTH!!!

February is going to be a big month here!!  I'm really excited!

There's going to be product reviews, giveaways, a group giveaway, the introduction of my very own Linky Party and a big collaboration with One Tough Mother.... oh and LOTS of new DIY projects :)

***I'm currently still in need of 2 more vendors for the group giveaway (which also gives you one month of free advertising), if you're interested... please email me at christine(at)thediydreamer(dot)com.***

Christmas Shopping - After Christmas!!!

Do any of you shop for Christmas stuff AFTER Christmas??

I actually did this year, not on purpose though.

I went to Wal-Mart with my Mom and came across some good sales, like Christmas cards for almost nothing... I figured Hey.. I'll need some for sure next year.  Oh and then I noticed that all Christmas lights were half off... which turned out great because my Hubby and I have a big outdoor Christmas project we want to do next year (oh well this year I guess hehe we are now in 2012) and we need lots of lights.  So I picked those up too.

I went back a few days later because I needed odds and ends.. and noticed the After Christmas sale was now even better.. things were at 70% off!!!  Which AGAIN turned out great because I remembered that I had told my Hubby that next Christmas I wanted to change the whole theme of our tree... I picked up LOTS and I mean LOTS of Christmas tree decorations.. worth 60$ for $11!!  Yes that's right.. my tree will have a COMPLETELY new look for 11$!!  SCORE!!!!   I'm going with Pink, Blue, Purple and Green colors... it's going to be AWESOME!!!

Please tell me I'm not nuts.. and not alone to have taken advantage of these crazy sales??

The Jewellery Box-Stand!!!

Do you remember my post on Jewellery Storage back in september?  I mentioned that we were going to make a jewellery box-stand for my daughter.

Here it is...... the jewelry box we made for Gabrielle:

What do you think???  I absolutely ADORE it!!!  I actually want to make one for myself and probably one for my youngest. hehe 

This is what it looks likes without jewellery on it:

Measurements: 13.5'' high x 8'' deep x 12'' wide
The feet are actually little wooden door knobs.  This idea came from my Dad.  : )

Let me know if you try to make one or if you have any questions.

P.S. I'll be linking to these Parties.

How to clean your Washing Machine & your Dishwasher!!!

Last week I came across Ask Anna's blog post on how to clean your washing machine and then a few days later I came across Somewhere in the Middle's blog post on how to clean your dishwasher. 

The thing is... I've never cleaned neither of them... I thought the fact that I fell upon both those post was probably a sign that I should.

First I started with the Washing Machine:

Yes yes I know.... YUCK!!!  Why didn't I clean it before??!!  Just because.. well... I don't know! hehe

I followed Ask Anna's instructions along with the eHow instructions and voilà:

 

It's clean and sparkly now!!!! 
Oh and I also used Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser to clean the color rim that was inside the washing machine.

Now... the even more disgusting one....  the dishwasher!!

I followed the instructions given by Rebakah at Somewhere in the Middle and my dishwasher came out sparkling clean too!!!!  Of course, you'll have to take my word on this because I have not taken any photos yet and now my dishwasher is full of dishes hehe  Oh.. and once again, I used Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser... to erase the rust streaks.

I wonder what I should clean next??

Chalk Serving Trays!!!

We LOVE clementines here, however it just breaks my heart to throw out the wooden boxes they come in.

I found a great use for them!!  Look at this:

Yes that's right!!  You can change them into serving trays!!  And not just regular trays but writable ones!  Not only are they cute, you can also feel great about that the fact that you are recycling.

Supplies:
Clementine wooden box
Staple Remover
Chalk Paint
Paint Brush

Step 1:
Remove all the packaging stuff from the box.
(When purchasing your clementines, try to grab a box that doesn't have sticky labels on them, they are really hard to remove)

You also have to remove the little staples that hold the paper labels in place with a staple remover.

Step 2:
Paint the boxes with the chalk paint.

Step 3:
Once they are dry use them as you please.  :)

I also made some for our craft station.  Example one of the trays is for Paints, we have one for Ribbon, etc...  I made one for my Mom and she stores her fruit in them.  You can even use them as a mail station or for your kids to store they little toys. The possibilites are endless.

**I don't have a chalkboard eraser, so I've been using baby wipes to erase them.  And then I use a dishcloth to dry them.

Let me know if you try this and how it turned out.

P.S. I'm linking at these Parties.

Headboard Inspiration!!

I need some headboard inspiration... and decided to share them all with you.

Why Headboards you ask?? Oh.. simply because my 2 year old has been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for almost a year.

I just can't seem to find the bed I want... so decided that a metal frame with a custom DIY headboard would be the perfect solution!!

Inspiration time!!

DIY Headboard and Bed Frame By Amy

30 Duo

Apartment Therapy

Fabric Upholstered Headboard

Tufted Headboard

Upcycled Headboards

Ruffled Headboard

Painted Headboard

Window Shutter Headboard

What do you think??  Aren't they all great!!

Organization - Wrapping Supplies

Are your wrapping supplies organized or at least put away neatly??

Mine are in bags, boxes, loose, mixed up.. basically a total mess!! 
However, with a little work my mess is now organized!!!  I'm soooo proud of myself.

Not too bad now is it??

This is what I started with:

What do you think?  I told you it was a mess...

How I got organized:

Step 1:
I started by taking out everything and started two piles.  One pile was a toss pile and the other was a keep pile.

Step 2:
Took out bins for the following:
- Bin for Bows
- Bin for Ribbons
- Bin for Cards
- Bin for Tissue Paper
- Bin for Wrapping Paper
- Bin for Christmas Stuff
- Bin for Gift Bags

Step 3:
I printed out labels to identify each bin.

I came across these beautiful labels by Domestifluff.com:

You can find them here.

I opened the *.pdf file in Photoshop and changed the color to black, then I typed in the words I wanted and voilà:

Step 4:

I cut them out and hot glued them onto the bins.

Step 5:
I started separating everything into the appropriate bins.

Tissue Paper

Ribbons

Bows

Cards

Wrapping Paper:

I took the time to tie each roll.

  I placed the Christmas paper at the bottom.

And then I put the regular paper on top.

Did you notice the smaller rolls?  

I cut a cardboard tube in smaller rolls and then wrapped my smaller (scrap) pieces around them.

Christmas Stuff

Final result:

I hope this inspired you to get your wrapping stuff organized.

P.S.  I'll be linking to these Parties.