Be Creative.

Fun Gifts, Do it Yourself Ideas, and other things I may have tried

[stefandmo]

Just made these…Brookies! Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Brownie combined in one. Happy Birthday to me! (2 days early)

[beacreative1]

Well hello there....Reblogging from my primary blog. Made these today, super easy and delish!

Just take brownie mix & store bought cookie dough & combine! Bake for 20 or so minutes on 350.

[shebakesetc]

Continuing the weekend’s theme of “even ugly bread tastes good”, I present my semolina sourdough loaves. Ha! Side explosions and under proofing galore. I love learning lessons… and getting to eat them.

[beacreative1]

Melissa and her baking tales. They make me hungry. I applaud her ability to still look fabulous while surrounded by carbs.

[beacreative1]

Cheap, easy wall decor. Take an old show box lid and cover with fabric or wrapping paper...so cute and cheaper than canvas!

[beacreative1]

If you can't find what you're looking for---make it yourself! I made the chandelier art using canvas, tissue paper with inscriptions and a chandelier decal. I also made the far left picture using a plastic see through scroll design that I got in the scrapbook department in Michaels, canvas, and paint.

[beacreative1]

Made my own vase/candle holder.

This was really simple and took about 5 minutes to do...and cheap!

What you need:

- Glass vase or any kind of glass container with a round/square shape. I bought this one at the dollar store

- Mod Podge

- A photo....anything you really like. I choose black and white but you can do something in color. I used my favorite thing- trees branches!

- Vellum Paper

Print your photo onto the Vellum paper. Mod Podge the glass and cover the glass with the photo. Then Mod Podge the seams so they dont come apart. Stick some flowers or even a tea light into the glass and you're done!

[beacreative1]

New apartment...going for an antique modern vibe. Work in progress

[beacreative1]

Styrofoam squares covered in scrapbook paper! Simple and cheap wall art.

[beacreative1]

Completely redid the closet myself in my new apartment.

Old closet had some sort of horrible homemade organizer that was lopsided and broken. It also had lots of dead space and no room to hang anything. They also built the organizer and then spray painted the wood - resulting in ruining the hardwood floors.

So...I knocked it out, spackled & sanded the walls, repainted and put in new shelving & rods. I even got all the paint off the floor.

New closet is BIGGER and more functional. Total Cost: Less than $75

[beacreative1]

I bought this bedding for my bedroom in my new apt. but I can’t envision how to decorate the walls….should have just stuck with my rustic tree branch vision! I'm creatively stumped :(

[beacreative1]

For the jet setter....a travel wall. Pick up a postcard in a visited city and frame it. Add it to your wall collection with a mix of fun frames. Simple and cheap wall decor!

[beacreative1]

I like this idea...I may have to try it since I have an obsession with tree branches.

[beacreative1]

Instagam Photos to Canvas for Display

I found this idea online and will be trying it soon because I have all the essential materials : Pictures, Mod Podge, and Canvas.

I have a ton of instagram photos of - landscapes, my dogs, food, etc. and I also found this app called PostalPix where you can upload those instagram photos, select a size and get them mailed to you. If you select 4X4 size prints you can display up to 9 pictures on a 12x12 canvas.

Mod Podge your photos to the canvas and then Mod Podge over those photos to seal them to the canvas...Easy, simple and cheap!

Example below.

[beacreative1]

I want my bedroom to look like this...totally buying a chandelier.

[beacreative1]

Turkey Meatloaf with Garlic Asiago Cheese Gravy & Roasted Broccolli

In addition to the cupcakes I made tonight, I also made this for dinner and it was awesome. I worked from home today...in front of the TV glued to the Food Network and Oprah's network. Happen to catch a really old Rachel Ray episode where she made this. I immediately went to the store to pick up the ingredients to make it because it looked so good on TV. Pretty simple, everything cooks together and times out perfectly although gathering all the ingredients was a little pricey, about $30.

The gravy is fantastic but the roasted broccoli was my favorite part. I added the potatoes and baked them around the meatloaf.

Great dish..completely delicious and easy to do. Any dish with roasted garlic as an ingredient can't be bad! Try it yourself.

[beacreative1]

Chocolate Cupcakes Filled with Oreo Buttercream

They look much more professional than my photo...I even used a pastry bag to fill them. Once I made the  chocolate cupcakes (From the box...I cheated), I cored them to fill with the oreo filling.

 Buttercream included:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp. heavy cream

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups crumbled Oreos

Using an electric mixer, mix the butter and add 1 cup of powder at a time. Once all mixed, add in heavy cream and vanilla extract. Hand mix in the oreo crumbs.

You can probably just frost them (and it would be easier because the oreos get stuck in the pastry bag tip alot) but I wanted them to look pretty. Garnish with a half an oreo.

[readcremedelacreme-blog]

It’s the new year - Whether it be sequins, glitter, or a metallic - add a little sparkle to  your wardrobe.

From the top:

Marc Jacobs Pouch – Gold; Available from Target.

I.N.C. Lilly Platform Pumps - Available in Blue or for the less Bold,  Nude

J.Crew  Sparkle Dress - Simple & Fun

Tracy Reese Sequined Top - another find from the Target/Neiman Marcus collection

Violent Lips Glitter Lip Tattoo

Tory Burch Brandy Skirt

Sequin Manicure Set

[beacreative1]

Gift ideas for a January birthday? Or just a gift to yourself!

[beacreative1]

Inspirational  Wall Art: Do it Yourself for Half the Cost

I found this idea on Pintrest..Although the directions were confusing/not entirely correct. After suffering through 1 that was rather painful print (Never, Never Give Up) I took my lessons learned and revised the idea and the next 2 took half the time of the first one.

What you need: (can be purchased at Michael's)

Canvas - Can be pricey so the best bet is to buy it in a pack, I purchased a pack of 7 for $19.99

Vinyl Letters (with sticky backs)- $5.99/per pack

Acrylic Paint - $1-$1.99 per color (I like the Martha Stewart colors, about 40% more but much softer colors)

Mod Podge - About $8 but you can use this for almost any do it yourself project - a must have

Sponge Brushes - $.49 cents

Old Magazines, Newspapers

Step 1- Setting your Canvas: Look through old magazines & Newspapers and cut out pictures, words OR take a page whole to use as your background. Paint on the mod podge to the canvas to stick on the paper cut outs. Wait 5 minutes and then put a layer of Mod Podge over the backdrop, you do this so when you peel the lettering off it doesn't take the paper with it.

Step 2 - Phrase: Select a phrase you would like to have on your wall. I would suggest fewer than 6 words, you don't want to clutter it...and sticking letters is a pain!  Once you have your phrase selected, arrange the letters in desired format.

Step 3 - Paint: Use your selected acrylic paint color and paint over the ENTIRE canvas. You definately want some of your background to pull through so don't go very heavy. If you do find you painted it a little thick, grab some sandpaper and rough it up a bit (when it's dry).  Once it's painted, let it dry about 1 hour.

Step 4-  Finish: Peel off the letters carefully & then Mod Podge over the entire canvas to seal.

Pretty simple, cheap (once you have all  your materials) and customizable! Some other ideas you can use would be to take  song lyrics and use old sheet music as the backdrop or grab a fun wrapping paper for your backdrop. I choose inspirational phrases to go into my office.

See the original Idea here. Definately follow my instructions though...