5 Things You Didn't Know About . . . .

This week we are interrogating speaking with Karen from The Graphics Fairy!  I'm sure there are many of you who {like me} love the graphics that Karen shares with us all.  They translate into such beautiful and creative projects.

Favorite music at the moment:  I usually listen to a lot of Enya, but I just picked up a CD by Ingrid Michaelson which I love.


If you didn't live where you do, where would you live:  I actually obsess about this one a lot! I would really like to live somewhere a little warmer and closer to the ocean. As I get older I find that I just can't take the Winters like I used to!


Favorite cocktail:  Ummm well, I don't actually drink. But, a friend of mine makes these amazing Basil Lemonade drinks in the Summer, they're mean't to be made with Vodka, but he makes mine without, and it's sooo delicious!

Best advice you ever received:  Do what you love. Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out what that is, but once you do it can really change your life.


Person you most admire:   My grandmother. She was so good at so many things. She was super crafty, she could weave her own fabric, sew, crochet etc. She was fluent in French, and was an expert gardener. She was very knowledgeable about antiques and she was quite savvy at real estate too!

Thanks so much Karen for sharing 5 Things we didn't know about you!

Christmas Eve Buffet Menu

This great image above comes from The Graphics Fairy and this post is being linked up to Brag Monday.

As soon as I saw this Santa with his scroll, I knew it would be perfect to display my Christmas Eve buffet menu. The only mistake I made was printing it on regular paper {as the red will run when you Mod Podge over the whole picture}.

As luck would have it, I still had some scrap wood in the garage and found a piece that fit this image to a "T". I added text to the scroll part through Photoshop, printed it out, and cut it out. I painted the scrap wood with black craft paint and then applied the image to the wood with Mod Podge. Once that dried, I put Mod Podge over the whole top {wood and image}.

While the top coat of Mod Podge was still wet, I sprinkled some white glitter on top. I had picked up this box of Christmas chipboard cut-outs at Michaels {$5.99 for a box of 37} and looked for a few that would go with it. Once the whole thing was dry I used hot glue to attach a few of the chipboard pieces.

I had this back to a 5x7 frame that I wasn't going to be using, but I just wanted the easel part of it so that I could prop my menu up on the table. I measured the width out and cut off the excess with a sheetrock knife. I attached the back with Gorilla Glue. How many adhesives is that in this one project alone?

Here it is all complete! This was one of those projects that I was just so pleased with when it was done. When you see what something can be and then are able to see it through it is really very satisfying!

In a practice tablescape:

Also linking up to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Holiday Highlights #4 at The DIY Showoff

Mod Podge Mania at This is the Year.

DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land

All Things Merry & Brite at All Things Heart & Home

Brag Monday With The Graphics Fairy

As soon as I saw this great looking label that Karen from The Graphics Fairy was offering up, I immediately got a couple of ideas for using it.






I reserved one of the glass holders I made using dollar store items and put some of the scrap pieces of ribbon I have in it. I cut out the above label design and put it on a piece of card stock for stability, punched two holes in it and used some ribbon to make it a tag. I was originally going to Mod Podge the label on the glass, but thought if I wanted to use it for something else I could still do that this way.

Nothing special, but I think if I get a glass canister to make a permanent home for these scraps of ribbon, I will attach the label right to it.

Linking this up to Brag Monday over at The Graphics Fairy.

~ Christmas Decor & The Graphics Fairy ~

Thanks to Karen over at The Graphics Fairy, I have been making some items to use for Christmas decorations. Here's what you get when you take some graphics that Karen offers up.

A couple of frames from Goodwill {at $2.99 each}, a little bit of craft paint and a scrap of fabric.

This first frame I just cleaned up and used the sheet music graphic as a background and the children graphic on top. I'm thinking I might hang this on the wall behind one of my little Christmas trees that I will be putting in my front entry {since the sheet music is entitled "Around the Christmas Tree"}.

The second frame I took red and black craft paint {since the red was a bit bright} and dulled the red a bit with the black. I just painted the inside groove of the frame with the red. I used a red fabric scrap that has a gold scroll design for the background and used the Christmas fairy graphic on top of that.

This red actually works in my big den with the red drapes I recently got from Target and the pillows from Kohl's. I think that is where it will call home for the holidays.

This just goes to show that you don't need to spend a lot of money making decor for your own home for the holidays or even to give as gifts.

I am linking this post up to Brag Monday over at The Graphics Fairy.

Also, the DIY Show Off Holiday Highlights

And It Begins ~

Okay, that's it ~ I'm in Christmas mode! I've already made two Christmas gifts and now, my first piece of Christmas decor. This image is one offered by Karen at The Graphics Fairy and I am linking this up to Brag Monday over at Karen's blog.

I love the vintage, antique-y, whatever-happened-to-this-kind-of-Christmas image. I purchased an unfinished wood plaque from Michaels, some red craft paint, a Christmasy scrapbook paper and printed the image {5x7} on a color printer.



The red seemed a bit bright for "the look" and I wanted to give the whole thing an aged look, so I took some walnut stain and wiped it on.

I think the walnut stain might have been a bit too dark, but it was what I had available. I took red and green sheer ribbbon, tied it in a bow and put a dab of hot glue to attach it.



And there you have it. Let the Christmas preparations begin!

Also, linking up to the DIY Show Off Holiday Highlights.

Brag Monday ~ The Graphics Fairy

Here's a graphic that I love and have wanted to use for a few months now. "Keep Calm and Carry On"; it's all over the place! So, when Karen over at The Graphics Fairy offered it up ~ and in two colors no less, I jumped on saving it until I decided how I wanted to use it.



After seeing it most recently over at Beth's The Stories of A to Z blog, I knew I wanted to do something similar.

Beth at The Stories of A to Z

I found an old 8 x 10 frame in my closet, pulled out my package of black & white scrap book papers and printed the graphic out in a 5 X 7 size. I used the backing of the frame to measure the scrap book paper and cut that to fit. Then I just used my glue stick to glue the graphic onto the scrap book paper.

I realized afterward that it is not totally centered, but if it winds up bothering me that much I will just redo it. I really have to wear my reading glasses for everything now.

I love that this basically cost me nothing to make!

Whoops! Almost forgot. Got a bonus out of this, too. When I found the 8 x 10 frame I also found this 5 x 7 frame, which was the perfect size for Karen's Trick or Treat Owl!

If anybody is interested in being Blog Of The Week, please email me. I am looking to add blogs to this list. The only thing I ask is that your blog posts incorporate text and pictures {as opposed to all text}.

Don't forget to visit our new giveway this week ~ Pixie Dust Decor!

A "Boo" Frame

Karen from The Graphics Fairy offers free downloadable graphics; the Boo garland above is one. Karen is also hosting Brag Monday, where you can show off a project you've done using the graphics she offers. I'm slipping this post in quick so I can link up before it's closed.


I was in Kohl's tonight and saw they were having a sale on frames {40-50% off}. I saw a frame that had dividers for three pictures and thought this might work. I took my package of card stock scraps {best $2.99 I ever spent ~ I've been using these a lot}, hoped for orange card stock {found it} and cut it to fit.




I then printed out the BOO letters but since the openings were too small to include the whole graphic, I just cut the letters out. I used my glue stick to glue them to the card stock and then just put it in the frame.




And there you have it! Easy Peasy!




Thanks, Karen!