Organization Week : Craft supplies

I am one of the lucky ladies out there that happens to have a craft room! It doubles as a guest room/our son's room when he is home every other weekend. But for the most part, that room is MINE! I love it in that room. All of my fantastic crafting items are in there. My beloved glue gun is in there *sigh*. My husband's grandmother gave me a fantastic wall unit that covers the better half of one wall and is perfect for storing all of the crap precious items that I have amassed collected over the years. This is how I keep the chaos low and my wall unit looking tidy until the day that the doors get installed {hint hint, husband o' mine}.

Fabulous, right?! And this is just one hunk of that room! It is Heaven you guys, I will do a whole post about it when I get it just how I am wanting it :) Pretty much everything is grouped in like items.

Beads and jewelry making things are in plastic cases and color coordinated and put into photo boxes. I have tons of jars that hold my fabulous button collection, some chipboard odds and ends, safety pins etc. This is my favorite shelf...

Baskets hold little wooden things that will go into my fairy garden and another holds magnetic stuff. My goal today is to get tags on all of the baskets so it is easier to see where things are at a glance.

Last but not least are the cigar boxes. They are the perfect size for holding markers, jewelry making tools, cards etc. These too will be labeled by the end of the day. I saw a fabulous idea a year or so ago on a blog using little pulls so they are easier to pull out of a stack. I need to hunt for that article... how do you store your crafting supplies?

Organization Week: Hair Accessories

I am a big fan of baby bows... I mean a B.I.G fan! I don't even think that Sophia was a few hours old when I slapped her first bow in her hair. I always had this fear that people would think she was a boy {which still happens even with a big ol' bow in hair... go figure}. I just think bows are so pretty and cute and well, I just love them. The only problem with bows is they are so easy to misplace. I learned pretty early on that if I was going to support my bow buying/making habit, I needed to figure out a way that I could organize them easily and for cheap {I mean, I had to do it for cheap so I could buy more bows}. 

I made two different places to organize hair bows in my daughters room. The first place was to organize her clips, and the second place was to organize her headbands. This is nothing ground braking, people! I used many tried and true methods but with my own spin on it.

Hair Bow Holder:

{items needed}:

~ old canvas {even a piece of sturdy cardboard/old frame/piece of wood would work}

~ material 

~ ribbon

~ staple gun

I usually have way more bows up than this, but this picture was taken on a "bad" organizing week. Do as I say, not as I do people!

{what I did}:

The process is so easy that I don't think it even warrants a step-by-step explanation. All I did was take an old canvas {side story behind the canvas: I decided to make some beautiful art work for my hubs office... well lets just say two hours later all I had to show for it was a canvas that looked like... ummm something brown and nasty was smeared all over it. Not my most shining artistic moment}.

I took some leftover fabric from her crib bedding that my mom helped me make and pulled it taught and straight and stapled it to the back using a staple gun. Then I added coordinating ribbon by stapling it down the canvas vertically. Lastly, I added a piece of ribbon to the top and hung it up next to her changing table. 

Headband Organizer:

{items needed}:

~ Round vase {about the same size round as an oatmeal container}--- I got mine at the dollar store awhile back

~ NOTHING ELSE!

{what I did}:

I took headbands and put them around a vase. That's it! I threw around the idea of making a headband holder out of an old oatmeal container, but that would have required some decorating of said oatmeal container and I did not have anything on hand that matched her room. 

And guess what? Once I added all of her head bands you wouldn't have even been able to see the decorating anyway. So I say the glass vase solution was a win!

So there you have it! That is how I keep my love for baby hair accessories under wrap. Simple, easy, and organized!

coffee filter pom-poms {three ways}

Some business first: Starting in September, Hey sis will have a themed week, the first week of every month. Is there a certain area of crafting that you would like us to feature {i.e. parties, holidays, gift giving, etc}? Let us know!
Our first themed week will be next week {August 29th- September 2nd} and it is all about organization. If you have a great organizing tip you would like to share with our readers {or something that you need help with}, send us an email at heysisblog@gmail.com and let us know!

Alright, enough business... on with the good stuff!


I was recently given a huge container full of coffee filters. They have been sitting in my office, staring at me, taunting me. I knew that there was something cute I could do with them, but I had no idea what.

I finally made a decision to use them to make some pom-pom puffs. I totally winged it {isn't that what I always do} and I came up with three different ways that turned out so cute {and if I am being honest, I came up with a few others that were hideous}. The beauty of this project is that it was 100% FREE!


Pom-pom #1: Classic Look
Items Needed:
~ Coffee Filters
~ Hot Glue Gun
~ Piece of Trash {wadded up in a ball and wrap in tape}
~ Wooden Dowel {optional}

{one} Put your finger or the wooden dowel in the middle of the coffee filter and wrap it.
{two} Place a dab of hot glue on the end of the coffee filter and push onto your ball o' trash.

{three} Continue adding coffee filters till you get the desired fullness you want.
Helpful Hint: Start covering the ball all over very loosely. Then fill in the bald spots. This will make your pom-pom look more even in the end.
{four} When you have the desired fullness, use a pair of good scissors to sheer away any bumps you don't like.

Pom-pom #2: Water Lily Look
Items Needed:
~ Coffee Filters
~ Hot Glue Gun

{one} Grab 3 or 4 coffee filters and place on top of each others. 
{two} Fold the coffee filters in half a few times till you end up with a triangle.

{three} Cut the ends off in a triangle . 
{four} Continue to do this step to four different stacks of filters. With each stack of filters cut a little smaller than the last. 

{five} Start with the largest coffee filters, and hot glue a small dab in the middle and stack one on top of the other. When stacking place them on top of each other so that they are not all exactly turned the same way. 

{six} Continue to do this with each size. Hot glueing all the coffee filters together. 

{seven} Flip stack over.

{eight} Begin scrunching in each layer once at a time, till you end up with something that looks like a water lilly. 

Pom-pom #3: Classic with a twist. 
Items Needed:
~ Same as Pom-pom #1


{one} Start by cutting your coffee filters the same way as pom-pom #2, but keep all your coffee filters the same size {instead of all different sizes}
{two} Hot glue your coffee filters to your ball o' trash the same way as you did with pom-pom #1. 

The beauty of this pom-pom is you don't have to worry about trimming it in the end because it is supposed to be different levels!


I linked up to the following:
Blue Cricket Design 
    
Go and check out other amazing projects to get even more inspired...

When life gives you lemons...

Throw them in a white bowl and make your kitchen look cute!

Throw a few slices down the garbage disposal, clean a stain off the counter, rub a slice on your fingernails to get the yellowy stain that red polish leaves behind ...

and don't forget to slice a few up to have ready for guests to share a yummy glass of icy cold water or iced tea with you on a warm summer afternoon! :)

Happy Giving Birth Day to MEEEEE!!!!

This week, baby #5 {aka, Hannah} turned 11! My fabulous husband brought home 18 of these beauties to thank me for birthing our kiddo :) He's a keeper!

It was a pool party/polka dot theme, here a few of my favorite shots from the day {more to come, I promise!}

yep, I stole *ehem borrowed Rachelle's idea for using baby food jars {did some traditional cup cakes also, I liked them being different heights :)} for her cup cakes. Word to the wise... they WILL cook over and make the jars messy if you fill them too full. I did mine about 3/4 full-ish and made a big mess, but I decided that it added texture {others might call this laziness, I called it "creativeness" ;)} and left them as they were. Guess what?? No one cared!

** can I just point out really quick how insanely cute my cousin's son is?! Hannah isn't too bad herself! ;)**

Fireplace Makeover: Part 2

On Monday I left you with something that looked like this...

Not what I would consider a visual improvement to the green granite we started with {safer? Yes! Prettier? Not yet!}

That is when I came swooping in {I left James to build while I went to the fabric store} and started sewing.

{What we did}

How to: Cover the Facade
{one} Cover the facade in batting. To do this I cut pieces and wrapped the facade and used a staple gun to hold it into place {ok... and a little duct tape}

{two} Cut your fabric to size: This is where you are sort of on your own because every fireplace is different. However, if you are lucky you will have just a simple rectangle box to cover and not some crazy lopsided U shape thing... but I digress! I was fortunate in the fact that for the top piece I purchased upholstery fabric {which I am in love with. Seriously, I swooned when I saw this} that was just wide enough that we were able to cut a {lopsided} U shape piece and consequently not have to deal with seams for the top piece. For the side pieces {in brown, duck-cloth by the way} I cut three rectangle pieces to cover each side. I also cut long strips of the orange.

Sophia posing on our upholstery fabric before we cut into it!

{three} Sew: I cut our three brown pieces together and also used the orange to create some piping.
{four} Pin it up: I pinned our piping to our topper and pined the brown fabric to the piping and them slipped it over the top of our facade to make sure that it fit properly... IT DID!
{five} Sew: Then I sewed up all the pined sides and slipped it onto our facade

{six} Lastly we took our staple gun and pulled the fabric tightly around the back and stapled it in place. For the staples that did not go in nicely, we hammered those in.

Once we put it into place, we let our biggest critic test it out... Thank goodness, she approved!

Added bonus! I had enough leftover upholstery fabric that I was able to make three throw pillows for our living room also.

So just to remind you, here is the before and after. It is functional and pretty: Win/win!

Fireplace Makeover: Part One {bye bye deathtrap}

This little project is seriously like another child to me. Crazy I know, but that is what it feels like. Right before I had Sophia, about a year ago, I started brainstorming some ideas about what we were going to do about the death trap that is out granite fireplace.

DEATH TRAP! Sharp pointy edges... everywhere!

For a while I just threw around the idea of throwing some of that foam piping stuff you can buy at Home Depot around it and call it a day {this was my thought process when I was ready to burst pregnant b/c the thought of doing anything other than that exhausted me... in fact even the thought of having to drive to Home Depot exhausted me}.


However, the more I thought about the more I hated loathed this plan. You see, our little fireplace actually is the focal point from our kitchen, living room, and dining room. You can see it from both of our hallways. In fact, unless you are literally in one of our bedrooms, with the doors closed, you can see this fireplace. So the thought of having a bunch of foam piping wrapped around the major focal point of our house was not an appealing option.


A few months later, after more brainstorming, I came up with another plan. This one involved still adding the foam piping, but sewing a pad that would be placed on top of the bench part of the fireplace. This seemed like a perfect idea to me. I figured the cushion would mask the hideousness of the piping and my problem would be solved. However, the more I thought about that idea the less I liked it as well. I really wanted to be able to put piping down the two sides of the fireplace as well, and a cushion was not going to hide that.


At this point, I went to my friend, the internet, and scoured looking for options... but I came up short handed. There is no way that I am the first person to deal with this sort of problem. How can I not find anything out there? That is when I got a little scarred! Maybe there is no solution.


That is when I had an epiphany {i.e. my genius mother said, "why don't you just build a facade around it"}. A facade?!?!?! BRILLIANT!


We kept putting off the project because, to be honest, we knew it was going to take some work. However, it got to the point that we needed to get it done because Soph was getting to that "pull up on everything, even if it is not meant to pull up onto" stage. Now that it is built and finished I kinda {read: obsessively} LOVE IT! Seriously, I wish I would have done it a long time ago... oh, how I love hindsight!

{what you need}
~ Pieces of plywood/particle board cut to size for the top and sides of your mantle
~ 2x2's cut to size to run across the inside of your facade {these are the braces to hold your plywood together}
~ Nails or wood screws {whatever you choose to use get ones that are long enough to really stabilize your facade}
~ Material {for our project we used three different types}
~ Batting
~ Staple gun
~ Piping {the soft kind I mentioned earlier. You can find this at Home Depot for CHEAP! It is used for winterizing your pipes}
~ Duct tape


{what we did}
How to: build the facade:
~ First we measured all the sides of our fireplace. We added 2 inches to our measurements on top {both vertically and horizontally} to make-up for the 2x4's we were using as stabilizers for our sides. We also added 4 inches to our front piece to make up for the 2x4's in each corner---- Are you confused yet? Here is a diagram to help!

~ Next we cut our ply board using our dimensions above. Dimensions were: 60"x 14"{that fit on top of the yellow top line on the left of our diagram}, 48"x14" {yellow, top right}, 52"x15 {pink front}, 52"x 14" {black, top}, 74"x15" {left, bottom side}, and 62"x15" {right, bottom side}. SIDE NOTE: The top pieces on the left and right seem short, but it is because the front top is already covered, so we had to subtract that wen cutting our boards because we did not want things to overlap.
~ Then we cut the 2x2's. Dimensions: {4} 15" pieces, {2} 52" piece, {2} 48" piece, {2} 50" pieces


Are you with me so far?


~ Then we screwed all the 2x2's together creating a frame.

~ Next we added the plywood pieces to the frame with screws/nails.
~ Lastly, we added some duct tape to hold together a few of our seams {classy right?}, and attached our foam piping.

Can you say hot mess?!?!?! Now, obviously I don't leave it like this {I guess you could if duct tape and gray foam is the aesthetic you are going for... but we weren't}.


Be sure to stop by on Wednesday for part two of my fireplace makeover. Also, if you have any questions so far, leave a comment and I will try to clear it up in Wednesday's post.

zebra tray {diy style}

My daughter is turning one in about 3 weeks, and I have been trying to do a little here and there to keep myself for feeling overwhelmed right before the party. I knew a few months back that I wanted to use zebra print and hot pink in her party {with a little flair of poodle... I know that sounds strange but I promise it will be so cute... just you wait}. 


I started searching a few weeks back for some cute zebra print serving trays. Here are a few that I found that I loved...

"More than Paper" Zebra Tray- $40

M & N's Custom Monogrammed Gifts- $42

Haiti Gallery Art & Home Decor- $24.95

Any of these trays would have been a perfect fit for the party, the only problem was the price. I am working with a pretty tight budget for this party, and I could in no way justify spending that much on something that was going to be used for one party {I am sure I would reuse it for other special occasions, but not that often}. 


So, I decided to create my own zebra tray{s} and they turned out perfect for what I needed. It took me about 30 minutes to make both trays and it required no glueing, no sewing, and no clean-up! 

{what you need}:
~cookie tray {I picked up 2 at the dollar store}- $2
~ zebra print duct tape {I got mine at Michaels with a 40% off coupon}- $2.99
GRAND TOTAL {for both trays}- $4.99


Disclaimer: I did not take pictures of the process... in fact the tray in the above picture is one of my old cookie trays, hence the reason it looks a bit *ahem* loved. I will try to explain the process the best that I can.


{here's what I did}:
{one} cut 4 small strips of duct tape and attach them to your four corners {this is important because it creates a buffer, in case all your corners don't line up perfectly}
{two} cut and stick long strips down on the top of your tray, going slightly up on the walls of your tray. 
{three} cut strips of duct tape the length {plus a little wiggle room} of the four sides of you tray. 
{four} doing one side at a time cover the four walls of your tray, lining up the edge of your duct tape to the place were the flat part of your tray and the wall match up and then working up and around the back edge. 
{five} continue with all four walls and you are done!

{what I LOVE about this tray}:
~ It wipes down easily without worrying that you are going to ruin it.
~ When you get bored of the zebra print you can remove all the duct tape and make a different try to match your next party {or better yet just cover over the duct tape}
~ It was EASY!
~ It didn't cost an arm and a leg {I think that may be my favorite part}

I am still throwing around the idea of adding a little monogram to it but I am not sure yet. The tray will be used for food, so the monogram will most likely end up covered up... Hmmmm.... What do you all think? Should I add the monogram or leave it as is?