Monogramming & Faux Mercury

Great ideas for the special occasions of the year or a early start on next years Christmas decor.

I saw this copy cat version of a Glitter Monogram PB ornament on itsoverflowing.com and I really liked it but as you know I love to make anything my own if I can. 

The lettering was Cambria @ 200. 

The back was an off white card stock.  Take an X-acto knife to the corners of the glasses to get your shapes.

Mod Podge your circle onto the card stock.

Mod Podge over your letter to have make sure no sides are popping up.

Trim around your circle with design scissors

Crystal Glitter Puffy Paint with Silver Fine Glitter

Mini Bell

Hole Puncher

Jute

* After the monogrammed letter is dry, trace around your circle with puff paint & sprinkle on your glitter. Turn upside down and tap off excess glitter.

* Take your finger and dab on the puff paint around the bell & dip your finger in the glitter and apply to the bell. I did it this way to avoid a non jingling bell.  -Don't get glitter in the bell or it won't jingle.

*After everything is dry punch your hole and string your bell onto the jute & pull it to the back of the circle so the jute doesn't show on the front of the ornament.

I am happy with the way this Glittered Monogrammed Ornament came out but it would have just been so perfect if I would have replaced the lettering with a foam circle for more stability & attach it to the top after the glitter circle has dried- with the addition of red font.

Any gift could have a monogrammed lettering tag.  So create away & make some beautifully decorated gifts.

 Some Faux Mercury Fun!

Pottery Barn Faux Mercury Bell inspired Bells

PB Mercury Ornament

Mine turned out a bit differently.  I practiced & practiced with different glass things & it is much harder than it sounds.  Very messy & lot of paint buzzes & headaches before its over.

When your Looking Glass mirror paint is sprayed in the bell it instantly runs.  I started turning in circles & grabbed the hair dryer to dry the inside faster.  When it is sprayed it is dark but as it dries you can instantly see the mirror effect.  I tried to lightly spray the inside of the bell, but it had to be through the hole in order for the outside not to be sprayed with paint.

I sprayed my 50/50 water vinegar solution in after a few sprays and lightly rubbed the inside with a q-tip which removed a few pieces of paint.  However, it did not turn out the way it should have.  I dropped in some metallic gold acrylic paint/Pearl acrylic for more effect.  Silver lettering coated with puff paint to attach it to the bell.

Attach a bell to the inside of the bells cap. String with jute and its all done.

Stay tuned for the future post on other projects I created while on my Faux Mercury inspirations!

Holiday Wishes

From our family to yours:

 

Hope your holiday went well & I hope everyone traveling gets home safely.

Happy Holidays,

The Perdews

Repurpose Old Books into Christmas Ornaments

Find a book that has pretty good sized pages.  Medium to large books are better.  Fold the page in half toward the center to see the size of the loop.  Cut the same length as a medium sized ribbon.  Run an X-acto tool along side the size you need to make a nice cut. 

12- 5/8" page sections

5/8" wide ribbon: cut into the length of the page

Choose your colors and decide how many pages you want looped or open

Jute cord

Tape

Hot glue

Accessories you want like tied ribbon, bell, cut outs etc.

I taped the end of the ribbon with the page: see photo 1

Start with one piece of looped ribbon & put a dot of hot glue on the bottom

& attach the next loop until all the loops are hot glued together:see photo 4

Pull about 8" of Jute & tie a knot around the end & place in the center of the ornament: see photo 4

Cut 2 pieces of ribbon and X them {shorter than sides} :see photo 5

Attach your ribbon and bell to the front of the ornament.

*If your ornament is wanting to go forward put the bottom of the jute on either side of one loop with a small amount of hot glue.

Happy Holidays.

DIY- Simple, Fun & Budget Friendly Ornaments!

My mom made a few and sent us last year & worth a share.

Angel Ornament

Teddy Bear Ornament

She also made one that was a little Christmas house but I can't seem to find that one

Reindeer Ornament

We made these this year:

Sledding Rudolph Reindeer Ornament

                     

Reindeer Canes

* Can glue googly eyes on instead of doodling some on.

Pipe Cleaner with Pony Beads

Rudolph

 Music Bell with Jute Cord

 Ribbon and Jute Ornament

 Glitter Sprayed Pine Cone with Jute : I used .10 Halloween Glitter Hair Spray

Monogrammed Ornament with Silver and Gold Puff Paint & Ribbon

 

 Glittered Puff Paint with Bling Squares & Jute

 Satin Ribbon Sparkly Bell: Epsom Salt & Glitter Spray

 Red Ribbon w Glittered Ribbon & Bling Squares

 Snowman Ribbon Bell

Jute Cord Wrapped Ornament

Painted Clothes Pin Ornaments

Stay tuned for a few more DIY options in the next post.

Happy Holidays!

What's Your 5 Wishes For The New Year?

I love Lanayas over at Raising Reagan little spurt of creative tagging posts lately..they are great! Check her out...oh and she has a fabulous toy store with the kinds of good quality toys you didn't even know you were looking for.   I love being tagged in fun little things like this, it makes my day.  Of course, I am not all planned out like she is and I am literally creating posts in the same week, the day before or the same day.  Crazy I know....I really need to get better.

5 wishes for the New Year?  Hmmm, that is pretty difficult to narrow down not because I am ungrateful but because there are lots of things I could improve on. 

1.  Follow through/Time Management: I want to follow through all the way with EVERY single thing I set up to do and have actually planned out to do.  I promise I have made lists, sticky notes, appointments with alarms, grids, reminders, strings, signs and if you look at a few notebooks you will see so many planned out things and such organized thoughts and yet I only do the top things and push the other things to the side. 

2.  Money Management:   Save money to be able to get the things we can only by saving money.  Prioritize the purchases that are made.



 

 This happens at the craft store and Dollar Tree:

3.  Motivation to maintain a healthier lifestyle:  I lost 30 pounds last year and gained it all right back.  I can be fit or eat healthy but the 2 together just doesn't mesh easy for me.  I need a simple and rotating plan that prevents me from getting bored.   I love good food and making delicious food.  My husband has provided me with everything I have ever asked him for to help with weight loss.  I hope for someone to come into my routine and be a dependable accountability partner.  I have had a few people but they just were not dependable. I know if someone else is doing it with me I will do it because I refuse to let others down that depend on me.

4.  Improve on my anxiety, patience, anger management, confidence and empathy.

5.  Imagination: I know this sounds silly but I wish for an active imagination.  It makes it hard for me to have fun with all the little pretend games with my family when I lack imagination.  If you only knew the fun they have.
-I found the tutu image on interest and it reminded me of something my husband would do. :D

 

Now some fun for 5 more bloggers to spread the cheer:

 

Breanna @ My Beautiful Crazy Life

Kim @ That's the Thing About Destiny

Emily @ {re}discovering home 

Luana @ La Petite Lu Lu

Victoria @ Through *for* By

 

I hope you guys share the cheer and tell us all what 5 wishes are on your list for the New Year.  Don't forget to tag 5 more bloggers.

 

Happy Holidays,

 

 

 

The Easiest Salt Dough Recipe EVER!

The best keepsakes are the ones that you can keep forever. I am loving the salt dough making. Normally, I just do not have luck with these kinds of things, but this one worked out great. 

Roll out to 1/2 inch and bake at 200 degree for up to 2 hours ~ more or less depending on the thickness.  You can poke a hole before you bake it in order to string it up.  Another option is poke your hole and let air dry for 2 days and then you can string it up. After it dried it was nice creamy color with a little sparkle from the salt. They do turn out a bit heavy, but it depends on how thick you roll them. The ornaments turned out light enough to hang on the tree. The handprints were pretty heavy and wouldn't go to well on the tree. Keep them forever or send to a loved one. We sent ours to my mom that lives in MS for a gift along with all of the little ornaments. You can paint them too!

We plan on painting ours and using hot glue to attach a jute cord and ribbons to them for ornaments.

I made this batch which came out perfect the 1st time.  I used Mortons Fine Sea Salt. I made 2 more batches for our Central Foothills Mommies Holidaze Party and the 1st batch came out great the 2nd batch not so much. I am not too sure why except for me using a different salt....which was- Antica Salina Fine Sea Salt. If I would have had more flour on hand, I could have fixed the dough. 

*I figured I would share the good and the bad so you know what to expect.  Now I didn't have any more ingredients on hand but you could mix a little more salt and flour to make the consistency firm and less sticky.

I hope you have just as much fun making these as we did!  If you post about it or make it let me know how it turned out for you.

Happy Holidays!

Me, Myself & I #6

 

I am so excited to be co-hosting with such a wonderfully talented group of bloggers this week.  I am grateful for having a the opportunity to Co-Host...thanks guys!  
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Questions of the Month

 

1) What was your favorite gift given to you as a child?

A- I was so happy to get a portable boombox with a cassette tape spot so I could record songs from the radio and re-record over them all I wanted. I listened to it constantly. : } Gheez...cassette tapes haha.
 

2) Christmas is almost here, what is that

one Christmas song you could listen to on repeat?

 

A- Hands down it would be Carol of the Bells by Trans Siberian Orchestra. <3 them. 
 

3) What are a few of the items on your Christmas list this year?

A- I am not a big wanter at Christmas time because I have all year right. However, I have a want list. : )  I want one of those Infiniti pro styler hair tool with the rolling barrel that is supposed to make your hair oh so shiny and fabulously styled all the time.  I would like a new camera...one that does everything I need it to. I am still looking for that though.

* I want to be surrounded by family and have a happy holiday with people that love our little family. To make lots of food and lots of good spirits. One for the some day list. (my family lives in MS)
 

4) Do you and your family have any special holiday traditions? Explain.

 

We do quite a bit of things together for the holidays.

 

-I make my moms chocolate mint cookies every year.

-We make snack bags with cookies, truffles and other sweet treats made for our neighbors, mailman, garbage truck workers etc..

-Girl and Boy toy for Girls and Boys Club(Salvation Army)

-Every time we go to the store the kids each get their own $1 to put in the Salvation Army bucket and they love it.

-The kids have to go through all of their toys and reduce the stash greatly in order for Santa to come.

-We do the Portable North Pole Santa videos for the kids.

-We do hot cocoa and Christmas cartoons often.

-New PJs for Christmas Eve for the kids.

-The kids laying under the Christmas tree looking up into it.

-Making holiday ornaments and crafts jamming to Christmas music

-Go crusin' to look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve.
-Instead of all candy, we do little debbie cakes and a few little chocolates for them.

-We do a non traditional style Christmas meal

5) Which do you prefer: wrapping paper or gift bags? Why?
 

I like gift bags and wrapping paper. I use wrapping paper more unless the gift is an awkward shape. Wrapping paper is just so pretty with bows and other personalization options.

That is a look into a bit of our holiday.  What about you? What's your answer?  Can't wait to read it.

Blogger Day of Silence & Help...Please Share

Important Announcement [Please Read]

My heart aches for all those families who lost their beloved children in Friday's shooting. It is just plain awful that we live in a world where a person could deliberately cut the life short of poor innocent children. It sickens me to no end and I just can't imagine what their parent's are feeling, but it breaks my heart to even think about it, so with that being said this blog will be participating in the blogger silence on December 18. Dedicate that day to being silent in honor of the Sandy Hook Elementary School and show our support to those families who lost a loved one on that horrific day.

____________________________________________________________________

To the Blog World and Anyone Else who Wants to Help,

Yesterday, tragedy struck so many of us in ways we did not foresee. An elementary school and small town in Connecticut was shattered by a mass shooting. We knew we wanted to help and we came up with this:

<img src="https://sites.google.com/site/megoblogdesign/files/sandyhooksupport.png" />

On Tuesday, December 18th, there will be a blogger day of silence. We will post the button and that's it. Please try to not post anything else that day if possible.

We are also raising money that will go to an organization in the memory of this tragedy. The organization is called The Newtown Family Youth and Family Services.

Here is the official description of the support service we are donating to:

"Newtown Youth and Family Services, Inc. is a licensed, non-profit, mental health clinic

and youth services bureau dedicated to helping children and families achieve their

highest potential. NYFS provides programs, services, activities, counseling, support

groups and education throughout the Greater Newtown area.

ANY DONATIONS MADE TO NEWTOWN YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES WILL BE DONATED DIRECTLY TO THOSE EFFECTED BY THE SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHOOTING."

Please visit THIS PAGE to make your donation.

We can't imagine how they must be feeling, especially this close to the holidays. We would love for you to spread the word on your own blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Let's make a difference and use blogging in a positive way.

Thank you in advance for participating.

Love,

The Blog World

P.S. If you would like to, copy-paste and repost any part of this, please do. Share on.

Source: xoxo, Breanna

My Beautiful, Crazy Life

Easy Cream of Broccoli & Cheese Soup

One of our house favorite aside from the rockin' potato soup is broccoli and cheese soup.

32 ounces of 2 bags of frozen broccoli

{boil your broccoli until tender}

{Smash your broccoli into small pieces}

+

1 Family sized Cream of Mushroom

Mix and its all done unless of course you want to add additional seasoning.

Cubed Cheese

Sour Cream

We love to add some cubed colby jack cheese and a good scoop of sour cream.

The perfect meal for the cold weather.  I am a lover of any meal that is simple, quick and barely any clean up.  My kids love them some broccoli soup. I think they like it mostly because they get to add some extras in there.

I will be taking part in "A Bloggers Day of Silence" tomorrow and I hope you will join us all.

A Blogger Day of Silence & Support

Important Announcement [Please Read]

My heart aches for all those families who lost their beloved children in Friday's shooting. It is just plain awful that we live in a world where a person could deliberately cut the life short of poor innocent children. It sickens me to no end and I just can't imagine what their parent's are feeling, but it breaks my heart to even think about it, so with that being said this blog will be participating in the blogger silence on December 18.  Dedicate that day to being silent in honor of the Sandy Hook Elementary School and show our support to those families who lost a loved one on that horrific day.

____________________________________________________________________

To the Blog World and Anyone Else who Wants to Help,

Yesterday, tragedy struck so many of us in ways we did not foresee. An elementary school and small town in Connecticut was shattered by a mass shooting. We knew we wanted to help and we came up with this:

<img src="https://sites.google.com/site/megoblogdesign/files/sandyhooksupport.png" />

On Tuesday, December 18th, there will be a blogger day of silence. We will post the button and that's it. Please try to not post anything else that day if possible.

We are also raising money that will go to an organization in the memory of this tragedy. The organization is called The Newtown Family Youth and Family Services.

Here is the official description of the support service we are donating to:

"Newtown Youth and Family Services, Inc. is a licensed, non-profit, mental health clinic

and youth services bureau dedicated to helping children and families achieve their

highest potential. NYFS provides programs, services, activities, counseling, support

groups and education throughout the Greater Newtown area.

ANY DONATIONS MADE TO NEWTOWN YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES WILL BE DONATED DIRECTLY TO THOSE EFFECTED BY THE SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHOOTING."

Please visit THIS PAGE to make your donation.

We can't imagine how they must be feeling, especially this close to the holidays. We would love for you to spread the word on your own blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Let's make a difference and use blogging in a positive way.

Thank you in advance for participating.

Love,

The Blog World

P.S. If you would like to, copy-paste and repost any part of this, please do. Share on.

 

Source: xoxo, Breanna

My Beautiful, Crazy Life