All You Need is {Chevron} Love

Confession:

I.
Love.
Chevron.
Stripes.

If my husband would let me, I'd paint our house in Chevron stripes.  Then my car.  Then my face.  Then his face.  Then mow the lawn in a Chevron pattern.

Get the idea?

I don't care if this pattern is going of style...has already gone out of style...or soon will go out of style...I heart it and don't see that changing anytime soon.

Last Christmas (yep - LAST Christmas), I ordered gray & white Chevron wrapping paper to line the inside of my hutch (thanks to the idea from Tatertots & Jello and her amazing aqua kitchen).  Sad to say, I haven't ever used that paper!  9 months later, here I am, finally getting around to it.  Whatever.  It still looks awesome, and I just love it a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle too much.

These are the newest additions to my laundry room.  My laundry is teeny tiny (really, it's just a cabinet, washer & dryer and the door to the backyard).  But I'm still trying to make it fun and more like HOME.  The husband and I are CONSTANTLY searching for our keys EVERYWHERE.  In such a teeny home, you'd think we'd find them easily, but NOPE.  I picked up this cute shelf/key holder at DI for probably $1 and, with a little poppy yellow paint and my Chevron wrapping paper, it is now our key holder!  We've had it for 2 days, and I think this is the first time both of our keys have even been on it!  Ha ha.

FREE PRINTABLE:

All You Need is {chevron} Love_pdf

All You Need is {chevron} Love_jpg

I designed this sign in Silhouette Studio.  Paul, John, George & Ringo are basically family in our home, and what better way to be greeted when coming inside than by the 5 greatest words ever put into a song.

All you need is LOVE (and a little Chevron stripes)!

I Love You Because

My sister has been seeing all those cute I Love You message boards all over and was about to buy one online, but instead asked me to make one for her. I was just flattered she thought of me and trusted her marital love expression in my piano-playing-turned-craft-making hands. I was EXCITED to tackle a crafty request - especially for my sister, but I was NERVOUS at the same time. It's easy enough to make something for yourself...if it looks bad, I can deal. But making something for someone ELSE makes me second guess every step! Hopefully we can still have our Thursday night Friends-watching-pizza-eating parties even if she doesn't like it.

Her only request was that it be big enough to write decent sized messages on and that it uses the colors BLUE & ORANGE (she's been straying from the normal 'black & red' fave...that color combo is out!). One stop at Michaels...a crafting Skype call with the BFF...and a whole lot of LOVE later...here is the final result:

Baby Announcement Idea

I made this onesie to give to my dad for Fathers Day to announce we are having a baby. All it took was some heat transfer material. It was the perfect way to tell him our fun news!

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Here are some more festive delights from me!

Halloween Maternity Skeleton Shirt

Dinner in a Pumpkin Recipe

Candy Corn Cocoa {Halloween gift idea!}

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Burlap and polka dots...and some inspiring words

My friend and I have this thing we do where we set goals together. Different for each of us, but we share them and talk about them. As of yesterday, we are on goal 106 {ok, slight exaggeration}.  Some are big {I will practice the piano every week}, some are small {I will have water with my lunch instead of that delicious dr pepper}, but they are meaningful to us. Some of my goals make me emotional...some come from regret...but they are there to keep me going, to keep me improving myself, and to remind me of the full potential within me. I found this quote by c.s.lewis, one of my favorite authors, and immediately fell in love with it. It is now proudly displayed in my kitchen, where I can see it every day and be reminded of the goals I've set and encourage me to keep trying {and it helps to have my latest loves burlap and polka dots, too!}.

DIY Message Board

My good friend got married almost one year ago, so I thought it's a good time to post the message board I gave her for a wedding present!  I had to go out and buy my first hot glue gun!!  It was also my first time attempting rolled fabric flowers.  Kind of gutsy to have all these FIRSTS be for a project I was giving to someone else, but hey, we're still friends, so it must not have been too awful.  All I needed was fabric scraps, glue gun, empty frame, cute piece of paper, vinyl letters, dry erase marker and velcro squares.

I asked my friend what her wedding song was, and it contained the line "You are my Shining Star."  I thought this was PERFECT for the beginning of an "I love you" message board, so every day they could share a reason why the other was their Shining Star.  I'm in love with the paper I put in the frame, as a background -- it had bubble flowers on it!  You can't see on the backside, but I purchased a small dry erase marker, attached one part of a velcro square to the marker cap, and attached the other half of the velcro square to the back of the frame.  That way, the marker is nearby and you're not going to lose it!

There are SO many message boards, dinner menus, calendars, etc. you can make with an inexpensive frame and a dry erase marker!

Etched Baking Dish

Our very good friends built a new home in Logan!  We were able to have a get together at their AMAZING new house.  We loved everything they chose and were so happy to see their little family get a place of their very own.  I decided to get them a housewarming gift to celebrate (since I'm trying to be a better person/wife/friend/crafter/girl).  I've heard tall tales of a product called "etching creme" and always thought it would be fun to test out.  I decided to attempt an etched baking dish.  I read a few different blogs, and they all seemed to the say the same thing.  It seemed pretty easy.  And guess what??  It was!  All I needed was the etching creme, foam brush, baking dish, and a stencil cut from my fabulous Silhouette.

 The baking dish had the annoying STICKER on it.  Thank goodness for the magic of nail polish remover for helping me get it off with ease.

Stencils!  I decided to do their last name and a "flourish" on the other side.  I used stencil vinyl, but you can use any vinyl, really, to create a stencil.  Just peel the letters out to leave the negative space.

I think I have a black card I bought specifically for transferring the vinyl to transfer paper, but I couldn't find it.  Glad to know my Kohls card is good for something these days...!

This is the etching creme.  It comes in this teeny bottle with a not so teeny price tag.  It does go a long way, though.  I put on a LOT.  It says on the bottle to be careful you don't get any on your hands.  Apparently it can etch (aka BURN) your fingers off!  That's how it works it's magic on the glass.  I was sure not to test this burning theory out...I'll just assume they are right.

I used a small foam brush and left it on for a couple minutes.  The instructions say leave on for 60 seconds, but I think it depends on how "dark" you want the etching to be.  After, just rinse it off with water.  Again, super easy!

It really helps if you have a talented, cute boy to serenade you during those 60 seconds

(boy & guitar not included!)

The finished product!

It turned out pretty good, I think.

Hannah really liked it, and sent me a picture the other day of her using it for the first time.



I think I might have to make one for myself now!

A few different ideas to use etching creme for:



Cute-imize a trifle dish

Monogram coasters

Polka dots!!

I have a friend that got a baking dish set with her wedding date & name etched on it.  She still uses it, and it was one of her favorite gifts.

So excited about etching creme, my new crafting friend.

How to Antique Paper and make something special with it

Do you have a dad?

I have a dad.

And boy, is he the HARDEST person in the WORLD to shop for.  Birthdays, Christmas, Father's Day -- it's SO hard to come up with something unique to give him.  I usually end up getting the latest MoTab CD or a framed picture of him and me.  But there is only so much room for photos!  So I decided to get a little creative and make him something special.

Music is such a huge, important, special part of my life.  Not only is a part of my life, but it's a part of my dad and me's life.  Countless nights growing up I would play the piano and he would fall asleep in my grandma's rocking chair next to the piano (or was it me keeping him up with late night piano songs?? I forget!).  One of our favorite Hymns is I Believe in Christ.  I wanted to somehow frame this song and give it to him as his gift.  I found a way to "antique" paper and, using some vinyl and an inexpensive Walmart frame, made this:

This now lives on top of my dad's piano!  I love seeing it there...even when I'm not playing it...to remind me of the special moments we've shared together through music.

Want to antique your own paper?  It is super easy!  Here's how:

Materials

Paper you want to antique

1/3 cup of hot, black coffee
(I'm not a coffee drinker, so I don't have this on hand.  I suggest just buying one cup of to go coffee -- voila!)

One cookie sheet

Basting brush (easy to use on hand in the kitchen, or a sponge brush will work, too)

Paper Towels

Oven

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Crumple up the piece of paper into a ball.  Semi-smooth it out and place on cookie sheet.

Pour coffee over paper. Use brush to cover evenly. Leave some heavier spots for a more unique look.

Let sit for a few minutes. Then, use paper towels to blot up all excess liquid.

"Bake" paper in oven for about 5 minutes. Be sure to keep a close eye on it, so you don't start the paper on fire!

Remove from oven and VOILA! Paper that looks like Ben Franklin himself wrote it.

Have fun aging!