Co-hosting Creative Bloggers Party & Hop #7

So, it's official. I rock. SJ asked me to co-host today's Creative Bloggers Party & Hop.

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Oh, you don't know who SJ is? She's the blogger behind Homemaker on a Dime. Her tagline is a "Quest for a million bucks look on a dime's budget". I think that's what we all try to do, right? You'll find a bunch of great projects on her blog, and reading her blog feels like having a casual conversation with a girlfriend.

You wanna play along? Do ya? Do ya? All you have to do is

1) link up whatever creative post you'd like to share - can be a DIY project, decor, photography, crafts, recipes, poem, thrift finds, or that informative syndicated post that can make us laugh, or cry . Basically  if you've blogged about it, and you heart it, link it up, sista.

2) Then follow as many blogs as your heart desires, preferably starting first with the one before you and after you, before branching out. Following the host and co-host, too, will be very much appreciated, and we'll definitely follow back. We're awesome like that.

You’re not required to include the party button, but if you’re so inclined to display it in your blog or your post, you’re very much welcome to do so :)

This is a combination of linky party (where we can show off our creations) and of blog hop (where we can follow as many excellent bloggers as we like), hence the name Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop.

Link opens up every Sunday at 5:00 pm, PST.

Because we like something different, we're using the reverse entry for inlinkz - so the most recent participant will show up as number 1, giving everybody a chance to get the #1 spot.

Following me is awesome. Me following you in return is awesome. Let's both be awesome, k?

Blog Swap Awesomesauce with J and J Home

I have a treat for you readers today! Jeanne from J and J Home and I are swapping today. She's a doll, and I heart her blog. Seriously, you'll find a ton of inspiration, and she was awesome and saved me some work and linked to my favorites posts of hers down at the bottom. Instead of doing a tutorial swap, we exchanged some random questions.

Hi, I'm here from JandJHome and am so excited to be guest posting here at  Life, Crafts, and Whatever. Jen's blog is one of my daily reads and I love everything about her! We'll start with some questions.


What is your biggest fear/phobia?  Without getting overly emotional here, I would have to say growing old without children.

Were you named after anyone?  I was named after my great grandmother, Jean.  My parents added an ne at the end, which I'm glad they did. 


Who would you choose to play you in a movie? Wow, I have no idea. I am so not a movie person, but I guess I would have to say Julianne Moore, because of her red hair. 


What three people, dead or alive, would you invite to a dinner party? I would definitely invite my grandfather, Javier. I never met him and although he is with my grandmother, Mamama, in heaven, I'd love to see them interacting. She was in such awe of him and lost him way too early.  She was in her 40's. I  would also have my mom there to see how she was shaped by her parents.


Why did you start blogging?  I started blogging as a distraction from major baby making issues, I'm talking almost 5 years worth (see answer number 1). It has been the best decision I've ever made. I have found a whole new passion and love for all things DIY and crafty. 


Any crafts you want to learn/wish you were better at?  I want to learn to paint, draw, etc.  My mom is an art teacher and my dad is an architect turned artist and I have from where to have inherited it from.  I guess I have to give it a try.


So now that you know so much about me, let me show you some of my favorite projects so far. 

My sunburst mirror out of wood shims.  It's huge and I love the rusticness of it among my modern furniture.




  

I made this bench for the foot of my bed using an old coffee table and some wood from Home Depot.
 

Finally, my Ikea hack upholstered headboard is what started a transformation of my master bedroom. 










I'd love for you to stop by JandJHome! I always love new friends.  Thanks Jen for having me here today, you are a total inspiration to me. 

Guest Posting at My World Made By Hand

Yay! Today I'm guest posting over at

I'm super excited, Jessica is adorable and I really dig her blog. I think you will too!

Blog Swapping with Corduroy Dreams

Hi readers! 

 Okay, I need a better name for y'all. "Hi Readers!" sounds dorky. And yes, I said y'all. I'm from Texas. 

I can't always come up with clever, witty, genius things to write, so when Natalie asked me if I'd like to do a blog swap with her, I happily accepted. She's adorable, and sweet, and is sharing a rockin' tutorial with us today.

Hello, there! My name is Natalie and I do a creative blog called Corduroy Dreams. I am a full-time mom to 2 beautiful children who I love and who inspire me everyday. I have the best husband in the world, and I am admittedly a terrible housewife. ha ha. I would rather do other things than clean my house... Who can blame me?

I'm so lucky to be featured on Jen's blog today. I fell in love with her paint chip wall art, and I'm planning on making one soon! So cute!

Valentine's Day is coming soon. That's what they say, anyway....

I first saw these little crepe paper rose thingies made by Shelley at House of Smith's. She did an amazing job at teaching me how to make the little roses, so now I want to show you how I took her tutorial and made my very own Crepe Paper Rose Wreath.

Wanna make your own? Here's how.

You will need the following items

Ribbon {about 2 feet}

Glue gun and TONS of glue sticks

A Styrofoam wreath {found mine at the dollar store}

Crepe paper {I used 1 1/2 rolls, also found at the dollar store, 2 rolls for a dollar. Score!}

The dollar store didn't have any Styrofoam wreaths with rounded edges, and I wasn't going to run all around town to find one, so I made due with this one.

I cut my crepe paper into strips about 2 feet long.

Then I crinkled them all up.

Start making your roses by rolling your crepe paper really tight at first.

Keep rolling it up, but start twisting your crepe paper. I found that the tighter I rolled it and the more I twisted, the better I liked my roses.

Once you've rolled it all up, hot glue the end down.

{Yes, this was my first rose, and yes, I know it looks like junk. Trust me, they got better as I went along.}

Make all of your roses before you start gluing them on your wreath, because as I said, they get better as you go. So then you can put the prettiest flowers on the front. But, honestly, once they are all on the wreath, you can't tell which is which. 

Start gluing your flowers on the wreath. I found they stayed on better if I put the glue on the flower, then stuck to the wreath. {instead of putting glue on the wreath then sticking the flower on.}

Keep gluing them on.

Take a break for target practice.

Once I got all the roses glued the the front, I started gluing them on the corner/edge. I ended up doing 4 rows of flowers. The front, the side, and then right on the outside and inside edges.
I'm not sure the best "technique" for this, but I just tried to smoosh my flowers as close to each other as they could get.

Once all of your flowers are on, you can hook your ribbon on. Or, if you wanted, you could probably do this BEFORE you put the flowers on, but let's face it, I didn't think about it.

I found a spot that looked kind of bare and that's where I hooked my ribbon on.

Hot glue your ribbon to the back too. This is how you're going to hang your wreath, so you want it to be a big loop.

{you may notice that I didn't put flowers on the back. Really, no one is going to see it. And I wanted it to lay flat.}

Then I hot glued a flower on top of my ribbon so you couldn't see where I attached it to the wreath.

Tah-Dah!

I used 57 flowers. It took me about an hour and a half. And cost me a total of 2 dollars {I already had the hot glue and the ribbon}.

It's been so nice visiting with you here at Jen's place. Please feel free to stop by and "follow" my blog Corduroy Dreams.

Blog Swap Awesomeness with Five Seconds From Crazy

Hey readers! I'm going to introduce you to a new blog that I've been stalking following. It's called Five Seconds from Crazy.

Seriously, I like, LOVE this blog. Lesley is awesome, she's one of those chicks who says what's on her mind, and honesty like that is refreshing. I'll read a post of hers, and I think "Oh my gosh, I was totally just thinking that!". From posts like this, where her 7 year old daughters explains what a period is to her 9 year old brother, to easy to follow tutorials. If your home involves crafting between all the times of craziness, like mine does, you'll feel right at home.

Seriously, love it. Can I say I love it again without sounding like a crazy obsessed fan? Prolly not. Ah well. It's my blog and I'll obsess if I want to!

First of all, before I blab all over Jennifer's page, let me say, " YAY! " I am so thrilled to be here and feel really honored that Jen even considered doing this. 

I have got to be honest. I'm totally intimidated by this chick. 

Um hi...she's a model? Um hi...she's uber crafty? Um hi! She's been in the Air Force and could probably kick my ass with one quick smack to the back of the head!

Ok, ok. We all dig Jen.

Let's talk about Lesley! 

Jen had the fabulous idea ( there I go talking about Jen again ) to give each other questions to answer about ourselves. I personally think this is a really fun idea because I love getting to know intimate details about strangers. Seriously. Don't buy me a new iphone for Christmas. Give me one hour alone in your house so that I can snoop through your intimates. 

Now that's a Christmas!

Ahem...

Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts?

 I'm not gonna lie. I love receiving gifts. Come on! Every Christmas I eat dinner, sip my wine and act like a classy lady. But, inside, I am screaming like a five year old, spoiled brat, " Give me presents! " 

Don't get me wrong. I worked hard on creating handmade gifts for my peeps, and I love it when someone really loves something that I've given them, but I am a getter....not a giver.

What are your 3 physical features you get complimented on often?

Oh, wow. There are so many. How do I choose? 
Let me think....
Get real. I am going to struggle to think of 3.
My eyes. I have massive eyes. And I play them up a lot. 
My boobs. 
Oh wait, are we counting things my hubby loves? Yes? 
Then boobs.
My hair. It's thick and apparently that's a good thing.


What is your biggest pet peeve?


I can answer this no problem. Driving texters! Arrg.. That car in front of me who is seconds away from running into oncoming traffic. Then I pull up next to them at a light and see the driver's stupid thumbs all over her blackberry. Um hi, I hate you.
Oooh, also, cashiers that whine to you about how much their day is sucking. Just bag my groceries please. I do not need to listen to you complain about the guy who came through half an hour ago and smells like B.O. Believe me, I can still smell him.

Do you have tattoos or piercings? If yes, how many and where are they?

Yes, I have two tatts that are pretty small and not a big deal at all. 

 
This one is on the back of my neck. I regret this one. I do love it for what I wanted at that time, but now I wish I'd waited and went to someone else. The dude talked me into getting it done to look " Scratchy and like I had it done in the jungle somewhere ". Yeah.
And I was like, " Yeah! That's sounds so primitive! " And, here's the kicker: It is HALF of the Japanese symbol for serenity. Half. Cuz I'm a total hipster dummy and I was like," I'll get the other half at some point in my life when I feel I have obtained serenity. It's more organic that way! "
Errr, yeah. 

This one is on my right shoulder. The red star represents my oldest son, the green my middle son, the blue my youngest son and the pink, my girl. The big gold star in the middle is my husband and I am the lines holding us all together. Awww!

  Oh, and I have my ears pierced.

Have you ever had a stalker?

I had a blog stalker very recently! 

Some chick commented on some post I did that she liked my blog. I clicked on her name to check out her blog and it was EXACTLY the same. 

I'm not talking same theme, same layout. 

I mean, it was the same title. Same posts. Photos of me and my family and my house.

Know what I mean? 

I contacted Blogger and her sight was promptly removed. But, what the crap?

Why? I suck. Doesn't she know?

Least favorite feature?

Easy. My teeth. I have a love / hate relationship with my mouth.

I have a space between my top teeth and it bugs me like you wouldn't believe. 

At the same time I love it. It sets me apart and it's part of the way God made me.

My husband and everyone I know tell me that it's no big deal and they never notice it. But you know how it is. When you know it's there it bugs you.

When I was a kid we were po' people and didn't have dental insurance let alone money to pay for braces.

Then, as an adult, you just never consider putting that much money towards something to feed your vanity when there are bills to pay and mouths to feed.

But, if I ever come across ten grand on the street it's going straight to my mouth, baby!

Well, I suppose that's it. T'was fun, yes?

Spank you very much, Jen, for letting me verbally attack your blog. I had a blast!

~♥~

And since I know you all love me and are dying to see my answers to the same questions, you'll have to hop on over to Lesley's blog! Okay, maybe not hop. But go quickly. You won't regret it.