I Got New Drawers!

Okay, so I'm sure many of you have seen the rolling carts with the primary colors for storage, but if not, they look like this:

I bought them at Sam's Club for the lowest price I'd ever seen them.  Normally they are between $50-$75 but Sam's had them for $25 so I bought two for my classroom.

 Now, unfortunately, they do not really go with the color scheme in my classroom, so I busted out the scrapbook paper and modpodge and VOILA:

Well, I decided that I'd really wished that I'd gotten some for home in my craft room/office so I went back with my fingers crossed they'd still have some and thankfully they did!  YAY! 

I think that warming up my craft muscles on the first two sets was a good idea because my set for home turned out just a tad different. Hehehe

As you can see, this time I gave them a COMPLETE overhaul using spray paint (creme and chalkboard) as well as some stencil and paint on the top.   I wanted to match them to these ADORABLE storage bins I found at Michael's last year.  

Well, I need to get started on the next project so have a GREAT Saturday!

Just Because

Hallway Passes (or Simply Put, Initials)

Trying my best to have a more frugal Christmas without it being obvious, I decided to make gifts for my colleagues (team) and friends at work.  A few months ago, I made my own hallway passes using the wooden letters that you can find at pretty much any craft store.  I got my inspiration from this posting:

SOURCE

 (I intended on inserting pictures of said passes here but unfortunately, I don't seem to have taken a picture of them.  Hmph!).  Well, I got a few compliments (solicited, but compliments, none-the-less) on them so I decided to make a few for those on my grade level and the teachers/staff I've known and been close with over the past several years.

Below is a smidgen of them:

And D'oh!  I'm going to have to come back and make a modification to this posting because I can't seem to find the OTHER pics of the passes (the above don't need passes so it's simply initials).  Until then...

**EDITED TO ADD OTHER IMAGES

Okay, that's all for now!  :D

I Got an iPad and IT Got a New Outfit!

Ohmygoodnessgracious!  My husband surprised me fo' sho' for Christmas when he got me the iPad2 w/64G, WiFi, and 3G!  Big Spenda!  Well I'm sure you can imagine that my measly teacher's salary didn't do him NEAR as well for a gift, but the best part was that I didn't even see this coming!  I had already decided that they were too expensive so I stopped researching them altogether to find out what would be the best fit for me.

Teacher's salary kept in mind, I remembered a post I saw on one of the blogs that I follow read regularly stalk (little blue boo):

[source]

SO, I gave it a whirl:

I'm so excited that I can barely stand it.  AND, it's true, what they say on the website.  YOU CAN'T PUT THE THING DOWN! 

I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and have big plans for a safe and Happy New Year!

No Bake (Diaper) Cakes *giggle*

I think one of the first transitions I made from paper crafts (notebooks and clipboards) was to diaper cakes.  I saw my very first one about two years ago at a baby shower we held for a colleague at school.  I really liked the concept, but instead of attaching all of the items to the outside (pacifiers, bottles, rattles, etc.) I wanted to give it more of a dressed up wedding cake appearance.  Here are some of the cakes that I've made over the past year or so.  I will warn you, though, once people know you make diaper cakes and have seen your work, they tend to seek you out to make one for their friends' showers.  So be prepared to make more and more and more and more and...  

No really, they're a lot of fun to make, but are very time consuming to roll the diapers.  One thing I would suggest (I saw this idea on Pinterest), would be to use a paper towel or toilet paper roll in the middle to get the form going.  You can gift any left over diapers, but I actually keep them for the next request.  ;)

This is a posting to share with you the notebooks that I customized for many a friend and family.  You basically just start with a composition book and a plan.  I used primarily scrapbook paper, Beacon 527 multi-use glue (to attach paper to cover), embellishments such as beads, stickers, etc, and mod podge (as a protective overlay).  Though sometimes, depending on how heavy the embellishments, I had to use the 527 as an adhesive to and an overlay of some of the embellishments as well.  BUT FIRST, my final installment of GOLDEN CHILD Delishness, this is Kai, my newest (child of Bailey and Maizey) addition to my Golden Family:

And, without further ado:

Again, with a little imagination and information (about the recipient), you can create something usable, inexpensive, and FUN to make!  Have a MAGNIFICENT MONDAY,