Mariah's Creations

Bye Bye Frumpy Friday {2}

2012-02-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

I did really good this week at getting dressed and doing hair/makeup most days!! I didn't get a pic of my outfit on Sunday, but it was cute!! My outfit yesterday wasn't quite picture quality, so I didn't take a pic of it either!! But here are the pictures of the rest of my outfits!!

Saturday: I went to the temple, so I dressed up a little. {this pic was taken at the end of the day, so my hair was frizzy by then!}

Monday: Just stayed home! This was a comfy and cute outfit!

Tuesday: Went to the temple again with the youth this time! So I'm in a dress again! {I took this pic using the timer on my camera, which is why I chopped my head off!!}

Wednesday: Bunco night!! Always gives me an excuse to wear something cute!!

Friday: Play date with a friend!! Again a comfy and cute outfit! {another headless pic!!}

{I've gotta get a new pose!!}

Since I had a baby 3 months ago, my outfits all either include layers or flowy shirts to hide the remaining pudge!!

Do you like my necklace? Find out how to create this look here.

Have a great weekend!!

~mariah~

Thrifty Finds Thursday!

2012-02-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

**Note** I am trying to get organized, so I've decided to set specific posts for specific days!

I have been to the D.I. a couple of times in the past little while, so I thought that I would share my A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. finds!!

Attachments for the Wii

A cute headboard {Got big plans for this, and they don't have anything to do with a bed!!}

Stylish Size 13 boots for my sister {she can N.E.V.E.R. find cute shoes in her size!}

A sturdy tote

3 matching chip/dip serving trays

Under the bed canvas storage tote

A fancy frame

A cute vase

A cute wallet

3 knitting looms {is that what they are called?}

3 storage baskets

A wall hook thing to hang all my purses on!

Cute "spring" sign

Storage caddy

Christmas cookie cutters

And my favorite find......

This A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. hutch!!! It just needs a dresser to sit on top of!

Have you found any great deals at the thrift stores lately? Please share!!

Have a fabulous day!!

~mariah~

Come and See Me

2012-02-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I have the awesome privilege of guest blogging over at Through the Eyes of the Mrs. today!!! I am really excited to be visiting her blog, so come and see me over there today!!

~mariah~

Guest Blogger: Kristen Wells

2012-02-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

Hello!! I hope you are all having a great day today!! I am so happy to have a guest blogger here on Mariah's Creations!!

Kristin Wells is a recent college graduate from The University of Georgia and an aspiring writer. She wants to make a difference in people's lives through her writing. Kristin also likes competitive cycling, running, and traveling as much as possible. She is a regular contributor on http://curiousmindmusings.blogspot.com/ so you can read more of her articles there!!

M3: DIY activities: Occupying your time and having fun

Being a military wife can be extremely rewarding. Naturally, we’re proud of our men, and we’re proud of what they do. But long deployments can be difficult. Combined with the worry and fear can eat away at your soul. The last thing husbands need is to worry about our sanity, so keeping in good spirits is truly the greatest gift we can give them. One way to keep yourself busy and keep your mind on other things is to tackle some home improvement projects while your husband is deployed.

Fabric Wallpaper

Even if you live in base housing, you can still decorate and bring some texture to your living space. Wallpaper can be difficult to take down before your next move, but fabric is a breeze to remove. There are two ways you can add fabric to the walls. Heavier fabric can be applied by priming the walls and then applying the fabric using wallpaper paste. Lighter weight fabrics can be put up by soaking them in liquid starch, wringing them out and then smoothing them onto the wall.

Refinishing Furniture

Scan the want ads for furniture that’s selling cheap but needs some tender loving care. You can breathe new life into old dressers, tables and chairs by stripping off the finish and applying a fresh coat of paint or stain. It can be as simple as wiping a few coats of stain on with a rag, letting it dry, and putting it back together. The process can be extremely therapeutic, and you will have a new piece of furniture that can travel with you when it’s time to move again.

Quilting

Creating quilts from scratch is not as hard as you might think, especially since there are countless books available to help you get started. You can sew the quilts by hand or with a machine. Either way, you will enjoy a therapeutic hobby and a family heirloom when it’s finished. Make the quilts for yourself, as a gift for your husband or as gifts for other family members.

There are many hobbies and activities you can take up to help get your mind focused on positive things. Activities like these have been used time and time when dealing with diseases like Pleural Mesothelioma to get them through the tough times. When your husband calls to check on you, he will be able to hear that you are okay, healthy and staying busy. While you miss each other terribly, he won’t have to worry as much about how you are handling the separation. This simple gift will allow him to keep his mind focused on the job, and it will help you both get through this difficult time.

Hope you enjoyed this article!! Have a wonderful day!

~mariah~

Terrific Tuesday {1}

2012-01-31T12:41:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! I L.O.V.E. linky parties, so I have decided to create one on my blog!! I am so excited, and hope that I get some link-ups!! Hope you have a Terrific Tuesday!!!

Please grab a button and link back here! Thanks!~mariah~

Up To My Neck In Craft Supplies

2012-01-30T20:22:00.000-08:00

My mom has a T.O.N. of craft supplies that she has collected over the years. Unfortunately they haven't been organized, and over the years other stuff has cluttered her craft area as well. So this past weekend I have been helping her get it sorted through and organized. Thankfully my dad got my mom about 18 clear totes for Christmas!! So we are getting rid of all of the cardboard boxes!! It is a big project that will probably take a few months to completely finish, but we have already made huge progress!!

Here are some before pictures of the mess.

I will post some progress pictures soon!! We have already filled 6-8 boxes with garbage and 3-4 boxes with stuff to donate to the D.I.!!! Hooray for purging!!!

Bye-Bye Frumpy Friday {1}

2012-01-27T23:17:00.000-08:00

Being a stay-at-home mom can sometimes make it easy to fall into the habit of being a little "frumpy". SO, to help with this little problem I have, I've decided to start posting pictures of my outfits for the week. {I got this idea from Jess at Craftiness Is Not Optional} I am going to post on Fridays and call it "Bye-Bye Frumpy Fridays!!" What do you think? Kind of cheesy?

I just have one picture for this post, it is my outfit from today! And I think my outfit is cute, but I was still a little frumpy, since I just pulled my hair back, didn't put on makeup, and wore my glasses! Oh well, its only day one, right?!!

My little sister just went through her clothes, and gave me a bunch of things she was getting rid of, so this whole outfit came from her!! EXCEPT for the shoes, I found those at the D.I. today!! Hooray!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!! I plan on doing some major organizing at my mom's house!!

Girls Night Out!

2012-01-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

What do you get when you put 9 A.W.E.S.O.M.E. army ladies together in one place?

Answer: One Heck of a Good Time!!!!!

Last night I went out to dinner with eight other fabulous ladies whose hubbies are in the same unit as mine! We ate yummy food, and had great conversation! It was just what I needed, after having a rough day with my kiddos!! Thanks ladies for a great time!

Wall Easel

2012-01-24T12:28:00.000-08:00

I wanted to get my son an art easel for Christmas, but we didn't have room for one:( So as I was searching through the toys on amazon.com, I found this awesome easel that hangs on the wall!

It was perfect! {at least the concept was perfect!} I didn't want to spend $50 on it though {I'm too ~~cheap~~ thrifty for that!} and I wasn't in love with the colors. So I was on the hunt for a picture frame that I could turn into a wall easel.

I found one at the D.I. for $3, so I just gave it a couple coats of red paint and then painted a piece of wood with chalkboard paint to fit on the inside of the frame. We used a wooden towel rod to hold the roll of paper, and VOILA, we had our very own wall easel! I still want to add some straps across the top and bottom with velcro to hold the paper in place.

{Yikes, I really should have wiped off the sawdust before taking these pics}

At the end of our hallway there is a little nook for the entrance to the cellar. {we rarely use it} We decided that it would be a perfect spot to hang the easel and make a great little art corner! I plan on sprucing it up some more with a fun vinyl wall saying or something above the easel.

I also found this canvas organizer at the D.I. which is perfect for holding all of the art supplies.

Then because we will have lots of artwork, I want to make a display for all of it in the hall. I found this idea on pinterest and L.O.V.E. it! {it's the blog A Little of This--A Little of That, click on the picture to go to their blog} I want to do something similar!

Stay tuned for what I come up with, & have a G.R.E.A.T. day!

Linking up to these parties!

Inspired by Dream Digital Designs

2012-01-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

Do you like my new blog design? I was trying to make a new title banner for my blog, and did a google search for "free digital scrapbooking papers". Of course a ton of things came up, but this lovely pack from Dream Digital caught my eye!

See that aqua one? Yep, that is the one that I loved and wanted to use for my banner! So I emailed the lovely Silvia {mastermind of Dream Digital} and asked if I could use her paper for my blog. She willingly said yes, and I went to work creating the masterpiece{if I do say so myself!} that is my new blog design!

Come to find out, Silvia has an Etsy shop {Dream Digital Download} filled full of A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. digital downloads and prints. Check out her shop and blog, and give her some love from mariah's creations!

Here are some of my favorite things in her shop:

Heart shaped maps...L.O.V.E. it! {Customizeable, is that a word?}

Paris print on a dictionary sheet.

Look at these A.W.E.S.O.M.E. downloads!

Very True! {Can you tell that one of my dreams is to go to Paris?!!}

I will definitely be ordering this!! It even has the right initial! {Also customizeable}

I want this for my daughter's room!

Love these fun and bright vintage gift tags!

There are many many other amazing things in Silvia's shop, so go check it out! You won't regret that you did!

Have a fabulous day!

Valentine's Day Decor!

2012-01-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

Have you just been D.Y.I.N.G. to see what I use my pinwheels for? I bet so!! Well, I used them on a little Valentine's Day bunting for my mantel!!

I made the bunting with felt that I stitched around with embroidery floss, and binding tape folded over the top and stitched with a zigzag stitch. Then I just used some hot glue to attach the pinwheels! I also did add little pompoms to the center of the pinwheels.

I also thought that I would share another Valentine's Day craft that I made last year, my "love is all you need" wreath. I saw this on a blog, and decided to try it.{I have N.O. C.L.U.E. which blog I saw it on, so if it was yours, let me know so that I can give you some credit!}

I serves as the focal point for my Valentine's Day mantel! I love it!!! {I have more to add to finish up the mantel, including replacing my New Year's printable with a more appropriate one, but I thought that I'd give you a little sneak peek!}

Linking up to:

Making Pinwheels {Tutorial}

2012-01-18T00:08:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! I have been getting excited to decorate for Valentine's Day, and thought that I would share a fun and easy little project with you!

How to make a pinwheel!! {This was my first attempt at making pinwheels, and I just looked at some pictures and tried to duplicate!}

First I found some fun "love-y" scrapbooking paper and cut it into 6" squares. {of course, any size squares will do!}

Then I drew a straight line from corner to corner, using a ruler. This gave me the guide lines to cut, and also found the center of the square.

Next, cut along the lines, stopping about an inch from the center on each line.

I decided to use double stick tape to create the pinwheel shape. So just put a small piece directly in the center of the square.

Now, pick a corner and fold it in to the center, sticking it to the tape.

Then do the opposite corner.

Then add another small piece of tape to the center and fold the last two corners into the middle.

{Note: make sure that you fold in the same side of the corner on all four sides. Does that make sense?}

And now you have a cute little pinwheel!! Of course its fun to embellish the center, and pin it to something so that it will spin!

The double stick tape worked great for the regular weight paper, but for a thicker paper {like the sparkly one I used} hot glue worked best.

I did have a couple of failures :( This paper was just too thick, even for hot glue. Not to mention the fact that the bar code was showing. I also folded the wrong sides of the paper in on the one on the left, so the pinwheel was going the wrong direction. Oh well, I have big plans for this paper now {they are just different plans!}

Here are the pretty finished products, Cute Valentine's Day Pinwheels!!

You will have to come back to see what I am doing with my pinwheels!

Hope you enjoyed my first attempt at a tutorial! Have a great day!! {actually it should be night, since it is currently 1:00 am!}

Linking up to:

S.A.D.

2012-01-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

Today was R.E.A.L.L.Y. hard. I have really been trying to be strong, but today I allowed myself to cry{let's be honest, I've cried about this many times} I will let the pictures tell the story.

S.A.D.

The End.

Thrifty Finds

2012-01-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you've noticed a trend in my posts, but I L.O.V.E. to shop at thrift stores!! Our local thrift store is the D.I. {Deseret Industries}, and I am adDIcted! I can spend hours in there if I'm not careful! So I decided to start posting regularly about my thrifty finds, since I go so often!

Here is what I found yesterday:

A shower organizer.

Some stamps.

2 wood signs. {ready for a cute saying!}

A brand new pair of tights.

A brand new "garden pouch". {Yay for organized tools!!}

A small organizer for office supplies. {paperclips, thumbtacks, etc}

2 matching baskets. {More organization!!}

A set of 3 small stacking boxes.

A nice crocheted afghan for my bed.

AND....

A brand new "snake skin" throw pillow!!!

All of this for a whopping $17.50!!!

Oh yeah! I love to find good deals!

Does anyone else love to thrift shop as much as I do? What great finds have you found lately?

Have a fabulous day!!

Linking up to:

Out With the Old, In With the New

2012-01-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

Another update we made to the house was replacing the light fixture in our dining area. The old light was a big box fluorescent thing, and it was U.G.L.Y. We still have an identical one in our kitchen. {hopefully it will be replaced sooner than later}

I found this little beauty at D.I. for a whopping $4!!

Granted it was missing one of the glass shades, AND it was a very shiny bronze color--YuCk. But a couple of coats of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint, some new fabric lamp shades from Lowe's, and we have a darling "new" light that I absolutely A.D.O.R.E.!!

The old light wasn't placed over our table, so I just hung the end of the chain on a hook which was over a couple of feet. Now we have a nice soft glow during our meals instead of the harsh light from the fluorescent.

Another "issue" that I had to overcome was the lamp shades. The metal piece inside the shade that hooks onto the light bulb was upside down for the way that I needed them to be :(

BUT...after a few moments of despair, {Light. Bulb.} I figured out that I could just open the wire with pliers and slide it over the light bulb.

Linking up to:

Updates

2012-01-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

We have been renting our cute little house for 2 1/2 years now, and we have made a T.O.N. of changes in that time. Our "landlords" are awesome, and let us do pretty much whatever we want to the house. Sometimes I forget that it isn't actually OUR house!

When we first moved in, there was wall paper in E.V.E.R.Y. room. It took us no time at all to start ridding the house of wall paper, and I am happy to say that the only room that has wall paper still in it is the laundry room. (But I have big plans to change that this year!)

In the livingroom we have a fireplace, but when we moved in, it had an outdated wood burning stove thing, that was so not my style. Also the brick around the fireplace goes all the way up to the ceiling (which I love) but there wasn't a mantel, so it was impossible to really decorate in any way. But...last fall we got a different fireplace insert(for $40 off of ksl...Oh yeah!) and a mantel(also off of ksl for $30...Woohoo!!)
Now we have a great focal point in our living room that I absolutely Love!

SIDE NOTE: one of my goals for this year is to be better at taking "before" pictures! This is the best that I got.

And the After!

L.O.V.E.

Have a happy Tuesday!

Linking up to:

A New Look

2012-01-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

So you can probably tell, but I'm working on a new look for Mariah's Creations! It is a work in progress, but hopefully in then next little bit, I will be able to figure out how to get the look I really want! I L.O.V.E. turquoise, and want a light but still fun look. Pretty much I want it to be like a breath of fresh air!!!! We will see if I can get there!

Question.....How do you add a picture or graphics to the blog title in the header? Anyone know?

Family Pictures

2012-01-09T06:41:00.000-08:00

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was great! We decided that it was about time for an updated family picture, so on Saturday my fabulous sister, Heidi, came out and set up a little "photo shoot" in our dining area! With three kiddos it can be "fun" to try and get a good picture, but after LOTS of attempts, some bribing, a little wrestling, and begging we finally did get one that was satifactory!

Don't you just L.O.V.E. my daughter's cheesy grin!!

Is anyone else crazy enough to do family pictures on your own? It definitely can be a bit stressful, but we always manage to get at least one good shot! Plus, we save money on hiring a photographer!! So its a win win! What do you think? I would love to hear any tips you might have!

More Bench Photos

2012-01-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

As I was going through my pictures looking for the bathroom ones, I found my original "after" pics of the porch bench! I couldn't find them when I wrote about it, so I just hurried and snapped one, but it didn't turn out very good! So here are a few more for your viewing pleasure! :)

I had a cute little helper with the painting!

Love the little pop of red with the turquoise!

Linked to:

Our Biggest Project of 2011

2012-01-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

Other than bringing this little cutie into the world in October,

our biggest project of 2011 was our bathroom redo. It just started out with us ripping out the wallpaper so that we could paint. I decided to have my hubby take the mirror down so that I didn't have to paint around it. What we found behind the mirror was a hole in the wall where a medicine cabinet had once been. That wouldn't be too hard to fix, but inside the whole we could see that there was quite a bit of mold between the walls. :( YUCK. So what was just going to be a new paint color, turned into a complete remodel of the bathroom. This is the best before picture that I could find, it is from before we even put in the shower!

BUT, I do have some in the process pictures!

What a big mess! We ended up tearing all of the drywall off of two walls, bleached and primed the studs and then put up new drywall. We also took out the hall "closet" that took up a big chunk of the bathroom, and built new hall storage cabinets at the end of the hall in unused space! A much better solution in my opinion!

Cosmetically we made a lot of changes as well. We put in a new vanity, a new light fixture, a new mirror, new paint, (of course!) and new flooring.

Here are the first "after" photos:

I found this A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. fabric and knew that it would be perfect for a shower curtain. And with it a new color scheme for the bathroom was born! I love the contrast of the black and green.

And now we have a beautiful bathroom!

Have a fabulous day!

I linked up to:

Discovering Picnik

2012-01-05T09:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, I don't know if I've been in a cave or what, but I'm just barely discovering the amazing possibilities for my pictures with picnik.com! I signed up for their free account, and played around with editing one of my pictures of the play kitchen. I may have went a little overboard, but I was just messing around! Here is what I came up with!

I am so excited to start editing my pictures so that they look better! I also need to learn a lot about my camera so that I can improve the quality of my photos! But it will eventually come, little by little as I learn new tricks!

My Daughter's New Kitchen

2012-01-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

Sometime in the months before Christmas I came upon an amazing little play kitchen made from a nightstand over at SAS Interiors. Immediately I knew that I MUST make one for my little girl for Christmas. It took me F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to find a nightstand from the thrift store that would work (isn't that how it always goes, you can find a bazillion of something until you start to look for it specifically) but finally I succeeded! I found the perfect little black nightstand that had a shelf and one drawer! So I snatched it up and started on my own little kitchen.

Let me backtrack for a moment, I have seen several DIY play kitchens around on different blogs, but our house is quite small, and so we don't have much room for "BIG" toys. So when I saw this idea I knew that it was a perfect fit for our tiny little house, and our especially tiny little bedrooms! (unfortunately we don't have a playroom)

Unfortunately I was a slacker and didn't take any before or during photos, so all you get is the after...oops sorry! But I will tell you how I made it.

First I measured a hole for the sink using the bowl that would be the sink(another DI find), and had my mom cut it out for me. (I am still very much a beginner with power tools, and prefer to stick with straight cuts!!)

Then I had to decide how tall I wanted the "wall" on the back to be. I just used wood from a pallet that we tore apart last summer, cut them to size( I did those cuts on our radial arm saw!!) and spaced them as evenly as I could across the back. I had my dad help me screw them to the back, and then I painted them. I used some of the leftover paint from my bench project and mixed it with some white paint to create that lovely teal color.

I traced a small plate and a roll of duct tape for the burners, and then painted them with some silver craft paint. Then I used a sharpie and free-handed the coils. They are by no means perfect, but luckily my two-year-old doesn't care! I used some wooden knobs that came off an old dresser, painted silver for the stove knobs and sink controls.

The faucet was the find of the day!! My mom and I were at the Home Depot searching for some kind of pvc connector thing that would work for a faucet. I was in the plumbing isle just trying to put pieces together to make something work, and my mom decided to ask one of the workers if they had any ideas for a faucet for a play kitchen. The worker took her back to the kitchen display area and gave her a faucet that must have came off of one of the displays or something....for FREE!!! Yay! It was perfect, I just put it on a dowel that we already had to make it the right height and it was good to go!!

I painted the edges of the drawer to make it look like an oven, and added a bigger handle to the top. The backsplash was made from a leftover piece of baseboard from our kitchen with a piece of scrapbooking paper mod podged to the front. The shelf was made from the same pallet wood, and attached with "L" brackets. A cutie little curtain on a dowel made perfect storage on the shelf. I added a towel rack to the side, and added hooks underneath the shelf to hold accessories.

So, what do you think? I love, and so does my daughter and son!!

Linking up to:

2012 IS the Year!!!

2012-01-04T06:19:00.000-08:00

This is going to be the year that I really focus on this blog. So many times I think about amazing blog posts, and get them all figured out in my head, but then don't ever take the time to actually sit down and write it. :( But this year will be different. I am determined to follow through with all of my ideas, and actually get them published to this blog. So that being said, I guess that a follow up picture is due for my lovely porch bench!! (Only 8 months late! Sorry if you've been waiting in anticipation!!!)

Ta Da!! What do you think? I absolutely LOVE the bright pop of color on my porch.

I think the porch needs a new coat of paint this summer!

Well have a great day! I will be back soon! (I promise!)

My Next Big Project

2011-05-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's not THAT big, but I am so excited about it! Last summer I found this bench at the D.I., and knew that it would be perfect for our side porch. Well, it has sat on my porch just begging to be redone, and now it is finally time! I am going to sand it down and give it a nice fresh coat of paint in a fun color! You will have to wait and see what the finished result is to see what color I'm thinking!!

Flowers

2011-05-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

I made some pretty fabric flowers myself last week. My hubby and I were going to the Military Ball, and my dress needed a little something to make it extra special, so I decided to go with some pretty flowers!

I made three different styles of flower. For the large flower I cut out lots of circles, and then folded them in half or in thirds to make it look like lots of petals. Then I added some black netting to make it unique, and finished it off with a pretty black bead and some pearls.

For the medium flower I cut a long strip of fabric and then twisted it and wrapped it around to form the flower. Then I cut two little black circles and burned the edges to make it ruffle a bit for the center and finished it with three pearls.

For the small flower I cut several circular shapes and burned the edges, then layered them and finished it with three little black beads and a pearl. All in all they were really easy and fun to make.

So what do you think? Did they add that extra pizazz to my dress that I was looking for?

My Sister's Got Talent!

2011-04-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

Look at this GoRgEoUs necklace she made.

She came home for the weekend from Cedar City, and whipped this together in no time. Talent I tell ya! And isn't she just beautiful!

Here is a closeup of the white flower. The other pictures didn't show the detail very well.

Here is another beauty she made this weekend. Love it!

I LOVE all of the cute flowers that you see around these days. I must make me some stylin' necklaces like these soon! AND wouldn't these make great Mother's Day gifts!

Now you go and give it a try, and then come back and share what you have created!

Thrift Store Chest

2011-04-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I was shopping at the D.I., our local thrift store, and I found this lovely gem! I had been wanting some sort of storage for blankets in our living room, and this was perfect!

It looks like it was homemade, but it had some sticky foam on it, and didn't have a finish on it. So all we had to do was sand it down and stain it! (When I say 'we' I mean my hubby!)

I think it turned out quite nice, but what do you think? I think that I might still put a clear coat on it, but we will see!

Note: after looking at these pictures, I might still make it a little darker.

Changes!

2011-04-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm back and I'm excited for some changes that I am making to this blog. I will be making this a craft blog, showcasing much much more than just jewelry. I have taken a step back from making and selling jewelry, and will focus more on other kinds of crafts I'm making, thrift store finds, and other various DIY projects. I plan to post often with fun ideas that inspire my creativity (and hopefully yours too!)

Have a great day!

I'm Having a Giveaway!!

2009-11-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything, but I wanted to quickly let everyone know about my giveaway. I am featured on Dandy Giveaway's Blog and am giving the lucky winner $20 to my etsy shop!! So head on over to Dandy Giveaways to enter to win, but HURRY because it ends tomorrow night! Have a great day!
Here's the link: http://dandygiveaway.blogspot.com/2009/11/mariahs-creations.html

FREE!!

2009-10-02T17:28:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm having FREE shipping to anywhere in the world for the whole month of October!! So be sure to take a look at my etsy shop and get a jump on your Christmas shopping!

www.mariahscreations.etsy.com

Feature Friday!!

2009-10-02T14:21:00.001-07:00

So I've decided that I'm going to stick to doing features once a week, and since 'Feature Friday' just has a nice ring to it, Friday's will be the days that I do features!! That being said here are the shops that I'd like to share today.

First...Authentic Arts by Jenny Hoople

Her shop is another fabulous jewelry shop full of glamorous, colorful, natural jewelry. I've really been in the fall mood, and Jenny has several items that are great pieces for fall. Here is one of my favorites called "Sunset Necklace."

The next shop is...So Passe

This shop is filled with wonderful unique, retro, and one of a kind handmade and vintage accessories, clothing and other great items. These earrings are also very autumn-ish. They are called "Peacock Coin Earrings."

Next...Studio M.M.E.

What a cool shop this is!! It is full of Victorian-style pen and ink prints and photos. I love black and white photography, so the photos that Megan has taken with a 60-year-old Kodak Duaflex II are amazing to me!! I especially love this one, "Island Park", which goes right along with my 'Fall' theme today!And last for today...Fuzzington

This shop has some very cute fuzzy creatures made from pipe cleaners. I had trouble deciding which one to include because they are all so cute, but decided to stick with the theme!! So here is this adorable "Halloween Fuzzy Spider Tarantula Ring."

So that's it for today! Hope you are all having a fabulous fall so far!! Be sure to stop by and check out all of these great shops!

Feature!

2009-09-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a little while since I posted last. Man life gets crazy!! Well here are a few shops that I want to share with you today!

First is Stacey Leunes Creations!

Her shop is full of gorgeous handmade jewelry. One of my favorites is called "Dreamer."

The next shop is Chic Southern Comfort!

This shop is filled with of variety of great items from home decor to jewelry. One of my favorite items is this cute 3 piece purple polka dot set.

The last shop for today is Emma's Jewelry Box!

If you haven't figured it out already, this is another fabulous jewelry shop!! Here is just one of my favorites of her beautiful jewelry.

Be sure to take a minute and check out these three great shops, and have a fabulous day!!

My Newest Creations!

2009-09-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

So I saw a crocheted wire necklace at a local bead store a couple of weeks ago, and decided that I wanted to learn how to do it, so I did!! I have made a couple of items so far, and am really happy with how they turned out! Here are a couple of pics:

So what do you think?

Feature Time!!

2009-09-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

With it being a holiday weekend, I've decided to do a mega-feature including 6 shops again! So without further ado, I bring you....

#1~Kubera Cove

This great shop is full of amazing crystal clusters! And when I say 'amazing' I mean REALLY Amazing! There are so many really cool rocks to be found here, but this one is one of my favorites! Spectrolite Crystal Cluster!

#2~Sea Jewels

This is yet another fellow jewelry shop on etsy, and a great one at that!! She has beautiful pieces that I hope you love as much as I do! Here is a lovely necklace called "Earth and Sky Necklace."

#3~Muse Silk Paintings

Angel Ray has a talent that I didn't even realize existed until I saw her beautiful shop! Who knew that silk scarves could be hand painted? She has so many gorgeous designs that it is definitely hard to just pick one, but here is the one I want to share with you: "Merlot Symphony"

#4~Lazulibluecreations

This shop is full of beautiful and unique handmade women's clothing. This wonderful artist loves to make unique, feminine and flattering pieces, with a big focus on beautiful colors and funky vintage inspired prints. Here is one of my favorites from her shop called "Brown and Crimson Flower Print Skirt."

#5~Able Mabel

This is such a cute shop full of adorable things. They have things for babies, as well as adults that "find the fun in functional." One of my favorite items is called "Patchwork Blanket with Minky for Baby Boys." It is adorable!! I really want a girl version!!

#6~Knits Crochet and More

Wonderful knitted and crocheted items of all kinds!! I really love this "Olive Freeform Scarf." It looks so nice and cozy, but also has some great unique elements to it!!

Be sure to check out these six amazing shops to see their other wonderful items, and have a fabulous Labor Day Weekend!!

About My Openhouse!

2009-09-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

So I realized that I hadn't updated you all on how my openhouse went. So here's the update!!

I was very pleased with how it turned out. I didn't have many people come, BUT I had a 100% sale rate, so I can't complain about that!! Also I got a 4 custom orders to keep me busy!! So all in all I would say it was a successful first openhouse. Hopefully I will have many more to come!

Here are a couple of pictures of my display. They aren't the best pictures, but it gives you an idea of how I had everything set up.

I Won Again!!

2009-09-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

Man do I love giveaways, especially when I win!! I entered a giveaway from My Watercolor Dreams and won a free print of one of her original water color paintings. I chose "Laundry Day" because she makes laundry day seem like such a happy thing, and in my world it is NOT!! So I figured that I would hang it up in my laundry area to cheer me up when I am doing the dreaded chore of laundry!!

Check out this great shop for more fabulous water color paintings!!

I LOVE Trades!!

2009-09-01T11:02:00.001-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago I did my first trade with this amazing shop: Adorn

I traded her a necklace and bracelet set for these adorable bows for my baby girl!!

Pink Korker Bow

Little Lady in Red

Dark Pink Gerbera Daisy

I love these bows, and am so excited for my baby girl to be born so that I can use them!! Make sure you check out this shop for more cute, cute bows and things!!

SIX Great Etsy Shops!!

2009-08-31T15:36:00.001-07:00

So since I slacked on the features last week I figured I'd play catch up and do six in one post today!! The first shop for this mega-feature is...

The Sitting Tree!!

Elizabeth offers unique, high quality, handknit clothing for babies and adults. She has some very warm and cozy items in her shop, but one of my favorites is this amazing little hoodie for an infant. It has a zipper in the back!! How awesome is that! I don't think that I've ever seen a hoodie with a back zipper, but I love the idea! Plus this color is just so vibrant, how could you not like it? It is called "Blueberry Hoodie."

The next amazing shop for today is called......

The3Maries!!

This shop is full of great vintage items, as well as some wonderful handmade items. One of my favorite items in this shop is a vintage print called "My First Dance" by Maud Humphrey Bogart. It would be so cute in a little girl's room.

#3 is beberagz!!

This shop gets me SO excited for my little girl to arrive! This shop has so many adorable little crocheted hats and things. I had a very hard time picking just one picture to post, but finally decided on this little beauty called "Reanna."

#4 is Katie's Basement!!

Katie is a very talented fellow jewelry designer. She has some absolutely beautiful pieces of jewerly for sale in her shop. One of my favorites are these fun dangle earrings called "Crystal Earth Dangles."

#5 is Chantelle Nicole Designs!!

Chantelle is yet another amazing jewelry designer on etsy! She has some great sterling silver and copper hand-stamped jewelry in her shop. One of my favorites is called the "Tree of Growth Name Necklace." I love the simplicity of all of her designs.

And last but not least for today is......

Yarnspirations!!

This shop is filled with great fiber creations as well as some awesome soaps and lipbalms. As with all of these shops today, I have several favorites from this shop, but I've decided to include this very warm and cozy scarf called "Fiery Popcorn Scarf."

So that's it for today's feature! Hope you like these shops and go check out their other items!!

Update!

2009-08-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hello to all! I just wanted to do a quick little update. I've had a crazy couple of days getting ready for my first jewelry openhouse that I'm having tomorrow. Because of all of the last minute preparations I haven't blogged for a few days, but have been meaning to! So I just wanted to let you know that another feature will be up probably tomorrow night, as well as a post about a fabulous trade that I did recently, and of course I'll tell all about how my openhouse went!! Hope you all come back for those!! Have a great day!

My Earrings Have Been Featured!!

2009-08-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hooray! A pair of my earrings have been featured on Moonangelnay's Blog. She features lots of undiscovered etsy shops each week, so visit her blog to see all of them!

Also check out Naomi's shop Moonangelnay where she sells some amazing photography, fine art, and abstract digital painting. It was hard for me to choose a favorite because they are all wonderful, but I finally decided on this lovely print called Twilight Rose.

Gorgeous, don't you think?

A Monday Feature!!

2009-08-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

There are so many amazing shops on etsy from all over the world, that I really enjoy doing features so that I can share with you some of the things that I find and love! Well for this wonderful Monday morning, I have three more great shops to feature!

The first one is called Noemy Designs. This shop is full of amazing and gorgeous jewelry, but one of my favorite items is her Multicolor Gems Necklace! It's beautiful, don't you think?

The next shop I'll like to share is called Fresh Off the Vine. Becky sells some adorable handmade clothing for girls. I love all of her clothing, but one of my favorites is this Gauze Summer Shirred Dress or Top. It's just so cute!

The last shop that I have to share today is called Jewels of India. There is a lot of lovely jewelry and other one of a kind items in this shop. I couldn't help but fall in love with this gorgeous jewel called Beauty of Kutchh Shoulder Bag. I just love the vibrant colors and patchwork design.

Take some time to check out these great shops to see some of their other fabulous items! Happy Monday!!

Woohoo!! I'm A Winner!

2009-08-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

I answered the "Mystery Question" in the etsy shop: Bumbee and Leelee and actually got it right!! Cool huh! So I got to choose one item for free from her shop!! I chose this great little pillow case dress:

Isn't it SO cute!! I love it and can't wait for my little girl to be born so that she can wear it! (Well it's size 2T, so it'll be awhile!! But I can't wait!) Anyways, there are some great items in her shop so go take a look!!

Time For Another Feature!!

2009-08-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

The first shop for today's feature is Galvez Jewelry Designs. They have been making jewelry since 2004 and have some beautiful things to offer. Here is my favorite item in their shop, called Multicolor Crystal Necklace with Spiral Pendant.

The next shop to be featured is called Sol Creations 2. Kaci makes beautiful handmade hemp jewelry. My favorite item in her shop is called Hemp Necklace with Banana Wood Pendant.

And the last shop for today is called The Pink Designs. Emma makes fun and flirty jewelry and clothing. She has some fabulous things for sale in her shop, but one of my favorites is called A Whole Lot of Pretty... I think these earrings are gorgeous!!

Go check out these three great shops and have a wonderful Thursday!!

Another Feature!

2009-08-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

Here are three more great etsy shops that I'd love to share with you! The first one is called U Name It. Valerie has some great items in her shop!! One of my favorites is called "Custom Handpainted Canvas in Crazy Giraffe." What do you think?

The next shop that I want to feature is called La Petite Boutique De Bandeaux. Here is a little about this store and the products in it straight from the mouth of the artist!

"Our store provides high-end headbands and hair accessories for fashion minded ladies.

Style and quality are paramount here. With this in mind, we've endeavored to use only the finest quality materials from places like France, England, and Australia, as well as homegrown products in the US. Each piece is loving handcrafted and one-of-a-kind."

I love lilies, so the "Glamorous Tropical Lily Hair Clip" was an obvious favorite of mine!

Ok, and the last shop that I'd like to include today is called Blue Sky Art. Ali is a painter and has some cool paintings in her shop. One of my favorites is called "Little Song Sparrow."

Check out these great shops! And come back soon!

Free Earrings!!

2009-08-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I am looking for my 3rd sale and decided to give my 3rd customer a free pair of earrings with their purchase!! Hope you all have fun shopping and have a fabulous day!!

Three Fellow Jewelry Designers

2009-08-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

There are tons of amazing jewelry designers on etsy, it's crazy! Here are three great ones! The first one I want to feature actually doesn't sell on etsy anymore, but has her own website called Jewelry byTara. She has some great vintage pieces! Here is a little about her in her own words:

"Tara Van Stelle is a Southern California Based Artist. She holds a certificate in antiques/vintage appraisal, and enjoys mixing the vintage and contemporary in her handcrafted designs. Hoping to inspire you with her altered art pendants, and other unique and unusual creations."

Here is a picture of one of my favorite items on her site. It's called "The Beauty of a Dragon Fly."

The next shop that I want to tell you about is called Elegance for You. She makes some gorgeous jewelry at great prices! Here is a little about this artist and her products:

"I have been creating jewelry for over three years. My goal is to make beautiful and affordable fashionable trendy jewelry,at a price that every woman can afford.
I like to use sterling silver and 14kt filled gold wire. I love to mix it up. In my designs you will see a variety of beads my personal favorites are precious gemstones, crystals,and I love vintage beads. I have never met a bead that I didn't love."

One of my favorites of her's is called "Delicate Peach." They are a pair of gorgeous earrings! Here's a picture:

The last shop for today is called Serrelynda's Enchantment. She uses lots of great vintage pieces in her work, and turns them into beautiful jewelry. Here is what the artist says about herself and her work:

"I am currently a stay at home mom to a 4 year old and a Sharpei dog. My husband has been kind enough to share a piece of his garage with me by setting up my own drill press, bench grinder, and studio kiln. I have been "playing" with jewelry design for over 12 years, and also collecting vintage materials. I have been perfecting my techniques and taking classes to better my designs, and I have finally reached a point where I am ready to share my creations with the world instead of keeping everything or giving them as gifts. It is a joy to see my creations being worn and looking beautiful."

I love this bracelet called "Bronze Filigree With Scallop Shell Cuff Bracelet." It is just gorgeous, take a look!

That's it for today! Check out all of these amazing shops, and stay tuned for more coming soon!!

Some Great Items!!

2009-08-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

So I've decided to feature other amazing etsy artisans periodically, so that I have more to blog about besides just myself!! I'm sure you get tired of me tooting my own horn all the time!! Anyways, today I wanted to do a few shops.

The first shop is called PURE Natural Minerals and Rose sells some amazing handcrafted mineral makeup at great prices. Here is a picture of one of her eye shadow sets that I love! It is called Earth Girl-Eye Shadow Mini Set. Check out her amazing makeup by clicking on her shop name above!

The next awesome shop is called Bazketmakr. Pamela makes and sells Fiber Art and Horsehair Baskets that are just beautiful. One of my favorite items in her shop is this amazing horsehair basket called Dark Filly. To see this and her other items check out her shop!

Ok, so the last shop that I'm going to feature today is Hell0Z0mbie. In her shop she has several types of items including photographs and jewelry. One of my favorites is one of her original artist trading cards called Old Wheel Photograph ACEO. Here is a picture of it! Check out her other fun things she has for sale in her shop!

Well I hope you enjoy these shops as much as I do! Also let me know what you think about the whole feature idea! I'm open for input!!

My Newest Creations!

2009-08-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my newest creations. Let me know what you think!

If you like what you see, or to see more of my creations visit my etsy shop at www.mariahscreations.etsy.com

I'm Back!!

2009-08-04T15:38:00.000-07:00

Talk about missing in action!! I think everyone has probably forgotten about me by now!! Anyways for those of you who are still around I am greatful! I think everyone goes through times in life where you get burnt out, and that's exactly what happened to me! But I'm motivated again and am back to jewelry making! Woohoo! So I've decided to set a goal to post at least once a week on this blog so keep looking, and if it's been awhile, leave me a comment and remind me of my goal! Anyways I'll keep this one short but will be adding more later!

I Must Be CRAZY!!!!

2008-11-13T09:46:00.000-08:00

So as I mentioned awhile back, I have my first craft fair coming up the 5-6 of December, and I'm really excited to do it. Well then a little bit ago I heard about another one the following weekend, and I SIGNED UP!!!! So now I have two back to back--SCARY!! I am really excited to do them both, but am a bit nervous since I've never even done one before!! If anyone has any tips, I'd greatly appreciate them!! So here is the flier about the second one, which will be December 12-13 in Draper, UT. If you live close, you should stop by and see me!! You can also check out their blog: thespottedzebraboutique.blogspot.com

I Won!!

2008-11-10T16:12:00.000-08:00

Yeah for more excitement!! I won a giveaway on Amariah's blog!! I chose to receive these two fabulous Scrabble pendants!!

I am so excited to receive these!! I love them!! To see more of Amariah's amazing work check out her etsy shop: amariah.etsy.com! She is an incredibly talented lady!!

WooHoo!!

2008-11-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

I got my first sale on Etsy, and I am so so excited about it!! Yeah! Ok, that's all! I just wanted to share my excitement with you!!

I've Been Tagged!!

2008-11-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Amariah!

I'm supposed to write 7 facts about myself, then tag 7 more people!

Here are the rules for the people I'm about to tag:

Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.~ Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.~ Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as links to their blog.~ Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here it goes...7 facts about me:

1. I love to play board games with friends and family! One of my favorites is Settlers!! If you've never played, you should!

2. I spend way too much time on the computer. I get addicted to things really easily, so I have to limit myself so that I don't waste my whole day!

3. I'm taller than my husband!! Before I met my husband, I wouldn't even consider dating someone who was shorter than me, but when I met him it just didn't seem to matter!! I guess when you find "the one" you can overlook things like that. When we first started dating, I would try to mainly wear flat shoes, but now I just don't care anymore. I love high heels!! They just make my legs look so much better(if I do say so myself!!)

4. I'm LDS (a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!) and am very grateful for the blessings that come from this.

5. I gave birth to my son naturally(no epidural) in a birthing center.

6. When I have another child I'm getting an epidural!!! I don't want you to think that my first birth was terrible, it was just very very long, and I was so exhausted that I didn't really get to enjoy the whole process(if it's possible!!) So my labor was 39 hours long, with 4 1/2 hours of pushing:( My son's head was turned just slightly to the side, enough that he got stuck. It got to the point that the ambulance was called, and everyone was starting to freak out (except for me--I was too out of it!) but luckily the ambulance wasn't necessary! The positives of this experience were that I didn't have to have a C-section!--Probably would have if I was in a hospital, and surviving the whole experience is very empowering!!

7. And last but not least......I love fruit smoothies!!

There they are--seven things about myself. I hope that you learned something new about me, and weren't bored. Now it's your turn, so that I can learn about you too!

I tag: RHB Designs, Pink Patrice, Bonny Lass Jewelry, & Crickets Creations
**Be sure to check out their blogs, as they have some incredible products!!

New Pics!!

2008-10-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

I got some advice to add a little more color to my pictures, so I tried!! I used scrapbooking paper and some leaves. What do you think? I still need to re-do a lot of pictures, but I can only do so much in one day!

My New Website!!

2008-10-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I created a website for Mariah's Creations!! Here's the link: mariahscreations.com! It is still in the beginning stages, so if you see anything that I should add or change let me know!! Hope you all enjoy my site!

My Most Recent Eye Candy!

2008-10-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of my most recent pieces of jewelry. If you see anything that you like, they are all for sale on my etsy shop: mariahscreations.etsy.com! Stop by and see me!!

My First Craft Show!!!

2008-10-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

I signed up to do my first craft show!!! Yeah!! I am going to have a booth at the Holiday Gift and Craft Fair at Middle Canyon Elementary in Tooele, UT. It is Dec. 5th and 6th, which is a Friday and a Saturday. I am so excited, but have A LOT of work to do to get ready. I will be making jewelry like crazy in this next month and a half so that I can have plenty of eye candy for sale!! If you aren't busy that day you should stop by and see me!!! (If you live anywhere near Tooele!)

And the Winner Is...........

2008-10-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

I drew a name, and the winner is................
AMY NOYCE
Congrats Amy!!! I will send you your new earrings shortly!

For everyone else who didn't win, I'm sorry, but will have another giveaway probably at the end of the month or at the beginning of November! So come back and try again!

I'm Having a Giveaway!!!!

2008-09-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

I'm Having a Giveaway!!!!

What is the prize?

These BEAUTIFUL earrings!!!

There will be 6 ways to enter in for the drawing. For each thing you do,
it will be worth a specified amount of entries!

1~Leave a Comment on this post! (In the comment leave a list of all of the other things you did to gain extra entries.) ~ 1 entry

2~ Give a Shout-Out on your blog for this blog or my etsy site! ~ 2 entries

3~ Add this blog as a link to your sidebar! ~ 2 entries

4~ Add my etsy site to your sidebar! ~ 2 entries

5~ Purchase a piece of jewelry! ~ 5 entries

6~ Order a CUSTOM piece of jewelry! ~ 5 entries

The Contest dead-line will be October 5!

So make sure to get all of your entries in before then!

Also make sure to leave an email so I can contact you when you win!

Swarovski Crystal

2008-09-17T15:56:00.001-07:00

Swarovski is the luxury brand name for the range of precision-cut lead crystal glass and related products produced by companies owned by Swarovski AG of Feldmeilen, near Zurich, Switzerland.

This is the definition I found on Wikipedia, but I would describe Swarovski crystal beads as really pretty, sparkly beads!! I have LOVED these beads ever since I became aware of them, but they are kind of pricey so I hadn't bought any. That is until Tuesday! I got a really great idea for a necklace that has the crystals along with natural stone beads, so I decided to get some. I will post a picture of the finished product when I complete it. It will be GORGEOUS!!!!

(P.S. The picture doesn't do the beads justice, AT ALL)

Pictures!!

2008-09-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

I finally took some pictures of my latest projects. Sorry that they aren't the highest quality photos! Here they are:

First, my attempt at painting. I just used acrylic paint, and then added wood stain to the top to give it dimension. The gold swirls are just craft paint. What do you think?

I had the activity day girls in my church(ages 8-11) make these vases. So this was my example for them which I did beforehand. It is just paper ripped and stuck on the vase with mod podge. They turned out really cute!

I liked my vase so much that I decided to do some more. I decided to make two matching ones. I used the centerpieces from my reception! This time I cut the paper into squares. (I like geometric designs if you haven't figured that out yet!!)

CREATE Mode!!

2008-09-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

I have been in CREATE mode the past few weeks. I finished my very first painting last week, which I thought actually turned out really well. It is a geometric design in different shades of brown. I really like it!! I will post pictures when I get some:) I also found an old chair that was my grandpa's that I am going to re-finish. I have also finished one vase that I decorated with paper, using mod podge(again I don't have a pic yet!) Anyways, I've just been excited about making some fun things. I loved doing the painting, and hope to do more, along with lots more jewelry and other fun projects. Stay tuned for more of my creations!!

Welcome!!

2008-09-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog. I decided to start a blog about my jewelry and other creative endeavors so that I don't have to write about it on our family blog. I hope that you enjoy the things I post, and would love any comments you have for me.