CanStruction!

I feel like this weekend has been a whirlwind! The hubs and I were both under the weather yesterday; so we took turns taking naps and caring for Con-Man. I did rally this morning though to head over to our office's CanStruction build.

For those of you unfamiliar with CanStruction it is a charity that Architects and Engineers participate in to raise money for food for local area Food Banks. Here is a little more info about it described by the foundation itself:


Canstruction^® is the most unique food charity in the world!

A foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction^® is a trademarked design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America and countries around the world including Australia.  Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely out of canned foods.  It takes 8-12 weeks and thousands of cans of food to create a structure.  


Our office has participated for the last 5 years. This year was our largest structure yet! We used over 8,600 cans of food (mainly tuna fish and salmon) to build this:

Mrs. Potato Head!

(Check out all those boxes full of cans!)

It took several people in our office to draw her in a 3-D model, then 3 different mock up builds to get her right. Today we spent about 8 hours building her in the mall where she will be on display along with all the other teams' structures. If you happen to be in the San Antonio area you should head over to North Star Mall to check them out!

We all had a good time and it was for a great cause- the San Antonio Area Food Bank! 
And thank you to our fearless CanStruction leader Vanessa; who always puts in a ton of hard work and effort making this a success, for the photos. Way to go team!!


Check to see if they're coming to your city!

Upcycled Patio Furniture

You might remember me hinting about my next project involving these planters:

I got them from work not to long ago, there were about 8 all together. Our office was going to donate them to Goodwill but asked first if anyone wanted them. At first I declined because A) I don't need new planters and B) the only thing I could think to do with them was make some sort of fish pond. But then someone said- "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if you turned them over and made a table and chairs out of them?" And I thought "Yes!" That is one of the great things about working with creative people, you never know what kind of ideas they will come up with.

So I took 3 of them home and went to work gathering my materials:

Planters: 1 large for table 2 small for stools. I got mine for free but you might be able find some at an used office supply store, Habitat ReStore or thrift store.

Plywood for stool cushions and for base of table (I was lucky enough to have an extra piece lying around)

Jigsaw, staple gun, and sander

Spray Paint

Fabric and batting for stool tops

I began by tracing the large and small planters to make templates for the stool cushions and the base of the table.

Then I cut my templates out with the jigsaw,

Then sanded any rough edges.

Once I had all my template cut I started making the stool cushions. I wrapped batting around the plywood and stapled around one half of it, leaving one half open.

I stuffed pillow stuffing inside the opening to give the cushion a little more softness, then stapled the rest closed.

Next I stapled the fabric. I staped four edges to center it then folded the corners in. I gathered the leftover and stapled that underneath as well, it's basically like wrapping a present.

Finished Cushions!

The large planter came with a base with wheels. I wanted to reuse it since the planter (soon to be table!) is pretty heavy. The wheeled base is smaller than the opening on the top and since I'm flippin the planter over and using the bottom as my table top; I used the third plywood template I cut to make the base fit on to the new bottom of my table. 

I used Gorilla Glue to attach the base to the plywood. I wasn't how well it would work glueing metal to wood, but it worked great!

Finally I spray painted the planters an off white color, the shiny metal wasn't doing it for me. Plus it was blinding in the sunlight.

I didn't permantly attach the cushions or base. I thought I would be able to use the stools as storage and take the cushions inside when it rains.

Oops! Gracie trying to get in on the action. When I'm not using the furntiure I can stack the stools inside the table and store them in the shed when I don't need them.

So for only about $20 (If you have to by planters, plywood, and batting your cost might be closer to $50- still a steal!) I have some modern lounge-y patio furniture!

I can't wait to try it out for Labor Day Weekend!

Linking up to:

Who Inspires You? & Giveaway Winner

I want to announce the winner of the Purse Giveaway! The winner is #32- Charmaine of LicklePickle Blog. Congratualtions!
Send me an email Charmaine and I'll send the purse your way.

I was thinking the other day about how I became the way I am. Meaning that person who sees a piece of forgotten furniture on the side of the road and immediately start thinking about how I can give it a new life, always thinking about how I can improve my home on the lowest budget possible, always trying to figure out how I can make that piece of furniture I see in the store myself instead of buying it.

So I thought I would give a run down of a few of my top influences:

1. Martha Stewart

Ok, what can't this woman do?! I mean, she wakes up in the morning picks eggs for breakfast, feeds her cows and horses, goes antiquing before lunch, whips up some amazing craft in the afternoon, then throws an amazing dinner party she cooked over her woodburning stove using wood she chopped the day before.

Wow, if only I could have half as much talent in my whole body as she does in her little finger! I try to be diverse in my projects like her but will never be on her level. Of course she does have a daughter with a TV show where she makes fun of Martha's old shows, so its a give and take.

2. Decorating Cents

Oh my gosh, do you guys remember this show? I loved it! Making over your house with only $500! Amazing! My favorite part though was the Trash To Treasure segment. I couldn't wait to the end of each episode to see what they came up with this time. Decorating with old shoes, using an old crib as a shelf, it went on and on. And it gave me hope that I wasn't the only one out there that enjoyed turning junk into something special. I was sad to see this show leave HGTV.

3. Design On A Dime

Loved this show too! They had so many great ideas to make over your home on a budget. A lot of their projects required knowledge and skill with tools. This motivated me to learn how to use a jig saw, buy my own drill, ect. (Sometimes this got me into trouble though.) I'm sorry this show isn't on anymore either. I like all the House Hunter shows, but I like design ideas too!

4. Trading Spaces

Ok, not only did this show have great inexpensive design ideas, but they had some serious eye candy as well. (It doesn't hurt is all I'm saying.) I loved Genevieve's Mod style, and Vern's clean, slick architectual vision. There were so many ideas I could implement in my own home. Another thing I loved about this show is that they went all over the country. My friend and I applied but the show was cancled not long after we sent in our application. Sadness!

5. And last but not least- My Mom! Not to be cheesy or anything but she was really understanding of my obsession with roadkill rescue furniture (during high school I think I had up to 8 chairs in my room at one point), or rearranging my room every few months. And she was always willing to take me to my favorite junk stores before I could drive. Thanks mom!

So, who inspires you?

Weekly Wrap Up

Thank you to everyone who has entered my purse giveaway so far! If you haven't entered yet you have until tomorrow- so comment away!

I want to thank the following sites for featuring me this week-

DIY Show Off featured my Glass Tile Neckalce

Backyard Eden featured my Kitchen Reno

Frog Prince Paperie featured the Anthropologie Inspired Cupcake Stand

Craft Gossip featured my Wrought Iron Curtain Rods

Thank you all so much! I really appreciate it.

We had a lot going on around the house this weekend. The Hubs came home from Ft Hood for the weekend, we played softball, took Con-Man to the Zoo and his first birthday party! I still had time to come up with something to work on though.

Here's a clue to what it is:

Can you guess what it's going to be??

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Purse Tutorial

I hope everyone is leaving comments on the purse giveaway post! You could win this adorable purse made with Duralee Fabric!

But if you don't happen to be the lucky winner never fear! I'll show you how to make your own. I'll show some of the highlights but I followed this tutorial from Craft Apple. It was super easy to understand and well detailed. And don't be alarmed if the pictrures I'm going to show here are different from the purse shown above, this was my practice one.

I started by measuring my fabric. I wanted the purse to be 9" x 12", so I cut my squares 10" x 13" so I could do a 1/2" inseam all around. In the Craft Apple tutorial she used one large piece of fabric and sewed up the edges to create a pocket to make the purse. The fabric I used was a sample piece, not large enough to fold in half so I had to cut 2 rectangles then sew them together.

All my pieces ready to be sewn. But first I ironed on some stablizer. The fabric I used is meant for curtains, so it was somewhat flimsy. The stablizer really helps the purse hold it's shape.

Satin Lining and Stablizer!

I began by making the straps. I folded the edges in 1/4" then folded the whole piece in half. I ironed it to it would hold the shape better. (I could never be a professional seamstress, to much ironing involved- and I don't like ironing!.) Then I sewed the strap closed.

Sewing the large rectangles together, right sides together, to make the purse.

Next up, boxing corners. I hadn't done this before but following the tutorial on Craft Apple, it was pretty easy. Here are the highlights:

Ironing the seams open.

Next measuring 1.5" down to make a triangle at each of the bottom corners of the bag. Then I drew a line to mark where I would sew across. I double stiched this seam to make it sturdy.

Example of the pen mark I am about to sew. After I sewed across this line I cut the corners off, the tutorial says to keep them to make a stablizer for the bottom.

Follow the same steps for the lining. Then sew your straps to the wrong side of the lining, from 1.5" in from the midseam. Next pin the lining to the inside of the exterior bag, right sides facing each other. Make sure the straps are hanging inside the purse. Then sew all the way around, starting at one strap and ending at the middle of the fourth. Don't sew it closed yet. Carefully turn the purse right side out.

Finally edge stitch along the top of the purse to finish is off. Then you're done!

Don't forget to enter the purse giveaway to win the purse pictured above, and please go to DIY Club Inc to vote for my VIntage Chair Rescue! It's #33!

Purse Giveaway!

So as promised, in celebration of reaching 100 followers (thank you so much!!); a giveaway! 

I made this purse following a tutorial I found online. For more information see the purse tutorial here. In the meantime, if you want to win this purse made from Duralee Fabric (which costs $40-60$ a yard!), here's what you need to do:

1. Become a Google Follower and comment on this post telling me that you have.
2. If you are already a follower just leave a comment on this post telling me that you are.

That's it! Easy!

You have until August 23rd at noon to enter. I will use Random.org to choose the winner and will annouce it Tuesday the 24th.

Good luck and thank you all so much!

This Giveaway has ended- check back to see who won!

Weekly Wrap Up

I hope you all enjoyed our guest bloggers/ projects this week! I sure did.

I want to send a huge THANK YOU! to these awesome ladies for featuring my projects this week:

Roeshel at DIY Show Off , Crystal's Craft Spot  and  It's A Blog Party featured my  Kitchen Renovation

House of Grace and Super Stinky Boys for featuring my Vintage Chair Rescue

Creating My Way to Success featured my  Wine Bottle Citronella Candle

Thanks so much!

Con- Man and I spent the weekend in Killeen, TX visiting the hubs at Fort Hood. We rode around the town and ate dinner at the lake one night. Con and I tried to go to the thrift store on base but its only open the 1st and 3rd weekends of the month. Bummer! Maybe next time.

But as promised tomorrow is the start of my giveaway for reaching 100 followers (now 131- wow!). I really never thought anyone but my mom would read my blog so this really means a lot.

Till next time!

My Kitchen is on DIY Show Off!

I am so excited and I just can't hide it!! Our kitchen renovation is featured on DIY Show Off today!



This is one my most favorite websites. Go check it out! Roeshel has tons of awesome DIY ideas and inspiration, you will not be disappointed.

Woo Hoo!!

Anthropologie Inspired Cupcake Stand

Hello Everyone! It seems that this week has become the week of guest bloggers! This time Samantha at My Three Blind Mice will share her tutorial on how to make your own Anthroplogie inspired Cupcake Stand!

But first I wanted to talk a little about her. She is a crafty mommy who has her own etsy where she crochets the cutest things!

Like this sweet little frog hat:

And this adorable stuffed owl!

And thing for us adults:

Beautiful scarves in all colors.

And these stylish clutches.

Now without further adieu a Cup Cake Plate Stand!

1) Find old, vintage miss matched plates tea cups, and saucers all in the same color (white) from your house, antique stores, thrift stores, garage sales.

2) Arrange them together on top of each other till you get the desired plate stand you like. Then glue them all together using super glue or gorilla glue.

3. Use books to press the items you are gluing together to help the glue bond better.

4) Then youre done! This plate stand works great for cup cakes, cookies or tea sandwiches. It is a great way to add some vintage charm to your next party!

Wow I love this! I'm going to look for some cups and saucers on my next thrift store trip. Thank you so much Samantha for sharing this with us today!