Display Photos Using Mason Jars!

This is such a great idea to display photos. I have so many framed photos all over the house, it's so hard to make room for new ones, or decide which photo to replace with a new one. This idea, it's easy to replace the photo at anytime. Just curve the photo and place it in the jar upside down, and there ya go, instant picture "frame"!

I got my jar at a thrift store for only .50 cents! I'm hoping to find more at that price in different sizes to add to this one.

DIY Comic Coasters

I was at the Habitat of Humanity Restore the other day, and found some great tiles for only .10 cents each. They also had light switch covers for .10 cents each as well, and I have a project in mind for those, but that's for a different day. I got two white tiles, and two ocean blue tiles. Let me tell you just a little bit about myself, I am one of those people that do not commit to something unless I'm absolutely sure of it. I do the whole pros and cons list (in my head or written down depending on the scenario) and ask people their opinions. Lets just say I am not a huge risk taker. Anyway, I have not decided what to do with the ocean blue tiles yet, but I knew with the white tiles I wanted to do a Sunday comics theme. I found this comic online, and because my entire family growing up loved Opus, I just knew this one was perfect.

The tiles I have are 4.25 x 4.25 and as you can tell this comic is not a perfect square, so I printed it out at a 3.5 x 4.25. 

After gaging the size of the comic vs. the size of the tile, I determined how closely to cut the border. Once I cut it to the exact size I wanted it I used my Homemade Mod Podge. I painted it onto the surface of the clean tile, and then stuck the comic onto the area I wanted it. Make sure to smooth out any air bubbles and creases at this time. I let it dry, while smoothly out some bubbles that appeared while drying. 

Now that the tile was dry, I painted the Mod Podge on the tile again. Make sure to paint it all in the direction, so that there are no zig zags, or jagged strokes on the tile. I let it dry and did another coat of Mod Podge. 

After letting the second coat dry, I went outside and sprayed a clear coat of spray paint on it, for an added shine, and to protect the comic a little bit more. Here's the finished product, and I will be sure to share my other tiles once I have decided what to decoupage on them!

Rock Mushrooms!

This is a super cute, easy way to liven up your yard or planter. I found two long skinny rocks to use as the bottom, and two round "mushroom top" shaped rocks for the top. You can paint these mushrooms any color, red, green, yellow, purple, really any color would be cute. I used about three coats on the top rock before painting the spots, and two on the bottom. I hot glued the rocks together, and there ya go little mushrooms!

Old Album Cover Repurposed.

I found an old album at a thrift store for .50 cents, since I use albums for multiple projects, and I liked the album cover it was a pretty good score! I will post the photos below, after explaining what I did. I cut out the part of the album cover I liked, using scissors for the big cuts and an X-acto knife for the smaller cuts. I then took the back side of the album cover and painted it with acrylic paint. Then I used my Homemade Mod Podge, painted it on the back album cover, laid the cut out down and used the Homemade Mod Podge on top of the cut out. I know it still needs something else, and I have a few ideas, but until I'm certain as to what will make it a "finished product" I'm just going to keep it like this. I think it turned out rather well, and I already have an empty easel to display it on.

Three Cheese Chicken Penne.

I have been trying to figure out and master Applebee's 3 Cheese Chicken Penne recipe (or close to it anyway). I have looked at recipes for all sorts of penne. After a few tweaks and a few attempts, I think I've finally figured it out. I made it last night for dinner and it was awesome!

Three Cheese Chicken Penne

2 chicken breasts

1/3 cup Italian salad dressing

3 cups penne pasta

15 ounces alfredo sauce

8 ounces Italian cheese , shredded (Mozzarella, Parmesan, Provolone) (I was low on mozzarella so I used some Mexican Style shredded cheese, and it worked well!)

4 tomatoes

1 teaspoon basil

2 -3 garlic cloves

6 tablespoons olive oil

1. Chop the chicken and marinade in Italian dressing for at least 30 minutes
2. Chop tomatoes, and add in a bowl with the oil, garlic and basil to make bruschetta. Set aside.
3. Boil penne until cooked.
4. Grill or broil the chicken. (I've grilled and George Foreman grilled them)
5. Drain water, then pour the alfredo sauce on top of the penne. (I normally heat up the sauce in a separate pan and add a little garlic to mine, but I love garlic!)
6. Layer on the bruschetta.
7. Add the layer of chicken.
8. Top it with the cheese. (Put a lid on the pot to let the cheese melt a bit or serve it on individual bowls and microwave it)
9. Serve with some garlic bread.

A Quick Look at Spray Paint Art.

My Husband, as I have said before has been learning the art of spray paint. He was kind enough to allow me to film him during one of his latest projects. It's pretty simple to make, especially after a few practice runs. We've given them as gifts to a few people, and everyone really loves them.  We already have a collection of spray paints, but if you're just starting out or would like to try it 5 different colors is a good start. You will definitely need black and white, the rest is up to your own imagination.

In a previous post I went over the basics on how to make a stencil for spray paint art. Click here see the How To on stencil making. Also credit goes to Brandon McConnell whose DVD's have taught Jason several techniques as well has Step by Step directions for each painting in his videos.