old vinyl sign

How many of you have vinyl signs that no longer match your decor, but that you still kept?  I kept this one for about 6 years tucked away in a closet.  I originally painted it red to match my daughters nursery, but when she went to a big girl bed, her room turned to pink and green.  I kept thinking another girl would come along, but got two boys instead, so I never got to use it with the cribbing again.
Then one day I heard someone mention that you could paint over vinyl and I decided to give it a try!   It worked pretty good, I won't lie, it was tedious, but I didn't have anything better to do that night so what the heck right? :)
So this is what it originally looked like- loved the saying but not the color

To paint it I used the left over paint from painting my daughters room.  This is the first coat:

It took a couple of coats, and each coat I did, I had to take Q-tips dipped in water and trace the letters to remove the paint.  This was the slightly tedious part, but I kind of like tedious :)

Originally I tried just wiping it down with a rag to remove the paint from the vinyl, it worked, but too well.   It removed the paint from all around the vinyl as well, so I changed to Q-tips

Lots and lots of Q-tips later!!! :)

I actually really liked the slight red outline of the letters, helped make them pop off the green!

The finished sign in it's new room, I like!

Would I do this again?  Sure, I'm a cheap-wad so probably!  Then again, I can now do my own vinyl for cheap, (thanks to my cricut and sure cuts a lot!) so maybe next time I will just redo my own vinyl.  It was worth it though!

Blahhhhh....

So I have a confession to make...I SUFFER FROM SEASONAL DEPRESSION!!!  :)  Really, I do!  I don't get too sad, or angry (my kids would probably say otherwise!) but I do loose all and any motivation- hence the lack of blogging, or crafting, or doing anything for that matter! :)  So my apologies to my readers, especially my new ones who are probably thinking, "why the heck did I click follow on this lame blog?"  But SPRING is in the air, and already this week I am feeling an urge to do some spring cleaning, until I get up and all the urge is gone.  I need to live in St George!!! :)
Anyways!  Time to spruce things up a bit!  I promise to do something creative soon- but in the meantime, I need some help-
May is my 1 year anniversary of this blog, and I want to celebrate with a bang!!!  I want to do a week of giveaways, so I am looking for anyone who might be interested or who might know someone who would be?  I have a few already, but need some more.  If you are interested, please email me @
youcraftmeup@yahoo.com

No I am not really crying inside, I just thought these were funny :)

Thanks for your help- and I promise to post soon! :)

St Patricks (repost)

This is a copy of a post I did on my St Patricks crafts from last year- but since no one really saw this post, thought I would do it again! :)

Several of you have asked if I will do a craft night with these, unfortunately I will be spending a week in paradise, and won't have time to do one! :D  BUT- I am cutting some shamrocks for someone else's craft night and would be more than willing to cut stuff out for you too, if you are brave enough to do them on your own. :)  Just let me know in the next week if you want something and I will cut it.  

The "LUCK" letters were cut out with a scroll saw (can I just say I LOVE my scroll saw?!) I also cut the clovers out with it. I painted the letters, then traced them on paper, then mod podged the paper on. One of the clovers has bead board paper on it (available at Home Depot) and another is glittered.

A closer view - I distressed the letters with sand paper and then inked the edges with a dark brown ink pad.

Hah! Like the yellow putty holding the letter upright?! :)

The glittered and bead board paper shamrock

Then I printed the word "lucky" on green vellum, and used spray adhesive to attach it to a painted board.

Shamrock cut out with scroll saw (I'm tellin' ya, I couldn't live without that saw!)

For more info, Contact me @:
youcraftmeup@yahoo.com

It's craftin' time!!!

I am so excited for Craft Night tomorrow!!!  There are some of you that are coming that I have never met- and I'm excited!   For those of you who are not my neighbors and don't know my neighborhood- contact me at youcraftmeup@yahoo.com and I will give you directions.
For those of you my neighbors- meet at the church at 7:00.  You can also come by early and pick up paint and your project if you want to get an early start.  Feel free to bring a goody to share (not required!!!) I always think eating is just as much fun as crafting! :)
SEE YOU THERE!!!
If your name is NICOLA- I am not sure how to contact you and have a few questions for you, so please email me, or leave me a comment with your email.

Is it just me???

I have this curse- and it gets me every holiday- I swear. The curse is that, without fail, and despite my best intentions, I inevitably ALWAYS leave out some holiday decoration on accident. And the funny thing is that it is usually one of the MOST OBVIOUS things! And the other funny thing about this is that I usually don't notice that OBVIOUS thing till someone else points it out to me. Like, "your Halloween wreath looks great with all your Christmas decor!" Seriously, it's usually that obvious!

One year I had a 4 foot tall Halloween Witch right next to my front door clear till Christmas (and I had no clue!) her black and orange and green striped outfit just blended right into my beige wall color I swear!

So, for the last year, I have searched my house high and low after every holiday, hunting down the elusive piece that will be forgotten, and I thought I was doing really well...till I noticed this:

Yes- it is January 14th- and that is a scare-a-crow! And he is on my pantry door! I must pass him at least 50 times a day! LOL- funny thing is, I took the time to take the picture, and now write this post, but have I taken him down? Ummm no! How much you want to bet he will still be there Easter time? :)
AM I THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS PROBLEM???

Valentine’s Day Craft Night!

So the voting wasn’t a landslide like I thought it was going to be! So I will offer all of the crafts except the wood sign (sorry! There were only 5 votes) So, the time has now come to sign up for the crafts!
Please sign up by leaving me a comment, here on my blog! That is the easiest way for me to keep track of orders. :)

LOVE blocks

Cost = $5

LOVE letters

Cost = $16

BE MINE blocks

Cost = $10

HUGS & KISSES blocks

Cost = $6

As of now, I am planning on doing it on Thursday, January 27th @ 7:00 (unless you would all rather start earlier @ 6:00.
Please sign up ASAP so I can get started on the orders- I am going to need all the time I can get (it’s only 2 weeks away!!
Also, I will offer a black and white and red paper option- so let me know if that is what you prefer.
DISCLAIMER! I made my blocks and letters 4 years ago, so I will not be able to get the exact same paper! But you know me, I will have plenty of cute options for you to choose from, and I will stay true to style and get the closest possible to my originals.

CAN'T WAIT!!! I LOVE craft nights!!!

***I am willing to ship, but last time someone never paid me ($40 out of my pocket) so if you are interested, I will probably have you pay me in advance. My email is youcraftmeup@yahoo.com

One last thing- I am in the Salt Lake City area if anyone is interested in coming who isn't a neighbor of mine! Everyone is welcome! :)

Craft Night Poll

I want to do a craft night but haven't made up my mind- if you would like to do anything- just vote on what you want and I will do the top 2 or 3 choices. Can't wait! I love craft nights! BTW- you can vote for more than one!
Also- all mine are a brown and pink design- but I will offer a black/white/and red as well

Shout out

I would like to give a GIANT, OVERSIZED, HUMONGOUS, THANKS to KIM at 733 custom blog design!!!
She is the one who restored my blog for me- out of the kindness of her heart! I can't tell her enough how grateful I am to her generosity! When she saw I was having technical difficulties, she offered to help. I emailed her my blog info late one night, and figured it would be a few days before she'd have time to help, but nope! - when I woke up the very next morning- my blog was fixed!!! Holly Cow Woman- you rock!!!
So- if any of you are looking for some custom blog design (I know I am!) Then stop by and check out her blog- she has amazing talent and great prices! Keep an eye out in the near future for my blog makeover- I just need to figure out what I want her to do first. :)
THANKS AGAIN KIM!!!

AHHHHHH!!!!

I need professional help- I can't figure this out!
Somehow I have erased my blog template and I can't get it back!!! This is why I shouldn't be allowed to touch computers...Have no idea when I will have a cute blog again. :( I have lost all my linky things, my followers, everything!!! I HATE computers sometimes! Feel free to cry and pull your hair out with me!

American Girl Doll

The dreaded birthday wish at our house was the American Girl Doll! For the past 4 years I have been crossing my fingers that she wouldn't want one, but it didn't work this year! :( Seeing as how the doll alone ate up more than we spend on birthdays, my daughter wasn't getting anything else. What fun is a doll without clothes to change though? Thanks to JoAnnes and their $1 patterns, I picked up a few of the 18" doll patterns by Simplicity. I got enough fabric for a pair of jeans and a shirt for less than $2- and went to town! I decided to duplicate my daughters favorite outfit- because I knew she would wear it on her birthday. Good thing I was right! It was priceless seeing her open her doll, and the surprise on her face when she saw they matched!!!
The simplicity doll patterns were super easy to do, and I am excited about making more!
For the shirt, I just found a pattern that was close enough (it was a basic peasant shirt- and I just added elastic to the waist band and then I just added the ruffles and sequins to match my daughters shirt) So Cute!!!
I LOVED doing the stitches on the jeans - so easy and cute!

Rag Stockings

When I told my husband that I wanted to make our stockings, his only request was that they be BIG! So BIG they are! :) (better for stuffing!) I made the first three stockings six years ago, when we only had our baby Rachel. From the get-go I decided to make them all different so that I wouldn't have the stress of buying enough fabric, or having a surprise child later on, and having to do a stocking that didn't match- so I eliminated that problem by just making them as the kids come! I love our stockings- and I especially love how you can tell how the styles of fabric have changed over only a few years! :) Mine is the not-so-cute red and green, my husbands favorite color is blue, so that is his, then it goes in order from our oldest daughter to our two younger boys.
I have saved the pattern so that with each kid I just have to make a new one. They are so fast, simple, and inexpensive to make.



If you would like a pattern, I will send it to you for $3 (to cover paper and shipping costs) I will cut it out of sturdy cardstock and I will mark the joining seams, and include basic instructions. Happy Holidays!!!

Extra Vinyl

So I learned that vinyl should be left to the professionals! :) While cutting the vinyl for the stockings were hung sings, I made a mistake and cut it too big. If anyone would like to buy the vinyl from me, I will sell it at cost = $9. You can still use it on a 4 foot sign like the ones we made, you will just have to leave out the word "all" and the "..." at the end. So it will read. "the stockings were hung" Plus I have extra stars that you can disperse around the lettering to make it extra festive. I have sold 2 already, so I have 5 left if anyone is interested. I don't think it would cost more than a dollar or two to mail either.

Craft Night List

Everyone who has signed up for a craft or two...PLEASE double check this list- many of you contacted me on here, on my FB page, texted me, or just told me...so I want to make sure I have everyone and that I have your orders correct. Here goes

Calah Dibble JOY
JaNece Mendoza JOY and JINGLE
Kathy Alldredge JOY and JINGLE
Kami Johnson JOY and JINGLE
Kayla LaCaze JOY and JINGLE
Richel Olsen JOY and STOCKINGS
Traci Gossman JOY and JINGLE
Erin Winzeler JOY
Molly Horn JOY and JINGLE
Melinda Hagga JOY and STOCKINGS sign
Mandi JOY and STOCKINGS
Tiffany Bowling JOY and JINGLE
Windy Kener JOY and JINGLE and small STOCKINGS
Eunice (JaNece) 3 JOYS and 1 JINGLE
Sheri Jonhson JOY and JINGLE
Melissa Bateman JOY
Alisa Didenhover JOY and JINGLE
Olivia JOY and JINGLE (2 of each)
Emily Putnam JOY
Dara Lythgoe JOY and JINGLE
AnnMarie Wood JOY and JINGLE
Kasey Peterson 12 JOY and 6 JINGLE and STOCKINGS
Liz Merrit JOY and JINGLE and STOCKINGS
Amy McMullin STOCKINGS
Sara Furner JINGLE
Whitney JINGLE
Shantelle Zimmerman 3 JOY and 2 JINGLE
Caryn Reese 4 JOYS and 2 JINGLES

Also, We are doing these this WEDNESDAY the 1st at 7:00 pm in the gym at the church by In-N-Out. For those of you who can't make it that night, we will do a day one, maybe Thurs or Fri. Also, for those of you doing multiple, if you want to come by and get your stuff early, you could start getting it painted so you have plenty of time. Let me know if you plan on doing that so I can have your kit sanded for you. Can't wait!

Frequent Questions...

MAILING KITS: I can fit both the joy and jingle kits in one flat rate box (the $10.90 one) None of them will fit in the smaller flat rate. So just decide if it is worth it to you for that cost. If so let me know and I will send it!

If your name is KIRSTEN, PATRICK AND JENNIE or JOEL's MOM - you left me a comment with a question and I have no way to get a hold of you! If you see this, please leave a comment with your email address or another way to reach you and I will gladly answer your questions! :)

Santa's Workshop!

How about another craft night?! Wednesday December 1st at 7:00 (or come when you can) We will be making these:
Sorry for the crappy lighting- I couldn't get it to work very well
JOY letters:


COST- $14These are 11 1/2" tall and you can embellish them as much or as little as you want. I used a more traditional paper mix, but I will also have a more whimsical mix available as well (it has a sky blue in it for those of you with blue in your decor)

JINGLE blocks:


COST- $12These range from 9" -5" tall and again you can embellish as much or as little as you want. I wanted mine to coordinate with my JOY letters, so I matched the paper (not necessary)

Stockings Were Hung Sign
COST- $35 (due date to let me know is this Monday the 15th - just on this one)

As always the cost includes everything you need. Paper, ribbons, paint, everything!
You do not have to do both, you can just do one or the other if you want. I just did the JOY letters because so many of you have been requesting letters.

Please let me know ASAP since we have a busy thanksgiving week coming up and I would like to try to get most of the wood cut before I leave for the holiday.

Here is a picture of the more whimsical patterns: The paper in this photo and on my blocks and letters may not be available in large quantities, so let me know what paper type you want when you sign up and I will do my best to get it




Just so you know - I do make a small profit on these craft nights. This is what your money pays for (just in case you want to know) wood, blades (I go through a lot of these) sand paper (go through this like crazy too), scrapbook paper, mod podge, paint. paint brushes, table cloths, drop cloths, cups, wire, ribbons, ink pads, and a few other misc things, and my TIME! :)