Tutorial: Washer and Ribbon Necklace

     School has been back for a month, which explains why I haven't been updating recently.  I have lots of projects in the works, but I haven't finished most of them yet.  Here is a fun 15 minute project.   Try it out and let me know how it goes!
  
     I love going to the local hardware store and looking for fun materials to use.  The other day I was on Pinterest and saw a cool jewelry idea.  This is cheap, easy and, most importantly, cute!  I have made two of them, but with all of the customization options (ribbon color, washer size, lengths, number of ribbons, etc) I know that I will be making many more in the future.


After the jump you can see the full tutorial.

Upgrades to My Other Home

    If the title of this post is confusing to you, I will explain.  Don't worry.  I haven't been holding back an entire residence from you.  I'm speaking of the place that from August to June I spend more time in than my real home: my classroom.

When I arrived at school this morning I had five kits of IdeaPaint waiting for me! (Yes, the Saturday before I officially go back to school.  What can I say?  I'm excited!) 

    The reason that I am sharing this on my blog is because they sell kits for 50 square feet which is small enough for residential use.  I can't wait to show you how it turns out.  I am painting the top of all of my desks, both of my old blackboards, and a large wall in my room.  They also make a clear formula that would be great to use over fun colors.

    Here is a picture of a classroom that inspired me.  I will start painting on Monday.  Check back to see how it turns out!  

Organizing Under the Sink

    Yes, this sounds like a boring post, but wait...there is super special contact paper involved.  I was able to jazz up the space with my favorite contact paper from Target.   It's been a very crazy week and I haven't been able to post recently.  I have so many projects in the works that I am close to finishing, so stay tuned.
    Back to under the sink.   I was sick of looking under the sink and seeing a sea of paper and plastic bags to reuse or recycle.

    Ugh.  I took everything out.  We have really accumulated quite a few cleaning products over the years.  I am actively working on transitioning to homemade cleaners.  Once I get the formulas just right, I will be sure to share.  Until then, I am also trying to finish up or give away some of the chemically cleaners.

After the jump you can see how beautiful and tidy my under the sink area is now.

Tutorial: Jurassic Frame

Rawr!  Isn't this fun!?  And the best part is that it cost me $2!

After the jump you can see a full tutorial brimming with photos and helpful hints so you can make your own prehistoric photo holder.

Tutorial: Etched Glass Bakeware

    I worked on this today after realizing that so much of my bakeware is missing or has to belong to someone else because it doesn't look familiar at all.  After this project, my bakeware will be a memorable item that will get back to me even if I forget it at a friend's house.

    If you saw my paper pendant tutorial, then you might be thinking, "Dang, she likes the pi symbol."  It's true.  I'm going to attribute it to missing my students and classroom.  In this case though, I think it's pretty clever.  A pie pan with a pi symbol!

After the jump you can see a full tutorial with pictures of how to make your own.  It's so easy and inexpensive!

Bathroom Tile Project: Day 4 "The 95% Reveal!"

    Okay, home stretch.  Here is where we are at after 4 glorious days of working.  She is so beautiful!  We are not totally done, but we hit a few roadblocks that will take a bit of time to fix.  Until then, here is the picture.

After the jump, you can see the whole process of mixing and applying grout, organizing tiles and putting up the mop board as well as some unexpected problems.

Tutorial: Paper Pendants

    If you have been reading my blog for a while, then you are well aware that I reallllly wanted a Silhouette Cameo.  Back in May, I finally ordered one.  I wasn't anticipating that it would be back ordered until the beginning of July.  The Cameo came in the mail the other day, and I got down to business right away.  Time to make a nerdy necklace.

    Before you say, "What the heck?"...  Let me tell you two important things about me.  I am a math teacher.  Beyond that fact, Pi Day is my favorite day of the year.  Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th.  Wait for it. Wait for it.  Pi is approximated by 3.14.  March 14th is 3/14. 

After the jump you can see all the steps to make this beauty (or a paper pendant of any other design).

With a Rebel Yell!

Billy Idol, anyone?  Or how about David Bowie?  Rebel rebel, you've torn your dress.

    This is the new addition to the family.  It's a Canon EOS Rebel T3.  So far I just have the 18-55mm lens.  I'm finally done with the point and shoot!  Now, I'm off to play with it.  And my Silhouette Cameo that came in the mail the other day.

Hooray!

Bathroom Tile Project: Day 3 "Tile Installation"

    My sister's idea for the title of this post was Day 3: "Party in the Bathroom Tile USA featuring Tiley Cyrus".   Other ideas brainstormed were "The Tile High Club", "Goin' a Tile a Minute", "Tile 'n Out", and "The I-tile-ian Job".   Or what about "Tiler Perry's Big Fat Tilin' Barbeque Weekend"?

After the jump you can see all of the ups and downs of day three.  Finally, we are seeing some progress!

Bathroom Tile Project: Day 2 "Unexpected Concrete"

    Day 2 of our bathroom tiling adventure was a rough day.  We started out by going to Lowe's to pick up cement board.  The plan was to lay that over the existing cement and adhere it with some sort of adhesive.  That way we could raise up the floor and have a level surface.  When we got to Lowe's we learned that you can only screw cement board into something.  And that something could not be cement. Womp, womp.  We made some calls and got advice.  Unfortunately that advice was that we would have to mix and pour a concrete floor on top of what we had.

Here is the patch for the sink and the concrete that we poured.  Plus I'm giving you a sneak-peak at what the tile looks like.

After the jump, you can see all the fun (and no-so-fun) details of Day 2.