Organzing those Ties or Belts

I dont know how it is at your house, but at mine my husband wears a shirt and tie almost everyday. Since we have been married he has always just stored them on a single hanger. This totally teases me cause its like how can you remember what you have it you can't see it because they are piled on top of each other. So I decided that I would find a remedy for it. This is what I came up with.

I think this looks a ton more organized, than all of these piled up onto one hanger. You could also use this to organize scarfs or belts as well. I just used a piece of Rabbit fence or wire (see image below) and tied on a piece of ribbon. So cheap and easy!

The wire I used looked like this

Easter Crafting

When I went to find my Easter decorations I found that I didnt have any. All I had was a lonely Happy Easter sign. So I decided to create some out of things that I already had.

I had some eggs and easter grass and found this cute pot and made an Egg tree.
Can you tell I am in love with little trees :)

My version of the Carrot Tree. I just used normal orange pipecleaners 

and swirled them around and for the stems used green pipecleaners.

Easter banner. I used some Easter cookie cutters and used some

springy paper and ribbon.

I also put them on one of my little trees.

Cute fabric eggs out of some left over fabric.

Anyways, that's also what I have been up to besides getting my garden ready. Hopefully, it will give you some good ideas of things you can make out of things you already have. Happy crafting!

02

Gardening on a Budget

  

Sorry its been a while since my last post. I have been busy trying to get my vegetable garden ready, as well as my flower beds for the upcoming planting season.

A week or so ago I was at the dollar store and saw some seeds from American seeds. At first I was a little skeptical because they were from the dollar store. I was afraid that they were last years seeds and that they wouldn't grow so I wanted to test them before I told everyone about them.

I am glad to report that I have sowed them and they are already sprouting. At Family Dollar they were 4 packages for a dollar but, they also have them at Walmart for 5 for a dollar (just $.20 a packet). They have a bunch of different varieties of vegetables and flowers. I had already bought my veggie seeds so I just bought some flower seeds. I didnt buy anything special to start these seeds in,  I am starting them in plastic drinking cups and it seems to be working. I figure if I spent $2 now on flower seeds and ended up with a bunch of plants it would be way cheaper than buying them by the flat later on in May :) Also, if you were able to get a bunch of veggies from the seeds as well it would save you $ on produce later on.
Here is how I started my Seeds:

First, I poked a hole in the bottom of the cup. Then I added about a 1/4" of dirt in the cup, wet the soil using a spray bottle so it wouldnt pack it down. Then added a few seed into each cup and another 1/4-1/2" of soil and watered it until the soil was throughly soaked. And voila I got some sprouts. I am not sure if this is the exact way that the pros do it but, it worked for me so I thought I would share it :)

Hanging Roses

The other day on Tatertots and Jello, on of my fav blogs, they had a Shelly from the House of Smiths. She made these adorable rose balls. I am SOOO going to make some orange ones for my bookcase. She made them out of crepe paper and styrofoam balls. So cheap and SO easy. They are perfect to add a touch of spring to any room :) For the full tutorial go to http://houseofsmiths.blogspot.com/2010/02/hanging-roses-i-was-browsing-blogs.html

Carrot Tree for Easter

I am so going to make one of these! I saw this one on my new fav site familyfun.go.com and thought it was so adorable and easy to make. They just used orange bumpy pipe-cleaners and little green embroidery floss. And we all know how I am so obsessed with making little trees out of random tree branches. One thing I would probably change would be to spray paint the branch white. Also you could probably find most of this stuff at the dollar store, so super cheap and adorable. For step by step instructions click here.

Easter Party Carrots

These were just too cute to not post. I also found these on http://familyfun.go.com. They just used green utensils and an orange napkin. SO clever. For full directions click here

Easter Topiary Tree

I thought this tree looked delicious. I found this adorable idea on familyfun.go.com, they have a TON of way cute ideas for Easter. For directions on how to make this go to http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/easter-topiary-tree-667202/

Cheap Cat Toy

So about a month ago we decided to get a cat. We searched the classifieds found one that was an indoor cat and fell in love with her. However when we got home she hated my husband, my little guy, and my dog. Then we found out that I am allergic to cats (which is totally weird cause I had them all growing up, but they were outside cats). So we had to give her away and when I gave her away I gave away all of the toys that I bought for her. After we gave her away I was at a gardening class and found out what had been eating/making trails in my backyard, voles or field mice.  Following which we again decided to get a new cat but this time a kitten that we could train to be outside so my allergies wouldnt drive me nuts. Well to make a long story short we now have two baby kittens and they have no toys. I decided that I could probably make the some and I came up with this.

Its just a simple dowel with some fabric fish I sewed out of some extra quilt blocks I had. I thought it was kind a cute and the kittens dont seem to mind :) The best part about it was it was free because I already had all of the stuff.

Creative St. Patties Printables

I dont have any St. Patricks Day decoarations so I just went a head and skipped to Easter at my house. However, I found these adorable printables from howdoesshe.com that someone made into an adorable banner. I wish I would have found these before I decorated for Easter:) I will have to download them and make them later for next St. Patties day.  Click here for more FaNtAsTiC St Patties decorating ideas from How Does She.

15 Minute Emergency Kit

I as I was surfing my usual blogs I came across this fabulous idea from Pinching Your Pennies. With the recent rash of earthquakes anyone could use one of these. Its better to have a little preparation then none at all. :) Here are some things that she included in her kit:

small backpack
sweatshirt/jacket
bottled water [it's not the recommended 3 gallons, but it's certainly better than nothing, and you can add more if space and weight allow]
assorted adhesive bandages
antiseptic wash (or alcohol wipes or iodine)
antibiotic ointment
otc pain relievers
any prescription meds you take on a daily basis
food for 1 day [I just grabbed 6 granola/nut bars - convenient, no cooking required, and could be easily rationed if needed bar of soap
washcloth
roll of toilet paper
(for the gals) feminine hygiene products
If you have a young child, you might want to include a baby blanket, cloth or disposable diaper(s) and possibly a bottle and formula.


I loved this idea! I also made something similar to this that fit in a Gallon zip lock bag and actually included things that I would eat. I will have to post that kit later, I gotta go see if I can find it (we have moved several times since I made it:) For more Emergency kit ideas visit pinchingyourpennies.com or visit http://bereadyutah.gov/

Cup Cake Wrapper Wreath

So I will be the first to admit I have been slacking when it comes to blogging. I recently got a job as a newspaper carrier so my days start at 2 am and I have been trying to catch up on sleep, housework, and our recent new addition of two kitten and two baby chicks. So I totally apologize for my slacking.

On a brighter note I am so excited this being my 200th post. I thought that this being my 200th post that I definetly wanted to make a craft to share with you. I decided to make a variation of the Cup Cake Wrapper Wreath that I shared with you last month from Tatertots and Jello. Here is how I created it:

I bought a Styrofoam wreath and then wrapped it in ribbon.

Then I folded the cup cake wrappers into 4th so it kind of looked like a flower. I found these adorable Easter wrappers at Fresh Market.

I hot glued 100 of them onto the wreath. I started by creating 4 sections and then filled in the rest moving around the wreath a section at a time. For a step by step tutorial you can go to tatertots and jello. This is my finished product. I thought it was pretty cute. The best part about it is that it only cost like $8 to make the whole thing :)