DIY Sofa Table

I have wanted a new sofa table for a while. When I saw this one over at Country Girl Home I knew I had to make it! I cut out all the wood and put as much of it together by myself as I could. I did have to ask the husband to help screw in the 4 1/2" screws! Those suckers are big! We did make a few little adjustments to the original plans to better suite us. I sanded down the pretty little table and then painted her a beautiful shade of Behr Refreshing Pool and then distressed her.  

AHHH, she is just so pretty. I picked up some knobs from Hobby Lobby and I need to put them on. They will complete the look. I decorated her up with a few valentine's decorations. I think she is adorable. I recently painted my house as well and it is so fun to walk in the front door and see this bright cheery table!

DIY Laundry and All-Purpose Spray

With all the laundry detergent and all-purpose cleaner recipes floating around pinterest, we knew we wanted to give it a try.  It takes about 10 minutes to make both and you'll be saving yourself some money in the process.

Some of the ingredients

There are a lot of different ways/recipes that you can make laundry detergent.  All the supplies can be bought at Walmart or your local grocery store. You may want to pick a up a few of the Fels bars, but the other ingredients will last awhile.  

This is the recipe that we use.

Laundry Detergent

1 bar Fels Naptha

1 C. Washing Soda 

1 C. Borax

1 C. Baking Soda

1 C. OxyClean (optional)

Unstoppables (see below)

I used my food processor to grate the Fels Naptha bar.  Combine all ingredients and wa-la, you're done.  I used the scoop that came in my OxyClean to scoop it.  It equals about 2 Tbs.  

Now I was a bit bothered that it had very little smell so I  bought some of the Downy Unstoppables.  I think they cost about $7, but I use about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle per batch of detergent.  It does to add a little bit more cost, but it was worth it me.

Next up...

All Purpose Cleaner.  I'm loving this stuff!!  I found this on Dr. Oz's website.  It has pretty much eliminated my use for another cleaner, but this.

All Purpose Cleaners

2 C. Water

1 TBS. Borax

3 TBS. Vinegar

1 TBS. Dish soap

a few drops of essential oils (I prefer peppermint)

I might make a few minor changes to this as I found another recipe that I want to try also.  Most likely I'll be combining the two somehow.  I'll let you know what I decide.

And there you have it, the finished product.

Lucy Little Flower Dress

When I saw this dress on Pinterest I knew I wanted to make it for someone.  The pattern itself cost me $5, but the money also goes to a good cause.  I decided to make it for one of my nieces for Christmas.

http://createhopedesigns.bigcartel.com/product/lucy-s-little-flower-tunic-dress

I made the 12-18 month size and I love how it turned out.  Since it's winter I added a long sleeve onesie underneath.  It's a fairly fast sew and would have been even faster had my kids not needed any attention! :)  The neck and arms are done with elastic thread.  I can't wait until my little one is old enough to start making her some.  I don't have anyone this size to try it on, so you get a picture of it laying down.  I can't wait to see it on my niece though.

Stained Glass Cookies

I haven't pinned this recipe (don't know how yet!) but I soon will.  My kids and I learned to do these years ago from my cousin and we decided to try them with grandkids this year.  They were fun and turned out cute! 

Dough:

4  eggs

3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 c. flour

Candy:

3 c. sugar

1/2 c. karo syrup

3/4 c. water

add food coloring for desired color.

Boil to 290 degrees (just past soft crack).

Pour onto foil.  Break into small pieces when cool and store in containers

Trace pattern onto foil.  Put foil on cookie sheet.  Roll dough into long skinny snakes to outline design.  Make sure to pinch dough together where it starts and stops.  Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.  Let cool and then fill with heaping amounts of candy.  Cook 3-5 more minutes at 350 until candy has all melted.  Let cool completely possibly overnight.  Use heated ice pick or nail to put a hole in the corner for hanging ribbon through.

Hang and enjoy!

Cinnamon Ornaments

My kids have their own Christmas tree that they decorate themselves.  One of our advent activities was to make Christmas ornaments for the tree.  I decided on cinnamon ornaments.  I had pinned the recipe and we got to work.  I combined a couple different recipes.  One from Martha Stewart and one from McCormick.  It makes your house smell heavenly. I cooked them in the oven for 2 1/2 hours on 250.  We decorated them with glitter glue the next day.  The kids had a absolute blast!!

Tile Coasters

I found this idea on pinterest and knew I wanted to try them.  We were looking for an craft for our Relief Society Meeting so I practiced on a set before hand.  They were real simple to make and didn't take more than an hour from start to finish.  My kind of project!  A super cute and inexpensive gift idea.

I bought the tiles at Home Depot for .16 a piece.  I cut my paper 4x4 and then used some mod podge to adhere the paper to the tile.  Once that's dry, I used some clear spray paint and gave them a good spray. I had to make sure all the edges were sprayed good so the paper didn't peel up.  I used some felt pads on the back to lift them off the table.

Perfect coasters for your drink!

The Grateful Tree

Last night for our Family Home Evening I decided to do a grateful tree.  I had some brown wrapping paper that I drew a tree on.  My husband used the circle punch to punch our fall colored "leaves".  My oldest was able to write his own, but my younger boys would tell me what they were grateful for and I would write it for them or I'd let them just "write" on a few.  It turned out to be a great way to remember all that we have been blessed with and the kids had a fun time doing it.  I hung it up on the wall  as a reminder to my family.