Church Piggy Bank

My friend is a waitress, and was having trouble keeping up with tips and tithes...so...she crafted this handy church piggy bank where she could make nightly deposits.  By the way, I think this would be great for kids. Teaching them to give is important, and this church is a nice visual reminder.  So here is her project in pictures, thanks Lynde! I think it's fabulous!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love.

Merry Christmas

I wish you the happiest of Christmases, filled with family and friends, good food, and most importantly the love of Christ, and the promise that His birth brings us.  

Thanks Redbud, for my lovely Christmas card.

Chocolate and Lime Christmas

 I saw this fabulous tree when I was out and about this weekend.  I never think to use green on Christmas trees, being that they are already green and all.  But don't you love this one?

 Its branches combine lush velvet sprigs and glittery balls, making it very rich.  Of course, the whole thing can be yours for approximately 1 million dollars, but I think this is a look that can be duplicated for less.  Maybe next year...

 

Handcrafted Cake Stand

Look at my glamorous cake stand! Or stand for anything really.  Isn't it lovely?  I started with the base of a mannequin, the leg would screw into this and then the body form.  I work at a retail store, so this was pretty handy, but just a reminder...you should look around your usual places, you never know what you may find. I have had this for some time, but couldn't quite figure out what to do with it.  My friends have started asking me for "junk" for their birthday, so I decided to make this for Tenly.  Sorry to my other friends, some day your prince...err...piece will come.

For the top I found a wooden game board and a cutting board.  Of course I dug these out of my favorite thrift store for a couple of bucks. I glued and then clamped these 2 pieces together and let dry overnight.  Then I drilled a hole in the boards and screwed on the mannequin base. 

 

Now I know some of you shabby-loving friends would have left it white, but this is for Tenly, and red matches her house, and her bright personality.

 

I then sprayed several coats of Cherry Red gloss paint. I chose red because it just matches so many festive occasions. The lime green polka dots really dress this up for Christmas, but I think the possibilities are endless. Can you image a red, white, and blue ribbon for your 4th of July cookout? Oh, or an orange ribbon for a fall spread? Or a pretty pink one for you and your sweetie on Valentine's Day? 

Love.

oh...ps...Here it is with just primer, it was our wedding cake stand for Emma's Marry Birthday. You can read about that here.

This has been added to DIY day with Kimba.

Broken Crayon Teacher Gift

I have some super creative friends, like Casey, who frequents this little blog.  Check out her fun teacher gift, which by the way, I stole off her site without even asking.  Thanks Casey, great job!!!

First, I used Publisher to print off this template on white cardstock.

 

Then, I had my "strong-armed man" start cutting crayons into 1/2 inch pieces. (We also used some bigger pieces so that each frame would have a crayon with the label on it.)

 

hen, I used hot glue to glue the crayons to the template.

 

And after some piecing together and teamwork.....here are the finished products!

Some lessons learned:
1. It would have been a better idea to use a 5x7 frame or larger......I used 4x6 frames and they were too small for the project. I would have liked to be able to cut the crayons in larger pieces.
2. I think that if I ever use this idea again, I will print the teachers' names across the top of the frame.....there seemed to be some confusion as they opened their gifts today.
3. Buy a smaller box of crayons....definately didn't use 48!

Overall, this turned out to be a cute and creative gift. I bought the frames at Dollar Tree and the box of crayons at Wal-Mart. Each gift ended up costing about $3 or less.