New Blog Title

I decided to change the name of my blog. It was originally called, "My creative attempts" but I have since found another blog with the same title. We even started posting some of our projects at the same linky parties! Small world. I decided to change my title so there's no confusion, and so she won't think I stole her blog name! Ha! My address is still http://www.mycreativeattempts.blogspot.com/ so you don't need to change your link at all if you have it saved somewhere, I'm just changing the title. Thanks so much for all of you who follow my blog, and for all of your sweet comments! I love ya! Happy Holidays!

I hope with all the parties and presents we can remember the real reason for the season!

Merry CHRISTmas!

Inexpensive gift idea - super cute treat dish!

(These plates are the same size even thought the pic makes the top one look bigger)

Most simple and affordable - but still cute - gift idea!

I first saw the idea on Poppies at Play a long time ago, and have been meaning to make one, but didn't have the time or reason to, until now, my sister-in-law's birthday was coming up, so I decided this would be a good idea for her. I found the two plates and the glass candlestick holder at the thrift store (the pink plates really look awesome in person, super cute and funky; in all the pictures, the orangey splotches look gross, but in person, they're really cute) Anyways, after washing the plates, all I had to do was put the top plate upside-down, I traced the top of the candlestick holder with washable marker, just so I knew where to put the glue, and following the instructions on the E6000 (strongest glue known to man!), I glued the candlestick holder upsidedown onto the bottom of the top plate.

After about an hour, I put glue on the bottom of the candlestick holder and the center of the bottom plate, and flipped it right side up, gluing them together.

(the bottom of the candlestick holder just happened to fit perfectly in that little circle on the middle of the plate!)

Now that it was all together, I used a heavy can of wheat to weigh it down while it dried. It takes between 24 and 72 hours for the glue to fully cure, so I let it dry fully before giving it away.

I think it turned out so cute, I am going to make one for myself! This was probably the most inexpensive, simple, quick... yet... cute, useful, fun gift idea ever! And there's so many possibilities because you can do so many different colors and sizes too, depending on what dishes you find. And because you can make it yourself, it's more thoughtful that way. Great Christmas gift if you're running out of time before the big day next week!

I really shouldn't say how inexpensive it was to make because then my sis-in-law will think I'm a cheapo.. ha ha It's really not about how much I spent, (I would've spent more.. but when you can make something this cute without spending more, why would you?) So for the good of everyone who needs an inexpensive gift idea, I'll share. Not including the glue, I spent a total of $1.50 on this gift! NO KIDDING! Each plate and the candlestick holder were .50 ea at the thrift store. Yeah, a treat dish like this would've been at least $20 at the stores. Can't beat that! I LOVE IT!

Today, I am linked up with none other than Poppies at Play Creative Cats Friday! Go check out the other awesome ideas today!

I'm also linked with Met Monday at BNOTP!

Black Bean Brownies ... Yeah you heard me!

whatscookingamerica.net

I didn't take a picture of mine, but they looked just like the normal brownies above.

One of my sister-in-laws told me about a brownie recipe using nothing but a brownie mix and a can of black beans, and eliminating the oil and eggs, etc. and I thought I would try to make it! I called 2 out of my 3 sis-in-laws to see if they knew how to do it, but they had no idea what I was talking about, so it must have been the 3rd sis, but by that time, we had looked it up online. It really is just taking a can of black beans, draining them, rinsing them, putting them back into the can and filling it with clean water. Then you dump the beans and water into the blender and blend until pureed. Once its all smooth, mix in with the brownie mix until smooth. Bake as directed on the box. They surprisingly turned out really good! Kind of dense, but also fudgey. The next day, they kind of had a moist fudgey layer on top, (as most breads or baked goods do) but they were really good. Sounds weird, but if you don't have eggs or oil, or want to boost your protein, give it a try!

Burp Cloths and Bibs

I made a couple of these for my girlfriend who was expecting her first girl, I got the idea from "DIY Showoff" to put a hand towel (just bought at the $1 store) on the back of the bib, which I thought was an excellent idea to absorb more drool!! For the shape of the bib, I just traced one of my sons bibs that I liked the size of, (adding an extra 1/2" for seam allowance) and that's what I used as my pattern for the front fabric and the towel, I put right sides together, sewed them together, and left just a couple inches to turn it right side out. I top stitched all around the whole thing to seal it up, sewed on two small squares of velcro, and it was done! Very simple. It didn't take long at all. I was trying to do the burp cloths (cloth diapers) with the cute fabric on the middle panel like she did, but I ended up not having enough fabric, that's why I just did the band of fabric on each side. They turned out pretty cute, I think, and it was fairly inexpensive. It's a fun idea because they are unique and no other baby around town will have the same ones!

Chair - finished like 2 months ago! Sorry!

I haven't posted in over a month, that's SAD! Here are the before and after pics of the chair I redid for my Mother in law's B-day. The after pictures aren't as good as I wanted them to be, you can't see the distressing at all, but in person, it turned out just how I wanted. And from what she said, she seemed to love it too! I was really happy about it. Anyways, here's the before and afters!

Before:

After:

Cute little covered button in the center. That was SUPER easy and cute, it added just the right amount of extra detail. I am definitely going to cover buttons more often now!

The fabric was on sale at the fabric store, I used a coupon to get the new foam padding for the seat, and I got the chair at Goodwill, so it ended up being quite the affordable gift!