Simple Children's Art Display

I am a huge fan of an 

uncluttered fridge front,

but I also am starting to get

lots of cute artwork from my toddler.

I wanted her to feel special and 

also have an organized, simple way

to display a few pieces at a time.

First I took some black contact paper

(sold at local stores or 

in my Online Store for $0.65 a foot)

and cut out the word Masterpieces. 

(Pattern below...)

After applying the word Masterpieces to my wall,

I went to my local dollar store and 

purchased 5 black frames.

I printed off a matching background

for each of the five frames

(Free printable below...)

to match the rest of the coloring in the room.

Then I took a small binder clip

and hot glued a metal star on one side,

and hot glued the other side to the 

top of the black frame.

I mounted the five frames,

each with a "starred" black binder clip

onto the wall in our dining/kitchen area.

Now to display her art,

I can easily slip it in the clip,

or insert her art behind the glass.

As I have more children,

each child will have their own frame

to display whatever they want.

I hope this helps simplify the

Art Displaying mayhem!

I'd love to hear what you think or

what you do to display the art in your own home!

Download Pattern Here

Distressing Ink for Pennies

I love distressing edges on cards, shelves, crafts, etc.
I had made up a way to get that distressed look
before I realized that you could buy
distressing ink pads at the craft stores.

I finally decided to purchase a few,
thinking that it would make distressing so much easier.
I was completely shocked how much the
tiny ink pads cost but still bought a few.



After using the ink pads,
I realized that they didn't make it
any easier in my opinion...
if anything it was more difficult.

So I'm back to my old way of distressing edges
and wanted to show you how I do it!

I just use cheap acrylic paint
that you can get 3 for $1 when it goes on sale.
I love using black, brown, and white, 
depending on the project.

Next you'll need a paper towel and some Q tips.
I get the paper towel BARELY wet,
however, you can also use it dry.
Having it wet makes the paint go a little farther
and on a little more smooth.



Wrap a part of the paper towel around your finger
and barely dip it in some paint.




Dab it on a paper to get the excess paint off
and then lightly wipe it along any edge.



Wipe lightly at first but as the paint comes off,
you can get a little more aggressive
with rubbing before you're ready for more paint.





I like to keep a few wet Q tips handy
because you can either
remove paint quickly with them if you don't like it
(which is another bonus using this technique over
the distressing ink pads...)
or just rub the paint and work it in a little better.



This costs pennies and I like the look
and technique a lot better because it
allows for changes and lets me fix mistakes.





Hope this helps and thanks for stopping by!
I'd love to hear your own distressing edges secrets and tips!

  

Free Wall Art

As I was re-doing our office room,
I finally got around to pulling down the
baby boy wallpaper...
and was dismayed to see it wasn't just a decoration,
it was hiding something.

Apparently a shelf or something
had been removed and instead of fixing the wall,
they covered it with cute paper.

My husband is one of those men
that can seriously fix anything!
Electronics, cars, appliances, {the wall...}
ANYTHING!

The only problem is we have so many
things that need fixing right now
that this wasn't exactly a priority,
but it was still going to bug me.

So what to do?


Well, I just did what the previous owners did
and covered it with my own wall art!
I've turned this closet into a little play house
for my daughter so I whipped up
a generic banner that wouldn't be gender specific.




I'm not a huge fan of wallpaper
because I'd prefer something
easier to put on and easier to take off.




Solution?
I printed the wall art on white card stock
and then covered it with clear contact paper,
leaving 1/2 an inch of contact paper hanging over the sides.
The contact paper holds the wall art
to the wall and is easily re-positioned or removed
without leaving sticky residue or pulling off any paint.
And the best part is it didn't cost me anything!

So what do you think?
Do you have any quick fix solutions
for situations like this?

Below you can download the wall art {for free}.
And remember,
any of my free printables have
No Terms of Service
and are Personal Use and Commercial Use ok!

Enjoy!


Download


  

Easy DIY Basket Liner

As promised, here is my easy

DIY Basket Liner.

I can make my in less than 30 minutes!

Here are the instructions

with more descriptive photos below.

Please let me know if you have

any questions!

Chances are if you do,

so does someone else!

I buy all my fabrics from Home Fabrics.

They have a clearance area where you can get

beautiful fabric for under $4 a yard!

If you don't have one near you,

I also found this on pinterest.

30 Great Places to Buy Fabric Online.

I've also considered selling my extra fabrics I purchase online

to pass on the great prices I find.

If that's something you're interested in,

let me know!

Download

Pin It

Free Clothespin Sayings

Sugar Pie Farm House is one of

my absolute favorite blogs!

Many blogs I've chosen to follow

come and go for me,

but this is one blog I've always followed.

Her ideas are so easy and beautiful

and her thoughts and ideas leave you

feeling refreshed and ready to tackle another day.

She makes me want to be a better person!

In one of her posts, 

she displayed some cute clothespins

she'd decorated with uplifting thoughts.

We use clothespins at our house to shut 

chip bags, snack bags, etc. 

What a cute way to display, as she says,

{SWEET REMINDERS.}

She also glued magnets on the back of hers

to make darling clips for your fridge.

Pin It

I made some for my house

using the "9 B's" as my inspiration.

The fonts on the Word Doc are ready made

to fit to a regular clothespin. 

(The font should be embedded 

so please let me know if it doesn't work!)

Download Here

Just in time for Thanksgiving and expressing

joy, gratitude and thankfulness!

Enjoy!

Cheap DIY Organizing Boxes

I am a HUGE fan of boxes and baskets

for organizing; however,

I am not a huge fan of the prices.

Some baskets are $20!

I started brainstorming for other ways to 

get cute box/basket holders.

This way is super easy and fast!

Pin It

Last year after the holidays,

there were tons of Christmas tins 90% off at Big Lots.

This meant I could get them for about $.20 each!

I bought a bunch, brought them home

and made these to put shoe covers in

by our front entry way.

Here's what I did:

• Paint one coat of acrylic paint on each tin. (It doesn't matter if you can still see some of the tin through the paint; this step just helps the spray paint in the next step stick more evenly and not drip.)
• Spray paint on top of the acrylic paint coat. (I used the glossy spray paint noted in my Free DIY Family Tree Post.)
• Finish with a thin layer of Gloss Finish Modge Podge. (If you use the glossy spray paint, you don't have to do this step; I just liked the look better with the Modge Podge finish.)

Next week I'll share how I made the liner!

Again, it's super cheap and easy - my kind of craft!

Thanks for stopping by

and for all your wonderful comments and questions!

I really appreciate it!