Owl Make a List

I’m a list maker. And boy do I have a to do list for this summer. I’m only hoping I have enough energy to get off my bum and finish them. In no particular order, here is my list…

1. Paint the trim in my bedroom white (and hopefully start painting other trim throughout my house).
2. Paint my kitchen cabinets. My kitchen is stuck in the 70s/80s and I’m desperately trying to bring it up to date on a very tight budget.  I’m thinking about all white or white on top and a gray on the bottom cabinets.
3. Figure out how to upgrade or paint my kitchen counter tops. I’ve heard you can paint counter tops with a special paint, but I’m not sure how durable it is and whether or not I want to try it in my kitchen—where I prepare food.
4.  Add more flower gardens to my yard. Also I need to remove a few ugly bushes in my front yard and add some pretty bushes/flowers.
5. Refinish and paint my dresser found on the side of the road a pretty color. Who doesn’t love free things? I personally love to get things for free, especially if I was looking to buy one. I’m debating on putting this dresser in my craft room or my living room. Both could use more storage.
6. During one of my insane moments, I have decided to have a garage sale this summer. So I suppose I need to start going through my whole house to decide what I don’t need/want anymore and make a large pile. In that same thought, I will have to convince my husband to remove a few pieces of furniture/decorations... My children won’t know what hit them (I’m not even going to ask—that’s what bed time is for!)
7. Learn to quilt? Not sure if this will happen this summer or if it will have to wait for fall (when my girls start preschool, when I have free time without my children, when I can relax for a few hours a week!) I need patience to make it to fall!

Market Day!

I’m so excited to be invited to participate in a series of craft shows called Market Day Iowa. Here is how their website describes this event, “Market Day is a casual monthly market for art, vintage, found items, homemade and handmade goods. We are the only monthly indie craft market around. Market Day is always free to attend.

We’re passionate about people who MAKE things and CURATE really awesome collections. We aren’t picky about WHAT people make – we have clay pieces, and cupcakes, and screen-printed bags, and up-cycled jewelry, and vintages dresses and all sorts of other awesome stuff – just so long as what vendors bring to Market Day is original, creative, and not overly commercial in nature. We carefully curate our vendors so that Market Day brings the coolest selection of creative goods around.

Market Day is a seasonal event and runs the last Saturday of every month, May through October. Our first date in 2011 in May 28th. We also have a special Black Friday sale the day after Thanksgiving. Six of our seven dates overlap with the nearby Des Moines Downtown Farmers’ Market.” Doesn’t sound cool! I’ve been scouring garage sales and thrift stores for some cheap yet creative ways to display my shirts/onesies and other products I’m trying out.

DIY Pom Pom Flowers

Currently I am working on hosting a baby shower for my friend Ann. I want to go as far out as possible on my meager budget. So what does that mean? I am making practically everything. I made a diaper cake, a cake pedestal, a paper banner, pom pom flowers (my location has too high ceiling for me to hang them). I found tutorials mostly online on how to make things that I never made before. I’m notorious for googling “how to make…” I would rather make something myself than to buy it. Even if I learn that I could have saved money if I just bought it finished. Part of a learning process I suppose. I’ll post a tutorial of how to make the pom poms, both large and small below. 

Materials needed:

·         20 by 30” tissue paper set in your desired colors

·         18” floral wire

·         Scissors

·         Fishing line (monofilament) 

Hanging Pom-Poms:

1. Stack eight 20-by-30-inch sheets of tissue. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.

 

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2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded tissue; twist. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.

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3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

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4. Tie a length of monofilament to floral wire for hanging.

Napkin Rings/Small Flowers:

With just a few changes; these follow the same steps as the hanging pom-poms.

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1. Stack four sheets of tissue. Cut a 10-by-5-inch rectangle, going through all layers. Make 3/8-inch-wide accordion folds.

2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, slip over center of tissue, and twist to secure. Trim ends of tissue.

3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

4. Bend wire into a loop to fit around napkin, and twist end around loop to secure.

I’m also planning on making most if not all of the food. My theme is bun in the oven/little muffin. So with that in mind, I’m making a lot of “baked” goods. You know muffins, cupcakes, etc. I’m also going to attempt to make a layered cake. We’ll see about that one… Sandwiches and wraps will be the main food (the shower starts at 10 so I thought I should have some lunchy type of food) it will be an early lunch, but I’m not big on brunchy type of foods.