DIY Didn't I Think of This Sooner! The Easy Way to Get Rid of Dog Hair in your Car.

There are times in my life when I wonder, why the heck did I not think of this sooner! Please tell me that I'm not the only one! This literally happened to me last week when I was cleaning out my car. Our golden retriever Sophie likes to go with us in the car where ever we go. In fact, if I say let's go for a walk, she usually runs towards the car because she would rather drive anywhere than go on a walk! But, our big hairy animal sheds. A LOT. And her nice blond fur gets left on all of the dark surfaces of my nice new mini-van, so something had to give. Either the dog had to stop driving with us as co-pilot {not going to happen, look at that face}, or I would have to find out a better way to clean that stubborn dog fur out of my car. I think I found the solution and it left me wondering why I didn't think of it sooner!

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Easy to Make School Mascot from Vinyl

It's a big year. My oldest son is graduating from high school in just a few short weeks and the preparations have been underway! We've been getting senior pictures taken, printing up graduation announcements and photo books and I've been prepping for his open house graduation party.  His school mascot is a Trojan and I found some plain trays that I thought I would use some Expressions Vinyl on because when you have a Silhouette machine and some vinyl, no blank surface is safe in my house!

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Summer Fun! Summer Activities for Kids

I used to break out in cold sweats when I would think about the last day of school. The kids were going to be home for weeks straight and unless I wanted our home to turn into The Hunger Games where only the strongest survived {and I'm fairly certain that wouldn't have been me}, then I needed to come up with a plan. I needed activities, I needed play dates, I needed things on the calendar that we could look forward to.

Those activities didn't have to be elaborate, they just needed to be something I could break out of my secret stash of mom goodies if I heard the words "I'm bored" or if I started to hear the rumblings of fighting between siblings. 

I've collected a few of those activities that you can have on hand to put in your back pocket to help you stay sane and to give your kids some fun activities this summer.

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Customized monogram slippers

As a thrifty crafter, I'm always on the look out for plain surfaces that are cheap so that I can customize them and make them my own. If you hadn't noticed, sometimes finding plain items to use can be hard. Finding plain items that are cheap can be even harder! But, I'm always up for the challenge! Some of the best places to look are in the clearance rack {Target has some great tank tops I love to use HTV on} and of course, my favorite, at garage sales. 

I found this plain pair of slippers {they were originally from Victoria's Secret} for $3 and couldn't wait to get some sparkly heat transfer vinyl on them. I'm showing you how to make them today.

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Five Tips for Planning the Perfect Senior Photoshoot and What You Should Do With Them

Five Tips for Planning the Perfect Senior Photoshoot and What You Should Do With Them

My oldest son is a senior in high school this year. It wouldn't be a senior year without senior pictures! I went back and forth on when to do them. My kids grow and change {yes, even the senior!} so much during the year, that I decided to wait until the spring to have him meet up with a photographer. But sometimes, seniors meet up with a photographer as early as the summer before their senior year, so I want to make sure you are prepared with some tips from our amazing photographer Rebecca Anne. Rebecca has far more experience than I do and can give you her five tips for planning the perfect senior photo shoot.

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How to Remove Wallpaper Two Different Methods

If you own an older home, chances are you will find a layer or two of dated wallpaper hanging on the walls. Wallpaper is making a comeback, but not all papers stand the test of time. 

Removing wallpaper while standing on scaffolding is what Dea Rust does best! She's becoming quite the pro at stripping wallpaper since she and her husband bought a historic mansion this past year. I thought that maybe she could offer us some tried and true tips for removing wallpaper.

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Tips for Hanging a Gallery Wall

Hey guys! Remember last month when I introduced you to Dea, a young bride taking on the process of rehabbing a historic mansion in small town Indiana? Dea is back at it again with another remodeling project. She's walking us through The Mansion's doors to see the living room before, during and after their remodel. You guys won't believe what she found under some wallpaper and what she choose to do with it. Come check it out!

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East to Make DIY Pie Stand

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DAP Products Inc. for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

The weather is starting to warm up, which means that garage sale season is just around the corner. I love this time of year! I love going on the hunt for unique finds at a great price every Saturday morning. I love being able to see the potential in an item. Even if an item is slightly broken and being cast off in the free box or if it's a more common item that is just wanting for a new purpose, I love them all and keep my eyes out for just about anything!

As the weather warms, it also means that we are hosting more summer BBQ's and parties. I love creating my own decorative stands for cakes, pies and other food. Food always looks better when it's elevated and at all different levels and it gives you the opportunity to decorate all around the item and gives you more space to use for serving other food items too.

Today I want to show you how I took a few thrift store items {I'm still waiting for garage sales to start remember?!} and created an easy DIY pie {or anything} stand that you can use at your next gathering.

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How to Create a Family Year Book

In 2008 I created our first family yearbook. The cover was plain black with a frame where a picture should have been. I had left the space blank unintentionally and the book printed and was sent to me. It wasn't all a fail because through the years I have learned a few things. 

We love having a family yearbook. Quite often I will find a kid or two curled up on the couch flipping through the pages. They love to look at how much they have grown and changed over the years laying the books side by side. Sometimes we go back to reference when one of our family vacations was or when an event happened. It's like our own family time capsule.

I'm excited to be able to share with you how you can create your own family year book. If you are already making a family photo book, perhaps you can still learn a tip or two. I've made a few mistakes and learned a few things through the years!

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Scrapbook Paper DIY Signs

Sometimes when I lack creativity, I head to my local craft store and start to walk the aisles. It never fails that after a few minutes inspiration usually strikes. This time, I was inspired to create a few of those fun wooden statement signs that are popping up and being sold everywhere you look. I made mine using scrapbook paper and some mod podge and I love the end result.

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Things Are Going To Be Changing Around Here!

Back in 2005, I started a blog. I was a young mom with three small children and family and friends were scattered all over the United States. I loved my littles and our adventures and wanted a platform to share them on. I used our family blog to stay connected. Once my kids started entering into school and I waded out of the fog of my postpartum depression, I was able to start exploring me.

You see, many people say that they find themselves in their 20's. In my 20's I was a young bride popping out kids every three years like clock work. I was making the necessary sacrifices that come with raising young children. Slowly those burdens started lifting. My kids became more independent and I started getting back into creating. My creations started taking over our family blog in 2009 and as the blogging world started growing, I decided to link up to a blog link party and share one of my creations.  People started reading my blog. People other than family members and friends and here I was opening up my home and my kids and my family to people I didn't know. 

So I started a second blog I named Holy Craft in January of 2010. I did intense market research {with my friends on Facebook. Take that with whatever authority you will.}, and picked the name Holy Craft based on several factors. 

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Small Box Turned Into A Custom Sign

It's gearing up for my favorite time of the whole year. It's nearly garage sale season! Is anyone else excited? I'm dying. I can't wait for Friday and Saturday mornings to be spent looking for good deals, future projects and other crap I just can't live without.

Last week, I got a little garage sale teaser when a random sale popped up just down the street. I stopped in and picked up a small wooden box for a quarter. I was thinking outside of the box {see what I did there?} and crafted a little handmade sign simply by turning the box on it's side, painting it and adding vinyl. 

Plus I added my new favorite, Deco Foil! I kind of want to foil all the things. Come on over and see how I made this. You won't look at a box the same way again!

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Celebrate Summer with a Free Summer Bucket List Printable

Time seems to fly by doesn't it? I know that summer hasn't technically started but I'm already anxiously anticipating it and before it seems to start it's over in a flash. There are just not enough long summer days between the end of school and the beginning of it and every year I promise to soak as much of it in as I can.  

Every summer though it's inevitable that when we are in it's final days, one kid or another says, but we didn't do this or we didn't do that. The days may be longer buy my memory is shorter, so I created a free printable summer bucket list that you can sit down with your kids and fill out before summer even starts. Your list will help you plan out your days so that you can make time for everything on your summer bucket list.

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Must Make Salads 8 Ways

I love a good salad. I'm a huge veggie fan and I love how easy it is to throw together a yummy salad in not too many minutes. Salads are great to bring with you to a pot luck or to have on a warm summer night so you don't have to heat up your kitchen.  I'm excited to share with you 8 Must Make Salads. You are going to want to make them all!

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The Beginner's Guide to Bible Journaling

Last month, I told you all in my Must Have Items for Spring post about a Bible journal that I had bought my 14 year old daughter. I pre-ordered it but it wasn't released until a few weeks ago. You know when you give a gift and then you sort of wish you had kept it for yourself instead? Yeah, this was that.

Let me start by explaining what Bible journaling is just in case you aren't quite sure. Bible journaling is basically doodling or writing about what you are learning while you are in the Word. It could be as simple as hand letting a small passage or drawing out a depiction of a verse.  Whatever it is, it's a great way for creatives to express themselves while digging into the Bible.

I must say that when I decided to get started, my new journaling Bible sat staring at me with blank pages and I was a bit intimidated. I didn't know where to start. If this sounds like you, I have a complete beginner's guide to Bible journaling full of the essentials {there aren't many!} and a few tips to get you started on those first few pages.

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How to shop ThredUp like a pro and save thousands on a new wardrobe

How to Shop ThredUp like a Pro

I don't think most people would be able to tell, but I buy more than 90% of my clothes used. I love shopping and buying second hand and lately, if I'm searching for an item to add to my wardrobe {last week it was a military jacket}, I head to ThredUP first. If you don't know what ThredUP is, it's an on-line thrift store where you can buy nearly new clothing for next to nothing. There are thousands of items in stock and you are bound to find something that you love.
That is, if you can get past how overwhelming it all is to find what you are looking for. I've talked to a few friends about how much I love ThredUP and they say that they want to try it, but they get frustrated with how much selection there is. It's hard to narrow it all down and find what they really want. So, I created this post and am including a link code so that you can place your first $10 order and get $10 off making it FREE! I love free! 

Use this link to order and you can save $10 on your $10 purchase.

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