Calm Jar: Fail

I found an idea for a "calm jar" on pinterest.  My kids are anything but calm... this beautiful jar can solve all our problems, right?  Just watching those beautiful sparkles settle is supposed to have a soothing effect on adults and children alike.

Here's one thing I neglected to mention.  I'm not calm.  Even when I'm pretending to be calm I can't be calm.  Genetically and environmentally my children never had a chance at being calm.

Back to the jar.

I went to the store to get my supplies.  I followed the directions and made my calm jar.  It was beautiful and sparkly and amazing.

Now I want to see this thing in action... you know, really get those sparkles moving around.  Shake shake shake shake shake smash!!!!

It looked like a magical unicorn had vomited all over my kitchen floor.  Thank God the jar didn't break... the lid just popped off when it slipped out of my hand and the contents spilled everywhere.

Needless to say, I was pretty worked up.  And that's how I make a calm jar.

Blessings,
Jamie

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A Wooden Sign for the Mantel

So, this is the second project I've completed with my new Silhouette machine

I'm a little embarrassed of the first project... we'll see by the end of the post if I decide to share it with you.

I really love this machine.  I don't mind hand-painting letters, but this was so much easier!

I have been getting more and more requests from clients for painted lettering on walls, so I finally splurged on the Silhouette.  I am working on a wall this Friday so I thought I'd practice a little this week before I go messing up a "professional" job :)

OK, I might as well show you the failed project.  Because I am very cheap and a little bit lazy, I used contact paper instead of the Silhouette vinyl to make the stencil.  Here is project #1 (and the reason I'll be purchasing some real vinyl for the job on Friday)

Doesn't look terrible, right?  Wrong.  Look a little closer

What a mess!  The paint seeped under the stencil, either because it wasn't sticky enough or I didn't seal it well enough.  I did it in an inconspicuous place, so I'm fine with it for now.  I'll try to touch it up one day.  I wanted it painted on the wall because I figured the kids would be bored on the "naughty step" and eventually get around to peeling the vinyl off.  I mean, wouldn't you?

Anyway, I dry brushed the sign so the paint wouldn't seep under the stencil.  Much better than the naughty step project.

And if you're wondering why I chose Colossians 3:14 for my mantle... this fireplace is in our basement (which is now our master bedroom).  We live in a two bedroom townhouse and moved our bedroom down there when our second child was born.  It's kind of awesome having the fireplace in our bedroom and makes living in the basement a little more cozy.  I wanted this sign to remind us of what is most important while we are getting dressed.

Let me know what you think!  Any tips for this Silhouette newbie?

Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Jamie
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Soccer Bulletin Board

My nephew is a soccer fanatic, so I wanted to make him something soccer related that's useful for his room.  I came up with this idea for a bulletin board.  I have to be honest... it looked a lot cooler in my brain.  Ever have one of those projects?

Anyway, here's how I did it.

Supplies:

9 circle-shaped cork trivets (from IKEA)

fabric

glue gun

staple gun

ribbon

1 piece of foam core

scissors

I started out by covering each of the trivets with fabric

I cut out a circle about 3" in diameter bigger than the cork circle

Then I cut little snips in the fabric so it wouldn't get too bunchy when I was gluing them.  Cut your snips to be a little over an inch each

 Now start gluing with your glue gun

Glue each little tab up onto the back of the cork circle.  Keep going till you have all the tabs glued!

Do this to all of your circles.  Then you're ready to attach them to one another.  This is what I tried

Using ribbon and a staple gun to hold it all together.  Genius, right?  NOT!

Um, no.  This is what it looked like when I tried hanging it.  Definitely not what I had in my head when I embarked upon this lovely project.

Back to the drawing board.  I enlisted the help of some friendly foam core to save the day.

Cut a square of it

Glued it to the back of the hot mess

And called it a day.

Not exactly what I had in mind, but better than the sad, sorry, droopy group of circles it was before.  I'll chalk this one up as a partial fail.  We'll see what nephew has to say about it!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
I'll be linking up at a bunch of these parties.
Blessings,
Jamie

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