From this to that Friday: Riding in Style

I have two boys. One is ten and is a Webelo in Cub Scouts. The other is 13 and is in Boy Scouts. We started Cub Scouts with both of them when they were in first grade as tiger Cubs. We love scouts!

Some people are so glad to never have to do the Pinewood Derby races ever again. That's not us. I will miss it! This year was my son's last race. And I was honestly sad. One year, my husband and I and all of our kids made our own cars. I need to get them all together and take pics of them.

BUT for today's FTTTF, I have the past two years. For those of you who don't know...every boy starts with this:

 Then, they can change this (within the rules) to any shape they want. Last year, my son won Best of show with this AWESOME design he came up with. Yes, my husband and I help, but so does he though the whole process. He helps cut, sand, sand some more, and more...and he does most of the painting all by himself too.

I have to say that my boys have had some cool cars, but I really think this was my favorite (above). 

This year, my son told my husband that he didn't want to worry about winning. He had won 1st place (in speed) another year with a lego car he made and now had made Best of show and he just wanted to make one that he wanted. He just wanted it simple and wanted to stain it. He really likes this look and did it one of his Raingutter Regata boats previously. We loved his attitude about it all. He drew out the shape he wanted and helped cut it and then sanded lots!

It was so simple and smooth looking. He loved it.

Funny thing, is he won 1st place again! About halfway through the derby, he came to me worried saying"Mom, I think I might win and he was seriously sincere about it worrying him. He wasn't trying to. It even broke a wheel off at one point and his dad wasn't able to get off work that day, so I had to try and fix it. I thought oh well, maybe it will slow down bc he had been winning. It did slow down some, but he still won. :) I told him it's ok. You can be happy about it! Then the smile came. Funny boy!

Anyway, I thought these were perfect to show for a FTTTF. I love seeing all the different designs each year!

Be the Good (Yes, again!)

Just had to show you how good this looked on a left over tile I had from when we put our counter in. What a great little gift or to put in a child's room! Can't get enough of this quote, can you tell? lol

Bakers twine and washi tape fun!

Got out my "tree for all seasons" and did it up Fourth of July style. Grabbed some bakers twine and washi tape I already had on hand and love love love the whimsical, festive, fun outcome! (Not the best pic ever coming from my phone, but I take what I get right now. lol)

From this to that Friday: You've got Mail!

THIS!!!!

 was our ugly mailbox that we have had for the past 8 years! I thought about getting a new one and then thought "I can just re-do it!" I gave it a fresh coat of paint. And then had to decide between this Texas style star vinyl"

OR...some flourishes. Since I have this bird hanging below it, the flourishes won! They went better together.

And here you have it!

 So much better! So much cleaner and adds a little more to the porch...next...the front door mat!

Fourth of July Subway Art

So...I am proud of my very own first Subway art creation! I do, however, think it would look better in a rustic themed frame, but I had this one on hand and it works too. Sooo fun! Look familiar from the soaps? :)

Dollar Store Personalized Mini Totes

 Remember these cute little notebooks I made a couple weeks ago? Well...I was thinking about making them for my daughter's bday party. I thought it would be fun to have an arts and crafts themed bday party for her this year.

 So when I saw these cute little mini tote bags at the dollar store (2 for a dollar), I thought "Perfect!"

I wasn't sure how they would do with fabric paint bc they had a semi loose weave, but thought, here goes!

 I designed and cut our some vinyl for the bags and then placed it on the bag as a stencil. Grabbed the white paint...

 And....came up with this! The lines aren't perfect due to the fabric, but I think they're still cute and the little girls will love putting all their goodies in them!

Applying Vinyl (and Inserts) to Soap Bottles

So, I showed you all of the fun things I did to our soap bottles last week:

Well, it was really pretty easy. You can actually buy the bottles empty OR buy them new and full of some likes these below.

Grab some Goo gone and rip what you can of the paper off and then spray with Goo Gone. Rub it and repeat. Some labels that are more like plastic come off way easier than the paper ones. After you get it all off, you may want to then wash the bottle with an all purpose cleaner, to get the residue off before applying vinyl. (It will stick much better this way, bc the Goo Gone leave a kinda greasy feel to the bottle.)

 If you have empty old soap bottles, just buy some filler soap! Grab your inserts, roll them up and place them into the bottle. I put the soap in first, but you can do it either way. If you put your insert in first, make sure you pour soap in front and behind the insert when filling.

 This shows a pic of the insert before placing inside on #1. I grab a long skewer or popsicle stick or something to help straighten out the insert once it is inside.

Tweezers also help, BUT hint for you...don't drop the tweezers inside the bottle. LOL See them below? haha

It really is fun seeing these sitting around the house. And so much cuter than the labels that came on them!

From this to that: Rockin' the Chevron Chairs Re-Do

Yeah! Finally another From this to that Friday!

Remember this? I have been owrking on it off and on over the past couple months and absolutely freakin love love love!!! the way it came out!

It was this: 

And I gave this sneak peek earlier this week on Facebook:

 And now.....

 Wala!

Welll......what do you think? I LOVE! EXCEPT I did NOT love the glossy top. It showed all the imperfections and grooves in the table and also, it made my arms stick to the table! haha So, it is now a matte black on top actually and gloss on the sides and legs.

 I had thought of putting our names on each seat, and my husband suggested this and I like the idea! So fun!

 Well, there you have it!

Wash those grubby hands! (Day 4)

Last day of soaps for this week since it is FTTTF tomorrow! AND you are going to want to see what I have for you!!!

First a few more fun soaps. Steph and Misty...you might need this next one! ;)

 And of course, I had to include one of my fav quotes on one! (This one is on an insert in a bottle that was bought empty. All the others were soap bottles I bought and took those ugly labels off.)

 So, there you have it! All my soap bottles in their glory! Before all the grubby fingerprints cover them. haha

Come back to see the tutorial on Monday of how I got that darn paper off the original bottles so easily!

Clean! Clean! Clean! (more soap!

Love the way these cute fancy schmancy soap dispensers came out!

Who doesn't love mustaches these days?!

 And chandeliers and purple make everything look fancier!

 And then we have a fav of mine. Monograms...thin and bold! I love this one anywhere I put it...kitchen, master bath...love it!

 Come back again tomorrow for more! And the tutorial coming soon too!

Let them be little

Got another one for you today! LOVE this saying! It's a great reminder for me to exercise patience and I love it on the soap dispenser. I need this when I am washing marker off of my 1 year olds hands...and legs...and face...and the wall...lol Gotta love 'em!

This one has the green vinyl on the outside and an insert inside the bottle with the shape of a little stick figure. So cute, don't you think? ;)

Keep calm and creep on!

If you have read my previous posts, you have to know that my kids LOVE Minecraft! I even made a lifesize costume for my son for Halloween, so this one goes in the kids' bathroom! :)

 (Insert inside of green tinted aloe soap)

Sparkling Clean Soap Decor

In celebration of my kids NOT being sick (haha) (I had FOUR of them sick with strep throat at the same time last week!) AND my house being CLEAN, I have something new and fun to show you this week. One a day in fact! I spent some time decorating soap bottles. lol Yep! Had to add vinyl even to them, and I have to say I LOVE! Here's the first two!

This first one has the vinyl applied directly to the outside of the bottle.

The next one has it on an insert that you can place INSIDE the bottle. 

Check back daily to see more. AND I'll be posting a tutorial as well this week for making them. PLUS I'll be listing them in the etsy shop as well!