DIY Notepad Cover - Recycle, Reduce, Repurpose

I am definitely a "SHE" - 

Sidetracked Home Executive (via Flylady)!

Stationery supplies make my heart happy; 

notebooks, journals, papers, pens, markers, 

file folders, planners, etc.

So when hubby & I went to some local 

yard sales this past weekend and I saw 

a fellow "SHE" selling a portion of her 

stash, I was like...

Then during a little crafty time, 

I created a pretty cover for one

of the notepads I had picked up.

These lovely papers are from Echo Park,

For the Record, they were in my scrap

box along with their stickers & trim.

However, the scraps weren't quite wide

enough to cover my pad so I pieced some

together. It worked out perfectly with a

little washi tape to hide things inside! (:

I even found a little 

resin flower to match!

I now have a pretty covered 

notepad for my purse...

I like when everything coordinates!!

check out the one

I created for my

Christmas list...

Are you a SHE?

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Simple, Sparkly and Recycled - Birthday Card

A few months ago, my son

received this cute birthday 

card below.

It was bright, fun and sparkly.

And honestly, it was the sparkly

parts that saved this card from

the bin when he was finished with it.

So, with a piece of white cardstock

and a trimmer, a new birthday card

was born. Simple, huh?!

Can you see the sparkly glittery parts???  

Oh my heart be still! (: 

white cardstock, personal trimmer, foam dots

"So that which is old becomes new."

Works great for Christmas cards too!
Enjoy your day!

What do you do with

your old birthday cards?

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My TO-DO List Altered notebook - Bella BLVD

Happy Earth Day!

Here's a fun little recycle/upcycle - reuse

project I've been wanting to share.

I am an admitted list-maker, yep, it's right there

on my "About Me" page! Lists are a constant in

my life. 

My mind naturally works in lists.

When I have a project to do, I see the steps in

list form before my pen even hits paper.

So where does a prolific list-maker keep her lists?

Notebooks!

But I'm a crafter too, so they need to be

embellished notebooks!

I make one for each season. (:

notebooks - Summer '15 & Winter '16

Recycling or is it Upcycling?

I use the kids old composition books; they 

never use all the pages. Would that be 

recycling or upcycling?

Upcycling the kids old notebooks.
The used pages are carefully cut out and
the cover is joyfully altered.

Most notebooks have more than half of

their pages unused, in that case I just 

alter the cover. 

However, my current edition was pretty

much thinned out so I made a quick 

bookcover from kraft wrapping paper.

This will allow me to transfer my spring 

cover to another book when this one

is finished before the end of the season.

creating a kraft paper book cover

Ironically, some of Bella Blvd's winter papers 

were perfect for my spring notebook!

Bella Blvd Winter Wonder design papers were

used, earlier in the year, for both my winter notebook 

and my 2016 daily planner, I really liked the color scheme.

Winter '16  with Bella Blvd design papers

My 2016 daily planner using Bella Blvd Winter Wonder papers

spring 2016 To-Do list notebook

Are you a list-maker?
Do you keep notebooks of notes?



For more fun projects...

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Springtime Centerpiece - Chicken Wire Flower Cage

Spring has sprung!

So I thought it appropriate to dust the 

cobwebs from my blog and say HELLO!

This past winter season was a busy one
in our home, more on that later but I
wanted to share my first spring project
with you.


A Chicken Wire Flower Cage

centerpiece using  recycled bottles

My original idea was to place

single stem flowers in plain 

clear bottles spaced across my

table. Cute idea, right?

Turns out it was not very practical 

once I needed to move them every

evening for meal time. So hubby 

made me this sweet chicken wire cage!

So simple but I'm lovin' it!

general materials used:
soda/beer bottles, labels removed.
flower bouquet (Walmart $3.00),
 snipped to separate stems.
scrap wood.
chicken wire.

*side note...we have a very long
farm table (nine foot long) so I
needed at least seven bottles to
make the piece look right. If you
have a normal size dining room table,
and you wanted to make a similar
centerpiece you could probably get
away with using only 3 to 5 bottles.

Sweet & Simple

What do you think?

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Encourage your kids to Talk about their day!

"Tell me something awesome about today!"

That is a question I asked my kids 

at the end of every day when they

were young!

It opened the door to many wonderful

conversations and I was able to "see"

into the hearts of my precious little ones!

recycled cardboard box, Washi tape,
Echo Park papers (For the Record)
Joy's Life stamps (My Hero)

With school starting, this would be a great way to encourage your children to talk about their day with a positive attitude.

"Tell me something awesome about today."

Let them think for a minute, 'good thoughts,' then jot it down on an index card or let them write it out if they're old enough.  

(helping the teacher pass out papers, encouraging a friend, sitting beside a lonely child on the bus, etc.)

Date it (month, year) and file it under the number date (1-31). 

You'll be creating a beautiful memory file over the years!

Record a Day file box - divider cards

Using my paper scraps, I created divider cards with number stickers and my Joy's Life, My Hero stamp set; so many encouraging sentiments!

The file card box was made with a re-cycled beverage box!

How do you encourage a positive attitude 

in your children?

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From Cookies to Muddy Boots - DIY Drying Rack

My "About Me" page claims that I re-cycle, 

up-cycle and repurpose for the sheer joy of it. 

Here's my latest joy...

We've all seen the boot drying racks with 

pretty stones, rocks or pebbles in a pan on 

Pinterest, right?

So pretty, yes, however, every time you want 

to clean out all the accumulated mud & dirt you 

have to dump out all the stones, wash them and 

let them dry a bit before putting them back in the pan.

Not very practical for this country girl.

I needed something I could rinse off  easily 

with my hose and put back in place before 

the muddy boots started arriving again!

So here's my solution; old cookie sheet, 

cooling rack and pretty spray paint.

The cooling rack is easy to rinse & dry and 

allows maximum air flow for muddy/wet boots.

Honestly, I did not over think this too much, 

so it was a really quick project. 

I did not "prepare" the baking sheets in any way 

prior to painting. We've been using them now for 

over two months. Works perfectly! 

Have you used the pebble/stone drying racks?
Do they work for your family?

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Mirrored Vanity Tray - Recycle, Repurpose, Reuse

We recently gave our bedroom a major makeover 
and now I'm working on adding some pretty decor.

When we decluttered our home earlier this year, 
I boxed up a few items and challenged myself 
to recycle, repurpose or reuse them within the 
year in order for them not to be deemed 'clutter'! 

So, here's my first ready-to-see project: 

An old gold framed mirrored tray.

mirrored vanity tray - before

A bit of cleaning, a solid coat of black Krylon spray paint, 
and some Zva Creative bling...

a little mirror bling

...and here's my "new" mirrored vanity tray! 

mirrored vanity tray - reuse

Hubby made us his & her oak dressers; 
this tray will be sitting pretty atop mine!


I'll have more projects to show soon, 
along with the room makeover!

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What's your latest 

recycle-repurpose-reuse project?

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Organizing Life - Brain Dumping!

Like my computer browser, at times, my 
brain can have too many tabs open!

There are so many things I want to learn, 
books and articles I want to read, sites I 
want to check out, crafts I want to make, 
people I want to contact, recipes I want to 
try, the list goes on and on. 

I'm a visual person, so trying to keep it all
in my head just doesn't work.

So...I use this little system I like to call
Brain Dumping!

brain dumping with my calendar and one of the kids old school notebooks.

I use my calendar & a notebook.
yep, it's quite old-school but it works for me.

It all goes down on paper, no more
cluttered thoughts. When something
comes to mind, I jot it down. I also sketch
ideas in my notebooks along with some
doodles to highlight certain entries.

I would say brain dumping is one of my
main keys to enjoying a simplified life! 

How do you empty your brain?

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Also, be sure to follow me on Pinterest 

where I keep all my online finds!

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DIY Cake Plate - some assembly required

I've been wanting to create a pretty 

pedestal cake plate for the upcoming 

holidays for some time now. So at the 

beginning of yard sale season, it was on my list.

I found a lovely glass candle holder, it was 

a bit bigger and heavier than the regular 

ones I normally see, it was two dollars at a 

tag sale, perfect! 

DIY cake plate - some assembly required

With a little glue and a glass plate found at 

Goodwill, I was able to create this pretty piece!

It sparkles!

DIY cake plate

This is such an easy DIY, I encourage you 

to hunt down some glass pieces of your 

own and make one. 

Don't need another cake plate?  

Then stay tuned, I have a fun & unique way 

to use a pedestal plate as a really cute gift idea!

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Seashell Candles

seashell candles

Do you collect seashells at the seashore?

seashells

Here's a fun idea to use some shells 

for your outdoor decor.

You'll need:

clam shells

wax 

wicks

clay pot saucer

sand 

I used a pack of tea light candles that I picked up at a tag sale for .10 cents. 

tea light candles, wicks removed

The tea lights were my wax & wicks, the wicks have a tiny metal base and slip right out of the candle. Then I dropped the "wickless" candle into a tin can to melt on the side burner of my grill. 

When the wax was completely melted, I dipped the wicks into the liquid wax and placed them in my seashells to secure them. Next, in went the wax. They cooled in minutes.

saucers with seashell candles

I had more wax then shells so I poured the remaining wax in tin cupcake cups to use as wax melts for another craft at a later time!

wax melts

Simple outdoor decor!

Seashell candle outdoor decor

Do you collect souvenirs from your vacations?

How do you display them? 

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