Happy Halloween and 1-2-3 Vamonos!

Hola Amigos! Happy Halloween to all! I hope this day is full of sweet candy, happy faces and smiles!
It has been a year since I started my journey into blogging and it has been one of the most challenging but rewarding experiences in my life!
I've met a lot of great people from all over the world. each one of them with their own stories told through their blog's posts in the case of my bloggy friends and through the emails and comments I received from my readers.

I can say with all confidence today I have a great group of friends thanks to this blog.

I have challenged myself trying to come up with new and creative ideas for you, sometimes I was successful and sometimes it was a total disaster, but that is life, we just pick up and we keep on going, right?

Today I want to thank all those who read my posts, those who took their time to leave a comment, those who tried my recipes and those of you who have become my friends!

I've  also realized that after writing for a year I need a little bit of a break to regroup my thoughts, get my energy back and come up with new recipes and easy crafts worthy of all of you! I'm really not ready to tackle Christmas yet, lol!

But enough of me! This blog is and has been about you! So Happy Halloween, enjoy and again THANK YOU!!!

Besitos,

Lizy

DIY Halloween Ghost in the Mirror

Hola Amigos! Sharing with you a quick craft I made last year in the also known as the Before Blogging Days!, not as many pictures but this craft is so easy that not as many are needed anyway!

What I Used: You only need 3 things to make this craft. Head to your Dollar Store and get yourself a framed mirror, a printed image from your computer, preferably black and white and some Oven Cleaner.
How I did it: Take your mirror apart, set the frame aside. On a kitchen towel or old rag, place your mirror upside down (reflective side down) leaving the dark side exposed. Spray some oven cleaner over it and let it sit for a couple of minutes. I tried several times and with the particular oven cleaner I used it took me 15-20 minutes for it to work. Using a soft towel or old rag (a disposable one because you won't be using this one again) wipe some areas of your mirror, not everything, leave some areas with the dark backing so when you turn it around you could still see your own reflection, like a mirror. Make sure it's dry and with no residue of cleaner before you continue with your craft.
Cut the printed image to fit your frame and put it right behind the mirror already  on the frame. When you turn it around you will be able to see the printed image coming from behind the still reflecting mirror. Cover it up with the back (stand) of the mirror and you are done! Enjoy the spookiness.

Show as much or little of the image as you want. I happened to like just the edges so I can appreciate Miss Borden's face better. I'm really fond of her. maybe because we share the same name (Lizbeth)  and actually I think she was innocent of what they accused her.

Too bad they didn't have an "Agent Gibbs" or the people at the  CSI  L.A. unit to investigate and clear her name. She has a place of honor on my living...lighting is very bad there..I can't get a decent picture, so I apologize.

I guess we are ready now to start singing that creepy nursery rhyme....Lizzie Borden had an Axe.....I'm not going to sing the whole thing because I don't want to scare you guys too bad, lol. Hope you like my little project and you try it this Halloween....can't get any easier than this for $1 or so! Have a healthy and productive First Week of Fall!

Besitos,

Lizy

Sharing my Little Ghost in the Mirror at these Fa-BOO-lous Parties:

The Blackberry Vine, Feeding Big, Rain on a Tin Roof, Setting for Four, Huckleberry Love, Say Not Sweet Anne, The Gunnt Sack, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Chef in Training, Mandy's Recipe Box, Home Stories A to Z, Our Table for Seven, Under the Table and Dreaming, DIY Home Sweet Home, Mad in Crafts, A Southern Fairytale, Jembellish, Sugar Bee Crafts, Nap Time Creations, Memories by the Mile, Cozy Little House, The Well Crafted Home, Ducks'n a Row, The Everyday Home, The Shady Porch, Ginger Snap Crafts, Lady Behind the Curtain, Fluster Buster, This Silly Girl's Life, Trendy Tree House, Kitchen Meets Girl, SNAP, 733 Blog, The Real Housewives of Riverton, Polkadots on Parade, Someday Crafts, We Like to Learn as We Go, My Girlish Whims, Smart School House, The 36th Avenue, 52 Mantels, The Mandatory Mooch, Sweet Haute, Saving 4 Six, Lamberts Lately, What's Cooking Love, A Handful of Everything, Live, Laugh, Rowe, the Crafty Blog Stalker, Katherines Corner, The Best Blog Recipes, The Best Blog Recipes, Craftionary, Tidy Mom, The Girl Creative, One Tough Mother,Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, 504 Main, Craft Dictator, Do Small Things with Love, Diana Rambles, Sara Howe, Planned in Pencil, Living Better Together, The Jenny Evolution, Shaken Together, The Pin Junkie, Frugal Fit Family, Tatertots and Jello, Serenity You, Classy Clutter, Who Needs a Cape, Cheerios and Lattes, Too Much Time, Twigg Studios, Life on Lakeshore Drive, WCFS, Your Homebased Mom, Mommifried, The Thriftiness Miss, Under the Table and Dreaming, Dear Creatives, Flamingo Toes, I Should be Mopping the Floors, Frugal Foodie Mama, Between Naps on the Porch, Made in a Day, Made from Pinterest, DIY Showoff, My Love 2 Create, Six Sisters Stuff, Carrie This Home, DIY Show Off, Bowdabra

DIY Pencil Gumball Machine Teacher's Gift

Hola Amigos! A quick and budget friendly craft for kids to give their favorite teacher for this new school year about to start soon. It's a DIY "Pencil No.2"  Gumball Machine made with materials available at your nearest dollar store.

This would be the 3rd time I've changed my Gumball machine, just to give you an idea of how versatile this project is! Here it is all dressed up for St. Patrick's and here ready to welcome Easter!
What I used:  1 dollar store fish bowl, 1 terracotta pot with 2 saucers one the one smaller than the other, Assorted paints, yellow, grey, green and pink,to resemble a pencil, gumballs or any other candy you will see appropriate, adhesive letters and numbers to spell No.2., hot glue gun or glass cement.
How I did it: Paint your terracotta pot in the same order of colors of a No.2 pencil. Once the paint is dry, add your letters (or you could paint them too!) to the bottom of the yellow pot. If you recalled, I suggested 2 saucers, 1 smaller than the other, you see, the smaller saucer will go on the inside of the bigger one and once we used this one as a "lid" for our gumball machine it will stay in place! The way you attached the fish bowl onto the bottom of the terracotta pot is by gluing it's bottom with hot glue or glass cement. Fill your gumball with candy, add any other embellishment to the lid and you are ready!

Isn't it the cutest thing? as I mentioned before add age appropriate candy, cookies or even why not, erasers or colorful paper clip or rubber bands!  This is only to inspire you, your imagination is the limit.

I hope I have inspired you with this easy craft and consider it as a little sweet gesture from your child to the one person he/she is going to be seeing a lot for the next few months keeping their young minds sharp!

Besitos,

Lizy

Sharing some "gumball" fun at these Fabulous Parties:

Fine Craft Guild, Under the Table and Dreaming  The Real Housewives of Riverton, 733 Blog, The Brambleberry Cottage, Polkadots on Parade, We made That, Sweet Haute, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Saving 4 Six, Lamberts Lately, What's cooking, Love?, The Mandatory Mooch, The 36th AVENUE, Katherine's Corner, Chocolate, Chocolate and More!, Posed Perfection, House of the Hepworths, Kreative Creationz, Sparkles and a Stove, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Living Well Sending Less, Domestic SuperHero, Craftionary, Sis Sisters's Stuff Twin Dragon Fly Designs, MommiFried, Craftberry Bush, Happy Hour Projects, Tidy Mom, My Turn (for Us), A Peek into My Paradise, The Answer is Chocolate, Happy and Blessed Home, The Jenny Evolution, Living Better Together, Becoming Martha, A Simple Five, , Diana Rambles, Simply Designing, Chic in a Shoestring, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, The Pin Junkie, 504 Main, The Triftiness Mess, Jennifer Rizzo, Blissful and Domestic, My Personal Accent, Sunny Simple Life, Nap Time Crafters, Angels Homestead, a Little Claireification, Cheerios and Lattes, Bowdabra, It's Overflowing, Six Sister's Stuff, Made from Pinterest, WCFS, The Tablescaper, Life on Lakeshore Drive, A Pretty Life in the Suburbs, Rain on a Tin Roof, Huckleberry Love, Jembellish, A Southern Fairytale, Mad in Crafts, Between Naps on the Porch, Coastal Charm, Cupcake'n Bake, Who Needs a Cape, BoogieBoard Cottage, The Blackberry Vine, Say Not Sweet Anne, My Mixing Spoon, Feeding Big, Setting for Four, Home Stories A to Z, Handmade Cuddles, Ladybug Blessings, Nap-Time Creations, Kathe with an E, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Summer Scraps, The Princess and her Cowboys, Sugar Bee Crafts, Our Table for Seven, Memories by the Mile, Not Just a Housewife, Bebetsy, DIY Vintage Chic The Lady Behind the Curtain, The Everyday Home, Smart School House, Ducks'n a Row, Crystal and Co, Made to be a Momma, Thank You Honey, Someday Crafts, This Silly Girl's Life, We Like to Learn as We Go, The CSI Project, Real Coake, Craftin Desert Divas, Sew Many Ways

Another Gumball Machine you might enjoy:
Kiss Me DIY Gumball Machine

Back to School "Bus Stop" Paper Napkin Wreath

Hola Amigos! Today I'm sharing with you one of my favorite projects because it's so easy and frugal to do, a paper napkin wreath! I have to confess that deep inside I've been avoiding everything school related since I'm about to loose my now companion and shadow for 5 years to Kindergarten! Yup, my little man is going to K this year...I know he has to...it's part of life...but do I want to let go...NO! He is ready but I'm not. But as a good parent I need to put my best face on, be cheery and encourage him to embark in this new adventure the best way possible!

We are bringing cheer to his room with this cute wreath. You pretty much know the basics by now since you have seen my Picnic Paper Napkin Wreath. It's basically the same for this one.
What I used: 1 grapevine wreath, 1 pack 20 paper napkins, a few embellishments from the Dollar Store, 1 piece of cardboard box ( I used the back of one of the embellishments pack) 1 STOP print out.

How  I did it: Take your napkin, open it up until you have a square and twist where the middle of the square is. now just stuff it in the grapevine wreath until is full to your liking, I used about 18 napkins but if you want a fuller look, by all means use more. Embellish your wreath anyway you want and enjoy your work!
This whole wreath cost me $3.00 I had the wreath already and only use mu $1 napkin bag, $1 toy bus and $1 pencil flags! Cool huh?

It was done quite fast too, about 30 minutes, I had to wait a little to the glue to dry on my cardboard for the stop sign.

This is my first project for the school season. I'm sure it won't be the last since my little boy is so excited. I just wish I was as excited as he is. Gotta be brave though, lol...still a couple of weeks for the Big Day and I'm holding on to every minute of summer I can!

Thank You so much for your visit my friends. Hope you enjoy another one of my cheap but colorful crafts! I certainly have a happy camper on my end! Have a great day!

Besitos,

Lizy

Sharing my "Bus Stops Here" Wreath at these Fabulous Parties:

Smart School House, Made to be a Mama, Ginger Snaps Crafts, Clean and Scentsible, Fluster Buster, a Peek Into my Paradise, The Shady Porch,  Lady Behind the Curtain, My Girlish Whims, Adorned from Above, Dragonfly Designs, Creations by Kara, DIY Craft Projects, Thank You Honey, Worthing Court, Life with the Crust Cut Off, The 36th Avenue, Fine Craft Guild, Sew Much Ado, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, The Real Housewives of Riverton, SNAP!, The Crafty Blog Stalker, What's Cooking Love, Saving 4 Six, Live, Laugh, Rowe, 52 Mantels, The Mandatory Mooch, The Brambleberry Cottage, Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, Katherines Corner, House of Hepworths, Lamberts Lately, The Style Sisters,Living Well, Spending Less, My Joy filled Life, Food Done Light, Sew Much Crafting, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Craftionary, The Best Blog Recipes, Tidy Mom, My Romantic Home, French Country Cottage, Happy Hour Projects, 504 Main, Love and Laundry, A Simple Five, Liz Marie Blog, Becoming Martha, Happy and Blessed Home, The Pin Junkie, Living Better Together, The Answer is Chocolate,  A Peek into my Paradise, My Turn (for Us), Le Chateau des Fleurs, Chic on a Shoestring, Claire Justine oxox, Serenity Now, Six Sister's Stuff, Cheerios and Lattes, Cooking with Curls, 4 Little Fergusons, Just Us Four, Angels Homestead, Tumbleweed Contessa, Fun-A-Day, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Suburbs Mama, The Tablescaper, The Foley Fam, Twigg Studios, VMG206, Flamingo Toes, Thrifty Nifty Things, Tartertots and Jello, Classy Clutter, Too Much Time, Mommy Mentionables, Craftin Desert Divas WCFS, twelveOeight, TitiCrafty, Frugal Foodie Mama, Claire Justine oxox, Navy Wifey Peters, Craft-o-Maniac, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Lines Across, The Chicken Chick, Say Not Sweet Anne, Flour Me with Love, Cupcake-n-Bake, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, Jembellish, Sew Can Do, Keeping it Simple Crafts, Boogieboard Cottage, DIY Home Sweet Home, Under the Table and Dreaming, Between Naps on the Porch, the Princess and her Cowboys, The Tumbleweed Contessa, Kathe with an E, Coastal Charm, The Blackberry Vine, Ladybig Blessings, Handmade Cuddles, Rain on a Tin Roof, Setting for Four, Huckleberry Love, Chef in Training, Love Grows Wild, Sugar Bee Crafts, Nap-Time Creations, Powerful Mothering, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Not Just a Housewife, Memories by the Mile, Shaffer Sisters, Crystal & Co, We Like to Learn as We Go, Cozy Little House, Feeding Big, We Made That, Sweet Haute, Domestic SuperHero, DIY Vintage Chic MommiFried, Diana Rambles, Simply Designing, 504 Main,Sunny simple Life, It's Overflowing, Six Sister's Stuff, Made from Pinterest, A Pretty Life in the Suburbs, The CSI Project, Sew Many Ways

Other Napkin Wreath you Might Like:

Picnic Paper Napkin Wreath

Recycled DIY Tide Pods Fish Lamp

Hola Amigos! A container of Tide Pods has been staring at me for a while now. I just hate throwing away something that it could be repurposed into a useful object...well at least in my head that is, lol. It finally hit me one night after reading again, one of my little one's favorite book The Rainbow Fish! At that moment I was a mad woman trying to put things together before the inspiration left me again..one problem...very few if not any pictures of the process of creating my master piece...but it's so simple you will be able to figure it out at first glance!

What I used: 1 Tide Pod container, 1 Martha Stewart Circle Punch Cutter, Assorted Craft Paper, 1 medium size Cardboard,  Hot glue Gun sticks (lots of them) , 1 Empty Plastic Water bottle cut in half, felt, 2 glass beads 1 lamp kit from the hardware store 1 Lamp Shade.
How I did it: I cut a couple hundred circles with the circle cutter and glue them to the tide container to create the scales and  body of the fish. For the Tail Fins I drew 2 semi hearts out of  cardboard and then glue more paper circles to it until they were covered. I glued them to a side of the container. To make the fish mouth I used the top part of the water bottle and attached it to the other side of the container opposite to the tail fins. left the lid on because I thought it looked cute. My hubs drilled a hole on the top of the tide container (lid) and  adapted the lamp kit to it after that he opened another on the bottom to let the cable out. Cut 2 pieces of felt of a contrasting color and make 2 circles to represent the eyes 1 for each side of the container. Use to glass beads to create the "watery effect' of the eye.  Your lamp should be working now!

 I am happy with the results ..and before I forget the lamp shade was on sale at Target for 60% off , I love it has a wavy pattern, just like the ocean. Basically the total cost of this  lamp was about $12 dollars! not bad huh?

I think my rainbow fish have some personality don't you think? I mean...for a fish that is!

As nighttime begins to fall, we need to move "Rainbow" to it's permanent location

   My Little Boy's Room, which by the way is all Ocean and Beach Motif

He is happy and mama is happy to ( I finally got something good out of that container now I finally can move on to those milk jugs waiting to be transformed, lol) 

Thank you for your kind visit. Look around for things you do everyday for inspiration in creating beauty and whimsy around you, we all need to smile more often and worry less!

Good Night Rainbow Fish!
Besitos,
Lizy

Sharing Good Night "Fishy" Wishes at these Fabulous Parties:

The Best Blog Recipes, Craftionary, Naptime Crafters, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, The Answer is Chocolate, Living Better Together, The Jenny Evolution, Becoming Martha, Happy Hour Projects,
Tooted in Thyme, One Tough Mother, Tidy Mom, 504 Main, The Pin Junkie, My Turn (for Us), Love and Laundry, Happy and Blessed Home, The Wondering Brain, Lovely Crafty Blog, A Little Claireification, Homemade Ginger, 4 Little Fergusons, 30 Handmade Days, Five Days 5 Ways, Sew;Licious Home Decor, Angels Homestead, Be Different Act Normal, Too Much Time on my Hands, Cheerios and Lattes, It's Overflowing, Serenity You, Mama Gab, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Bowdabra, Cooking for the Seven Dwarfs, Titi Crafty, WCFS, Crate with Joy, Frugal Foodie Mama, Claire Justine oxox, Uncommon Designs, Alderberry Hill, BoogieBoard Cottage, Flour Me with Love, Keeping it Simple, Sew Can Do, Cupcake-n-Bake, Jembellish, Jam Hands, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Chicken Chick, Craft-o-Maniac, Huckleberry Love, Under the Table and Dreaming, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, The Princess and her Cowboys, I Gotta Try That, Between Naps on the Porch, Who Needs a Cape, Love Grows Wild, Todays Creative Blog, Nap-Time Creations, Home Stories A to Z, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Sugar Bee Crafts, Our Home Away from Home, The Blackberry Vine, Feeding Big, Chef in Training, Love Bakes Good Cakes, Homemade Ginger, Smart School House, Made to be a Momma, Ducks'n a Row, Daisy Cottage Designs, The Lady Behind the Curtain, My Girlish Whims, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Fluster Buster, The Shabby Creek Cottage, 52 Mantels,What's Cooking Love?, A Handful of Everything, Chocolate, Chocolate and More, Lamberts Lately, Live,Laugh,Rowe, Designed Decor, The Mandatory Mooch, Real Coake.com, Posed Perfection, The Crafty Blogstalker, Consider Me Inspired, Sparkles and a Stove, MommiFried, Somewhat Simple, French Country Cottage, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Living Well Spending Less, The Brambleberry Cottage, the Shabby Nest, A Simple Five, My Personal Accent, Krafty Card Set, Tatertots and Jello, Lydia's Flexitarian Kitchen, Dear Creatives, Classy Clutter, Debbiedoo's, The Taylor House, Suburbs Mama, The Foley Fam, Twigg Studios, Mama Dish, Powerful Mothering, Dragonfly Designs, House of Hepworths, My Joy Filled Life, Food Done Light, Fun-A-Day, DIY Vintage Chic

Other DYI Lamps You Might Like:

DIY Dollar Store Snowman Nightlight

DIY Twine Wrapped Toilet Paper Refrigerator Magnets

Hola Amigos! I should change the title of this post to "What was I Thinking" and you'll find out" Why" at the end of the post! But before getting any further I would like to mention another awesome blogger and all around person that has been with me for these last 6 months. Her name +Cynthia Landrie , the name behind Feeding Big. You can find so many wonderful things at her blog, for instance, awesome bloggy  parties like her In and Out of the Kitchen Linky Party, where you can link not only your recipes, but crafts, tutorials and DIY projects. She also has great tips on budget frugal living like her series on Living Big on Less Money and the girl is crafty too, just check these out, (secretly my inspiration for my project) . Cynthia was the person who gave me the push and confidence I needed as she trusted me enough to write an article for her amazing series Around the World in 80 Sundays, that was 3 months ago! wow!...Cynthia is a lovely person and if you get a chance, stop by her blog and say hi from me. I hope she likes what her creativity inspired here.

I have only one side visible and that I can actually use on my refrigerator mainly due to it's position in my kitchen . It's stainless steel so only the sides are magnetic. I don't put a lot of things on my fridge, I don't have that much room, I don't like the look of a million things there and lastly I can't find non breakable magnets pretty and big enough to hold the few things I want to put there, school calendars, once in a while greeting cards or an important " I don't want to forget coupon". So I decided to make them myself.

A few rolls of toilet paper, twine (natural and colored), magnets,  some bling to enhance the rolls and some flowers bring these pretty and useful magnets to life!

What I really like is not only that they are pretty but they work! I can actually use them to display heavy cards and they won't slide all the way down (or crash and break).

I thought that as with my turtles, these guys are perfect if you live in a small apartment and you want to bring some spring and summer blooms inside not having to worry about watering or bugs. You can also change the flowers according to the season.

We still have 2 more weeks left for little one the get out of Pre-K so I was thinking of making a few more for his teacher. She can even stand them just like that on her desk as an unbreakable flower vase or use it as I designed them to be, magnets.

Oh before I forget, I got inspired and made one looking like a little owl, feathers, beak, big googly eyes and all, I ran out of natural light so I set in on my side of the kitchen counter until the next morning so it could be photographed, and this is what I woke up to, yep... the cats ate the owl!!! What was I thinking right? leaving it there, sitting all pretty and totally forgetting about my little wild beasts prowling around at night under the shimmer of the kitchen nightlight hunting for their non canned or bagged , feathery dinner! RIP OWL...lol

On a side note, my floors are really shine, lol

Thanks for visiting the blog today friends! I  hope you all had a beautiful weekend and  I wish you  a healthy and productive work week.

Besitos,

Lizy
Wrapping things up at these Fabulous Parties:
Fireflies and Jellybeans
My Healthy Green Family
The Charm of Home
Cheerios and Lattes
Chic on a Shoestring
The Best Blog Recipes
The Pin Junkie
Love and Laundry
One Arsty Mama
Simply Designing
504 Main
My Turn (for Us)
Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons
A Peek into my Paradise
I Gotta Create
Marigold's Loft
Consider Me Inspired
Life with the Crust Cut Off
Katherine's Corner
4 You With Love
Real Coake.com
The Style Sisters
Handy Man, Crafty Woman
Twin Dragonfly Design
Savvy Southern Style
Ginger Snap Crafts
Clean and Scentsible
Fluster Buster
I Gotta Try That
twelve O eight
Feeding Big
With a Blast
Judy H-J's Thoughts
Navy Wifey Peters
Will Cook for Smiles
Sew Crafty Angel
Heatherly Loves
Cuddlebug Cuties
VMG206
The Chicken Chick
Under The Table and Dreaming