Nikki's Niche- Chevron Bag Lanterns {Found!}

YAY! I found it! I found my Chevron Bag tutorial. So glad I'm not completely crazy and it really did turn out cute!

I had a number of goodie bags to play with and I wanted to do something a little different.

I started by cutting a {small} slit down the mid-center of each bag.

I then placed a white light into each hole cut in the bags.

It looked too plain so I used a plate to trace and then cut each bag into a semi-circle.

We then used 20 gauge wire folded and put down the center of the bag slit and through the lights- this was to hold the bags open

Here they are all strung up - with the wire just barely visible...

You can slightly see how they stay open- with help from the wire.

Cute for the day OR night!

Merry Makers....Pinterest Project's Chalk Paint Crib RePurpose Project

Courtney and I have come across a number of amazing women since we started MMM. Miranda and Jamie are two incredible, talented and very generous women we have had the pleasure of working with and {hopefully} one day actually meet in-person! Their pictures ring familiar to me...perhaps its what happens when you craft/work/find inspiration with someone you adore. We are happy to introduce them to you...or rather have them introduce themselves. ;)

Hi! We are Miranda & Jamie and we blog over at The Pinterest Project.

We are two friends who found ourselves experiencing stay at home motherhood for the first time within a few months of each other and knew we had to find a way to keep ourselves sane through all the sleepless nights, dirty diapers, cheerios and heart meltingly sloppy kisses. Our blog was born out of an addiction to Pinterest. We spent so much time pinning and emailing pins to each other that we decided to use the pins we loved as motivation to cook for our families, decorate our homes, make fun accessories or clothing and just about anything else that caught our eye.

We tackle a new pin four times a week and then blog about its success (or sometimes, even an epic fail makes its way into the blog posts! Hey, we're real and we're not perfect and sometimes our projects are big, fat failures...) It's been an incredibly fun way to utilize Pinterest AND to get to know other amazing bloggers while we do it. Also, every Monday, we have a series that we call Hit or Miss Mondays, where we highlight what we think were the big hits or misses that week on Pinterest. It's a way to get to know us and our sense of humor. (We like to laugh...and poke fun at ridiculous things)

In addition to our Pinterest addiction, we MIGHT have a small addiction to all things Mindy Mae.  Mindy Mae's Market has such a great selection of fun craft items, it's hard not to buy everything they post!

One of the things that caught our eye recently was their chalkboard paint kit - we'd seen the make your own chalkboard pins on Pinterest, and were eager to give it a try.  For $3.50, Mindy Mae's sent us their kit:

Now, what to do with a make your own chalkboard paint kit?  Miranda had scored a free drop side crib from someone online, and we had seen a pin on Pinterest about how to turn a crib into an art table.  When the babies were napping, we did just that.  We set the crib up, omitting the front part (the drop side).  

We chose a bright blue paint for the chalk board, followed the directions that were provided in the chalkboard kit and painted it onto some mdf that we got from Home Depot.  They cut it for us, the same size as the crib mattress.  Once the board was painted, we sanded it down and placed it on top of the mattress springs.  Added the Beckett banner from his recent birthday party, a few $1 buckets from the Target dollar bins mounted on Command strip hooks, a few toddler safe crayons, some paper and a dry erase board.

No, we don't make the kids draw outside - we need to move this art table upstairs to the nursery!

This was such a fun project to do - the creative possibilities are endless, it was simple and easy to finish, and we love that we could choose a fun color for the chalkboard table top.  Thank you Mindy Mae's Market for helping us with such an awesome project!

~miranda & jamie

Nikki's Niche- Fabric Scrap Desk Hutch

I started this post a bit ago...in segments. When I went to download this tutorial, mid and end segments were gone! {gasp!}

(Along with the puppy photo-shoot I did with my sister-in-law. Whoops.) So for the sake of time I'll show you what I've been up to!

I've had this desk hutch for a while and I wanted to dress it up a bit.  I started with some left-over purple paint.

I finished with the purple and added some touches of pink...why not?

(Here's where I lost my pics)  I pulled out my spray adhesive and scraps of fabric that we have every now and then on Mindy Mae's Market.

I arranged the fabric on the cork board first, to give me an idea of how it might need to lay.

The I went back with the spray adhesive, which I sprayed directly onto the back of the fabric and attached it layer by layer.

Here's the finished product. I'll be honest- I added some ricrac and fabric lace tape around the perimeter of the top portion....and ended up taking it off. It was just a little too much.

It's colorful and fun in a place that wasn't before and I'm excited to use it now!

Nikki's Niche- Wrapping Paper Wreath...Cabochon Style!

I LOVE doing crafts will items I haven't really used...or tried to use and failed....which brings me here.

I started with some wrapping paper I purchased up at Swiss Days a couple of years ago and a wreath I started for St. Patrick's Day and never finished- and my toddler has been playing with it.

I cut strips about 3 inches wide down the length of the wrapping paper.

I folded in the side of paper to get a more "finished" look.

The I folded down the other side.

I began by gluing the first paper strip to the back of the wreath and then wrapped it around and around the form.

I started the new strips right over the top of the last strip and kept on wrapping. Until I got this:

I added cabochons. I started with some of the largest ones.

I wanted a random, colorful mix....then I used some left-over ric-rac from MMM.

Here's my bright, fun accent wreath!

Mom 4 Real - Jessica's

I have been looking for just the right material to make an EAT sign for my kitchen for ages!  I made one out of vinyl, but I just didn't love it.  I've scoped out wooden letters at Michael's and Hobby Lobby, but they didn't do it for me either.  So, one day, I'm cruising through my facebook stream, and up pops these fabulous metal letters from Mindy Mae's Market...they were perfect!  I ordered them quickly, and was so excited to finally have the perfect letters to start my dining area makeover!

Aren't they fabulous?  The picture doesn't do them justice either.

The minute I put them up, I knew I wanted to redo the entire look of my space.  I grabbed some of my shells from last years trip to the beach, pulled my silver pieces out of storage, painted some plates with chalkboard paint to hang, and made a coffee filter wreath to hang on the wall.  The colors are so soft, and the EAT sign really pops off of the wall!

I put this little vignette together in the center of our table.  I painted the inside of a mason jar and plopped some flowers down in there...adorbs, right?

The last thing I did was tackle the top of my china cabinet.  I filled a large candle holder with wine corks, then cut some roses from my garden and put them in a julep cup.  I placed my silver platter and pitcher together, then added the K glasses that I etched, and added some candle sticks.  I just love the way it all fits together!

I love how crisp everything looks now...just in time for lighter summer living!

Doesn't my little EAT sign make you want your very own?

Nikki's Niche- Love, Love, Lovin' Lace Tape!

We got in this fabric/lace tape a little while ago. It's one of those items that you instantly LOVE/think is cute/have no idea what to do with it exactly. So I opened up some...to see what damage I could do.

I started wrapping some raised serving platters with it in the up-coming-wedding colors.

The most difficult {?} part was trying to keep the tape looking even from every angle.

Then I tried it around a frame that I purchased a little bit ago. {I LOVE Ikea.} I made cuts at just before the corner and was able to curve the next piece around to cover the corners a bit better.

Pretty darn cute, I think.

Then I just kept going. I embellished just about everything that I laid my eyes on.

I thought it was delightful in my laundry room!

Especially on my chandelier! SOOO Cute!

It's a perfect craft item for me. It's easy, it's cheap and it's removeable/changable!

I may have me a new "go-to" craft media.