Nurses' Week Gift DIY's

Nurses' Week is May 6-12.

Last year, I showed you how you could make this simple medical coat cover for a candy bar.

This year, I have several more gift ideas.

To make them, you just need to get an old medical book and use the pages.

I found my medical encyclopedia at the thrift store.

You can cut out an image from a medical book and use spray adhesive to place the image on a vase.

Looks cute, huh?

You can cover a clipboard.

I used a small one (5 3/4"x 9") and covered it with pages from my medical book.

You can go here to see how to cover a clipboard.

I love the back.

You can cut out images and adhere them to small jars, then fill the jars with candy or other goodies.

Once again, I used spray adhesive to attach the images to the jars.

In one, I placed a succulent.

In the others, I put chocolate animal crackers and Chex Mix.

You can turn part of a page into a necklace.
You can go here to see a tutorial on how to make one like this.

You can also use the pages to make gift card holders.

Just trim the page to 4" wide by 5 1/2" long.
Make sure the image you want is near the bottom of the area that you're cutting.

Fold up the bottom inch and place two staples at the edges to hold the card.
Then fold down the top two inches over the card.
Easy peasy.

Or you can simply give a vintage medical book.

This one is called Simply Nursing and has some awesome graphics in it.

As a nurse, I can tell you that any of these gifts would make a nurse's day.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Love does not envy

1 Cor. 13:4

 This post is linked to USS Crafty, The Dedicated House, Simple Nature Décor,
Indie Crafts Handmade Blog Link Up, Tatertots and Jello,
and Plucky's Second Thought.

Thrifty Thursday #205

Hey Guys,

Have you done any secondhand shopping lately?

I have.

Here's what I found. . . 

Look at this beautiful old Kraft glass jar.

Check out the texture on it.

Looks pretty old.

I got it for $2 at a sidewalk sale in front of an antique store.
I was hoping for more, but it was a very small sale-
like three booths small.

I got these six wine boxes from my aunt.
For free.

These three are long and shallow.

This one is just as long as the other three, but is much deeper.
How great are the graphics on it?

The final two are shorter and deeper.
They're all in great shape.
They're not vintage, but I still think they're pretty cool.
Any ideas of what I can do with them?

So, what good finds have you come across?

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

For You are great, and do wondrous things; 
You alone are God.
Psalm 86:10

This post is linked to Blue Willow House, A Morning Cup of Joe, and My Girlish Whims.

Don't Leaf These Projects Behind. . .

I can't believe September is almost over!

We're now officially in fall, so let's take a look at some leaf-y projects.

They're all so simple to make. . .

This project just needs leaves, raffia, and mason jars.

So simple!

I was really excited about this leaf mobile.

So unique, don't you think?

You can go here to see more about it.

This grateful banner was made with shipping tags and dollar store leaves.

Go here to see how.

Wanna know what makes vintage books cooler?

Leaves, of course!

Come here and see.

Garlands are so stinkin' easy to make.

And if you buy your supplies at the dollar store, they're so cheap, too.

Here is another leaf garland.

Makes you want to run out to the dollar store and find some leaves, doesn't it?

Or you could use real ones.

Unfortunately, I live in a part of Texas where it's still summer,

so I'm stuck with artificial leaves for now:)

I hope this leaves you wanting to craft!

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless.

O my God, I trust in You

Psalm 25:2

This post is linked to My Salvaged Treasures, Embracing Change, Simple Nature Decor, 

Funky Junk, and I Heart Naptime.

Thrifty Thursday #176

Last week I found very little to buy at the thrift stores

which beats this week when I found absolutely NOTHING!

Yes-sirree-bob.

I left empty handed.

But have no fear. . . 

I still have something lovely to share with you.

Check out these giant jars. . . 

 I got them for free.

A relative gave them to me.

They were going to be thrown away at his workplace.

He thought that I'd love them.

He was right:)

These are no regular jars either.

They are 12" tall and 9" wide.

I love them!

Right now this one is filled with small bags of peanuts.

I haven't done anything with the first one, but I'll figure out something to do with it.

I hope you have better luck with your secondhand shopping this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways, 

gracious in all His works.

Psalm 145:17

This post is linked to Life With Lorelai, The Crafted Sparrow, and Too Much Time On My Hands

Simple Easter Centerpieces

Need a last minute Easter centerpiece idea?

Take a look at these.
Simple, quick, and easy.
You may even have this stuff sitting around your house:

Easter grass, bags of candy, mason jars, and glass candle sticks.

 This one is a Ball jar with a small candle holder in the center which is surrounded by jelly beans.
I tied a simple piece of raffia around the opening of the jar.

Here are three small Mason jars with a bit of colored Easter grass at the bottom of the jars.
On top of the grass in each jar is an LED tea light candle.
A twine bow finishes off these cuties.

For this one, I placed an artificial nest on top of a glass holder, then placed eggs inside the nest.
This would be cute with lace-covered eggs, too!

This is a tall candle holder with raffia across the bottom
and eggs stacked up inside.
You can't get simpler than this!

This idea would be great as name card holders.
Just use Staz-On ink to stamp names onto the eggs.
Then prop the eggs on top of crystal candle holders.

Finally, how about placing a candle at the bottom of a tall candle holder,
then surrounding the candle with bunny Peeps?
Just make sure the candle is high enough above the Peeps so they don't start to melt
 when you light the candle.

Think how cute it would be to mix and match these for a very Easter-y centerpiece?

Here's a little secret: all the glassware above I purchased at a thrift store!

I hope you all have a lovely Easter!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

This post is linked to The Crafted Sparrow, I Heart Naptime, Funky Junk, and My Repurposed Life.

Save Your Memories In A Jar

Today I'd like to revisit a project that I've done before

but I think it's so fantastic that I have to show you again.

It's a Memory Jar.
I believe it's the quickest way that you can store memories for the year.
You don't have to be crafty to do this.

Just get a jar.

Place a recent family photo in it.

Add the year to the front or the top of the jar.
I used rub-ons to place my numbers.

Then place things in it throughout the year.

This is our jar from last year.

It has lots of different items like:
movie stubs
souvenir pennies
armbands from event entrance
concert tickets
baseball tickets
fortune card
business cards- from where we ate for our anniversary and from my nail salon

Before dropping each item in my jar, I wrote a quick note on the back explaining a little about the event the item came from.

Here's my collection of Memory Jars.
This will be my fifth year to make such a treasure.

What do you think? Wouldn't it be fun to go through one of these at the end of the year?
You could make it part of your Christmas or New Year's celebration.


Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Gal. 5:22-23

This post is linked to The Handmade Hangout, Tatertots and Jello,
Be Different, Act Normal, and The Crafted Sparrow 

Mason Jar + Leaf = One Cute Project!

If you're wondering what to do for a centerpiece for Thanksgiving I've got a cute idea

that will take you about five minutes to put together. . .

 

 

these autumn leaf luminaries.

 

 

All you need is an old Mason jar, a leaf, and some twine or raffia.

 

 

You can use small jars or large ones.

 

Then just tie the leaf to the jar using raffia or twine.

I wrapped the raffia around twice before tying it.

 

Place a  tealight candle in the jar and you've got a darling candle holder.

 

It would look really cute paired up with this autumn project from Friday.

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

1 Cor. 2:5

 

 This post is linked to Between Naps On The Porch, Plucky's Second Thought,

 and Daisy Cottage Designs.

Thrifty Thursday #98

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Ours was very nice and relaxing. It was very slow paced which was nice after the hectic two weeks leading up to it where I was super busy preparing for it.

 

Last week I showed you some awesome stuff that I found at an estate sale. Well, I headed back to that same sale on the last day to see if I could find anything else.

Last days at estate sales are fun because everything is usually half off.

 

I found these awesome tiny flashcards for a dollar!

They're 3" x 2". I love finding stuff like this!

I'm thinking these would make a cute garland.

 

I also picked up these vintage hankies.

The larger one was only fifty cents and the other two were a quarter each.

Aren't they all so pretty?

I almost have enough blue hankies to make some cafe curtains:)

 

I simply cannot pass up old paper.

I found this pack of old graph paper- with orange lines- for a dime. Since everything was half off, the gal threw this in for free!

 

 

Before decorating for a Christmas banquet last week, I made a quick stop into a thrift store to look for any pretties that we could use to decorate.

I found this creamer cup marked down to a dime.

It doesn't have a lid, but I planned to use it for a candle holder, so it didnt' need one!

 

I also found these three jars for fifty cents each.

The front one has cup measurements on it. The back two have square edges instead of being round.

I really don't need anymore jars, but I couldn't resist these.

 

I got this old platter for a dollar. Who can't use an old silver platter? It came in handy for our banquet decorating. After we used it, I tucked it away because I'm sure that it will come in handy again.

 

That's all my scores for this week. I wish happy treasure hunting to you all!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving

Psalm 147:7

 

 This post is linked to Be Different Act Normal and I Heart Naptime.

Thrifty Thursday #47

     Whew! I'm sure you all have been as busy as we've been around here. . .who's ready for some time off? (You can't see it, but I'm raising my hand right now:)
     Isn't it funny how much time we think we need to spend on frivolities this time of year instead of focusing on the reason for the season?
     I'm as guilty as the rest, but I did find a minute to sneak into one thrift store today and boy, was it worth it!

 

That's right- this fella was only $3. He's not as old as I'd like him to be, but at this price, I couldn't leave him there!

I'm hoping my hubby will find some typewriter ribbon for me for Christmas. Then I could use this for typing up journaling for my scrapbooking.

 

Got these four jars for a dollar. It's hard to see in the picture, but they are Atlas Mason jars. They don't have lids, but they have etched volume markings which I love.

 

Got this nice box of envelopes for fifty cents. I'm getting ready to start a group of ladies on a scrapbooking project in January, and envelopes always come into handy!

 

This dinner plate was $1. I now have three in my collection! Very soon, I'll have enough for a dinner set.

 

The thrift store was still having their book sale- 2 for twenty five cents. I spotted these and thought that they'd work for the journals that I make from books. I hope to start making some to sell here on the blog soon.

 

Couldn't pass this up at twelve in a half cents! James Patterson is always a good read. I don't know how he'd feel knowing his book was sold for less than twenty cents, though.:)

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

We love Him because He first loved us.

1 John 4:19

     This post is linked to Shabby Creek Cottage.