Yarn Wall Art

So about 2 weeks ago we had a mission trip come into Jeff St (which is where I work).  They were coming to update our building and love on our homeless guests.  We had a few projects lined up for them but the one I was most excited about was my Pinterest inspired project.  I had wanted to try this project for a while but didn't have the opportunity until now.  I was pumped to have a space big enough to do this and a boss awesome enough to allow me to do this.  I was VERY glad to have a group here to help me.

Okay, so this was pretty cheap but time consuming.

Here's what you need:

- a blank wall

- printer paper and a printer

- tape

- a level

- 1 1/2" nails

- sharpie

- hammer

- yarn

- tweezers (optional)

That's it!

So we started with a blank wall

Exciting I know...

Then print the font you want and tape all the letters together.  After that start putting the paper up on the wall and use tape to secure it to the wall.  Make sure to use a level so you don't have crooked words.

Next mark all your nails with a sharpie 3/4" from the head of the nail.  This will ensure that all your nails stick out the same amount from the wall and keeps everything uniform.  Once all your nails are marked you can use the hammer to put all the nails into the wall.  Basically you trace the letters with nails.  Curved letters, like C and S, need the most nails but most use sparingly (we only used 4 for the letter I).

This part took the longest amount of time but if you are patient the rest of it will be a piece of cake.

Once you have all your nails in the wall you tear down the paper.  And what is left is the outline of the letters.  Sometimes there are small pieces of paper that get stuck between the wall and the nail but a good pair of tweezers would solve that problem.  We didn't have tweezers and just used our fingers but tweezers would have been GREAT!

Now that all your paper is ripped off, you have just nails left and you can start wrapping the nails with yarn.  This is the fun part!  We used three different colors but you could use whatever color combo you wanted.  You tie a knot at the beginning and wrap it around as many times as you like (we wrapped it 5 times) and then tie another knot at the end.  Once all the letters are done you go back and trim all the excess yarn,where your knots are, with some scissors.

I could not have done it without these wonderful people.  They are so sweet to come all the way from Michigan to help with a Pinterest project ;)

Oh, the pictures that look awesome were taken by Natasha.  She is a great photographer and I was so thankful to have some (legit) documentation of the transformation.  Here is her photography blog: http://natashasmithphotography.blogspot.com/. Check it out, you won't regret it!

*The pictures that were not awesome were taken by me, haha.  I am NOT a photographer.

Project cost:

 - $8 for yarn (we only used 3 bundles of yarn and didn't even use all of it)

- $5 for nails

- $0 all the other supplies were already on hand.

Grand total: $13!

  It was a very fun project and great if you need to cover a large wall with art work for cheap.

Here is where the idea came from: http://jkizzle.blogspot.com/2011/11/diy-nail-and-string-wrapped-letters.html

Thanks for stopping by!

Kiana

Hair Accessories Catch-All

This is one of the first DIY ideas that I saw on Pinterest.  My housemate Rachel has eaten plenty of oatmeal so that I could accomplish this project. (I don't like oatmeal. Too slimy, blech.)  It also required a trip to Unique Thrift store here in Louisville.  (And if you know Louisville thrift stores you know that you will make any excuse to make a trip to Unique!)

Anyway...

This project was really easy and took no time at all.  You could accomplish it in 30 minutes if your paint dries fast enough.  I also apologize in advance for my crappy pictures.  I am using the camera on my phone.

What you need:

- An oatmeal canister
- A base
- paint
- paint brush
- super glue

See I told you it was easy.

Here is what I started with:

An oatmeal canister 

A base (found at a local thrift store)

Paint and a brush (ignore the spray paint, that is for another project)

Then, I simply painted the oatmeal canister black.  The paint dried really quickly so it didn't take long at all.  I did about 3 coats to cover it well but like I said, it was quick, it dried in about 15 minutes.

Next, I put the oatmeal canister on top of the base and made sure it was sitting even on the base.  Once I got it where I liked it I drew (with a pencil) around the circumference of the oatmeal canister on the base.  This way I knew where to put my super glue and knew the oatmeal canister would sit even.  After that, I put the super glue all along the ring I drew on the base and attached the oatmeal canister.  I held the canister on the base for about a minute and it was stuck.  I let it sit for about 5 minutes to make sure the oatmeal canister was stuck well.  Finally, I put all my headbands on it and filled the inside with other hair accessories and brushes.

Ta da!  A cheap and easy way to store all your hair accessories.  I may even put my hairs products in it.

Here is the blog I was inspired by: http://makeitmyown.blogspot.com/2011/11/day-18-im-thankful-with-lyssa-beth.html.  She does it a little bit different but both serve the same purpose.

I think the only thing I paid for was the base from a local thrift store so this is an under $5 project total.  If you had to buy everything I would imagine around $15 but most of these things can be found around the house.  It was easy and solved the organization problem instantly and I LOVE organization!

Go create!

Kiana

Ribbon Holders

If you've been on Pinterest for anytime at all, you've probably seen lots of good ideas for ribbon holders.  This is the one I chose and may be the best idea I've gotten from Pinterest so far!  Before this, all my ribbon was stored in a Ziploc back and going all over the place.  Now, it is super organized and easy to use.  And this basket was the perfect size for me!

Don't you just love wonderful projects that take very little time??  Me too!
You will need:

• A slotted tuberware bin (found mine on organizational aisle at Walmart)
• Ribbon

Super simple!  Just line up your ribbon in the basket and as you do that, pull each one through a hole.  This makes it so easy to get ribbon when you need it without making a mess.

The bin cost me $3.  And I buy my ribbon at Hobby Lobby when it is marked half off.  Can't beat that!

This is where I found this idea:
http://spunkyjunky.blogspot.com/2011/01/tutorial-tuesday-5-dollar-ribbon.html
They have some other tips to making this a great ribbon organizer.

Have a great week!
-Katie

LOVEly Cupcakes

I had a party 2 days before Valentine's, and I just couldn't pass up doing a dessert with a cute little heart on it.  So I made chocolate cupcakes with a heart embellishment.

Here's what you will need:

• A box of cake mix - I used milk chocolate (will make 24 cupcakes)
• 1 can of icing - I used vanilla
• Cupcake liners
• Fun sprinkles (optional)
• Red Candy Melts - I got mine at Hobby Lobby. (You could also use white chocolate bark and add a little red food coloring).
• Heart mold (you could also draw out hearts if you don't have a mold).
• Ziploc bag

1)  Cupcakes

• Make the cupcakes.
• Allow them plenty of time to cool.  I let mine sit overnight.
• Put your icing in a Ziploc bag and then snip off a small piece of one corner.  This makes it easier to ice the cupcakes and gives them a more put together look.  (If the hole in your bag is too small, cut it a little larger).  Go in a circle motion, covering the top of each cupcake with icing.

2) Hearts

• Melt the red candy melts.  I melted mine in batches because I only had one thing to make heart molds.
• Make sure not to overheat the red candy.  It will burn and become unusable.

Pour the red candy into the heart molds. 

Put them in the freezer for quick setting.  It will only take about 5 minutes for them to get hard.

Take them out of the mold.  If they have a hard time coming out, tap the tops with a spoon.



Once the cupcakes are iced, add a few sprinkles to the top, then top with a heart.  Voila!  Fun & beautiful cupcakes!  These heart cupcakes cost me about $8 to do 24 of them.

You could easily adapt this recipe to another holiday.  This is where I got the idea:

http://www.marthastewart.com/318374/brownie-heart-cupcakes?center

As you can see, I adapted this idea because I wanted to do a red heart on the top of my cupcake. 

Hope this will bring you inspiration for other fun cupcakes!

-Katie

Red Hot Basket

In the spirit of Valentine's day, I wanted to show you something I adapted from a Pinterest project.  This was a super fun gift that I gave my boyfriend.  He likes hot and spicy things, so it worked perfectly! 

This was a super quick project, taking very little prep time.  You will need:

• A basket - I got mine at Hobby Lobby for $2!
• "Red hot" items - I used Hot Fries, Fire Jolly Ranchers, Cinnamon Candies, Peppermints, Wing Sauce, & Red Bull all of which I bought at Hobby Lobby & Walmart.
• A little note - I quickly designed mine in Photoshop and then printed it off and cut it out.  You could also design something in Word or Publisher or another program very easily.

Everything cost me about $12 total and he loved it!  Double bonus!

Here is the site I got it from, if you are looking for more great ideas:
http://www.thedatingdivas.com/holidays/valentines-day/red-hot-love/

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

-Katie

A Tasty Dinner - Crock Pot Honey Chicken

Might I start off that I have never been good at New Year's Resolutions and this blog was one of them.

Okay, so every Monday night a couple of (usually) very hungry guys come over for dinner.  This past week I decided to try out my new crock pot I got at an after Christmas sale.  Only $20 with coupon!

The ingredients to the recipe weren't crazy extravagant and it didn't take that long to make in the crock pot either.  There was however a funny smell coming from the crock pot because it was my first time to cook in it but it didn't affect the taste of the food at all.

Here is the recipe:

Honey Sauced Chicken

Yield : 2

3/4 pound chicken (of your choice)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)

1/8 cup ketchup

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

Tada!  This is the finished scrumptious product!  The dudes devoured it and the dish got many compliments.  I will definitely be making this again, just including a little more time ;)

**Caution** If you double (or triple) the recipe make sure to add time.  I totally forgot to add time and ended up having to cook the chicken in the oven to speed up the cooking process.  That worked fine as well but if you are expecting the chicken to be done at a certain time remember that.

How long did it take? - If you follow the recipe only 1 1/2 hours and it took about the same amount of time for me as well but I cooked the chicken in the oven for about 30 minutes.

  Supplies Needed? - A crock pot, a grocery store and hungry mouths

  How much did it cost? - crock pot - $20, food - I only had to buy chicken, an onion and red pepper flakes so it only cost about $8, TOTAL = $28.

  Tips on how to make it easier/better? - Most of these ingredients you probably have lying around the house and most of you probably already have a crock pot as well.  This is a cheap and easy recipe.

Here is the 30 minute version

Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8x8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

 Did you like this project or not? - Yes, loved it!  It was easy and tasty.  I combined it with cilantro lime rice and the two went together perfectly.

The crock pot Honey Chicken came from : http://mmmcafe.blogspot.com/2010/01/honey-sauced-chicken.html

The Cilantro Lime Rice can be found at: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/03/chipotle-cilantro-lime-rice-4-pts.html

Enjoy some tasty food!

-Kiana