ClassiclyAmber » Crafting + Decor

Shadow Puppets and Bucket Lists

classiclyamber — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:41:54 +0000

This year, we created our first ever summer bucket list. It was huge…I mean giNORmous! I actually went on Pinterest and pinned on several of our ideas for our Summer Bucket List. [More on that below!] There was a less-than-awesome framed print upstairs, so I opened up the back, flipped over the print and started writing on our to-do items of fun for the summa time. Once complete, it was reassembled back into the frame, glass atop. As we completed each one, we simply checked them off with a dry erase marker on the glass above it. So we can reuse it for next year! One of the things on our list was to create and put on a puppet show.

I drew out characters and props on black construction paper, cut them out and attached a dowel rod to each one. For this evening, the boys were the ones being the puppeteers while Daddy sat up front and narrated the stories.

These are the oldest 4 kiddos, not in birth order: Gianna Belle, Ethan, Nolan and Sarie Beth. A tradition that Daddy has started with our kids is telling them a bedtime story – made up on the spot – almost every single night. The greatest thing about it is that our kids always star in them, each having their own striking character traits that pulls the team together – to help others and defeat evil. There are other characters in the stories that appear and reappear in the various stories. The kiddos love the familiarity of the stories…and also when we come up with a new character to add to the mix.

This is our youngest, Ruby Jane, climbing to the top of the tree [again]. Apparently, she loves doing this and uses the tree branches as steps. Over and over again.

The boys wanted to set up the ‘theater’ in the hallway. They took two chairs, threw a white sheet over it, put a shade-less table lamp on the floor in the middle…and then put the puppets up to the sheet. It’s nifty because the chairs also double as shelves for holding all the puppets. The audience sits on the opposite side, watching in awe and happiness as the story plays out. It’s a super easy, super effective setup!

So by now, surely you’ve heard of Pinterest, right? I’ve been on there all summer, pinning away. Like everyone else, I am much in love with the place. You can follow me by clicking here:

As I mentioned above, I have a Summer Bucket List board on there, and you can find it by clicking HERE.

Hope that everyone had a great summer. I, for one, can not believe that fall is finally here and that there is basically just 3 months left to 2011.

From Cabin to Cottage

classiclyamber — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:37:23 +0000

A tiny hunting cabin is remodeled into the most adorable shabby chic cottage around!

It is now filled with salvaged wood flooring, inexpensive chandies, faded cabinets and warped-glass windows.

This is proof that you do not have to have a boatload of money to create the perfect space – only creativity, ingenuity and a willingness to do the work yourself.

I love it!

Source

5 Nifty Gifts for Father’s Day

classiclyamber — Tue, 31 May 2011 14:00:01 +0000

This year, Father’s Day falls on June 19. That is so close – you can smell it, right? In addition to making Daddy’s favorite meal[s] for the day, here are 5 more quick ideas that are sure to be appreciated by any dad [including one for the musician daddies out there!].

How sweet ‘n yummy are these tie cookies on a stick? I mean, how can you celebrate dads and NOT include a necktie somewhere? It’s classic.

Have your kiddos pose with letters to spell out “DAD”. I’m not sure where you could find letters this large…unless you made them yourself from crafty supplies from Hobby Lobby…or you could purchase smaller premade letters at the craft store, too. Either way, this makes for a cute idea, doesn’t it?

For the fathers out there who like to rawk out guitar-wise, there is a way cool product called the Pick Punch. You can basically take old credit cards, etc., and punch out new picks any time you need one.

I know that my hubby is always losing his – the kids run off with them, they get dropped down air vents, etc., so I believe this would make a GREAT gift for daddy! And I’m seeing them for about $25, which is not too bad at all! Check out a review for the Pick Punch HERE.

Any Dad loves to show off his kids when he’s away from them, and I think that this little handmade collage is just the ticket! Your kids can make it themselves, and it is small enough to fit in his wallet. Love it!

Last, but not least, here are some free printables of Father’s Day pages that the little ones can color for their favorite guy. Betcha it will add to the grin that’s already on Dad’s face!

What other ideas do you have for Father’s Day this year?

Palatable Pallets

classiclyamber — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:00:25 +0000

| identical to my friend's dish display |

Recently a friend of mine asked for ideas about a nifty way to display her grandmother’s fine china. Her wonderful mom had just passed away, and I suppose in cleaning things out, my friend stumbled across some beautiful floral china that she had no idea was just hiding up in her attic. I told her about how I’d seen great things being done with pallets, and thought that would be the way to go with her home’s farmhouse/shabby chic style. She ended up getting her hands on some new pallets – and gave them an aged look with glazing. The end result was great!

There are so many things you can repurpose pallets into. For instance, how cute is this industrial coffee table on wheels? I love the vintage industrial chic look that can be found right now. That’s what I’m leaning towards for decorating our next place with.

To me, using pallets to create furniture + shelving + walls is a great way to mesh into this style, if that’s what you dig!

Here, pallets have been turned into wall art. Simple but effective~!

And what are your thoughts on using a pile of pallets as a staircase? Of course, I would think that you wouldn’t want to go overboard with using pallets unless you came up with a way to pull it off successfully without taking away from the homey feeling of your casa. However, creatively injecting it here and there will certainly only add to your home’s style.

If you are in the market for new furniture indoors, I implore you to search your local CraigsList and see what you can find as far as pallets go. Here on my side of the pond, someone is always giving them away for FREE on CL! Truly that is a deal that can’t be beat. Just one request: if you are in my area, don’t hog all the pallets, okay? I need some!

Leave the pallets whole…take them apart and refashion into something new…leave them rustic…paint or glaze them…the options are endless, right?

So what can a pallet do for YOU?

So…a Bed Swing Would Be Nice, Right?

classiclyamber — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:30:16 +0000

This is an inspiration post – chock full of pics sure to please your eye. Lately, I’ve been considering outdoor spaces because it’s that time of year, and I can not – for the life of me – get away from this idea: a bed. outdoors. that SWINGS. Great for reading on a lazy Saturday…or napping…or cuddling outdoors with your honey bunny…or kiddos…You might be thinking: why not just get a hammock? My deal is: I don’t do hammocks. Becoming unbalanced and flipping over is just not my style. It cramps it or something. I’d much rather chillax on a real bed – with a comfy mattress of some sort – but outside!

My personal preference would be something that looks natural yet exotic, mysterious yet enticing…and uber comfy! I think I’d love it most under a huge tree, sheltered naturally from the sun through it’s canopy of leaves. Some of these that are indoors are lovely, too!

Graciousness! Bed swing BUNKS? I would like to see how this works! I bet kids would love it, though!

Okay, totally kidding on this last one! It’s a lil’ TOO mysterious for my tastes. However, it would mesh perfectly with my recurring nightmare of falling off the side of a cliff while sleeping!

So do you have a bed swing? Did you make it or was it purchased? Where’s it located? Give us some ideas, people!

Super Easy Spring Wreath

classiclyamber — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:51:12 +0000

What’s not to love about taking unused stuff around your home and turning it into cutesie decor? I was really wanting to make a Spring wreath, but I didn’t want to have to go shopping to do it. So I started looking through all my craft supplies, clothes and Goodwill boxes. I’m sorry to say that there are 2 shirts that will never make it to GW. Also…the recycling bin will never lay eyes on some empty cereal boxes. Sorry ’bout that. That’s right, for this project, I used:

3 cereal/cracker boxes
2 shirts – cut into 2-3″ wide strips, top to bottom
leftover scrap fabric
double satin ribbon
pompom trim
hot glue

Basic Steps:

Cut out large doughnut from cereal boxes
Cut out smaller circles of various sizes from cereal boxes
Twist fabric around and glue down to small circle cutouts, resembling flowers
Glue down fabric flowers to the doughnut cutout. Fill in gaps with ribbon and pompom trim.
Glue ribbon strip to back of doughnut to hang wreath by
Step back and adore your new Springtime wreath!

Now this is how I did it – in more detail. First, take 2 cereal boxes and find the side seams to unglue them. Lay them down flat, one on top of the other with the plain chipboard side facing up and try to match up the lines [just being OCD or CDO, depending on how obsessive you truly are!]. On the ends of the boxes where they overlap, cut off the flappy parts. You want a straight line where they meet up. Now using your hot glue gun, generously glue one on top of the other. When it dries, you’ll have a bigger area to work with to make your wreath. [So obviously, if you wish for a smaller wreath, you could prob get away with just using one cereal box]. Next, free form draw a big circle over both boxes. About 3 inches in, draw in a smaller circle. It should look like a doughnut, or at least somewhat resemble a doughnut of some sort. It doesn’t have to be perfect. No one will see this part. It’s just the wreath form – or base of your wreath. Cut out the doughnut. Tip: if you absolutely must get your circle draw on perfectly, then look around your kitchen for bowls and use those to trace around.

With your leftover boxes, draw on smaller circles of various sizes. Tip: use different sized cups if you need perfect circles. These will be the base for your fabric flowers. With your shirt strips, practice rolling up flowers – tight – flat on the table and see if you like the look. If not, experiment with different techniques. The way that I did mine was to start at one end of the strip, rolling it tightly while also twisting the fabric around and around towards the left while also rolling it onto itself. Does that make sense? If you like the look you’ve come up with, then you are ready to glue down. Trigger a big dot of glue onto the middle of your small circle cereal box cutout [with the cereal print side down]. Stick down the beginning rolled-up part of your fabric. Once it dries well enough [few seconds], begin twisting the fabric around the center…randomly gluing on both the board and inside bottom of the fabric and push fabric to it. When you get it all twisted up and glued together, it should resemble a flower – shabby chic-style if you did it my way. If there is any cereal box sticking out from underneath, just trim the board off.

If you want a similar explanation – but with pics – then check out My Sparkle’s fabric flower tut HERE. The differences with mine and her’s is that I wanted my flowers bigger and bulkier…and I was gluing directly to the cereal box circle cutouts. Plus, my flowers are a bit more free form. You can make your flowers however you wish~!

Make your flowers different sizes if you wish – small, medium and large. With your leftover scrap/sewing fabric pieces, you can make the smaller flowers. As you finish gluing each one up, start arranging them on your cereal box wreath form. When you get enough flowers and like the way you have them arranged on the wreath, glue them all down. With any blank spots, go back and add in loops of ribbon and pompom trim. That way, you’ll get a really full, stuffed looking wreath.

On the back, glue one strip of ribbon so that you can hang up your wreath. On one side towards the top, I also tied on a bow to complete the look. Do it however you like, though!

How much did this project cost me? ZERO DOLLARS. Love that. And love it’s shabby chic look!

If you try this, please let me know! I’d love to see how yours turns out, too~! =-D

I’m sharing this over at TidyMom’s I’m Lovin’ It blog series. Be sure and check HERE for other nifty bloggers ideas you will surely love…Plus enter to win a copy of All You magazine!

Granite Countertops – Nifty Idea

classiclyamber — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:45:04 +0000

When we built this home almost 4 years ago, I had lots of ideas swirling around in my brain. One thing I knew for sure I wanted to try was to put together my own sink area in the powder room on the 1st floor. I felt certain that I could make something custom at a fraction of the cost of similar, but not as nifty mass-manufactured ideas.

{our farmhouse kitchen sink}

If you are having granite installed in your kitchen, consider having your granite dude give you your sink cutout. You are paying for that granite, so why not keep it? Think of other things you can use that chunk for. [I should note here that it is sometimes tricky for them to cut the piece perfectly...so bear in mind that it could be lost in the process. Doesn't hurt to try, though!] In our kitchen, I had a HUGE farmhouse style sink put in [which turned out to be one of my most fav things about this house!] and so my granite cutout was extra large. I got the measurements of the cutout, and then began my search at Goodwills and antique stores for a dark wooden chest of drawers that could be converted. It took me a couple of weeks of searching, but I finally came across one that had perfect measurements and was similar to the look I had in mind. Plus, it was marked right at my budget and I was able to talk them down a bit lower by offering cash and an on-the-spot transaction.

I had our granite guy do a smaller sink cutout from our kitchen sink cutout [sound confusing?]. The wooden top of the antique chest was easily removed, and the new granite with the smaller sink and faucet was installed on top of the chest.

In the end, even with purchasing the sink and faucet separately, I still managed to come under budget. A similar set up like this that you might find elsewhere would have cost several hundred more dollars than what we spent. I loved doing it this way because it’s more unique – and I thought it was fun to put it all together how I wanted!

Don’t wanna use a chest? Let the granite take the main focus with an under-mount sink and exposed pipes, which can double as a place to hang fresh, neatly folded towels.

Even if you’re not having new countertops installed in your kitchen, you could still browse granite yards and ask them about smaller pieces [granite remnants] you could purchase for a lot less moolah if you are in the market to redo your bathroom. If you’re anything like me, you will have fun putting it all together yourself – and love the challenge of coming in under budget!

Whatcha’ got in your bathroom?

Photo credits: Apartment Therapy; House of Turquoise

Honeysuckle for 2011

classiclyamber — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:30:52 +0000

Has Pantone been taking hint hues from my blog design and logo? Yeah, I think so. Ever since I first read about their proclamation of 2011′s IT color, this beautiful shade called Honeysuckle, I have looked forward to seeing how it would be used in design. This fantastic reddish-pink hue is one of my favorite colors [since red is officially my first, and pink a close second, this is the best of both].

Whew! It’s pretty loud on those walls up there, ain’t? But I am liking its intensity!

Lemme say no more. Let’s just bask in the glow of this bold, youthful color:

So what do you think? What was your favorite or least favorite space? Did you note how this color was used in each room? I think that it’s safe to say that there are a lot of folks out there who wouldn’t be as comfortable painting a whole wall with this color. If that’s the case, then it can still be fun to try it by popping in small doses of it – such as with throw pillows, artwork, repainting a chair real quick, or even just a big bouquet of fresh flowers. Or how about that funky goat/deer thing in the fireplace? See? You can do this.

How about you? Have you tried on this color yet in your home?

Photo credits: Pineapple House Int. Design + Branca + House and Home + House Beautiful + Lonny

Custom High Chair Cushions for Little Ones

classiclyamber — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:20:46 +0000

I recently did a blog post about customizing your car seats for your kiddos. I have this type of thing on the brain. So sue me! This is another project that I’ve been wanting to tackle for a very long time but haven’t worked up the nerve to do it. We’ve used the same Graco high chair for nearly a decade through all 4 of our kiddos, and Sarie still uses it. The cushion on it bit the dust years ago, and I’ve always folded blankets and put them in there. It was originally just supposed to be a temporary fix. [Actually, I would love to have an antique wooden high chair that goes right up to the table instead of this bulky, plastic seat...but that's a different post!]

Over at Make It and Love It, you will find a wonderful tut for making your own custom seat cover for a high chair. The fabrics that Ashley used are fabulous! I would love to make one similar to that and also have it be reversible.

If you have the ANTILOP high chair from IKEA, then BurdaStyle can hook you up with a free pattern!

And I was inspired with this Crafter user’s ingenuity with creating a new high chair cushion from an inexpensive shower curtain! Now THAT is usin’ the noggin!

Yeah, so it looks like I have many options when it comes to sewing up a new cushion for my baby’s high chair. Now that I see how ‘easy’ this project can be, then maybe I can get my mess together and have it done - before Christmas!

Have you created a high chair cushion before? I’d love to hear about your experiences!

Easy Handmade Birthday Table Mats

classiclyamber — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:49:48 +0000

We recently celebrated our oldest daughter’s 3rd birthday. Yep, I’m still sitting here wondering how she could be that old already, reaching up for balloons and being so cute with her messy smoothie-face…and I have a feeling that I will feel that way for the rest of my life each time on of our kiddos has another birthday or milestone event. They don’t stay as babies forever, do they?

Not too awful long ago, I used to feel pressured to put on a big shuhBANG or a shuhZAM or a shamWOW [no, wait...that's something else, I think] for my kid’s birthdays. I used to put my sanity on the back burner as I’d scramble to do anything and everything I could do to make my child’s birthday party be the best one around. Looking back, I really have no idea how I got suckered into that vicious cycle of every passing birthday needing to be bigger and better than the previous! Augh! Let me repeat: It. Was. Awful. Please don’t get me wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with planning out extravagant birthday parties for your youngsters if you can handle it all and if the birthday kiddo feels just as special as they should on their big day, but in my case it was really starting to wear me out!! It’s hard to bake 3D cakes from scratch, make icing from scratch, spend several hours assembling them and piping on icing, making invitations and mailing them out, coming up with games and gathering all the ingredients to play ‘em, cleaning the house or wherever to prepare for guests, making the whole meal for everyone, wrapping presents, decorating…Oh my word. Just typing all of that out surely made my heart fall into my stomach where it’s now floating around. [Don't worry. I'll fish it out later.] When I used to be that mother, I was so stressed out and BUSY that I couldn’t even enjoy my birthday kiddo on their big day! There was WAY too much to do! “Yeah, yeah, hon…I’m trying to finish this up in time! I will see you in a little bit~!” Uuuum…WHEN?? Okay. I finally realized that something was not right when in looking back on their birthday celebrations, I couldn’t so much remember the memories that I had created with my child, but instead all I could think of was all the stress and chaos surrounding the planning and execution of this elaborate party. And I hate that.

So now our party celebrations are simplified. Even though we don’t do a whole lot, what we DO do has more meaning and things are much more peaceable around the homestead. I still love the idea of planning parties and making things special, but I guess you could say that I’ve learned my limits. This year for Gianna’s birthday, I decided to do more party decorations in the dining area. I haven’t done as much of that in the past couple of years, but I did it for her because she really gets into that sorta thing! I mean – REALLY! You have no idea. She absolutely loved it, too. In fact, she loved it so much that I’ve yet to take down the decor off the chandeliers in there. Anyway, in learning my limits, I tried to come up with other ideas that would be easy to do – and that I could customize especially for them and make them feel extra special inside. Something that is a pretty big hit here are our birthday table mats, and they are so easy to whip up. You can decorate this however you want to, but all you need are:

cardstock or even just plain paper
clip art/digital scrapbooking elements/etc. on your computer
regular scrapbooking elements [papers, stickers, rub-ons, etc.]
clear packing tape

Design/print out your child’s table mat and be sure to include their fav colors, animals, etc. Write on special notes and phrases to them…
Using your packing tape, start taping across the paper, overlapping the edges so that no paper is visible. When you get done with this part, it will be taped to the table, so peel it all up carefully and turn it over to repeat on the back, too. This step makes your table mat waterproof to last through several meals!
Press down the tape all over, front, back and edges, and then cut off the excess tape all the way around. Don’t cut right next to the paper; instead leave a small gap all the way around so that the tape will stick together and create a nice sealed off edge [of course, if you have one of those fancy laminating machines, then you can just use that instead!]

Then place it at your birthday boy’s/girl’s spot at the table. Put a balloon and ribbons on their chair and make their favorite foods for the day! Seriously, you have no idea how much younger children just love this to death! It’s the simple things, folks…but it means so much to them. I never let my kids see their table mats until their birthday breakfast, so it’s a nice surprise for ‘em. Sometimes I will use cardstock or scrapbook paper to make up quick crowns or hats for them to wear, too. They also love that!

We are also pretty big into homemade smoothies right now. It is SUCH a treat for breakfast and is so easy to make! For Gianna’s birthday, I made a yummy raspberry banana smoothie – and we also had the Lemony Blueberry Muffins that I’ve shown you before. To make Gianna’s place setting extra-extra special, I just took a flower design off of a greeting card that a friend had made me a year ago [I save all those things so that I can reuse them]. Then I glued it onto a toothpick and then glued on a piece of circle-shaped cardstock onto the back of THAT with a handwritten note for our girl! She LOVED it!

So I know that every family has to do what works for them, and THIS is what works for US! Click HERE to go straight to our current fav smoothie recipe!

Have you entered to win my current giveaway yet? It’s pretty fabulous! And there will be multiple winners! It’s called The “I Never Win Anything” GIVEAWAY – With Lisa Leonard Jewelry! Yeah, Lisa rawks. And so does her jewelry.

Click the pic below to go straight to the post to enter…