DIY Vintage Birdcage Chandelier

 A few months ago I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to give our bedroom more lighting because I couldn't see Mr. Murphy's hott face like I wanted to!  

Since we did not have any ceiling fixtures in the bedroom, I knew I would have to get creative...

So, I used an old cord I had from a paper lamp I used to think was cool and stuck it inside of a birdcage that we used at our wedding.

I secured the cage to the ceiling with a half inch thick hook, strung the chord to the wall, closed my eyes and said, "LET THERE BE LIGHT!", and plugged her in!!

Bam...Homemade Birdcage Chandelier!

It's one of my favorite things in our home and now I can see what my husband looks like while in our BR!

Bottle Cap Magnets- Grlz Wknd part 2

I have been wanting to do this project ever since John and I got married.  At our reception we had Boylan's Vintage Soda.  We asked everyone to save the caps off of their sodas and deposit them in a big mason jar.  My original plan was to make these magnets with one of our wedding pictures in it and send those to everyone as thank yous.  Hmmm...I got too busy being a newly wed  and never did that.

BUT, I have finally done it.  This weekend at Girl's Weekend  I shared my bottle caps and everyone made some magnets.  They turned out perfect and I am so pleased and happy that I saved all of the bottle caps for 4 whole months!  These make for such a precious personalized gift too!

Here is what you need:

bottle caps

resin

hot glue gun

tiny magnets

patience

Here is how you do it.

1. Acquire several bottle caps (however you'd like to)

2. Rinse them out with cool water and let dry.

3.Print off tiny pictures to fit inside (windows has an option to print out a contact sheet with has 35 tiny photos on one page)

4. Hot glue gun tiny magnets on to the back of the bottle cap.

5. Cut out the pictures and hot glue gun them inside of the bottle caps.

6.  Mix resin according to directions and pour inside of bottle caps with pictures.  Be careful not to let spill over.

7.  Blow hot air on the resin to get the bubbles out.

8.  Let dry according to directions and you will have precious bottle cap personalized magnets!

And there you have it.  My dream has now been fulfilled.  Oh, crafting, the things you do to me to make me happy.

Happy perfect four months today to me and my hubs.

Making something out of nothing

I have been bored for quite some time with how our bedroom has looked.  I probably redecorate things about every 3 months. I thought to myself, "Well, other than the kitchen, this is where Mr. Murphy and I spend most of our time."  So,with no budget for new decor I looked around the house for something to change up our bedroom scene.  I walked around searching and searching.  "There must be SOMETHING in this little old apartment I can use!" 

I got distracted with my search and I began to move furniture around.  I thought maybe that would give me some inspiration.  I have always wanted to "catty corner" the bed so I figured I would just go right on and move all of that furniture by my little old selfy!  So, 15 minutes later, I had everything in place.  I'VE GOT IT!  We need a headboard.  Now, what to use?  Then a light shown and angels sang as I spotted our ironing board in the wash room!

Who are we kidding, we don't even USE an ironing board.  If John wants something wrinkle free we throw it in the dryer with a wet rag, it works just as well, so don't judge.

I grabbed that thing and put it behind the bed and threw a birdcage, a picture frame, some old books, and a candle on there. DONE!  A newly decorated bedroom in 30 minutes tops.  

Something out of nothing.

I think it's actually a rather unique idea.  I love it.  See below...I am proudly displaying my non-folded, non-hung laundry in the left corner there.  Don't get me wrong, I like a clean house and all but if it comes to spending time with my husband or cooking something yummy, I'll be doing that instead.  I don't know what it is about laundry that is SO painstaking for me. So, "In your face laundry, nobody likes you."

I have a problem and an obsession.  Someone help me!  Does anyone see a theme here?

In other news, I made some nasty Mac-n-cheese a couple of weeks ago for the kids I babysit for.  I tried the "making something out of nothing" technique here and apparently that doesn't fair well in all situations.  A word of advice: don't try and make gourmet mac-n-cheese for kids with a Kraft box of mac-n-cheese.  The powdered cheese and real cheese surprisingly don't mix.  That's what I get for trying to be creative with processed cheese.  Fail.