64: Bookshelf restyling

In putting together our nursery, I wanted to make use of a few pieces of furniture we already had. These also looked nice with the white crib and changing table we bought, but I wanted something that would bring the two styles (wood and white) together. Going back to a previous post idea, I thought I'd try painting the back of the shelves (actually painted the back of the back, so I'd still have the wood paneling available if I didn't like the result). Now the wood and white furniture look like they go together a little more intentionally!

Credit:
http://ramblingrenovators.blogspot.com/2011/12/chloes-diy-costume-closet.html?m=1

63: Lettuce screen printing

This was a random idea that I was reminded of after cutting lettuce for a salad one night and having paint near by for another project. Interesting (and green) way to make flower prints!

Credit:
http://www.craftsy.com/project/view/celery-stamped-cards/6019

62: Healthy chex mix

Somehow I've never made chex mix before. Responding to a craving, I decided to try whipping some up, but wanted to try a healthy-ish version. The main change was replacing butter with olive oil. Still turned out yummy! An easy snack, we'll just see how long it stays stocked...

Credit:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Healthy-Snack-Mix-2

61: Mattress cleaning

Pregnancy comes with lots of interesting changes, including an increased sense of smell. In a house with two dogs, this isn't always a great thing. So I've been on the hunt for the cause of the "dog smell" in our bedroom (where the dogs sleep, along with us). Dirty hampers have been emptied, shoes cleaned, and carpet thoroughly vacuumed. That left the mattress. So I tried out this mattress cleaning tip, which has definitely left a clean smell (so far). Bring on baby smells!

Credit:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4987593_clean-pillowtop-mattress.html

60: Potatoes two ways

I bought a bag of potatoes recently and just realized that I will be out of town soon for the holidays. So I looked up some yummy looking recipes that would use this staple ingredient (and freeze well), and I decided to go with twice baked potatoes and crockpot scalloped potatoes. Both turned out well, and I didn't have to peel a single potato!

Credit:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotpotatorecipes/r/bl87c8.htm
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ultimate-twice-baked-potatoes/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=ultimate%20twice%20baked%20potatoes&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

59: No bake cookies/granola

So this one is technically a pinterest fail, but with a happy ending! I ran across this no bake energy ball recipe and thought I'd try it, particularly because I love baking with oats (and chocolate). The hiccup was that once I chilled the dough in the fridge, it fell apart and wasn't able to be formed into little balls. This made it more like a soft chocolaty granola. I made a number of alterations, a few of which likely led to the "fail": didn't have flax seed and don't like coconut so I just used extra oats, cut down the butter a bit, warmed up the peanut butter so it would be easier to mix (which led to the melting of the chocolate chips when I added them next). The "save" was that I love granola, and realized this would make a great topping for greek yogurt! I'm eating it as I write this, and it's delicious!

Credit:
http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/

58: Paper star ornaments

I tried this one with some leftover wrapping paper. Surprisingly easy yet turns out very nice.

Credit:
http://christmas.yourway.net/paper-star-ornaments/

57: Pregnancy announcement

There are a lot of cute pregnancy announcement ideas out there. This one was a play on our last name (Hood). We got many nice responses (and the people who rolled their eyes at it kept it to themselves). A good reflection of our quirky personalities, and the family the little one will be joining!

Credit:
http://indulgy.com/post/bjo47PxXI1/pregnancy-announcement-baby-announcement-baby

56: Dog Hoodie

What's cuter than dog clothes? I took on the task of making hooded t-shirts for our pups for a special project (see next post). Took a little patience to get them fitted right (and to get pictures), but I thought they turned out pretty well.

Credit:
http://www.urbanthreads.com/tutorials.aspx?t=PRM1022

55: Yarn chandelier

More attempts to find cute and crafty nursery decorations, and I think I found a favorite! All this took was yarn, a balloon, glue, and water. Very cute! Will just have to see if it will hold up...

Credit: http://blog.hwtm.com/2012/01/diy-tutorial-creative-yarn-chandelier/

54: Nursery ruler

This was one of my favorite projects that I've done. We know that our present home is not where we will be living long term, but I love the idea of having a place to measure our growing family over time. This woman's Pottery Barn knock off and helpful directions worked great! Can't wait to see it as it fills up over the years!

Credit: http://517creations.blogspot.com/2011/04/ruler-growth-chart-pottery-barn-knock.html

53: T-shirt pom poms

I love a good t-shirt recycle and given that I am in the process of designing a nursery (!), I thought I'd try this t-shirt pom idea. Super cute, but not perfect, as I thought it was tough to make the pom fluffy enough. Perhaps I tried to make it too large. Was pretty easy though, so one I wouldn't mind trying again.

Credit: http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/t-shirt-pom-poms-tutorial

52: Smore bites

So I forgot to to take a picture of my version of smores bites, but I promise they were so easy that they looked just like the picture. I made them for a tailgate and while I worried they would harden too much, they stayed pretty soft (and didn't last very long- they were a hit!). Something I'll be making again for sure.

Credit: http://www.hwtm.com/index.cfm?page=albums/view_album&albumid=5459

51: Milk jug scoop

This one was just an attempt to make something out of a milk jug we just finished. Super easy and helpful for things I don't want to touch (i.e. dog food, gardening).

Credit: http://unconsumption.tumblr.com/post/27067254913/pseudoselfaware-genius-this-photo-which-has

50: Chili cookoff

Fall and football are a great combination with chili. Some of our friends held a (3rd annual) chili cookoff recently, so I got to make our household's favorite chili recipe. I probably shouldn't reveal it, particularly given that we are Notre Dame fans and this is Boliermaker chili, but why not share something so yummy? Enjoy!

Credit: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/boilermaker-tailgate-chili/

49: Hedgehog cookies

My husband is missing our two dogs while he's gone. We've debated about low maintenance pets for him, but nothing seems to be a good fit. For some reason, he decided hedgehogs would be great, unfortunately they aren't really found in North America. To appease him a bit, I made these cute hedgehog cookies, which were simple but delicious (in addition to being cute).

Credit: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Hedgehog-Cookies-2

48: Thanksgiving brie ball

Thanksgiving is great for traditional, expected food. For appetizers, I usually have a little more flexibility in picking a new recipe to try. This year, I went with a brie ball, which went over very well with our crowd. I added cherry preserves in the middle of the brie, which gave it a nice sweet touch.

Credit: http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/crescent-wrapped-brie/3bc85655-bba2-44ec-88dd-9f2397a8d42b

47: Twine knot coasters

I thought this project looked cute and easy, and knots are always classy looking (in a Celtic/nautical kind of way). The first one turned out pretty well, the challenge will be keeping them even size-wise if I go for a set. Easy thing to do while watching TV.

Credit: http://www.designsponge.com/2009/06/diy-wednesdays-knot-trivet.html

46: Simple bookcase redesign

We have limited shelf space in our kitchen, so we decided to display our everyday dishes on a simple bookshelf. Which has worked out fine, though it tends to look like the fairly cheap bookshelf that it is. So until we can buy a fancy hutch, I thought we'd try just adding a little accent color to the back (I actually painted the non-white side, just in case we still want to use it for some reason. Gives it a nice little pop of color I think!

Credit:
http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2011/07/diy-fabric-covered-bookcase.html?m=1

45: Recycled magazine bookmarks

Instead of using the old library receipts like I usually do for bookmarks, I decided to try ok these super easy and quick bookmarks. The link makes cute monster bookmarks, but I decided to recycle a magazine with a tropical scene.

Credit:
http://www.ctbakerintheacres.com/2012/02/14-lovely-days-day-2.html?m=1

44: Cleaning a smelly sponge

Another super quick but easy cleaning strategy- zap the sponge in the microwave for a couple minutes. Germs killed!

Credit:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/33-meticulous-cleaning-tricks-for-the-ocd-person-i?s=mobile&sub=1771173_591106

(one of many strategies on this page)

43: Dishwasher cleaning

I've noticed some spots staying behind on our "clean" glasses lately. So I decided to try out this super simple dishwasher washing strategy. I don't have a lot to comment about it, other than it seemed to work pretty well!

Credit:
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/02/how-to-clean-your-dishwasher.html#comment-form

42: Hot glue friction-creator

With the start of fall comes the seasonal shoe switch in my (too small) closet. I use a somewhat old school shoe organizer to save some space, but I always get annoyed that the shoes seem to slide around a lot (notice the second row of shoes about to fall out in the picture). Argh! But wait, simple solution- use hot glue to create a little friction to keep the shoes in place. So simple!

41: The missing hubby/daddy pillow

We've made it about two months since my husband moved, and so far so good. One side effect of being the only person in the bed is that our two dogs, who are big cuddlers (yes, they sleep in the bed with us, thank goodness for king sized beds), like to crowd me at night. A large bed can feel very small when you have one dog snuggled in your back and one under your legs. Coincidentally, the hubby had a bunch of old surgical jackets from residency that I was trying to find a use for. Lightbulb moment! Take a couple extra pillows and some stuffing, and you have the headless hubby pillow! As you can see in the pictures, it's been a hit with the dogs (and already saved me some back pain).

40: Fitting a t-shirt

Like many people, I've gathered a lot of t-shirts over the years, some which are better for working out and some which I'd rather have be more fitted because they are for game watching/tailgating. I had one tee that I'd had for a while but hadn't worn because it just didn't look right. So I checked out this video and used the super easy tips to fit the shirt a bit more. Much improved!

Credit:
http://www.ehow.com/video_12232259_cut-tshirt-make-smaller.html

39: Cleaning the trash can

There's nothing like a smelly trash can to ruin the great moment when you get home from work. In yet another presidential debate distraction technique, I took on the task of cleaning the kitchen trash can. I have to say, while ammonia has a strong scent, it sure knows how to kill odors (and hopefully germs too!).

Credit:
http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-clean-a-garbage-can/

38: Removing container writing

I've been on a yogurt kick lately, and I always end up with a nice sized container that I don't know what to do with (it is so hard to throw away things with craft potential!). So I thought I'd try removing the writing with nail polish. The role for the container is still TBD, but now I have a nicer looking option to decide what to do with!

Credit:
http://2busybrunettes.com/2012/04/18/i-heart-earth/

37: Ceiling fan cleaning

I'm watching the presidential debate, which always reminds me how much I hate conflict. So to make it less uncomfortable, I'm doing some cleaning. This first one is a pin I've been meaning to try for a while. Every night I look up at the fan above our bed and cringe at the dust peeking over the edges of the fan blades. So I tried this crafty pillowcase pin, which took some hand eye coordination, but ended up working fairly well. Though it was still a tad messy, so I recommend laying an old sheet down first.

Credit:
http://yestheyareallmine.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/cleaning-tip-872/#comment-7560

36: Chip bag fold

So I'll admit that this simple project was partially motivated by my craving for chips, which I don't usually keep in the house. BBQ chips in particular are my weakness. This pin was a good excuse to pick some up. So I (sampled the chips then) tried the folding technique. Technically, it worked. But it took a few tries and didn't stay very long. In fact, I ended up putting a chip clip on :(

Credit:
http://www.origami-resource-center.com/chip-bag-fold.html

35: Utensil roll

I bring utensils from home to work each day for my lunch, and I couldn't figure out a good way to keep everything together until I threw together this utensil roll from some old material I had laying around. This is one pin project I can say I use every day (that only took a few minutes to make!).

Credit:
http://blog.sndimg.com/hgtv/design/farima/waverly-how-to-instructions.jpg

34: Toilet paper roll cloth printing to purse

Since my recent trial with paper towel roll painting, I was impressed with the variety of designs that could be made. So I thought I'd try printing on cloth, specifically an old t-shirt (even more specifically, the sleeves of an old t-shirt, which always seem to be leftover from other t-shirt projects). From the printed cloth, I sewed the sleeves together, made a lining out of sleeves from another t-shirt, and threw on a couples straps. Hello cute purse!

Credit:
http://limeriot.blogspot.ch/2012/08/toilet-paper-roll-printing-tutorial.html

33: Jet bathtub cleaning

When we first moved into our condo, we thought the jacuzzi tub was a nice draw. Since then (4 1/2 years ago), we've used the tub about 4 times and struggled to keep the tub, specifically the jets, clean. More of a pain than an exciting feature. So I thought I'd try a tub cleaning rec pin. The pictures don't help much on this project primarily because I used my ipad camera, not the best. In addition, this pin worked generally, but it still required some decent elbow grease and didn't clear up some deep stains. I'd give it a B.

Credit:
http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-a-Jetted-Bathtub