Recreational vinyling

It's a thing; I checked.

I've run across about a billion vinyl deals and sales and whatnot over the past month or so, seems like. So, given my inability to pass up a good deal, I now have quite a bit more vinyl than I used to and in a TON more colors. Over the last week or so I've used up some of my new stock on little projects that just kind of make me smile.

My little painted on birds that I did here were as easy to remove as I'd hoped. No problem at all.

 

His and hers phones. My husband's is some Star Wars thing- I want to say it's the New Jedi Order symbol. (Half sad, half impressed that I know that.) Mine is a pink unicorn because I let Mim pick. 

These are for 2 of my lovely sis-in-laws that both have birthdays in September, as kind of a bonus gift with what they're really getting. The owl is already in place on Alicia's computer (and was about 10 seconds after I told her what it was)- she sort of LOVES owls. 

I've done a few other little Silhoutte doodles, but they're gifts and so must remain secret. 

I think this is the most satisfying kind of little craft to do. I really do smile every time I see my phone or KitchenAid and my husband was so proud of his phone decal he posted it on Reddit and doing them all together took maybe 15 minutes.

This was cool

I saw this posted over at Young House Love (excellent blog, you should check it out) and I wanted to share. I love online quizzes like this. (At this point, I would like to point out that this quiz is not of those Facebook ones that are like, "Oh, based on the letters in your name, you're a totally beautiful, super fun, smart, sexy woman who likes to hang out with people you love!!" I hate those and I hate when anyone on my newsfeed takes one.)

So anyway, here's a link to the quiz. You pick the 5 images you like the best and it comes back with a quick little analysis. I took it several (read: a bunch) times and mostly got urban funk. It kind of sounds like a catch-all category, but I like it.

I'll be back later this week with something real! (There's at least an 80% chance of it, at least.)

Thanks for reading!

Non-permanently painting a KitchenAid

So, I think everyone has seen the custom cut vinyl for KitchenAids. I've seen some crazy intricate ones. Just google "custom kitchenaid vinyl" if you haven't. Wow.

So even though I have a Silhouette and could easily make one for my own, I still haven't, because...reasons. Or not really any reason at all. As it would happen, though, I had some friends come over last night to work on a craft project and we ended up cutting vinyl for their KitchenAids (which was not the project we got together to work on, of course).

I had the vinyl negative left of one of the decals that I held on to because I thought it would make a good stencil for... something. And then it hit me. Why not use it to stencil my KitchenAid? I want to do light blue or yellow vinyl, which I don't have yet, so in the meantime...

I used acrylic paints and tested a little patch first. I just dabbed some on with my finger, let it dry, then made sure it scratched off as easily as I thought it would.

Then...

So that'll hold until I get vinyl in the color I want. There are some parts where it seeped under the stencil, but I'll just wait until it dries and then scratch it off. So easy. I wish I was a talented painter- I'd do an all-over floral design. Sigh. I suppose it wouldn't be worth it, since this probably won't take thorough wipe downs very well.
 

I got lucky

No, not like THAT. Or maybe I do mean like that. None of your business. *blushing*

The title is referring to a gift certificate I won to a local flea market. Fleaology. Here's their blog. I submitted my name for the drawing they do before each one, and I got 3 entries because I blogged about my last flea market finds here. Anyway, I won $50! That, plus the money I'd already set aside to spend there, made me feel like I was gearing up for an awesome little shopping spree. And it WAS awesome. Look, I'll show you:

{I saw this and made a beeline for it. I always keep an eye out for globes. And it was only $15!}

{This doesn't match anything in my house, but I just kept going back to it again and again. It's embroidery.}

{It needs a new place to hang, of course. Or maybe I just need a headboard and some more things to hang by it. Hmm...}

{I'll hopefully make a move on my bathroom redo soon, so that this can stop looking terrible next to those dark green walls. It's awesome for all the stuff I want to keep in the bathroom but don't want little hands to get at.}

{See that awesome scarf with the yellow border? Three dollars. Booyah.}

{I've been looking for awhile for a hard suitcase for dress-up storage, but they're always either too much money or too small. This giant was only ten bucks and in almost perfect condition.}

{Everything fits! (With some room to spare, even)}

{I like wearing the brooches in my hair. I don't know what I'll do with the clip on earrings, but it'll be something.}

{It's a metal peacock! This is another one that I'm not sure why I bought it. I love it. I mean, I parked it on the mantle temporarily, but over a month later it's there because I just love how fun it is.}

I forgot to take pictures of a few things, like another little globe. It's small and white on a brass stand. I also got my new favorite necklace EVER for $2.50. I got a big vintage melon crate, too, but it's still in the garage. It needs a good scrubbing before it's allowed inside. Anybody else had awesome luck lately?

Road tripped

Well, our little vacation is over. We actually got back about a month ago. I LOVE the Oregon coast. The whole Pacific Northwest, really. Just so beautiful. So green. Foxgloves as prolific as weeds. Sigh. I do love it here (UT), though. Just not a whole lot during the summer. Too hot. It was an especially nasty shock coming back from 60-70 degree weather to the hottest week Utah's had so far, the high over 100 for several days straight. I must sound like such a whiner to all the people who live in New Mexico and Arizona. Whelp, sounding like a whiner isn't going to stop this train.

Anyway, before we left for our 15 hour drive, I finished a few other things. One was this:

Magnetic paper dolls! I saw them HERE and just loved it. So much so that I got the exact same paper doll book (that was just coincidence, really- it's at Hobby Lobby if you were wondering). I wanted a big set with lots of options, so I used two 1'x 2' magnetic sheet rolls. Also from Hobby Lobby. I also got all this stuff in 3 different trips to the HobLob (oh yeah. I just slanged it) so I could use the 40% off coupon all times. Because of that, my total was less than $15.

Here are my doll clothes, all popped out of the book and crowded as closely as I could manage onto the sticky side of the magnet roll.

I seriously love playing with these. So does my daughter, of course. And all her little girl cousins (it was such a crowd pleaser- all the girls from age 3 to 10 crowded around the cookie sheet at the beach house).

It wasn't as great of a car toy as I had envisioned- there were two many little bits and not enough room to spread them all out. Great kitchen table toy, though.

As it turned out, we weren't really hurting for car entertainment. My girls were both little troopers for 95% of the drive, which was SO much better than I had dared hope. I think I deserve some credit, too. I was prepared out my ear balls with stuff for both of them, and I want to share. So, without further ado, here's my

TOP TODDLER ROAD TRIP TRICKS!

1. MAGNA DOODLE. Get the giant one. 

2. Straws and pipecleaners. Mim made bracelets, rings, swords, people...I handed them back a few at a time.

3.  A blank notebook. Maybe this wouldn't work as well for some kids, but Mim loves just drawing. We did secret messages for awhile, too.

4. Stickers. I spent like 15 bucks on stickers at the dollar store. Probably more. I let her put them on herself, on her car seat (she can only reach fabric parts, where they were easy enough to peel off), in her notebook, where ever. I also made matching games with them for her to do.

5. Water bottles filled with glitter and water. After you have glitter and water in them, GLUE THE LIDS SHUT.  These were for my little 10 month old. She was pretty fascinated by them.

6. Don't give them something to do until they ask. After every stop, I made sure I didn't just automatically hand something back. Sometimes Mim would go for close to an hour just looking out the window or talking before she wanted something else to do.

7. Snacks. Of course. I did things like fruit leather, popcorn, grapes, carrots, string cheese, nuts, and Pringles. And water. No juice for us. Mim will drink 10x more juice than she will water, which would have meant a LOT more potty stops.

So that's what worked for us. I've seen a ton more lists out there, some with 100+ activities and ideas, but Mim has a pretty long attention span for one so little, so we didn't need that many more things. Not that I'll ever, EVER assume that for road trips in the future. 

Hope your vacations have been awesome! Thanks for reading.