DIY exfoliating scrub with no harsh chemicals

I have extremely sensitive skin, so many products that say they are for delicate

 skin really ruin my face.

After being on pinterest and seeing all the DIY face scrubs most of them looked too abrasive.

Unless of course you have really tough skin.

There is no way I can stand up to sugar and sea salt scrub.

So I made my own!

My recipe is kind of pour and trial but after you find what works you'll love it!

I mixed it in a clean color bowl, with the end of the paintbrush.

I used about 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt, the kind for piercings, mouthwash and irrigation.

1 tablespoon of regular baking soda

1-2 drops of essential oil (I used rose water)

and a few drops of water.

You can also mix in some face soap as well if you want to do a 2 in 1 treatment.

this is what mine looked like after I dumped way too much baking soda and sea salt in it.

Apply it with a brush, allow it to dry slightly, until it starts to feel itchy.

 Wet your fingers and using circular motions rub the scrub on your face.

Heck if you want you can do your whole body if you mix as much as I did.

I did my pre-shave leg scrub with this and it is heavenly!

Simply rinse off the concoction and continue enjoying your beautiful skin!

Thanks for stopping by!

W

Planner cover remake

By now everyone should know that I'm addicted to planners!

I made a small planner cover 5 years ago that I loved.

How ever it was for the 6"x3" planner.

That's way too small for all my random notes and lists I pile in a planner.

I was smart enough to make extra strips of fabric and had sewn them together for whatever reason.

Who knows?

Anyway I came across it while I was packing my craft room to move,

I stitched it to some interfacing and gray fabric.

There are a million patterns out there for planner covers.

I made mine up as I went along.

Probably why I had to take it apart and re-cut and sew it.

Here is the front detail that was sewn together 5 years ago,

And this is what the new cover looks like:

Its not exactly the best stitch job,

you learn as you go!

This one fits the 5.5x8 planner from franklin covey.

With enough room in the front pockets for all my notes, stickers and reminders.

Thanks for stopping by!

W

DIY hand painted plate decor.

I still haven't figured out what to hang in our dining room, 

or I can't find where the previous decor went.

Both.

I was at the dollar store picking up things I refuse to pay more than a dollar for,

I came across these heavy duty ceramic square plate.

Perfect!

I have some clearance paint from Joanns that is specifically for glass and ceramics.

Ceramcoat, Bobby Blue and Aqua cool pearl.

I mixed it with some dark navy acrylic paint.

If you wanted to you could simply bake them to use them but considering I want to hang on the wall I'm not too worried about how durable the paint is going to be.

I knew I wanted to do some round designs and I've pinned a few million mandalas on pinterest.

I printed out some of the designs I thought would work,

I was running out of ink and I didn't really want to waste ink on this.

 It also helped when I had to transfer the design to the plate.

I cleaned the surface with rubbing alcohol to at least make sure I got the dirt off.

On the first plate I just used carbon paper and pencil to transfer the design.

The red ink made it really easy to see where I've been.

however I learned you need to scuff off the gloss on the plate for the carbon paper to transfer.

I did try the wax paper transfer but it was a total disaster!

After painting the design with a brush I thought it looked like poo.

So I went back with a "dotter" tool that I use for nail art to define the design.

Here is the first one I did, way too much detail that didn't transfer so I made it up as I went along.

It's not perfect, but if you came into my house this isn't the first thing you would notice anyway.

A better picture of the first plate.

The second plate I prepped with acetone, I let it soak for a few minutes and then took some 

sandpaper to knock the gloss off.

Then cleaned it with the rubbing alcohol so the acetone wouldn't mess with the paint.

The transfer worked much better with the proper prep. 

Although I should have centered the design...

oops.

So I did some brush circles around the main design to mask the fact that it is way off center!!

But I love how it makes the design stand out.

Third plate was easier after I figured out how to transfer the design.

I also added dots to everything, because I like it.

The fourth was a simple flower design,

Easy peasy!

Due to the paint Ceramcoat Pearl colors it was hard to get a good photo.

Again with the dots...

It's really hard to get a good photo of these!!

Finally all three of them are left to dry!

I plan on putting on a clear coat to seal them before I hang them!

Thanks for stopping by!

W

Wedding decorations, cheap and easy.

I decorated for a wedding last year that I was apart of,

I made the centerpieces out of antique coke bottles, filled them with sand to weigh them down, inserted choke cherry branches and dried peonies both from my backyard.

I made paper airplanes to string between the branches out of book pages

(The wedding reception was held in an airplane hangar.)

 I also had pink and clear crystals that I hung from the branches!

Most of the center pieces look similar!

I also made burlap bows with ribbon and added paper flowers from the same book pages,

 with a cricut! I used the Large flower cartridge.

they can be seen here on the card box,

And the pews,

And on another card box,

I lent them the use of four of my cake stands from  the Wilton brand, 

put tulle and a string of white roses on the table!

It gave the tables a beautiful texture!

And of course the chalkboard for the ceremony of course:

I also made all the bridesmaids necklaces and earrings, I even hand embroidered a beautiful necklace for the bride as a gift.

 I also gave them a window with their initial and happily ever after on the bottom as another gift.

                         

For pretty cheap I was able to throw most of this together by myself and within a short period of time.

Also I did some hair for the bridesmaids.

Oh and I paid half of the mother of the bride dress because they couldn't afford it.

My biggest mistake is that I did all of this thinking it would be appreciated.

My biggest mistake is doing nice things for people who don't think nice things about me.

You live, you learn!

Thanks for stopping by!
W

Organizing Bath and Body works wallflowers

Why do some of the best products come in the most ridiculous shaped containers??

I mean, I love the way wallflowers look on the wall but buying them when they go on sale is way cheaper, so when they have a sale I like to stock up on the ones I use.

But storing them until I need them is the problem.

until of course I had an odd thought while making french toast.

Eggs.

Those wallflowers are shaped like eggs.

They WILL fit into an egg container.

That egg container fits in the shoe box size plastic containers.

Of course I tore the lid off.

Look how well they fit in there!

It even leaves enough room for the sets and plug ins on the side!

Yes, they come in the box when you buy two but that's a ton of extra packaging.

And once you use one you don't want to leave the box in there knocking around.

One more thing those egg cartons are good for!

Thanks for stopping by!

W

How to paint words on a window

As everyone on the internet, I simply adore old windows.

I've used the Cricut to cut some vinyl for a wedding I decorated for;

It says "happily ever after" on the bottom.

As fun as that way is, I needed to make a no soliciting sign, with a bunch of words and I don't have that much vinyl on hand.

So I grabbed some acrylic paint and the twin to the window above.

I cleaned it with dish soap first, then with rubbing alcohol to make sure it's absolutely clean.

I printed out the wording mirrored so I could tape it on the front and paint on the back.

I used Ceramcoat paint, it's made for glass and when let to dry is permanent.

Of course it would have been easier to outline it in sharpie and go in with the paint, but I like being stubborn and doing things the hard way!

Here is the progress shot: 

And the finished product,

After some clear spray she was ready to go, sadly it met it's fate in a thunderstorm.

Back to the drawing board!

Thanks for stopping by!

W

Large canvas wall art with miss matched paints

I've moved quite a bit in my life and I've kept most of the decor from house to house.

My favorite art work has to be these giant 36x48" canvases from hobby lobby.

I bought them in 2007 and they have followed me around.

Here is where they originally were, my condo.

On the wall at our house on base:

I even recovered them for use in our rental! 

One received a facelift with brown damask,

(Right behind the Tv)

Please don't mind the cats, they have to be where I am and have to be in whatever I'm doing.

The other received a canvas cover with fancy letters all over it:

(To the right of the window)

Now that we are in our new house I decided on doing completely different colors, Of course the brown and yellow were not going to work!

They sat in my craft room at our new house, I knew I wanted to paint them over with white, 

but that's as far as the plan had gone.

I was visiting a new (to me) Paint store on the north side of town, 3 pm on a friday.

I was sure they were going to be annoyed by my pickiness and showing up on a friday afternoon.

Sometimes I hate to be wrong, but this isn't one of those times!

The employees, all two of them were very helpful in finding me some paint. 

I had no clue in what colors I wanted, so I started in the miss poured paint.

Most stores will sell you a gallon of miss-poured/miss-matched paint for pretty cheap, 

but this stuff was really cheap!

I really didn't know about any kind of interior paint, I painted cars, I had no clue.

The guys explained what they were and what they did, in layman's terms, which was awesome!

So I brought home these three beauties:

The turquoise matches all the new bedding and curtains! 

As you can see I've already used some of the white on a couple of easier projects that need more time to dry in order to be put back together.

This is the white, it does say Premium interior eggshell.

They are not kidding, you get what you pay for with this bad boy!

The tan color is also the same line.

I love being able to mix colors together, 

it's important that they will mix and not have some weird reaction.

Granted I know that these are canvases and this paint is for the wall, 

but I'm cheap and really don't want to have to go buy paint just to cover these canvases.

This is what they looked like before:

(Excuse my shadow)

I had just put together a cart/bin/organizer one of my BFF's gave me as a housewarming gift.

(Which I will post on after I organize everything!)

I had this awesome box that was long, low and had a lid that slanted. 

I put some plastic down, the plastic that was on our couch when we brought it home.

But they make actual plastic to lay down before painting, it's also pretty cheap but I'm considering buying canvas drop cloths for inside craft projects.

If it wasn't 40 degrees and 60 mph winds I would have done this outside on some cardboard.

Plus I like watching Netflix while doing stuff like this, it keeps my mind occupied.

Here is the yellow one during:

I did half with one coat so you could see how well it covers!

Smack dab in the middle of the living room rug!

I painted the tan over the white and blended the blue to the bottom,

Both large canvases look pretty much like the one above.

I also had a smaller canvas that got the same treatment.

I still haven't had a chance to hang them up. 

Once I figure out where to put them, I'll be taking more photos of them!

Thanks for stopping by!

W

No soliciting sign

Our house is in a neighborhood of all new construction.

Evidently that is a prime market for solicitors.

We were getting at least 3 people a day and some were very shady, 

like they were casing out our house.

So I grabbed a board and some paint and made this, uh, sign.

It's a quote I had on a laminated sign I put in our window at the old house.

"If not a friend, you will offend. No soliciting, No anything, No kidding."

How ever it's not as attractive as some I've seen.

The next surface I used was an old window from a garage door.

I did a back painting, it sounded it great until I remembered that I have tremors.

It ended up looking something like this,

I loved it and it was perfect, until of course we have 60mph winds in a thunderstorm in March.

So I forgot about it until I walked out to see this;

Ouch. Thats what I get for using real glass and not anchoring it to anything.

Lesson learned.

I picked up a wood panel to paint next, but it's just not calling to me like most craft projects do.

The first one is doing it's job so far,

Until I can paint a new one.

Thanks for stopping by!

W

Updated decor

As much as I love the new house, 

I have no clue what to do with the wall art, yet.

So most of it just hangs out on the catchall.

It really does catch everything.

But now that it's gray it fits so much better next to my console radio!

I love being able to use the pieces I already have in different ways,

 in this case it became a gallery spot.

It also fills up that big empty wall and even matches the humidifier.

We actually live here so I'm not about to move that huge thing for one photo!

And this is the view from the dining room.

It's a great place to put the extra kitchen linens, candle holders, holiday decor 

and even my nail polish collection!

The chairs will be removed once our table arrives. 

The cats love sitting there so I may not even move them!

As soon as I organize all the things in the drawers I will be sure to show that off too!

Thanks for stopping by!

W

Antique Chandelier

The one thing I really wanted to find for the new house was some unique kind of

light fixture for the dining room.

The only problem is that most funky or antique light fixtures are really spendy.

I searched online and my favorite thrift stores for months, but nothing really spoke to me.

My mother has a cousin that owns an Antique store in the twin cities, even when I was a child I loved visiting his store and digging through the treasures!

As an adult, I had a hard time not buying everything in the store.

He would be pissed if he knew that I posted this, but he really is one of my favorite people!

Of course I found exactly what I was looking for as soon as I walked in.

There she was, thee most perfect chandelier I had ever seen.

Hanging right above my head was the light fixture I NEEDED!

Here she is taken down.

Old, dirty and in need of repairs, but she is perfect.

I really didn't care how much it was.

Of course being a relative, it was only $100, as a housewarming gift!

(For my high school graduation he gave me a beautiful art deco necklace. I still wear it for special occasions when I actually wear jewelry.)

They crystals were my favorite part, I've seen dozens of clear and even pink ones, but smokey gray??

I needed it.

Surprisingly all but one clear crystal were intact. 

They are actual glass so I figured I'd need to take out a loan to replace them.

$6 at a craft store and I had the replacement.

I cleaned up the crystals by soaking them in soapy water and 

giving them a once over with a soft new toothbrush.

Most the wires needed to be replaced, thanks to JoAnns I found headpins that matched perfectly!

The crystals were perfect and I only replaced the one that was broken, that happened to be clear.

I had a fiasco of a time hanging the crystals once the light was hung from the ceiling, 

but there was no way I was going to trust the builders with the crystals.

Boys will be boys.

Here she is in the day light!

I added some lower hanging crystals I found on clearance at JoAnns to add.

I just looped them over the arms.

Here is the afternoon view, with our temporary kitchen table.

It is low so we can't walk under it, but we'll have a table soon enough to put under it!

Thanks for stopping by!

W