Nursery Project: Origami Cranes Mobile!!!!

I was inspired by these two pictures from Apartment Therapy. I thought to myself "what a clever idea, and I bet it is cheap!"

This is a seller I found on Etsy.com who makes the mobiles...

Cute, huh?

So, of course I set out to make my own...
Step 1: Fold paper cranes.
(For a tutorial on paper crane making go here. I defiantly needed the help.)

Step 2: In the back fold of the crane hot glue ribbon, thread or yarn.

Step 3: Create the base of the mobile.
I used to branches and tied yarn from all 4 ends. I gathered the yarn in the center and decided where it needed to be tied for the mobile to be balanced.

Step 4: To make hanging the cranes easier I just hung the mobile in the doorway and attached the cranes one at a time.

Sophie's Tip: I used scrapbook paper from a package I bought at Target. The cranes require a perfect square sheet of paper and the scrapbook paper worked perfect! It was 8 dollars for 40 sheets and I liked all the patterns. At craft stores paper is regularly .60 cents a piece! I love the paper so I know I will use the rest for crafts or scrap booking in the future.
AND
I also used a small dot of hot glue over the knots that I tied just to ensure that they wouldn't come undone. Use a toothpick to hold the string down though, because I burned the crap out of my finger tips and was saying swear words in my head at the hot glue gun.....

..........it's a love/hate relationship.

Felt love affair

What caught my eye...

I was inspired by LOUANDLEE. (On Etsy)
Their headbands are sweet and unique.
I had to try...

Felt is so cheap, at 30 cents a sheet you can't go wrong.

I bought a pack of 6 black headbands from Target for 3 dollars.

I added tiny pearls and beads as a final touch.

I added some lace to spice up Elise's headband.

Cora decided to wear her headband her own special way.

Sophie's Tip: I started out sewing the flowers together but a hot glue gun works even better and faster... I am a fast and easy projects kind of person so the easier the better. And, you NEED sharp scissors, kiddy ones won't work.

Where to Shop??

I was asked the other day where some good places to shop are. Here are some ideas:

Salvation Army: We don't have one around here but my sister in Michigan does and they are all over California too. I always find great things there. SalvationArmyUSA

Deseret Industries-Utah: There are a few of these thrift stores outside of Utah, I just happen to live near two. I have found clocks, lamps, dishes, brand new books and much more at DI and I love it. Take the time to look around and you won't be sorry. About Deseret Industries

Local Garage Sales: If you look on KSL(Utah) under "Announcements" and click on "Garage, Estate, and Yard Sales" you can get a listing of local garage sales for the upcoming week. Garage Sales are awesome because prices are generally lower and you can find some really awesome things. On Craigs list look under "For Sale" and Click on "garage sale". Generally you can get furnature and other items cheaper at a garage sale than Craigs List or thrift stores.

Consignment Shops: A nick nack Gold mine! There are so many intersting peices to be found at consignment shops. I have found some of the most intersting jewelery there. The best way to find these shops is to look them up in the phone book. Many times they are not listed inder "thrift" so you have to do a little more searching.

Flea Markets/ Swap Meets: My favorite kind of treasure hunt. I wish there were more Flea Markets in Utah. Just Google 'flea markets and (your state or town)'. I found this great website that lists a few in Utah: Keysfleamarket.com


Any Thrift Store: Google thrift stores in your local area and you would be very surprised to see how many there are that you may have missed.


Craigs List: I try to look on this site regularly. There are several categories so you can stalk the items you like. This is a great place to find furniture of all kinds. CraigsList


KSL Classifieds-Utah: This website is great. I like it because it lists items with a picture next to the description so you can scan through it pretty quickly. I looked on KSL everyday for about a week and a half before finding the exact crib that I loved. It was fantastic white crib, changing table, and mattress for 90.00! Totally worth the 5 minutes of searching I did for a week and a half. KSLClassifieds

Creative Clicks

Decor8

Elements of Style

Apartment Therapy

Design*Sponge


Do you have any favorite websites that spark creativity?
Please leave a comment with your favorites.

Free/Cheap Fathers Day Gift Ideas

Marble Magnets:
I recently made some of these and it was so easy!
The cool thing is you can put interesting scrapbook paper, old dictionary pages, or favorite quotes.
Click on this link to view the HOW TO.

Personalize A Box Of His Favorite Cereal:
I saw this great idea on Apartment Therapy.
I thought it was too cute.

Make a Homemade Card:

Paper. Scissors. Love.
Done.

Wash/Clean Out His Car:
Easy and probably very much needed.

Make a video of interviews of all of his Favorite People:
This could be just the kids to family friends and other relatives.

EASY way to POP color in your home

This project is so easy. I kept running into pictures of canvases painted a solid color or painted with stripes. I thought to myself, I am totally capable of creating basic art!

You can get a huge canvas and use stencils to make this awesome headboard as seen HERE.

Or, even easier, this plain yellow headboard found HERE.
THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE HUGE. I decided to start small and create something that would look great on a shelf or in a small area.



The canvas was around 4 dollars, but you can get "mock" canvases for cheaper. My sis brought over paint supplies and vwah la ART!
(Okay, my sisters ''Art" is on the left. She actually IS an artist, so don't compare hers to mine.)

Sophie's Tip: I am NOT a patient person with art. I hate waiting for paint to dry... but with this project you better. I tried to add more and more layers of color and the paint slowly began to lift....BOO!
Anyhow, DON'T do what I did.

Bedroom Ideas: ANYONE can do

We are of course renters and the walls are white, awesome..... what to do?

My Bedroom Before:

My Bedroom After: How to: Headboard

Mirror - You can see how I made this mirror from an older post in January 09 titled "Mirror Frenzy". It was a gaudy gold mirror I found at DI(thrift store) for 15 dollars.

Valance - I found the valance at Bed Bath and beyond for a screaming deal and the branch was scrap wood from my in-laws backyard. I was thrilled to find a branch so straight and perfect, but an imperfect branch would look just as good.

To hang the branch I used two coat hooks. The branch fit sturdy right on top of the hooks and it is easy to take it down to make adjustments.

How to: Side Tables

Lamps - Both thrift store finds, though I did mix and match the bases with the shades to come up with a combination I liked. Most thrift stores test their lamps and electronics but if your worried about getting a dud find an outlet and test it in the store.

Side tables - One of the side tables is actually a shelf. It is a black brown color and I found it on sale at Shopco for 15 dollars. I really like the shelf as a side table it offers book space and extra storage for random things. The other side table was found at a thrift store. My husband likes to have little "piles" of his things, so under the cubby of the side table I put a large flat basket so he can continue to have a place for his miscellaneous stuff.

Wall Art - 1. The metallic pointy bucket things (I have no name for them but they're cool) where found at Michael's Craft store. Most craft stores have weekly coupons where you can take 50% off one item. Sometimes they keep the coupon on a flyer by the cash register.

2. The three frames on the wall were from thrift stores and they have pressed flower petals inside. For more details look at the post "Do it Yourself: Wall Art" from January 09.

The Rest...

Pillows - The shams for the pillows were clearance from Bed Bath and Beyond and I filled them with mismatched random pillows bought at Ross for under 6 dollars.

Duvet cover - Ross really has great bedding for cheap prices. Our duvet cover was 19 dollars.

Sophie's tip: Do thrift stores scare you?? I know many friends who get overwhelmed or even weirded out at thrift store shopping. The amount of money you can save by occasionally shopping at thrift stores is ridiculous, so get over your fears. Take someone with you who has gone before and knows the ropes or better, always take a list of items to look for.

I love shopping thrift because whatever I am getting is unique, also, when I walk away with a good deal I feel a serious sense of accomplishment.

Bathroom Creativity... Cheap!

This is one of many projects in process. This project was really easy and CHEAP!

Supplies

Frames: 1-2$ ea. at DI (Thrift)
Bottles: 2$ ea. at DI
Shells: Free, from beaches all over.
Ocean Prints: 1$ for 12

The prints are from a dollar store calender filled with pictures of the ocean!
Just cut out the pictures you like to fit the frames you have.
I got the bottles because every time I would look at the pictures of the ocean I would get "message in a bottle" by The Police stuck in my head. My idea is to find a lot of different size bottles and put them all over the bathroom.


Sophie's Tip: Prints can be expensive especially if they are already framed. Look through all sorts of calenders to find different ideas. It is a inexpensive and easy way to fill frames. Just remember to avoid the "wild stallions on the beach" calenders... I'm so weirded out by those.

Tiny Garden.. Accomplished!

So, I finally got my tiny garden started. Yes, it is VERY tiny. I found this kit on sale for 5 dollars, it has everything you need to plant basil, parsley and chives. I didn't understand how it was such a light container and yet the box said it included soil.
I was skeptical.
I bought extra soil.
I was shocked when I added water to the soil pellets... soil magically was appearing! I was thoroughly amazed for an hour!
Next I planted my seeds and now, I guess we will just wait.
I am excited for that day when I will want to put chives on my potatoes and and I will only need to reach over to my window sill to enjoy fresh herbs.

Hosta is an indoor plant that does well in a lot of shade. To me this means if I can just water it everyday then I have really low odds of killing it.
(You can probably tell one reason why I wanted plants.... my kitchen window looks out at that gorgeous gray gravel!)


Sophie's Tip: When starting a tiny garden you can get very overwhelmed and excited at the store. You will want to buy and grow a lot of things all at once. My tip is to start small, especially if you are a first time gardener. Done this before?... then go crazy.
Want an even easier trick???
Buy the herbs you want already grown... at about 3 dollars each, and enjoy them right away!

More Nursury Ideas...

I just can't get over this stuff..

Things I love:
1. Mismatched furniture. Who says you need all your furniture to match? Who says everything has to come in a set? huh?
2. Simplicity in design. I love how a group of wall decals or small frames can pull a room together.
3. Colors. I love the use of colors in these pictures. One day I will get my brain to think of color schemes like these.

All these photo's are from an amazing website called apartment therapy. It's wonderful.