Pinterest Consumer Crafts Back-to-School Craft Challenge

I'm hoping to win a prize in the Consumer Crafts Back-to-School Pinterest Challenge.

I could use your help by you repinning my project with this link. Please, Please, Pretty Please :)

For this challenge I repurposed a cereal box to make the pencil box. I covered the base with White Dot decorative tape from Tapeswell. I used Garden Green cardstock from Stampin' Up! to create the lid. The measuring tape twill ribbon came from my stash. Finally I topped it off the digital apple image that I colored with Copic markers. For the coordinating bag  I used chalk to hand write the sentiment on black cardstock. It will smudge just like a real blackboard. So fun! The image of the teacher and children in the background came from the blog Just Something I Made by Cathe Holden.

I'm also sharing this with Tatertots and Jello, DYSU Challenge Blog, Fussy and Fancy, Frosted Designs, Stamp Man, QKR Stampede, Cas-ual Fridays, A Day For Daisies and Inspire Me Fridays.

7 Things I Love About Our Garage Makeover

These are 7 things I love about our garage makeover.
#1 I love that we painted the garage walls a nice shade of tan. The block wall and floors were painted grey. It's such a nice clean space! No more icky spiderwebs and dead bugs and grime.

#2 I love that we hung cabinets. Everything has a proper home.

# 3 I love that we have a refrigerator in the garage! During the holidays this will be very handy! Chad hooked up the water to the refrigerator. Now when we are all hot and dirty from yard work we won't be dragging dirt inside to get a glass of ice water. YAY!

#4 I love the peg board! The screwdrivers, hammers and tape measures are right by the door.

#5 Chad hooked up a computer and a stereo system. We can enjoy music from his iTunes library while working in the garage. The computer monitor sits on top of the refrigerator, the stereo and speakers on top the cabinets. Easy to control with remotes :) Plus I can surf the web!

#6 The lawn mower and Parker's bike can fit in between the two garage doors. It's so organized we can both park in the garage!
#7 Chad installed a keypad outside the garage. Now when we are outside we can put the code in to open the garage doors without needing the remotes that stay inside our vehicles.

I'm sharing this with Tatertots and Jello.

Backyard Makeover

This picture was actually used in marketing our backyard when the house was for sale.

This view gives a better idea of all the weeds, rocks, as well as some of the holes from the renters dogs. Look at those poor Japanese Maple trees. They were even chewed on. The one on the far left did not make it.

Every part of the deck had been chewed on.

The rails.

The boards.

Even the hand rails.

So we ripped out the deck and had a cement patio poured. If you look closely at the bricks you can see some of the dog hair we had to scrape off after the deck was torn down. Yuck!

I talked Chad into building a fireplace. YAY!

He laid the pavers correctly and poured concrete around them to make it feel like a rug in front of the fireplace.  If you notice the fence was grey, warped, dingy and only fenced half the yard!?!

There is a huge open field behind our house and I hope it stays that way forever!

Here's a picture of the landscaping we've started. It was so great to see one of the Japanese Maple pull through. I intend to fill this bed with more monkey grass. I'd love to find some lemon grass to help ward off pesky mosquitoes.

Stay tuned for pictures of the outdoor bar Chad built :)