Tadpole Tuesday: Mod Podge Picture Plaques Micki

The kids and I were looking for a simple project. I took them to Michaels and let them pick out a cheapo wooden plaque and a paint color. And here is what we created.

First, saran wrap the table (a must in crafting in our world):
Mom lays out the paint, brushes, bowls for the paint and the plaque:

The kids do a fantastic job painting the plaques:

Then you let the paint dry:

While it's drying you pick your matching scrapbook paper from moms stash:

You rip up the paper and mod podge the pieces on:

Then mod podge your picture on and viola:

We had a good time doing them and now they have pictures in their rooms. :)

Feature Friday Part Deux: Teri’s Valentine Door Decor

This is one of two, yes count them, two Valentine decorations in my home. The other one I posted about here. I had a lot of fun making this though. I again used the *cringe* pages from my old reading book. This is a project that I just used stuff I had on hand with the exception of I bought a small bottle of blue acrylic paint. I picked up the wooden letters at a sidewalk sale at Ben Franklin during the summer, with this kind of project in mind. The letters cost me 25 cents each, what a steal! My favorite funny thing about this project is that the O’s started out life as Q’s, and Mr. H. did some plastic surgery on them for me. What do ya think? Didn’t she turn out cute? (And yes, I really do have depressing dark brown doors, all I can say is *rental*).

I was so excited…..my Mod Podged paper didn’t bubble at all!!! My very first Mod Podge project that didn’t bubble at all. It was a bit of a challenge to get the extra paper sanded off the edges of the X’s because I couldn’t get my sanding block in there, I ended up using a emery board for most of it. Here’s a close up of how the letters look.

(okay, so maybe they bubbled a little, but hardly at all). I just wanted to do something that wasn’t traditional Valentine colors, and I am pleased with this project.

Linked to: Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous; Craft Party @ Crafts In Bloom; Get Your Craft on Thursday @ Life as Lori; Weekend Wrap-Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello

Guest Day Thursday: Kathy from Creative Home Expressions

Our guest blogger today is Kathy from Creative Home Expressions. She is and interior designer by trade and a blogger extraordinaire! She has had a couple of snow days lately (we don’t even know what those are here), and has been able to work on a couple of projects (lucky her). Here she is today to share a fun project with our readers! Thank you so much Kathy!!!

I’m thrilled to be a guest blogger at 2Sisters 2gether! Thank you Teri and Micki! In keeping with a project that is also home decor related, I thought I’d share a quick coaster project.

I had purchased this package of six coasters at Michaels from their $1.00 bins thinking that I could use them in another way {which I did, but that’s for another upcoming post}. They are labeled as “paper coasters”, but are cardboard. I had one left that I didn’t use.

I bought these napkins at TJ Maxx {or Marshalls ~ one of the two} with my first name initial.

Since I have reset myself up at the desk in our living room {another future post}, I realized I needed a coaster for my coffee while I’m reading so many awe-inspiring blogs in the morning. Actually, hubby said, “you should put something under your cup so it’s not right on the desk”. Sheesh!

So I took my extra coaster and one of my “K” napkins; and a little Mod Podge, and set to work to make myself a pretty coaster.

These napkins are smaller than the white ones with the monogram in black, like the one I did here on a plate, so they didn’t fit the full round of the coaster.

I added some scrap book paper first as a base, then cut out the “K” with some of the design to fit on top of that. You are only using the top layer of the napkin, so you’ll need to be careful. I just put Mod Podge on the coaster base and applied the napkin right on top. When that was dry, I put a coat of Mod Podge over the whole thing.

Then, once everything was dry, I sprayed it with some polyurethane spray for protection.

Now I have a coaster for my coffee cup that matches my living room and hubby doesn’t have to turn into me and “suggest” I put something under my cup!

Teri has a Diet Coke that totally needs this! Thanks again Kathy! (Can you believe this is her first guest post?).

Weekend Surprise: Finally Broke Out My Christmas Present (Teri)

For Christmas I was given money to buy my own present, I bought myself a Cricut Expressions machine. I know, I know, how could I wait this long to use it…..I’ll sum it up for you in two words overwhelming intimidation. I was scared to use it, not because I didn’t know if I could figure it out, but because there are so many things to do with it, and frankly I didn’t know where to start.

Let me start my story by telling you what a fabulous deal I got on my Cricut. I went shopping with my wonderful Mom, the day after Thanksgiving. Walmart had it in their ad for $188 including two cartridges. What an awesome deal, since the machine normally retails for about $350, and the cartridges that came with mine retail for about $25 each. I figured Walmart would be a zoo, and I probably wouldn’t get a machine, but a local craft store had them for $199 with two cartridges, so I decided to go there. Better yet, when I got there the lines weren’t horrible, and they met Wally’s price, $188! Aren’t you turning green with envy at what an awesome steal I got?

I decided that I would start with something really simple, and cheap so as to limit the intimidation factor. I don’t have any Valentine’s decorations at all, so I thought I’d make me one. I had this frame on hand and so I cut this cute heart out of scrapbook paper I already had, and mounted it on more paper I already had using Mod Podge, I let that dry and coated the whole thing again with Mod Podge, let it dry and put it in the frame and voile there you have my first Valentine’s Day Decor (and the world's longest run on sentence). For free!!! Can’t beat that. If any of you have any fabulous suggestions about overcoming my intimidation and overwhelmedness (I know it’s a made up word, but it perfectly describes how I feel) with my Cricut, please give them to me!

Looking at these pictures I realize that my wall hanging needs some work. I am going to put a colored ribbon on the tall ivory candle, any other suggestions?

This post linked to the Frugalicious Friday party at Finding Fabulous and Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff and Motivated Monday at Shimmer and Tulle and Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog

Also linked at:

Tadpole Tuesday: Christmas Gifts (Teri)

Remember these soaps that my daughter made for her friends for Christmas? Here’s the completed present:

The cute box started out looking like this:

A little Mod Podge and some scrapbook paper and a total transformation:

Here’s the breakdown:

Box - 50¢ at a local thrift

Mod Podge & scrapbook paper already on hand – free

Soaps – approx 50¢

Cute colored wash rag - 50¢ (came in a package of 8 for $4)

Nail polish kit – $1 in dollar section at Target

Pedicure kit – on clearance for 50¢ in dollar section at Target

Basket - $1 in dollar section at Target.

Grand total: $4 a piece (we made 6) and time and love. Not a bad price for something so cute I don’t think. My daughters friends seemed to love them. My only regret is that we put the paper clear to the top of the box, so when we put the lids back on some of the paper got squished. I guess you just live and learn.

We haven't participated in a linky party in a few weeks, so we are linking up to Finding Fabulous' Frugalicious Friday

Guest Day Friday Featuring Us

Okay, so we were just trying to get both Guest Day Thursday and Feature Friday done in the same post. It’s been a busy week, and this post didn’t get done earlier, so there ya go. We are featuring one of the projects that we did at craft day (click here if you missed that post). We wanted to do a chunky Christmas decoration that was still pretty simple to create (not so sure that chunky and Christmas belong in the same sentence, but it is what it is today). Here are our NOEL blocks. Sorry there are no pictures of the steps, we were just having too much fun to take the time to take pictures of the whole process. It's pretty simple though, cut a 4x4 down to size (or get friendly with the guy at Home Depot and learn his life story while you spend two hours there getting stuff cut, and then he feels so generous, that he doesn't even charge you for all those cuts. But we wouldn't tell anyone that that's what happened, because we wouldn't want to get the nice guy at Home Depot in trouble). Then you paint them your desired color, Mod Podge on some cute paper and apply the vinyl letters. Voile! It was so fun to see how different everyone's turned out depending on the paper they picked.

Micki’s blocks

Micki’s other blocks (this set has already been gifted)

Teri’s Blocks

Our “guests” blocks (really we were all Laurel and Micki’s guests in real life, but lucky for us, in bloggyland they get to be our guests)

Laurel’s blocks (she painted hers after we left, and the burgundy blocks instead of the cream really show off the letters and give the blocks a whole different look, Micki’s were painted this color and then distressed)

Sabrina’s blocks

Shannon’s blocks

Trish’s blocks (Teri so loved the cute little bird that she had to copy, but her bird met with an untimely decapitation and subsequent Mod Podge assisted surgery, that’s all she is admitting to at this time)

Rozanna’s blocks

Amey’s blocks (had to include the little strip of wall color at the bottom when editing, because it matches the blocks so well)

Suzanne’s blocks

Jackie’s blocks

Sara’s blocks

Michelle’s blocks

Just an editors note about the pictures. They were taken by different cameras, different photographers and in different lights. I have tried to edit them as much as possible to reflect the creativity of the project.

We hope you have enjoyed our celebration of a simpler side of Christmas decor and crafting. Isn’t it fun how one project can have so many unique looks?

Edited to add parties we are linking up to:

Strut Your Stuff @ Somewhat Simple

Tadpole Tuesday: Tardy Halloween

So, I wanted to post this way before Halloween, but being forgetful I forgot to take a picture before it went to school. It's back home now, so I can tell you all about it. :) My little guy had to make a "Harvest" pumpkin for school. They were told they couldn't carve them. So we thought we would get one of the craft ones from Michaels and decorate it so we could keep it. First we mod podged red tissue on it. Then we colored and cut out the face (He designed and colored it all by himself!!!) and modpodged it on. Then we put stickers all over it (He loves stickers) and put another coat of mod podge on for good measure (can never have too much mod podge). Then hot glued the yarn on and gave him a "haircut". :)

Tadpole Tuesday: Teri’s Halloween Trees

Remember these ghosts that we made with the kids?

They are hanging outside our house with some decoupage Halloween ornaments on our Halloween Trees (aka dead sticks we “planted” in the ground).

We made these as a family and they were fun and not too difficult. To find out how to make them, visit Blue Cricket Designs.

We also coated them with glow in the dark Mod Podge and sprayed them with polyurethane. Then we tied monofilament to the loops to hang them. Voile!

Close ups of some of my favorites:

There is one there from each of us….perfect in their imperfection (I’ll let you guess who’s is whose).

This is about the extent of our outside decor, except for my favorite jack-o-lantern riding a spider which was pictured here.

We are joining Kimba @ A Soft Place to Land, click the button below and feast your eyes on all kinds of greatness!!!

We will probably join more parties as the week goes on, so we will add links here :)
and Halloween Suprise Party @ The DIY Show Off