Hopscotch Paver Path

We have a ton of rocks in our backyard which makes it hard to walk in certain parts barefoot. We were wanting to create a path connecting our patio to the grass area. I decided how cute would it be to make the path a hopscotch path? This project was fairly simple and only took a couple hours. 

We first shoveled the rocks to either side to create our space. We then laid tarp along the path. I am a firm believer that you can never have too much tarp! ;-) Then we laid a thin layer of sandbox sand on top of the tarp and raked it evenly.

Next I spaced the pavers in the path, just eyeballing them to align them evenly, but you could get out a tape measurer if you wanted to be more exact. I bought the 12"x12" pavers from Lowe's for $1.78/ea. They have other color options, but I thought red would add a pop of color out back. 

Teacher Gifts

It's custom to give your children's teacher a gift at the end of the school year. I wanted to find unique gifts that would be different from all the others. Teachers can only have so many chocolates and candles and lotions, right? Here are some of the things I've made for my children's teachers. 

I just love this cute plant! School gets out in the spring time basically and having a fresh plant is always so welcoming. I bought the plant from Lowe's. They have such a huge selection this time of the year. I found this cute sign online and printed it out on cardstock so it would be sturdy. You could also design your own. Then I glued the sign to a popsicle stick and there you go! So easy!

Everyone knows an apple is a common gift for teachers, right? Well I took it a step further and made homemade caramel dipping sauce to go with the apple! I found cute mason jar containers from the dollar store to put the caramel in (it's hard to see in the picture). Then I added stuffing and bagged them up with a sweet tag. They loved their gifts!

Another gift we have done before is bake pumpkin bread or banana bread, whatever you prefer, and make these cute apple labels. My daughter helped me cut out the apples and helped me glue on the leaves. They turned out super cute!

Jewelry Holders

Here are two simple projects you could whip up real easily to display your earrings and necklaces.

Earring Holder:

I bought this frame from Walmart for around $5. It's an 11"x14" frame, but you could get whatever size you want. I bought the lace ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I measured the lace across the frame and then cut 6 even strands. I hot glued them to the back of the frame. I spaced out the ribbons unevenly to allow space for smaller earrings (studs) and larger, dangly ones. Then add your earrings and there you go!

Necklace Holder:

I picked this branch right from my front yard. I have 4 huge trees that drop branches weekly (which I use often for many projects). I bought screw hooks from Home Depot for only a few dollars and then twisted them into the branch by hand. This took a little bit of time and my fingers were a little sore, but not a biggie. It was done in no time! I have this hanging in my bathroom. What do you think??

60th Surprise Party

For my mom's 60th birthday we wanted to throw a surprise party for her. She is such a loving, kind woman who has been through a lot over the past couple years and she deserves it. Planning this party was fun, but difficult. I had to sneak her address book away for a day in order to get her friend's contact information. A lot of people are on Facebook these days, but not everyone. Keeping it a secret was so hard because I was so excited and just wanted to tell her! Overall, it was a huge success with people who came from Wisconsin, Michigan & Kansas and all over Colorado. There was not as much DIY at this party as I would have liked, but it turned out great! Check out the party below.

The gold 6-0 balloons are reusable balloons from Hobby Lobby! I had never heard of reusable balloons before, have you? You basically blow them up like you would a regular balloon and then you just deflate them for another party down the road. How cool is that?! The material is almost like those foil balloons and are pretty durable. My daughter was turning 6 the next summer so I reused the number 6 at her party. Perfect!

I ordered these photo booth props off Amazon. They were great! They were pretty inexpensive, under $10, with minimum assembly required.

Pantry Door Remodel

 This is what our pantry doors looked like before. Very plain with no shape to the doors whatsoever. There wasn't even a handle or anything! So of course I had to do something about it. I love the "barn style look" and decided to upgrade these doors. 

We used the same doors, but just added to them. We created a "Z" design out of 1x4's. We nailed the 1x4's to the original doors, and filled in the holes with wood putty. 

Twine

I'm a huge fan of country decor as I just love anything shabby chic. One material that is often used with DIY country themed decor is twine. There are SO many cool things you can make with twine. I am always on the look out for new ideas. I have attempted several projects, some successful, some not. Here are a few decorations around my house that I made:

I just used an old wooden frame for the border. I bought the wreath at Hobby Lobby for $6.99 and the wooden letter for $2.99. I wrapped twine around the letter, using a hot glue gun about every third wrap. Then I made 3 burlap flowers by folding, twisting, and gluing. You can decorate your wreath however you'd like. 

Mermaid Party

I threw a mermaid themed party for my daughter's 5th birthday. She wanted to have her party at the pool, so I thought that a mermaid theme would be fitting. 

I designed this invitation on my Mac.

I made a fish bowl centerpiece with the number 5 on it. I just put glass beads, seashells, and water in it (all purchased from the Dollar store). I also scattered seashells on the tables.