Art Projects

So it's been a busy couple of weeks for me and my family with school starting, so I haven't had one moment to get to my self.  I love when school starts, just because I'm one of those people who likes the routine of it all. 
But today I wanted to post about some really cool art projects that I have found and would LOVE to try out.  I just don't know if I have enough wall space in my house for them all.

The first one is from Tatertots and Jello. She has so many wonderful examples of Subway art on her blog, but her latest is for Halloween.  Here is a picture of what it looks like along with the tutorial. (click here)  There are just so many different things you could do with Subway Art, I just know if I started I wouldn't be able to stop.

The next one is from The Pleated Poppy, a "Family Rules" canvas.  It's such a good idea to make something for the whole family to see and be reminded of what your family is all about.  I guess like making a family mantra while also having something pretty to put up on your wall. She also has links / examples of a whole bunch of other people that have taken the idea and made it their own here.  It's fun to see so many other takes on the same idea. To see how to make your own, clink here.

The 3rd one is from Lil' Luna, that she calls "All Good Things" but is a tutorial (click here) on a way to dress up silhouettes of your kids.  I think it is such a cute idea and pulls everything together so wonderfully.  This one I might actually get to do because I know just where I would put it in my home. 

And finally from Under the table & Dreaming, for some super cool Word/Wall Art.  It's a guest post from Amy at My 3 Monsters but I found the tutorial (click here)  is easier to follow here than on Amy's blog (sorry).  I thought this would be a wonderful idea for a wedding gift as well as wanting to do it myself.  Again I have a spot picked out I just have to get to it. 
If your like me you don't get it at first but if you look closely it's their last names with their "est." date.  Great conversational piece for any home.  Amy also points you toward a great photo stream on Flickr by Leo Reynolds where you can use the images for free with some restrictions. I will add the link to my side bar to make it easier for those who are interested. 
So four great ideas to add to my "I'll get to it someday" list.  Let me know if anyone tries any of them out and how it went. 

My Take on Temple Blocks

For those of you who might read this blog, I am LDS or a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (for more info go to lds.org).  So for me this idea was just awesome, which I found at Lil' Luna.  It's for Temple blocks, that she made for her Young Women group and I thought it had such a great thought to it, by using some of the words to the Primary song "I Love to see the Temple". The great thing is she has several different temples to choose from and she notes on her blog that they are not copyrighted pictures so to feel free to download for personal use.  (click HERE for the tutorial) 
I wanted to make one for my daughters room but realized that I really didn't have a place to put it, so I came up with my own take on this great idea.  My daughters room is white and pink striped all the way around except for this one wall where there is a kind of shelf built into the wall.  I left the top of that wall white because I thought it was the perfect frame for something special to be put up.  The problem being that I have been having the hardest time trying to figure out what that something "special" was.  I've thought of "word art" and tried to find some kind of picture(s) to put up there but nothing ever seemed right for the space.  I finally found a couple of metal flowers but they were not enough to fill the wall, so....I thought that since these pictures where not copy righted I would just have one printed off in a larger size and frame it.  I had to make the file bigger giving it more pixels in Photshop so that it would print off clear but it worked out so great.  It just completes her room so wonderfully and gives her a reminder of a goal that she can achieve.  She loves it especially since I let her pick out the temple.   She picked the Salt Lake Temple since that is where "Mommy and Daddy" were married although she almost picked the Alberta Temple (I'm originally from Southern Alberta). 

Thank you so much Lil" Luna for such a great idea, you made my day and my little girls year!

Back to School

Sorry it's been a couple of weeks since I posted anything.  It's been a little crazy at my house trying to figure out things for school, which for my kids starts a week from today.  Boy, did summer go fast...
So in honor of "Back to School" here are a couple of really cool ideas I can across.

The 1st is a School Lunch Kit for Mom at Moments to Live By.  I don't know about anyone else but I remember when I was I kid and I always envious those kids that had a fun lunch packed by their Mom.  This little kit makes it so easy to BE that cool Mom so that maybe my kids can be "that kid" I wanted to be. 
Some of the fun things that she suggests stocking it up with are party napkins, sandwich cutters, stickers, fun sandwich bags, prizes, preprinted notes/jokes and markers, both paper & food.  You can put all your fun stuff in a neat tote to keep it all together.  For the full tutorial click here.
I have also seen those cool Keebler snacks that have a spot on them just for writing notes on (I'm sure you've seen the commercial).  I will me adding paper bags to my kit as my 7 3/4 year old has told me it's a big pain to take a lunch box because he always forgets it and with paper bags he can just throw it away.  If anyone else has any ideas of other neat stuff,  let me know. 
The 2nd thing I found are these adorable cupcakes I found at Kara's Cupcakes.  You can make them for a fun after school surprise, dessert for after dinner on the first day of school or whatever. I just thought they were such a cute idea.  For the full tutorial on how to make them click here.  
I hope that everyone has great fun getting ready for school and getting your kids excited for school because all I know is that I am not only ready for them to go back but SO VERY excited too!

Killer Deals

I have a few websites that I check almost everyday that I love because of the deals I can find there.
My first one is Woot.com.  There are 4 new deals every day that starts at 11 pm each night.  I found my sons Leap Frog "Star Wars" Didj with game for 29.99 last Christmas.  The trick to this site is that it is $5 shipping no matter the item, which is good for big things, not so good for small things.
Next is PinchingYourPennies.com.  I "like" them on Facebook so I don't have to check their site constantly for great deals because they are always posted to Facebook.  They let me know of the deal that buy.com was having on the new Harry Potter Lego Wii game ($32.99 + free shipping) which I jumped on because even Wal*mart had it for $49.99.  Awesome, eh?
Then if you want some GREAT deals on name brand shoes check out 6pm.com.  Some of their shoes are 75% to 85% off.  With school coming up that is the first place I go before heading to my local shoe store because I can often find good quality shoes for less even with shipping.
And lastly, for those who like to fix thing up/ redo/ reuse/ refurbish, whatever you want to call it you have GOT to go to publicsurplus.com.  It is where public schools "auction" off old items that they don't use anymore.  Most auctions start at $1 an item.  You just have to be sure to click on your region, and then be willing to go pick it up if you win the auction.  I got an overhead projector that I use to paint my "wall art" for just $2. Love it!!!  (so much cheaper than those sticky decals that start at $50, but that is for another post).  Right now in the Utah area were I am they have full wooden cabinets for $1.00! With a little love these could be turned into such great things.  I want them bad but they are too big for my mini van, but I'm sure they will find a good home. 
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome deals everywhere.  I will also put the links on my side bar for quick access, so go check them out and if you have any websites you like let me know because I am always on the look out for a great deal!