Disclosure & Disclaimer

 

Today’s post is something that will be posted on a tab up there in my menu bar shortly but I wanted to post it here so everyone will see it first. It is a lot of legal stuff and all that but it is time to comply with some rules and to cover my jiggly, just had a baby butt in case you get hurt or upset! Please read the whole thing (some parts might just make you laugh!) before asking me questions or pointing fingers at me telling me I sold out to ‘the man’ because I’d prefer that you say I sold out to ‘the woman’ mmmkay? hehe just kidding I didn’t sell out I just stopped offering my services that take time away from my family for free- you can’t fault me for that right?

Here we go:

Since I have recently started to offer private advertising on my site (as well as Google Ads) I need to post a disclosure statement in order to comply with the FTC rules on making money while blogging.

Let me first state that Creative Kristi will not change other than my sidebar now has a couple ads on it. In order to justify the amount of time I spend on the computer blogging I felt it necessary to maybe earn some pocket change while doing so.

I am just a mom trying to provide for her family without changing my daily life too much. I am not a jet-setting blogger only in it for the money. I love to blog. I love to create. Why not try to make some money doing what I love?

If you are bothered by this new addition to my site then I’m sorry but I need to do what is best for me and my family. I see it as- while the bagger at the grocery store is providing me a service the store is still paying him/her to do so, they probably wouldn’t do it for free and even if they would (yay! a great human being doing good deeds!) if you offered them compensation they would probably take it because they need to provide food & clothing for their family too right?

Anyway in case you don’t read the following Disclosure statement let me summarize:

I am loud, opinionated and not afraid to ruffle ANYONE’S feathers to let you know I don’t like something. Really. Ask my family- they’ve lived with me for almost 27 years and they know. I will NOT change my opinion just because I got a free item or money (I will thank you because I’m polite but will not change my opinion). I will let you, the reader, know when I received free product or compensation.

There. Ok here goes the legal mumble jumble:

Disclosure Statement:

This policy is valid from 30 July 2010

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact  Creative Kristi- creativekristi@gmail.com

This blog is family friendly and all advertising/comments/content is filtered by me to reflect that. I reserve the right to delete/remove any advertising, comments, links, etc. that does not meet that requirement without notice or refund.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. I believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received will not influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog-I have strong opinions and will not be swayed by money. If I like something, I will tell you and want to promote it, if I don’t like something, I will tell you and will not change my opinion in order to receive something free or to get money- Integrity is important to me. If I write a review or receive free product and post about it, or offer advertising space that content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog might be compensated (mainly given free product to review) to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though I, the owner of this blog, might receive compensation for my posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Next up is

My Disclaimer:

If you try a project you see on Creative Kristi and you are hurt or mess up the project- It is NOT my fault! I am NOT an expert- I just utilize Google very effectively and read lots and lots (and LOTS) of other blogs. I remember lots of random facts, tidbits and hints/tricks- but that does not mean I remember them accurately (although if Military Man-aka my hubby- is reading this: When it comes to our marriage I remember everything accurately and I have never been wrong mmmkay?).

I do NOT follow the labels instructions usually because I sometimes use the product in ways not intended. Please follow your labels instructions though! If you do something they way I did it while not reading instructions/labels it is not my responsibility and you acknowledge you are doing so AT. YOUR. OWN. RISK.

Please wear safety goggles when doing anything that might even possibly involve flying objects or high pressure! (My mom worked for years in the ophthalmology field so this has been drilled into my head so please just do it for my mom ok? Pretty please???)

Please wear a mask and whenever possible be outdoors when using stinky chemical products. I already feel there are too many people with way less brain cells then are needed to function properly in life (hello?! when it says to YIELD when getting on the interstate and I am already on the interstate- it does not say “speed up and hope the car coming at me will brake and let the 18-wheeler behind her run her over") so please don’t do anything that might kill your brain cells ok? Wear a mask, open windows, go outside, remove your children from the house (send them to Grandmas or something) and just practice general safety!!

Be advised, Creative Kristi cannot be held liable for any accidents, injuries, or really messed up/ugly projects that may result from following my tips or tutorials.

I am selfish so please give me credit for my photos and ideas.

I am happy to have you link to my posts and photos on your blog. However, I ask that you please credit my work and link back to my site. I don't make much money for all my work, so the credit is all I have. All photos are taken with a point and shoot camera or my iPhone, but they are still copyright Creative Kristi.

There. All that un-fun stuff is taken care of- I think. Please come back tomorrow when I may post my latest project (or not because I have a pirate party to finish up!) and get to writing those posts for our linky party Monday- What I did this weekend!

Have a Happy day,

Let’s get back to Main Street, USA

 

Do you remember a time before the big box stores? Before the malls? Before a store could be found in more than one town?

Photo Courtesy: Galt Museum & Archives On the Commons

I’m talking about Main Street, USA. Filled with shopkeepers who cared about their customers and personally selected every. single. product. in their stores. They offered excellent customer service and because they chose the products personally they could answer questions about them easily and promptly- they didn’t have to ‘check and get back to you’ like so many store employees these days do. In fact, there might not have even been any employees…just an owner working 7 days a week to put food on the table.

Because they worked to get by, not get rich, they truly cared that you, the customer, kept coming back. They wouldn’t tell you that a certain product worked just to sell it to you, they wouldn’t stock a product that wouldn’t work, and if for some reason the product didn’t work for you they would take it back and offer a full refund. They wouldn’t make you pay shipping or a re-stocking fee or only give you store credit. They gave you your money back on good faith that the good gesture of admitting a faulty product or an unsatisfactory experience would keep you coming back to shop there.

You trusted them. You wanted their advice because they weren’t pushy. They didn’t tell you that skirt made you look 50lbs. smaller (what skirt really does that anyway?) they would gently guide you to something that would flatter you even if that something was cheaper then the skirt you were trying on.

Where am I going with this? Well I am pleased & proud to announce that I will soon be one of those shopkeepers! Not with a brick and mortar store and no I’m not opening a Five & Dime- although how cool would that be to bring those back?!

Photo Courtesy: With an Eye 

I am now partnering with The OpenSky Project! I will be opening my own shop soon and stocking it with products that I personally know, love and recommend.

What is The OpenSky Project? It is a new way to shop online- their mission is ‘to make relationship commerce available to everyone on the planet.’  They believe that buying from people you know and trust is the best way to shop.

Before I go to much further I want to insert here that Creative Kristi will not become a pushy, I only blog to make money type of blog. Never. This is something I hope will only enhance your experience here at Creative Kristi. When I blog about something I made or bought I would like a way to easily let you, the reader, get your hands on a product I talked about because to me, talking about a product and not offering you an easy way to buy it also is like inviting you over for a visit, drinking lemonade in front of you and not offering you any! As Steph, from A Full House would say, “How RUDE!”

Part of the fun of The OpenSky Project is that if you find a product you like that isn’t offered in big box stores (or even if it is!) and you want it then all you have to do is e-mail me, and I will work on getting it in my shop for you! Yes you read that right- me- I will be able to work on getting any product I want or YOU want into my shop!

I can’t wait to start this adventure with you! The grand opening for my shop is not to far away keep checking that countdown clock over there on the right sidebar and soon it will be a button with a direct link to my shop!

Please start sending me product suggestions! What do YOU want to see in my Creative Kristi shop?

Here’s to bringing old time Main Street, USA to the internet & right here to Creative Kristi!

Have a Happy Day,

What I Did This Weekend-Blueberry Edition

I’ve decided to start a Monday blog post (soon to become a linky party so get writing your posts!) called: What I Did This Weekend (or WIDTW for short…kinda.).
You can have words or not but it must include pictures! Kind of like “Wordless Wednesday’s” but I can’t be quiet so sometimes I’ll add words!
So without further blabbering from me here is my very first “What I did this weekend.” Today is the Blueberry Edition!
Military Man, Little Man, Miss E, myself and our friends (a family of 3) went to my family camp, “The Cottage,” for the weekend! It was relaxing and fun and everything it always is when I’m at the Cottage. I’ve been going my whole life…every summer! It is hands down- magical. really truly. It’s not much in the way of fancy or ‘in style’ but it is beautiful living at it’s best: Simple. Focus on Family. Food. Fun.
Here is the view from the deck (and yes that is Military Man doing a little fishing early Saturday morning):


Here is the view of the deck (my late grandfather, Papa, built) and it’s colorful chairs (many of which my Daddy made!)

Saturday afternoon we drove over to my (late) Grandparents house (my uncle stays there now) and picked some blueberries…well we started out picking then went and got the blueberry rakes because it’s faster! I wish I had pictures of that for those of you who have never seen a blueberry rake…I guess you could just Google it?!
We raked 4 boxes in about 10 minutes.

Then I got my little ‘set-up’ going to pick through them. Otherwise known as cleaning the blueberries. It takes some time but is relaxing when there is nothing but the sounds of screen doors slamming, kids laughing and the waves lapping the lake shore. It’s a favorite activity of mine.

As you can see I take a cookie sheet and two ceramic pie plates. I prop the cookie sheet up on one so that the berries run down to the bottom and the leaves stay at the top and then when I get a good bunch cleaned I place them in the other pie plate so I can continue. I pick off all the stems and leaves and bugs then into Ziplocs they go. This week I’m making blueberry everything I think!
So that’s what I did this weekend- how about about you? Tell me in the comments this week and next week I’ll have a linky up so you can do your own post!
Have a Happy Day,

Pirate Birthday Party Invitations!

I was going to wait and show you the Pirate 3rd Birthday Party when it was all over with and complete but then I thought- why not just show you the invitations and the rest in another post? It will break it up so you aren’t reading a huge long post (unless you like that….?) (Here's Pirate Birthday Party Post 2)
So Little Man is turning 3 and I decided last year (at his Thomas the Train Birthday party) to do a Pirate theme this year! Next year he’ll probably help choose his theme.
I started by searching for any Pirate parties online and found a bunch that had good ideas! I took the invitation in a bottle inspiration from here.
Here is what the invite looked like from the front:

I blurred out our names/address/etc. but it does say “Join us on the good ship our last name”

Here is the back:

I always like to give present suggestions, mostly because I hate getting a bunch of plastic, noisy toys that I’m going to have to ‘hide’ after he goes to bed because they aren’t something we want him playing with, but also because sometimes adults just don’t know what a kid likes or wants. I always appreciate it when I get an invite with suggestions on it because it makes MY life so much easier…I won’t have to worry that the birthday child won’t like my present.
These invites were designed in Photoshop Elements and all the images you see came from that program.
So I had Military Man stop by the store and pick me up a 6 pack….of IBC root beer. We drank a couple, made root beer floats and then poured the rest into a pitcher. I rinsed the bottles out and dried them. Then I printed my invites on resume paper I had (it was almost linen like) to give it a authentic ‘lost map’ feel. I also burned the edges with a lighter. I rolled them up and stuck them in the bottle. I tied some twine around them and used a free tag printable to write the names of who they were to.
Military Man took 4 to work to hand out and the other two went to others. I ended up mailing 6 more invites (no bottles lol).
Here is the finished product (sorry for bad iPhone photo- my camera batteries died just as I was about to take the pic!):

So there is the beginning of the Pirate Birthday Party!(Pirate Birthday Party Post 2)
Let’s try something fun: leave me a comment telling me what your favorite party theme has been (could be yours or a party you went to)!
Have a great weekend,


Linking up to:

Dr. Seuss Baby Shower

My sister is expecting a baby in early September so this past weekend my mom & I threw her a Dr. Seuss themed baby shower!
First were the invitations, I made them on Photoshop Elements using clip art images and cute wording found on the web. The font used is called “Grinched” and can be found here for free.


So I got there early to decorate (red & white balloons, streamers- not pictured) and I used my new Silhouette SD to cut out some vinyl words for the walls (again using that Grinched font). I also printed out some images from the web of Dr. Seuss books.



I also made some of Martha’s tissue paper pom poms in red & white and hung them over the food table.

And lastly I made a cake! I love making a cake (probably because I eat the extra cake/frosting….shhhhh)! I made a Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat, Hat cake. The brim is a red velvet oval cake with cream cheese frosting and the stacked part is yellow cake with butter cream icing.

Here’s a little secret for you….I did the whole cake using 3 boxes of yellow cake mix, but I just add in other ingredients to make it red velvet & make the yellow cake taste like homemade! I do make my frosting from scratch and usually make my cakes from scratch too but hey- I just had a baby so I’m entitled to take short cuts right? right.
Here is what I do to turn regular yellow box cake mix into red velvet:
Add 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder to the dry cake mix.
Add all your liquids (substitute buttermilk for any water/milk the mix calls for- I make my own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk and letting it sit about 5-10 min) then add 1 tablespoon of red food coloring (about the whole vial if you buy those little ones), a teaspoon of distilled white vinegar and a teaspoon of vanilla.
That’s it! Now you have red velvet cake batter! I use this recipe for cream cheese frosting (She also has a from scratch red velvet recipe in that post too)
For the yellow cake I follow this cupcake tutorial for doctoring the mix. (If you Google ‘doctoring cake mix’ or some similar term you will come up with all kinds of ways to make store bought mix taste terrific!)
For the butter cream frosting I again use Bakerella. I used to use Wilton’s but I don’t like using veggie shortening because it always seemed to be a ‘finicky’ frosting because of it. It tastes great though…I just go for easy & un-finicky!
So there is my family Dr. Seuss baby shower! Hope you liked it!
Have a happy Day,

I’m Hosting the Chic Click Carnival!

Hi all! Last week I entered my link into the Chic Click Carnival and I won! So this week I get to host! Welcome to all new readers and welcome to all my SITS Girls! After you link up please take a look around and if you like what you see please become a follower or subscribe (over there on the right sidebar---->) Again welcome & have fun at this week’s Chic Click Carnival!!

Chic Click Carnival

This is not simply a linky party, the purpose of the "Chic Click Carnival" is to introduce yourself and one fellow peep you found using the Visit Our Peeps widget. All submissions are competing to be the host of next Thursdays click carnivalwho will receive hundreds of new visitors. There will be two additional winners, one for the giveaway and one for a Free 6 Month subscription to the widget. This weeks judge is Cindy from Skip To My Lou. * If you would like to giveaway a product over $50 and be featured, let us know.

Last Thursday's Winners

• The Host for the Chic Click Carnival this week is Creative Kristi {{high fives!}}
• Bloggy Blog Designs winner is Charm Bracelet Diva
• Visit Our Peeps winner is Simply Created

How To Play

All are welcome to link a post to win a fabulous prize from a Visit Our Peeps widget Mom-preneur. Contest ends Thursday at midnight. Entries for this carnival need to incorporate the following or it will be removed:

• A brief introduction of yourself, don't forget to link to your favorite post.
• "My favorite peep of the week" you found using the Visit Our Peeps widget with a link to their blog and/or shop.
• Visit Our Peeps widget inside the post for people to find their new peep. Here is the code:

<script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.chicchickmedia.com/feed.asp?s=200" type="text/javascript"></script>

The Three Prizes

Friday, Cindy will pick three Linky participants randomly.

1. Grand Prize: One winner will be next weeks host of the Chic Click Carnival. 2. Another winner will receive a FREE 6 month membership to the Visit Our Peeps widget. 3. The third winner will receive a Life-Squared Wax Baby Hands & Feet from Julian & Co, a $129 value.

JULIAN & Co. jewelry is about love for families, was created by a fashion forward mom when she couldn't find a baby bracelet small enough to fit her premature son, Julian. Each piece is handcrafted and personalized to order.

Color Inspiration Party!

Hi all! Ok this is a post that was spur of the moment (well the party part!) and I’m super nervous I’ll be the only dork showing up to the un-cool party. So help me out ok?
I’m going to put a linky at the bottom of this post for you to link up any post you have that has to do with color and/or inspiration. I’m pretty flexible on what that means so as long as you are not linking to YOUR linky party or to a giveaway/store/business I’m cool with it!
All I ask is that you put my button somewhere on your post so that people can come back here and find (and link up!) to the party too!


<a href="http://www.creativekristi.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee112/Kilikikd/Blog%20pictures/party-button.jpg" border="0" alt="Creative Kristi Color Inspiration"></a>

If I get enough response this might just become a weekly thing! So link up! And as always: If you like what you see consider becoming a follower so you won’t miss a thing!
Alright here is my color inspiration this week. These are things that caught my eye and I decided to take pictures of them!
First up:
Sewing Thread- spools and spools of sewing thread! Green, yellow, pink, purple, blue!




*sigh* the scrumptious colors get me every time!
Continuing on that same train of thought I have spools of ribbon!

And lastly the most beautiful aqua/turquoise/blue cake stand! This is what I got with my gift certificate to Burlap & Blue that I won from the Shabby Nest’s giveaway.









How gorgeous is that?!?

Ok now it’s your turn! Link up some inspiration for me!
Have a happy day,

Chic Click Carnival

I’ve decided to participate in the SITS Girls “Chic Click Carnival” this week!
If you are new here let me tell you a little about me. I am 26 years old, married to my first boyfriend (we dated for a year at the age of 14 & then went our separate ways for nearly 10 years before meeting again & getting married) who is in the military- I refer to him as Military Man, Handsome Hubby, Hubs, etc. We have two beautiful children: Little Man who will be 3 at the end of this month & Miss E who will is 5 weeks old this week. We all live in Maine with our black lab, Lady.
I started this blog in 2008 as a way to keep myself busy while Military Man was deployed & since then it has become a hobby for me and I love it. I have been referred to as a “little Martha” (as in Martha Stewart) my whole life because I was always making something, always coming up with new ideas, etc. I just decided to start sharing my crafts, renovations & frugal ways with whoever wanted to read about them because honestly…sometimes my family just doesn’t get the utter excitement I have about fabric or finding an awesome new craft tool!
I know you all do or you wouldn’t be here! ;)
So my favorite post so far is the 2nd one I wrote about painting my countertops…so far this has been the wildest thing I’ve done in the name of frugality & craftiness. I think my husband is a keeper because he didn’t bat an eye when I told him I was painting the countertops!
So since this is the Chic Click Carnival I’m supposed to share with you a new peep I found using their widget below. I found an amazing Etsy shop called Copper Creek Design and she has some amazing jewelry that I think is so beautiful….like these earrings for example.
Anyway that’s a little about me & my family and what I do here at Creative Kristi.
Thanks for stopping by and please go find a new peep for yourself by clicking the widget below!



Happy Monday to you all,

Time for something new!

Well you might notice it looks a little different around here (if you are reading this in a reader or e-mail click on over and take a look!). I decided it was time for a change and didn’t want a ‘pre-made’ blog template anymore so I designed my own.
I would really appreciate any feedback you have about the new look & if you’d like to grab a button and post it on your site I’d appreciate it!

  <a href="http://www.creativekristi.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee112/Kilikikd/Blog%20button/button2.jpg" border="0" alt="Creative Kristi"></a>


Thanks for your input,

From built-in to pantry

My house was built in 1932. For me this means amazing trim work which I showed you here but it also means lack of adequate closets, one bathroom located on the 2nd floor that is the size of my thumb which I showed you a little here, and a built in in the kitchen which was perfectly charming but really un-useable.
We were using the top part as a coat closet of sorts but it wasn’t deep enough for hangers so everything had to be smooshed in there to close the doors. Also it had 3 drawers on the bottom which we used for flashlights, batteries, etc. but they were hard to pull out and put back in. I wanted a place to put my vacuum and trash can away. I was tired of having my cleaning supplies sitting out. I was also very very tired of my dog emptying the contents of my trash can every time I left the house if I didn’t remember to put it outside before I left.
SO. Handsome Hubby took my vision of an actual floor to ceiling closet/pantry and helped me make it possible.
Here is what we started with once we removed the drawers:

Then we proceeded to use a reciprocating saw- my Dad’s by the way, he lends me all sorts of things totally LOVE my Dad!- (Hubs would like to point out that some people call it a ‘saws-all’ because it saws everything but I prefer to use the proper names thankyouverymuch) to cut the drawer supports and the dividing shelf out.

I am obviously using the term ‘we’ very loosely here. But in my defense I did swing the hammer a few times and broke out the shelf! Just not all the way, obviously by the following picture…..plus I was 6+ months pregnant at the time!

 

This is what we were left with once all the supports/shelves were removed:

Here is when we noticed that one of the previous owners had put sheetrock over the plaster in the top portion so when the shelf was removed we had un even walls. So I did what any resourceful girl would do….I called Dad. I knew he had to have enough sheetrock in his garage/basement/somewhere to give me.

Who was right? :) Thanks Dad!

So the parts I don’t have pictures of are the mudding/taping the new sheetrock, the caulking of seams/gaps/imperfections all over and then the painting. I just used the rest of a quart sized can I had previously used in Little Man’s nursery. It is a shocking lime-ish green. I thought it was an unexpected surprise when you opened the pantry door….plus it would make it lighter in there since there is no light source.

I also had Military Man (aka Handsome Hubby aka Hubs) cut down a glass panel door that we had removed from the playroom last year to fit the opening. I sprayed one side of the glass inserts with frost spray so you wouldn’t see all my junk.

Here is what the door looks like in place

 

I still need to ‘finish’ this project by painting out the door and trim but if I didn’t post this now who knows when it’ll get finished….I do have a one month old & almost 3 year old…projects for me now include potty training and spit up catching ;) he he.

I added some command hooks to hold my cloth shopping bags (above left) & my homemade plastic bag holder-tutorial found here- (below right). I also added those wire shelves (that I got at Lowe’s) to hold Ziplocs, parchment paper, cans, rice, etc. (and by ‘I added’ I really mean I added- not taking credit for Military Man’s hard work here…I did it myself!)

Below you will see my much longed for storage of trashcan & vacuum! YAY!!


So that’s how I added storage to my older home only spending money on the shelving, command hooks & a dishtowel for the bag holder!

What cheap-o projects are you most proud of?


Linking up to: