Feast Your Eyes, and DROOL!

I love the curves and handles! You can also tell that we like Root Beer and Cream Soda at our house 

Just down the street fromwhere we (Jen) live, is an apartmentcomplex. For the last month or so, there has been a mini yard sale every weekend and sometimes during the week. I havedriven by and drooled over this little black desk so many times I can't evencount; but I kept telling myself, they probably want more for it than I amwilling to pay. Today, while on the way to put up found dog signs, I decided wewould stop just to put my curiosity to rest. Taped to it was a pieceof paper with a big red $5. $5!! I immediately went into survival mode.....MUST....HAVE....DESK!

 I should have kept my eyeson just the desk but silly me wondered what else they had. I turned my head andsaw a hexagon shaped end table. I have been searching Goodwills up and downthis city (along with neighboringcities) looking for an end table ofthis shape but hadn't found one that I liked enough to spend $10+ on. I sawanother piece of paper with a red $5. Can you say WOWZERS? I looked to Mr.Awesome who gave me the look of "I completely support you Mrs. Awesome" Girls, he is amazing, andnot for sale, be jealous! 

I think the girl saw that Iwas a sucker for a $5 price tag. She brought out this stand and immediatelysaid $5? I couldn't resist. I loved the curvy posts and it was in pretty decentshape.   She continued to try and talk me into buying a very large metalside table with thousands of palm trees on it, the dog (ugliestbut cutest little Wiener Chihuahua mix), acouch that was upstairs in her apartment (but she would gladly goget it for me),  and then asked if I would come back becausethey would have more furniture later (I might actually drive bylater...it is right by our house afterall...)

 Overall, Ifeel like I hit the mini jackpot; 3 pieces for $15. I can't wait to give thesepieces a little TLC and see how they turn out.

Notice my awesome China Cabinet? Click here for that story

What would you do to them?  I needsome ideas people!

Block-O-Lantern

Since Halloween is just days away, I thought I'd do one more decoration. Hope you enjoy!

A few years ago my mom went to a Super Saturday for her ward. They did these glass block crafts and painted snowmen on them. Well one of them cracked when they drilled the hole so they gave it to my mom for free! Probably because she always spent the most. Seriously, we would be down there all day and not even finish everything. So frustrating! Haha

Anywho, so my mom gave me this glass block. Now I always had in my mind to do what they did and paint a snowman, but while going through our Halloween decorations I found a strand of orange lights and then I got to thinking... I'll make it into a Jack-O-Lantern! So here are the steps to make your very own Block-O-Lantern!

What you need:
A glass block. You can buy them at Home Depot, or even Michaels sells them with the hole already cut.
A drill
Tissue paper
black cardstock
Mod Podge (Click to make your own)
A strand of lights

First you will need to drill the hole if you bought it at Home Depot. I didn't have to do this step so I can't help you out. Just be careful so you don't crack it. Then stick your strand of lights inside.

Here is what it will look like... 

Origianlly I was just going to paint the face on, but I'm no artist and I really didn't have the right tools. Plus the wire of the lights are black so you could really see them and it looked horrible. (Sorry no pic)

Instead I decided to mod podge some tissue paper on to hide the wiring. I used white because it is what I had on hand. If I could do it again or when I make my mom one I would do orange tissue paper. That way when it is off it would still be orange. Also, maybe you could just do white lights and it'd still be orange. 

This is what it should look like. I just did a single layer, but you could do more if you wanted. 

 I cut out his face out of black blingy/ shiny scrapbook paper. You could really use whatever you have. Then mod podge it over the tissue paper.

And now lit up! I love it. I think it turned out so cute. Cost me nothing and took me like 20 minutes to make. The hardest part was cutting out the face.

Let us know what you think, and feel free to email us your attempt at your own Block-O-Lantern!

~Courtney


I've linked to... 

Halloween Countdown

Halloween is just around the corner and the kids are excited I'm sure. My little bug is too young to feel the excitement of loads of candy approaching! To help kids know how much longer until they can indulge in chocolate goodness, I've made a Halloween countdown. Here is a Gibson original!

I'm so excited with how it turned out and I love that I came up with the idea all by myself. I even figured out how to print in a circle and everything. Here is a basic list of what you will need to make your very own Halloween countdown!

Orange paper (apparently some cardstock is too thick to print on so be careful)
Black paper
Stove burner cover (can by them in a 2 pack at Dollartree I used the smaller one.)
Black Paint
Ribbon
Magnet sheet
Hot glue gun
Mod Podge (click to learn how to make your own) 

Sorry, I didn't take pictures along the way

First thing to do is paint your stove burner cover black. At first I just painted the edges, but it helps the paper stick if you paint the whole thing. It took 2 coats.


While that is drying you can print out your Days until candy paper. I can't figure out how to link the template I created, so if you want to use mine, email us at ourdiydiaries@gmail.com and I will email you the template. Or you can send us a message on Facebook.

Or you can make your own. In openoffice use the Fontwork gallery and type in what you want it to say, then change the shape to a circle. And mess with it until it's what you want it to be. Sorry I can't have it be easier for you!

Ok so print it out on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of orange paper. Then trace the paper around the burn cover. Then cut. It helped to cut a little smaller than the actual cover.

Once the paint is dry you can mod podge the orange onto the cover. Here is where you may want to make changes. My ink smeared a little bit. I'm not sure it there is anything you can do to make it not smear. So you may want to just glue it on or something? Or maybe just do mod podge behind the paper and not on top. It's up to you. Or as you can see in the picture it's not that noticeable.

Next you can cut out your numbers from the orange paper. I don't have a fancy cricut machine so I just went to my local scrapbook store and used their die cuts. I did 1 1/2 inch numbers 0-9 and did 1-4 twice so you could make 11, 22 etc. (I only did #4 twice because it was on the same die cut. I don't see me ever counting out more than 31 days, but who knows.)

Next cut your black paper into squares. I cut them into 1 1/2 x 2 inch squares. Then glue your numbers to your black squares.

Cut your magnets and stick to the back of your black squares. 

 Then bunch a knot  around your main ribbon with multiple ribbons. There is a trick where you only tie one ribbon and just lay the others inside the knot.Hopefully I can explain it.

Lay out one ribbon down and lay the others on top of it. Then tie the bottom ribbon around your main ribbon.

 It will look something like this except around your main ribbon...

Like this.

Then when that is done hot glue your ribbon to the back of the cover. The cool thing about this is all the extra numbers stick to the back of the cover. I would suggest storing in a ziplock bag when storing over the year.

There you have it, your very own countdown!

 

According to my countdown there are only 6 days left to post Halloween crafts. Come back soon, there are sure to be one or 2 more this week:)

Email us pictures, we'd love to see how yours turns out!

~Courtney

Linking at these great parties!

Jen vs. The China Cabinet

The year was two thousand and eleven. It wasa hot September morning when the battle began. I proceeded to the armory (Home Depot)and armed myself with  a variety ofweapons from chemicals to paint, woodglue to suffocating plastic, guns to the roughestof sandpaper (okayI realize that 220 isn’t that rough but for the sake of the story, just go withit okay?)

 I knew this was going to be a doozy of a battle and realized I might get wounded. However, I knew it would be worth it and that in the end….VICTORY would be mine!

I hate to admit that I am the one who threw the first punchbut my opponent just stood there, shivering in its boots. Someone had to startthe fight. I grabbed my 220 and hit the ground running. I sanded the finishright off its horrified face. As if that wasn’t enough, I took my TSP water andwiped it down, inflicting more pain. I sanded again, and again, and again,until I knew for sure it had reached its weakest point. I did one final wipedown and then proceeded to get my gun.  Ifilled the gun with its bright white primer ammo and fired the first shot. “Sput,sput, sput” whimpered the gun; it had no intentions of getting in the middle ofTHIS fight. I wrestled and wrestleduntil finally I had to take my gun back to the armory for a professional tofix. You wouldn’t believe howmany trips to the armory were made during this battle. I decided it wasbest to enlist the help of a veteran (my awesome dad); one that had much knowledge and could provide asecond point of view. He was willing to serve for a good cause and joined myside right away. We continued to wrestle with the gun until it finally gave inand started to work with us. I again filled it with ammo and fired a shot (while crossing my fingers).Out came the most beautiful shot of white primer you ever saw. The adrenalinkicked in and I was on a roll! I couldn’t stop, I kept firing; coat after coatuntil my opponent was covered in primer, not a glimpse of icky brown wood insite. 

I decided to rest for a bit after kicking behind in the first battle. I was wounded and needed to bandage myself up before beginning the second round. 

I pumped myself up and went back to the battle ground (the carport). This time Iloaded my gun with the brightest of white paint. I pulled the trigger…sput,sput, sput. SERIOUSLY?!?I thought. I ran back to my bunker to figure out a game plan. I saw no othersolution than to make yet another trip back to the armory. I knew I had tohurry; my offense was weakening and my opponent’s defenses were strengthening.I ran (drove) back to thearmory to have my weapon fixed once again and was back in no time. I loaded upand ran in to battle, arms swinging. I covered that thing like nothing anyonehas ever seen before. It was a beautiful and horrific site, depending on whichside you were on.

   I must give creditwhere credit is due. My opponent did put up quite the fight. It tried it’shardest to show its disgusting brown blood through my beautiful white paint. Ithad its annoying crevices, inconvenient corners, and its rough exterior whichrefused to sand smooth; but in the end, it was no match for my soldier and I.We pushed through and soon, the second battle had been won.

The third and final battle went quickly. We had alreadykicked our opponent’s defenses to the curb. We armed ourselves with cans ofclear coat and went to town, unleashing the final weapon of battle. We sprayed untilwe could see our war painted faces in our opponent’s eyes.

After the finalresting period, it was time to take my opponent by the head and mount it on mywall (or just move it into position). We hoisted its heavy body onto ourshoulders and made the long journey (maybe 20 steps?) home.

We stood there, inawe of the war we had just fought. It was over, we were VICTORIOUS! The once uglychina cabinet had been stripped and beaten down to its very core and had beengiven a new life. 

I knew that itwould take time before my opponent came around but it eventually realized thatit had a very important purpose and I am happy to report that we are now thebest of friends. I’d even like to think that it regrets putting up such afight. It has grown into its new skin and adjusted to the new home very welland I could not be more proud. 

I am strongerbecause of this war, I AM a survivor! I am fearless now and await the opportunityto pummel my next opponent to the ground. 


Linking at these awesome parties!