How to Make a Burlap Pin Board

Hello friends, how are you today? I hope that you are well
because I want to share my latest creation with you in the hope to inspire you.

I wanted to have a pin board in the home office for quite sometime
to keep my random papers and notes in one place, 

but I couldn't find anything online that was affordable.  

I was inspired to create my own by this photo and an old Pottery Barn catalog.

I loved the one featured in that picture, 

but I had already purchased my burlap fabric and decided

to go with it instead of that lighter linen fabric in the photo,
which by the way would look beautiful just for pinning photos of your loved ones.

I gathered my materials which included:

Burlap fabric (one yard) $2

Corkboard $ 8

Scissors

Packing tape

Push pins

Furniture nails $5 for 4 packs

Spray adhesive (optional)

I draped the fabric over the cork board to measure the amount that 

I would need to cover the board. 

I left an extra 2 1/2 inches to overhang toward the back of the board.

I sprayed the cork board with adhesive and pressed the fabric over it.

I folded the seems to give it a clean look in the back and

I stapled the remaining 2 1/2 inches on the back tightly to secure it. 

Then I pinned down the burlap with thumb nails to hold it steady in place for nailing.

I started nailing the furniture nails along the edge of the board about an inch apart.  

You may use a mallet for nailing the pins, 

I just pressed them down with my fingers along the edge of the cork board, 

not on the frame itself, although that is an option that you may consider.

I used 4 boxes of nickel plated furniture nails which contain 25 nails a piece, 

that's 100 nails, and I was left with about 5 extra nails.

Once I was finished applying the furniture nails, it was ready for hanging.

The board came with hanging hardware so it was easy to install.

I am very pleased with the new look of my pin board.  

Not too bad for $15 project. 

Create your very own with your desired fabric and get pinning.

To create bunting like the one featured, go here.

Happy Crafting!

UT-302 Instant-Read Ear Thermometer Review

Did I tell you that in the last several weeks my son has been running a fever ?

It has been two weeks since his last fever and now it is back. 

Today I received the UT-302 Instant-Read Ear Thermometer from LIFE SOURCE, 
manufactured by A&D Medical from Mybuynursingscrubstethoscopes.com .
After reading the instructions, I put the equipment to use.  

It was very easy and instant as the name describes.  

Within a second or two, the ear thermometer beeped and displayed the 

reading in a small but very readable digital window located on the side of it.

I also tried out a mouth thermometer we have at home to see if there were 

any big differences between the two.  

I ran three tests and to my surprise they were only off by .2 degrees F.  

The mouth thermometer took approximately 90 seconds to get the readings compared 

to the 2 seconds from the UT-302 Instant-Read Ear Thermometer.  

The UT-302 also has a cute display of a happy or sad face.  

A happy face means the person’s temperature is below a fever, 
a good thing, and a sad face to indicate a fever.

This is a great little device to have around the house, especially with small 

children who hate holding something under their tongue for over a minute.   

It is also great for when the kids are asleep. 

In my opinion, the UT-302 is quick, easy and reliable.
A&D Medical was surely thinking about the consumer with this product.  

I recommend it for every home.

(Disclaimer: I received the product above for a product review, 

all views expressed are my honest opinion, I did not receive any monetary compensation)

Swirls Lampshade Cozy

source: Craftsy

Isn't this darling?  

I love this and wanted to share this great way to refresh your home lighting.

This look reminds me of Anthropologie, don't you think?

I want to say that I have the tutorial for this, but I don't because this is a pattern.
The tutorial is available at Craftsy

Craftsy  is the fastest growing online community for crafters with
over 500,000 monthly visitors, having just launched in the Spring of 2011.
This site's main offers are: Online classes and great deals on craft supplies and more. 

Whether you're a beginner or advanced knitter, the beautiful swirled lace pattern is a fun and interesting project.  All you need is just one ball of yarn, and a few hours to work. 

Plus, the cozy is knit in the round, so there are no seams to sew and your lamp looks great from any angle. You may want to make one for every room.

I'm seriously going to make this or at least try.  Craftsy will show you how and it looks fairly easy even for beginners, like me.  

There's always a first time for everything.
Will you give it a try too? 

Valentine's Day Goody Bags

Today is the Valentine's Day party in my son's school.
I had to get several goody bags ready for his classmates. 

I started laying out the chocolate and cookie dough, 

(confession)  I bought the dough, I just added the chocolate, so it's semi-homemade.

Look at these beauties!  They are so vibrant and so tasty too! My son loved these swirls,

I think he ate a few before mixing it into the cookie dough.

I read over at Lemonade Makin Momma, that if you sprinkle a bit of sea salt 

on the cookies, that they are out of this world, so I had to give it a try.  

Wouldn't you know it, they are delicious! Gooey, sweetness!

Do you remember my son telling me that he wanted toys in the goody bags?  

These are the little things he picked out; erasers, spikey balls, 

and bracelets to go along with the cookies.

We added the cookies in a Valentine themed zip lock bag
 and placed them inside these paper bags 

along with cards and the little items above.
Then I took small doillies and clothes pins covered in red glitter
and pinned to the bags.

I've never done anything like this before, 

so I was pretty pleased with them, not too shabby huh!

Do you have any plans for Valentine's Day?

Save the Dates from Wedding Paper Divas

Can you believe it? Wedding season is almost here and

I just love the announcement above.  I wish that I would have been creative

enough to have come up with something like that for my wedding back in 1999.

Actually, there are a few things I would do differently today than I did then,

but that's another post.

The dates are set, the plans are being made, and it’s about that time to let people know when the big day is.

If you’re planning a wedding you need Save the Date cards.

Wedding Paper Divas absolutely leads the way with 

Save the Date cards, calendars, and magnets. And this year, just in time, 

they have added tons of awesome new features and 

Save the Date items like these cool Circle Cards 

(I have to admit they are pretty stylish) and Monogrammed designs (love ‘em!).

I wish they had been around when I got married!

Calendars are fun and useful to potential guests. 

You can check all of Wedding Paper Divas’ calendars here.  

Some of my other favorites are what they call the 

“Romantic Tab : Smoke” Save The Date Postcard and the 

“Haute Heraldry : Black” Save the Date Card. 

But really they just have so many to choose from and everyone’s tastes are different, 

so check them all out.

What makes Wedding Paper Divas different? 

Before each order is shipped, it is hand reviewed (by a real live human!) 

for any issues, so you’re guaranteed to receive high-quality cards. 

Shop their Save the Date cards today. 

These cards are sure to amaze family and friends. 

If you’re a planner and early shopper like me, 

you can get 20% off your entire order (25% off orders of $149 or more) 

when you purchase Save The Date cards through 2/16/12. 

Just use PROMO CODE: WEDSAVE25. 

Happy shopping!

(Disclaimer) This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Layla Grayce.  All Opinions are 100% mine.

25 Things; Well not Quite

Today I'm linking up with Shauna from Perfectly Imperfect.

She just started a linky party called "25 Things".  

The object of the linky is to write 25 random things either about your day or
just whatever is on your mind.  It looks like fun!  Here goes my randomness!

1.  At 1:30 AM yesterday, my cell phone began vibrating.
I had received a text message that read,
"Congratulations, you're a first time auntie".
I was so happy.

2. Today I was so humbled to have made it to the top 12 finalist at Whisper Wood Cottage
for a chance to win a magazine feature.  I was so surprised!
The other projects are beautiful, so I was honored to be part of that list. 

Thank you Whisper Wood Cottage!

4. After missing school for a whole week due to fever and other ailments,
my son is back in class. Do you know what they sent home yesterday?
A letter stating that the Chicken Pox is going around!  Oh no!

Please don't get sick!  My poor baby has been through so much
already, he's just getting over being sick. 

5. I've never had the chicken pox!

6. I am in love with my new homemade iced coffee!
Contains: Coffee, flavored cream, sugar and condensed milk, Yum!
Tip: Instead of ice cubes, use coffee cubes.  Freeze left over coffee!

7.   I'm currently working on my craft room/ office space.

My hubs built a desk out of pallets, wanna see it?
The photo on the top of the post shows a glimpse of the desk.

I'm thinking about painting it, not sure yet.

8. I wanted my walls to be somewhat grey, they are blue!
There's nothing wrong with blue,
but now I have to change my whole decor plans.
I'm not buying another can of paint.

9. I'm trying to figure out how to make a tabbed content navigator widget for this blog,
the less items on my sidebar, the better.

10. I'm baking chocolate chip cookies today!
I will make Valentine's Day treat bags for the kids to exchange at their
Valentine's Day party.  My son prefers toys only, go figure!
But I showed him the special chocolate that mommy is using for the cookies,
white chocolate with red swirls.  "Okay mommy, but also some toys".

11. I finally got my cork board done!  I wrapped my cork board with burlap to make it
look nicer, something similar to this...

via pinterest

12. I'm also working on another fun project for lamps!  I will be posting about that soon, so stay tuned!

13. This morning as I read scripture, this simple reading calmed my heart & soul;
" Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you
as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27 NIV

14. I want to start running with my hubs,
I want to transform this house to make it feel like "us".
I want to take a photography class.

15. I am lacking in blog time, I've been so busy with everything else,
that I have to literally squeeze blogging and reading other blogs.

16. I started carrying my makeup in a zip lock bag in my purse.
Yes weird, but now I can find it without having to empty my purse.
My sister will probably say, that's cheap and unstylish,
I know, but I can see through the bag, so it's easy to grab what I need,
it doesn't cost me anything, it keeps my purse clean,
no more spilled powder and it fits easily in my purse.

17. Even though white distilled vinegar works magic on grout, I want to try Grout Bully!

18.

19. My latest work.  I like these so much, I'm thinking about keeping them.

20.

via pinterest

21.

via pinterest

I know it's not 25, but that's all I have for now.
Thank you for reading my randomness!

A New Way to Connect with Bloggers

Hello and Happy Monday!  This morning I have something really cool to share with you. 

As you are all well aware, a few weeks ago, Google announced they would discontinue Google Friend Connect (GFC) for non-Blogger blogs, since I've seen quite an amount of worrying among our dear fellow bloggers, I decided to share with you my new favorite place!  I pondered my new little hangout, but it’s time to share the goodies with you. It's Hellocotton.  Have you heard of it?

This wonderful place allows you to follow for free the most talented bloggers out there, 
mostly women.  Why do I love it?  It is an easy way to discover the latest on trends 
and to take on a daily dose of inspiration.  

Hellocotton allows you to comment, vote and share it all with your friends.

Another great thing is that Hellocotton allows you to set up a Hellocotton mini-profile on your blog, displaying your followers/followings and allowing for newcomers to follow you easily and, in the process, keep up with your updates? So if you are losing your Google friend connect box, guess what, now you can have one with Hellocotton!

Yes, you read right, it's exactly along the lines of Google Friend Connect but works just fine regardless of your blogging platform. Since Google's decision will be effective as of March 1, 2012 why not plan ahead and warm up your readers to the use of Hellocotton!

Of course, hellocotton is there to help and answer any of your questions about, 
either the mini-profile, or Hellocotton on the whole.

Now isn’t that something worth looking into? 

I hope that this news helps you stay connected with your fellow readers.

If you do check it out, let me know what you think?

Thank you for stopping by today!

Valentine's Day Free Printables

Happy February friends!

To kick off the month of February, I hope that you enjoy
these free printables from me to you!

Do what you wish with them, tags for gifts, art for your walls and more.

Download World Love Printable Here

Download Love Printable Here.

I would love to see what you make with them; so if you please,

come back and link your goodies.

Download Valentine Printable Here.

Download Valentine Printable Here.

I hope that you enjoy them! Find more here.

Visit the Facebook fan-page for Valentine Party Ideas and other tips!