Little upcycled gift

Today, I needed a birthday gift for a friend of mine.  I wanted it to be fun and unique but also fit her lifestyle and morals, of course.  Soo, I made this little planter of celery!

I have been having too much fun with things that would otherwise be thrown away and spray paint.  I turned a large tomato can into this fun little planter by popping a few holes in the bottom and hitting it with the ol' spray paint!  Then tying a little ribbon on for added flair.

Then, to top it off, I have tried the craze I have seen everywhere on pinterest of growing celery from the  discarded cut off bottom part thingy.  (There is likely a real name for it, but heck if I know it.)  I LOVE this craze.  I go through quite a bit of celery, and I always buy the organic kind, one because I prefer that and 2 because I know I will soon be growing a little plant of my own.

If you have not yet seen it, it is great.  Cut on the bottom of the celery, set it in a dish of water for a couple weeks (changing and adding water as needed) and viola!  Roots start to grow and from the center you start to get a great little celery plant!  Then once it gets to about this point...

I stick it in it's own little pot and watch it grow.  In a couple more weeks, I should be able to even harvest a few (all be it, small) stalks if I so desire!  For a great walk through, check out this blog post over at 17 Apart.

And like I said, I think it makes an awesome gift. 

So go have fun growing little celery plants!

Ash

Time off = organizing the house! Tutorial on creating cute and cheap organizing 'baskets'

I have been enjoying time off maybe a little too much.  I have been getting up early to enjoy my coffee and quiet time in the house, then working hard at re-organizing the mess that I call my home.   It is way, way overdue, and I am thankful for time to work on it.  It is going to make my life so much easier in the long run

The first day I wanted to begin to tackle the kitchen.  I had seen people organize their cupboards and pantries with baskets and I had a thought.  I am a little bit of a hoarder...hehe...in that I love to keep old boxes, tins, etc to reuse.  So, I went in the craft closet and found some boxes perfect for the job.  

First, I needed to paint them.  Good ol' spray paint to the rescue!  I chose the vintage-y green, as I thought it would match the new dishes (even though they are not in the same area...hehe.)

Then I went and bought these handy dandy metal book plates at the local JoAnns (which is not only where my hubby works, but also a 7 minute walk from my house...I know, I am a lucky girl!)

This is what I started with....

But then had the idea (I am sure I saw it on the box or something) to put ribbon through the holes like this:

So it would then look like this!

To make sure they would end up staying, I added a little glue to the back.  Any kind will work.  I had already tied the book plate around the back of the box, then kind of flipped it in place to get some glue on it, and then flipped it back.  The ribbon helped keep it in place while the glue dried.

And here are some of the almost done pieces!  In the forefront is the tied ribbon on the back of each box.

Ta da!  I think they came out great!

Finally, here is the finished product!  (Well, basically...forgot to insert the tags in a few of those book plates...hehe.)

But the book plates are perfect to give the family the labeling and organization they need to keep things in better order...something we desperately needed in the kitchen!

Happy organizing!

Ash

I know....I know...

Well, I thought I could handle it all...having a blog, working 80 hours a week, having a life and starting an etsy.  Silly me!!  But seriously, work has been kicking my butt, and even on my days off, I end up trying to take care of personal life stuff...like laundry and having a husband.  So, needless to say, my blog has suffered.

So...I am declaring a hiatus on my lovely Feature Friday...but only until the elections are over.  Then Feature Fridays, as well as my serious crafting life, are back in full swing.  AND...I now have a serious hookup to help infuse that crafting, as my hubby just became a full time manager at the new JoAnn Fabrics.  I mean, how lucky is that?

I do have to share one pic that is not the greatest, but makes me really happy.  Just a few days ago, I hit the big 3-0 in life, and threw myself a nice little party (i.e., day of cleaning the house to make it presentable enough to have people over...hehe.)  For the party, I made myself this adorable and incredibly easy bunting and spray painted some peanut butter and spaghetti sauce jars to make my mantle look amazing, if I do say so myself!

All the green and blue bottles are just spray painted on the outside and filled with water to be great little vases.  And to top it off, I got the great ceramic skull as a recent gift and the candles that totally fit with the colors and theme.  

So, things are still happening, but my posting is a bit (ok, a lot) behind, and may continue to be that way until after Nov 6th.  (Don't forget to vote! You'll make my life a lot easier...if nothing else. ;)

Ash