Sharpie Decorated Bowl and Plate

This was another little project that I did for Christmas this year. This was for my families white elephant gift exchange. While normally this particular gift exchange is gag gifts, I had extra and went with cute and interchangeable. 
I picked up a couple random pieces of white glass at my local Homegoods store (for super cheap!) and then drew my design and baked it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 250 degrees. 

They came out pretty amazing, if I do say so myself!! I like that the two pieces go together, but they also look adorable separated.

 

 

It just so happened that my aunt, the first person to open this gift was willing to fight to keep it. Its not pictured, but I wrote "Made with love from Meghan" on the bottom of each piece, and the date. She said that she got chills when she opened it, and this was something that she really wanted to keep in the family for as long as possible. I know its really not that big of a deal, but to hear somebody say something like that about a gift I made really made my heart swell. I felt really proud that I made something considered that special to someone else...

 

Sharpie Decorated Coffee Mugs

 I made these cuties for my brother for Christmas. My mom got him one of those Kurig coffee makers, so I picked up some plain white coffee mugs, and got to work with my sharpie. 

When I finished with the design, I put them in the oven on 250 degrees for about 30 minutes to set the ink. 
 

I thought they turned out cute, and my brother was pretty jazzed on them as well!

Crochet Dish Towels

 For Christmas this year, I made most of my gifts. And they pretty much all revolved around cleaning. I figured they were things that everybody could benefit from. Over the course of the week, I will be sharing some of the different gifts I made. Starting off with these crochet dish towels. They were really easy to make, and took no time at all. In fact, once I was done, I decided that I had to go get more yarn and make some for myself!

I chose some bright fun colors, and got to work!

They came out to a pretty nice size, where you can use them to simply dry your hands, or you can use them to scrub your dishes and counter tops. Whatever your needs are!

 

 

I folded them in half, and held them all together with a ribbon. They were a pretty big hit!

Organized Pantry

I am almost always on a quest for more/better organization ideas. I really need everything to be organized in a way that makes sense, is easy to keep up on, and looks pleasing to the eye. After surfing around on pinterest, I finally decided that I was going to tackle my pantry. Since I don't have a lot of space in there, I really needed to be clever, and efficient. So off to Ross I went, and gathered together my supplies. I purchased some baskets, different kinds of racks, jars, and some plastic containers. 
 

This is where I stopped, so I could evaluate my progress. I decided to leave it this way for a bit until I was sure that it made sense, and the men in the house were even able to understand my system (which can be a little challenging! Who knew, not everybody thinks exactly like me!)

This is the very top two shelves. They are for things that we don't get into that often. In fact, the top shelf is actually for items that we never use, but are good to have in case of an emergency. Yes, its a little bare, but this is something we are working towards. With the limited storage we have in this house, its hard to find the space to have a large stockpile of necessities. Anyways, the lower shelf stores canned fruits, and soups, on the left, and my boyfriends vitamins and protein shakes.

This next shelf stores my baking supplies. In the basket are baking mixes and frosting jars. On the left are my jars of Flour, Sugar, Brown Sugar, and Powdered Sugar.

Up close of baking basket

This is the breakfast shelf. This is where you can find all things breakfast! The plastic containers on the right hold cereals, and the to the left of that is all the pancake mix.

The breakfast basket holds oatmeal. I know, we have a lot of oatmeal... My boyfriend likes to stock up on oatmeal for emergencys as well. They stay good for a really long time, and only require hot water to make. Actually as I'm typing this out, I am thinking the Quaker Oats canisters should be on our very top shelf...

This shelf holds snacks and sides. The plastic containers to the left hold chips and crackers. The little white tub holds other snacks such as trail mix and seaweed.

The basket on the right holds all of our rice and pasta sides, as well as some gravy packets.

The last shelf on the bottom holds our pasta and sauces. There are spaghetti noodles in one container, quinoua in another behind the noodles, and rice in the round jar. I haven't gotten to all of the labeling and whatnot yet. I was hoping to decorate the back of the shelves, maybe line the shelves themselves and then label everything. I guess I just really wanted to make sure this was an effecient way to keep the pantry before I took on the task of trying to figure out how to label those baskets. I know, that shouldn't be too hard but sometimes I just get stuck on the simple things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colorful mesh bag

 I actually made this bag probably about a year  or just under ago, but recently have been re-organizing my house and found it stashed it away.

Lots of fun to find this fun, colorful bag! I was really spot on with the yarn selection, if I do say so myself!!

Isn't the flower a sweet little touch?

What do you guys think? Is this something you would enjoy getting as a gift? Is this something you would buy- as a gift or for yourself? Your opinions would be greatly valued, and I would love to hear from my readers more!

Crochet Granny Ripple Afgan

 My best friend just recently had her second child, and since I could always use a good excuse to work on a new project, I took the opportunity to crochet a baby blanket. I wanted something that was going to keep me stimulated while making, and something that I thought I could do in a couple weeks. With long projects, I tend to get bored and stop working on them- thus they simply collect and become a pain while I figure out what to do with them and where to store them. 

Anyways, I decided on a fun granny ripple blanket, and I am JAZZED on how it all turned out!

Of course, I gave myself plenty of time for this project, but waited until the day of the baby shower to give the blanket its finishing touches, so the border wasn't as ellaborate as I was hoping. It turned out wonderfully though, and I don't think the simple border takes away from and of its charm. 

Since I put so much thought and effort into this beauty, I wanted the baby to get lots of good use out of the blanket. I decided to make it bigger than your typical baby blanket, which probably makes this more of an afgan, but whatever!

Just for kicks and giggles, I layed the blanket next to my pillows- which I sleep am still totally in love with!

I tied it up all adorable and said my goodbyes to this beauty I had to let go of... I see one of my own coming soon!

A Romantic Gift for my Honey

 I can be pretty cheesy sometimes. Thats okay, I embrace it! I just recently celebrated my 5 year anniversary with my boyfriend (nope, no ring yet- I'm still working on it!) and typically we aren't really the type of couple to do gifts or anything. But I decided that I wanted to do something from the heart, that we could both share together. 
I'm not entirely sure where this idea came from, but I just started thinking about all the cool things and experiences that we have had, and began writing them down. Soon enough, I had a large list of memories, and things that I love about him. 

I eventually came up with this...

Inside, I have chocolate hugs and kisses mixed in with lots of little pieces of paper. 

Each piece of paper has a memory, or something that I love about him. I purposely mixed in papers in layers with the chocolate so that he couldn't just read all the papers at once, and had to work through the hugs and kisses to get to more reasons and memories. 

I made a card and titled this piece- Hugs, Kisses, Love, and Memories. 
Mike already had a bunch of theses beer mugs, so I thought that would be better than going out and buying another jar. 

It was a lot of fun for me to sit back and remember back to the beginning of our relationship. A lot happens in 5 years! Its also been fun to watch him open up the papers and remember too and it has been sparking a lot of cool conversations between the two of us. 


I tell ya, its the small things in life. I am forever stoked on the simple stuff!

Hand Painted Stacked Pots

After seeing lots of these cool tipsy planters on Pinterest, I decided that I was just going to go for it and make my own. Only, I didn't want them to be as simple and boring as some other versions that I have seen. 

My house came with a lot of old terra cota pots, so I already had all the materials- other than the rebar rod that is used to stand everything on. 

I decided that I really wanted something unique and individual to my style, so I spray painted all the pots white, and then drew on the designs with paint, and added in details with a metallic pen.

These cuties turned out pretty awesome, huh?!?!

They most certainly aren't perfect, but I couldn't be more stoked on the outcome. Besides, the imperfections just give it that much more character, right?

Since I wasn't talented enough to find longer pieces of rebar at the store, I was only able to get two 3 ft pieces. This just meant that I couldn't stack all the pots together like I originally planned, and instead I ended up with only three pots stacked, but in two different places in the yard. Which I actually like a lot better!

After painting and drawing on the designs, I sprayed the pots down with a couple coats of a clear sealant. I (obviously) didn't want the paint and all my hard work to wash off, and this helps keep the pots from soaking up all the water, and leaving less for the plants. Plus it gave them a shiny outer coat that looks pretty ;)

Just an FYI- The pots are simply "laced" onto the rebar, and tilted however I chose.

Rock Feet in the Garden

Whats a garden without things that make you happy and smile? Lame. Thats what I say. I have tried to add in small things here and there that make my garden different than your everyday, average garden. Saw these adorable rock feet on pinterest and gathered rocks to make some of my own.

I added in a couple pairs randomly throughout the veggie garden. They serve no other purpose than to make me smile...

Far left, and then after the border on the right

I like these guys cause they are small and fat ;)

DIY Household Cleaning Solutions

 I have been researching a lot lately on making my own cleaning supplies.I just figured that it probably wasn't healthy to have a headache and feel dizzy after I clean- what with breathing in all those chemicals. I read that the companies are not legally required to list their ingredients on the bottles, which quite frankly scares me. 

After comparing different recipes I finally came up with a list of a couple that looked easy enough to make, and all shared common ingredients. This would help cut back on cost I figured. And since I'm weird like this, I ordered my spray bottles from The Container Store cause I wanted them to be cute ;)

Since I have already had some interest in the recipes, I gathered them up in one convenient place!

All Purpose Cleaner

3 Tablespoons white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon washing soda

1 teaspoon Borax

1/2 teaspoon castile soap

2 cups hot water  

20 drops tea tree oil (optional)

Grease Cutter

2 cups water

1/4 cup castile soap

10 drops essential oil (again, I used tea tree)

Surface Spray

4 teaspoons borax

1/2 teaspoon castile soap

Fill rest of bottle with water. 

Since the colors of everything were the same, I added a small drop of food coloring to this bottle just so I could tell the difference- even though they're all labeled.

All Purpose Bathroom Cleaner

1/2 cup vinegar

2 teaspoons borax

Fill rest of bottle with water. 

Window and Glass Cleaner

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 teaspoon castile soap

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 cups water  

 

 

I found the labels by just doing a google search for "free printable labels". Sorry I didn't save the link...

Pallet Table with Living Runner

In the process of doing my backyard, and I decided that I needed a table. My little brother was kind enough to take on that project for me ;) 
However, I had NO idea what his idea was, and was totally flabbergasted when he showed up to my house with this bad boy. I swear, my jaw actually hit the floor!!!

 He made me a table using old pallets, braced it, added on legs, and then made a living succulent runner in the middle. 
What can I say, I come from a creative family!!!

He actually just used rain gutters from Home Depot, and drilled in holes in the bottom so that it would drain properly. The succulents are pretty happy here too, and are totally taking off!

I was actually fortunate enough to get my moms old umbrella, and while I was at my Grams house, I saw an old umbrella stand too. My brother was smart enough to drill a hole in the middle to for the umbrella. Pretty amazing, right!!!

And look at the border surrounding the plants!!! I am one proud sissy!!