Birthday Gifts for Mamaw

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, so we have been busy making gifts in the Mayer house!

Peyton shares my mom's love of comics and superheroes, so he made her Spiderman/Captain America coasters.

He decorated the paper and I helped him adhere them to the ceramic tiles with Modge Podge and an acrylic sealant.  I would recommend using permanent markers on your pictures, because Peyton used water-based markers and the colors bled a little.

Daulton made her a bookmark using felt and glue.   He really worked hard cutting out those little letters.

I have been wanting to try my project for a long time, but never got around to the Goodwill store for the tea cups...a Tea Cup Pin Cushion!

I used a scrap of black fabric, some bead trim, poly-fill and a glue gun to make this little cutie.

And what is a fancy pin cushion without some special pins!

Happy Birthday Mamaw!

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And the winner is...

Congratulations to Shayna!

Mountain-Top Moments

Today in my Sunday school class we were talking about things we can do to build ourselves up spiritually.  One of my classmates brought up the idea of mountain-top moments...those spiritual high points.  Over the past several years I have had mountain-top moments, times when I really feel the Holy Spirit.  When I feel goose bumps and just surrender to God.  Just last month I had 2!  First, my family went with our church youth group to the Ichthus Music festival in Wilmore, KY.  We spent 3 days listening to Christian music.  Talk about a spiritual high!  Imagine thousands of people rocking out to Skillet and the next evening celebrating the Lord's supper and worshipping with Chris Tomlin.

 Then, several weeks ago, I was able to chaperone our youth group trip to MFuge in Charleston, SC.  We spent a week in Bible study, serving the communities of North Charleston, and worshipping God!

Well, now I am back home, back to normal and I miss those mountain-top moments.  I have been talking to God about this a lot.  How can I bring these mountain-top moments back to my church?  I fear that there are many people in my church that have never had a mountain-top moment and they don't know what they are missing.  I want us to worship with enthusiasm, with joy!  I want a mountain-top moment every Sunday...everyday!

Tomorrow, we are starting our vacation Bible school.  I pray that we ignite a fire in our church!  I pray that I make God my focus, that I work everyday to have a mountain-top moment.

T-shirt Bracelets

I have been doing too much blog surfing and too little working over the past week!  Finally, last night I had the ambition to make something...these adorable t-shirt bracelets inspired by Haute to Sew!

First, grab some old t-shirts in the colors you want to make. 

Cut 1 to 1 1/2 inch wide strips from the shirt.  I cut across the width of  my shirts.  Then STRETCH the strips until they look like this:

I debated whether to braid three strands or double them up for a wider bracelet.  I couldn't decide, so I made both kinds!  Next, glue or sew the ends of the strands together.  I sewed my first bracelet, but soon resorted to my trusty glue gun to do the rest!  I clipped the end of the bracelet to my clip board and braided about 7 inches...just measure your wrist and braid the desired length.

After the bracelet is the length you want, stitch or glue the end, attach both ends and take a small piece of fabric to cover the rough edges.

Here are the ones that I did...so far!  They are really fun and easy to make!  The single strand ones:

And the thicker, double strand ones:

My First Giveaway!

Enter my very first ever giveaway!  I am sponsoring the giveaway with my newest addition to my etsy shop,
a custom made mini rectangle scripture pendant.

Check out Blessed Be's Christian Gifts to see available colors and scripture info.

You can enter several ways:

1.  Go to my etsy shop and comment here about your favorite item.

2.  "Favorite" my etsy shop and comment back here.

3.  "Like" my Facebook fan page and comment back here.

4.  Become a "follower" of my blog and comment back here.

You have until Sunday evening at 12pm to enter.  The winner will be announced on Monday, July 25!

Linking up at:



Another Lampshade...Last One, I Promise!

Yes, it is another lampshade! I'm just too proud of it to not share.

This shade is the partner to the shade I shared in this post.  It was gross to say the least, so I ripped that sucker up, covered it with black fabric, added trim to the top and bottom, and finished it with a bow.

I almost forgot to mention the lamp base!  Of course, I forgot to take a before picture, but it used to look alot like this one.

Very 1990's.  I used a shiny aluminum spray paint to bring it back to life!  Here it is again.

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Zebra Lampshade

I have been on a lampshade kick lately.  I needed this one for a lamp in our family room.

I had already covered it once using gold fabric, but it didn't go with the new color scheme.  When I covered it the first time, I put out my fabric and carefully rolled the shade over it, tracing the top and bottom as I went along.  After cutting and trimming, I had the shape of the frame.  I am not going to lie...covering this shape of frame can be a pain in the butt!

I grabbed my hot glue gun and attached the fabric around the frame.  To finish the edges, I glued down some black ribbon.  Then,  I added a few rosettes that I had made previously.  It looks so cute!!

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Family Room Entryway

Since our family room used to be the garage, we have lost our outdoor entrance to our laundry/mudroom.  I have been struggling with the entryway for 4 years now, and finally, I have a solution I like (my only other wish would be tile or hardwood floor...what was I thinking with carpet?!). 
The boys are always putting their shoes on last minute, as we walk out the door, so a bench made sense.  My grandpa made this bench years ago and I claimed it from my mom.  It was originally a cheap oak, but in my wisdom I painted it.  First white, then bronze, then white again...well off-white.  I attempted to antique it, but it just looked awful.  See?

I just happened to have some black spray paint, so I decided to change the color yet again.  I covered this old couch pillow I had with zebra fabric to add to it.

It looks better already!  Now for the walls.  My boys also have this bad habit of throwing jackets and backpacks on the floor as soon as they enter the house, so I knew I needed a coat hook of some kind.  I had these old barn wood frames that my dad had made that I absolutely love, but didn't know what to do with them.  I placed hooks on one and used some extra zebra fabric to jazz up the other.

Now I love my newly redone entryway.  It makes me smile :).

Notice the wicker basket with balls...again, those boys...

Linking up to :

After returning from church camp, I found out that all the USB ports on my laptop are fried...so I can't upload pics until I get my new computer on Monday!  So, here are some awesome projects I have come across that I really want to try...if only I had the time!

Herb Garden Markers from Wit and Whistle.  I think these would make a great gift with some seeds and terracotta pots.


Ribbon Scraps Lighted Garland from Whitney Caroline Designs.  Adorable for Christmas, but I think it would be cute in my craft room too!


Bracelets from Soda Pop Design.  None of the instructions are in English, but the pictures are great!



Lamp Shade Redo from Show and Tell.  The unfinished edges are my favorite!


Antiqued Silver Chair from Frou-FruGal.  This chair looks AMAZING!  I am so jealous!  Ok, now what can I paint?:)


Flower Curtain Tie Backs from A Very Dandoislion Life.  I have been thinking about curtain tie backs and these are so lovely.


Also, check out my giveaway on my friend Sarah's awesome blog This Crazy Blessed Life.

Now it's time to get off the computer and get to work!