A Marvelous Mess #23

You guys totally *wowed* me this week!! What fun crafts!!

I just love hosting this party, you totally inspire me.

Here were my favorites:
Inspiration Board from Raising 4 Princesses. So lovely and totally funky!!


Orange Alium Table from Art is Beauty. Gorgeous color and hand painted design....the perfect table for the coming August!!

Petal Mirror from Lilybug Deisgns. She made those petal out of clay!! What a piece of work!!

And, the post I'm going to feature on my sidebar for a week:

A FANTASTIC tutorial to make Gumpaste Flowers from Domestic Charm. Isn't that cake gorgeous!?!?

Thanks so all of you for linking up!! If I featured you in this post, be sure to grab a button!!


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Now, on to the party!!

Zenni Optical: Save Money on Glasses!!!

I just returned from picking up the hubby's new prescription sunglasses at our local eye care center today. The glasses are great.....the price is *not*. Luckily, we have a prescription plan that pays for one pair for each member of the family. But, if those glasses get busted.....we just can't afford to pay the full price!! Glasses are ridiculously overpriced in my opinion.

Or, so I thought, until I check out Zenni Optical. This site has a deal going on every kind of glasses you can buy....affordable prescription eyeglasses, single vision, bifocals, progressives....you name it, they've got it!! Besides the price, one of the things I am a big fan of is the styles of frames they offer. There is SUCH a huge variety. Way more than you'll see in any Opticians office. Check these out:

Totally funky. They've got Holiday collections, Children's collections, every size and shape you can imagine!! There is also a fun Zenni Optical blog where they are currently offering a chance to Share Your Zenni Story and tell the world why you bought your Zenni glasses. It was interesting to read the blog and listen to others tell their stories....from a soldier in Afghanistan to a Retired School teacher living on very limited means. Zenni has definitely made an impact with it's customers!!

Doggy Crate Toy Box

Don't forget to link up to my Marvelous Mess party!! Each week I pick on project to feature on my sidebar!!

In keeping with the bed I made for my puppy Chloe (constructed from a bulb crate), I have made a Crate Toy Box for Chloe and our newest pup Buddy to share. It was really simple to make. I found a great crate at a yard sale that was used to store fancy popcorn....

It was the perfect size!! So, here was how I did it:

Supplies:

Small Wooden Crate

4 Round Wooden Balls (mine had a nice flat surface on them in one spot)

Wood Glue

Spray Paint (in color of your choice)

Sandpaper

1. Flip crate over so bottom of it is pointing up.

2. Using wood glue, attach one ball to each corner (as evenly as possible)

3. Spray paint and let dry.

4. Once paint is totally dry, sand it in spots where it would usually get some wear to give it a shabby look.

5. Put some dog toys in it and then take several hours out of your day (every day for a month) to teach your dogs to put their toys back in the crate when finished.

6. Just kidding. I mean, your dogs aren't lassie or white fang...right? We're just doing this because it's cute and it's a place to put the toys that always end up under our feet.

Cute, huh? This would work great for magazines....or even a box for all those pairs of flip flops floating around in the summer time!! Try is out and I know you find plenty of uses for it!!

::::I linked this post up to these Marvelous Link Parties::::

Transformation Thursday
Thrifty Thursday
Show and Tell