Cell Phone Bling

Several months ago I saw a post on Crafting Rebellion to Rock Your IPhone.  I have been wanting to try this ever since then and last night was my chance.

I have to say that I actually like my inspiration piece better than mine in a lot of ways.  Mostly because I didn't have any flat backed pearls, so it is mostly gems (maybe a lil' too gem-ish) and I also used 9001 glue (because its what I had) rather than the E-6000 she recommends.  The glue dissolved the silver backing on my gems and they lost most of their sparkle. (actually, I'm not sure if it was the glue or maybe it was my gems? Oh well.)


Even though it didnt turn out exactly like I envisioned it, I still think it's pretty cool.  I mean it's definitely a one-of-a-kind!

 I enjoyed the process, and will probably try it again sometime. (I also MAY have gotten a slight buzz from the glue, lol)

This project technically was free.  I used an old cell case and things I had on hand.  The picture frame and the crown were from old keychains.  I just removed the chains.

If you were to purchase all of the items for this, it could get a little pricey, but just think what you had left over would make the next project free!!  :)

Harry Potter Wand

I promised I would be back with more information on those amazing wands I made for Ty's birthday party, and well, I'm finally back.

Sorry it took so long but I spent way too many sleepless nights working on party decorations, and then I spent the weekend trying to recoup.

I found this idea on Your Life Uncommon.  You can go here, for her detailed tutorial.  (She has several cute ideas for Harry Potter Parties!)

While making my wands, I did make a couple of modifications that I will share with you.

1st - I used white cardstock instead of regular printing paper. (Only because thats what I had on hand. I believe the other would work just as well.)

2nd- I could not fill my wand up with hot glue.  It took three failed attempts to realize I had better come up with another idea.  What I finally settled on was this:
                           I filled the narrow end of the wand with hot glue and let it cool completely.  Then I filled and stuffed it with tissue wrapping paper until the wand felt solid.  Finally I topped the other end with more hot glue.
                          Keep in mind, I was using a low temp glue gun.  That may be why I couldn't fill it completely with the hot glue.  But I actually think this is way faster and cheaper anyway.


The kids loved them!  Ty wants them in different colors now, and Lilly said that Toby slept with his, lol.
(That's what makes those sleepless nights worth it!!)

More Harry Potter ideas coming up.......


I linked up here:

Ty's Class Valentines

This past week I've been making valentines for Ty to pass on to his class next week. I finally got them finished last night, so I thought I would share them with you.

He specifically requested Lego Harry Potter valentines and of course I couldn't find them anywhere, so I cabbaged some pics from the Internet and made my own. 



The colorful tubes that are attached are kaleidoscopes we picked up
 several months ago on sale. We've been saving them for something like this.



I worked forever on these because I wanted a watermark or light image of a castle behind Harry.  I found one and had it just right, but for some reason it WOULD NOT let me print. It was causing my printer to say that the memory was too low for the print job.  I tried everything. Well, everything except a different pic anyway, because I really liked that one. :(  So finally, after too many hours I just decided that if I couldn't have that one, then I just wouldn't have any! (Actually, I was just tired and stressed, so I just deleted it and moved on.)

I think they turned out cute. What do you think?



Now, I have to concentrate on Ty's Birthday party stuff for next week. I'll try to post pics of some of the decorations as I go. If I get tight on time, I will show you after the party, lol.

And yes, of course it's a Harry Potter birthday party. 

What else would it be?

Halloween Decor Ideas

OK I promised you all that I would have this post up by LAST Friday, but as you can well see; that just did not happen.

These are the final 4 (probably... wink, wink) Halloween projects I am going to do this year.

I actually thought I was already done, but I have seen so many cute ideas while browsing some of my favorite blogs, that I just had to do a few more. I just couldn't help myself, lol.

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We are all about Harry Potter at our house these days.  Ty is so into these books. We just started book #4 last week.  We read a chapter each night before we go to bed.  Its a wonderful way to wind down for bed.

Anyway, I want to thank Heather @ diykindagirl for sharing this idea. 

It's amazingly simple, but so cute, and so much fun.  Ty was ecstatic when he came home and saw this mixed into our Jack-o-Lantern patch!

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I just had to create this white pumpkin with spider that I spied over at Country Living.

I actually made this pumpkin following the directions on Country Living website, but I didn't think it look right.  So I painted over it, flipped the pumpkin over (so the stem is propping it up) and redrew the lines.  This time I made the individual curves between each vertical line, rather than spiraling it out.  To each their own I guess.

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My favorite of these four projects are definitely these Pumpkin Bats.  They are just so stinking cute. I stumbled onto this creepily cute idea while thumbing through my mom's Family Fun mag. You can get directions and templates for the eyes, ears and wings from their website.



My favorite helper. I had to get creative and use some
blue wire for the support on the wing. Ty is painting them black.


I used cheap plastic pumpkins from the dollar store, so we could run invisible fishing line through the tops of them and hang them from the pecan tree in the front yard. I also used the eye templates as a pattern, and painted them on instead of cutting them out of foam.  (I didn't have any white foam handy and I did have some white craft paint.)

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Last, but definitely not least:


OK it doesn't really count as a project but it is colorfully relevant.

Your just not fully decorated for the holidays until your toes match the season. ;)


It's another activity packed weekend for us, so I'll be back early next week. Hopefully with some new ideas to share.

Have a Great One!