{Wire Basket} Gets a Make-over with Chalkboard Vinyl

T.G.I.F. Link Party #70 here.

Happy Saturday my CJToo friends -- yes, Tracy's had a blog update and pardon my dust as I continue to update links, buttons and make my blog a little more organized.  I'll be back another day with more details….

Onto today's project (squeal with delight)!

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Painting the Perfect {Polka-Dots} Tutorial

Polka-dots are one of my favorite designs to create.  I love them on just about everything.  I guess being the mom of two boys I must get my "girlie" time in somewhere….so I polka-dot a lot.  {smile}

I love to paint as much as I love to work with paper. 

I wanted to share a simple tutorial on how to create polka dots when creating a painting project.  This is just the way I do it and it works for me.  

I use anything with a "blunt" end to make a dot -- I dip the end into fresh paint and make the dot.  My favorites to use include the ends of my paintbrushes -- but just make sure it's a blunt end.  You can also use dowels, marker tops, pencil erasers, wood spoon ends, and circle punches glued to a dowel or wooden spoon. 

For larger dots I've taken my 3/4" or 1" circle punch -- punching out circles on cardboard and attached the circle to the end of a dowel or wooden spoon.  Works great!

 When making dots dip into fresh paint and then onto your project ensure you push down evenly and straight to ensure you dot is round.  Stagger your dots to get the pattern you desire.  

Here is some finished project boards.  

I used the ends of a dowel to create these dots.  

My little buddy…

♥Tracy

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Cupcakes {Mix them up} - Bite Size Too!

Today I'm simply sharing a tip/suggestion when making cupcakes.  I found these {adorable} red & white polka-dot cupcake liners at Michael's Craft Store last week.  These come together for $1.50/pkg.  I really wanted the large liners but the pkg. came with the mini ones too.  

I'm a box cake mix girl and my family has a {love} for cupcakes right now.  No recipe to share just a box of Red Velvet Cake mix by Duncan Hines and Cream Cheese Icing for the topping.  Simple enough for me.  When lining my cupcake pans this morning I decided to make a few mini {bite-size} cupcakes too.  I thought they'd be perfect for when we didn't want shouldn't have a whole cupcake.  LOL.  The mini cupcake may be the perfect size to deter a 5 year old little boy from grabbing a cupcake just to eat off the icing.  

Depending on how full you fill up your cupcake liners will depend how many cupcakes you'll make out of 1 box of cake mix.  


Another tip when baking - I baked the larger ones according to box directions and the mini ones took about 15 mins. to bake.  I didn't bake them together since the mini ones wouldn't take as long. 


I'm a happy mom today and couldn't wait to share this tip with you all.  So the next time you make cupcakes make a few mini ones too.  That way you can grab a bite size one when you just want a little taste. 


Happy baking {and eating} and have a super day everyone!  

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{Fruit Bowl Tips} - 15 Minutes to Get Prepared!

 

I love fruit! I love to eat it and have it available in my fridge for me and my family to eat.  It's yummy, delicious and healthy! I simply was not eating enough of it. 

This leads to my dilemma here….why didn't I eat more fruit?! 

Because I HATED preparing fruit.  

You know, slicing, dicing and making it ready-to-eat.  I like cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries and grapes. 

Silly, maybe but I really did hate cutting up the cantaloupe, washing and pulling the grapes off of the stems.

Until I started doing this tip I'm sharing with you today that changed my attitude.

For years I would buy the fruit to have in the house but if I didn't take the time to wash it and slice it up -- it would sit there and eventually go bad or until I really took the time to eat it. Wasteful, yes!  ☹

One day while at work some friends and I got on the subject of fruit expense and what we do to get our fruits and veggies in our daily diet.  

I shared with the girls that I love fruit but hated preparing it for eating.  One of my good friends shared this tip with me and so I said I'd give it a try.   

It's not rocket science by no means but it has totally changed my attitude towards preparing my fruit.

I usually grocery shop on Sundays after Church.  So when I get home I take about 15 minutes and cut up my fruit and make fruit bowls that I can grab in the morning for my lunch or to snack on throughout the day.  

Yes, this is my fruit-sanity tip!  lol!

I don't put it in the fridge until it is ready-to-eat. 

These are the kinds of fruit me and my family enjoy.  

  

I usually start with dicing up my cantaloupe…putting it directly in my bowls as I go along.  I then add in strawberries and grapes next.  If blackberries are on sale -- I grab a box of those too. 

Taa- Daa….no more hatin' for Tracy!!

Do you like preparing fruit? I'd love to hear your tips and tricks of what you do to get more fruit in, how you prepare it for your family and other goodness. 

Wishing you all a GREAT week!  

♥Tracy

Linking this post to:
The Gunny Sack
Craft-o-Maniac
Keeping it Simple
The Girl Creative
Serenity You
A Diamond in the Stuff
Cowgirl Up! Linky Party
Reasons to Skip Housework
Lil' Luna
Sassy Sites!
The Purple Pumpkin
Tatertots and Jello
Young and Crafty
The Prudent Pantry

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Crafting Tools

Of course, one of my favorite places to shop is the craft stores (i.e. Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Joanne's, Wal-Mart) for my crafting supplies (can I get an AMEN!) -- but did you know you can find things you can use in your crafting area at the Hardware Store?? Yes, that is correct.  Don't count out the hardware store to find some fun, functional and inexpensive tools to add to your supply of goods.


I made a trip to my local Ace Hardware store this morning to look for a few clips for my craft room and look what I came home with?  I got my clips too but these are the items I picked up that wasn't on my list.  Too fun, right!

I picked up the gray tool caddy to use in my suburban to hold my essential items.  I'm always misplacing my cell phone charger, sunglasses, coin cup, etc so I thought this would be a good base to use to organize the things in my suburban to have them within arms reach.  I'll show you more about that later. 

As I was strolling through the store I spotted this bin of odd-n-ends supplies that had lots of this-n-that in it.  Score!

Small hand tools, sanding stones, screw drivers, sanding blocks, drill bits, tweezers, scissors, sharpening stones, wrenches, claps, screws, cable ties, tape measures, blades, oh goodness my list could go on and on!

You may be looking at these items and say "whatever, Tracy" -- but I'm serious when I say that I have a plan for each of these things and I can really use them.  Now.  :)

Those of us who use our Cricut machine know how hard those tiney tiny little holes or cuts are to get out of or off of our die cuts -- so these picks will be a great addition to grab when working with paper.

I needed a level the other day -- because I was trying to ensure my towel rack was completely straight -- this 2-piece set was ony $1.99 so in my basket it went.

I'm always in need of something to measure that is a little larger than my ruler and misplaced my other tape measure -- so I thought this bright orange one would be easier to find.

I also complete a lot of wood working and other home decor that requires using my power tools -- and this precision point need-nose plier is going to be a tremendous help in completing future projects.  I'm so happy I found it!

Using my electric drill frequently means I strip or wear down my drill bits -- so this little package of bits was a great price! 


So -- the next time your husband is going to the hardware store -- tag along and see what you can find!  Woo Hoo!!! 


Have a super day everyone! 



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How to Create the "Pin It" Button for Blog Posts

When I posted the Introduction to Pinterest video the other day I received a couple of questions on how to create the “Pin It” button for a creation that you would like to pin from your blog. Below is a video showing you the steps I take to create the “pin it” button for my blog posts.  I hope it helps! :)

Watch below | Watch on YouTube

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Introduction to {Pinterest}

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Thank for all of your feedback on my post re: blog likes and dislikes -- I really appreciate your suggestions and opinions.  
A few followers wanted to know more about Pinterest -- so this video tutorial is for you -- I hope it answers most of your questions but if you continue to have more -- let me know and I'll do the best I can.  If you need an invitation to pinterest -- email me -- please put Pinterest in the subject line so I don't over look your message.  
Sorry my video isn't the best -- but it gives you an "idea" ….:)
Watch below | watch on YouTube









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Who's Pinning You on Pinterest?

While browsing some of the blogs I follow -- I ran across this super fun tip over at Tattered Sisters Blog -- Who's Pinning You on Pinterest?

So you know how much I {love} Pinterest and if you're new to Pinning .... its basically an online bulletin board that you can group all of your favorite things together that you find on the web. The neat thing about it is you can follow your friends and other contacts to find some yummy recipes, ideas for crafting, home decor, organizaiton and more. We even have a few laughs along the way!

Anyway -- back to my topic.....you can see who is "pinning" things from your blog by following these few steps....here is a GREAT tutorial…..

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Decorating Tip Too Good not to Share!

 Dollar Store Crafts shared this amazing tip and it's too good not to share with my viewers too!  Enjoy!!


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