Sun Burst Mirror Tutorial

I have wanted to make a sunburst mirror for a while now. I finally decided to give it a try.

I bought this wooden plate/clock base from craft warehouse:

I hammered in a picture hanger to the back:

I divided the wooden plate into equal sections to help me equally glue my BBQ skewers:

Then I used hot glue to glue one skewer on each line:

After that I glue 7 skewers between the ones I applied first:

Done. I let dry over night:

Next day I primed both front and back using gray primer:

Then I spray painted the front with metallic paint:

I got this round mirror at the craft warehouse (in the candle section):

I used liquid nails to glue the mirror one. I let dry for 48 hours:

It was missing the sparkle, So I went to Walmart and picked up these little plastic gemstones:

And just hot glued them around the mirror:

Cost Breakdown:

Wooden plate (craft warehouse): $3.59

Mirror (craft warehouse): $5.99

Skewers (Fred Meyer) (I used 2 packs of 100. Since I already had one in my pantry, I only needed to buy one more: $1.99

Picture Hangers (craft warehouse) .99

Glue Gun and sticks (already had on hand)

Liquid Nails: Already had on hand

Gray Primer (walmart) $3.24

Metallic paint (walmart) $3.24

Plastic Gemstones (walmart) $5.00 (I am rounding up, I don't remember exactly how much they were, I know they were four something)

TOTAL COST: $24.04

Quick and Easy Last Name Initial Craft

I now have 2 mirrors in my living room, one large one and one smaller one near the front door. I wanted to order a capital Z vinyl decal which I could put on one of the mirrors, But with tax and shipping it was more then I wanted to spend.

So I headed to the Craft Ware house and found this for only $2.99:

I had some yellow spray paint left over from another project, so I just used it:

Then I hot glued some rhinestones:

And hung it up with a white satin ribbon:

I think it goes well with these prints I got on Etsy:

Not bad for only $2.99, Eh?

Nicholas is 4 months old!

Nicholas will turn 4 months old tomorrow!!!! I can't believe how fast time is going by.

He is really getting big, He is 18 pounds!! Uhm, yep. I have a 18 pound 4 month old. He is in the 95th percentile. So we have a big healthy baby.

He is drooling all the time now, his hands and blankets go in his mouth. He is grabbing some toys now, he loves walks and drives.

I am loving my Uppababy stroller, We have upgraded it from the bassinet to the toddler seat. (I still use the bassinet at home, he lays and plays in it.) He loves to sit up and look at everything and everybody while we go on walks and to the store.

He now goes to sleep around 11pm and wakes up at 8 am. Then he goes back to sleep around 10am. So he sleeps very well, I have been truly blessed. He is a great baby.

Not that there are bad babies out there, every baby is a miracle from GOD, but some babies are more fussier then others. Not Nicholas, and I thank God for that.

We are loving the cloth diapers, anyone out there pregnant and planning on having another baby, I strongly encourage cloth diapers. I love my bum geniuses. We are saving a lot of money by not having to buy diapers and wipes and its just another load of laundry a day or every other day.

I have been trying to get Nicholas take a binky since he is sucking everything now. I tried a couple different brands. The only one he kind of keeps in his mouth are the gumdrop pacifiers.

okey dokey, till next time then :)

Shower curtain and ruffle pillow

It all started with my terrible shower curtain. I didn't know it was dry clean only ( I mean come on, a shower curtain??) so I washed it and it came out half its size!!! I tried ironing it out as much as possible, but it never went back to its original shape. It has been on my list for a while to get another shower curtain. But when ever I went to the store I couldnt find what I was looking for.

Here is what I was looking for:

But off course, I just could not spend $49.00 on a shower curtain.

So decided to make my own.

I went to Walmart to get a white sheet ($9.00 clearance flat queen sheet with two pillow shams):

Here is my terrible shrunken shower curtain:

Here is what I made following the tutorial found here:

Ruffles up close:

(terrible lighting in the bathroom, the walls look yellow, they are actually white)

I had enough of the sheet left over for a ruffle pillow case I have wanted to make for a while now:

I used the tutorial found here

Beef Egg Rolls

These may not be your average Asain egg rolls. But I love them so much. There are NEVER any left over. They are good hot or even cold from the fridge (I sneak them out one at a time)

CLICK HERE TO PRINT

You need:

-about 2 lbs ground beef

-1/4 of a head of cabbage (thinly sliced)

-3 large carrots shredded

-1 package of egg roll wraps

-salt, pepper

-Vegetable oil for frying

Here are the egg roll wraps I buy:

First you need to heat a large skillet and season the ground beef with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat until cooked thru.

While the beef is cooking prepare the carrots and cabbage.

Once the beef is cooked, remove from skillet and put in a large bowl. Using the same skillet put the carrots and cabbage (season with salt and pepper) in there and cook until limp. Once they have reached that stage, remove from the skillet and put in the bowl with the beef. Mix together, This is what you should have now:

You need to prepare a large skillet for frying the egg rolls, Pour enough to cover the egg roll half way. Turn on medium heat.

Prepare a place where you will drain the egg rolls of oil. I use a large bowl lined with napkins to collect the oil:

Ok, now to the assembling of the eggroll. Lay the wrap in a diamond shape. Using a pastry brush, brush all 4 corners with water.

Place about 2 TB of the filling on the bottom portion of the diamond shape, like so:

Now fold like a envelope:

And wrap up. If you wet the corners with water, then the egg roll will remain closed:

Your oil should be hot now. I usually put in one egg roll to test it out. Hence:

Once your side turns golden brown, turn over, Both sides should look like this:

Cation, they cook pretty fast, so don't go anywhere.

Drain in the bowl you prepared:

Enjoy with some sweet and sour sauce:

Turn a Fat Tie into a Skinny Tie (Tutorial)

So my hubs has A TON of ties. Most of them the fat old ties which he doesn't wear because they are to thick. Instead of buying new skinny ties, I went ahead and "made" them skinny.

Here is a Big Thick Tie:

First Turn the tie upside down and un-stitch it with your seam ripper:

Keep going until you reach the skinniest part of the tie:

Pull out the Tie form (called inlay), and draw an outline of what you want your tie to look like. (I used a skinny tie that hubby had as a stencil)

Cut the lining:

Tuck inlay back into the Lining:

When you ripped the tie apart, one of the sides overlapped the other. Take the side that was being overlapped and trim some of the fabric, tapering as the tie narrows:

Using your iron, press the fabric along the inlay:

Now trim the other side if needed. (you may not need to trim, you could just tuck):

Fold a quarter to half an inch and iron:

Now fold the overlapping side and iron down (try to get the seam in the middle):

Using a thread and needle, hand stitch the two sides together:

Sew the label back or the piece where you tuck the tail in:

Ta Da!!!