Every Creative Endeavor

10 Fun Valentine Ideas and EBCE Party #11

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Last week we had so many great ideas linked up and we hit our goal of 60!!
Thank you so much to everyone who linked up and made it possible!
Let’s keep it going!!

Here are 10 fun Valentine ideas from last week!

Valentine Cards With Sewn Hearts * Valentine Doily Garland * Valentine Mantel

On the Hour Valentines * Valentine Mailboxes * Valentine Bark

Valentine Wreath * Valentine Heart Centerpiece * Framed Love * Heart and Arrow Wreath

If I featured you – remember to grab your “Featured” button on my sidebar!

Alright let’s see what ya got!!
Remember that all your links are entered to win $50 worth of vinyl from Craft Vinyl!

Linky Party Rules:
1. Please Link back to me!
2. No Etsy Stores, Shops or Giveaways.
3. Please link up new items that you haven’t before
4. Link up no more than TWO projects!!
5. Please, please spread some comment love on at least TWO others!
6. HAVE FUN!!

Oh One more thing – you may want to follow along on Facebook – I’ll be featuring there too!

This post sponsored by:

WhipperCafe–Just a fun little announcement!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:03:00 +0000

Heather over at the darling blog – WhipperBerry – came up with a fabulous idea of having a little community where we could all get together, kick up our feet, grab a bag of OREOS and chit chat – so fun! You can read all the details here!

But the most fun part is that I get to be a Discussion Leader – I will be there two times I week talking about crafting and blogging! I am so excited about it and hope that you will head on over and join me and other fabulous ladies - Today we are going to kick-off the WhipperCafe with some great gals who have some fun stuff to chat about…

Amanda from Every Creative Endeavor will be chatting about Crafting Trends that we Adore.
Jocelyn from Inside BruCrew Life is going to be chatting about Baking with New Products.
Jennn from My Fabuless Life will be chatting about Homemade Cleaning.
Beth from Through the Eyes of the Mrs. will be gabbing about Class Valentine's Parties.
Heather from WhipperBerry will be having just a general WELCOME to the party chat!!

Come say hello and join the great gab for a minute or two or grab a snack, kick back and let's get some serious chatting on.

Etched Glass Flutes

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Do you guys LOVE Valentine's Day?I love my hubby all year but think it's fun to celebrate big and make cute little gifts for loved ones -
something a little more then just a simple Valentine - so I wanted to share with you the first part of my Valentine gifts this year -

I have seen etching all over the place - but have never done it.

To be honest - for some reason - it sorta scared me a little bit -

How do you etch glass??

Weird, right? Because etching this was SO EASY!!

Like - really super duper easy -

First - you need to grab your supplies -

You will need:

champagne flutes

Etching cream

vinyl

and a paint brush

I bought my champagne flutes at Ikea - they were $5 for 6! That works great for me because we hardly ever use them and when we do my 2 year old likes to be in on the action too!

I used my silhouette and cut out the vinyl - if you don't have a vinyl cutter you can use an exacto knife or a die cut machine to cut out your shape.

Peel the vinyl carefully off it's backing and stick it onto your flute.

Now we start the etching process -

Simply brush on a think layer of the etching cream - lightly brushing it on.

Wait for about 5 minutes...

... then wash it off. Peel off your vinyl and your done!

See! I told you it was easy!!

This project only took me about 10 minutes tops -

Quick and easy - but so cute!!

Mine say Husband and Wife - perfect for Valentine's Day -

but you can make your's say whatever you want.

His & Hers

Your names

Nicknames

What will your Glass Valentine Day Flutes say?

I am linked to these great parties!

Glitter Love Letters

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:42:00 +0000

I loved the NOEL sign that I did for Christmas – so much that I thought it would be fun to make a LOVE one for Valentine’s Day -
After all – red and glitter just scream LOVE!

First, I bought these letters from Hobby Lobby.

Then I hot glued them together where they touched.

Next, I used really short staples and my staple gun and stapled the letters together where they touch so I was nice and sturdy.

Then I sprayed it with a good coat of red paint. I just used what I had in my paint supplies so you can use whatever red color you have too – and if you don’t have red spray paint – just bust out your toll paint and brush and brush on a coat – you just need a good red coat so no brown shows through the glitter -

Then I used Glitter Blast that I found at Michaels -
I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this stuff!

Let the glitter dry and put it up for display!

I triple puffy {heart} la la la LOVE my LOVE!! and the glitter just makes me happy!

I am linked to these great parties!

Pantry Organization: Part 2 {The Finale!}

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:31:00 +0000

How was your weekend?
Mine was really low key but really exciting because I finally got the last pieces to finish my pantry that I have been trying to organize – you can see the nightmarish befores here!

I love my pantry and the only single complaint I have is that – it is sooooo deep! Sometimes I feel like if I put something in there I will never seen it again! haha – It started nagging me and I knew I needed to do something about it!

So I got busy and cleaned it out – and scrubbed everything sticky off the shelves!

The first thing I did was grab out my tulle paint and painted the edges white to match the shelves – just that little detail made such a HUGE difference. It made it seem so much brighter and more complete – Then I began to tape it off for stripes!

I tapped it off for a stripe on each level, then painted it gray – the gray is called Woodsmoke – by Glidden.
One thing abut my pantry is that there isn’t any light in it – nor is there a for it – so I knew I needed to keep a lot of white to keep it bright and airy – but I did want some color so I thought the stripes would be perfect.

While the stripes were drying, I made a list of different sections and then cut out coordinating vinyl labels -

I applied them on the walls where I wanted those items to go -

Next it was time to start putting items back and organizing – I headed to Wal-mart and bought a lot of plastic containers for pasta and cereal and rice and baking goods – but what I really wanted and knew would help so much I couldn’t find – can organizers. So I hopped on-line and found a totally awesome store that carries everything I was in need of – The Container Store. They have a lot of awesome products to help organize your pantry. I found these awesome can racks and they were perfect for what I was looking for.

I also used some old and mismatch tupperwear that I had to help sort out some of the little items – like Kool-aid, cake/cupcake/cookie decorating supplies and flavor packages -

I love seeing the stripes and labels with the items in front of them!

It is just so much nicer and makes me much happier– it’s the little things right?

and of course I am loving all my cute labels! You can find them here.

BEFORE

AFTER

So, what do you think? Much better right? I think so!
What projects did you guys wrap up this weekend?

I am linked to these great parties!

Every {Body’s} Creative Endeavor Party #10

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Hip! Hip! Hooray!! It’s Friday and that means it’s time to party!
Last week we linked up 51 – YAY!!!
That is the most we have ever had! Do you think we can make it to 60 this week?

Here are a few that caught my attention last week:

Striped Hallway from Harrison Home

Personalized iphone covers from Funky Pink Cupcakes

Build your Own Fort Kit from Craft Anyway

and the most viewed link was:

Snickerdoodle Bread by Lil’ Luna

Alright let’s see what ya got!!
Remember that all your links are entered to win $50 worth of vinyl from Craft Vinyl!

Oh One more thing – you may want to follow along on Facebook – I’ll be featuring there too!

This post sponsored by:

Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:01:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of my very favorite places to fill a prescription is at my local Walgreens - I love that I can drive up to the window and drop off or pick up my prescription. Drive -up pharmacies are the best especially when you have sick kids in the car or are sick yourself. It is nice to not have to be around other people and share those sickie germs - Love it! I also love that the Walgreens is open 24 hours - because it really bites when you leave the ER at 3:00 in the morning and have to wait hours to get your prescription filled when you're in pain or want to start your antibiotic to get over your sinus infection (yep, that would be me!) The other thing I love is the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens. I mean, who doesn't love to save money - especially on medicine when your sick. Right now Walgreens is offering a special discount on annual memberships for its Prescription Savings Club.

Need some more deets? Here you go!

For $10 a year, a family membership covers everyone in your immediate family, including a spouse, dependents 22 and younger and pets. Individuals may join for $5. Join and receive discount prices on your prescriptions.

Other benefits include:
-Savings on more than 8,000 brand-name and all generic medications
-Discounts on flu shots, pet prescriptions, nebulizers and diabetic supplies
-Bonuses when you purchase Walgreens brand products and photofinishing services

This is a limited time only offer that expries on January 31, 2012 so hurry on over and sign up - Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens

You can support Walgreens and stay updated by liking Walgreens on Facebook and following Walgreens on Twitter -

I love Avocados!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Avocados from Mexico for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of my very favorite foods is an avocado! I love them in salads, soups, sandwiches - you name it and if you can put an avocado on it - I will! Growing up my mom would make us any birthday dinner we wanted and my sisters and I would ALWAYS pick fajitas - I did it for the guacamole! So yummy! Now that I am older and making my own fajitas (expect on my birthday - my mom still does!!) my husband and I have been trying out ways to make the best guacamole - and I think we found it! We love the restaurant Cafe Rio - way yummy Mexican food! but they have some salsa that is amazing! We simply grab a little container of the salsa - a couple Avocados from Mexico - and we are in business! You can bet we are going to making a big ole' bowl of this for the super bowl! There is nothing better than a huge bowl of guac and some chips to make the Super Bowl awesome!

Did you know that Avocados from Mexico has their own I love avocados on Facebook? I had no idea! They have all these fun avocado pictures and fun badges to download! You can also connect with then on twitter at @guacgrl or using the hashtag #iloveavocados -

What are you favorite ways to use avocados? or even better - what is your favorite guacamole recipe? I would love to try it!!

Build a Custom Shelf from Crown Molding {Tutorial}

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:06:00 +0000

There are so many darling things you can do with a mantel – but sadly I don’t have one. Actually – that is a lie. I do have one -
or should I say I have a half finished one that has been sitting uncompleted for about two years. sad right? and to make decorating matters worse – we went and stuck a big ole’ TV right above it so I couldn’t decorate it even if I wanted too.

dang.

But I didn’t let that ruin it for me! This past summer I did some painting and remodeling (Still working on some details before I reveal it) and along the wall in my living room I decided that I wanted a long shelf to use as a décor shelf/pretend mantel. Using crown molding, my pin nailer and the assistance of my hubby – I made my own shelf for about $20 – and it was super easy!

First you need to get your wood from a hardware store. I bought mine from Home Depot. The awesome people who work at Home Depot will cut the wood for you if you don’t have a saw - My shelf is 5 feet long and is made out of poplar - Poplar Wood is great for paint grade projects because it is really soft and easy to sand.

To make this exact shelf you will need:

8 feet of 5 1/4 inch crown molding
5 feet of poplar 7 1/4 inches wide
5 feet of poplar 4 1/2 inches wide
Wood Glue

Mitre the ends of the long pieces on a 45 degree angle both ways – The top of your crown molding will measure 59 1/2 inches. If you are making your shelf bigger or smaller than five feet – your crown should be 1/2 inch shorter than the length of the the top board.

For the sides, you will need to mitre one left and one right at 45 degrees and the backs should be straight. The side pieces will be just long enough to cover the end of the bottom board (mine was 4 1/4 inches on the bottom and 7 inches on the top) When you cut your pieces you will see what I mean.

Your 5 foot piece is going to be sitting on TOP of the crown molding.

Lay your 5 foot piece on the ground – then using wood glue, glue your crown molding pieces to each other – then pin nail the crown together. The nails will hold your pieces in place until your glue dries.

Then glue and pin nail the crown molding to the 5 foot piece (the top).

Next, you want to put in your bottom piece – my bottom piece is 54 inches long – but you can measure from the inside of both crown pieces to get your exact measurement. Then just like before, you will want to glue the whole thing and pin nail it.

We also made corbels – but that is a post for another day (coming soon!) It is really detailed so it is best to have it all by itself.

Then fill your holes with wood filler and sand it down where needed -
(TIP: If you want to, caulk the seam from the crown to the top with paintable caulk – then your shelf will be totally seamless)

Then go ahead and paint it – I used Glidden Antique White. It is the same color as my wall and base and casing in my house. When it is dry, hang that baby up and get to decorating!

To Hang the Floating Shelf: The back of your shelf is hallow – so take a 2x4 that is cut to fit inside your shelf and laying it flat against the wall, find your studs and drill the 2x4 into the wall. Make sure your 2x4 is level!! put your shelf on the 2x4 and on the top – drill in screws – left, middle and right – The screws hold your shelf to the 2x4 and the 2x4 holds your shelf onto the wall!

I love it!! And love decorating it for each Holiday!! So be looking for more “Holiday Shelf Décor” posts from me!

P.S. Would it be helpful to have a tutorial for how to hang the shelf? Sometimes I wonder if other people can understand what I am saying! haha!

I am linked to these Awesome Parties!! And you should too!

Sparkly Snowflake Garland

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:44:00 +0000

We are in the middle of winter and we finally got our first snow storm so I made a fun little Sparkle Snowflake Garland to celebrate! I did a tutorial so you can make one too! I think this would be fun for a winter party of any kind!

The first thing you need to do is pick a size for each leg of your snowflake – the bigger the size the bigger the snowflake! I made mine with 4” legs so I cut out a bunch of 4” squares – but you can make them any size!

You will need 5 squares per snowflake – once you get all your squares cut you will need to start cutting the inside to prepare your snowflakes – This is where it gets a little bit tricky – You want your cuts to end up looking like this:

Pretend or you could even draw a line right down the middle from one corner to the one across from it. Then cut away from each of these corners – meeting at the other side.

You want to make sure you don’t cut a square out of the middle so make sure you don’t cut
all the way through on two of the corners – like so:

(Hopefully that makes sense!) Now that you are cut right let’s start assembling!

When you put them together you can use glue or tape but I found the best thing for the smaller cardstock snowflakes were Glue dots/spots – they are super sticky and work like a charm!

Then you simply start in then middle and fold that layer over and secure it.
Then you take the next layer and fold it the opposite way of the first.
And the next layer the same as the first – so it is every other, every other!

When you are done making all five of your legs then take the ends of two of them and stick them together – then the next and the next and the next until you have all five secured together…

… and you’ll have a SNOWFLAKE!!!

Now the snowflake is cute in and of itself but everything is cuter with glitter!!! So you can either use glitter paper or spray adhesive and some glitter or the stuff that I used – just a glitter spray.

I simply took each one outside (more like stood in the doorway) and sprayed them down.
I la la la love the Glitter!

Then I poked a hole in the top of each one (I made six) and stung them from
some cute aqua blue/polka dot ribbon!

And that was it! I love the way it turned out – so cute!!

What a fun Garland right!! I did hang this up in my kitchen but I couldn’t get a good picture of it there – Just in case you are wondering since I have been working on my Valentine’s Shelf! Are you guys working on anything winterish or did you skip straight ahead to Valentine's??

P.S. Today I am over at The Talented Terrace Girls Sharing a fun tutorial on etching glass –
I’d love if you would come over and visit me!

I am linked to these Awesome Parties!! And you should too!

Warm and Cozy Leg Warmers From Old Sweaters

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:20:00 +0000

I don’t know about you guys – but it is cold outside my home! Today is was like 20 degrees – that is cold for a girl who loves it when it’s 90! But even though it is cold and dreary, there is a positive side and that would be all the super cute winter clothing and accessories! A few weeks ago I was at a boutique and they had some darling leg warmers – so cute – but a little bit pricey for my taste. I couldn’t get them out of my head though and then I thought – they are just like sweaters for your legs and the idea came to me that I should make some – out of old sweaters!

I made a couple pairs and they were so easy and turned out so cute that I thought I would share them with you.

I found some fun chunky sweaters at the thrift store for $4 each – so a total of $8!

First, you will need to cut off the sleeves and the trim around the bottom.

Next, simply cut the sleeves to the same size and cut your trim to the size of your calf – or the same size as the raw edge.

With right sides together, stitch your trim edges together -

and then with right sides together – sew the raw edge of the trim to the raw edge of the sleeves -

The gray sweater didn’t have any trim around the bottom so I simply folded it down inside and stitched a hem – and your done!

I will be honest- I like the look of the white/cream ones better by themselves than the gray ones – I just like the look of the chunky ones!

I also think they are so cute under boots – I just pull them up over my leggings and jeggings and then pull on my boots for the complete look -

This is where the thinner leg warmers are perfect if your boots are a little more snug -

Cute right? Now I am in the market for a fun red sweater or a mustard – how cute would those leg warmers be?
What colors would you want? Do you like leg warmers of when you see them do you think of an 80’s music video? haha!

I am linked to these Awesome Parties!! And you should too!

A new look and some FISHFOAM winners!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:23:00 +0000

Hey Friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend – My hubby packed his bags and headed to Vegas for the weekend with “the boys” so the kids and I worked on some projects around the house – including painting!! I will have some fun updates to show you in a little while -

I also got a new website design – Have you seen it? If you check me out in a reader or email – please pop on over and check out my new look – do you like it? I love the new colors – I have a few more changes to make – nothing super big – just a few more details to add – but I am really happy with the way it came out! How do you guys feel about it?

Also - The Fish Foam giveaway is over so lets announce some winners!!

You will have 48 hours to email me and then I will pick some more winners!! everycreativeendeavor@gmail.com -

and a few of you were asking where to buy this fabulous product – click here and get your awesome glass cleaner today!! haha!

Every {Body’s} Creative Endeavor Party #9

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:01:00 +0000

Welcome to this weeks Linky Party!! All the links last week were awesome – keep them coming!!
Since last week was organization week I wanted to highlight some of the projects that were linked up to help you get organized!

I love the cover on this cute journal – she took it and made it her own!

Get some ideas to organized all those toys here!

Chunky Labels

Find some more fun organization ideas here!

Movie Organization Ideas

Organize Your Nursery

All let’s see what ya got!!
Remember that all your links are entered to win $50 worth of vinyl from Craft Vinyl!

Oh One more thing – you may want to follow along on Facebook – I’ll be featuring there too!

This post sponsored by:

Opening Up Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:20:00 +0000

I have had so many inquiries about these labels from this post -

That I have decided to put them in my ETSY shop (that I have neglected for about a year and a half) and open it back up!

I have a few other things that I am planning on adding as well – like maybe these necklaces!

who knows? But for now – if you wanted those labels – hop on over and pick them up!!

Lovely Rosette Necklaces

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:49:00 +0000

I know! I know! You have seen these everywhere – but how could I not make them and share them with you -
Back in November I made a few for myself and I loved them so much that I made a few more to give as gifts for Christmas.

I love plum – it adds such a bold statement to an outfit and is such a gorgeous color.

And don’t you love this yellow beauty? Yellow is my very favorite color – It is so fun and playful and just makes me super happy – so naturally I have to a fun yellow necklace!!

And of course white – because white matches everything!! and can be subtle -

This brown beauty is one of my favorites – it is such a fun statement piece – and not to toot my own horn – but I have gotten a lot of compliments on it!

There are so many possibilities with all the fun fabrics out there – I think a fun and bright one would be awesome. You know – just like a HUGE pop of fun color all wrapped up in a rosette!

I am not doing a tutorial for these since I am almost certain that there are a few out there already – but I will give you some quick instructions – First, you need to roll a few rosettes and if you want to learn to make fabric rosettes you can find the tutorial here – Then you want to hot glue them onto some coordinating felt in the order that you want them leaving the end ones off for a minute. When you glue them on you want to sort of round them out so they sit right on your neck . (does that make sense?) Make sure you glue your necklace chain (or you could use ribbon if you want) onto the felt before you hot glue on your end rosettes. Then add your clasp if you used chain and your done!

Bag them up, add a cute ribbon and hand them out as gifts!!
(or keep them for yourself!)

Sorry for the red and green ribbon – it was Christmas remember!!

If you want some really awesome ribbon either for your necklaces or your bags – head on over to the Ribbon Retreat and pick some up! They have some really cute fabric too!

What do you think? Do you like them? Come back tomorrow for the Friday Linky Party!!

I am linked to these parties and you should too!!

Family Motto & 10 Resolutions for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

January is a hard month for me – it is cold and yucky and dark. ugh.

I spend weeks thinking about goals I need to make and things I should accomplish during the year – things that I am not the best at:

Eat Less Candy
Lose More Weight
Spend Less Money

You know the stuff that I am I have on my list EVERY year and the stuff that makes me feel yucky about myself.

blah.

But then our family came up with a family Motto:

Never Stop Striving For The Best That Is Within You!

(I used Photoshop to make it all cute and put it in a frame for our family room. )

and ever since I put it in a frame and set it upon the shelf where I see it every day I have been thinking about the best that is within ME along with New Year’s Resolutions.

Never Stop Striving For The Best That Is Within You!

My attitude changed and so did my resolutions.

What is the best within me? Sometimes we spend so much time thinking about all the things we are doing wrong – we forget about the things we are the best at. Instead of spending the year thinking about the things I need to be better at {Not that you should ever stop trying to better yourself} I want to spend the year thinking about the things I am best at – so here is a list of the things that I have resolved to do this year!

This year {in no particular order}

I will continue finding JOY in my husband and children.
I will continue to be CREATIVE and share it.
I will continue to LOVE my family.
I will continue to make HEALTHY homemade dinners.
I will continue being SILLY and goofy.
I will continue making FRIENDS.
I will continue MAKING life Fun!
I will continue WORKING for better relationships.
I will continue BUILDING my testimony of the Gospel.
I will continue STRIVING for the best that is within me.

Have you guys made your Resolutions yet? Do you have a family Motto? I would love to hear what are you guys working on.

I wasn’t planning on sharing this printable so it only goes up to an 8x10 but feel free to make our Family Motto – your family motto! You can find the 8x10 printable here.

Please note:
- These Printables are for EVERY CREATIVE ENDEAVOR readers only!
- Each one can be printed up to 8x10for awesome prints! (anything bigger than that will look awful – but you can definitely go smaller!)
- If you use this printable on the internet – please link back!
- These are for Personal use only. Please do not claim them or sell them as your own!!

PartyLite Home Party

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:00:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PartyLite for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Have you guys heard of PartyLite party yet?

It is a fun little company that offers in-home parties and wonderful candles and fragrances. Last week I had the opportunity to attend one of these PartyLite parties and see the candles and all the fun displays up close and personal - with so many cute and unique options to display your candles, there seems to be something for everyone! It was such a fun girls night out and you could totally host one too! Not only would you be enjoying the evening with wonderful friends but you can earn free product. What a great way to keep your home smelling wonderful for each season for little or no cost at all! There are home decor options, scented candles, candle warmers, special vases and these darling little candle trees to make sure the whole inside of your piece is lit up and not just the bottom half - I think that is a great idea!!
Please take a look at some of my favorite displays!!

Amaretto Swirl Hurricane

Change O Style, shown here scroll pane
l
Enchanted Silver Votive Lamp

Head on over and follow along with them on their PartyLite Facebook page to find out about monthly specials for hosts and guests! And if you are interested in getting an order put in {today} the PartyLite Winter/Spring 2012 Catalog launched on December 16th so make sure you check it out!

Sweetheart Valentine Banner

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:07:00 +0000

I have been working on getting my Valentine décor shelf up and knew that I wanted a fun little banner to help it out. My Valentine décor is sort of vintage – with red, black, gray and white so I wanted my banner to reflect those colors. I cut out some hearts using the nesting hearts dies from the Sweetheart Line from Lifestyle Crafts and proceeded to decorate each one differently – that is the fun part!

I made 10 different hearts and they fit perfectly across my shelf – however, if you wanted to make this, you could make as many as you need/want. I used damask paper in black and red that I found at Hobby Lobby – and ribbon that you can find at the Ribbon Retreat.

I also used the hearts die and the nesting heart dies to help cut out more cute hearts – So fun! There are so many possibilities with the new Sweetheart line - and each die is darling!

Here are all the new dies that are being released today!

See! I told you they are darling! If you would like some remember to use the code
CREATIVEENDEAVOR to get 20% off your ENTIRE purchase! Score!!

And one more time – just because I love it so much!! Now I just need to get busy and get the rest of the shelf put together!

Valentine Printable can be found here.

Don't forget, Lifestyle Crafts is having an AWESOME "I Made This" Giveaway through 1/31/12. You could win: $1000 Lifestyle Crafts shopping spree, Canon 60D camera, Mac computer, and Canon Photo Printer. Go HERE for all the details and rules.

I am linked to these parties and you should too!!

Pantry Organization Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:03:00 +0000

When we moved into our house and started our major remodel – our kitchen didn’t have a pantry. Actually the pantry was down in the laundry room – strange! So while we were ripping out walls in our kitchen and dining room – my wonderful husband built me a HUGE nice corner pantry – and it totally rocks! I can fit so much ~~junk~~ food in it – but I have a small problem – since it is so deep things get lost in the back and I needed an intervention – or in the creative world – a remodel!!

Welcome to my pantry! Let’s take a peek inside! Be warned – it is MESS-Y!

Here it is in all it’s glory! Yikes right?

Shelf after shelf….

after shelf after shelf…

Is a nightmare!!!

Awesome right? Do your pantries look like this? All your ~~food~~ JUNK shoved everywhere?

So what’s a girl to do? How about I empty all that crap out of the pantry and onto my kitchen table, counters and floor for a week while I figure out how to organize this mess!! Oh and I may or may not have (but I probably did) throw out a bunch of expired items – dang. All that wasted money!

I see some cute stripes in the background and some fun labels!! Along with some fun jars and storage bins in my future!
What do you guys use to organize your pantries? This is sort of a challenge for me since it is so deep.

Don’t forget to link up your totally awesome projects at my party!! I wanna see everything!
Come on over and enter to win some AWESOME glass cleaner!!

FishFoam{GIvEaWay!}

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:20:00 +0000

Keeping in line with organization week and keeping things tidy and clean – I’m excited to collaborate with the folks at FishFoam, who offered to let me give away three cases of their premium foaming glass cleaner to three lucky readers. FishFoam is a professional-grade, ammonia-free cleaner that won't leave streaks or haze. Lucky for me – I was able to review the FishFoam and I can tell you in all honesty – that this glass cleaner rocks!! I opened the box to find wonderfully RED (oh la la!) bottles of the foam and put them too work immediately!

I knew I was going to be doing this review so I let my master bath mirrors go for a little bit – (as in like 2 months – YUCK!) It was hard for me because I am very much a clean glass girl – but with both my kids on the counter getting ready (almost) every day – it gets gross pretty quickly!

(How do you take pictures of mirrors? That is a hard one!)

But I simply sprayed on the foam (love the foam!) and then wiped it off -

and VOLIA!

CLEAN!! SO Clean! And SO Easy!!

But was my mirror (as nasty as it was) not a big enough challenge?

We are doing some remodeling in our basement and the french doors down there are disgusting! As in never been washed – EVER!! (or at least in the past 2 years since we installed them). Now they were really bad!

They were covered both inside and out with dirt, mud, tile mud, sheet rock dust – you name it! But I sprayed on the foam and like MAGIC – they were clean!! You can see the before and after!

Awesome right?

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

Leave a comment on this post telling me what you would clean if you won!

You can increase your odds of winning by sharing this contest on your blog, facebook or twitter. Please leave a comment here on this post for each one.

This giveaway will close on Thursday, January 12th at midnight (MST)
I will randomly choose three winners and announce them on Facebook!
This giveaway is open to US residents only (sorry guys!)

Have Fun and Good Luck!

Don’t forget to link up your totally awesome projects at my party!! I wanna see everything!

Every {body’s} Creative Endeavor Linky Party 8!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:02:00 +0000

It’s been a couple weeks since our last linky party and a new day too – so I am glad you are here today!

Since the last linky party was before Christmas – most of the links are Christmas-ey so I am going to forgo features this week but I am so excited to see what you guys have been working on! Doesn’t the new year just motivate you to make all sorts of fun new things! It does me!!

But first – we get to randomly pick a winner for the $50 credit to Craft Vinyl!! Have you been there yet? It is truly amazing and the ONLY place I order vinyl from anymore. The prices are the best I have seen and the owner Nick is totally awesome!! There are so many great colors and designs to pick from and it is shows up at your house in just a couple days! Awesome!!

(tangent sorry!)

Anyway – the winner is Craftophile with her cute accessory link!

Congrats! Email me to claim your super fun prize!

All let’s see what ya got!!
Remember that all your links are entered to win $50 worth of vinyl from Craft Vinyl!

Oh One more thing – you may want to follow along on Facebook – I’ll be featuring there too!

This post sponsored by:

Organization Week: Family Binder

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:49:00 +0000

How do you guys keep all your family stuff together? I’m talking schedules and bills and meals and church meetings and organization meetings and important paper and receipts?

Me? I have it all in one place:

Each year it gets a new cover:

(see how it matches the organization week logo/thing?)

Pretty much that is the only thing Fancy about this binder. It is meant to be a work horse! Nothing cute about that!

In the front are the binder pencil and pen. They NEVER leave the binder.

Then comes another family calendar. I use this yearly calendar to add things onto my bi-monthly calendars. Sometimes things get planned way in advance (like doctor appointments) and it all goes here.

Next comes bills. ugh. I have a list of each bill that needs to be paid with the date it is due and how much it is. I have most of my bills automatically coming out of my bank account but it is nice to remember when. Some bills like our house payment and insurance never change – but bills that do change I have left blank. Sometimes I use a sticky tab with the amounts on them and sometimes I write them in in pencil and simply erase.

Next I have a clear sleeve with bills to pay in it.
They never get lost or forgotten because they automatically go here.

Next I have a list of our favorite dinners and sides. This is helpful with weekly meal planning because sometimes I simply cannot pick out items to eat but if I have a list I can pick things off of it and I am good to go!

Next is my blog calendar – {You probably recognize it from here!} I gotta have a place to keep that organized plus it helps me keep my ideas flowing and lets me know what I should be working on and what goes up when.
I try and keep 2 weeks out but sometimes that doesn’t always happen.

Next up is birthdays – this is new this year. I am awful with Birthdays so I thought if I had a place where I could see’s when everyone’s birthday is I can be a little better.

(sorry it is blurry – I have no idea what happened but you get the idea!)

It’s nothing fancy – just a list of the months and days that I have filled in.

Next up is church calling stuff – but you could put PTA stuff here, political stuff, just stuff for whatever you are involved with.

Next I have a page protector for all important receipts – I don’t have a picture because right now (since it is the new year) we don’t have any – but it will be full before the end of the year!

In the back I have a little notebook, the gym daycare phone numbers and our address labels -

And there you have it!

I am sure as our kids grow ours will change and get bigger but I am positive these things will always be in there! Like I said, nothing super fancy but it helps keep us organized! Do you have a family binder?
What sort of stuff do you keep in yours?

Organization Week: Labels, Labels, Labels

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:32:00 +0000

It’s true. I have a problem – a BIG problem!
But at least it’s a cute problem!

I love labeling – EVERYTHING!!

When I showed my husband the label on the Cheerios – he just looked at me all crazy and said “good thing you labeled it, there was no way I would have know what it was!!”

Smartie Pants.

But really - I can’t help it – it is just too cute and just too fun!!

Plus – Labels make things look more organized!!

Labels in the Kitchen

I love these labels! They are a light gray and look so great! I love the frame around the words too – like love it, love it! Like open the pantry door for no reason but to see the labels love it!! Or walk into the kitchen just to see them on the counter love it!

Labels in the Laundry Room

For the bins I simply cut out the words and ironed them on using heat transfer – If you do this read this: make sure you do not get the iron on the bin material – it WILL melt!! haha! (see it under “batteries” oopsey!)

Toy Storage

I am kind of fanatical about my kids toys – I keep them all together and make sure we have all the pieces. I used to have them all in some cubbies in the family room and we had pieces all over the place – {make this mamma crazy!!} so I bought totes, smacked some labels on them and put them in his closet. This way he can still play with them but only one bin at a time! Happy mommy – Happy kids!!

Labels are an amazing way to stay organized because you always know where things go – and not just in your kitchen or the play room but also in filing and storage and holiday décor. We have storage above our garage and not one things get put up there without a label. I can just imagine that nightmare.

Are you guys crazy like me and label everything too?

Happy Labeling!!

UPDATE: If you would like to purchase the vinyl for your pantry – you can find them here.

Organization Week: Cute Calendar Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:01:00 +0000

To keep our family organized and so we know the happenings of every day we have a family calendar -

I bought two of them on sale from Hobby Lobby. They used to have white frames but us crafters can’t leave anything alone so I gave them a coat of blue (Rustoleum Slate Blue) I had on hand. They came with little brackets that I installed on the wall and those are permanent – then I have the recent month hanging on the top and the next month on the bottom – then on the first of the month I simply move the bottom one up to the top, wipe off the top one and that one becomes the bottom one. Pretty simple process and nothing super fancy but it works great for our family.

I hung them in the little space between our laundry room door and garage door – so we see it multiple times a day. It’s also nice to glace at it as I am running out the door to make sure I don’t have anything {else} going on that day. Besides our family binder (which I will share with you later this week) these are currently the only calendars I have hanging up in my house – but I wanted to share some more ideas for calendars with you and after seeing some of these cute ideas – I may have to fix that!

Using Vinyl you could create this darling wall calendar – You would need dry erase vinyl and chalkboard vinyl – or to make the days more permanent you could just use black vinyl.

How cute is this Pendant Calendar?

You could easily scrapbook up this darling calendar from Poppy Paperie

I love the colors on this magnetic chalkboard calendar from The Country Chic Cottage

There is also this really cute chalkboard calendar from Little Lucy Lu

I also love this Glass Dry Erase Calendar from Somewhat Simple

How do you guys keep your family happenings organized on a calendar?
In case you missed the FREE 2012 Printable Calendars – click here!
I’ll be back in a little bit with some labeling ideas!

Organization Week: 10 Cute Printable Calendar Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Jones) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:53:00 +0000

One of the most important things to help keep me organized is a calendar! With so much going on these days with my husband, my children, my church, my family, my friends, my blog and just my life in general – it is necessary to have a calendar (or two!) I complied a list of some of my favorite FREE PRINTABLE CALENDARS from some great website to share with you. Simply go to their sites and print them up for your personal use!

I am loving these calendars from Living Locurto – The table top one is totally darling!

I love these colors from TomKat Studios

Skip To My Lou made this gorgeous calendar to share with us.

I love this from Creative Mamma

Pizzazzerie has a beautiful printable from Anna and Blue Paperie

Kiki Creates makes a new one every month and January is darling!

I love this Quatrefoil calendar from Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Just a Classic Calendar – Nothing Fancy

Just a fun lime green calendar to brighten your day!

I have some more great calendar ideas coming!
See you in a little bit!