Thursday, September 13, 2012

Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation


Hey everybody!

Still feeling like I'm on vacation mode... having a hard time getting back to reality! Today I want to share with all of you some crafts I found from our travels... there are so many more that I saw but sometimes I had no camera with me :(

 So to begin today's post I want to share with you the cutest little craft houses I found in Portugal. These I bought in a souvenir shop on top of Serra da Estrela, translated (Mountain of the Star), the highest point in Portugal... and the only place you can ski there. Not far from where my husband's family lives!   

Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation

Aren't they soooo cute! They are made from the slate stone found on the mountain and are very good replicas of old houses built in the area. 

Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation

Love all the little detail that the crafters used! There is even glass in the window! (hard to see from the picture)

Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation

Signed by the Artists! Pictured below is there new home... LOVE them!

Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation

Below is another craft I found from the same region. I actually met the gentleman who crafted this piece. It is meant to be used to hang up your keys... but since I already had a place for my keys... I figured it would make a great place for my daughter's bracelets and other jewelry to hang! 

Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation

 Also signed by the Artist!


Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation

 And here is a gift from a creative friend of the family, Magda Soares! She and her husband create these beautiful wood crafts. She made a family tree for each of my kids, so thoughtful! Thank-you Magda! Now I have to find some pretty pics of us! 


Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation

Here is my son's tree in his room! Super cute!

Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation


 And finally the last craft I will share today... old terracotta roof tiles turned into art! Aren't they amazing! Whoever thought of that first was super creative!


Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer VacationCrafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation

When I first saw these in 2005 I was inspired to create my own!  So with limited supplies there, I painted these two terracotta tiles below. They now hang outside my Mother In Laws house in Portugal! The one on the left was inspired by a house across the street from my In-laws house and the one on the right was inspired by a picture of their house prior to renovations.

Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer VacationCrafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation
Here is a picture of the old house across the street! See any similarities? So much history... these houses are hundreds of years old!


Signed by moi in 2005! Wow, so long ago it seems already!

Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation

Here are some old lanterns that I drew for my husband's cousin Fernanda, on some smaller tiles. I didn't have time to paint them for her but she did a great job! 


Crafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer VacationCrafty Souvenirs | Crafty Finds from our Summer Vacation


Hope you've enjoyed today's post!
Happy crafting to everyone all over the world!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

3D Apple Treat Box | Back to School Gift For Teacher | SVGCuts

HELLO! I'm finally back from our European travels! Yay! The trip was amazing, but I am glad to be home :) I know you all must have been going through a bit of withdrawal from my blog, lol! No worries I already have the crafting itch... so I've already started crafting away! Yes, it's back to REALITY... and as you might have already noticed I have made some changes to the appearance of the blog... I guess that will always be changing and under construction! But what do you think so far...better right?

So yesterday was the first day of school for the kids... Their school actually started last week, but we were still away. I don't think they minded at all missing a few days! So here they are just before leaving for school. Maia is in grade 1 and Tomas is in grade 3. I can't believe that they are this big already! Time just keeps flying!


So here are the treats I made for the teachers this year. What teacher doesn't like apples? Especially when they're filled with chocolates?! I hope they like them... I love how they turned out!

3D Apple Treat Box | Back to School Gift For Teacher | SVGCuts

Here is a closer look, aren't they adorable?!

3D Apple Treat Box | Back to School Gift For Teacher | SVGCuts

The files for the 3D Apple come from SVG Cuts MISS BAKER'S CLASSROOM SVG KIT. I can't say enough good things about their files. Mary is amazing at what she does! The paper I used is from Fancy Pants Designs, their Off to School collection.

I hope you liked them too!
Happy crafting :)


Monday, August 27, 2012

Maia's Room Make Over - Room Reveal!

It's all finally come together! My daughter's room is all done... she now has a little girly room, no longer "baby" room!

Here is the "before" picture of her room...

And here is the now...

Maia's Room Make Over - Room Reveal!

I had some room over her closet that was pretty bare so I thought I would cut out her name and do some vinyl lettering. The "M" I found at Micheal's and just painted it white.

Maia's Room Make Over - Room Reveal!



Maia's Room Make Over - Room Reveal!

I hope you have enjoyed these last posts on my daughter's room makeover! Hopefully, it will be a few years until she gets tired of this room, lol!

Happy crafting and redecorating :)

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Maia's Room Make Over - Lamp Shade - Part 6


I bought this boring lamp at IKEA for my daughter. So I thought I would pretty it up a little... the fastest project ever!


I tied some bows using some wired ribbon.


Then using a pin I placed it through the ribbon and attached it to the lampshade.

Maia's Room Make Over - Lamp Shade - Part 6

Simple, pretty and girly now!

Happy crafting :)

Friday, August 17, 2012

Maia's Room Make Over - DIY Canopy Bed - Part 5

My daughter Maia has always wanted a canopy bed, as I think all little girls like. So I thought I could make one for her, as I wasn't about to buy a whole new set of furniture for her. We will wait until she outgrows her bed for now!

Here is what I did...


TIP: To help me find the right measurements before I drilled holes into the ceiling I used thumbtacks to pin elastic bands to the ceiling so I could see exactly where to hang up my curtain rod!


Here is a closer look! I bought these rods at IKEA for $1.99 on sale, woohoo!


I had gone to the fabric store to look for some shear-type material, but for the amount, I needed it was going to cost me a fortune! So good ol' IKEA had the perfect curtains. All I needed was 3 panels so I had to buy 2 packages.


All I did then was sew the panels to each other, leaving pockets for where the curtain rods would be placed through. 


Since I didn't like the ends that the rods came with, I used my own round crystal beads and just hot glued them in place.

Maia's Room Make Over - DIY Canopy Bed - Part 5

And Voila! Super quick and easy canopy bed! 

I hope you liked this tutorial and maybe even make one for your little princess!

Happy crafting :)

Monday, August 13, 2012

Maia's Room Make Over - DIY Desk Station - Part 4

Today I'm going to share with you a project I made for my daughter's room. Above her desk, all there was, was a bare wall. You all know what happens when there is a bare wall behind a desk? Yes, you guessed it... scratches, dents, crayons, holes in the wall. Well, that was my fear of having a 6-year-old next to a freshly painted wall, lol! 

At first, I thought I would just hang up an eraser or corkboard up, but then I thought I would like to see something a bit prettier than I could coordinate with her room.  So this is what I created!  Pretty, right? The best thing is that it's so functional!

Maia's Room Make Over - DIY Desk Station - Part 4

Here is how I did it!


Supplies I used - Art canvas, picture frame (bought a while ago in Micheal's clearance bin, knew it would come in handy one day!), acrylic paint, hot glue, batting, fabric, glass beads, and ribbon.


I moved the hooks from the frame to where I needed them to be.


I needed to hang this picture frame on the wood pieces of the canvas so I had to figure out how to center it on the canvas.


Pretty easy to feel where the wood was through the canvas so I found my center and placed nails on each side, for where the picture frame would hang.



It would have been way easier if I had just spray painted my frame, but I didn't have any on hand so acrylic paint it was! It took 3 coats. Thank goodness it was a hot day, so it dried up pretty fast!


Then I laid the batting down on the canvas and just cut around it.


Did the same with the pink fabric.


I used hot glue to secured the edges to the frame. My staple gun just broke, this worked just as well!


Poke the nails through the fabric, so I knew where to hang my frame.


Put the picture frame back together, I used some ribbon to embellish it and just printed out a basic calendar and another piece of paper that read Maia's Notes. The glass from picture frames makes perfect dry-erase boards!


Decorated the canvas with crisscrossing some ribbon, and then added some glass beads as buttons where the ribbon intersected. They look so cute!

Maia's Room Make Over - DIY Desk Station - Part 4

And here it is again! My daughter loves this idea! She is always drawing on it and soon it will be filled up with her pictures and artwork! 

Hope you liked this post! 
Happy crafting :)