Hi friends! I've been sharing a bunch of fun projects over the last few months all using my new favorite craft machine. The new Cricut Explore that just launched this year. It really is a crafter's dream. I'm thrilled to be able to give one away to one lucky reader! If you are not yet familiar with all the neat things the Cricut Explore can do, you can read all about it in this post. I've been working with a team of talented bloggers over the last few months as part of a competition Cricut is hosting called Design Space Star. We have an amazing group and each month we pick a theme for our projects for the competition. I'm excited to show my latest project for the competition tomorrow. Together we are giving away this awesome machine to one lucky reader! Be sure to visit all of these talented bloggers of our team: Lori with A Cowboy's Wife Lindi with Love The Day Michelle with 4 Men 1 Lady Kami with NoBiggie Amy with Pink Parlor Designs Rebecca with The Crafted Sparrow Kim with Today's Creative Blog Crystal with A Pumpkin and A Princess Use the widget below to enter! Good Luck to you all! Cricut Explore Giveaway

Spring Fever!

Let's admit it, Spring is the best! The anticipation of spring blooms, summer picnics, and flip flops!  In our home we basically live outdoors beginning in the spring and don't want to come inside until the new school year starts up again.  While being outside we love to do our fair share of gardening. 

The first signs of spring however start with our family tradition of planting our own Easter grass.  It's a quick, easy, fun, project that your little ones can help with. Yes it makes a mess for about 12 minutes, yes you will want to sweep up immediately and think you could have done this in about 4 minutes by yourself but that's not the point.  The fun in this is watching them learn and test their patience over the next few weeks of watching their grass grow.  You can do this......together. 

First step is getting your supplies. You need your favorite soil, grass seed (I prefer Kentucky Blue Grass) pots or vases, water, and sun! For this years grass I decided I wanted to use different types of glass, metals, etc. I went to the local Deseret Industries and found a old cake pan that I thought would be prefect!



It's pretty simple and fun and that's why it's perfect to have little ones help out.  Fill your pots with soil leaving about 1 1/2 inches from the top. Put a thick layer of seeds on top of the soil, covering all the soil. Add about 1/2 inch of soil to the top, covering the seeds!  Immediately water and you will water 2 times a day until your grass has come in fully.  Then you can cut back watering once a day. (Another job the little hands can do) Put them to  work, they love it!  They love the responsibility of a task, they love feeling like they are contributing, they love the fun in watching something they helped with grow! 

 

You should start to see your grass pop up within about a week and a half.  Don't get frustrated, be patient!  Because trust me once it comes in your going to have grass everywhere!!!  This also is a fun craft if you've ever had the desire to be a hair stylist because you will get to put your trimming skills to the test when you can cut the grass and give it a fresh trim.  As it gets closer to Easter I love to add Easter eggs to the grass as décor.  Have fun and get planting! 

Picnic Ideas

I'm a believer that half the fun of summer is eating outdoors not being stuck in the kitchen on a hot day. Picnics can be spontaneous and last minute or planned with your family and the neighbor next door. Things can be simplified and yet still beautiful to the eye. There are a few key things I think it takes to make a picnic a success.

#1 Where to sit?

 Wither you are having a picnic in our backyard or at the park, seating is usually the first dilemma.

 

 

 

 

Out with the old, in with the new. For a picnic in the backyard you can take that old folding chair and table and give them update. This is very simple to do, especially for someone who has wanted to try upholstery this is a good trial run. You can purchase this vinyl at Hobby Lobby, Joanns, or most craft stores. It typically runs between $12 - $16 a yard. I did my table and 4 chairs (standard size) for 2 1/4 yards. Spray painting your table and chairs first with a white primer and then the color of your choice. I left mine white because I liked the way it look with my plastic cover. Unscrew your original fabric back and seats with a simple Phillips screw driver. Depending on your chairs you will want to lay out our chair backs and seats and cut the plastic an extra 2 inches for folding. For my chair backs I cut a piece 21 x 11, seats 19.5x 19.5, and table top 39 x 39. Flip your chair over and simply tuck and staple at the top first. It works best if after your first staple you fold your item over, looking at the front and using your hands press out any creases or wrinkles. Holding in place flip back over and staple on the opposite side of your first staple. Then just circling around you will pull tightly your material and staple in place. This plastic is really easy to work with and very easy to pull tight for staples. After your paint is dry simply screw your back, seats and table top back in the legs of your chairs. And enjoy!!! Now no more embarrassing looks as you pull out your old table and chairs for those summer picnics.

 

 

Seating for 6

 

 

 Do you have the issue with getting to the park and realizing you forgot your blanket? Or the only blanket you want to use is to nice to sit on the ground with? Here is a great way to make your own blanket for just a few dollars. A blanket to leave in the trunk of your car. Go to your local hardware store, buy a 6x9 canvas for $9. If you would like to add some color to your canvas/blanket you can simply use leftover paint you have or buy a sample can in the paint department for $2. I wanted to add circles to my blanket in an ombre style. I used four different colors but you can stick with one if you would like. To make the shape I grabbed a bowl, poured my paint on a paper plate. Dipped my bowl in the paint and made a placed on the canvas,creating a perfect circle. Then using a paint brush I filled in the circle with the paint, allowing it to dry for 24 hours before using! Enjoy! Store in your car for easy picnic entertaining plus enough room to seat plenty of people!

 

 

 

Valentines Garland

 

 

I posted this tutorital last Valentines Day but I thought I would post it again for kicks and giggles!!
FIRST AND FOREMOST THIS IS EASY PEASY!

And trust me it is. I don't do difficult things.

So let's get this party started!!

First pick out a old book, or go to your local thrift store and pick one out. Keep in mind what kind of pages you want to display. White. Antique. Big letters. Look for something that is out of the ordinary. Mine had big blue letters that I thought were adorable.

I'm sure it's illegal in some states to do this to books, so please be cautious! I almost felt bad when I was checking this out a lady next to me said "Oh good job on that find, I'm sure you will enjoy it. I did"

I just couldn't break her heart to tell her that I was going to tear it to shreds as soon as I got home. I'm sure it is a great book. Let's just say I am a super speed reader. 

2. Tear out your pages. My book was itty bitty and not a regular 8.5x11. But I'm guessing you could get a least one heart out of each page. So see we aren't ripping the entire book out!

Cut your strips into 1 inch thick strips.

See how cute those letters are? I made sure to have those be on my tops of my hearts, since you can't see the letters really in the center of the hearts.

3. After you have all your strips break them out into 4 groups.

1. 1 strip for your center

2. 2 strips for top piece

3. 2 strips for your middle piece

3. 2 strips for your bottom piece.

So depending on your size of paper you will leave numbers 1 & 2 above (so three strips total) alone! Don't cut them. So let's just say your strips are all 7 inches long. You will take your middle and bottom pieces and cut them. So your middle piece will be cut 1 inch down to 6 inches. And your bottom piece will be cut down 2 inches. Make sense? So you know have three different sizes of strips all one inch difference.

Grab your smallest strip (or the bottom strip and fold the end together. And hold it.

 

Grab your middle piece and to the same thing wrapping it over the top of your bottom piece. Hold it.

 

Finally grabbing your top piece and placing it around the other two. So you know have three strips with the ends all together.

Don't mind my nasty baby hands!! 

Then staple it together. So you know have 1/2 of the heart done. Stay with me now!!

So it should look like this. I stapled both my sides of the hearts closer to the top of middle strip. Then cut the bottom so it was a straight line. Then at the top I cut it so it was "Even Stephen" (sorry had to throw in a little Amyism) with the sides of the heart. This picture doesn't show that but you can see it on the ones below.

Then grab whatever string, thread, you want to hang it by and a big needle. No worries we aren't playing nurse today you will just be using the needle for the hearts. Then simply thread it threw all your hearts. Leaving enough string/thread at the end to hang it by.

 

 

And Fancy that!! You did it!!!! Pat yourself on the back, go get a fresh diet coke and watch Nate Berkus!! Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

See wasn't so bad was it??

$60 bucks on Etsy my booty!! We can do this for nothing or $3 from DI.

Organizing Frame

I am not a very organized person and the hubby was tired of the kitchen table ending up being the work space!  So I decided to create a wall space that would be multi purpose for things that I could pin or pictures that needed to be hung, receipts, and easily accessible  items that I use for making my tents. 

Initially my first thought was to go and make a frame and then I woke up and realized no that's just silly and I will lose my mind. So instead I went to DI and purchased a lovely piece of artwork for $25. Saving my sanity by buying this instead of thinking I''m super woman and making one, step #1!
Here is the frame before..... I felt bad for about 2.4 seconds.

 

I wanted the board to have three separate areas.  A magnet board, cork board, and push pin board.  I purchased the cork rolls at Hobby Lobby. I doubled up on the layers to give it a little extra thickness.  The cork board I purchased at Home Depot for $6. Prior to going to a hardware store have your measurements and they will cut the board and magnet board for you there.  The magnet board I also purchased at Home Depot for around $5.  Now there are a couple different types of magnet boards they have their so ask an employee and they will show you the different thicknesses.  Mine was a 2' by 18" board. Now I have wire cutters so I cut the metal when I got home.

A beautiful thing about this project is you that there is no sewing or hardware required.  I wrapped all the three separate boards in fabric and and the cork board is wrapped with gold wrapping paper from Target. Darling right?  I used spray glue to adhere the fabric to each piece and folding on the back. Then using wood glue to attach it to the frame. Seriously so easy!  I look forward to using this board with many uses and who knows I may head to DI again and buy another board it was so much fun.

Labor Day Sale

Because I love you I want to give you a Labor Sale sale and offer 10% off each tent order for today. 

You pick your fabric color and post color (pink, green, white, yellow, and blue) and email me at pinkparlordesigns@gmail.com and I will Pay Pal an invoice to you.  Thanks ya'll and remember these make great Christmas gifts which is just around the corner. 

 

 

Black and White Stripe

 

 

Floral Print

 

 

Yellow Stipe

 

 

Pink Polka Dot

 

 

Green Stripe

 

 

Variety Colored (on Backorder)

DIY Curtain's

 

 

So the point of Pinterest is to get inspiration for projects and possibly try them for yourself.  Well I can tell you I thought singlehandedly that this was going to be a cake walk and a easy DIY weekend!  Well I am here to help you tackle the project of homemade curtains and all the do's and don't of DIY curtains. 

I currently am renting my home so I feel limited to what I can/can't do with our walls.  With the permission of our homeowner we were allowed to drill some holes for curtain rods. I've pinned the painted curtains tutorial several times and have been dying to try it.  

Purchasing Ikea "Vivian" curtains for $9.99 I knew this project wouldn't break the bank either!  The curtains come in a package of two for that great price. I read several tutorials on how and what products to use for the paint. The majority said to use a latex paint from your local hardware store. I used Benjamin Moore paint from Ace Hardware and color was Verdigris. The curtains are 98' in length so I figured that it would be best to do 11' stripes. And perfectly enough the cardboard that is in the packaging is close to that size!!! I combined two of the cardboard pieces and taped them together to make the 11'.  
 

 

Well don't you love when you start a project and then FAIL you drop the paint?? 

Yea that happened.  On to the project.  

 

So using my cardboard I started at the top measuring my lines and drawing on the fabric with a fabric pen in case I needed to erase some lines. Measuring the lines 11" apart.   Then using painters tape I lined the fabric. Now get ready to paint!  \I used a roller and applied two coats. The tip for this is try and roll out any wrinkles you may create when you apply the paint, roll in one direction length wise. The other tip I would suggest is once you have painted all your lines, allow your paint to dry for a minute or two and then very carefully lift up your curtains from the canvas to help eliminate it from drying and attaching to the canvas.  After I hung up my curtains I noticed a MAJOR problem every light that shines through the window emphasizes the uneven paint strokes (even as hard as I tried to do my best).  

TIP: I wouldn't recommend this option if you have to hang your curtains directly in front of your window.  Every glimmer of light will show paint strokes and imperfections. Even with the stripes looking great and using a roller to paint the stripes it's the inability to get 100% evenly distributed paint on every stripe.   They will however look good to hang to the sides of your windows if you desire. 

 

 

So after I wasn't happy with the painted option I decided to try sewing on stripes of fabric to your curtains.  Each curtain panel will need enough fabric for 4 stripes.  I purchased 6 yards of 100% cotton at Hobby Lobby. With it being around $3.99 a yard it cost me $24 but I also used the 40% off coupon. So it wasn't as expensive as I expected. These drapes cost me around $20, what the what??  So inexpensive. 

 

 

 

Here are some steps for cutting your stripes. 

- I cut the fabric first at 62". Do this three times using all your fabric

- Then take each 62" piece and cut 3 12" pieces. So after you have cut all of your long pieces you will have 9 stripes.  These are your stripes so they should be 12"x 62".

- Iron a 1/2" hem on the top and bottom of each stripe.

- Lay out your curtain piece and starting at the top measure lines 11" apart, using a fabric pen.  You will have drawn 8 lines. 

- Take a fabric piece starting at the top line you created and place your fabric on your curtain. Make sure that you stay completely even along your line.  Sewing along the lines. Don't sew the bottom lines yet. 

- Once you have sewn the tops of each of your stripes lay down your curtain.  And precisely straighten your curtain and fabric on top of each other. Your fabric and curtain should line up exactly. Pin the bottom of your fabric to the bottom line on your curtain. 

 

 

 

 You should have easy curtains that look amazing!!!