Shine on Friday with Another Giveaway

Welcome to Shine on Friday!! We had a fabulous party last week and we can't wait to see what you all have been up to this week.

Here are the features from last week's party:

Yankee Doodle Designs shares this fun Valentine's Day Word Art.  I love Tagxedo!  My students use it all the time for vocabulary activities and Karin shows you some fun ways to use it.

It's Time to Mingle

 It's Time to Mingle!

Hosted by Happy Go Lucky, I Heart Crafty Things,
Joy in the Jumble and Keeping Up With Kristi.
Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.
This weeks guest host and winner of our giveaway from last week is Someone in Mind.

There are no rules to this blog hop.  Just link up your blog's main page.  Then have fun reading new blogs and making new blog friends.  We would love for you to follow the hostesses in the first four spots and our guest host in the fifth spot.  

20 Homemade Cleaning Products

I've become a little obsessed with searching for DIY cleaning products.  I love the idea of using less chemicals when cleaning and I especially like that it is so much cheaper.  I can't believe how much I've spent in the past on cleaning products when I could have been making them myself.

In my own quest to find simple recipes for homemade cleaning products,  I've decided to compile a list here to share with you.

Football Cookie Cups

My husband is a HUGE New York Giants fan so Connor and I were excited to surprise him with these cookie cups last week for his birthday.

And now that the Giants are in the Superbowl, I will be making these again in 2 weeks!!  I wanted to post this earlier last week but was afraid I might jinx the Giants.  Good thing they pulled it off. 

Your Time to Shine with a Giveaway

Happy Friday and welcome to another Shine on Friday!

Last week we had 181 amazing links and I'm excited to share a few of the most popular links along with a few of my favorites.  My fabulous co-host Amy over at One Artsy Mama will be featuring some also so be sure to hop on over there.

Top:  Valentine Tree by Polkadots on Parade, Subway Art Knock Off by Gardners 2 Bergers

Bottom:  Family Tree Word Art by Gardners to Bergers, Small Organization Tip by Natural Nester

Let's Mingle

 It's Time to Mingle!

Hosted by Happy Go Lucky, I Heart Crafty Things,
Joy in the Jumble and Keeping Up With Kristi.
Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.
This weeks guest host is Posy the Porcelain Pig



There are no rules to this blog hop.  Just link up your blog's main page.  Then have fun reading new blogs and making new blog friends.  We would love for you to follow the hostesses in the first four spots and our guest host in the fifth spot.   We always follow back!! Please leave a comment so we know to follow you back! 

Photo Collage Using PowerPoint

I shared this Friday on Sumo's Sweet Stuff but I'm so excited with how this project turned out that I just had to share it with all of you!!

I came across this awesome pin on Pinterest and immediately pinned it.  But then I was a little disappointed when I saw that it required Photoshop.  I went to work trying to figure out how I could make it since I don't have Photoshop.

At first I thought I would just print out all of my favorite pictures and cut them to size but then I found that I couldn't cut them small enough.  Then I started playing around PowerPoint and I was thrilled when the photo collage all came together.

All you need is Microsoft PowerPoint and your favorite photos!

Here is how you can create your own photo collage using PowerPoint:

Step 1:  Open a new PowerPoint presentation and set your dimension.  I had an IKEA frame that I wasn't using that measured 20 x 20 so I set my dimensions to 18 x 18.

Step 2:  Insert your first picture

Step 3:  Now we most likely need to make the pictures square.  I did use some Instagram pictures but most of them needed to be cropped so they were square.  To do this, click on crop and use the dimensions shown to crop your picture so it is a perfect square.

Step 4:  Decide the dimensions you want each picture to be.  This will depend on the size of your final image and the number of pictures you want to have in each row.  Since my collage would be 18 x 18, I figured 8 pictures in each row would be perfect.  I determined that each picture needed to be 2.25 x 2.25.

Step 5:  Just type in your dimensions and move the picture into place. 

 Step 6:  Keep adding your pictures, crop them and move them where you want them.  Now to make sure they are evenly spaced, we want to distribute them horizontally.  This is found under Picture Tools.  Once you've inserted all your pictures, you can distribute them vertically also to make sure everything is lined up.

Step 7:  Now we need to add our 2011.  Start by inserting a rectangle.

 Step 8:  Set the dimensions so they are the same as your pictures.  Change the color to what you want. 

Step 8: Copy and paste 3 more squares. Insert four text boxes and add your numbers.

 Step 9: Align each shape with each text box so they are centered.

Step 10:  Align all four text boxes.

Step 11:  Admire you fabulous new art work!!

Step 12:  Have it printed, frame it, and hang it up for all to see.  I had mine printed as a poster at Kinkos for $19.99.

It might seem like a lot of work, but it really wasn't and I definitely think it was worth the time.  Just put in a good movie and work on your masterpiece.  I watched The Help while I made mine.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at happygolucky337@gmail.com and I will help you out with any questions or problems you might have.

I hope you have fun making your photo collage and would love to hear from you if you make one using this tutorial.
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Sponsor Spotlight

I want to take a few minutes to give a huge shout out to the fabulous sponsors of this month's Pinterest Challenge!

 You have to check out Bossy Sprockets.  

 Amanda's shop has gorgeous accessories you're sure to love!!  And she is currently offering 25% if you enter coupon code SNOW25.

I know you've heard of Thirty One Gifts!!  If you haven't, you have to visit Melissa Cording at Thirty One Gifts. 

Thirty One Gifts has so many fabulous bags, totes, and purses in bright and fun patterns.  They also offer fun ways to stay organized and other great products.  If you aren't familiar with Thirty One Gifts, you have to check out the new catalog.  You will definitely find something you need.  The best part is everything can be personalized.

Lively Lettering is a family owned business that offers vinyl lettering.  They have a lot of fun ideas.  Visit their shop to get inspired!

Thank you for sponsoring The Pinterest Challenge!!  You lovely ladies ROCK!!

Interested in sponsoring a round of The Pinterest Challenge?  Please email me at happygolucky337@gmail.com

Don't forget - Round 5 starts February 6th!!  Can't wait to what Pinterest inspired projects you all have been working on!

Shine on Friday

Welcome back to another Shine on Friday!!  We continue to be amazed at all the talent linked up each week and I can't wait to see what you all have been up to this week.

Thank you for sharing your creativity and inspiring us!!

I'm excited to be featuring five of the ten most popular links from last week's party along with my favorite.  To see more features, visit my lovely co-host Amy over at One Artsy Mama.

You all loved these Jenga keychains by Creative Passage as much as I did.

AlexisAnne over at Clean, Smart, Simple Style shared this adorable Disney inspired bedroom.

Tales of a Trophy Wife gave us some good tips on how to make money blogging.

Inspired by Family Magazine shared a few fashion tips

And Melissa at Love Bug Living showed off the Bacon Jam she made.

My favorites are:

 These fabulous Crafty Activity Bags Susan over at Second Chances made

And I L*O*V*E these Candy Heart Earrings by Blue Skies Ahead.

Visit Amy @ One Artsy Mama to see more features from last week.

Now it's your turn to SHINE!

<center><a href="http://happy-go-lucky-harvey.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Happy Go Lucky" src="http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/harveyusn/shine3.png" /></a></center>

Show off your fabulous creations with us and be inspired by what others have created!

• Please link up crafts, recipes, home decor, etc. 
• I would love for you to follow me and One Artsy Mama 
• Grab a button and post it on your blog to help spread the word 
• Have fun and visit other links.  We all love comments:)
  
  

The Pinterest Challenge Round 4 Winner

This round of The Pinterest Challenge was FABULOUS!!  We had 98 entries - Our biggest challenge yet!
Thank you to everyone who participated.  We hope you had as much fun as we did.

Voting ended last night with a three-way tie.  But since we can only have one winner, Random.org had to pick for us.

The winner is:

Chrissy from Boerman Ramblings

She shared her fabulous Pinterest inspired book page wreath!!

Congatulations Chrissy!

And a shout out to the other two who tied with Chrissy:

 Julie's Pinterest inspired room makeover was gorgeous and Heather's infinity scarf makes me want to make one for myself.  Great job ladies!!

Now start working on your next Pinterest inspired project.  The next round starts February 6th and want you to join in on the fun!!

Let's Mingle

 It's Time to Mingle!

Hosted by Happy Go Lucky, I Heart Crafty Things,
Joy in the Jumble and Keeping Up With Kristi.
Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.
This weeks guest host is Books, Crafts & Pretty Things

There are no rules to this blog hop.  Just link up your blog's main page.  Then have fun reading new blogs and making new blog friends.  We would love for you to follow the hostesses in the first four spots and our guest host in the fifth spot.   We always follow back!!
Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others.  There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

<center><a href="http://happy-go-lucky-harvey.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Happy Go Lucky" src="http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/harveyusn/blog-hop-button-175.gif" /></a></center>We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other.