Guest Day Thursday: Crafty Sisters

We would like to welcome our guests today. They have a great blog called Crafty Sisters where they feature all kinds of really fun tutorials, projects, copy cat projects and power tool reviews (and pretty unique pets too).
Take it away ladies!

Hi, we're Nicole and Candace from Crafty Sisters!

We are so excited to guest post on 2 Sisters today!

Thanks so much for inviting us!

We are both lucky enough to be Stay at Home Moms.

Candace has four wonderful crazy little boys

and Nicole has a beautiful fun energectic little girl.

Our Husbands=NOT handy...so we became handy ourselves.

We love to decorate our homes- especially for the Holidays!

Here are a few of our latest Easter projects.

Even though it's a month away, we couldn't help but start early.

We love getting together and making things.

We are pretty fearless when it comes to using all sorts of power tools!

We love to revamp furniture. There's nothing like taking an ugly thrift store find and making it beautiful again. We have tried making some good knock-offs too!

We love to dabble in a lot of different things from crafty fluff with felt, sewing and fabrics to our

projects with wood and furniture redo's.

We consider ourselves "die-hard" Crafters!:)

While Candace is busy with her furniture renovations,

Nicole is busy with her little wood craft business that she sells on Etsy and teaches classes locally.

We love learning and sharing what we do.

It makes us happy and we hope that we inspire too!

Thanks so much for inviting us over and allowing us to share a little bit of ourselves.

Thanks Teri and Micki!!

THANKS LADIES!!!

Guest Day Thursday: Teri from Mama Thompson

2 sisters 2gether welcomes….

Hi...I'm Teri...(not this Teri:)...Mama Thompson Teri...and I am very excited to be guest posting here at 2sisters 2gether...I just love these girls and all the great stuff they do

(and not just because one of them is a Teri...although that can't hurt right?).

I'm a stay at home mama to one adorably cute and way too smart almost 3 year-old. I have been blogging for the past couple of years documenting the life of my cute Lil D (Life as a Thompson)...but decided back in September that I needed a place to document all the things that I love to do.

And thus began Mama Thompson.

I love trying new things...I love anything I can create with my own 2 hands...but what I LOVE most...is the satisfaction of seeing something and then making or doing it on my own. Whether it's a new recipe, a craft or decor for my home, a piece of jewelry or a total room makeover...I want to try it. Mama Thompson is the person that I strive to be...a better mom, wife, and homemaker...a "Mama" in every sense of the word.

If you feel the need to head on over to my neck of the woods (which I hear is just a few hours north of 1 of these sisters),

you will find...

"All the things I do in a day...well...when the (almost) 3 year-old let's me"

Jewelry

I also have an etsy shop, T's ETC

(I can make a shameless plug here right?:)

Furniture makeovers

Decor for Lil D

Decor for the home and holidays

What we eat (a variety of recipes)

and my favorite thing to do when I get the chance,

crafts

currently though...I'm doing lots of room makeovers...

(I am redoing 80% of my home from the basement up)

So that's me...just a mama...who likes to do well...

stuff!

Isn’t she great? We love to visit her blog (and it isn’t even because she has a great name). You need to be sure to read about the month she didn’t eat out AT ALL, her play makeup for little girls, and her darling version of the oh so popular ornament wreath. Thanks Teri for guesting here today (and shameless plugs are just fine here).

Guest Day Thursday: Fabulous Jane

We would like you all to give a warm welcome to our guest host today! Her name is Jane and she is FABULOUS!

She is hosting our 100th post!!!

Yes ladies and gentlemen....this is our 100th post!!!

Take it away Jane!

Hey guys, Jane here from Finding Fabulous! That's me above with kid 1 & 2 who are just the very center of my universe! Okay, I'm pretty fond of the white furry guy too! I'm so excited to be guest hosting over at 2 Sisters 2Gether, they are so fun...I just love all their fabulous crafty projects and yummy recipes too!

Well my blog Finding Fabulous pretty much describes itself. I'm all about finding fabulous design...on a budget, for less, without breakin' the bank! Yup, no need to spend a ton of money if your looking to spruce up your home. Here's a peek at some of my projects:

Here's my Wrought Iron moulding project above our bed! For this project I framed out the wrought iron wall hanging with simple trim moulding. And talk about thrifty...the iron piece was just $25 and the moulding under $10. And for under $40, I've got a big focal point with some much needed heighth and drama to an otherwise simple bed!

Did you know you can buy Wine Crates at Total Wine for about $5 each? Yup, just 5 bucks! I gave my crates an aged appearance by staining them. Super easy, super fun and aren't they fabulous for above hutches and armoires?

Do you need new picture frames? Do not, I repeat, do not go out and buy new ones! Go find some old ones (either from your attic or your local Thrift Store) and spray paint them. Here I used Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint for the frame on the far right. I confess, I love ORB spray paint...this stuff rocks!

Here are a pair of antique chairs that have been in my husband's family for at least 100 years. They used to be covered in leather and were in bad shape. I recovered them in this fun fabric I found at Garden Ridge for just $5.99 for two yards.

Okay, I have a confession...I'm not real Crafty, but more of a roll up your sleeves Diy kinda gal. But every now and then I pull it off. Here's my twine wrapped wine bottle. I got this idea from the Thrifty Decor Chic, but used a large wine bottle as the base. This project was super easy, super fun and you can't get any thriftier than making home accessories with items from your recycling bin!

And finally here's my thrifty home office! Instead of going with a bulky, overpriced executive desk (those babies go for 2 thousand dollars or more!). I chose to use a dining room table instead from World Market! The price was right, I loved the clean lines, and the desktop work space was HUGE! Oh and those fabulous botanical prints were FREE! Yup, free from an on-line website called Vintage Printables!

Okay, so there you have it, Finding Fabulous in a nutshell! I hope you like my projects and feel inspired to go revamp something in your home! It doesn't take a lot of money, or even any talent, just a "think outside the box" mindset, and a little creativity!

Oh and be sure to check out my day Frugalicious Friday! This day's all about sharing your fabulous, thriftiest, most frugalicious home decor finds and design projects! And give us the scoop on how you $ave!

Thanks again to the 2 Sisters for allowing me to be a guest host today...you crafty girls rock!

Thanks so much Jane! We love her blog, always full of fun decor items that don't break the bank. We love to link up to Frugalicious Friday, it's so fun to see all the money saving items and projects out there!

Keep yours eyes peeled ladies and gentlemen.....we have a surprise planned to celebrate our 100th post!

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: Cupcake Tiers (Teri)

So, no recipe today, instead a fun way to display a scrumptious dessert like this one we posted last week, or some cute cupcakes. You can also use it as a display piece for just about anything you want. Here is my inspiration piece, my friend made it and gave it to me for Christmas (thanks Deni!!!). I used it as a centerpiece on my table with Christmas ornaments from the dollar store embellishing it.

I know you’ve seen these all over the blogosphere, but I have to tell you I think I’m addicted to buying pieces for and making these. I have made six so far, and am not ready to stop (be forewarned if you are my friend, you might get one of these for your birthday, I’m just saying). So here are a couple of my favorites, I had a hard time taking pictures because of lighting in my house and my camera battery being dead (so I was using a camera I wasn’t familiar with).

I love the pretty scalloped edges on both these plates, but especially the top one. I also love the white “milk glass?” cups, I thought the all white was perfect. I think this one is going to have to stay at my house.

Here is is all covered with yummy cake bon bons, but you can see the detail at the plate edges better in this picture.

I found the top plate at one of my local thrifts and bought it to go with another plate, but it looked to perfect as the third tier with the embossed detail on the other plates that it just had to be triple tiered (I left a bottom glass off this one so that it wouldn’t be too tall to store)

This is the one I wrapped up and gave to my darling friend Anna for her birthday. Robin’s egg blue is her favorite color, so I totally scored with this one.

The tutorial for these is pretty easy. Pick out plates and glasses you think look good together. I then used Locktite epoxy to stick the pieces together. Here’s a couple of tips that my friend who made mine gave me. First, when applying the epoxy to your glass, hold the side you are applying it to down and apply it, otherwise the epoxy will run up the glass and you will see it. Also, if your plate or glass or work surface isn’t 100% level, once applied your glass might slide, if so hold in place for a few seconds and once the epoxy starts to set up you shouldn’t have a problem. I attached the glasses to each plate, then waited about 5 or 10 minutes for it to start to cure and attached them to each other (I then let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours to fully cure). Esay peasy! (Sorry for the novel, but I didn’t even show you all of the ones I’ve made).

My favorite part about these, the price!!! Even including the cost of the epoxy none of these cost me more than $5! I picked up all glasses and most of my plates at the local thrift stores (the rest of the plates I got at either Ross or Home Goods on clearance). The epoxy I bought at Walmart and Home Depot. I washed everything in the dishwasher before I started, then hand washed them again before I put any food on them.

We are joining the following linky parties (links will become active when parties start):

Met Monday at BNOTP

Motivated Monday at Shimmer & Tulle

Market Yourself at Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Get Your Craft on at Today's Creative Blog

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous

Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered

Talented Tuesday at My Frugal Family

DIY Day at ASPTL

Remodelaholics Anonymous

Craft Club at Crafts In Bloom

Guest Day Thursday: More Quilts (Teri)

Remember these gorgeous quilts from last Thursday? Well here’s part two! During the last year or so, for their birthdays, the grandkids have all received quilts. Each focused on their favorite theme and was made to fit a twin sized bed. (Please don’t hate me because my in-laws are so awesome!)

If you missed last weeks installment of the quilts, I’ll give a quick recap. My in-laws are amazing quilters. I do have to edit a little from what I told you last week. My father-in-law did all of the hand appliqué on the blocks, and my mother-in-law has done all the piecing of the tops with the exception of my darling son’s, which my father-in-law did the top in it’s entirety. My mother-in-law then HAND quilts each one and binds the edges. Yes I did say they are HAND appliquéd and HAND quilted. Each one takes an enormous amount of time and love. Be sure you click here if you missed last week.

Here are the quilts they made for the grandkids, my kids quilts are the first two.

My daughter loves bright colors and bugs.

My son adores trains, and look at the darling sports balls the train is hauling, he loves any kind of sports ball.

My oldest niece has a beach themed room. Don’t you want to put your swim suit on and go for a dip?

I love the fabrics they picked for my oldest nephews lizard quilt. Aren’t these great reptiles?

My next niece (lizard boy’s twin, how cool is that, another set of twins in my family), LOVES Tinkerbell.

This Ancient Egypt themed quilt was made for my second nephew who is fascinated by this theme. The center panel was cross-stitched by my father-in-law and then my mother in law designed the rest of the top around it.

this darling canine quilt was made for the Pharaoh's sister. I think she will make a great Vet some day, she loves dogs and all animals as well.

This darling Spring themed quilt was made for my youngest niece. She has more of a pastel room than my daughter, and her mom loves frogs. Doesn’t it make you want to get outside?

This one was made for the current baby of the family (although that baby is almost three). He is a fisherman and loves anything fish related. I just think this is the cutest thing ever.

Thank you Mom and Dad for letting me feature your beautiful work. It’s amazing!!! You are both so talented and have put so much work into the homemade gifts that you give all of us. Don’t think your hard work goes unappreciated. I am particularly glad that you took me under your “craft wing” and taught me how to fly. You were the first to encourage me creatively, and I still look to your for inspiration.

Guest Day Thursday: In-Law’s Quilts (Teri)

I have the most talented quilters for in-laws. No, I’m not talking about my just my mother-in-law, but my father-in-law as well. This last couple of years, they have really gone all out for the family for presents. Three Christmases ago they picked the name of the couple in the family that is the hardest to buy for (sorry Tam, but it’s true, at least as far as your other half goes anyway). My darling mother-in-law knew my sister-in-law wanted a new bed cover of some sort, so my father-in-law went to work piecing the top, then my mother-in-law quilted it and bound it. Yes, I did say my father-in-law pieced the top. He is very talented. And the quilting and finishing job my mother-in-law does is amazing. She does piecing too, but for the quilts they have made to give away lately, my father-in-law has done most (if not all) of the piecing. Don’t I have talented in-laws!?!

Here is the finished masterpiece, which made my cute sister-in-law cry because it meant so much to her that they would be so thoughtful to pick the perfect gift.

Well, this of course set a standard for gift giving for the next few Christmases. The couple that my in-laws drew for the next few years have/are going to get a quilt. Here are the other two that they have given the most recent two Christmases.

Guess what? Next year it’s my turn!!! Isn’t that exciting. My mother in law let me choose my colors and had me pick some of the blocks I liked. So even though I have to wait almost a year, I’m next!!! (I picked more neutral colors, so I can accessorize with whatever colors I want).

There are still two more quilts that they haven’t gotten pictures of that they did for my two single sister in-laws this year, I hope I cant post them soon (I just couldn’t wait for them in order to post these). If you are trying to do the math, five of my husband's siblings have gotten quilts, my husband and I get ours next Christmas, and we are the last..... (yes my husband comes from a moderately large family, although not huge compared to a lot of familys where we live).

I can’t wait to share with you the quilts they did for all the grandkids, but that will have to be another post. Too much eye candy would be dangerous for one post.

Mystery Monday (tardy again): Christmas Snowman

We are sorry that this post is late......but you know how this time of year is. Time just gets away from you. We have suspended our Christmas traditions until Christmas Eve. Our last one is very special to us and we would love to talk about it on the Eve of Jesus' birth. So today we are featuring our last craft from craft day. Here is our darling little snowman....this is my mother in laws. :) What are some of your cute Christmas crafts? We hope you are having a good holiday season.

Mystery Monday: Christmas Traditions

The first year Micki was dating her husband she came home with him for Thanksgiving. Her husbands mom sent them to Kmart to buy candles for the table. While there she spotted a cute Christmas Teddy Bear. She told her hubby (then boyfriend) about it. She came home before him and when she picked him up at the airport he had the bear for her. So every year since then they have bought a Christmas Bear. This year she switched to Walmart because the bear was cuter! They decided to break the mold and not get a traditional colored one. It's kind of a cheesy tradition, but special to them. They are on their 14th bear. :) They have no idea where they are going to start putting them all. They are getting overrun with bears.
The poor dirty one in the front was their very first and Micki slept with him for quite awhile so he got a little tattered and stained. Oops.

One of our other traditions at the holiday season is that on New Years Eve Mother Goose comes to leave one small gift for the kids every year. When Micki and Teri were little one year Mother Goose left Monchichis (yes that will date us). We got a boy one and a girl one and named them Mon and Chichi. So creative weren't we?

Now for the mystery: What are some of your quirky Holiday traditions?

Edited: We are linking up to Somday Crafts Christmas Traditions party.

Tadpole Tuesday: Micki's Nativity Crafts

With mom's help with the glue gun my kids made Nativity Kits to proudly display by their trees on their dressers. I personally think it goes nicely with the black tree and the crooked tree. :)
This is what it started as:

This is what it ended up as:

Also participating in Somewhat Simple's Strut Your Stuff Party

Mystery Monday: Thanksgiving Traditions and Micki's Fall Floral

Our Thanksgiving traditions include eating, eating and more eating. :) Our mom and mothers in law are great cooks. We love to spend the holidays with family, both of us are away from our parents right now, and so the holidays are extra special when we get to see them. For years on the day after Thanksgiving we decorated the Christmas tree with our dad. It's quite the hodge podge of ornaments, especially fisherman Santas, vintage elves and homemade ornaments by none other than yours truly (there's even a Grumpy dwarf ornament that we gave him one year when we were in college, because he had been grumpy a lot that year). Now when we get to go home Grandpa decorates the tree with the grandkids.



Now for the mystery......What are your Thanksgiving traditions?

I made this centerpiece last night at like 2 am. I work the night shift right now and can't sleep, so I craft. Here's the mess I made while making it and the finished product. :) I love it, and I had to have an owl because my sister did. I bought a Christmas ornament from Michaels that was an owl.