Another free calendar

Here is another free calendar courtesy of a print a day. The dates have been left out so that you can use it year after year.

Free Advent Calendar

Courtesy of Mibo.

Tutorial: Starburst Mirror

With the nice versions of these mirrors going for over $100, it's worth attempting to make your own. This is actually my sister's DIY project, but since I'm the crafty one, I helped a bit.

Tutorial can be found here.

We did stray from the tutorial somewhat. We used spray paint instead of silver leaf and a larger mirror in place of the automotive mirror.

DIY Snuggie

First came the freedom blanket, then the slanket and then the snuggie. They all seem pretty ridiculous and the snuggie commercials are extremely cheesy. But then I got to thinking about all the times when I have been nice and warm under a blanket and need to grab the remote, or the phone or eat something and you have to weigh the options of whether exposing your hands to the cold air is worth it. Maybe there is something to this whole blanket with sleeves idea after all.

No need to buy one, just make one yourself. Free snuggie patterns are available here and here. Happy snuggie making!

Free Photoshop Brushes

If you are looking for free Photoshop brushes, patterns and other digital freebies check out Pixels & Ice Cream. They are extremely generous allowing people to use them for both personal and commercial use.

2010 Printable Calendars

Printable Dog Silhouette Calendar

Nice and Simple Printable Calendar

My 2010 printable calendars are up for sale in my etsy shop. Make sure to take a look!

Tutorial: Lawn Decorations

Aren't they adorable? Originally my plan was to make a Scooby Doo scene, but since we were already into the month of October I decided to go with these characters instead. If you know how to use Adobe Illustrator you can create anything you like, then just use the tiling feature for printing and tape them together.

Lowe's has a tutorial on how to make lawn decorations here.

A few tips:

* I ended up using regular plywood because we had some lying around. Exterior finished plywood is expensive but in the end would have been a better idea. If you get up close to my decorations you can see that the plywood chipped and splintered around the outlines.

* Lowe's recommends exterior paint but that is too costly and not necessary. I bought regular acrylic paint from JoAnn's. I also noticed that Wal Mart carries an outdoor acrylic by FolkArt. The key here is to make sure that you go over it with an outdoor clearcoat (I used Minwax Outdoor ClearShield). Get the brush on kind not the spray.

Initially I tried to protect them with Valspar indoor/outdoor clearcoat spray. It left a strange whitish discoloration in certain spots and after some rain the paint started to bubble.

* Priming the wood before applying paint is a good idea too.

Happy Howloween

Trick or Treat Street

I went to a quilt show a couple of months ago and discovered "Trick or Treat Street" a fabric line designed by Sherri Berry. Adorable. I bought the panel immediately and it now hangs on my front door in celebration of Halloween. I was so enamored with the characters that I also made two life size decorations for the front yard. I'll post that tutorial later this week.

If you are interested in purchasing the panel for yourself, see over the rainbow.