Keeping busy with craft projects!

Over this past year Eric has been kept really busy with school, group projects, and intramural sports so I've had a LOT of time by myself. After watching every good movie on the netflix's instant que (and for those of you who don't have netflixs, there is a limited selection of "good" movies on the instant que) I had to find something that kept me busy when I didn't have school work to do. This is how I found my love for crafting. Of course, I have always admired those with the "crafting" ability and homemade items, but never really attempted to do much myself because 1st, my creativity level is well below average and 2nd; whenever I did try some kind of craft it turned out less than perfect. Anyway, I decided to give it a try after finding some truly inspirational craft blogs (hence, giving me the craft ideas...and instructions included!) and now it has become a craze of mine, especially while trying to pass the time alone.

One of mine and Eric's goals for the new year is to stick to a budget as we try to save everything we can before we have a to fork over an arm and a leg to deliver Mia (which will be a "well worth it" investment, but a pricey investment none the less!) So to stick to our budget I have been searching for cheap crafts that can be done for less than $5.

The first craft I found were these temple blocks from Lil' Luna blog. She had her husband antique a ton of different temple pictures people would send her and posted them back up in high resolution for others to use. I made one for my sister-in-law for her birthday. I printed the picture (8x10) at costco and went to Home Depot to get scrap wood (they cut 7 11x9 inch blocks for me for free and I got all of them for $2!) This would be a great and easy gift for newlyweds also!
The next project I did was for a friend who just had a baby boy and said she was having trouble finding a church outfit for him. I have always wanted to try the tie applique onesie so this was the perfect chance to try one. While looking for ideas online I also got the idea to add a corduroy vest over the tie as well. It turned out super cute and was really easy and cheap to make! I found a tutorial for the tie applique on the blog Crap I've Made. Also, as since my classes haven't really picked up yet, I decided to deep clean and organize a room in our apartment each week in preparation for Mia and needing some extra space to store all the stuff for Mia. Last weekend I did our bedroom, which was neglected since we moved in. I reorganized our closets , rearranged the bed and dressers (with Eric's help of course) and finally hung up a shelf and pictures I bought for our bedroom almost a year ago. The final product looks great and who doesn't like falling asleep in a clean, organized room! The next room on my list is our guest room which will be Mia's room.