Sarah's first of the month project!

{A day late... but about 79 dollars short saved}

So, since Brooke is on a knock-off kick I figure I'd join in on the fun!

I got the idea from these Land of Nod posters {found here}

{Sorry for the bad pic- via Crackberry Blackberry}

$89 each!!! Yeah right! Here's what I came up with. And, since I LOVE-LOVE paint this project will come as no surprise. :-)

This is the curtain in our boys/guest bathroom.

I gathered my supplies accordingly {since my project will be hanging in this bathroom.}

I painted the canvas with my base colors- this will eventually be the color of my letters. {Trust me, you'll see!}

Since watching paint dry is SO much fun, I decided to go ahead and cut out my letters with my Slice machine. I used Vintage Findings cartridge. A bit time consuming but worth it to me for this project. A bit time consuming but worth it to me for this project. And I had plenty of time   ;-)

{Side note from Brooke- What mother of 2 small boys doesn't have plenty of time?! Haha}

Once cut, I laid them out on the canvas when the spacing was what I wanted, I used a temporary adhesive to hold the letters and shapes down.

Here it comes!! My favorite part- playing in paint! Don't use a whole, whole bunch of top coat paint. It will bleed under your letters. It's a lot easier to add than take away. Dabbing seemed to work best over the letters.

The top coat is done so off come the letters and shapes. To do this I used a straight pin to help lift up the card stock. Be careful not to poke through your canvas.

Since this is going in the bathroom I decided to seal the canvas. I have two boys. Do you REALLY need to ask why??

Ta-Da! The finished product!

Cost breakdown:

This is easy- I only bought the canvas $6.99 and 3 small paints for $.99 each.

{Come on Sarah K I give it two thumbs up!!}

I hope you enjoy this project and get your creative juices flowing! Post your link in the comments of your versions. I would love to see what you come up with!

-Sarah K

Linking up this project to the February DIY Club! Link up HERE!

Be honest... but be gentle...

I think I'm ready. Think being the key word here. I love my new blog design from Miss Paige! I still feel like my blog is missing something though. I stumbled across this post at Meridian Road and decided to make a go for it. 

Beauty in the Attempt is doing a blog hop where bloggers can link up and see what other bloggers do and can receive CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms :-)

So please be honest. Tell me what you think. What are my faults? Pictures? Writing? Where do I need to improve? What are my strengths? Layout? Links? What areas do you find that I'm doin' good? Please be gentle. Tell me what you think but do it nicely... I cry easily. Okay not REALLY but I do get VERY defensive :-)

Thank you in advance! Can't wait to hear what you all think!!!

Window Frame to Picture Frame

I got 3 of these bad boys for FREE!!! Someone left them behind my office building. Where they CRAZY?!?!?! I think so! I loaded them up into Black Betty {My truck} and took them home! I knew I could use them for something or another!

This weekend we redecorated our living room and dining room and I knew I could use some new wall decor! I took one of the windows and removed the screen with a knife.

Then I laid out some chicken wire and stapled it down.

Next I hung it up on my newly painted living room wall!

I used clothes pins to attach some black and white family photos!

{This is a photo of our downtown area in like 1920ish}

I love my new focal point! What do y'all think?

Sponsored By Scentsy and a Giveaway!!!

Meet my new sponsor!!!

Brigitte with Scentsy! If you have never heard of scentsy let me give you the low down... it is pretty much the coolest thing since peanut butter and jelly!

Scentsy is a decorative warmer that melts scented wax from the heat of a light bulb! No flame necessary! Genius I tell you!!!

The warmers are so beautiful too! Check out these!

{The Blynken Full-Size Warmer}

{The Chartiy Full-Size Warmer}

How about for the bathroom? They have mini warmers as well!

{Bloom Plug-In Warmer}

Let's not forget our littlest snuggelers too! They have scented bags that can be put into scentsy stuffed animals for kids! Check out Mollie the Monkey!

{Mollie}

Scentsy has too many great scents to choose from! Some of my favorites are hazelnut latte, peligro, and lush gardenia! That is just the tip of the iceberg though! I L-O-V-E all of their scents! Go check her out and put in your order today! I PROMISE YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!

Let's make this fun... Since Brigitte is new to Scentsy and new to sponsoring 20Something let's help her out!You have from now until Sunday night at 10 PM Central to enter. 

How to Enter:

• {Required} Place an order through Brigitte from now through Sunday ($10+) {Come back here and leave me a comment letting me know that you've done so.} 3 Points

Additional Entries:

• Become a follower (or a subscriber via e-mail) of 20Something {Leave a comment letting me know} 1 Point
• "Like" 20Something on Facebook {Leave another comment} 1 Point

 We will be giving away a $25 Scentsy gift card! Maybe a little something extra from my soon-to-be-opening shop?!?!?!?!

Winner will be announced Monday!!!

Want to become a sponsor? Send an e-mail to

20SomethingDesigns@Gmail.com

 for details.

Mr. and Mrs. Pillows

Knock-off Time {Part 2}

I'm thinking that this week might just be knock-off week! Here is another knock off from Ballard Designs!

I saw these Mr and Mrs pillows and HAD to have them! Pshhhh I was NOT about to pay $59 bucks for these bad boys though! So... I made them!

{Photo Source}

First I cut my fabric down to size. Then I penciled on the letters.

After that I painted them on with brown paint.

Once the paint was dry I sewed up the pillow. Make sure to leave a hole to put in the stuffing.

 {told you I could use a sewing machine!}

And the finished product!

 Hindsight is 20/20 so I might make another set out of burlap more like the ones from Ballard. What do you think?



Message Board

Knock-Off Time!!!

I love getting Ballard Designs Catalogue in the mail! Such great inspiration in there!

Today we're going to make a message or picture board!

What you'll need:

• Foam Board ($2)
• Silver Push Pins ($1)
• Fabric (I used Muslin but you could use any fabric, BD uses burlap)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors

Step 1: Cut fabric 1 inch larger than the foam board you are using so there is room to wrap around the foam board.

Step 2: Use ample amounts of hot glue and press fabric to the back of the board. (Be sure to pull the fabric tight so it's smooth on the display side.)

Step 3: For a "hanger" I glued a string to the back. Just squeeze a glob of hot glue on the back of the board and lay the string into it. Add more hot glue to the top and hold it there until it dries! (About a minute)

Step 4: Push silver pins through the front of the board. Add pictures and hang! Now that I can change out the pictures I might keep my decorations a little longer! Ha like that will really happen!

My version $3 (I always have muslin on hand for projects!)

Ballard Designs version $49 - $79 depending on the size!

I would show you where I hung mine up but........ I don't want to spoil the bedroom reveal! We're still working on it! I promise to show you all as SOON as we get it done though!

In other news... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Go read Shelly's post about comments! So many of you leave such sweet comments or questions that I would LOVE to respond to but can't! Go find out how to change it so that we can all talk and become BFF's!

Also... I GOT MY VERY FIRST ORDER TODAY! :-) Thanks soooo much Dannielle for being my first paying customer! I can't wait to get your family name sign done! I want to skip work and run to get my supplies RIGHT NOW! The signs are $25 a piece plus shipping. E-Mail me if you would like one!

b20something@yahoo.com

Want kids?

I found this post over at Jennifer's blog Life, Crafts, Whatever and could not resist sharing! Have a good laugh! {Warning: Do NOT eat or drink anything while reading this!}

Thinking about having kids? Do this 11-Step Program first!

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This was toooo freakin' funny! G can NOT find out about this! I just got him to agree to a 4 door "daddy mobile" over a Trans Am. Oooooo I can't wait for children!