Back to School Fun Series: Mod Podge Clip Board

Back to school is closer than ever and I wanted to share with you a series of crafty projects that will inspire learning and organization ( that look pretty anyway). My philosophy is to make your work area or study area pretty and colorful. It is more fun that way, right? I am taking basics that we all use for anything related to organizing our work space. Today I am making over a basic clip board with ribbon, scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. My work area is usually covered with clipboards, notebooks, pencils, folders,etc. If the items are all pretty then it doesn't look so messy, at least that is how I feel about it. The total cost of the project was really inexpensive. The paper was left over from the Bathroom Redo, Mod Podge was about $7 for a medium size bottle ( I only used about 1/4, plenty left over for another project). The ribbon was something I already had and the clip boards were about $1.50 each. I gathered all of my supplies and played mix and match for a while until I found 2 different sheets of scrapbook paper and 2 different kinds of ribbon.

;

I'm in a green and purple mood :)

Trace the clipboard on the back of the pretty paper.

I wanted to have both papers on each side in some way.

Apply a generous amount of Mod Podge with a foam brush.

Carefully position your paper on the surface and apply another layer of Mod Podge.

Layer ribbons with Mod Podge in between and on top.

I used a pencil to prevent the clip from sticking to the board. The extra glue just peeled off the shinny clip.

I added a pretty pom pom of ribbon to the top. You just take your ribbons all together and wrap them around your hand until it is all wrapped around your hand. I then secured it with a piece of wire and cut the loop of ribbons. the wire came in handy when I attached it to the clip board.

Pretty little clip board.

That was so much fun I think I will do it again. This time I'm in the mood for blue and green.

They are such a cute couple, aren't they?

 I'm looking forward to sharing more Back to School fun with you this week. So stop by often to check out what I'm crafting up to make work, school or study a little more creative.

Cori Ann

My Summer So Far...

Well, here it is almost half way through July, I can't believe it! I have so many projects I would like to finish before school starts. But first I want to reflect on a few things that I have accomplished. The previous post was all about my family beach vacation, I don't think that is considered a project but was a wonderful time:)
So far I have :
Taught a week long summer art camp for kids
Cleaned out the garage
Cleaned out my closet.
Took a truck load of stuff to Goodwill.
Prepared a new flower bed, ready for planting(waiting for the temperature to go below 100, or maybe I will plant flowers at midnight when it is only 90)
Organized bids for roof repair and fence replacement ( We had a tornado in May) All repairs almost finished.
Baked and decorated birthday cakes for my niece and nephews.


Art Camp... I love hanging out with these creative kids. We were drawing with watercolor pencils. I told the kids to draw what they saw( trees, pond,nature) and then we painted with water and watched our masterpieces come to life.





The girl that is watching instead of drawing belongs to me... at least she isn't distracting them, right?
I guess since her mom is an art teacher she's been there done that.






The little artists' view of the pond..

 


The birthday cakes, I know this is not a good photo. Elmo is a cupcake cake and the butterfly is a strawberry cake with strawberry icing. Yummy....





After the tornado...we were so lucky.

The tornado that skipped through our neighborhood, left us pretty lucky compared to what could have happened. When I say skipped, I mean it hit some houses and then skipped a few and hit some more. It was surreal to walk around and see one house with chunks of roof missing, windows busted and fences mangled while the house next door is untouched...truly strange and creepy. The next morning our street was littered with debris and people selling their services of repair for all the varieties of damage. Almost two months later we are almost all patched up and items replaced. I will show you the after photo when the fence is finished.

What is left to do in the next six weeks:

Decorate my daughters' bathroom:

Her birthday is coming up soon, so i asked if she wanted us to paint and decorate her room to look a little older and more sophisticated since she is turning 13. She said her room was great but please do something about her bathroom, it looks like it belongs to an old lady. I can do that! I know I didn't put much thought into it and the shower curtain is very busy with red roses. She was in charge of choosing the wall color which is a beautiful pale blue, Martha Stewart color collection called aegean blue. Then we found a soap dispenser and toothbrush holder at Home Goods that matched and we were inspired! We are adding a lot of white and other cool blue and green accents, can't wait till we are finished!

Inspiration

Old lady bathroom..

I also plan on painting a mirror and desk for my youngest and attacking a box full of old frames that need new life which will be explored in a future post.

Oh yea, that flower bed need attention also

Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it, but will be sooo happy when it is done.

Love, Smile, Create.............
Cori Ann

Beach Inspired treats: Coconut cupcakes & tropical smoothie.

My family and I have returned from our annual beach vacation in Florida. We love the white sand and clear blue waters and the FOOD!!! After a day of jumping the waves, boogie boarding and swimming we can not wait to experience some amazing seafood and other coastal treats while watching the waves roll in and watch the sun go down. Here is a pic that my Hubby took me and our girls. Notice the family in the background that is strangely dressed just like us. When we decided to all dress alike we felt really silly and giggled all the way to the beach. Only to be among numerous others doing the same thing. Between 7-8pm is the perfect time of day for pictures, but finding an isolated spot is difficult.

Then it was my turn......





  

What is so funny? Are you laughing at me? I got so distracted by how interesting the sky looked and tried to capture it, but my feet started sinking in the sand and well, I fell over. Apparently it was hilarious....story of my life:)  Good times.
The next day was time to head back to Texas and we ate our last amazing meal at our favorite restaurant and decided to try a desert, usually we are too stuffed to even think about it. We ordered coconut cake and it was not any ordinary coconut cake... it was coconut heaven! I've been craving it ever since and just had to try and recreate the moment. So here is my attempt at coconut heaven cupcake style:

The Cake Mix:

I used one box of vanilla cake mix and followed the directions except:

 use coconut milk instead of water and  coconut oil instead of vegetable oil .

( I'm trying to get as much coconut goodness in the mix as possible)

Add 2 tablespoons of artificial coconut flavoring.

The Filling:

1 Box of instant vanilla pudding

2 cups of coconut milk

The Icing:

1 large container of whipped white Icing

4 tablespoons of artificial coconut flavoring

Coconut flakes

We (my daughters helped) filled the paper cupcakes 1/2 way with batter and then added one teaspoon of pudding and filled the rest of the way with batter. This added some gooey goodness to the center. After the cupcakes were finished baking I let them cool and refrigerated them over night. For the icing I emptied it into a bowl and mixed in the coconut flavoring. I spooned on icing and dipped the top into a bowl of coconut flakes. Put them back in the refrigerator, 30 minutes. I think they taste better chilled, but then everything does when it is 101 outside.



Yummy coconut heaven!!!!!!



While we wait for the cupcakes to chill I think I should make tropical smoothies, did I mention it is hot outside?

This is super simple:

Fill blender 1/2 with frozen pineapple and frozen mango

add one banana broken into pieces

fill with coconut milk 3/4 of the way up the blender

I do not measure when make smoothies.. its a little of this and a little of that type of recipe:)

Blend until creamy serve with a coconut heaven cupcake and imagine the ocean breeze keeping you cool and the sounds of waves are so relaxing.................

Anyways, there it is before I inhaled it.

Stay cool and enjoy a little bit of my beach vacation memory.

~Cori Ann