Valentine Printables

There seems to be a new craze in the do-it-yourself home decor blogging world....printables. Quite simply creating some kind of image on your computer, printing it off, and framing it.


Not wanting to be left behind, I decided to try a couple for Valentine's Day. It was super easy!!!


I just searched Google for Valentine quotes and found a couple of images I liked. These were saved to my computer and printed off as pictures. Once I printed them, I cut them down to the size of my frames and popped them in.

I think I will do this again for other holidays too!

My images came from here and here.

Happy printing!

Flip Flops with a "Splash" of Color

Nothing says "summer" quite like water balloons and flip flops! BUT, have you ever tried to combine the two to make a pair of shoes??? I did this weekend and they turned out super cute!!


The supply list is nice and short. All of my supplies cost $4.50 and I over bought on the balloons!

You need:
Flip Flops
Water Balloons (about 80 for a little "poof")


That's it! And some time.

The How To:

Tie each balloon on to the flip flop with a double knot. A single knot will just pull out.

Here is a "do as I say, not as I did moment": Start tying on the balloons from the top near the toe separator. It is much easier to work back from there.

Be sure to slide them as close together as possible as you go to give the finished product a really "full" look.

Go as far back down the flip flop as you want. I did the first one all the way around and with the colors I had picked it looked like I had stepped in a clown! It also made it harder to put the flip flops on my feet.


The second flip flop I only did a few inches and it looked much better so I cut some balloons off the first one to match the more more toned down second flip flop.

How cute is that for a little slash of summer on your feet?! I now want to make even more of these in different color combinations. The possibilities are endless!

I got so many compliments on my flip flops over the weekend, I am making another pair to match different outfits!!

A Personalized Journal

I love making my own personalized journals. It is a very easy and inexpensive craft....two of my general crafting requirements!

I have made a few of these over the past year...

For my 2010 "Word of the Year"

For my "Baby Prayers" journal..where I write down my hopes, dreams, and prayers

And, most recently, a place to write down all my thoughts as I am reading each month's book club selection


For the last one, I also did a tutorial for my book club members and thought all the readers here would like it...so here it is from me to you!

Now for the super easy "how to":

First, you need supplies:

• Composition notebook
• Something to cut with
• Adhesive - I recommend spray adhesive because it will keep the paper from curling up and gets right to the edges.
• Colored paper
• Embellishments of your choosing - I printed my from the Internet images because there are not many infertility related scrap booking stickers and such ;)

Next, cut the paper to the size of the journal:



(I generally leave the black binding showing, but that is just my own preference)


Now, glue the paper to the notebook (I highly recommend putting down paper if you are using spray adhesive):


Last step is to add the embellishments with the same adhesive as above:


(Sorry there is no picture of them actually being attached, I didn't have enough hands)

And there you have it, a book club journal:


What kind of journal will you make?

(If any part of this didn't make sense, please leave a comment and I will try to answer any questions)

Serving tray - updated for the season

I have been eyeballing a cute little dish at Marshalls for at least a few months. I think every Marshalls in Orlando had a least one. It was cute. Really cute. But it wasn't the right color....


Don't get me wrong, I love red...it is an accent in a few rooms here, but this just wasn't the right red. To me it just screamed "Valentine!"

The other day, Mom and I were shopping together and she said "why don't you get this and change the ribbon?" I really should have thought of that earlier.

Today I made a quick trip to find some ribbon (which I got for $1). And came home did a bunch of other things like work and baking...then I got out the ribbon and the dish.

In less than 10 minutes (which included taking pictures and washing the dish), I had this pretty dish sitting on my counter...


I am so excited to take my new dessert in this cute fall dish to our church dinner (if it turns out, I will show you pictures).

Holiday Basket: Valentine Edition

I love holiday decorating. I always have. I am sure I always will. We had an awesome fireplace mantle in our living room in the Rodda house back in Spokane. Mom and I would decorate it for every holiday we could think of. One of my favorite pieces was "the basket"....which was redecorated or filled for each holiday.

Well, I don't have a mantle...or a fireplace because, well, I live in Florida now :)

But I do have a basket!!! I decided last fall to create a basket for each holiday. The way this works is that I have one basket and fill it for each holiday, then after the given holiday is over I take everything out and put it in a ziplock bag. Then the next holiday goes in and over and over it goes. Next year, all I have to do for each holiday is take the goodies from their baggies, place, and fluff, and done!

I am now up to Valentine's Day in the year of the basket.



This was a bit more tricky, because there really isn't a type of greenery associated with Valentine's Day and what is a basket without greenery? Nope, wouldn't work. Enter the generic vine! I will probably use the leafyness in this basket for the next few holidays as well.

I may even try to come up with a non-holiday basket for the in-between times of the year...I would need a coffee theme...and there are not exactly coffee flowers at Michaels....hmmm.

Next up...St. Patrick's Day! I am already collecting for that one!!!

Fall Decorations

I love fall, it is a wonderful season that always reminds me of warm sweaters, hot cocoa, and a good book. Of course, I live in south Florida so fall is not quite as I think it should be.

One of the ways I make sure I get that "fall feeling" is to decorate our home. This is pretty easy because fall decorations are everywhere starting in mid-August. Quick tip: Walgreen's has great fall decor items (by "great" I mean cute, cute, cute and cheap!) Anyway, I like to decorate for fall, not so much for Halloween, but for the entire season from back to school to Thanksgiving.

This year I was feeling inspired by the Thrifty Decor Chick to make something for Fall. Normally, I am a "buyer" not a "maker", so this is mixing it up a little for me.

I went to Michael's and bought a basket, some stems of fall flowers and berries, and a foam florist thingy (all this was about $16.00). I had a baby (child?) size pumpkin at home from Husband.

I came home and stuffed the foam in the bottom of the basket. I placed the pumpkin in the middle (must make sure the foam and the pumpkin fit together right...may require cutting the foam). I snipped all the stems apart so I had a lot of "filler" to work with. Then I "fluffed"! And it turned out so cute I just had to share it with all of you.



How do you decorate for the fall?