Things I am working on...

I have so many wonderful things that I am working on would love to share, but it's a surprise!
My dear sweet friend and I are doing a presentation next week on all things Holidays and how to get your tables ready. We have piles of ideas...we could talk to these ladies for hour till their eyes glazed over with everything that we want to share. So we are going to work on "Break It Down"...do you know the song? Put your hands in the air like your really don't care...So you can see where this is going!
So I may post a few random things this week, but I am saving all things fab till next week! We are going to know your socks off! And we are talking about doing this on a
real budget here people!

Random thing #1

OK, I made these a while ago and they were a big hit! Even with the kiddos!

I am a big fan of chicken tenders. Why, you say? They are all ready cut up for you into these nice little strips and you can get them for really cheap sometimes.

So I cut mine up into nice little pieces and marinated then in Lite Cesar Dressing.

Skewered them and brushed on a bit more dressing. Pop them onto the grill until done. Bring them inside and add them to a plate of letus (I used spinach) sprinkled with fresh Parmesan. After your put the kabobs on there, drizzle with a bit more dressing and cheese. Can you say yummo?!

Each person gets a kabob with a bit of greens and you are good to go!

Scarey Soap!

Here is a fun little quick gift that I made for the neighbors today. I saw the idea on another post...can't remember which one! But mine is a little different!

So you start with some soap making cubes. You can get them at any craft store. Mine are a milky color, but on the other blog they were a clear color. In some ways it's fun to have them this color. It hides the surprise!

Do you have these silicone plastic muffin pans? Well, now they have another use!

Cut the cubes and place 2-3 per mold.

Microwave this for about 25 seconds and check to make sure that it is melted. If it's bubbling, than let it cool for a bit before the next step. You may need a bit more time depending on your microwave.

I went to the Dollar Store today and got a bad of different plastic bugs. Place the bug upside down in the mold. I used a spoon and then a toothpick to hold the little bugger in there. It wants to float to the top of the mold, so you need to hold it there for a bit till the soap cools.

After it's cooled...about 1/2 hour or so, you have a soap with a surprise in it! There are just a million things that you can do with this idea! Don't forget to use a coupon for the soap cubes if you don't have any!

A cello bag would have been the best way to wrap these, but I was short of those. So I started with the cupcake holder. Why not? I added a tag that said "Scary Soap". My neighbor loves bugs! So I know that he is going to love the giant spider in here! And it's a great way to encourage your kids to really wash there hands!

Then I remember that I had these bags for icing! Score! That will do the trick!

I added a little ring and some ribbon. My son was off to deliver them to all the neighbor boys! I hope they like them! They were a treat to make! Ha Ha!

Halloween Door Decor!

Here's your sign!

Boy, you can tell how short I am taking this picture! Follow the directions below to make this fun sign for your front door!

I wanted a fun and not scary decoration for my front door, and I think that this did the trick.

My expression that I have is 22 by 4 inches.

http://tamarag.uppercaseliving.net

Are you a dumpster diver? I am! I got this wood while I was visiting a friend. She is still having some new home construction in her neighborhood. As I was leaving her neighborhood, I noticed this bin filled with scrape wood that was in the dumpster. Whee! So I grabbed a few pieces...it's going in the trash anyways! I am just up-cycling here people!

So I measured my wood to be 24 inches

long and got the saw out!

Being that I always want to do things for mostly free, I try to always use what I have around.

I had this black and white paper left-over from some other crafts. Now, it was not the right size, so I went with a mosaic Mod Podge look.

I tore up the paper in random sizes and glued it on with our dear friend, Mod Podge.

When the paper was dry, I gave it a all-over coat. When that was dry, I went over

the edges of the wood with black craft paint.

I still wanted a bit more. I like the old looking Halloween...whatever that means.

So I wanted to antique this. I gave it a "dirty wash". I went over the whole piece with watered down cream paint.

Then take a paper towel or old tee, and wipe it down. You are removing most of the paint here. You want to move fast here because you don't want it to dry.

That looks better!

Then I cut around the expression and placed it on the wood when everything was dry.

I used some old wire that I had to tie up the sign. Then to add another fun touch, I used some crepe paper and got out the glue gun. I flipped it on the back side and glued a fancy edge to it. I am really happy with the way it turned out!

 Here is some more decor at my front door. I have light that I am going to put in the lanterns for Trick or Treater's. And all the garland and the crows are from the Dollar Store.

Not just any old suite case!

A while ago I posted that I had gotten a suite case at a garage sale and was really excited about all of the things that I could do with it! My mind was just going crazy with all of the possibilities! And I got for just $2! It still had the tags on it! Now, this was intended to be used just for decoration. I am guessing that she got it at Ross, or another home decorating shop.

So here it is before:

So cute!

Here is what I went with....

I made it into a doll bed for my little girl! Yes, she did have the pink plastic one already, but this so much better! (I am going to give the old one away)

It was so easy to make! I had to ask DH to give me a little help,

but anyone can do it!

I got the wooded legs from Home Depot. They were about $2 a piece. Not a bad price I thought! I just added a few coats of brown paint and the sealed it. Any home craft paint will do the trick!

He drilled 4 holes and we added the washer and the nut. The legs come with screw ends on them.

I had this fabric left over from a euro pillow sham. And her room is all brown and pink, so it was perfect. I just cut it to shape and put in there. I was originally going to get some thick foam and cover it with fabric. But then the dolls would have just sat on top and not in it. She likes to close it when they go to sleep! I think that I might make a pillow to go with it.

She loves it!

BOO to you!

Want to learn to make this fun sign? It's SO easy and a great bargain! I got this idea off of

www.eighteen25.blogspot.com

Supplies:

~Wood letters from Hobby Lobby. You could do EEK too! They are .99 each

~Paper from Hobby Lobby

~Frame from Wal Mart. They are only $3 each and are wood

~Craft paint and glitter. The glitter is from Hobby Lobby.

Lay your letter out and give it a couple of coats of paint.

I choose green because of the green glitter. I watered down some glue after the paint was dry.

Then I gave the letter a glitter bath. You may or may not want to have your kids help with this! You may be screaming EEK yourself! Let this dry and shake off the excess glitter and save the extra for another project!

When everything is dry, about 24 hours, you then want to glue your letters to the paper. Just cut out your paper to the size of the 5x7 frame.  I let this dry flat overnight so that the letters did not slide off of the paper. Take apart the frame and put the paper "in front" of the glass. That way it 3 dimensional. After Halloween, save these frames! You can do this same idea for other holidays!

Like: JOY, I (heart) U, USA...lot's of other ideas!