Mud Pie Reviews

Monday, December 26, 2011

Fun and Easy Gift Ideas

Last week my kids and I made these reindeer noses for friends:

These were so fun and easy to make! I used Whoppers and a cherry sour for the noses and put them in snack size ziploc bags. I attached some hand made tags on the front and that was it! So bright and cheery!

A few other ideas…cover a Sprite bottle with red and black glitter paper to resemble Santa, and attach a tag that reads “May your days be Merry and Sprite”.

We turned a six pack of Dr. Pepper bottles into “Ruldolphs” with pipe cleaner antlers, google eyes and red pom pom noses:

Hope you are enjoying your Christmas as much as we are!

Thanks for visiting!

Posted in : Christmas, crafts

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Easy Scarf Gift Idea

I made several scarves lately and wanted to share how I did it.

First, I purchased some fleece fabric from Hancock fabrics. I used this fabric for two Baylor alums, so went with a pattern of green and gold:

I bought half a yard in order to make two scarves. I used my cutting board and rotary cutter to trim up the edges.

Next I cut the length of the fabric in two (each strip was around 8 inches wide):

To finish them up, I fringed the edges by cutting in 3 inch strips on each end of the scarf. I used straight pins to keep them even.

All done…

Then I rolled them up and topped them with ribbon and a bow!

I also made a whole stash of scarves for Christmas party favors for my daughters class at school. For this project, I used $3 fleece throw blankets from Big Lots and cut it in 6 inch wide strips using the length of the throw blanket. I was able to do 20 scarves using only two blankets.

They were a hit!

Thanks for looking! And Merry Christmas!

Posted in : Christmas, crafts, DIY, tutorials

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Kids Kitchen Before and After & Tutorial

I found this kids play kitchen set at a garage sale and decided to give it a makeover.

Here’s the before:

And here’s the after:

It was in pretty bad shape, with some damage to a few places and doors missing.

My husband created new shelves and support boards where needed …

And I gave everything two coats of creamy white (Behr’s Cozy Cottage)…

To get the diamond shapes, I first made an X on the surface, then spaced lines three inches apart from there. Look close to see…

The repeat going the other direction.

Lines are barely visible here, but enough to paint in the pattern:

For the doors, I pushed them together and drew my lines as if they were one big surface, that way the pattern worked across the break…

I used Behr’s Gobi Desert for the diamonds. Then I glazed it using Ralph Lauren’s Smoke glaze.

For the glaze, I used a sponge brush and just brushed it on, and wiped it off.

Repeat or wipe off as much as you need to in order to get the look you’re going for:

In this picture, the door on the left is glazed but the one on the right is only painted:

After we painted the hardware and replaced all the doors and shelves, we have a brand new play kitchen:

Thanks for looking!

This set is for sale if you’re located in the Dallas area.

Posted in : before and after, crafts, DIY, makeover, tutorials

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Christmas Subway Art Sign

I saw this sweet sign on Pinterest and wanted to make one, too.

I used my Cricut to create this fun sign on a scrap piece of wood. First, I painted it blue, then placed the letters on (except the word “little”). Then I painted it white and peeled off the letters. I freehanded the word “little” in cardinal red paint.

Next, I printed some Christmas sheet music and mod-podged it to the sides.

To finish, I sanded all the edges and corners and used a Q-tip to stain the edges. I used mahoghany-colored stain. I sealed the entire piece with glitter mod podge some extra shimmer.

I topped it off with a trio of miniature jingle bells tied with jute and hung them on the corner.

Merry Christmas!

Posted in : Christmas, crafts, DIY, tutorials

Friday, December 2, 2011

Paintbrush Ornaments

I recently created these paintbrush ornaments for a friend who loves to paint! These were so fun to do!

I started with inexpensive paint brushes from Home Depot, and taped them off for painting.

I chose these colors for the handles and applied with a foam brush:

After this dried, I covered the wooden handles and taped off the brush areas and spray painted the metal section using Rust-oleum spray paints:

After the base coats were all applied, I painted on the snowman face and then finished by hot gluing embellishments from my craft stash.

Finally, I added coordinating ribbon to the handles so they can easily hang on the tree.

Thanks for visiting!

Linking to CSI Project!

Posted in : Christmas, crafts, DIY, tutorials

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Personalized Christmas Ornaments

Today I’m sharing some ornaments I painted as party favors for my daughter’s recent end-of-season soccer party.

I spray painted the wooden circles a cream color, then randomly covered them with vinyl circles I cut with my Cricut. Then I spray painted them pink and removed the vinyl to create the polka dot background.

After they dried, I used my Cricut again to create a stencil and then painted the names black.

I sealed them with a glitter mod podge and topped them off with eyelet hooks and tulle ribbon.

They make great ornaments, and after Christmas they’ll make a fun little decoration for their room!

Thanks for visiting!

Linking to CSI Project!

Posted in : Christmas, crafts, DIY, tutorials

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Christmas Photo Garland

Today I’m sharing our simple photo garland for the banister. We’ve used this garland for a few years now, and I still love it.

It’s a simple garland from a discount store, with several black and white photos attached to the garland with silver glittered (decoupaged)clothespins.