This is Bat Country

So anyone at all who knows me knows that I absolutely love Halloween.

I am like the creepy Halloween lady in my neighborhood...I could run a haunted house in my own home during this time of year.

Anyways, I found this picture on Pinterest awhile back and have been craving for October to come along so that I can recreate this at my own house.

My inspiration.

Corkboard Facelift

I decided to give an old corkboard I had laying around a little makeover.

I had all the items I needed laying around but if you have to go out and buy this project will probably cost you $30-$40 depending on the board and stencil you buy.

This started as a simple corkboard you can buy at Walmart or Target (or just about anywhere).

I think this one was a RoseArt. See....pretty plain jane.

Now, you will need to pick a design. Just go buy a stencil for whatever design you want.

Fun Take on a Picture Frame

I actually did these frames as a birthday present for a friend. You could get creative on what you use for the frame...a block of wood, old cabinet door, etc. I actually have a lot of old wood samples from a furniture company from my work that I used.

What you'll need:
Whatever you are going to use for the main part of the frame
(Cabinet door, block of wood, be creative)
Picture
Accessories to add on
(Metal pieces, appliques, etc.)
Glue

So on these wood samples, one had a lot of texture and the other a lot of wax which makes it kind of hard to glue anything on. I had to use a paint stripper to remove the finish from the raised panel in the center.

(If you are going to do this step have a clean surface that nothing can possibly be ruined if it drips our spills.)

Wear thick rubber gloves, if the stripper gets on your skin it will burn extremely bad. Pour the stripper into something you don't care about: an old bowl our cup. I  used an old coffee pot I bought at the thrift store for a dollar for this very purpose. Use a paint brush and brush on the stripper. Let sit for about 30 mins. Use a paint scraper to scrape off the paint or finish. It may take a few applications to remove everything. Feel free to leave some for a rustic, antique look. When done clean with a damp cloth and let dry completely. I would use an old rag just in case it ruins it.

(Sorry I didn't get a picture of this)

DIY T-Shirt Scarves

So...if you are anything like me, you are always looking for new and cute scarves.

Well, if you really are anything like me, you hate paying for them. I am on a bit of a stricter budget,

so any money I can save is great.

I have several bags of old clothes that I keep meaning

to donate but as of right now,

they are dust collectors in my closet.

So, I went rummaging through them to find ones that I liked the fabrics of.

You are going to need:

Old T-Shirt

(The wider it is the longer your strands will be...The longer it is the more strands you will have)

Scissors

First thing you will need to do is lay your shirt out flat.

Missing That Which I Have Lost

Today I find myself having a rough day. It started out fine...getting stuff for my new desk at work and a few things for a craft project I am doing. As I am working on this, I find myself thinking very strongly about my Nana and my Grandmother who both passed early on this year. I never thought I would lose them both so quickly. I wasn't fully prepared even though I was at peace.

You never can truly prepare yourself for such a thing. Although I knew they were going to a happier place and would see friends and family that they too had lost, I still find it so difficult to cope with. Knowing they will never be around again for me to get advice from, or just a card even. Knowing that I will never see their smiles when everyone is gathered together for the Holidays.

I can't help but sit here, sobbing like there is no tomorrow. Sometimes I feel there isn't. How can there be when they are no longer here? How do you go on? I just want them back...I want to hug them, and kiss them, and tell them that I love them. I stare at their pictures and remember every single happy moment with them and every talk we ever had. I know I wouldn't change a second of any moment that I ever shared with them.

I strive to be a better person, someone they would want me to be and can be proud of. Its extremely hard though, knowing I can't pick up the phone whenever I want to just hear their voice one last time. To hear them say they love me again.

So, today is a tough day for me...

I just can't help but miss them with every single inch of my heart.

To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.
~Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"

Hand Painted Shoes

So I had seen an adorable pair of hand painted Toms on Pinterest. Of course I had to make these but I didn't care to pay $50/pair just to draw all over them. I found these on The Breast Cancer Site for $20/pair. Each pair I bought had a pair donated through Soles4Souls and I helped fund mammograms for women with Breast Cancer. So it was truly a win win.

What you'll need:

A pair of canvas shoes

(I got just plain white so they were easy to color on top of)

Fabric markers...I used the Tulip brand found at Walmart

(You can use fabric paint as well but that'll be much more tedious and time consuming. The fabric markers are permant, washable and easy to use.)

Imagination!!!

DIY Shrug

This is a fun way to revamp an old shirt that was destined for the trash or Goodwill and recreate it into something new and fun. The purple shirt was a gift from a friend that never quite fit right. I loved the color and the beading and really didn't want to give it away so this was a perfect solution. My other shirt was an inexpensive shirt from Walmart that always looked a little frumpy on.

I originally found this on Wobiso's blog.

What you are going to need is:

An old shirt  (Make sure that it fits you before you start. If it is pretty small, it will be too small when you are done.)

Scissors

Ribbon  (Or whatever you want to use for the tie. You can even use the bottom of another shirt.)

Sewing Machine

Sewing Pins

Safety Pin  (This will be used to pull the ribbon through.)

Another Amazing Woman Gone

So recently I wrote a blog about my amazing Nana's passing. It's been a little over 3 months. Well, early Thursday morning we lost another amzing persn in our lives.

My Grandmother. Wanda Jean Fietz.

She left us at about 5 AM that morning. This was so sudden for us. She had been taken to the hospitalbfor nausea and weakness and turns out she had had a heart attack. No one knew. She had had no pain at all. But this just shows you how strong of a woman she was. She even knew that she woukd be leaving us and going to join the Lord. She had a Guardian Angel she had told us about on many occassions. I believe she had told her she would be leaving us and making sure she got to see as much of her family as she could and saying goodbye to her friend.

She was amazing in that aspect. I always loved her stories of incidences of her Angel or other stories of her life. Even though I'd heard them many times, I nevermind hearing them. My favorite was of when she was younger, she hadbeen in downtown OKC to do some kind of testing for the IRS and hr and a frind had gone to eat in an undergroun mall there when apipe had bursted. They had to run to escae the flooding water, when the escelators flattened out for emergency reasons ti avoid shock from the water. She told me of a man that helped to lift her and her friend up iut of the area. I loved that story, even though I'd heard it many times. I still have not visited this underground mall. We always talked of going together. I still plan to find it and witness the setting of one oof my favorite stories.