Pinspiration

"Hi.  My name is Jennifer and I am addicted to Pinterest.  It's been 2 seconds since my last pin." 

Now, you have to know that I have a total addictive personality.  I know this about myself, so I try to avoid things that will suck up hours and hours of my time, but, I could resist no more!  So two weeks ago, my friend Amanda sent me an invitation {the second one since I rejected my first invitation in an attempt to rise above the peer pressure}, I accepted, and the rest is history!  {And, truthfully, it really does not take up hours of time...usually.} ;)

One thing about Pinterest, it has given me TONS of ideas, or "Pinspiration", if you will. :)  I just thought I'd share some of the things that have pinspired me and how I've copied them.

Pinspiration #1-Bathroom Decor

theirs

mine

*Still need to get the hooks; an idea that I LOVE!!

Pinspiration #2-Patterned Coasters

theirs

mine

*Helpful hint...I used contact paper cut to size to cover the scrapbook paper...works perfectly!

Pinspiration #3-Lanyards
theirs

mine

Pinspiration #4-DIY Clothing Labels

theirs

mine

*Do you like my craft line name?!  From now on, everything I sew will have a {faith} beyond borders tag sewn in...I'm giddy with excitement!!

Want to know more about Pinterest?  Click here.

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Want an invitation to Pinterest?  Leave me your E-mail address as a comment and I'll send you an invite! :)

Happy Pinning!

P.S. Did I mention that I had all the materials that I used in these crafts?!  Free...my favorite price! :)

The Office

When I was working in the Junior High, I had a su-weet office.  The building was brand new and I was on the second floor in a ginormous office that we lovingly referred to as "The Penthouse Suite".  It had an Inner and an Outer space {both equally large} and a testing closet.  Seriously, it was a great space!

So, in taking my new position, I knew I was downgrading a bit in the space department...and the newness department...and the factthatIhadawindow department.  In fact, everyone that I talked to referred to my new office as "The Closet".  And, indeed, it is far from my penthouse.

BUT, I took the new space as a challenge and used it as a clean slate to showcase some craftiness.  So, without further ado,

THE closet SHABBY CHIC OFFICE

Before

Blank Wall

After

The Feelings Wall

Before

The Empty Bulletin Board Wall

After

The Office Supply Station atop the Desktop Hutch
 

Before

The Built-In Bookshelves

After

The Beautifully Organized Counseling Library

Custom made curtains hide less-asthetically pleasing materials {aka storage!}

For this storage solution, I used copy paper boxes, my cricut, scrapbook paper {for the sides and the front labels}, spray adhesive, and Mod Podge.

Each counseling topic has a home! :)

I found these cute little metal and plastic wicker chairs with cushions in the "attic" storage area.  They were forest green with southwestern print cushions before I got ahold of them!!  Buahaha!

Perfect little chairs for 4th and 5th graders

I made a few little rosettes to tie in the clock {which sets on top of the desk that my awesome hubby painted off-white for me}...

...and the mirror.

So, yes, it's a little more snug than my previous office, but I really love it.  Though the JH office was super nice, I think this one is just more "me". :)

P.S. Notice my high-tech additions?  Now you can "Like" my posts {an easy way to make a comment without having to make a comment...unless you want to make a comment, which I LOVE!!} and, you can follow me on Pinterest!  Just click the button on my sidebar.  Not on Pinterest?  Well, it's time, my friend...comment with your E-mail and I'll send you an invite! :)

Flowers In Her Hair...

Remember this 'lil sweetie?! 

Ah, Baby Liv.  My heart misses her badly, even though it's only been 5 days since we left Jeff City to come home and even though I will see her again when we go visit in 10 more days.  She is the first born of my brother and Amy...there's just something about that first born!

Brandon and Amy didn't find out baby Liv's gender beforehand {I call this MAJOR will-power!}, so it was a BIG mystery.  To be honest, I was convinced that baby Liv was really going to be a boy!  So, when she made her appearance, it wasn't long before I decided that I needed to get that girl accessorized.  So, the last several days, I've been whipping up these sweet little flowers {and bows} for her hair:

I put each of these on clips so that she can wear them on a headband for now and clipped in her hair later.

Triple Fabric Yo-yo Flowers

Two tiny Felt Blooms

Yellow Box Fold Felt Flower

Fuschia Satin Flower

Four Tiny Basic Boutique Bows

Four Rolled Fabric Flower Clips

Yellow Triple Ribbon Flowers

Royal Blue Satin Poppies

Funky Fabric Flower in Green and Blue

Funky Fabric Triple Flower in Black and White

Because I rarely attempt any craft without a tutorial, I linked a tutorial for each flower to their titles; you know, just in case you get the flower craft bug! :)

And last, but not least...

every baby needs a minky taggie lovie!

Craft Week-Day Five {Name Signs}

We had the priviledge of hanging out with our friends, The Stricklands, last week for a day and a half.  Amber and I used to work together at good ole' Target back in the day.  Hands down, my favorite shifts were when we worked together! 

Well, we sort-of lost track of each other when she and her hubby moved away, but reconnected about a year ago.  I am SO GLAD God placed us back in each other's lives.  Even though we live four hours from each other, we easily pick up where we've left off each time!

Chris and Amber JUST joined us on our agency's wait list yesterday at #50 and, since I knew that was coming, I wanted to make a little something for them as a "congrats" for completing that crazy amount of invasive paperwork {that we in the adoption world know as The Dossier}.  So, on Wednesday, when their kiddos hung out at our house {while Amber and Chris went to Joplin to volunteer with Operation Blessing}, I dragged the girls downstairs to make a name sign for each of them as well as one for Strickland-to-be, Chloe.

For this project, we used 3/4 inch thick pieces of plywood, cut to 4x12", scrapbook paper {cut with my Cricut, using my Sure Cuts a Lot software}, Mod Podge, and Ribbon.

I had all of this in my stash, so this project was FREE!! :)

The girls were more than thrilled with how their new signs turned out. :)

These two kinda like each other! ;)  They played for hours and hours as if they've known each other forever {Melia even cried when she left!}.  I love that these two sweet girls will always be bound together by the fact that they are both big sisters to siblings from Ethiopia!

I also need to mention that my big FAIL of the day was not making a sign for the boys.  They were totally oblivious while we were making them {I'm pretty sure they were crashing cars, biting each other with their dinosaurs, or something else adorably "boyish"}, but when they saw them, they were sad that their big sisters has such cool crafts and they didn't.

They were pretty much over it by bedtime, though, cuz, let's face it, what 3-4-5 year old boys aren't totally pumped for a mega-sleepover?!

How cute are they?!

P.S. This week's posts have been so much fun for me...I hope you've enjoyed them, too!  I've been cranking out projects like crazy this week, too...maybe a craft week {take II} is in the works!:)

Craft Week-Day Four {$1 Team Draw-String Backpack}

If you know me in real life at all, you probably know that I love to buy things for as teeny a pricetag as possible.  So, when my amazing friend, Lisa {love you, girl!} picked up two Wal-Mart bargains: $1 Carl Junction t-shirts, my mind quickly wondered what I could make with them. 

Now, maybe you're thinking "Um, how about wearing them like a normal person?!"  I have a good answer for that:  between education and careers for Trevor and I, we have 29 years in the Carl Junction school system.  To say we have more than enough CJ shirts is the understatement of the year!!

Anyway, after allowing the wheels in my head to have an uninhibited whirl, the Team Draw-String Backpack was born:

The best part was it took about 20 minutes for both backpacks!

Off to Nana and Papa's for a slumber party...