Pinterest Christmas 2015

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

The Pinterest Christmas blog series (in its fifth year!) started as a motivation to actually do some of the DIY projects we pinned on Pinterest & a way to share them with friends & family. Over the years other bloggers have joined & we have spent the month of December DIYing & sharing our Christmas projects. Sometimes the posts are tutorials with step-by-step instructions & other times it is simply sharing a completed project! You can check out past Pinterest Christmas projects here!

This year we’d love you to join in on the fun of Pinterest Christmas! Misha {from Emerald City Diaries} & I will be hosting a Linky Party set up for the entire month of December where you can share your own Pinterest-inspired projects & discover what bloggers are sharing too. And, we’d love to see the Pinterest Christmas graphic included in your posts!

Here is what you can do now to get started:

(1) Get on Pinterest & pin those holiday projects! (See our Pinterest Christmas board here)
(2) Get your craft on! If you want to do a tutorial, make sure to take pictures during each step.
(3) Write up your Pinterest Christmas blog post.
(4) Join in on our Linky Party! Click on the blue button below to add your blog link beginning December 1st! Feel free to add as many links as you’d like.
(5) Come back and see what other bloggers are creating.

29Nov2014

Pinterest Christmas // 2014

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

I am so excited to be co-hosting the third annual Pinterest Christmas blog series happening in December! Each week the hosts will be sharing Pinterest-inspired projects related to the holiday season. The projects could be anything from decorations and crafts to traditions and recipes. Each of us will be sharing our projects in the weeks leading up to Christmas. We would love for you to join in on the fun. Plan your projects, post them, link back to one of our posts, and leave us a comment! Not a blogger? No problem, we’d love to see your projects on Instagram! Use the hashtag #PinterestChristmas2014

The hosts:

Need some inspiration? Check out the posts from the previous two years here.

Happy crafting!

23Apr2013

{diy} headboard

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

We watch a lot of American Pickers at our house. Greg is really into the show,
mostly to see the unique stuff they stumble upon. I could take it or leave it,
mostly because I kind of get grossed out if the person is a big hoarder, but I’ll watch it with him.

Imagine my excitement when I got home later than usual (on a school night),
and see a door sitting out in our neighbor’s trash to be picked up the next day.
I immediately knew what I wanted to do with it and went inside to tell Greg to go get it.
Since he was already asleep, he was way less excited than I was, and reminded me
that it would probably be there the next morning and he would get it then.
I thought it would be more stealth-like to get it in the middle of the night,
but I agreed and went to bed. He marched over there the next morning in the broad daylight,
and brought the door back… way less dramatic than it would have been the night before,
but whatever.
The door would be turned into a headboard for our guest bedroom upstairs where we have a king size bed,
and the inspiration can be found here.

The door was pretty dented on the white side, but it good shape on the blue side,
so we decided that we would sand it down, clean it up, and paint it, but we weren’t sure what color.
We debated on the color we would paint the door, sanded it down a little, then it sat around while
we got preoccupied with other projects, and life in general.

We finally got back on the ball and started working on the door again.
It must have been a much-needed break, because after Greg (and Kenley) sanded it down again,
we both realized how much we really liked the original color of the blue.
I really wanted to do a color because we don’t plan on painting the walls any time soon,
and we are going with a blue tones-beachy-map-world theme in the room anyway.
How’s that for a theme?
Since we decided to keep the color, we only needed a few more supplies.

We got one piece of crown molding, since we love using crown molding for anything.
See our other crown molding projects here and here.
Greg affixed the crown molding to the door with molding glue and added a piece of wood on top,
so it could act as a shelf down the road, see the inspiration here.

To mount the door to the wall, we used an 18″ picture hanging system.
Keep in mind that this door is metal and relatively light. If this were a solid wood door,
we would have done something different because I don’t think that little sucker would hold it on the wall.

The total cost of this project:

Crown Molding – $18.98
18″ Hangman Picture Hanging System – $10.88
1 x 4 x 8 Piece of Wood – $2.06

For a grand total of about $32!

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Right?

31Dec2012

A Pinterest Christmas – santa hat brownies & christmas cards

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

This is the final installment of A Pinterest Christmas, where myself and several other friends and friends-of-friends
across the country are making fun, Pinterest inspired (Pinspired) holiday decorations, treats, and keepsakes!

The first (p)inspiration this week is Santa hat brownies!

{source}

We needed to take a yummy treat to our annual Christmas Eve open house,
so we scoured Pinterest for fun ideas. Greg was excited about these brownies, so we headed out to get our supplies.

We opted for the easiest ingredients possible.
Strawberries, brownie mix, and easy frost(ing).

I was in charge of washing & cutting the strawberries, while Greg baked the brownies.

We used a 9×9 pan, which turned out to be a great little round bite for the brownies.
With no round cookies cutters available, we had to get creative.
We ended up using a toothpick holder to make the round bites.

The Easy Frost was just as advertised… super easy.
We frosted the brownie and put the strawberry on top, then topped off the top of the Santa hat.

They turned out very well, but here are a few tips:
Allow the brownies to cool FULLY. We got a little anxious, so the icing melted a little bit.
We ended up sticking them in the fridge to help harden up the icing.

Once you wash & cut the strawberries, put them on a paper towel to dry them.
Along with not allowing the brownies to cool, the damp strawberries were sliding all over the place.

Having a cookie cutter would be much easier than using a toothpick holder,
but I think we get an “A” for effort, right?

I think they were a hit at the party. If nothing else, they were sure cute!

***

The next two (p)inspirations are related to the many
Christmas cards we received from our amazing friends.

Cabinet Christmas card display:

{source}

I opted to use painter’s tape on the other side of my cabinet to affix the ribbon,
because I do not think anyone will be looking at the inside of my cabinets;
and I will still be able to save the ribbon for next year.

I found this ribbon at Target early this season.
I originally used it for a bow at the top of our Christmas tree,
but I was happy to be able to reuse it!
I also looked for it the next time I was at Target, so I could stock up,
because, everyone knows how much I love chevron. But… no luck, they were out.

Maggi also created another version of this (p)inspiration on her pantry door!

***

The second Christmas card (p)inspiration comes from one of my favorite bloggers, Ashley Ann.
I had every intention of doing this last year, but somehow in the midst of having a 2 month old,
it slipped my mind and by the time I remembered, I had tossed all of our Christmas cards. Drats.

I knew I would not forget this year, especially once I saw it floating around Pinterest.

{source}

Um, hello! Genius!
Create your contact photos from their holiday cards!
Need I say more?

***

I hope you enjoyed A Pinterest Christmas series this season.
Next year, we have already vowed to get a head start on our projects!
If you missed any projects this year, here is a rundown of what you may have missed:

DIY Pom Pom Wreaths
DIY Ornaments
DIY Yarn Trees
mistle toes

Don’t forget to check out the other ladies’ posts who participated in A Pinterest Christmas this season.

Amanda @ Without a Doubt
Sally @ Chacha and Mogo
Michelle @ this grey house
Misha @ emerald city diaries
Maggi @ Greg, Maggi & Rodney
Abbi @ The Peña Family

25Dec2012

A Pinterest Christmas: mistle toes

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

Merry Christmas!
It’s week four of A Pinterest Christmas, where myself and several other friends and friends-of-friends across the country
are making fun, Pinterest inspired (Pinspired) holiday decorations, treats, and keepsakes!

I really enjoy making homemade gifts and I wish I would do it more.
Time is always an issue and homemade gifts are not always conducive for packing in a suitcase
to travel here or there for the holidays.
Last year, I put together a sundae kit for our neighbors and their kids.

With that being said, here is this week’s (p)inspiration:

{source}

As soon as I saw this, I knew it would be perfect for the ladies in my office.
Of course, I waited until the last minute to put them together,
and I was worried they would be time consuming, but much to my surprise, they were not!

I didn’t have the supplies I needed on hand, but I had no issue buying them
because I know I will use them for future projects.
I purchased rubber alphabet stamps, a red ink pad, card stock, and ribbon
from JoAnn’s for around $15 after coupons.
Surprisingly, the ribbon was the most expensive! Thank goodness for a 50% off coupon.
The nail polish was obviously a tad more pricey, but I still chose to get Essie because it’s my favorite.
I cleaned out Target’s selection of red and got two shades: she’s pampered and fishnet stockings.

I cut one sheet of card stock into four squares and hole punched two holes at the top.
I used wire ribbon, so it was easy to form and look pretty.
Stamp the phrase onto the card stock and put it with the nail polish.
It’s that easy, but also adorable and my coworkers loved it.

Did you make any homemade gifts this year?
I’m going to make it a goal to do a couple more next year.
What do you think?

***

Don’t forget to check out the other lovely ladies’ posts this week in A Pinterest Christmas:

Amanda @ Without a Doubt – Christmas Cards & Wrapping
Sally @ Chacha and Mogo –
Michelle @ this grey house – Sock Vase
Misha @ emerald city diaries – magazine bows & chalkboard art
Maggi @ Greg, Maggi & Rodney – Yarn Trees

18Dec2012

A Pinterest Christmas: DIY Yarn Trees

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

Welcome back to week three of A Pinterest Christmas!
If you’re new here, myself and several other friends and friends-of-friends across the country are making fun,
Pinterest inspired (Pinspired) holiday decorations, treats, and keepsakes.

Here is the (p)inspiration:

{source}

The supplies:
Styrofoam cones
Yarn
Pom poms (in various sizes)
Scissors
Pins
Hot glue gun & glue

Start the yarn at the bottom of your tree and have your pins handy.
Once you start wrapping around the bottom, pin the yarn every 2-3 inches to keep it in place.
I do not have a picture of this… fail.
After you’ve wrapped a few times, you can put the pins to the side,
because the yarn should stay in place.
Wrap the yarn around, and around, and around.

Keep wrapping.

You can choose to do these trees really any way you’d like.
Michelle went for a more whimsical look, while I did a more sleek look.
My way was a wee bit more time consuming.

The top of the tree is a bit tricky, and this is where the pins come in handy again.
Wrap the yarn in a circular motion around the top and pin as needed.
Use just enough yarn to cover the top of your tree.
Cut your yarn and pin down the tail end.

In the original tutorial, she continued to wrap her tree all the way down again,
but we decided to stop at the top and move on to the tree decor.

We used the hot glue gun to attach our little poms to the trees.

I really love Michelle’s red & white tree and I have a feeling I may be making more of these.
They are super easy and really fun to do.
Even though it took us two separate days to complete them, I promise, they can be quick.

Have you made any yarn trees? What did you do differently?

***

If you’ve missed the last two weeks, check out my wreath and ornaments.
Don’t forget about the other Christmas projects from these awesome ladies:

Amanda @ Without a Doubt – Christmas Tree Forest
Sally @ Chacha and Mogo – A Stocking for Mogo
Michelle @ this grey house – Yarn Trees
Misha @ emerald city diaries – paper tree forest
Maggi @ Greg, Maggi & Rodney – odds & ends
Abbi @ The Peña Family – Yummy Treats

11Dec2012

A Pinterest Christmas: DIY Ornaments

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

Welcome to week two of A Pinterest Christmas blog series happening this December,
where myself and several other friends and friends-of-friends across the country will be making fun,
Pinterest inspired (Pinspired) holiday decorations, treats, and keepsakes.

We put up our tree just two days after moving into the new house over Thanksgiving.
It was high on my priority list, because, who doesn’t love decorating for the holidays?
Once it was up, I realized that you can now see almost the entire way around the tree,
unlike in years past when we put in a corner of the room and just had to decorate the front.
With that being said, we needed more ornaments!

(P)Inspiration – Scrabble Ornament

{Source}

Knowing I didn’t want to take Scrabble letters from my game,
Michelle and I searched for replacement letters, only to find,
it is more economical to purchase Super Scrabble and get 200 letters!
This worked out well since there are only two “K” letters in the entire game,
and both of our girls have “K” names.

Michelle’s hubby cut the the Scrabble trays to fit each name and
we hot glued the letters on to the tray and added ribbon.

We also tried to create other fun, Christmas themed phrases and words.
They looked adorable at first, but I soon found myself re-gluing the tiles together,
and then, again.
So, I’m not sure how long these will last on the tree.

(P)Inspiration – House Key Ornament

{Source}

This ornament could not be more perfect!
I got the Baby’s First Christmas kit from TJ Maxx and was able to get 4 ornaments out of it!

Since we have not closed on our old house, I still had my house key!
I was able to do an ornament for our first home and for our new home,
it worked out perfect.

We ended up having more putty to work with, so we got creative.

His + hers wedding rings with our anniversary date.
I really love it!

(P)Inspriation – Keepsake Ornament

Misha made this for Kenley’s first Christmas last year,
so I made it a point to save the birth announcements we’ve received over the past year.

for miss lindsay

and miss kyler

I also made one for Ben for his 1st birthday in November,
even though it wasn’t his first Christmas, but failed to take a picture of it;
and I am planning on making one out of our wedding invitation.

Have you made any fun ornaments lately?

***

Don’t forget to check out the other fun posts for the week:

Amanda @ Without a Doubt – DIY Ornaments & Alternative Christmas Tree
Sally @ Chacha and Mogo – Ornaments & Junk
Michelle @ this grey house – Ornaments & Scrabble
Misha @ emerald city diaries – Clay Ornament & Pom Pom Santa
Maggi @ Greg, Maggi & Rodney – Ruffle Tree Skirt

18Jun2012

Pinspiration :: DIY Father’s Day Gift

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

It’s been a while since we’ve gotten all crafty around here.
And while this is really not all that crafty,
I thought I’d share the little story of Kenley’s Father’s Day gift to Greg.

The idea was, of course, inspired by Pinterest, hence “Pinspiration” dubbed by Misha,
It was super easy and relatively cheap, and something all dads will love.

The original pin linked back to this post.

Michelle and I had it planned to take the pictures of the girls on Tuesday.
We thought if something went array, then we would have the rest of the week to work with.

We made our way down to the park located not too far from our house and the sky was threatening.
For those of you who don’t know, summer in Florida means sporadic thunderstorms which
last anywhere from ten minutes to two hours. I was hoping for the ten minute version that day.

Kenley and I got to the destination, parked the car, and I hopped into the backseat to put on her dress.
Just like that, the sky opened up and it started to monsoon. I stayed in the back trying to occupy her,
texting Michelle, who was doing the same with Kyler just around the corner.

This went on for…

the next forty-five minutes!

It was getting to the point that Kenley was getting restless, it was approaching dinner & bedtime,
and I couldn’t believe we had sat their that long…in my backseat…with a car seat, stroller, and a wiggly child,
who was wearing a dress.

We made the executive decision to just head back to a park closer to our subdivisions to just see what it was like there.
Luckily, it had cleared up and we rushed to get into place just to see if we could get a few good ones in.

Michelle had got the chair for Kyler since she can’t sit up on her own yet and it turned out to be clutch.
The ground was sopping, as were my socks & shoes… obviously, because it had just poured for 45 minutes.

I spent the next twenty minutes crouched down snapping pictures of two girls who were such good sports.
While one was in the chair, Michelle was trying to get her to smile, while holding the other child.
It was exhausting and I’m sure very humorous.

Kenley was much more interested in what was going on outside and throwing the letters.

I’m sure she’s thinking “are you guys serious right now?” with the puff stuck to her chin.

Kyler did great! She just sat in her chair and looked cute.

Once we knew we had reached our maximum time limit with the girls,
we quickly changed their clothes… Kenley went home nakey in just her diaper,
and loaded up our cars. It was just past dinner time so I had a crying baby on my hands.

369 total pictures people. That’s some mad photo taking in a short amount of time!

Later that night, I was trying to reiterate how hectic it was to my mom via text messages and I was just laughing.
Once I sent her the pictures though, she (and I) were shocked how well they turned out!

Greg loved his first Father’s Day gift from Kenley and it really was fun to do!

26Mar2012

Pinspiration: DIY Framed Mirror

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

Misha started posting pinspiration projects, obviously inspired by Pinterest,
so I thought I’d join the fun with our latest project!

I pinned this a while ago and we have talked about framing our bathroom mirrors ever since,
but we finally got around to it this weekend, thanks to Greg deciding the time is now!

[ original pin via full of great ideas ]

We hit up Lowe’s on Saturday, obviously, because Lowe’s knows.

Kenley was pumped.

We got our supplies.

1 x 4 to go the entire way around the mirror
Thin trim with one rounded side for the top and bottom
Crown molding for the top
Liquid nails for mirrors
Caulking
2 cans of white spray paint

Gotta love the standard builder light fixtures.
Don’t worry, that one bulb has been out for months.

The first parts were easy,
measure the width and height of the mirror,
cut the 1 x4 and trim, then spray paint it white.

After the spray paint was dry, it was time to glue with the liquid nails.

We started at the bottom and worked our way up.
I say “we”, but Greg did majority of the work… he’s a rock star.

Then we made the decision to change out the light
because the original crown molding we chose blocked the light.
Big win for us. Great decision on our part.

The hardest part of this project was figuring out how to cut the crown molding,
especially on the side that is not flush against the wall.
We used a miter saw to cut the molding at a 45 degree angle to do an outside corner cut
that you can see on the left side of the mirror.

Our original piece of crown molding was very tall, which ended up blocking the lights and didn’t look good at all.
So back to Lowe’s we went for a third time and picked out a different crown molding that was shorter and more awesome.

We are so happy with the final project and can’t believe it’s the same bathroom.
Such an easy upgrade to the standard mirror and lights that the builders install.