May 2012 - Crap I've Made

Jordan Valley Home & Garden Club

May 29, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made 5 Comments

You know what I stink at (and by “stink” I mean REALLY suck)?

Yard work/landscaping.

It’s true. BC and I are both way out of our element. At our first house we ripped out/changed so many things that we decided to hire a professional when we moved to this house. He was a nice guy and came up with a lovely plan. Then, we paid some more nice people to install it all, so that we wouldn’t screw it up. All of this is great, in theory…until all those nice people left.

We needed help.

We still need help, which is why I’m so excited about the Jordan Valley Home & Garden Club.

The Jordan Valley Home and Garden Club was founded to provide learning opportunities specifically geared to do-it-yourself homeowners. Landscaping is an important part of setting the home’s tone. The Club will provide a wealth of landscaping and garden design education, but there will also be a mix of interior and exterior DIY projects – a little something for everyone. Best of all? There is no club membership fee. (This is especially awesome if you don’t want to have guilt about not using the skills/information you spent a ton of money acquiring. He he he.)

If you’re a local, the Jordan Valley Home and Garden Club activities will kick off with a Summer Soiree and Garden Tour on June 9, at 6 p.m. Tickets to the Summer Soiree are available online. The event features some fun bloggers you may be familiar with including Justin and Cassity Kmetzsch, from Remodelaholic; Sausha Khoundet, from Sweet Pickins and Leanne Jacobs from Organize and Decorate Everything, along with several great classes. I can only vouch for Leanne ,but she’s DELIGHTFUL and I’m sure the others are equally awesome.

The Summer Soiree will include some AWESOME giveaways…stuff like a rug that was featured in Country Living Magazine (one of my faves), as well as furniture from Sweet Pickins and Forsey’s Furniture.

If you can’t make the kick off event (and I can’t…boo), regular Home and Garden Club classes will begin July 17, at noon. The classes are free – you can register online.

If you’re not a local (because I know most of you aren’t), Information will be available on the Club’s Facebook page following each class.

So, who’s with me? Who’s taking charge of their yard once and for all? Who’s saying NO to your retired neighbors offering to rip out a dead tree in your yard so they’ll “have something to do”? (That totally happened. Last month.)

*sigh*

I REALLY need this.

*This post is sponsored by the Jordan Valley Home and Garden Club

Please follow and like us:

Filed Under: garden, outdoor, sponsor

Giveaway: $100 Gift card from Lowe’s

May 26, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made

I hope you’re enjoying your holiday weekend!

For some reason (probably related to my blondeness), I forgot that when I posted my porch makeover earlier this month I was also supposed to give away a $100 gift card to Lowe’s.

So, I’m doing it now.

What’s in it for you?

A $100 Lowe’s gift card.

TO ENTER:

Leave a comment on this post telling me what “curb appeal” project you’d tackle with $100 from Lowe’s.

That’s it. Quick and easy!

Giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and over only and closes Tuesday, May 29th at noon MST. Winner will be chosen at random using a WordPress Plugin (And The Winner Is…) and notified by email. Winner has 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen…I need the winner’s info before the end of the month!

And while you’re waiting to see if you won, head on over for your FREE Subscription to Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine:

Or, check out the Lowe’s Creative Idea’s app (also free)! I have it on my iPhone and it’s delightful!

Please follow and like us:

Filed Under: giveaway, Lowes

Chicken Marinade (for the grill!)

May 25, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made 8 Comments

Grilling season is officially here. (And by “officially here” I mean that we successfully removed the baby robins from our BBQ and that their mom found them in their new location.)

A few years back, when the pantry was bare, I concocted a marinade that has become a favorite of friends and family. I don’t usually measure when I make it, but I promise you can’t screw it up.

Ingredients (with disclaimers)
pineapple juice (I used a 6oz can but have drained a can of pineapple slices in a moment of desperation in the past)
soy sauce (I don’t measure, but probably close to the same amount as the pineapple juice)
olive oil (I also don’t measure this…it’s more of a vessel to get the marinade where it needs to be. If I had to guess, I’d say 1/4 c)
brown sugar (about 1/2 c)
minced garlic (I’m lazy and buy the pre-minced stuff. I use about 1-2 cloves equivalent)

Dump ingredients in a big old Ziploc bag with chicken pieces and smoosh it all around. That’s right. I don’t even mix it ahead of time. I like to cut each boneless skinless chicken breast half into 3 smaller pieces for a couple of reasons. The first reason = they get more surface area soaked in the marinade. And the second reason = they’re easier to cook through without burning.

Seal the bag and stick in the refrigerator for several hours (like 4 or 5, if you’ve got that long). I like to put it in a dish in case there’s leakage.

Discard the excess marinade and happy grilling!

Please follow and like us:

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Giveaway: Silhouette CAMEO™ + rolling tote!!!

May 24, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made

Before we get to the giveaway, here’s this month’s Silhouette promotion:

A CAMEO + your choice of rolling tote (pink or teal) = $309.99

GO HERE and use code “CRAP” to take advantage of the savings ($60!).

Already have a CAMEO but you NEED to get your hands on the tote?

You can do that here with code “CRAP” as well…takes the price down to $54.99.

Promo runs through May 31st.

I got the pink one and it’s delightful!

Your CAMEO fits right in the bottom

and your laptop goes right up top (in lots of padding so it’s super safe).

(No, I did not get a Mac so please don’t email me asking me questions about how to do stuff on it. The Mac is BC’s. My computer is red and it was ugly in the pictures with the pink bag. He he he. Open-mouthed smile )

There’s also tons of adjustable storage up top.

Nice, right?

Want to win one along with a CAMEO to put inside?

(I know you do!)

One lucky Crap I’ve Made reader will win her (or his) very own Silhouette CAMEO™ + rolling tote

TO ENTER:

One more Silhouette deal from Plum District

May 18, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made Leave a Comment

My pal Michelle over at Plum District told me about another deal for Silhouette stuff:

This time it’s $30 for a $50 voucher good for any merchandise (not downloads or gift cards) on their site.

The fine print as well as the link to purchase the deal is here. You can also use “visa10” to get 10% off, if you haven’t yet used that code on something else from Plum District.

Disclosure: I’m not getting anything if you click over and use that link, just sharing a deal (so click on over or get there some other way…I’m easy) because I know how many of you love Silhouette.

Please follow and like us:

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Randoms

May 16, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made 7 Comments

1) The Silhouette CAMEO™ winner is Alli. She already replied to her winner email, so that’s a done deal!

2) The current Silhouette promotion ends today. It’s a CAMEO plus black and white vinyl and transfer paper for $269.99 (like $75 in savings). If I was in the market, this is the bundle I’d go for. You can ALWAYS use black and white vinyl. If you already have a machine and just want to stock up on vinyl, it’s all 40% off. Go HERE and use code “CRAP” to take advantage of either deal.

For a whole crap ton of vinyl ideas, go here.

3) Things are getting exciting re: our DIY Blogger House at Daybreak!

We had a meeting Monday night to discuss color palettes. I posted a little teaser pic over on the Crap Facebook page, if you wanna go take a look.

I swung by the house yesterday. It’s coming along nicely…we have an entire foundation with window wells and stuff!

And, if you’re a Utah local, Lara and Shelley will be on Studio 5 this morning talking about the project, so be sure to check that out.

4) I want to take a belt sander to my face on account of allergies, so that’s fun.

5) We are dangerously low on Diet Coke.

Hope your Wednesday is delightful!

Please follow and like us:

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Curb Appeal (aka the May Lowe’s challenge)

May 15, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made 21 Comments

This month’s Lowe’s Creator challenge was “curb appeal”. The budget was small ($100) and the next couple of months involve the yard, so I wanted to focus my efforts elsewhere. I chose my front porch. Here are a couple of “before” shots:

So, we headed to Lowe’s where I picked up a new front porch mat ($14.95), some teak oil (for the table makeover I shared yesterday),

a small bag of “coarse sand” (also for the table makeover),

and I spent the rest on succulents (again, for the table project) and flowers and plants.

The first thing we did was clear the porch completely. Then we power washed the porch and the porch furniture.

The dead plants in my paint bucket planters (still one of my favorite projects) were removed and replaced with new ones. The antique white thing (sink? basin?) in the corner found a new home on the back deck and the dead plant was junked. That whole situation was replaced with an aqua pot (also from Lowe’s) filled with flowers.

The glider was an anniversary gift a few years back and the green side chairs came from Lowe’s 2 or 3 years ago.

I swapped out the front mat

and hung some summery décor.

And the whole place feels much more “come and sit a while” instead of “throw your junk here”, which is TOTALLY what I was going for. Winking smile

And here’s a friendly reminder to head on over for your FREE Subscription to Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine:

It really is a good one. I loved so many of the ideas is this month’s!

Disclosure: Lowe’s provided me with a gift card for this month’s curb appeal challenge.

Please follow and like us:

Filed Under: DIY, Lowes, makeovers, outdoor

Outdoor Table Makeover

May 14, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made 24 Comments

How was your weekend?

Did you do any work in the yard?

We did. And we gave a $10 thrift store find some new life and a new home on our front porch.

My mom and I were at a thrift store a few months back, following up on a Pyrex tip (yes, really), and we saw this teak table. It was $10 and we both NEEDED it. She drives a tiny little 2 seater and couldn’t actually get it home, so I won. Open-mouthed smile

See how you can turn that middle part over? Fun, right?

Structurally, it was in great shape but the wood needed some love. And by “love” I mean “child labor”.

Yes, my 4 year old is wearing a Santa shirt in May…what of it?

And then we planted the shallow tray with some succulents

and added some gravel.

And a before and after shot:

Totally worth $10, right?

To see the rest of my $100 porch makeover (and some prettier shots of the table), come back tomorrow!

Please follow and like us:

Filed Under: DIY, furniture, Lowes, makeovers, outdoor, thrifting, wood

Vinyl Labels

May 10, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made 8 Comments

If you’re here to win the Silhouette CAMEO™, go here.

If you’re here to buy a CAMEO + 2 rolls of vinyl and transfer tape for $269.99, go here and use code “CRAP”.

If you’re here to get 40% off any and all Silhouette vinyl, go here and use code “CRAP”.

To see two other projects I made with the vinyl Silhouette sent me this month, check out my Mother’s Day sign and my DIY Vintage sign tutorials.

So, I mentioned yesterday in the glitter glasses post that we are huge fans of Zenni Optical. Macy recently started wearing glasses and was sorely disappointed in the color selection at the eye doctor. I was sorely disappointed in the pricing. So, we gave Zenni a try. We were extremely happy and have since placed another order. Or two.

The one thing we don’t love about Zenni? All the cases come like this,

which is fine if you only have a pair or two. But when you have 11? (Did I just admit that?)You are frantically opening case after case after case in search of the orange glasses and you needed to leave for orchestra 2 minutes ago.

So, I sat down with my Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition software (you could totally do this in the regular version, to) and made some labels.

And now?

***I am not affiliated with Zenni Optical in any way. They made my new glasses wearer much happier about wearing glasses. And that makes me happy.***

And, because several people have asked, we upgrade to poly-carbonate lenses and anti-glare coating, which adds about $15/pair. Sometimes they have buy 2 get one free sales. The bottom line for me is that 11 pairs of glasses from Zenni = less than one pair from the eye doctor.

Please follow and like us:

Filed Under: Silhouette, vinyl

Glitter Glasses

May 9, 2012 By Char @ Crap I've Made 13 Comments

(If you’re looking for the CAMEO giveaway, it’s one post down)

I posted these and the general how-to on Facebook, but I know that a lot of you don’t Facebook and you can’t pin stuff from there, so I’m posting it here as well.

You’ll need:

Painter’s tape
Craft Knife
Primer
Glitter Blast
Glitter Blast Clear Sealer
Glasses

Now, I wouldn’t recommend doing this to a pair of $250 glasses or whatever, but we get most of Macy’s glasses from Zenni Optical (seriously…11 pairs in assorted colors for less than ONE pair of boring brown at the eye doctor) and I would DEFINITELY recommend doing it to an inexpensive pair from there. Open-mouthed smile

Tape off the lenses with painters tape. Get a really good tight seal and trim the edges carefully with the craft knife. Do the inside and the outside.

The trick with all of this is to go slowly and allow plenty of drying time.

Give the glasses a coat of primer. I tried one pair (dollar store reading glasses to make sure my technique was good) without and the glitter didn’t stick as well.

After the primer, coat with Glitter Blast.

After that has dried, coat with the Glitter Blast Clear Sealer.

Carefully peel off the tape…like I used a pin to pry up a tiny corner so I wouldn’t scratch the lenses.

And you’re done!