Mod Podge Tutorial for the Casino Freak in your Family

My husband's parents are casino fanatics.

They are also hard to buy for at Christmas time.

One thing you can guarantee...is that if they aren't going to visit

family or run errands....and they leave the house.....

they are going to find a casino. Sometimes, they even

include family in their casino trips.

So, we decided to "put our bet" on this present for Christmas.

We ran to Hobby Lobby and bought our cast of characters.
A cardboard container.
Casino & Road Trip Scrapbook stickers.
Scrapbook paper that has a card theme.

I trimmed the paper just a little longer than the canister.
It took 2 pieces to get all the way around the container.

I used Mod Podge to "glue" it to the container...
Trace the container and cut out a circle to cover the bottom.

Make sure you trim it a little smaller than the container.

To make the edges overlap the top & bottom neatly...you must trim them.

Then work your way around gluing it with the mod podge.

Once this is complete....let it completely dry or you will get some serious bubbling of the paper.

Repeat the same thing with the lid.

After they have completely dried, put a layer of

Mod Podge on the entire project.
Some of you perfectionist will notice I didn't line up the paper....OOPS!

Guess what....I'm NOT a perfectionist AND I covered most of it

up with STICKERS!!!

Once it has completely dried...add sticker embellishments.

*Important: LET IT DRY A FEW DAYS BEFORE TRYING TO PUT ON THE LID!

If not, you will be PRYING it off because it STICKS!!

Don't ask me how I know this.... :(

My In-Laws like playing the PENNY SLOTS....

I seriously thought about putting 1,000 pennies in it....

I DID NOT...instead, we put CASH.

Charles, you can THANK US LATER...lol. :)

Re-purposing a Cabinet Door from ReStore (Habitat for Humanity)

If you live near a ReStore that is run by the Habitat for Humanity charity, you MUST run, not walk to check it out!!

They have tons and tons of building supplies....from old to new.

The prices are out of this world.

I bought this WHITE cabinet door for $1.00

I painted it red with paint I had on hand.

Used blackboard paint that I had on hand.

Bought some embellishments at Hobby Lobby for $2.00...forgot my 40% off coupon.

A drawer pull from Hobby Lobby for $4.00...again, forgot my 40% off coupon.

A box of chalk for $.77.

Touched up with black paint.

Used my trusty little MOUSE sander.

And now I have a Christmas gift for less than $10.00.

If you were to buy one already done and probably made in China, you would be paying at least $25.00! This is good ole AMERICAN MADE by ME!!

Check out A Soft Place to Land for more great DIY Projects!!!

The Difference in ONE YEAR...Changes.

Sometimes we don't pay attention to the many changes we experience in a year's time. I was going through some of my pictures and came across this picture of my niece, Lindsay, pregnant with her first child. This picture was taken just a year ago.....

...and one year later....

This little blessing made his appearance in April of 2009.
I am sure this family has a long list of changes from the past year.

Take a moment to look back at the past year and REMEMBER.
Remember the many blessings you've experienced.
Remember the things that didn't seem like blessings, yet you grew from them.
Remember the family and friends who got you where you are now.
Remember the things that still don't seem like they could possibly be good...
Remember the changes.
Remember the love.
Remember that TODAY is the PRESENT...a gift.
Remember to Thank God.

Country Living MUST See THIS House!!

I am so excited to show this house to you!!

This house is sooooo Christmassy, that even the jolly ol' man

comes here to RELAX! (No, not talking about Ron...ba haa)

You might remember this home from the PRIMITIVE HOUSE TOUR I did early this year....

Donna has made a special retreat just so he can be at one with the peace

everyone else seems to enjoy at this time of year.


Look! There is even a special Santa wreath to make him feel even more special!
You have to click on the picture to look at this wreath up close.....look at all
the vintage Santas.


See! No stress on that face!

Let's take a look around the rest of the house....

Here is the antique stove that gets a regular paint job...

The Hoosier cabinet...w/ Santa himself.

A cookie cutter wreath in the kitchen!!! Look at the tree to the right!

I love the Santa hats for valance....

There is so much to look at in this house...I would

surely crash your computer because I could show a ton of

pictures.

Santa hats for the CHAIRS.....isn't that adorable?

There is more to show...haven't even made it to the bedrooms....

stay tuned....

Special thanks to Donna for letting me do this....and if you know someone at Country Living or any other magazine....CONTACT ME....I can HOOK you up!!!

I am participating in some home tours in the blog world (Click the links):

MY INSPIRED ROOM

HOOKED ON HOUSES

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY

Some CRAFTY Christmas Decorating.....

I got the vintage screen door at a garage sale for $5.00!

The white board to the right is for homeschooling purposes....just being real, can't have it looking all pretty with no practical....lol.

I inherited the vintage baubles and made them into a wreath last year.

I entered it into the county fair and got 3rd...I thought it got a bad ribbon...because 3rd place is WHITE...this was pink or yellow...it wasn't white!

They aren't ALL vintage baubles....didn't have enough.

I saw this idea on another blog....yep, those are the Dollar Tree boxes....

Total cost = $3.00 only because they came in 3 different packages...but there are

also 3 other boxes you do NOT see here. So, really it was $1.50.

I still have to do some tweaking w/ this wall.....

I made this FUR wreath last year....found the vintage tiny birds for $.50!

This is a pretty version of the movie THE BIRDS....lol.

I got the frame for $1.00 at a garage sale...used chalkboard paint and chalk ink to make the sign.

I got the vintage tree last year after Christmas....$8.00.

I THINK it might be to hold Christmas cards, but they don't look right on it....

soooooo....I got out the white garland....and started wrapping.

Here is it finished with just the garland.....

I added TWINKLE lights...vintage of course. I also call them fairy lights because they have the little flowers on them. Unfortunately, they don't flash at the same time....they do it in SECTIONS....there is no method to the madness...I refused to take them off this year...but will certainly do different lights next year.

I added vintage baubles that I've acquired from garage/estate sales over the summer.

Here is the final display....until I decide to change something....I might add a vintage tablecloth....

Ignore the shutters to the sides....those aren't supposed to be there.