Crafting With Tape Measures: Featuring Danielle of EatBreatheBlog

Danielle from EatBreatheBlog is sharing a crafting tip using old tape measures. A great way to recycle!

Crafting with Tape Measures

I’ve long been interested in incorporating repurposed art into my home – that is, the sort of thing I could make myself out of found objects. I seized the opportunity when I moved to the New York City (NYC) area and moved into a home that needed a lot of attention. As the NYC remodeling expert I hired went through my home with her team, I found myself inspired by the tools of the construction trade and decided to use some of them in my renovated home.

The first room the crew worked on was a workspace where I could work on messy projects, like gardening. I tried to be artsy with screwdrivers and hammers but the result was nothing I was eager to display in my home. I found success, however, when I started working with cloth tape measures. I decided to make something small for a few rooms in the house, wanting to incorporate a design theme through my space. I had hung up photos that spoke to my interest in gardening and decided to replace the thin sliver of matting with sections of measuring tape. All I needed to do was section off the tape and glue it in place. Doing so gave the pictures a unique look and proved to be a conversation starter.

The remodeling crew also worked on the kitchen, which is where I decided to hang a dry erase/corkboard to keep track of coupons, recipe cards, and notes to myself. On the dry erase half of the board, I cut up a measuring tape to form a 1-10 numbered to-do list. I glued the individual numbers down and drew lines with a permanent marker to separate each list item. My initial idea was to use the numbers for a grocery list, but it didn’t take long to realize that would prove problematic when it came time to actually go to the store.

The final project the remodelers worked on was refurbishing a room with great natural light and turning it into a study/library. The crew assembled some bookshelves for me and I created my easiest craft – cloth tape measure bookmarks. My initial idea was to glue tape measure strips along the length of the shelves but doing so made my home’s design theme a little too overwhelming. (I’m glad I taped them in place first to see if I would like it.) For the bookmarks, all I used was a selection of measuring tapes, glue, and a sealant (I used Mod Podge) to protect them from getting grubby. Now wherever my books go, so will the bookmarks.

Ideas for crafting with tape measures abound. I’m glad I was inspired by the work crew that came to my home (and I’m still trying to make that screwdriver art a reality). Working with the measuring tapes was easy and fun to do, not to mention inexpensive. I plan to add a few more details to my home, but for now I’m happy with the projects I’ve completed.

Thanks for sharing this fun project Danielle! Don't forget to check out her blog,EatBreatheBlog. Lots of great information on health, wellness, and life.

Would you like to do a guest post on A lil bird? We would love to have you feature a project, your blog, or anything that strikes your fancy. Email us at alilbird3 (at) gmail (dot) com, we look forward to hearing from you!

50 Golden Years

Thursday marks my parents 50th wedding anniversary! 50 golden years is a big deal, so a few weeks ago we through them a small party of family and a few friends to celebrate. We had to do it before school started so everyone could attend. I think it turned out well. I started the planning process at the beginning of the year and wasn't feeling super creative. Thankfully there are plenty of creative people out there sharing the ideas on the world wide web. The "theme" was gold, since it was a golden anniversary. The "50" photo collage was Martha's idea, that woman is amazing. I decided to do a mix of color and b/w photos, mainly because I was lazy and didn't want to change them.

My niece made this cute arraignment from pie tins. Isn't it so cute!! You can find the full tutorial here.
I saw this idea last year on Ohdeedoh and bookmarked it, I knew I would want to use it and this was the perfect occasion. Instead of a guestbook, we had everyone "leaf" their thumbprint. We bought a foam board from the dollar store and cut it to 16x20, my husband the artist drew the tree, and my sister in law made the names and date in vinyl. Here is the before.....

And the after. Once it was full we framed it and my parents now have it hanging in their home.
We had a small luncheon with sandwiches, salads, and desserts. I found this fun gold star edible glitter at Hobby Lobby. It was way cute, but since I made the cupcakes the day before it bled a little and wasn't as gold. Lesson learned for next time.
One of my other sister in laws made the cake. SHE MADE THIS.

It was so delicious, yummy red velvet, and an absolutely stunning cake.

I did a DIY favor bar where guests could take a little scoop of gold with them.

We put our projector to good use and my brother made a slide show of the pictures throughout the years. It was great, he had the photos set to songs from the decade they were in. I loved it.
For the centerpieces I found some wood letters at Hobby Lobby, with a little gold paint, and some super glue, they turned out really cute. We added "50" confetti throughout the tables.
These tissue pomanders were fun and inexpensive, but I am not going to lie, they took awhile to make. My sisters, sister in laws, and nieces had a craft night and it took all of us a good 4 hours to make 12 of these. We found the candelabras at the dollar store, and did 2 different sized to signify my Mom and Dad.
Overall it was a great party, it is always fun to get together with family, visit, and eat don't you think?

Tidy Tips: Upcycling Bread Bags

Like many of my tidy tips, this is another one of those I learned from my Mother. Speaking of my Mother, last weekend I threw their Golden Anniversary party, and everyone said it turned out wonderful! I thought everything went well, as soon as I have pictures back I will share them! Anyway, for as long as I can remember my Mother has saved her bread bags. They get the most use out of them around Thanksgiving and Christmas. That is when my Mother makes her famous rolls, she always makes tons extra, because we all love them so much, and then sends us home with an upcycled bread bag full of delicious rolls.

Lately, finances have been SUPER tight around here, so I have been using my bread bags for lots of things, for example, I buy a big block of cheese at Costco, then put it in a bread bag with a bag clip to keep it fresh. My favorite use lately though, has been to use them for recipes. One of my favorite treats is Muddy Buddies, the recipe tells you to put the coated cereal into a gallon bag and shake it up with the powdered sugar. I just can't get on board with buying gallon bags, I can do sandwich and snack, but I can't justify the money or waste buying more bags. SO, I use my bread bags, it works PERFECT. I have also used them to make sweet potato fries, I found that recipe HERE via Pinterest.

Just so you know I am telling the truth, here is my example. Depending on what mood I am in, I will either just shake out the bread crumbs or sometimes I will wash the inside of the bread bags with hot soapy water. Today, it was the shake out method. Here is my bread bag, ready to go.

For the buddies, I do a cup of powdered sugar on the bottom of the bag, and the other cup on the top, it helps to evenly distribute a little better.
The key is to leave a bit of air in the bag to shake everything around, shake it up good! My son likes to help me with this part, even at 15 months, he does a good job!
Here is the proof, perfect muddy buddies.
These ones are actually lemon buddies, YUM! I found this recipe via Pinterest as well, I am addicted it is true! Now I LOVE LOVE LOVE lemon, I am talking if my dentist hadn't forbid me from eating lemons, I would eat them like an orange, I love them that much. That said, this recipe needed a tiny bit more lemon than the recipe called for. So to remedy my lemon addiction, I added a little bit more lemon juice on the top of the buddies after they were done. These are an amazing, yummy summer time treat! Don't worry I still love the good ol' regular ones too. You can find the lemon buddy recipe in its entirety HERE.

Happy Upcycling!

S more's Simplified

It's August already, this summer has flown by! It doesn't help that it was in the 60's until the second week of June. I know a lot of people are complaining about the heat, but I love it! I am a summer girl and August makes me sad, it means summer is almost gone. Who doesn't love the grand summer tradition of S more's? We try to make some every chance we get. Saturday night we had a summer night of fun. Swimming, a BBQ, S more's, and an outdoor movie, it was grand. When I married my husband I learned a new way to make S more's. It is fun and a lot easier for the kids. I still love traditional S more's, but I have really taken a liking to the simplified version.

We started up the coals and waited for them to get just right...

Gathered the S more's supplies, yes you saw it right those are fudge striped cookies....
These babies are the way to simplify your S more's. The cookies act like the gram cracker and the chocolate is already there. Easier for the kids to manage, they don't have to worry about holding the chocolate on the cracker.

Once your mallows are perfect....
You slap them in between 2 cookies and you are good to go! Delicious!
What do you think? Have you ever tried S more's this way?

Something to think about Sunday...

I just wanted to share an inspirational quote that I found. I prettied it up via Picnik, and found the GORGEOUS "Country Road" photo here. I would love to take a walk down that very road with my sweet husband. It's with him that I see my brightest future, and I'm so grateful for his love, support, honesty, and strength.

DIY Summer Movie Night

I.LOVE.SUMMER. I love the heat, the outdoors, and all of the fun! Friday was the epitome of a great summer day. Swimming in the afternoon, dippy dogs for dinner, and an outdoor movie, it was too fun. My in laws own the lot next to them and have a sport court with a chain link fence. I had an idea that this would be perfect for an outdoor movie, but didn't know how to make it work, I didn't own a projector, and they are expensive. Luckily I married an amazing man, who is frugal, and with our powers combined, we made an amazing, inexpensive outdoor movie night.

This is possible for anyone, even if you don't have an empty lot, you could do it in your backyard or the side of your house. First chore is to find a projector. Since my husband is a student, he spends a considerable amount of time on campus, and has become quite familiar with what campus has to offer. One of the hidden gems on the campus of several Universities is their surplus and salvage. They sell all their "old" supplies at a huge discount since they initially bought it tax exempt. The real trick is patience, at our local University once the products have been on sale for 2 months, they go on DEEP discount. We got a fully functional Dell projector only 5% of its bulb used for SIXTY DOLLARS!!! It is a $1600 projector, you can't find a better deal than that! So the big task at hand was done. Most projectors hook up to a laptop, we used our Xbox, it worked great.

You will need a few extension cords for all of your plugs, my in laws have a bunch they use at Christmas time, with multiple outlets that were perfect. You will also need speakers, but just use whatever you have available. We have a surround sound system that we just packed up and took over, the quality was amazing.

The next task it the screen, originally we were going to buy this cheap sheet from IKEA, but my mother in law happened to have a bolt of white fabric, score! We sewed two pieces together to make our screen. To make the screen easy to set up, we sewed little strips on each corner and hooked it to carabiners.

The carabiners attached to the chain link fence and we were ready to go!
Here is the set up, the projector, Xbox, and speakers.
Since we had power outside I brought out the popcorn pumper for added fun!

We rented Rango from Redbox, here is my attempt at a picture with the movie going, not so great.
Everyone had a great time, don't forget bug spray!

We have had movie night twice already and plan on having a few more before summer is through!

Making Button Bracelets: Featuring Danielle of EatBreatheBlog

Danielle from EatBreatheBlog is sharing a super fun craft today. Perfect for a hot summer day to break out of the boredom!

Crafting Button Bracelets

Button bracelets are a quick and easy craft. Even if someone isn't the crafty type with tons of supplies, they will certainly have a stash of buttons around the house. Some people even make a hobby out of collecting vintage buttons. Now it’s time to gather up those buttons and put them to good use while making a fun accessory. New buttons may be used too, and fabric and craft stores have some really interesting ones to choose from. They’re inexpensive, but with the right coupons, you can practically get a whole bag for free! Furthermore, the design and color composition ideas are endless.

For this project you will need only a few things:
1/4" or 3/8" thick white elastic
An assortment of buttons
Needle and colored thread

Pick a mix of colors and sizes of buttons that is pleasing. Mixing new and vintage buttons gives a funky look. Smaller buttons in pastel colors give a daintier, more feminine look. Use a repeating pattern or all one-of-a-kinds. Stacking smaller buttons on top of larger buttons gives you a layered look for added interest and texture. Pick a thread that matches or complements the color of buttons chosen. Use a pop of color or clear nylon thread that can blend in.

Wrap the elastic loosely around the wrist and place it where a bracelet would sit comfortably, making sure it is not too tight or too loose. Cut to size with 3/4" for overlap and mark the elastic right past the overlap point. Fold the elastic in half and mark this halfway point, too.

Lay the elastic flat on a table to use as a guide for placing the buttons. Take the buttons and figure out the desired layout and how many buttons will be needed. Make sure not to place the buttons past the end mark made on the elastic. The design looks best if the buttons overlap each other a bit, so remember this when laying them out. Reference the pictures for help in placement. After the layout is done, the elastic can be sewn together by hand securely to form the bracelet.
Starting in the middle of the elastic, sew on the buttons one at a time. Knot the thread after each button is attached to keep it secure. To make the knots, thread the needle up under the stitches, pull the string through and thread the needle through the loop that is made and pull tight. Do this a couple of times to secure the buttons. Make sure to have the buttons overlap each other so the elastic does not show through. Keep sewing on the buttons until the bracelet is covered. Adjust the layout if needed to get proper coverage of the elastic. Try the bracelet on for size and admire the handiwork!

Button bracelets are fun to make and the design possibilities are endless. These also make great gifts and items for craft sales. Grab those buttons and make one today!

Thanks for sharing this fun project Danielle! Don't forget to check out her blog, EatBreatheBlog. Lots of great information on health, wellness, and life.

Would you like to do a guest post on A lil bird? We would love to have you feature a project, your blog, or anything that strikes your fancy. Email us at alilbird3 (at) gmail (dot) com, we look forward to hearing from you!