Ok this one's going way back in time...it doesn't feel that long ago to me but this year has been flying by!  For Valentine's Day this year I wanted to make something fun for Ryan.  Anyone who knows my husband knows that he is a candy fiend!  I thought it would be fun to make him a wooden candy dispenser.  I saw some online that used a mason jar but I wanted to take it a step further...

I was one lucky lady this Christmas.  Not only did we get to spend time with ALL of our parents and siblings over the past month, I also ended up getting some pretty neat toys :)  One of the cool new toys I got is a Cricut Explore!  Basically it's an electronic cutting machine.  You can connect it to your computer and use the Cricut Design Space on their website to make a design.  Then the Explore can cut the design out of paper, vinyl, fabric and more!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  I know that most people probably celebrated over the weekend since today is a Monday (boo!) but hopefully you have some fun today too.  Maybe some green beer or green mashed potatoes with dinner?  As I was looking at all the adorable St. Patty's pins on pinterest, it made me realize - I totally dropped the ball on the Shoebox Swap.  So, if you are interested in restarting and/or joining the shoebox swap (first one would be due in the mail by the end of April), let me know by Friday 3/21 and we'll get it going again.  Here's a few fun photos of past swaps to reminisce.

Everyone remember that great game we played as a kid, Battleship?  Well, I saw this awesome pin on pinterest and knew it HAD to be added for my Halloween party this year!

Ok Ok, I know I'm obsessed.  But when I start a project I like to go all the way, LOL.  So as part of finishing up the guest room, I thought I'd give this little chair a facelift to make it fit in better in the room.

Also while wandering around TJ Maxx I saw this little crate/box on clearance for $2.  I didn't have any use for a red crate but I could certainly use a white one.  You know where this is headed right?  Time to paint it!

I hope everyone had fun making their Shoebox Swap Crafts!  I just finished up the wreath I was making for Doreen and it came out pretty cute.  And it actually is as soft as it looks!

After I finished my cute little framed canvas/quote, it was clear I needed to finish the decor on the top of the bookshelf.  I had the hardest time finding a lamp I liked and the ones I did find were SOO expensive.  I was hoping for under $20 but after about ten different stores, I finally just picked one up at Bed Bath & Beyond for $40 that was close to what I wanted.  It wasn't  exactly what I wanted though so I decided to modify it.  Note: if you're going to modify a brand new lamp (or anything), make sure you check to see if it's working BEFORE you do any modifying because you won't be able to return it (fortunately I remembered).  Here's the lamp i got:

Like I said before, I wanted to do some reorganizing and decorating in my quilt room and the upstairs in general.  In the quilt room, I needed to get rid of anything not functional and make what I kept look prettier.  I like my room pretty and orderly - I can't sew or work on anything if it's messy - it drives me insane.  

But anyways, one project at a time.  I was planning on getting some new bookshelves or cubbies and I knew I would want some piece of art or decoration above them.  I saw this on Pinterest and decided I wanted to do a sewing or crafting quote for the wall similar to the one they had made.

This year, I decided to space out the swaps a little bit more because we all got too busy last year.  So we assigned the swap partners on 1/15 and then everyone had until the end of Feb to mail their boxes.  Hopefully everyone has mailed there's by now.  I'll admit I was running a little late myself - mine just went in the mail yesterday.  Although, to be fair, it took a little longer since I had to make stuff for two swap partners this month.  I always make some stuff for myself when I do the craft swaps too.  Sometimes I just make duplicates - one for me, one for my swap partner.  And sometimes I make something else for me that's still the same theme.  For myself, I made a wreath this year out of my tshirt fabric scraps and a few other accessories.