April Pinterest Party-Bellinis & Chalkboards

Another Pinterest Party is in the books.  It was a night filled with laughter and lots of creativity.  Mollie was in charge of the drinks and food.  She found a great recipe for  Strawberry Bellini's and they were fabulous.  We had some issues with the blender, which was pretty entertaining and we were able to catch it on film.  She also made a Funfetti Cake Dip and it was served with Vanilla Wafers.

Supplies

Cheers!

Funfetti Cake Dip

Now let's get into the projects.  Danielle, Mollie, and myself made chalkboards.  Danielle and Mollie both made theirs from old windows and I made mine from a mirror I bought at Hobby Lobby. Mollie also made chalkboard labels. All you need is some chalkboard paint and a roller.  We found that a foam roller works best for applying the paint.  Make sure your window or mirror is clean prior to applying the paint. You should also tape the sides of the window so you don't get any paint on the window frame.

Chalkboard labels

Mollie's Chalkboard

Danielle's chalkboard

Lindsay's chalkboard before frame was painted

Lindsay's chalkboard after frame was painted

We all did some individual projects as well.  Danielle did a wine cork project from all the wine corks she had collected over the years.  She bought a wooden sign at Hobby Lobby and then she applied the wine corks with a hot glue gun.  It turned out great and looks amazing hanging in her kitchen.

Before picture

Danielle gluing the corks on

Finished Project

Finished project hanging in Danielle's kitchen

Ashlei made a canvas print for her friend's birthday.  She put her own spin on it and it turned out great. I'm sure Mindy will love it!

I did a couple of projects for my home office.  I needed something to put on my shelf so I bought an ampersand at Hobby Lobby and mod podged a map onto it.  It was very easy and it looks just perfect on my shelf.

Before

Finished project

I also mod podged a world map to three canvases.  I used 3 12x24 inch canvases and an antique world map that I got at Barnes & Noble.  It was very challenging making sure there were no air bubbles and trying to line up the maps.  I recommend working on small areas at a time and work from left to right as this will help get all the air bubbles out.  I also added push pins to all the places my husband & I have visited and hope to add many more in the future.

Getting the air bubbles out

Making sure the maps line up

Finished project

Hanging in the office

Mollie and her husband just built a house so she wanted to frame the key from their first home.  She added her own twist and framed a picture behind the key. What a great keepsake!

PIN WIN ON EVERYTHING!  

April Showers bring May Flowers -- Umbrella Wreath!

I don't know about you but I am SO TIRED of all this rain and snow.  It is really putting a cramp in my running routine. I mean for pete's sake, it's almost MAY! I found a pic of an umbrella wreath on a facebook group (I don't know how to link it because the group is secret/closed) and thought it was so clever. Here's what I did:

The umbrella was meant to be...it was the very last one AND I scored it for $7 (originally $20 with 50% off and then an extra 30% off that)!!  I also got the green ribbon for 40% off.  I headed to the Dollar Tree and bought the yellow flowers for $1 (obviously, ha)! They come in bundles so I got 6 of them.

At first I got some styrofoam to put in the umbrella but it made it too big and the ribbon wouldn't stay on so I eventually nixed that part. I just tied the ribbon around and put the flowers in the umbrella.  Simple as can be!!

Overall Rating: PIN WIN!! Total cost of the project was less than $20 and it took less than 10 minutes to put together. Can't beat that!

Hopefully the wreath will "work" and all this rain will go away and SPRING will be in full bloom soon!  While we're talking about SPRING, I also wanted to show you my new table centerpiece.  The hurricane vase we had lying around - I don't think we've ever used it to be honest. I bought the lemons & limes at the Dollar Tree to place inside...something really simple that is bright and cheery...like SPRING!!  If you can't tell my now, I'm anxiously awaiting my favorite season to come! :-)

-Mollie

CopyCat Desk!

Hello!! So...if you haven't seen the previous blog post from Lindsay about her awesome desk, go read it...like NOW!  A while ago, she showed me the desk on Pinterest that she got her inspiration from and since Lindsay and I are A LOT a like, I fell in love with it too!!  So, I put my hubby to work to build one for me. We did it a little bit different than Lindsay's as our basement is under construction (meaning no walls up!) so we couldn't attach it to the wall like she did. I was having a hard time deciding what to do for the legs and finally I came up with the idea to do old school wood sawhorses. Now, let me tell you, they really don't make them like they used to and the ones we found just weren't durable enough to hold up 6 pieces of heavy wood. So...right when I was about to give up, my hubby found STEEL ones at Menard's. They were right next to the wood ones, I just didn't see them because I was too busy being sad and discouraged. I thought these had a cool look to them so I threw them over my shoulder and headed to checkout. (Ok, not so much, but I did squeal with delight and helped throw them on my hubby's shoulder!) So...without further adue, here is my desk!

Now, the wood we got was pre-treated and still wet, so I can't stain it for awhile as the stain won't hold. But once it's ready to go, I plan on doing a gray barnwood stain.  Pics and post to come later!!
I can't wait to find a bunch of cute things to put on my desk. Guess I'll head back to Pinterest and start looking for some more fun things to create. I also can't wait til I have WALLS so I can paint it a super bright yellow and cover the walls with some more Pinterest inspired things!! 

Thanks to Adam & Tony for building these desks for Lindsay & I!! We have the best hubbys in the world!

-Mollie

Sprucing up the Home Office!

Awhile back I found a desk that I loved on Pinterest.  I finally convinced my hubby to make it for me.  It's really simple.  We absolutely love it & it provided more space for our computer.  See below for instructions on how to make it and pictures of the finished product.

Supplies:  5 2x6x8 boards, 1 can Pre-stain wood conditioner, 1 can sunbleached wood stain, 1 can fast-drying polyurethane, paint brush, screws, & metal brackets

Staining Supplies

Step 1:  Measure out the length that you want your desk to be & cut the boards to desired length
Step 2:  Sand the boards
Step 3:  Apply one coat of the conditioner & let dry.
Step 4:  Apply one coat sunbleached wood stain & let dry.
Step 5:  Sand
Step 6:  Apply coat of polyurethane & let dry
Step 7:  Sand
Step 8:  Apply another coat of polyurethane & let dry.
Step 9:  Put the desk together with metal brackets.  We ended up just mounting ours to the wall instead of buying or building legs for it.  The great thing about this desk is you can customize it.

My walls were a little bare so I needed to do something to bring some life to the room.  I was inspired by a home office photo I found and I used it for inspiration.  I bought an 8x10 frame at Hobby Lobby& a piece of chevron scrapbook paper.  I already had sticky letters so I found a quote I liked and stuck them on the paper and put them in the frame.  It was a quick & easy project.

RATING: PIN WIN!!!