Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day...

Hey everyone, hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!!!!! This week I'm a little behind, but I hope you'll forgive me :)

The winner of the lovely purse from last weeks giveaway is...........KRISTIN!!!!!

Kristin said "First of all I have to say that I LOVE that purse! My favorite thing about purses is that it is an easy way to show your style when you work somewhere where you can't always wear what you like!"

Congratulations Kristin, please email me your address so I can get this lovely handbag on its way to you :)

Ok, so, lets party. NO solicitations pleaseeeeeeee :)

Its not too late!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know some of you (like me) are thinking "CRAP, I forgot to get something for..." well, no need to fear. Luckily for me I have a VERY talented group of readers!!! And thanks to them I have a couple of "last minute" gifts you can whip up in a jiffy! (yes, I just said jiffy) These are crafts that were posted on my Gettin' Crafty on Hump day party :)

First, we have this adorable snowman candy jar from Inside BruCrew Life

Next up, we have this awesome zipper necklace from over at Potholes & Pantyhose

Or how bout this nifty chalkboard countdown mug from over at small fine print:

Or how bout this super cute Vintage Button Tree from Red Heads Craft More Fun:

Or how cool are these snowflake soaps from over at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom:

Well folks, there you have it, a few ideas that you can whip up and have under the tree in no time!!!! I hope you all have a VERY Merry Christmas, and DON'T stress yourselves out too much!!!! :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Well folks, I made my goal last week!!!!!!! We had 54 links and I have to admit, you made my day!!!!!!! So, to show my appreciation, I'm having A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm giving away this lovely Kate Spade inspired handbag:

This handbag boasts a croc skin patterned basket weave in warm Tuscan colors. Accented by a cute black butterfly.

To enter:

Leave a comment telling me what you love about purses

Follow me and leave me a comment telling me you do

Post this giveaway on your blog/facebook/twitter and leave me a comment with a link

That's up to 3 entries!!!!!! I will draw the winner next Tuesday and announce the winner at next week's Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day party :)

Ok, so back to the party, please please please no solicitations, and share some comment love!

Lets get to it!

Quick and easy homemade luxury scarf...

A few years ago I decided I wanted to learn how to knit. I went to Knittinghelp.com and started by learning the long tail cast on. Then I went on to learn the Continental Knit Stitch and the Continental Purl Stitch and the Basic Bind Off, knit and purl.

I realize that I probably lost a lot of you at long tail cast on, but honestly, these videos were SOOOOOOOOOOO helpful to me, and taught me how to do a basic simple pattern like the one I will share today! When I was ready to move on to more complicated projects, I had to find a knitting guru in person to help me out :)

So, when it came time to make gifts for my little man's teachers, I knew I wanted to knit them something nice. So, for each of these scarfs you'll need 1 and 1/2 skeins of chenille yarn. The thick and quick Chenille is super fast and easy to work with. I used size 13 needles, and cast on 17 stitches. Then, I just knit, and knit and knit until the scarf got to be 6 feet. Each scarf took a couple of hours, but in the end I wound up with 3 fabulous and luxurious teacher gifts!!!

And my knitting guru friend even hooked me up with some fabulous labels to attach (with washing instructions on the back.)

So my encouragement to you is, if you've always wanted to try something like knitting, DO IT!!!!! There is so many online videos and help sites, and until you try it you just never know, so go for it!! :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Well folks, it time to party once again!!! This week, I'm trying a different linky host, and HOPING that for Christmas, alllllll of you get to link up with no problems!!! :)

I had a craft to share, but I was just too excited so I had to post it early. I made these:



They are Printed Burlap Tree Sachets, and you can see the tutorial here :)

Ok, so feel free to link up your projects, recipes, tutorials, etc. NO SOLICITATIONS!!!!! Please don't link to a store or I will delete it :)

Leave me some comment love if you link, and if you visit other links, leave them comment love too!!!! My goal is to hit over 50 links before the new year, so PLEASE please pretty please, make sure my button is on your blog and you tell all your friends!!! :D

Hope you're all in full holiday swing and creative magnificence, let me see your stuff...

Printed Burlap tree sachets...

Ok, so really they're ornaments, but doesn't "sachet" sound so much fancier?!?!?!? They are scented, don't get me wrong, but we'll get to that later. I had an idea earlier in the year for an ornament I wanted to make from burlap, but I couldn't figure out how to get my design onto the burlap. I figured I'd probably have to use iron on transfers, but THEN, I saw this tutorial over at Domestically Speaking and I knew exactly what I wanted to do!

To start with, get yourself a yard or 2 of burlap, and some freezer paper. Then take your burlap and cut an 8.5 x 11 piece (it doesn't have to be exact). Heat your iron up to medium and iron your burlap. Once the burlap is nice and smooth, then lay the freezer paper down onto your burlap, shiny side touching the burlap, and iron. Magically the freezer paper adheres to the burlap and makes it stiff...like a fabric piece of paper if you will.

Once you have your sheet, its time to work on your design. I knew I wanted a silhouette manger scene with the lyrics to one of my favorite Christmas songs....this is what I ended up with:

Once you have your design all set, decide how many you can fit to a sheet. For me...I was able to get 3 on a sheet. When you go to print your document, go to "properties" and change your paper type to "specialty." Then stick that burlap paper into your printer and print away!!!!!!!!!!

Then once you pull the paper off the printer, peel the freezer paper off, cut your designs out and get ready to sew! Here's what I used to get started:
I used the sisal as the "hook" for the ornament, and then for the backing, I decided to use jute webbing. Once you sew the 2 sides and the bottom, its time to stuff. but I didn't want to just stuff it, so I used this:

Oh come on, you mean you've never used a meat tenderizer to pulverize some cinnamon sticks??? Well thats just how I roll, so I broke them into good sized chunks. Then I mixed chunks of the cinnamon sticks with the stuffing :)

Once its all stuffed, you're ready to sew the top, but first you need to put the sisal in. Make sure you tie a knot on the ends of your piece so that it doesn't slip out of the ornament after its sewn. Place your sisal like so, and then....sew:

Of course I had to add a cute little red bow to finish it off. And when you're done, you have a SUPER cute/ EXTREMELY inexpensive ornament to give that not only looks great, but smells wonderful too! :)

I love burlap...but I love Christmas more! :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Hey folks, its time to party again. Hope you are all in preparations for the holidays...I, in my usual fashion have procrastinated like bananas and am now rushing around to not only shop, but create. I have 10 days to knit 3 scarves, make a dozen ornaments, plan a birthday party, oh and sleep :)

But, I'm still looking forward to seeing what you guys are up to! :)

So, lets link. PLEASE no solicitations, do not link up to your store, and please leave me some comment love :)

Party Hardy folks......

The simplest Christmas baking you can find...

I love baking with my little guy, but as we've already established, I am not the most patient person. So I'm always looking for simple, kid friendly recipes, and man did I hit the mother load when I stumbled on this one!

Start with 1 bag of circle pretzels, 1 bag rolos candy (1 bag makes what you see in the pic), and 1 bag m&m's.

Preheat your oven to 325 and line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Fill sheet with pretzels and place one rolo in center of each pretzel (see pic)



Then stick them in the oven for 4 minutes, and when you pull them out press an m&m into the top of each one. Then let them cool and enjoy the yummy deliciousness (is that a word?) No mess, no mixing, and once you throw away the wax paper....NO DISHES!!!!!!!!!! Amazing right?!?!

Seriously, buy more than one bag...I think half of this cookie sheet was gone before this post got published....

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Hey everyone, its that time again!!!!!! I apologize to anyone that I didn't get to your post to leave you some comment love last week. With the holiday and then sickness in the family, its been a crazy week! I'll try to be better this week, I usually make sure to comment on each and every link :)

Ok, so no solicitations, and please leave some comment love if ya post :)

Last week our most popular link came from Buns in a Row with this AWESOME PB knockoff wreath:

Isn't she purdy?!?!??! I have all the makings for an "Eddie Ross" Christmas bulb wreath...now I just need to find a wire hanger and I'm set to go! :)

Ok, so party hardy ya'll...

To deep fry, or not to deep fry...

I know there are a lot of "traditionalists" that think deep frying your Thanksgiving bird is a no no, but I have to tell you, we ate a baked turkey this year for the first time in forever, and I MISSED my deep fryer!!!!!!

But they say the proof is in the pudding, so check out this photo of the last deep fried turkey I made:

Look at that perfectly browned and crisp skin, not to mention the tender and juicy meat...that's it, I'm buying another deep fryer before next year.......

So how do you cook your turkey? Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!!!!!

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Hey guys, its time to PARTY!!!!

And for your viewing pleasure, check out some of my recent posts...I haven't been so good at linking them up to parties like I normally do...

If you're looking for ways to strategize for Black Friday, click HERE

If you want to see how I make a ZERO calorie cake, click HERE

And last but not least, if you're into freezer cooking, check out my BEST freezer cooking recipe, click HERE

Ok, please leave comment love if you link, please don't list any solicitations, and please list my button somewhere on your blog if we're party friends :)

Oh, and, it seems like every week just a couple of people have trouble with the linky. I've contacted them, but haven't heard back yet. I am checking into it though! :)

On your marks, get set...SHOP!

Well folks, my favorite holiday is fast approaching. Yep, you guessed it, black Friday. Oh, wait...what? Oh, its not? Well it SHOULD be! :)

Anywho......I put a lot of thought into my black Friday shopping, and if you're planning on trying it I suggest you do the same. Ya gotta have a game plan cuz you don't want someone pullin' a hail mary and taking the last item of your desire right in front of you. It happened to me once, believe me, its not fun!

I feel I should also stress that black Friday isn't for sissy's. If you want a good deal, you need to get yourself in there and get it. And don't take no gruff from any of those other black Friday shoppers cuz....well...cuz they're CRAZY!

And my best piece of advice, take a friend! Preferably a friend that is looking for the same things you are. That way, you can be grabbing deals from TWO locations! Also, if you're talking to the other shoppers and you find some friendly people, or you see a familiar face, don't be afraid to ask them for help!

Example, if you see Susie from back in the day standing by the portable DVD player you would like, but you're too busy laying across the pallet of GPS units to get one, ask her to get you one!!!!!! Most of the time, people are more than willing to do it because really it takes no more effort to grab 2 than it does to grab one. Now if the item is like HIGH on the wish list, I wouldn't recommend asking for help. Because Susie may smile and say "sure, no problem," but remember, shes the same slut that tried to steal your boyfriend in high school!

And my last tip is simply.....be VERY nice to your spouses on that day. Its a harrrrrdddddddd day for spouses. A stressful day for spouses. Take mine for example, Daddy Warbucks(my new nickname for him) waits by the phone, in casesecurity calls him to come pick me up, or the police call him to let him know I'm at the precinct. And now-a-days of course, hes always worrying about me be trampled. But the worst part for them, is when you come home, with the receipts. I swear poor Daddy Warbucks sprouts a gray hair every year....

Still worth it! :)

A no calorie cake?!?!?!?!??!

This is an oldie, but I figured I'd post about it anyway! It started with a JUMBO pack of Pampers diapers I found at Goodwill for $2.99 (now you know its an oldie because these days Goodwill would have marked it around $30.00 *rolls eyes*).

My sister in law was having a little girl, so I took said pack of diapers, added a little security blanket, some dollar store decorations and little baby toys and a princess hat from a dog costume that I got on MEGA clearance, and VOILA....



I kinda love it...and it was super cheap... :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Do you know what time it is????? Raise your hand if the words "Tool Time" popped into your head when you read that? Still...tool time is not the correct answer, sorry :)

Its time to LINKY PARTAY!!!!!!!!

Last week our most popular link was from Can't Stop Making Things who blessed us with a lovely tutorial for Pottery Barn Knock Off Candles!!!!!

Aren't they PURDY?!?!?!?!? I think so :)

Ok, so, please link up them awesome projects!!!!!! I'm sooooooo needing some inspiration for Christmas gifts...anyone got a linky for that?

Please no solicitations, and please leave some comment love, and list my button on your blog. I sound like a nag, but I gotta say it :)

Oh, and I know a few people mentioned having trouble with the linky last week, if you do, pleaseeeeeee leave me a comment letting me know what type of error or error message you are getting so I can look into it...

On your marks, get set, LINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My FAVORITE freezer cooking recipe...

Lately I haven't done freezer cooking as much as I did at one point, but I still find time to make some of my favorite freezer recipes on occasion. For anyone that is not familiar with freezer cooking, there are a million ways to do it...some cook a whole months worth of meals in a day, some cook two weeks worth. And then theres me...basically, whenever I make a recipe I know freezes well, I make a double batch and freeze half. The main perk of freezer cooking, there is nothing like feeling NO motivation to cook and being able to pull a delicious home cooked meal out of your freezer and serve it up like you've slaved all day! Plus, it takes little more effort to make a double batch of something and by doing so you save yourself time on another day.

This recipe came from a Taste of Home magazine, and in fact it won grand prize in the freezer recipe contest...and oh yeah, those are deliciously crunched up Doritos on top! See recipe below...this is a kid friendly recipe too...my little man LOVES "taco noodles" lol

PS-yes, I plated my food for my blog on a paper plate. Sorry folks, thats just how I roll :)

Taco-Filled Pasta Shells:

2 lbs ground beef

1 C diced onion

2 envelopes taco seasoning

1 8oz package cream cheese

30 uncooked jumbo pasta shells

1/4 C butter or margarine

Additional ingredients (for each casserole)

1 C salsa

1 C taco sauce

Shredded cheese (recipe calls for 2 cups, but use your discretion! lol)

1 1/2 C crushed tortilla chips (I use doritos)

1 C sour cream

3 green onions chopped

In a skillet, cook beef and onion until done, drain. Add taco seasoning; prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until melted. Transfer to bowl and chill in fridge for 1 hour.

Cook past according to package directions; drain. Gently toss with butter. Dump in 9x13 dish and stick in freezer for a few minutes to quick cool.

Fill each shell with approx 3 TB of meat mixture. Place 15 shells in a greased 9x9 square dish. Cover and freeze for up to three months.

To prepare the remaining shells, spoon salsa into a greased 9in square baking dish. Top with stuffed shells and taco sauce (if you don't like taco sauce omit it...we do). Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese and chips. Bake 15 minutes longer or until heated through. Serve with sour cream and onions.

To use frozen shells:

Thaw in the fridge for 24 hours (shells will be partially frozen still). Remove from dish. Add salsa to dish; top with shells and taco sauce. Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Uncover; continue as above. Yields 2 casseroles (6 servings each)

Anyone else do freezer cooking? What are your fav recipes?

Giving IS better than receiving...

I just wanted to take a second to share with you a charity that I think is absolutely amazing, and definitely a worthwhile venture! Here is a short video all about it:

I took my son to my FAVORITE place yesterday (the dollar store) and we were able to fill a box with stuff for a child that has NOTHING. I think about how excited these kids get about TOOTHBRUSHES, and then I remember the fight I had with my 4 year old this morning who didn't want to brush his teeth.

We are so fortunate, SO SO SO fortunate, I feel it is a great responsibility of mine as a parent to teach him how important it is to be generous to those that aren't as fortunate!

We also draw names off of the angel tree at Walmart and things like that (once we even drew names off of a senior citizen tree), but I ADORE the message and the mission of Operation Christmas Child and I absolutely had to share it with you all!!!!!! If you are interested in donating a gift for a child in need, please visit:

Samaritan's Purse

When I watch that video, and I see the look of sheer delight on those children's faces, and then I realize, I spent less on that present than I do for my family to go to McDonald's...its amazing what an impact such a small amount can have. Tis the season...

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Hey everyone, its time!!!!!!!!! Lets link! Last week, our most popular link was brought to us by Welcome Sunshine Home with her spectacular ribbon & gift wrap storage:



Isn't that incredible?!?!? So, lets see what YOU'VE been working on this week :)

Please no solicitations, and please leave me some comment love if you link up. And please make sure my button is somewhere on your blog :)

OK, have at it:

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Hey ya'll, its time to PAR-TAY! This week I have a small craft to share...nothing too major.

In our house, we're a "drop your stuff at the door" kind of family. Which makes for a very messy entryway. I decided I should attempt to teach my son a different way, and when I saw these hooks at the Dollar Tree, I knew I was on to something.



So with a little help from some scrapbooking supplies I came up with this....

Ahhhhhh, I feel organized already. B is for Backpack, and C is for Coat. Fun AND educational, man I am on FIRE!!!!! Please divert your eyes from the left side of the photo where about 3,000,000 pairs of shoes are attempting to fall out of my closet in an avalanche. Oh well...maybe I'll come up with a shoe organizing craft another day..... :)

In the meantime, get to linking!! Please comment if you link, and leave some comment love on other links you visit. And no solicitations....pretty please :)

Its no picasso but....

My favorite Dollar Store is full of items that for whatever reason didn't sell in a regular store, and end up getting bought in bulk and sold for...yep, dollars. Sometimes, I find the most AMAZING treasures, and I think "HOW DID THIS NOT SELL?!?!?!" I wish this was one of those times.

Would anyone care to take a guess at why this magnificent piece of artwork didn't sell?

You, in the back? Yes, EXACTLY what I thought. Its because the dogs aren't playing poker. Some people have NO respect for real art...

Since I don't really have a room or closet or trash can where the dog/duck theme fits in, I decided to snatch this up for $2 and do something else with it. The frame has gorgeous coloring and is wonderfully banged up and distressed.

Then one day while roaming around my local Dollar Tree I spotted these AWESOME gift bags:

Finally, REAL art :oP

So, I dug out my scissors, got busy with my Modge Podge, went into my mad crafter mode and......

LOVE :)

I realize it would be better if the birds were playing poker, but they just didn't have any bags like that...sorry to disappoint :oP

Get your candy ready....

Who's ready for trick or treaters?!?!?! We love passing out candy, but this year my son has decided he wants to trick or treat instead so, looks like we'll be on the receiving end. I still decided I needed a cute candy bowl for when friends and or family stop over and help themselves to our loot...So I started with this:

1 clear plastic bowl

1 package Halloween napkins

Some Halloween garland

ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL from.......ding ding ding ding, the Dollar Store!

To start with, I modge podged napkins on the outside with the pattern facing inside so the bowl looked like this:

Then I modge podged another layer of napkins on the outside...this time with the pattern facing out, and then I hot glued the garland around the lip of the bowl, so it looked like this:

Now, for those of you who have modge podged napkins before, you know...it will NOT be smooth...ever, no matter what methods you use, or how hard you try, the napkins and too fragile, they wrinkle up. And ESPECIALLY when going around a ROUND bowl...but I like the texture, I think it adds to it!

After all that tho, my bowl was missing something....I couldn't quite put my finger on it and then it hit me......

Oh yeah, that's MUCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHH better ;)

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My son's FAVORITE Halloween craft....

I don't do a lot of "kid friendly" crafts. Its not that I don't think they're cute its just...well crafting time is ME time so I just tend to stay away from kids stuff. But, when inspiration strikes, what can you do?

I forgot to take a "before" picture...rookie mistake, but we'll make due...

So it started with a metal platter, a block of floral foam, and a piece of black posterboard (all from the Dollar Tree). I painted the platter orange, and put magnets on the back. I cut a thin piece of floral foam and hot glued it behind the lip of the platter (for the stem), and then I used the black poster board to cut various face shapes, to which I also attached magnets (I had a roll of magnet from Walmart on hand already).

Hang it on your fridge and your kids will be busy for HOURS.....

Disclaimer: Don't mind the fingerprints all over my fridge...thus is the life of a black refridgerator...hrmph

He LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEDD changing the faces around and using different combinations. And for $3 I bought myself a couple hours of free time...wellllllll worth the investment :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Its that time!!! Lets party! Please make sure you don't link up any solicitations! :)

Can't wait to see what you've come up with this week!!!!!

My bootiful decor...

I'm not into decorating too much for Halloween, and when I do, I prefer more simplistic decor. I spied these frames at my local Dollar Store awhile back:

What I liked about them was that its really just a framed piece of glass, the "divided" photo part is just glued on. So after purchasing one, I pulled the "frame" part off and used that goo gone stuff to get the sticky residue off of it.

After that, I used some black vinyl and my Cricut to cut out the word BOO. I used my lyrical letters cartridge and the Jack Sprat font. Once I got my boo on the glass I cut out 2 black circles for the eyes and there ya have it, my $1 decor :)

PS-why does my glass always look so dirty?!?!? Windex does NOT equal streak free apparently...

My googly eyed spider...

My son's school doesn't celebrate Halloween, but they do what they call "Noah's Ark Day" and each of the children dress up as an animal/insect of some sort. I opted to make my son's costume this year so I was ECSTATIC when he said he wanted to be a spider...I knew how easy it would be to make!

To start with, I purchased a pair of black sweat pants, and a black hoodie from Walmart. This worked out perfectly because after Halloween I can detach the excess parts and he can continue to wear the sweat pants and the hoodie for the winter!!!!!!!!!

Then, I went to the Dollar Store and picked up the following items:


2 pairs of black trouser socks
1-2pack of Styrofoam balls
1 slinky

From there I stuffed the socks with plastic bags and sewed 2 to the hoodie and 2 to the pants. I used yarn to connect his arms to the 2nd set of arms. And then I used strong thread to sew from the waist band of the sweat pants to the 2nd set of legs. It made the legs stand up just enough that you could see them, but they weren't connected to the arms so if he wanted to take JUST the hoodie off he could.

Then, I broke the slinky in half, painted eyeballs on the Styrofoam balls and placed one in each slinky. I took thread and stitched about 4 rings of the slinky on to the hood of the hoodie and voila...I had an AWESOME and ADORABLE googly eyed spider :D

The BIG reveal...

Remember that project I said I was working on? Well....its not quite finished yet, but how about I give you a sneak peek?



TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm working on a baby :)

FINALLY :)

It should be ready next early summer...and we can't WAIT!!!!!!!!! I am so relieved to be done with fertility treatments, and so happy to finally have the blessing we've been praying so hard for.

I know so many of you have been praying for us too, and I am so appreciative! I thank God daily for this miracle!!!!!! I had my first ultrasound today and we got to see 1 healthy little baby with a nice strong heartbeat...what a sigh of relief. Up to now it's felt too good to be true...but its really real :D

So forgive me if I'm a bit sporadic in my posting during this first tri-mester...I promise to check in as often as possible! :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Hey everyone, thanks for coming!!!!!! Lets get linking!!!!!

Please no solicitations, I don't want to be the big bad link deleter :)

Because the projects I'm working on now are for a specific little tribute I'll be doing here shortly I have nothing to share. So I leave you with a little video of how my week has felt like...enjoy :)

I can't wait to see what you've come up with this week!!!!!!!!!

You are my sunshine....

I LOVE sunburst mirrors, absolutely LOVE them! But then you look in Ballard Designs and Pottery Barn...who can afford them?!?! Not to mention that the ones in the catalogs are typically HUGE and sorry, but we don't all have 30 foot ceilings...so, I set out to make my OWN.

It all started with this:

3 of the most HIDEOUS sun decorations I've ever seen (from my local Dollar Tree, approx. 6 inches wide) and 3 beveled mirrored candle plates (also from the Dollar Tree).

PS-That's $6 total if you're counting along ;)

First I took a hammer and smashed the sun's faces down a little so there would be more of a flat surface for the mirror to adhere to. Then, I gave them all a nice 2 coats of London Grey.

After that, I simply Liquid Nailed my candle plates to the sun's and VOILA:

I got myself a nice little Sunburst Grouping for a measly $6!!!!!!!!! WOOT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! :D

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Sorry for my absence as of late. I've been working on something, and I promise to reveal it to you soon!!!!!! :)

In the meantime, I'm ALWAYS down to party...so, lets do this!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week our most popular link came from Whimsical Creations by Melanie. She shared her Fabulous Frugal Bathroom Remodel and everyone loved it!!!!!!!

Isn't that tile spectacular?!?!?! LOVE it!!!!!

Ok, so lets link!!!! This party is NOT for solicitations, so please don't be that guy :)

Comment if you link and please make sure my button is somewhere on your blog. Some people seem to have problems with my button, but I'm clueless, so if you do, please email me...with detailed instructions on how to fix it LOLOL

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

Well its that time again...I'm a bit under the weather so although I have a craft done...I didn't get it photographed in time to post it.

But I'm looking forward to seeing your projects!!!!!!!! So let me see em' :)

Time to link...please no solicitations...and please comment and put my button on your blog :D

I'm a blog GURU.....

Ok, so not really...truthfully, I just know how to google really well :)

But thanks to some suggestions from my fantabulous readers, and some google info...I've got my blog back to "semi-normal." I'm sad I'm kind of stuck with such a boring background for now...but apparently bloggers new template designer won't let you install your own backgrounds.

To which I say BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Anywho, I know this isn't the same snazzy look you're used to seeing here at Nikki's Nifty Knacks, but I hope you'll stick around anyway...you know...for the crafts and what not ;)

Love ya'll, you're the BEST!!!!

I need HELLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!

My blog is a hot mess, and no matter what I do I can't seem to fix it :(

This new blogger template designer won't seem to let me install my own background...I have no clue what I'm doing wrong. All of my widgets and stuff are now at the bottom of my blog and I can't seem to get them up on the side no matter what I do. Are any of you blog saavy readers out there able to help?? I have no clue what to do and I am more than frustrated...

If you have ANY advice, please email me at Itiznikki@Yahoo.com

Thank you all sooooooooooooo much

I've been scooped!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, remember this spring when I made the cutest jelly bean wreath EVER?!?!?!?

My plan was....jelly bean wreath for spring, candy corn wreath for Fall. Imagine my utter disappointment when I spotted THIS on the cover of Woman's Day this week:

I was scooped! UGH. Not to dismay though folks, I am determined to make a wreath with some sort of candy on it!!!!!!!!!! And thanks to the grand re-opening of magic craft land (dollar tree), I am prepared to create a masterpiece!!!!!!!!

I started with this random assortment of junk...

1 foam wreath, 2 packs of "gripper pads", 2 packages of suckers. Scrap the ribbon...I didn't like how it looked, so I spray painted the wreath black instead :)

Ok, so after you spray paint your wreath, you'll take your gripper pad and fold it in half. run some craft wire through and twist

Continue to do that until you get the "ruffly" look you want...and make sure you have enough wire left over to twist your "flowers" onto the wreath:


Then apply your gripper pads to your wreath (I used all 8):


Lookin' good right?!??!! But needs some embellishment. That's where the suckers come in. Pull those cute confections off their sticks and apply with hot glue and MAGICCCCCCC:

So maybe its not AS cute as the candy corn version, but I am still in LURVE with it!!!!!!