Pixeltrashamania

Candy Airplanes for Valentine's Day Tutorial

2012-02-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

Have you seen these cute little airplanes made of candy in blogland or on Pinterest? They are so cute and really pretty simple! I actually made them last year for Valentine's Day, so I thought I would do it again since I now know how to make them more quickly. They took me quite a long time last year, but this year, they were much easier because I had learned from my experience.

I thought I would share with you how to make them and teach you what I learned.

Here are the ingredients you will need for each airplane:

2 Lifesaver Candies

1 Stick of gum

1 pack of Smarties

a rubberband

a printed message

heavy string (like kitchen string or twine... I used crochet yarn because I had it around)

white cardstock

scissors

a hole punch

straight-edge cutter if you have one

I found everything here at Walmart Supercenter. The candy and gum was in the regular candy and gum aisle which is in the food section... who knew? The cardstock and the rubberbands were in the stationery aisle. I liked the Flare 5 gum because the wrappers were red. Some of the other 5 gums have different colored wrappers.... like, I think the peppermint wrapper is black.

I suggest you get the assorted rubberbands because it is hard to say which size is the best for this . I got these at Walmart and there were several sizes and thicknesses. The medium, thin ones seemed to work the best.

Start by using your scissors and open all of the Lifesavers you will need. Mine were individually wrapped, but if you find the rolls, it would be easier. Thread a medium-sized rubberband through the holes of two lifesavers. You have to find the best rubberband so as to not bend the gum too much {as you will see further down the page}.

Now place the wrapped gum through the loops of the rubberband.

Pull the Lifesavers apart and stick the end of the Smarties between the gum, rubberband and the Lifesavers. You can see how the rubberband pulls the gum down. This is where you will need to experiment. Once this was together, I straightened the gum and it was fine.

Next, you need to use your straight-edge cutter to cut your messages. I printed them on cardstock using a size 18pt font with 18pt space between them. Again, you will have to experiment depending on the font you choose. You could also do a hand written note which could be really cute in a child's handwritting.

Cut a V-shape out of the end of the banner and cut a hole in the front of the banner for the string.

If there is a difficult part, it is tying the string on. I tried many things last year and found that this is the best way to do it.....

I used a 10-inch piece of string, folded in half. This is too long, but you can trim it at the end. It is easiest to tie the knots with a longer piece than a shorter one. So, fold the string in half, like below.

Thread the folded part of the string through the hole like so....

Loop the ends of the string though the loop like so....

Pull tight (but not too tighly or you will rip the paper!) on the ends to attach the string to the message.

Now, to attach the Smartie to the message, you will create a slip knot. Fairly close to the message end of the string, create a loop, like so....

Pull part of the excess ends through the loop you just made, but don't pull the ends through!

It should look like this. Tighten the knot part of the way. It should still be a little loose.

Now, put the end of the Smartie through that loop we just made.

Pull the ends of the string. This will tighten the slip knot around the Smartie.

Trim the excess ends (but not too close to the paper or the slip knot can come undone)

Here is the finished product. Cute right? I also decided to put two kinds of gum in these because it made them sturdier and the kids get more of the stuff they love.... gum!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!! Enjoy the cute little candy airplanes!

Just a Little New Year's Freebie Cupcake Wrapper

2011-12-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

Just right click, set up your printer options and print! Or download to your desktop so you can save it on your computer.

Happy New Year!

Hot Cocoa Birthday Party

2011-12-12T14:16:00.000-08:00

My son's 9th birthday happens to fall right before Christmas, so this year we moved his party ahead and celebrated early. Why didn't I do this before? It gave me a lot of time to prepare and we had a blast getting ready instead of putting this on top of present wrapping and Christmas parties & dinners.

I decorate mostly in red, white and light blue for Christmas, so I decided to go with those colors for his party too. I am sure the pictures speak for themselves. Everyone had a good time and the cocoas (especially the Nutella cocoa) were yummy!

I found a lot of these ideas on the internet by searching for hot cocoa party!

These cups are made using those GIANT marshmallows!

The table is wrapped with wrapping paper.

Did I mention that my son has a large personality?

The cake is a Mario Power-UP mushroom. I just baked a cake in a large metal mixing bowl, put it on top of a cake stand, covered it with chocolate icing, rolled fondant and painted eyes on the bottom of the cake stand with chocolate.

Happy birthday, to my little one!

Treelighting Ceremony

2011-12-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

Remember, Santa is watching! Our town has a wonderful tradition in the town square. Santa comes and all of the 3-6th graders sing Christmas carols on the front steps of the court house. After the carols, the trees in the square are lit. Love this Santa, don't you!?!

Christmas Tree

2011-12-12T13:54:00.000-08:00

Does anything say Christmas more than a little kitty curled up by the fire and under the tree.....

Except a little boy in footie pajamas curled up near the tree?

Shhhhh!

Tami

Fa La La La La

2011-11-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

This is, quite possibly, my last year to play a proper Santa as my, soon-to-be, 9-year-old son is starting to ask some questions of Dear Old St. Nick. I had to share his letter with you. It is soooo cute.

And how about this? Every toy name has a Registration mark! I truly laughed out loud at this! Even Christmas is registered!

All of this cuteness has to make its way to Santa, so I pulled out the Christmas decorations specifically to find this....

Of course, it is time to start thinking about putting up the decor, so I spent all day Saturday dragging up bins and boxes and unpacking the Christmas stuff. I think I have about 40 bins. I know, I might be Christmas crazy. It is a lot of work to undecorate our every day lives and redecorate with Christmas cheer. But... it is so worth it. Everyone gets right into the spirit of Christmas at our house.

So, the first thing we pulled out is the Letter to Santa hanger that hangs on the front door knob. In went the list. I hope he doesn't think of anything else. His list is getting $$$.

Next we found my husband's old train and the Christmas village that my son has been collecting. We set it up under the staircase. See it there?

I tried to get a few motion pictures of the train going around the track. Not exactly what I was going for, but they turned out okay. I also added some lomo to the photos....

My husband still has the cardboard houses and a billboard that came with the train. Aren't they adorable?

Next I decorated my favorite part of the house... the fireplace in the formal livingroom.

Those little white things pn the table below are snowflake ornaments that my grandmother made. They remind me of her, so I put them somewhere every year.

Then the railings. I didn't do as many this year, but I did get my advent calendar up in time. It is in the kitchen by the kids' table.

I also decorated the area near the front door with a few things. This table usually has more on it. I have more stuff that will end up there once the trees go up. This little vingnette is in a corner by the guest room.

This year I moved the furniture around and put this couch over in front of the window rather than the tree. The tree will go over by the fireplace instead. I put lights in this window and hung a wreath in front of the curtain. The lights show through from behind the curtain and it looks really pretty at night.

The little hanging Christmas tree ornament is one of my all-time favorites and it was beaded by my aunt Gretchen. I love it.

These are on the other side of my living room. A collection of music boxes. Every kid loves to play with them.

I also decorated my Hybiscus tree. I put pears in it and a little bird who is my partridge.

Last but not least, I did my dining room. It is another of my favorite spots to decorate... It is almost the same as last year. This year, however, I plan to make a table runner for the middle of the table. I am not done with it, however.

Now I just have to get my trees up. With a real tree, it behoves us to put it up a week or so later than this. Otherwise it will drop a lot of needles. I did say I was Christmas crazy, right... well, I guess this proves it... I even decorated the cat. Poor kitty!

Next post is sure to be the trees in our bedrooms.
Have an great week and send me links in my comments to your Christmas decor so I can check it out!

Sunset

2011-11-21T16:24:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share a recent sunset that I captured. Love the colors!

Musical and Thanksgiving Decor

2011-11-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

Whew! It has been a crazy few months. I volunteered to head up the costume committee for the Middle School Musical, "Alice in Wonderland, Jr." Little did I know the committee would be me and one other person. LOL! So I spent the past few months making cute little costume accessories. It really was fun! The kids loved their costumes as long as there was some glitter on them.

This play included the little kids from grades 3-5 also, so my 3rd grader was able to be in it. He was the King of Hearts. The play was this weekend. All went well and the kids put on an awesome show.

Here are a few pictures! I know you want to see them. :-P

Ok... so now you know why I haven't posted much.... now on to today...
I decided to move furniture around today because I have a "formal" living room which was never meant to be formal. Nobody sits on the furniture in there. It is kind of annoying to me. So anyway, I decided to move the leather couch from that room to our comfy living room. This will make room for the Christmas tree in the "formal" living room. I love the new look of both the comfy room and the formal room. I can't wait to put up the tree.

So, I am going to put the tree to the left of the fire place this year. The tables will move over beside the chairs. I love way everything aligned in this area now.

The couch on the left was where the red chairs are in the photo above. I love it in this room. Why didn't I think of this before? Now we will sit on it for sure! I may need a larger coffee table now though. LOL!

The other thing I did today was decorate my tables for Thanksgiving. I cut some branches of red berries from my yard and used them in various arrangements around the house. I love them! I also painted the white pumpkins for Halloween and I love them on my Thanksgiving table. Of course, I will need to set up another Thanksgiving table for the rest of the guests, but that will be done on the day of.

When I lived in San Diego, my boss and I took an Ikebana class together. It was really fun and i'm glad I did. Not because I am any expert at Ikebana... not by a long shot, but I got all of the great kinzans and floral frogs and containers, so I can sort of make the arrangements look a little like Ikebana. :-) Here are two in my kitchen.

Here is the one in my living room too. Love it!

I guess that should catch you up on what I've been doing. What about you? Have you decorated for this holiday? Or will you be heading to someone else's house for dinner?

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Gobble! Gobble!

Weekend Photos in Upstate NY

2011-11-06T16:35:00.000-08:00

We spent a lovely weekend at our friends' farm in upstate, NY. The animals were so fun and we pressed cider and went on a hay ride. It was a perfect day for it, as you can see!

This is not their dog, but I had to throw him in there!

This is the sunset from our house tonight. So pretty!

Happy Fall!

Photography This Weekend in Upstate NY

2011-10-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

I love fall.... Red, Yellow and Blue....

No enhancement here... this is the actual photo I took....

Nature's first green is gold....

More blues....

Awesome splash caputre...

Flipped upside down...

Anyone know what these berries are? The stem is sooo pink!

How to Make a Halloween Spider Nest Decoration

2011-10-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

Halloween and spookiness.

Welcome to our haunted house.

My favorite part of our Halloween decor this year is the spider nest. It is pretty gross. I mean to buy more little spiders to attach all over it.

In order to make this project, you will need:

1 balloon

1 spool of cotton twine

1 bottle of Elmer's Glue

That's it!

In order to make this project, I would suggest you find a place where you can tie your balloon up. I used the chandelier over my table. You will also need to prepare the surface under the balloon with some newspaper because you will have drippy glue everywhere.

Pour the glue into a large bowl. Unravel some of your cotton twine and put one end of it into the glue. I started with 2 foot sections of twine without cutting it. Start at the top of the balloon and stick the sticky, gluey, messy twine on to the balloon. Wrap and wrap and wrap and then unravel more twine into the glue, coating the twine as you go. Wrap in all different directions. When you have lots of twine on the balloon, leave it to dry. After about a day, you can pop your balloon and you will have an awesome spider nest.

I attached a long piece of twine to the top parts of the nest to create a hanger that attaches from one side to the other. This helped the nest to hang and get even smaller on top and wider on the bottom.

Attach lots of little spiders (I just intertwined their legs with the string) and you've got a spider nest for Halloween.

Have fun spooking!

Cool photo

2011-10-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

I took this macro photo this summer and just came across it. Thought you might like to see. How cool is this little guy??? I also had some other creatures in my yard that I don't think I've posted so check them out below!

Another shoot my friend and I went on involved a walk down some railroad tracks early in the morning. It was a very foggy morning. The steam was rising off of the river and everything was covered with dew.

We met this guy on the track with his owner. He had no dew on him. Such an odd looking pup!

This is the actual pre-production picture...

This score board is at the track where we walk in the morning. You can sort of see the fog in front of the trees.

The horses are on the track.... This horsey swing is at the playground near the tracks.

This is the actual picture with no processing. Cool track marks!

This bee was on my friend's sweatshirt. Great photo op!

Alice In Wonderland Cookies

2011-10-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

My little son is in the school play, Alice in Wonderland Jr. so today I made some fun Alice cookies for his castmates. After they dry, I will wrap them in cellophane bags and put a topper on them. I think they turned out fairly cute, don't you? The Queen one is not my design. I copied it from a cookie I saw online... only theirs had the orange hair from the movie. Since our queen has dark hair, mine had to have dark hair.

A Trip in Photos

2011-10-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I drove to my parents' house in PA. It is about a 6 hour drive and I went to visit with my parents, of course, but I also went to see my new baby niece and my great nephew. Here are a few pictures of things we saw along the way or while we were there. Thought you might enjoy seeing the pretty fall scenery in upstate NY and NW PA.

This is a round barn in Greene, NY.

We were lucky enough to see this guy on our way home!

Another round barn. They fascinate me.

Autumn Color...

Ruins in Austin, PA

A pretty kitty

The leaves fell from around this giant wasps nest in my back yard. Love it!

The geese flying south

Fall falling...

My baby niece. So tiny! She was a premie and is two weeks old in this photo

My great nephew. All of two months old!

Under the haystack fast asleep... Ok... on top of the haystack. :-)

Happy Fall!

Dressmaker's Pin Cushion

2011-10-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hi, Followers! I had such a good time with this dress form pin cushion that I had to share it right away! It was so fun and so easy. Of course, my seams weren't perfect, but next time I will do better. I have embedded the video below with instructions! If you would like the pattern, go out Kim and Kris on The DIY DISH.

If you enjoy this video and instructions and you want to make the two-tiered cake or the owl pin cushion also in the photo, go back through their archives because they make a new pin cushion each season.

Enjoy!

A Photography Walk

2011-10-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just forget to look around you and really see what is there. This past week a friend and I took our cameras and took some shots around the country roads near my house. I think I got some neat ones. I will share them here this week. If she blogs hers, I will share that link too. She got some great barn shots too.

This is an old barn on a country road near my house.

A stormy day....

A bit of post-production for a cool look!

This hornet's nest is in my backyard. It is huge! Far larger than a football!

The fog on this lake and mountains made for some neat post-production pictures!

I hope you enjoyed the Autumn spendor of Upstate NY!

Closet turned Homework Station or Office

2011-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Do you have the problem I had? Kitchen counter cluttered with school paperwork? Books? Backpacks?.... Ugh! I finally came up with a solution for this huge problem at our house.

We have a closet in our livingroom which was filled with board games and art supplies. We never play board games. I would like to be one of those families who sits down together and enjoys a game or two, but nobody really likes them much. We are more of a videogaming family. Sorry to say it! This fact, however, hasn't stopped us from accumulating over 40 board and card games. My 8-year-old says they are called "bored games" for a reason, Mom! He understands that it is board... but he liked the witty play on words he came up with.

Anyway, I weeded through the games, gave some away, threw some away and stored the rest in my kids' playroom in the basement. Now they won't get played with for sure. I should have just given them all away!

This is what the closet looked like after I removed all of the games, paper, crayons and markers. We live in a house that was built in the 70's and some of the decor which still exists makes that obvious. Like this lovely panelled closet. I was told it was once a wet bar... this is made obvious by the lovely pipe sticking out of the wall. LOL! Perhaps some day we will turn it back into a wet bar?

These shelves were all wonky and some of them were chipboard and were bowing. They are held up by those little tracks that you put the clips in. I went to Lowes looking for some new shelving, but really didn't want to spend much money. Shelving for a large closet like this is EXPENSIVE! So, I took the tracks down from this closet, took them outside and spray painted them black. I also threw out the chipboard shelves and used the plywood ones again. They were cut to the right size and in pretty good shape. I asked my husband to buy some half-round edging and added that to the edges of these boards and it made them look awesome. I painted each shelf black and pained one with black chalkboard paint. I used that one for the desk in this room! The boys can write on it with chalk.

I painted the walls yellow because I wanted to keep it nice and bright in there. It also goes nicely with colors in the livingroom.

Here you can see where it is.

Here you can see the chalkboard desk. Perfect for doing your homework! Also, I bought 9 bins at Walmart to create a unifom look on the shelves. These are labeled and hold all of our notebooks, folders, book covers, Mom's homework, etc!

Here you can see the other side. I asked my husband to build a bench so the boys can sit in there and read their books in peace and quiet if they would like to. I made the cushion and the pillow case. I searched for a cushion form and they were so expensive! So, one day I was at Walmart and noticed the bed egg-crate toppers were only $10! I bought a twin-sized one, cut it into the size I needed, doubled it, and stitched them together. I then made a plaid cover for it. It is just what I needed! The pillow forms were also more than I wanted to spend, so I went to the bedding department and found that the pillows were only $2.50! So, I took one of those and made a cover for it. It is nicer and fluffier than the pillow forms anyway!

The shelf below the bench fits both backpacks perfectly!

With the extra twin egg crate pieces, I made padding for a chair I had in the basement. My husband also put a light on the wall above the desk. The electric box was already there, so we were able to connect easily.

I also pulled out some bins and filled them with all of the pencils, erasers, markers and note pads, etc that we had in a drawer in the kitchen. Perfect!

This was a picture frame with glass that I had sitting around in the basement. I used some shelf liner I had (the yellow stripe) and some black cardstock to create a background inside the glass. I also put the photos under the glass. We can now use white board markers and jot notes each night so we remember what we need to take/do the next day. My son's schedule is also taped to the glass.

Inside the door, we have a white board calendar also. I glued magnets where I needed them so it would stick to the metal bars already in place. Works great!

See those backpacks! Yeah! Much better than in my kitchen every night!

Okay, well that is it. Repurposing this closet has made our lives easier and much more organized. Hope it gives you some ideas of your own!

Bloggers! Try this!

2011-08-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

I just figured out the coolest thing! It was quite by accident. If you blog on blogger or log into your blog through gmail and you have a smart phone or tablet you have to try this!

Find the app called "HP iPrint" in the market. I found this in my Android Market, but I have feeling it is available in the iPhone market too.

Anyway, download it and open it. My printers are too old to print from this app, but I opened my Gallery from this app and it pulled up EVERY picure from all three of my jblogspot blogs in the gallery!!!

I tell you, it was a total walk down memory lane! Pictures from back when I started blogging filled my gallery. I am quite amazed how much blogging I have done and how many aweaome projects I have done. You really must try it. And, if your blog is through some other site and you try it, let me know if it works or not.

Like I said, my printers won't print these because they aren't connected to wifi but I will keep the app just to have all of those pictures to look at!

Decorative Boxes

2011-07-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

I finally had some time to hang out in my craftroom today and this is what I accomplished after I cleaned my table off (no small feat!) I have had these black shiny boxes sitting around for quite some time, so I decided it was time to do something with them. I added some decorative papers and some ribbons and a bit of glitter to make these.

Tami

Below are the kinds of products I used. They aren't exact, but you could make these using the stuff I've posted below.

These are the type of boxes I used...

Paper Mache Boxes 3/Pkg-8",9",10" Round

You could use this kind of chipboard alphabet for the numbers on the top. I used raw ones as seen below...and covered them with glitter.

K & Company Life's Journey Chipboard Box - 61PK/Alphabet

KandCompany Jubilee Alphabet Adhesive Chipboard

Raw Chipboard-Small Lowercase Alphabet

Martha Stewart 24-Vial Glitter Multi-Pack

Making Memories Lemonade Blossoms and Buttons 160 Pieces/Boxed, 40 Paper/20 Felt Flowers & 100 Buttons

Diecuts with a View All-Occasion 12-by-12-Inch Glitter Scrapbook Paper

SEI 6-Inch by 6-Inch Paper Pad, Sunny Day, 24-Sheet

I couldn't find the polka-dot crepe paper that I used on box number two online, but any crepe paper will do! Just fold it back and forth and attach the center of the circle with some hot glue!

Black Velvet Streamer - 1 Pack

I used a black yarn like this one around the edge of box number 3. I also used satin ribbon folded back and forth and glued into a fan fold.

Fun Fur Yarn - Rainbow

5/8" By 100yd Single Face Satin Ribbon-black

Flag Cake for Patriotic Holidays

2011-07-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

I know I already posted today, but I thought you might like to see the INSIDE of the cake I posted about earlier. I found the tutorial at Glorious Treats. Be sure to stop by to see how it is assembled! Very neat!

I hid the baking and assembling part from my boys. They didn't see it until the white, whipped cream icing was on it. Under the whipped cream icing, I made and Italian buttercream and layered and crumb coated with that. Yum! My red is a bit pink, but I love pink, so I didn't mind!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

Are you hosting a barbeque? Are you going to one? We were going to have a party, but decided against it because we are heading to NY City tomorrow. I can't wait! I think we are going to focus on SoHo and TriBeca. Any suggestions of places to go with two boys ages 8 and 10?

Anyway, I did decorate my table in my screened-in porch, so I'll share that with you. I also made a cake with some decorating help from my little guys. I love the way it turned out. So homemade looking. Sometimes it is nice to just get everyone's hands in there and make something that was "made by me".

Admittedly, the tablecloth is a bit much, but I thought it looked really kitchy and fun. The pillows and napkin rings and the banner were made by me. Most of the other place setting stuff was found either at a thrift or a dollar store. Including the $3 tablecloth. Love that!

Happy 4th!

Summertime in Our Backyard...

2011-06-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here in upstate NY. We JUST got out of school on Friday and the weather couldn't be better. I thought I would share with you my little corner of paradise. My husband and I have been working really hard to get the weeding, trimming and mowing done, the pool nice and clean and all of my pretty summer stuff out.

First, I have to show you how pretty the laurel is in our area. These white flowers are like little lanterns that open to reveal a pretty little pink polka dots. I love it in my pink pail. This is on our back screened-in porch.

Next, is the small flower bed. My boys and I ripped out all of the rocks from around the bed because you could barely see them because of the weeds and grass growing through them this spring. So, the other day, we spent the day taking them out and putting them back after my husband weed-whacked around the garden. It looks so much better!

I found these pretty little flowers growing in this garden. So pretty!

This bench is beside that flower garden. I had planned to paint it, but now that I've taken pictures of it, I am thinking I won't paint it. It has such a nice patina!

What do you think? Paint or no paint?

I used the hedge clippers and cut all of the hedges on the back of the house. I still have more to do on the side of the house. They will be done soon.

I also ripped out a dead bush from this small garden on the backside of the pool yard.

Another picture of those pretty flowers! Columbine, if you were wondering.

My dear husband did a whole lot of weed-whacking back by the fence and all around the pool yard. It is a huge job. I appreciate him so much!

On the stairs of our back deck, I planted some planters full of begonias. I just love begonias because they never fail me. I've had them in my house and they bloomed and outside and they bloom beautifully.

So here are a few pretty pictures of those double begonias...

Here is my view from where I sit and read, relax or play on my tablet. I've changed the umbrella on the table to a real market umbrella and moved the striped beach umbrella over beside me. Also, I used a heat-proof black paint to paint the fire pit. It looks SO much better.

Here is my view overhead. I love paper lanterns. They make me happy.

Here is an accidental photo taken while carrying the lanterns out to put them up. Isn't that neat?

This is where I plop my butt when I want to relax. It is nice and shady and I can watch the boys in the pool. I re-covered the cushion that was on this bench and made matching buttons. I also made the pillows on the back by cutting an old bed pillow in half (don't use a down one!) and covering the halves to make two cushions. The bottom of each cushion is thicker than the top. They stand up nicely.

I also repainted the furniture from hunter green to this glossy black. Love how it turned out. So simple, but such a huge difference!

This is my outdoor livingroom. I suggest everyone have one! The little table will be the next thing to be painted. It is still the old hunter green. It will be black very soon!

And here is the actual market umbrella I just bought. Perfect color!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little tour of my back yard. Welcome, SUMMER!!!

Here are some adorable products I loved on Amazon. Enjoy!

Olympic Fire Mountain Laurel - Kalmia - Very Hardy

K. Van Bourgondien 73915 Double Hanging Begonia Collection (10 Bulbs Per Bag)

Polka Dot Garden Square Dinner Plates (8 count)

Set of 4 Polka Dot Napkins

Pink and White Polka Dot Print - Set Of 4 Ceramic Tile Coasters

Polka Dot Ice Cream Bowls (set of 4)

Terramoto Ceramic Polka Dots and Stripes 9-Inch Medium Mission Bowl, Black

Tropical Flip Flop Paradise Summer Fun Garden Flag

Life Is Better When Shared Birdhouses Large Flag

Handmade Tablet Cover and Carrying Case

2011-05-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

I recently became the owner of a wonderful little piece of technology that I just love. My Acer Iconia A500 tablet! What a great idea these things are! Anyway, if you have a tablet, you know they are very easy to sit down just about anywhere. That anywhere may be a counter top that is wet, or dirty. I looked online for a cover to protect the the back and pad the sides of my tablet, but couldn't really find anything I loved, so I decided to design my own.

I made two, but the first one wasn't really working for me. After that trial run, I came up with something else that I really think works perfectly for me. The edges are velcro'd so I can remove it from its cover and use the camera easily. I also came up with a carrier that doesn't look so techie. It looks more like a handbag. The good thing about making my own? The case and carrier, coordinate with my camera bag and my camera strap which I also made!

I started to make a tutorial, but honestly, I was winging it and it was WAY too many steps. I guess I'm posting this so that you can use it as an idea of how to make your own. If you can construct things from fabric, it won't be too hard. If you have any questions about how I constructed it, you can email me at

t DOTpixeltrash AT gmail DOT com. And I will try to help you with it.

This is the padded cover. The left and right sides are stitched in place, so they hold the tablet perfectly.
The top and bottom sides velcro around the back so I can tighten them just as I need them. I also made a hole under the velcro tab on the right upper side so I can plug it in without removing the cover.

See the velcro tabs on the left and right?

I also included a handle of sorts to make it easier to hold.

There is thicker felt inside the top of the back. I did that so that it will sit at more of an angle on the desktop.

This is the carrier. It is lined with a fusible fleece to protect the tablet. I made it from a white canvas.

I added two pockets to the back- one to store the cleaning cloth and one to store my cell phone.

Here is what it looks like with my tablet in it. Fun right?

This is my camera case that matches....

I am going to try to draw some instructions for this project, but can't promise when I will get them done.

Hope you are having a great week!

I shared this at

Acer Iconia Tab A500-10S16u 10.1-Inch Tablet Computer (Aluminum Metallic)

Acer Iconia Tab W500-BZ467 10.1-Inch Tablet (Silver)

Gizmo Dorks Hard Shell EVA Case (Black), HDMI Cable, and USB Cable with Carabiner Key Chain for the Acer Iconia Tab A500

More from Day 3 - Cabrillo and the Tide Pools

2011-04-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

My husband and I were married on the wedding bluff overlooking the ocean, near the lighthouse on Point Loma. This is the view from the lookout patio. Isn't it amazing? You can watch the ships come in and often see submarines from here!

My two "MEN"...

We ventured down to the tidepool area which is where our wedding photos were taken.

And now for a few creatures!

Ah... here is a picture that reenacted one of our wedding photos. The sun in our eyes didn't really help. Although sunny, it was CHILLY this morning!

These are the only two pictures I have on my computer from our wedding, but here we were...

Ah... like only yesterday!

We have a picture of Jeff sitting on this rock...

We also have a picture of Jeff and me walking down this path. 17-years later.... our boys on the same path...

Day 4 in San Diego- Legoland

2011-04-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

Ha Ha!

Legoland was a lot of fun, but I won't bore you with the 100 pictures of Star Wars Lego scenes! '

Before that, here are two layouts I created tonight. I love the La Jolla pictures and have many more to scrapbook. These are just the first two...

I thought Legoland was so cute. So many bright colors and neat things built out of Legos. My boys thought it was the best thing ever. If you are going later in the year, be sure to sign up for the Lego Club magazine (free!) at the Legoland site. There are coupons which come in the monthly magazine for free child entry with an adult! Using two coupons, we saved $120.

Legos dispensed like candy! Cute idea!

My sweet husband posing with the Bionicles...{at my insistance}

The rides were lot of fun. The perfect number of rides for a one day pass!

So much work!

My boys particularly loved the Star Wars scenes made out of Legos, but there were also complete cities made out of Legos.

It is amazing how much work must have gone into making the scenes for this park. It is definitely worth a visit if you are in So. Cal!